Saturday, September 13: Last night was a scramble for internet.  Not one of Anantara Resort’s long suits.  Or maybe it is… How annoying is it to have to access the internet in a hotel lobby or a bar area?  I mean, what is that about other than blatantly trapping a guest into buying refreshment while working adjacent to the evening’s entertainment?  Not my cuppa tea.  Nope. (in fairness, the reception staff and housekeeping are lovely.)  Anyway, on to today and our search for a truly welcoming hotel for our future Thai Food Adventurers in Hua Hin.

First stop:  Talad Chatchai, a market resplendent with fresh bounty from the sea.  We also found King Bhumibol Aduliyadeth’s favorite grilled pork stand. Seriously.  Kay cajoled Khun Ta Tae to give up one or two of his secret ingredients while I snapped away.  What a sight.  Then off to a Chok Chai shop for the King’s favorite desserts – coconut custard, coconut cake and coconut sticky rice.  Naturally, we sampled some more.  Breakfast will never be the same!

Kay spent many a summer in Hua Hin as a child – surely much less built up than now – and has a thousand splendid memories of the Railway Hotel, now the Sofitel Central Hua Hin.  What a place!  Rolling and alluring, this former train station welcomed the Plunkett family to her shores on holiday after holiday.  Natch, Sofitel Central now offers every modern convenience, but it has not sacrificed an ounce of warmth or elegance.  I am in heaven!

Next stop: Baan Bayan, an antique, boutique, colonial treasure of a hotel also on the shores of Hua Hin.  Small, rustic and inviting.  Kay imagines her travelers returning to the main house after a day of foraging the markets and sampling seaside delicacies to open a bottle of wine and review the day’s treasures from the veranda overlooking the fishing boats in the distance.  Don’t let the word rustic put you off for a moment.  Think Sofitel Central in miniature!  Again, I am reminded of Cape Cod beachfront cottages.

Next, the Hyatt Hua Hin.  “What?” I hear you ask.  Yes, Hyatt.  Hands down, it has the most luxurious spa in Hua Hin.  Tranquility is instant in the Barai Spa. Even the bottom of the pool ripples with architecture reminiscent of Angkor Wat.

More markets, more food! Still, I was sure to join Kay and her childhood chums at Chao Lay at the end of the old fisherman’s pier for dinner.  They ordered, and my taste buds followed:  more crab, this time with a green peppercorn sauce; steamed snapper, flakey and moist with a simple lime sauce; a spicy salad of – I cannot remember!  When one’s taste buds are exhausted, it must be overkill.  But this is me we are talking about – Miss New England Seafood from the time I could walk!  Tuk Tuk, take me away!  I am now on the lookout for even bigger fat pants.  I may need to be forklifted back to Bangkok!  Oh, what a giggle we shared on the pier under tonight’s full moon.  Thanks for opening up your childhood, Kaysie.

Sunday, September 14.  Wow, how time flies!  Has it been two weeks already?  Are we really heading back to Bangkok, sans forklift, already?  Have we sampled all we can?  Visited enough markets, fishing piers and chefs?  Shouldn’t we stay longer?  Just a little bit?  Our guide politely responds, “No.  Sorry, but we must go.”

A little subdued in our van en route to Bangkok, I prod Kay for details missed in our food adventures and peck away at my keyboard.  Kay needs no notes.  Thailand is in her blood.  As I lose myself in the memories of Hua Hin and more, I remember that I never did get the green peppercorn branches that I am hoping to bring home to the US.  “No problem,” our guide, Khun Lee, says.  We soon pull off the expressway to one final market where I find my peppercorn branches and Kay scoops up dried chilies and dried shrimp – without which no Thai cookery class would be complete.  Of course, this was no ordinary market.  No.  Mae Klong is a small fishing town and smack dab in the middle of the Mae Klong market is an active train track!  Yes, we are back to train stations once more.  From the Railway Hotel in Hua Hin to the Mea Klong train station market.  It’s kismet!  When a train arrives, vendors pack up their tents and wares and move aside until the train departs.  I am told that the train ride from Bangkok cuts through lush countryside rich in rice paddies, windmills and salt flats.  It feels like a missed adventure to me, but a plan is hatched: This is a train excursion to be savored from Bangkok with our Thai Food Adventurers in February.  I cannot wait.

We arrive in Bangkok, check into the quirky and charming Dream Hotel, not far from the center of everything.  This hotel is a find.  Trendy, cool – without any in-your-face-obnoxious-attitude – and welcoming with blue lighting in the rooms to ease you into a peaceful night’s slumber.  Bidding sad good-bye’s to Khun Lee and Khun Ai, guide and driver, Kay and I dash off to meet a friend on the trendy Soi 5 for lunch.  The friend?  Great fun.  The restaurants on Soi 5?  Also good fun – lively, young and bustling.  Unfortunately, this is one instance where crowded restaurants are not an indicator of great cuisine.  Pity, though, because the shopping around Soi 5 is really fun!  We also visit my first gigunda shopping mall in Bangkok.  There appears to be one on every block, like Singapore, but I have resisted until today.  Siam Center is mind blowing, with shops from Gucci to Swensens, and a movie theater that actually has beds!  No, it is not like that.  It’s just comfy, like first class plane-type beds.  Crazy, right?

Kay is leaving for London tonight. I cannot believe this adventure is over.  What shall I do without my intrepid traveling companion and great friend?  Answer?  A day at Blue Elephant!

Monday, September 15. I actually while away my morning in a deep sleep.  By the time I am off to Blue Elephant, I am well rested and once again feeling adventurous in Bangkok on my own.  So much so that I decide to travel to Blue Elephant on the Sky Train (BTS).  Piece of cake – three stops, a change of train and one more stop to BE. So much faster than a taxi.

It turns out that the morning classes at Blue Elephant are the busiest, so when I arrive at 1:30, my class is a class for two.  Once again, I could get use to all this attention!  Too boot, our instructor is  the accomplished daughter of the founder of Blue Elephant, Sandra Steppe. She is stunning and warm and a brilliant chef.  My classmate, Bradley from Makati, Philippines, by way of New Jersey, are in for a very interesting and delicious afternoon.  Through Sandra’s nurturing instruction, we meticulously slice, dice, sautee, stir, mash, steam and simmer the following dishes in Royal Thai style: green curry paste from scratch; green curry chicken - Keang Keaw Wan Kai; sour and spicey prawn soup – Tom Yam Koong; stir fried rice noodles – Pad Thai; pomelo salad with wing bean – Yom Som O Tua Plu; and, finally, la piece de resistance, young coconut cistard – Sang Kaya Mapoaw Aon.  And then we took it all away to share with friends and family later on.  You may remember that I spoke about our visit to Blue Elephant Cooking School with in the very first days of this blog.  Well, now I have actually tasted the wares and I am a fan for life.  Khup kun ka, Khun Sandra!

My last event before leaving Bangkok on the 16th was to be a lengthy meeting with Khun Sylvia and Khun Sutthiwan from Trails of Indochina to review the favorite moments from our trek from North to South and hammer out the final details of our upcoming Thai Food Adventures.  With Kay’s preferences in mind, my own very strong favorites and Trails of Indochina’s impeccable knowledge regarding the ins and outs of Thai travel, we arrived at some very interesting itineraries.  You, dear traveler, will just have to download the newly revised itinerary when it becomes available on www.sq-travelbydesign.com and www.kaycooks.com by the end of this month.  Keep checking!  You won’t want to miss these extraordinary travels with my great friend and accomplished Thai cook, Kay Plunkett-Hogge.  Mean while, click on my “All About Kay Gallery”, included herein, for a teensy taste of what lays a head in Thailand with KPH. Sawadee kah, from all of us at Travel by Design.

Your muse, Susan Quillin.