Day 7. 25 Jan. 2011. A wander in the neighborhood then master class in the evening.

We didn’t set the alarm last night. It retrospect, we probably should have told Jennifer. She waited for us for breakfast. Last night there was a sound like someone taking a ridiculous long shower. Turn out the water boiler had burst. Overnight there was no water, and in the morning only cold. I washed with a cloth, since I hate cold showers.

Matt took leftover salad with him downstairs, planning to ask simply for a fork and plate to eat it with, but Jennifer offered food and so with some protest, we also got yoghurt with strawberries and maple syrup. Yum. But I still wasn’t hungry. I didn’t have the salad, just the yoghurt and some water.

Then we slathered on the sunscreen and asked to use the bicycles. Silly us; it was about noon. Hot hot hot! We were just getting ready to leave when Pon ran over to explain the bikes to us (typical oma fietsen) and check the tires. He decided we needed more air, pumped us up, made us demonstrate that we understood how to use the wheel lock, and then we set off.

We rode around the maze-like subdivision for a while, before stumbling on the front gate. We left the bikes there by the gatehouse with other bikes, and walked across the road to the market. It was nearly empty today. We’d been there the other night to get cash and it was packed. Today there were only a few stalls open. We walked down to a coffee cafe at the end of the adjacent strip mall, then wandered around the stalls briefly.

Behind the market, we saw another pleasant looking residential neighborhood, this one not gated, so we walked around in it for a while. Following up on our conversation about daily religion, we noticed that every yard or garden has a shrine of various size. These are always clearly tended with new incense and other fresh offerings, so clearly there is daily religious practice here.

We passed a free-range monk, then a medium sized wat complex. We wandered a little longer through the neighborhood before turning back.

The subdivision Sompon lives in is a big maze. We bicycled around it for a long time before we were able to find the house. There was enough time to shower (cold again) and relax before our class began.

Tonight we were the only students. First we made 3 pastes. Jennifer came out and chatted a bit with us as well. She was a tv chef in Beijing herself! Fusion Chinese.

After the pastes, we prepared:

Yummy pepper leaf appetizer- like the galloping horse of the night before, but more coconut.
Bombay curry- mild and tasty
White fish in curry and banana leaf- Sompon says he’s never taught anyone this one before. He will have to handwrite the recipe for us. Jennifer says it’s her favorite.
Beef salad- yum…
Minced meat patties on lemongrass skewers- yum again. Probably my favorite tonight.

After we cooked, Sompon and Jennifer left to go out for a belated birthday celebration, and we went to find Sue and Barbara to invite them to eat our feast with us. That helped. We nearly cleaned the plates this time!

There’s a new set of guests who’ve arrived. Australians named Lisa and Tom, brother and sister. They were enjoying their gourmet dinner as we padded upstairs to bed.

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