I managed to swap my flight to Manila for one to Bangkok. I’ve visited Bangkok twice before but the last time I was there was way back in March 2016 when I was still in my probationary period with work! So when someone offered me this trip I couldn’t snap it up quick enough, as I’m a little fed up with being rostered to Manila.

We departed Dubai at 22:35 with a quick and easy 6 hours over to Suvarnabhumi International Airport. Landing just after 6am we made our way across the city to the hotel to check in.

Before the flight, I realised my friend Hannah who I joined with had just landed into Bangkok and we would be there for the day together. So a few quick messages, we arranged to meet at 13:20 to attend Thai Cooking School together! The class was from 13:30 to 17:00 and would teach you how to cook numerous traditional Thai dishes.

But first things first, a trip to the market to collect all the ingredients as a group and learn about the differences between Thai products and what we as a group would find in our home countries. We had a couple from the Philippines, South Korea, Bali and then myself and Hannah from the UK.

Our teacher Jay was brilliant and full of life. He knew the names for everything from all of our countries for example differential names such as what we call coriander in the UK, they call cilantro over the US. I would use one of the Asian examples but for the life of me I can’t remember what they were called nor would I be able to spell them correctly so I’ll leave you with that instead.

Picking up incredibly fresh produce, we then walked across to the school. I really miss learning so I was excited to immerse myself in something completely different and pick up some recipes to take back home with me, all the while doing it with a friend I haven’t seen in a ages!

First up we were cooking Tom Yum soup, a favourite of mine that I love to order in Dubai. Now I won’t need to, and will be able to cook it myself!

We were taken into a small room where all the ingredients were spread out and we formed a circle on cushions across the floor. An unusual way to sit and prepare food, but this is how many Thai people prepare these dishes.

Jay taught us the correct cutting and preparation methods and explaining them all thoroughly. Once we had everything cut up, it was outside to cook our dishes on the wok.

But we first began making our own coconut cream and coconut milk. I couldn’t believe how easy this method was and you were really learning how to make all of these recipes from scratch.

And after some simple preparation and quickly throwing all the ingredients together, voila, there was my prawn Tom Yum soup!

Throughout the day we also prepared, cooked and served up prawn and tofu pad Thai

Chicken Thai green curry,

Northern chicken salad

and my all time favourite mango sticky rice!

Feeling very full and very content we thanked the staff for a wonderful day and walked back in the direction of the hotel. With Hannah’s wake up call looming she went back to sleep for a short while before her flight, and I decided to go for a massage. When in Bangkok!

I opted for a fully body Swedish style massage (the Thai ones are too tough for me) which cost me about £15 for 90 minutes. Absolute bargain.

Finally it was time for bed after such a long time awake, but a fabulous day all in all, that I got to spend catching up with my friend. Thanks for a lovely day Hannah, can’t wait to cook Thai food with you back in Dubai!

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