{Days 6-9} Koh Samui, Thailand: Don’t Kayak with a German + Weekly Menu

Day 6: While Lena and Mr. P slept the morning away, I wandered out to the street and walked the entirety of Chaweng with my latte. Unfortunately for me, Koh Samui is a party place and no where opened until 10am. I retreated to the pool with book and soduko in hand where I met a friendly man from Kuait who shared with me how grateful his country is for the US and their support back in 1990. Always good to hear nice things about the motherland!

We spent the day out at the pool after an amazing breakfast at the Ark Bar (hotel bar/restaurant on the beach). Before my sunburn could fully set in, I did enjoy a 60 minute beach-front massage for 200 baht (the equivalent of $6.51 USD).

After freshening up, we took a cab to Fisherman’s Village where I proceeded to feel ill effects of either 1) breakfast/juice with ice and/or 2) too much sun. Either way…miserable. We ran into some pretty phenomenal Aussies with whom and for whatever reason, I shared my upset stomach with. Having been in my shoes, one quickly suggested a prescription I needed to pick-up (drugs are OTC in Thailand, but administered by a chemist/pharmacist). With a pharmacy 2 doors down, he went with me to the drug store and proceeded to not only help himself to behind the pharmacy counter, but to tell the chemist/pharmacist how many of said drug I needed. Hilarious. And I am forever grateful for ever mentioning my GI upset to a complete stranger.

Day 7: Feeling better. We took a day trip that lead us from open-air Jeep and boat to snorkeling and kayaking. The Jeep ride took us from one end of the island of Chewang to the clear opposite side where we got onto a speed/fishing boat with several Australians and Germans. After a 30-minute boat ride, we arrived at corral where we hopped in and started exploring the fish of the sea. And here I deeply regretting not purchasing an underwater camera.

From snorkeling, we boated to a small, uninhabited island where we piled into 2 person kayaks. Somehow, I ended up in a Kayak with a German who wanted to race around the island and beat his brother. After about an hour and the development of several blisters on my hands, the German and I beat his brother.

Gorgeous views around the island and sadly I didn’t have my camera, nor would it have been *appreciated* if I had stopped to take photos. From kayaking, a hot Thai meal was provided on the island. We boated back to Koh Samui and piled back in our Jeep to head back to the hotel.

After showers, we headed out for souvenir shopping and then out to dinner. I ordered Chicken Panang which was excellent, and Mr. Prevention ordered the seafood grill which consisted of king prawns, mussels, and mackerel (which I had never had and was excellent). After dinner, Lena and I tried a banana pancake made street-side in a cart. It was a thin, crepe-like shell filled with banana and peanut butter, or various other fruit and spread selections. Very, very good!

At night, we went to our hotel beach party. On Wednesdays, there is a huge to do that was, in short, a hot mess. After people-watching for several hours, there were many removed articles of clothing, insane amounts of liquor consumed, and plenty of drunk, dancing people that were extremely entertaining to watch. We headed out just as rain started to fall and within minutes, there was lightening and downpours, but very much so still a party as we could hear from our room. Ah, to be young again 😉

Day 8: Thai cooking class! Sadly, the class we had researched and wanted to attend was unavailable due personal illness. We opted for the more of a “touristy” class which was wonderful. Lena and I cooked and learned about Thai cuisine and Mark joined us to eat — a pork red hot curry with veggies, a seafood (shrimp and squid) and vegetable medley with an oyster sauce base, and lastly, a coconut lemongrass fish soup. Divine!

From class, we headed back to the airport and back off to Singapore and had a long recovery sleep.

Day 9: We headed to an indoor mall food court with tons of selection for lunch. I opted for a noodle and dumpling Chinese dish, which was excellent. We proceeded from there to a doughnut shop where we tried a delicious, albeit lower in sugar doughnut. The doughnuts are certainly rich and indulgent, but I would venture to guess that the sugar content is about half of that in US doughnuts.

We strolled around wholesale markets that locals shop at and picked up several items I hope to use in recreating Thai, Chinese, and Indonesian dishes. We souvenir shopped and ended the afternoon with a popular to-do: trying a durian fruit. Though not native to Singapore, these smelly fruits are popular. They greatly range in both size and price. Their scent is so strong that they are not allowed on public transportation or inside most buildings. They are sold, and typically eaten, street side which is just what we did. While the aftertaste was something mango-like, I have no idea how to describe the taste other than not good. The skin of the fruit (inside) has a film-like coating that encases an almost pudding consistency of fruit, gathered around a pit. The man sitting next to me enjoying his durian swore that if I gave the fruit 5 shots, I would love it. Who knows!

We relaxed a bit in the late afternoon and went to Clark Quay for a few drinks (with a spectacular view!) and later back to Jumbo (different location) for chili crab, per Mr. P’s request. We also tried a pepper crab, seafood fried rice, and a fried bean curd (tofu) with plum sauce appetizer. Delicious!

We went home to pack and sleep a few short hours before we took a cab to the airport at 4:30am to depart for Hong Kong and then back to Chicago.

Amazing, awesome trip! So glad we took the plunge and went! This week it’s back to the grind with work, working out, cooking, and so on!

Weekly Menu: July 10th-14th

• Sunday: Penne and Zucchini Carbonara
• Monday: Baked Eggs in Mushrooms with Zucchini Ragout
• Tuesday: leftovers
• Wednesday: Tropical Butternut Squash Salad with Chicken Satay
• Thursday: Grilled Zucchini and Goat Cheese Rollatini with Raisins and Pistachios and homemade marinara on whole wheat pasta

My Monday started off with a killer 4-mile run…back to the grind!

Question: Have you ever attended a cooking class?

Be well,