Fish Tales

It’s the coast, not the beach! And, that’s my definition I’ve applied to any stretch of land near the Pacific Ocean in Northern Oregon. It’s one of those “spirit of the word” type applications for me, but it makes sense. Too many occurrences of frigid days coupled with near hurricane force winds drove me to make this distinction. It’s a technicality, I know… but, it’s just one of my things. Does it help if I mention those days were in July and August? Ya, probably not.

Anyway, a beach makes me think of coconut scented sun tan lotion. Sun glasses. Swimming suits. Foo-foo drinks. And, occasional dips in the ocean to cool off.

Conversely, a trip to the beach should not involve packing the jacket you wore last skiing season. Or, heavy blankets. Or, hot chocolate. Or, even snowmobile gloves to hold the kite nearly getting torn apart by the blasting wind. No, it’s not the beach if those things ever happen.

It’s the coast. Pass it along.

Beautiful Day @ Manzanita, Oregon Coast

Looking North from House

Seven Miles of Sand to The South

Coastal Grass Between Sand and House

At the Bali Bird Park, there’s a designated area for visitors to interact with the resident birds on a more personal level. The routine goes something like this: the park handler puts a bird on the visitor’s arm. A photo is snapped. Everyone moves on. Please drive thru. But, it’s amazing how far a five dollar tip goes at this park…

They allowed me to hold several varieties of birds, and at one point, six large birds were perched on me. Thankfully, none of them had any business to take care of. Especially the parrot seated on top of my head.

They also provided me the opportunity to feed a few birds. One particular bird felt especially friendly and decided to take a peanut right from between my front teeth! That was a first for me.

Gimme that peanut, chump

That's a big beak

Finally, outside the confines of the visitor experiential area, something interesting happened. As I walked down one of the walking paths a mischievous, white bird just above me caught my eye. We had a quick ‘moment’ and he looked at me as if saying “put your hand out… I’ll hop on it. Let’s be friends”. Given the size of his beak coupled with the location in the park, I felt somewhat apprehensive. But I stretched my arm out anyway.

A few minutes later we were best of friends. But he almost seemed more interested in my shiny watch and glasses. I was used!

Tug of war

One of our Thailand trip highlights… Pum’s Cooking School. The Patong Beach location integrates a Thai cooking experience with the actual restaurant and you get to cook in the same kitchen as the chefs preparing food for patrons. For the class, several packages are available, but we settled on the “Little Shoes” class that included instruction for three dishes. I chose to learn to cook Mussman curry with chicken, Phad Phak Med Memaung, and Phad Thai. All some of my favorites.

To begin, Pum reviewed the most popular herbs, spices and vegetables commonly found in Thai cooking. What the difference between Thai basil and regular basil? Which chilies go in each variety of curry? Is it okay to substitute ginger for galangal? All things that Pum answered.

Making curry paste

She also taught a quick lesson on some basic Thai ingredient and cooking word translations. Sure makes it easier to read a Thai menu now:

• Gai = Chicken
• Nua = Beef
• Moo = Pork (why not beef?)
• Pia = Fish
• Goong = Prawns
• Pooh = Crab
• Khao = Rice
• Med Mamuang = Cashew nuts
• Prik = Chili
• Nam = Liquid or sauce

 

• Phad = Fry
• Tom = Boil
• Prio = Sour
• Wan = Sweet
• Gaeng = Curry
• Yum = Soup

 

Mussman curry with chicken

To prepare the curry paste, we mixed several ingredients together in the mortar: red chilies, galangal, lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, garlic, Thai shallot, salt, Thai sweet basil and vegetable oil. Next, we smashed all the ingredients together into a paste with the pestle. Pum instructed that it should make a sound like “Buk, buk”, not “Tuk, tuk”. Otherwise you are doing it wrong and not smashing the ingredients correctly.

Finally, to complete the curry recipie, the curry paste was mixed into a pot with sliced chicken, coconut milk, water, vegetable oil, fish sauce, sugar, green beans, and kaffir lime leaves. Stir until warm and serve.

It tasted so good!

Pum was a great instructor and really made cooking fun. She tries to make Thai food simple and easy, while using all-natural ingredients. We learned Thai cooking should be “happy and healthy”.

Oh ya, she also gave us a copy of her cookbook.

Phad Phak Med Memaung

Pum & Greg

Standing behind the steamer

Pum & Debra

Koh Panyi Island

We visited a small Muslim ‘floating’ sea village connected to Koh Panyi Island, located off the coast of Phang-nga. The village has an ornate mosque built on the island, while the rest of the town is constructed on stilts above the water. Approximately two thousand people live in the village.

Some dwellings seemed fairly sturdy, but many looked less so. I kept thinking a large whitecap during a storm would send a few buildings into the sea.

Anyway, it was an interesting place to visit, but it mostly it felt like a destination that sacrificed its authenticity years ago in favor of tourism. Withstanding that, we really enjoyed our Thai lunch.

Homes on stilts

Not looking so sturdy

Some rice and drying chili peppers

Unfortunately, my trip to India was all business, all day. No time for sigh-seeing. So, pretty much all I experienced was the crazy, crazy traffic on the way from my hotel to the office. But, I did enjoy watching the auto rickshaws – the inexpensive taxis darting in and out of traffic congestion. I didn’t have the opportunity to ride in one, but the lack of doors and seatbelts, canvas roof and sheet-metal body concerned me a bit. But, maybe next time…

Auto Rickshaw in Bangalore

Bangalore Traffic @ 10pm Outside My Hotel

Unfortunately, this is as close as I got to Taipei 101 during this (work) trip. Maybe next time. 

The building has 101 floors and is designed to withstand strong typhoons. Good thing, because one is headed our way… getting iffy if I’ll be able to make my flight to Hong Kong tomorrow.

From the Car: Taipei 101

Took a tour of “The Official Residence of The Queen” where she spends many weekends. Actually, she was there during my visit… apparently the flag flying on the main tower signified that. After the tour, I took a break at a small café nearby and had a tasty scone with fresh strawberry jam, accompanied by a pot of tea and clotted cream.

Windsor Castle

I visited Stonehenge today… it felt really ‘old’ there, like I was walking around with the ancient people who mapped the sun and the moon with this monument. (unless, of course, UFOs helped them build it for a different purpose!) Overall, the trip out there was more than worth it.

Stonehenge

I could almost throw a rock from my hotel and hit Buckingham Palace… but that probably wouldn’t be a great idea because one of those guards with the black Q-tip hats would come after me.

Buckingham Palace

Called this small B&B home last night. It was a nice place to get away, sit by the fire, and read books.

Sleepy B&B