Chiang Mai

Yui demonstrating how to cook Thai green curry

Pam and I decided to improve our limited culinary 'skills' at a Thai cookery class, run by Yui - a lovely lady who will be appearing on a Channel 4 documentary later this year to show Gordon Ramsay a thing or two.

The day started off with a visit to a local food market, where we were told how to select the best ingredients and choose the freshest meat. We were picked up in a cool VW campervan and taken to Yui's home, where she demonstrated how to cook three dishes: pad Thai, hot & sour soup and Thai green curry. We each had our own work station (not to mention razor sharp chef knife!) It was so much fun and somehow, all our fingers remained intact, although Pam did manage to evaporate most of her soup by turning the heat on the hob up rather than off - a true 'Pamism'.

Trying to look like we know what we're doing!

It's quite ironic that the best Thai food I've eaten in Thailand was cooked by my own hand! I would offer to cook for you all when I get home, but as Pam claimed she was a better cook than me, I'll nominate her to do that instead.

After a busy couple of weeks in the city, we decided to take some chill out time and soak up some morning sun by the pool. The only problem is, I soaked up a little too much and am now as pink as Pam's nail varnish.

Since this horrible incident (which left me only able to lie and watch football for a day - how terrible), we have flown to Phuket, where we are staying just 50 metres from the beautiful Karon Beach.

Hot & sour soup

Pam had to venture out alone to explore on the first morning while I 'recovered', but she came back in one piece and even brought me chocolate - score!

Tomorrow, we are going to see the final of the Kata Beach surfing competition, which should be interesting seeing as the red flags (meaning it is too dangerous to swim) will be flying. Hopefully, I will pick up some tips for surfing in Australia - Andrew, take note!

James