Pilot, Accused of Drinking, Just on Diet

by Willy Volk on

Last month, a pilot for Virgin Atlantic was accused by a colleague of being drunk while on the flight deck of an Airbus A340-600. Police boarded the plane and removed the pilot immediately. Since then, the pilot has been cleared of any wrong-doing, because at the time of the incident, he was on a low-carb diet.

Evidently, people on low-carb diets have smelly breath — thanks to ketosis — and the odor is what tipped off the “nosey” airport worker. Virgin released an announcement today claiming, “Subsequent blood tests later confirmed that the amount of alcohol in his blood was the equivalent to that of a non-drinker.”

Moral of the story: just because your pilot smells like booze and there are bottles littering the flight deck, that doesn’t mean he’s been drinking. His weight-loss program may just include some intensive recycling. But still…g’head and ask him if he’s okay to fly.

Thai Cooking Classes: Eat Your Way to Bliss

by Jamie Rhein on

When Brian Battjer went to Thailand (see Justin’s post), he did partake in one of the fine aspects of this country, the Thai massage. Even a half-hour hand or foot massage is bliss.

While massages transport you to heaven through the sense of touch, a Thai cooking class will bring you there through your taste buds. Besides that, it’s fun and a way to meet fellow travelers. And, if you happen to be traveling with kids, it’s one of those things to do as a family where everyone is happy. Our daughter was 8-years old the first time we took a class. We returned the next year for course number two.

Cooking schools have several options ranging from one day to several day courses. We did the one-day option, signing up at the travel agency stand at our hotel the day before the class. All travel agencies in Thailand seem to have a big book filled with tour options and will point you towards a class that suits your needs. Cooking classes will list the menu items. We headed to the one that had green curry chicken for our first class.

Our cooking school class in Chiang Mai involved meeting at the cooking school to eat tropical fruit from Thailand before taking a trip to the market where the instructor lead us from stall to stall to tell us about each of the ingredients that makes Thai food so delectable. Afterwards we became chefs and worked in pairs to cook five different dishes from salads to main courses to dessert. Our daughter was paired with John, another participant who was there on his own. We figured John would let her chop and dice more readily than we would. She chopped away with a very large knife at the cooking station next to us.

After we cooked each dish we ate it before cooking another. This is one way to cook your way through breakfast, lunch and up to dinner. Here is a link that lists cooking classes in Chiang Mai. One of the schools, Chaing Mai Thai Cookery School looks like the one we went to, although it’s not. Ours was run by a guy named Tim, but I don’t think they have a website since I haven’t come across it. Here is another interesting option. Chiang Mai Kitchen also offers a “stay in a countryside village” and the fare is organic. From the website photos you can see what dishes you’ll be cooking and it looks like a lot of the ingredients are grown on-site.

The Chork: Chopsticks + Fork Fusion

by Justin Glow on

Meet the Chork, a fork-chopstick hybrid food gadget, like the spork, or the Futter. This is perfect for those times when you want to use chopsticks but don’t really know how, but still want the luxury of wood pressing against your lips as you shovel food into your mouth. That was always my problem with chopsticks. I’m American, I like to eat my meals in 2 minutes or less, and that’s just not possible with chopsticks. These are perfect though. Thanks, Slashfood!

Where to Get Your Drink On

by Jonathon Morgan on

For those of you looking to get roaring drunk on your next holiday abroad, you’re probably in the market for a really good pub crawl. I spent my college days in Liverpool — formerly rated the UK’s number 1 party city — so, rest assured, I know what I’m talking about.

But beyond the unchecked inebriation, and poorly-harmonized group renditions of “Lean On Me” that often accompany these sorts of excursions, in some cities, pub crawls are the best way to get to know the local population.

Thanks to Vincent Crump and Chris Haslam at the Times Online, you can review a handpicked list of the best pub crawls in the best pub crawl cities — Sydney, Dublin, Boston and Edinburgh. Not only do they give you a run down on the cultural significance of all their chosen watering holes, but the pair are even so thoughtful as to offer culinary suggestions for the morning after — pleasant ways to ease out of that hangover (or beat it to death with fried eggs and bacon).

Bottoms up.

World’s First Underwater Restaurant

by Jonathon Morgan on

Ever wanted to eat fish amongst the fish, or watch a stingray swim past during dinner? If this sounds like your thing, travel to the Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa, where you can eat at Ithaa — the world’s first-ever undersea restaurant.

By the looks of it, you’ll be dining in an inverse aquarium, 5 meters below the surface of the Indian Ocean, surrounded by the beautiful coral reef.

According to The West Virginia Blogger: “The cuisine is dedicated to the fine balance of western food items with a Maldivian flavor, the wine concept is equally exciting, offering diners the perfect opportunity to discover the wines of the prestigious Champagne house Louis Roederer.”

As you might suspect, it’s not cheap. Dinner will run you an average of $187 to $220. But for a once-of-a-lifetime dining experience, maybe it’s worth it.

[via Spluch]