One thing strange I found out bout some hotels in Bangkok is that they station chambermaids on every floor of the hotel, and these chambermaids enter your room multiple times throughout the day. I discovered this last year when I was in Bangkok on conference. Went to my room to grab my jacket, came back an hour later and found that they have straightened my tousled closet. And replaced fruit from the fruit basket.
G and I came back from the humid streets of Chinatown, and it was such a welcome to find freshly lit sandalwood incense on the burner. And a little gift by our pillows.
It's actually a jasmine scent basket to hang by your bedside to let you sleep better.
Guess we really needed all the aromatherapy as we were going to indulge in some fruits of the strong smelling variety. Turians! They were surprisingly not very pungent, yet creamy and sweet. Personally I prefer the bitter variant. But I'll happily accept durian of any kind.
Durian admidst fine cutlery and champagne glasses, doesn't get better than this!
Aftermath of the turian, gdnight folks!
Bangkok Chinatown
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Chinatowns, you find one of them in different cities all over the world. I've been to the ones in New York, Yokohama, Sidney, San Francisco. My mum makes it a point to visit the chinatowns of the different places, and I'm amazed at how Chinese all over the world manage to make a part of the city they settle in look so similar.
G"s mum got us to buy some salted fish, however as we only started walking the streets of Chinatown after 6pm, most of the stalls were about to close and we didn't get too many enthusiastic store keepers tending to our enquiries. Most of them spoke only Thai and Chinese only.
Roasted pork with all that crispy skin! And kway chap! As much as both G and I love both of these, we were way too stuffed!
Not too stuffed for durians though, OR as i'd like to call them turians, Thai durians! The guy getting us a good price for them!
Because all the stores were all closing their shutters, we decided to head on to Thong Lor. Took the train there and spotted was their priority seat sign. Priority to the monks!
Thong Lor 8 is one place you need to hit when you're in Bangkok, I love all of the shops there. Discovered this place a year ago when I was in Bangkok for a conference.
One thing about G and I is that we kinda found a middle ground when it comes to shopping. He doesn't understand how I can spend so much time, AND money, on blog shopping. I on the other hand just get a splitting headache once I step into Sim Lim. Somehow, both of us really love shopping for homeware, furniture and groceries! Strange, but true.
Stuffed from the sea
Saturday, July 14, 2012
So to make sure our trip had a bit of touristy element, we decided to include Chinatown in the itinerary. But I'll leave the full glory of Chinatown picture 'til the next post.
What's missing in Singapore is really cheap seafood, where you can order anything you like on the menu and still be left with some change for dessert.
Read some good review on tripadvisor for T&K Seafood, so off we went in search of this place. The search didn't take too long though, our tuk tuk driver knew exactly where it was located. Score! or not. Either it was a local haunt through and through, OR a huge tourist trap.
T&K was located in a shop house. Though it was barely 5pm, just late enough to classify it dinner time, the first level of T&K was already packed to the brim. We had to climb to the second floor which was packed with diners as well, go through a cram narrow balcony which was part of a kitchen, to the next shop house unit and finally found available seating.
G and I found this photo hilarious, coz the kitchen staff actually posed for our photo. Photobomb!
What better than beer to accompany seafood, and since we're in bangkok, G decided to go with some local Chang beer. Was $3 for a large bottle.
Different concoction of chilis, mmm simply love how much spices and herbs go into thai cooking.
Oyster omelette, you have to ask the guy how this tasted, because I don't take them oysters. 'All the better..', claims the boyfriend. He gets them all!
Now this is my favourite, yellow curry prawns!!! Just look how huge the prawn heads are....
Crab vermicelli, this blew our socks off! First of all, CRAB, my favourite seafood EVERRR!
And then at the bottom of the claypot we found a huge chunk of pork lard.
All in all, we spent less than $30 on all these, not a must visit in my opinion. But good seafood at reasonable prices. Eating with the guy made it even more enjoyable!
Som Tam Nua
Friday, July 13, 2012
Still stuffed from breakfast, we decided to head for our planned lunch destination anyways. Nestled along Soi 5 of the Siam Square compound was this little gem. Som Tam Nua. Well, that would be what the last Thai character would be read as. Well we didn't know that. And all we knew of the shop was that it was called Tam Nua. So we walked past the place a couple of times, asked a couple of locals before we checked with the waiters in the shop.
What we noticed was that it was still some time to a proper lunch time, yet this eating place was filled to the brim with locals. We were lucky to get a seat, a window-side one even!
Heya hottie! In all sense of the word..the weather was scorching! Love that the ice in bkk was always slushified.
Gosh the Thais' unique blend of spices and chillies just baffles my tastebuds!
Som Tam is Thai for papaya salad, and that was the specialty of this place. Crunchy unripe papaya strips tossed with long beans, fried pork rind and thinly-sliced soy bean cakes in a light dressing. Perfect for the hot weather.
Pork shoulder meat stir-fried with mint leaves and dried chilli was another of the shop's specialty. Do not order this if you do not like your meat tough.
Authentic thai-styled deep fried fish with the works. This I love! The wonderful mixture of sweetness from the onion, saltiness from the spices, tanginess from the mint leaves together with the crunch of the fish skin fried to perfection. Mmm mmm mmm! And best part of it all? Didn't cost an arm and a leg!
And who could go wrong with fried chicken. And Som Tam Nua certainly did not disappoint with their marinate. This plus that sweet and sour chilli just hit the spot.
Couldn't wait to dig in despite still being full from brekkie.
All the food was polished up of course!
So stuffed we almost couldn't fit through the entrance. Haha but no the entrance was strangely narrow somehow.
And if I had loads of cash to spare, this would be the place in bangkok I would spend it. Located right opposite Som Tam Nua, they have the most eclectic designs I've ever seen. They have another branch at chaktuchak and another at a mall. But gosh Rotsaniyom, why are prices so steep!
Guess the guy was really bored when I got too caught up in stationary shopping. Oh but my heart melted when I turned to try out some cutesy pen, and caught sight of his message. Love!
