Hi guys! I know it's been a long time since I've last posted. Work got busy all of a sudden, had friends visiting, went to Bangkok, and after that, my grandma fell ill for the last month or so, so my time was divided between work and the hospital. My dear grandma peacefully passed away last week, and it has been a trying week, and I thank all my friends and family for their support during this time. I wrote an ode to my grandma on my personal blog, so if you are interested (or are my sister or family), you can check it out on my blog. Didn't want to sound all emotional and sad on this post. Anyhow, I'm feeling better now, so I thought I'd blog about Bangkok before it's nothing but a distant memory.
This was my first time to Bangkok (I know, ridiculous at the age of 30), so I had been researching on places to go when I was there. Luckily, I had the pleasure of having the best, nicest, most easy going travel mate, Diane, so it was a really fun, relaxing trip. I did try to find some places with the best food and everything, and this is my account, but to be honest, I have to say that Bangkok is one of those places that the best food is found in small food stalls outside malls and along roads, instead of high-end expensive restaurants. Of course, I'm talking about traditional Thai food. If gourmet food is your goal, this is not one of those trips.
I asked a dozen of friends what to do in Bangkok. I pretty much only hear four answers. Eat. Shop. Massage. Club. That's pretty much it. It's amazing how my sister, who has probably been to Bangkok like 20 times, still stuck to the same routine everytime she goes! I guess once you find something you like, you stick to it.
Places to go visit and shop:
1) GRAND PALACE
We stayed at the Novotel above Platinum mall, so the grand palace was a 30 min taxi ride away in traffic. It was totally worth it though, even though the entrance fee was something like USD15 bucks. It is just so spectacular.
And everything was so sparkly! I love shiny things!
Inside this temple is the Emerald Buddha, which is a jade statue of Buddha. You might ask, why not the Jade Buddha? Apparently legend has it that it is such a deep hue of green that it was mistaken for emerald at the first glance. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but I assure you that it is worth a look.
Cam-whoring in front of the temple.
The whole estate was HUGE, and we took a few hours to go through everything. Everything was so intricate and elaborate and beautiful! Apparently, this palace was built by the royal prince for his parents, to show his fillial piety or something. Man, I wish I was a Thai princess!
Anyway, I know all these facts about the palace by snucking behind chinese tour groups, and pretending I don't understand Chinese (Diane was good to be the decoy partner in this case. Hehe.).
2) ASIATIQUE:
This is currently the newest "night market" in Bangkok, and I put the quotation marks because it is more like a night time open-air mall more than the traditional night market. There is a high amusement park on one end, and loads of high end to moderate restaurants on the other side, and in the center, a gazillion tiny shops to shop in.
The cool thing is that you get to this market via a ferry, and it takes 30 minutes to get there. You can see the mall from the ferry, and it looks pretty romantic at night, a bright jewel in the middle of darkness.
I would recommend this place for families or couples, since it has a romantic, magical vibe to it. We thought it was pretty cool, but I wouldn't go back there. Not enough good for value shopping, plus no local cheap fare. Hehe.
Funny sign pointed out by Diane.
3) CABBAGES and CONDOMS
This is a restaurant that serves traditional Thai fare with the notion of promoting safe sex. The creator of this popular restaurant believed that condoms should be as common as cabbages in the market.
They have condom costumes all around, and around the restaurant, you can find an exhibition of condoms from all around the world! I wasn't too blown away by the food, but I thought it was an interesting place to check out. Cool place to go if you want to check out the sexy side of Thailand but not to the extent of going to ping pong shows ;)
4) FOOD:
Of course, this was the main focus of my trip right. So, after researching on food, I realized that the best food are the ones I just stumbled across on the street.
This tom yam soup with rice was our first dish of the trip, and it was really good. Spicy, with really tender fresh seafood. Courtesy of a food stall outside the mall next to Platinum Mall.
Surf and turf cafe:
I had this basil pork in this dusty looking cafe and Diane had a green curry, and it turned out to be one of the best meals of our trip! The pork was quite spicy, and tangy sweet, and the basil was soooooo fresh.
Platinum Mall Food Court Chives Dumpling stall:
Looking at these emerald chives dumplings, I can't help but salivate once again. These are the BEST chives dumplings I have EVER eaten, and they were so goddamn cheap! And they come in this sweet spicy soy sauce. Mmmm! I ate 20 of them within a 6 hr time frame. Took 8 to go for the airport and ate them up before my flight. Amazing........slurp. Just go to the top floor of Platinum mall, and this is part of the food court. Super awesome.
Thong Lo (Soi 38) Market:
This came up as one of the top food markets. I have to say that upon reaching, I was a little disappointed because it wasn't as big or bustling as I had hoped. Regardless, it was fun just eating there and experiencing the culture.
I had pretty amazing stir fried noodles from a stall where an old uncle is just stir frying noodles in this gigantic wok.
Thip Samai
This was recommended by Luyi to be the BEST pad thai in Bangkok, and it was really good! Apparently, the prime minister who coined the dish "Pad Thai" thought it was the best Pad Thai in Bangkok as well.
The noodles were sticky and chewy and a tad on the sweet side, but it was in all, a really solid dish.
5) SHOPPING:
B) Terminal 21: I like this mall. Even though the shops are typically small Bangkok style, they did a good job of spacing the shops up. And I like the idea of them naming every level a different country, and the whole mall is a big airport sorta. The shops here are more upscale than Platinum Mall, and I LOVE the accessories they sell! I bought like 6 pairs of earrings, and they were of such great quality and only like 6-12 bucks!
One of the pairs of earrings.
6) CLUBBING:
We went to Falla Bella only. It was fun, but only if you 1) like really tasty kebab sticks of bbq meat 2) like Mink 3) like thai live bands. We had a great time only because the bartender was sooooooo nice! :D
Us looking pretty for the cam!
The best bartender EVER. We bought a couple of shots and talked a bit and he was super nice! Came up with a series of burning/ flaming shots for the rest of the night....
It was a crazy night, I think we might have had all kinds of alcohol all in one night. Absinthe, champagne, vodka, tequila, rum, whisky etc. Thinking about it still makes my stomach lurch a little.
This shot is called Monkey brain, and it was indeed the shot that did us in. Order at your own risk!
One of our last drinks that night.....
GENERAL TIPS IN BANGKOK:
1) Do not take the tuk tuk when there's heavy traffic unless you are going like 5 blocks. We were stuck in traffic for like 40 min and we were dying from the exhaust fumes.
2) Always haggle with the tuk tuk or taxi drivers if they ask for a flat fee. You should first insist on the meter. If they want to stick to a flat rate, then you haggle. Always go like 50% of what they ask, and settle at 70%.
3) If you want to be part of the local thai atas crowd, go to Falla Bella. If you want to meet other international travellers who actually dance, and drink, go to RCA. Trust me.
4) If your taxi driver asks if you would like to go on some sightseeing tour or some river boat thing, say NO. They usually take commission and drive you to their partner tour vendors, and it is quite the scam.
I fell in love with Basil Pork so much that I decided to try to cook my own. It's really a ridiculously easy dish to cook!
Ingredients:
String beans
Baby corn
cherry tomatoes
Chilli padi
Basil Leaves
Pork
1) First, fry the chilli padi in oil. Be careful about the amount you put it, go according to your own spice levels.
2) Add in pork, add fish sauce and sugar to season. Add the rest of the veggies except for the basil leaves. Add basil leaves 5 minutes before you are done (otherwise they shrivel).
I am going to end today's post with my baby pictures. Came across them while looking at old pictures at the wake.....
My sister says I was super "act-cute". Ha.
And this post is in loving memory of my dear grandma.
