Bangkok Uncovered!

Continuation of the Bangkok adventure.

Went Maboonkrong area for some shopping and mani pedi session. Of course everything there was much more expensive compared to the Pratunam area because once again, its targeted at the tourists. But anyhow, we had awesome mani pedi (200Baht + 100Baht) with pretty good service. Remember to tip everyone who does your nails! Important and only a small tip like 20Baht per person is sufficient.

Lunch was Shabu-Shabu at MBK. Its on the same level at the food court and really cheap! Could do better with the flavoring of the food but still an enjoyable meal!

Headed for desserts after lunch at the MBK foodcourt. In my opinion, Platinum Shopping Centre's foodcourt still wins handsdown even though the one at MBK is bigger. The quality of the desserts were not good. We actually had a tapioca block that tasted bad and had to throw the whole piece away. The red ruby was fine though.

redruby is a popular thai dessert which looks like mock pomegranate seeds but is actually pea sized water chestnut bits coated in red jelly and served with coconut milk and ice. really yummy!

How to aid digestion of a full meal? Take a walk around the supermarket to scout for any interesting or cheap snacks etc that can be stocked up or bringing back home! Pineapple Basil drink sounds....quite questionable. We bought quite a few fresh fruits and snacks!

Since we ate so much for lunch, we decided to 'detox' by going to Chinatown for the famed Kaya Butter toast bread. I have never tasted such awesome Kaya in my life, plus look at the generous heap of kaya dumped onto the bread! The bread has been spread with butter and toasted over charcoal before the Kaya is placed on top and cut into bite sizes. It was fantastic and worth every bit of the 15Baht we paid for one slice. Go early to avoid disappointment. This stall is a complete sell-out by 10pm every night and it only starts operations at about 6pm. Location is opposite the Bank of Ayudya.

We also tried the Butter Condensed Milk toast but it didn't taste as awesome as the Kaya toast so we ordered the latter again. We had 3 Kaya toasts in total!

Chinatown here is a long stretch of shops, restaurants and make shift food stalls. A pretty interesting sight. We had bird's nest for 20baht and iced ovaltine for 15baht. The hot drinks cost more than the cold drinks cos they put so much ice into the drink, only 1/3 of the cup is actually non-ice. The durians are so huge! I think 3 people can share one durian and be full from it.

After that we wanted to go out for another night of shopping at the locals market, Sepanput. Unfortunately, it started pouring and since it was only a short distance away from Chinatown, we took a cab there to wait for the rain to stop (36baht taxi fare). But the rain did not stop so we took shelter at a random roadside stall and warmed ourselves up over a steaming bowl of tom yum soup. it was good, and it only cost 70baht though the locals will have it cheaper.)

Street corn is delicious! Steamed and juicy, no salt/butter is needed. Eat it while shopping for a healthy, cheap snack at 10baht!

My random tidbits buys for eating and to bring home. Chinatown has a few quirky things that I use to eat while growing up, such as fried ikan bilis, peanut candy, cuttlefish sheet, pork floss rolls etc, and I had to buy them home!

The Thai fishcake is a must try also! eat it with the thai sweet chili and prepared fresh on the spot is so good! 20baht only. I'd say, we had a field day scouting for different local food along the street to try!

Thai massage before heading back to the hotel. The one next to our hotel cost us 200baht, while the one at platinum cost us 350baht. really ticklish but good.

Packed red ruby back to eat cos we were so full from lunch but wanted to have our last taste of it before we pack up and leave for the airport. They packed it for us separating the rubies, coconut milk, ice and included the bowl! so thoughtful!

The insane Bangkok traffic. The hotel staff advised us leaving the hotel 3 hours before the flight and it sure was a useful tip because we were caught in the peak hour traffic and unfortunately i really needed the toilet. Sure was an experience, especially with the taxi driver going at 140km/hr on the highway and I didn't dare to move myself in order to belt up.

Had dinner at the airport. The prices there were quite high for the local standards but still affordable. I had green curry rice, where the rice was served star-shaped, for 250baht. I liked it. It was really tasty.

Thus concludes the Bangkok adventure. It was a good break away from work/studies and we had a great time on an affordable budget. Would recommend anyone who is looking for a great time shopping, eating, relaxing and on a budget!

Naked Bangkok Part II

Next morning was rise and shine for every shopping fanatic favourite place, Chatuchak Market! Had breakfast there - Mango Sticky Rice (50baht), fried chicken noodles and fried rice (40 baht). All of which were prepared upon order. Fresh!

Snacks while walking around the market included juicy sweet pineapples from the pushcart, home-made coconut icecream which was creamy and smooth and had bits of jelly inside and kaya custard bread.

Time for lunch! We had beef slices with beef ball kway teow. The beef balls were huge! About the size of my fist. I love the kwayteow, it is so smooth and silky and goes well with the soup. The beefballs were not bad though the beef slices had abit too much fats. All in all, still a pretty satisfying meal.

After an entire day's of shopping, it was time to change and head out for dinner and drinks, but not before having our complimentary welcome drinks on the top floor, the observation deck on the 85th storey. Although it was only fruit punch, it was worth it for the view was good. The relaxing lounge was abit of a disappointment though, because it was quite small and there's nothing to do there except to sit, chill and see the view. Maybe they should learn from Singapore's New Asia Bar at the top floor of Westin Hotel and have a dance floor or play some nice music instead of Westlife.

However, if you don't stay at Baiyoke Sky Hotel but want to experience the view from the tallest tower in Thailand, you can pay 200 baht to go up to the observation deck for a drink and the view.

Headed to Suan Lum Night Market for dinner and some sight seeing. Dinner was at the Suan Lum Beer and Dinner Garden, where everything is situated under a huge black tent, with a stage and live performance and rows of beer and zichar stalls. We ordered pineapple fried rice, green curry, tom yam seafood and fried kangkong. Not bad except portions were abit small for 3 people. Along with Asahi beer (which was cheap), we watched live performances by the locals singing Lady Gaga, Westlife, Backstreet Boys etc.

After an hour of fruitless shopping (because everything at Suan Lum is overpriced. Just a night market tourist attraction), we headed to RCA, where the locals go to party, destress and chill. The last time I was in Bangkok, I was at the club Route 66 which had cheap drinks, good music and a really posh setting (the toilet had a string quartet playing). This time we chose the club called Flix and as we were tired, we didn't join the party crowd inside, but just sat outside on the cushy seats while chillaxing over our drinks. I had the Singapore Sling which was quite sour. Ordered a bowl of mid-wings to share, which is chicken wings cut into half though it looks like frog legs. It was really tasty!

Bangkok Part III to be continued soon!

Bangkok Stripped! - Part I

Sawadika!

Missfattyfoodie headed to Bangkok with two friends for some relaxing, shopping and eating session over the weekend! How to maximise the value of an airticket, especially when it was a last minute booking and the price is quite ridiculous for a Singapore-Bangkok jetstar flight? Book the earliest flight out and end up having less than 3 hours of sleep (in my friend's case. 50min of sleep).

Having been to Bangkok quite a few times, I felt very at home upon boarding the taxi en route to our hotel, Baiyoke Sky Tower Hotel, seeing the familiar landmarks. Unfortunately the Thais probably didn't welcomed me as much as I thought they did because our cab broke down in the middle of the highway for half an hour due to an overheated engine (you could see smoke rising from the front bumper) and we were subjected to points and stares for the whole duration until the Thai AA come along.

Anyway, our hotel was awesome. The tallest tower in Thailand with a fantastic view of the buildings and traffic.

I wonder who did the english signages for them...

Oh yeah, cheap and good thai food can be found just at the food court, in this case, Platinum Shopping Centre's food court on Level 6. Everything is so cheap (by Singapore standards). i got my tomyam seafood + glass noodles at 80 baht ($3.50) and it's way better than thai express's.

yummy. looks at the selection and serving of the food! the fried oyster dish, although it was just oysters and egg (no starch) was really good. I only ate the egg, cos I don't eat oysters, but my friends said that the oysters were really juicy and fresh! The pad thai was nice with the smooth silky flat noodles and peanut sauce.

Moving along, was the desserts! I think it should be a requisite that every meal be followed by desserts. They had a wide spread of freshly made thai desserts, both hot and cold. We ordered a red ruby and a portion of tapioca for sharing. The red rubies there were gigantic! 2.5xs the size of the Singaporean rubies. Plus the tapioca was very tender and chewy, goes really well with the coconut milk.

Food we had during our tea time, shopping break. I had the pork/meat ball noodles soup which only cost 40baht and tasted really good, despite looking like a simple and plain dish.

Dinner time! Thais are famed for their cheap and good seafood. Unfortunately, we had to listen to a smooth english talking taxi driver who brought us to this seafood place, Somboondee Restaurant, which charged us prices even more expensive than Jumbo Seafood Restaurant (famed Singapore seafood restaurant) and it wasn't in a nice restaurant setting and the portions were not big. The only saving grace was probably the food tasted good.  We had barberqued butter squid, chili crab, stir fry mixed vegetables and phad thai. The total came up to about 3,300 baht (about SGD $120). How incredibly ridiculous. There was a caucasian couple who was paying up as we were leaving and we heard them complaining that with the amount that was charged to them, they could have bought a round trip air ticket from Bangkok to Phuket!

Lesson learnt: Do not listen to taxi drivers seafood recommendations, because they will get a commission out of the prices you paid for the overcharged seafood, or settle the price with the restaurant before they kill and cook the seafood for you.

Alright! Bangkok Part II coming up! Stay tune for it!