A Smörgåsbord of Stuff: Bangkok: June 2009

It was our first proper and complete family holiday, we have been on trips together before but Bro was always missing. It was Dad's first trip to Bangkok, he never could find the time to join us before his retirement.

We had to plan carefully, as we had a 9 year-old with us (plenty of entertainment required) and old folks (walking with enough rest in between, and yes, I think I fall in this category as well). Mom wanted to shop, Sis-in-Law (SIL) wanted to eat, eat and eat.

Our trip was a very short one, just 5D/4N for a large city like Bangkok.

In a nutshell:

Food * * * * *

Shopping * * * *

Sights * * *

People * * * * *

Company (no comment)

People * * * * *

The Thais are a bunch of friendly people, and so different from Malaysians. Every time I hear someone mention Malaysian Hospitality, I think to myself, what a load of crap. We are nowhere near the Thais (nor the Indonesians). Every restaurant, cafe, food court, roadside stall we went to, the service was excellent. When shopping, you can ask for the price, bargain and if you choose not to buy, you will not be thrown rude comments. The Thais really know what customer service is (and not reserved just for mat sallehs).

Sights * * *

We did not have time for much sight-seeing. We spent a day at the Safari World (aka zoo) where we saw lions and tigers roam in the "wild". They are well-fed, quite unlike the malnourished ones with protruding ribs you see at our zoos.

Another day was spent visiting the Bang Pa In Palace and Ayuthayya (similar to Angkor Wat, only on a much smaller scale) and on a boat cruise along the Chao Phraya river.

Shopping * * * *

We checked out Siam Paragon, things are generally more expensive but of course, some things are cheaper there.

If you are of regular size, do go to Platinum. Seven floors of clothes, prices ranging from THB 100 to THB 400 (MYR 10-40). It is similar to Sg Wang Plaza, only a whole lot more stores. Not really a place for a claustrophobic person.

My only complaint is that I did not get to check out Chatuchak.

Food * * * * *

I almost feel that I should devote one whole post on food alone. Many people I speak to were surprised that I had such awesome things to say about the food in Bangkok. I must state that everyone in my family except for dear Nephew loves everything and anything that is spicy so Bangkok was like heaven to us.

Mom and SIL had very specific things they wanted to eat. I was not really particular.

1. Sorntharn Restaurant near President Park Service Apartment

Every dish was good but the most notable dish has to be this cold salad of raw crabs topped with sauce of chilli, tomato, garlic and lemon. I was a bit apprehensive at first but Mom reminded me that it's just like eating sashimi, only this is Thai sashimi. I needed no further prompting.

It was really awesome. The taste of the cold crabs was fresh and sweet, and the fiery chilli gave it some ooomph (ooomph that went south to the rear end, I later discovered!). On the pic on the right, you can see the roe, which tasted really different when cooked. Instead of the firm texture we are used to, the roe is very light and you can just slurp it up. I found it very interesting.

Top Left: Deep fried fish with a very nice and refreshing mango kerabu.

Top Right: Braised goose feet with mushrooms and pork belly.

Bottom Left: Sun dried and deep fried pork.

Bottom Right: Braised prawn with glass noodles and mushrooms.

Price:

THB 2000 (about MYR 200)

2. Kungten Restaurant (on Nawamin Road)

(This is the part where I'm too lazy to talk about the trip but I shall post pics of the wonderful food *evil grin*)

Top: Steamed mussels, deep fried fish, salted baked fish
Bottom: Clear tomyam soup, grilled prawns

3. Kueh Chap at Chinatown

Pieces of pork heart, intestines, tripe, roast pork with rolled noodles in peppery soup, and served piping hot.

4. Somtham

Papaya salad served with salted baby crabs.

5. Can't remember the restaurant but it's only like 30 mins from Pattaya. We had 8 dishes (all seafoood) + 1 fried rice for Nephew, for only THB 2200 (MYR 220).