Bangkok - Day 1 (3 March 2007)

Our flight to Bangkok was pleasant and punctual and it didn't take us much time waiting for our luggage. We took a cab and went straight to our hotel called Samran Place. It's more like a boutique hotel which is new and received many good reviews from previous visitors. The lobby, a small reception and cafe all in one doesn't look too impressive to me though. But once we got into our room, I totally changed my mind. Spacious and their toilet sparkling clean. I repeat, SPARKLING CLEAN!!!! Just wait till you see what more this hotel got to offer...hehehe...just wait ok?

Felt so hungry since I last had my meal about 6 hours ago at Raju's, so we quickly went food hunting. From the hotel's entrance, we decided to check the right side of the hotel to see any eateries still open for lunch, since it was almost 4 p.m. With my vulture eyes and my sensitive nose, I smelt something nice from afar...and I really mean afar. See what I discovered? A very small restaurant/karaoke selling very authentic Thai food, gulp..and exotic too. They even have chicken penis and pig's blood wrapped in plastic bag. Ewww....

Hubby ordered the grilled cockles dipped with their blended chilli sauce. Was a bit worried my tummy could not take it since am ultra sensitive to raw cockles. But surprise surprise, so far nothing happened yet. Maybe it was really fresh and the source was not polluted.

We ordered Steamed Prawns with Lime Sauce but was served with Prawns with Lemongrass sauce instead. Since communication was a slight problem, we didn't request for a change since this tasted not too bad. Lots of lemongrass and mint leaves were used in this dish, very flavourful and appetising.

Stir-fry Kangkung with oyster sauce..very nice and goes well with other dishes.

This is my favourite, Oyster Omelette. Generous helping of oysters and best thing was the egg was pure eggs. No starch added. So eggy flavour and oysters were so fresh and big. Dipped with their lemongrass chilli sauce....PERFECT!!

The waiter served us the wrong dish, it looked like grilled pork and I thought it was the beef we ordered. I took a piece and it was awful!! So porky taste and I felt so rude to spit it out. Turned out it was for the next table.

This is what we ordered, Grilled Beef with Spicy Mint Salad. We didn't like it as the beef was too tough and it was like chewing gums. Total bill came up to a total of RM32 including 2 big bottle of mineral water. Not too bad isn't it? 5 dishes, average of RM6 per dish!

After feeding my stomach, we took a walk to the left side of our hotel. Guess what we discover? Food!!! A long street full of FOOD! Stalls and stalls of FOOD. Side lanes also full of FOOD!!! Across the main road another long street of FOOD!!! Aiyah..was scolding myself why I didn't explore this side first...grrrrr!!!! I was like a woman gone crazy...drooling at each stall, snapped a picture and then walked off.

Side lane heading towards the wet market inside

Stalls in front of stalls...food food everywhere!!!

Thai's Mixed Rice...mostly unidentified dishes

Fried innards I think...

We bought grilled chicken wings from this aunty for RM 1 per piece. Not nice though..

I got no clue what those packets were...but I definately dare not try.

I wanted to try the ice kacang but worried I might get tummy upset since we don't know if the ice is clean or not. So i decided to try it the next nite so that I won't miss my Chatuchak tomorrow morning. Sadly, couldn't find this stall oledi. :(

Grilled Jalapenos, Shallots and Cili Padi anyone?

Hey! This is the BBQ Fish ala "Snowy Mountain Flying Fox" style which we had from King Crab!!! Goodness and it's only RM2 per fish!!!!!!!!!

Naem, fermented pork sausages which requires an acquired taste. The sourish taste lingers in your mouth although you try to wash it down with water. Afterall, it's fermented....doesn't that means rotten pork?? The local loves it and eat with glutinous rice though.

Waaaahhh!! Lots and lots of cockles!!!!! Boiled upon ordering...so tempting but we decided that we have enough cockles for the day.

Headed back to the hotel to take a quick shower. Of course, snack time for us as we had a skewer of chicken wing each and mangoes too. Yumzzz!!

During our last visit, we visited the Suan-Lum Night Bazaar two nites in a row so we decided to go again. This place is huge and you can find lots of souvenirs, handicrafts, clothings, bags, household items, wood carvings, jewelleries and even pets accessories. Actually it was also part of our plan to stock up Pea's goodies from here.

The directory

The doggie treats are extremely cheap here, only RM3.20 per packet as compared to RM7 in KL. Hubby discovered chicken and bacon gravy and insist of getting it for Pea. Total damage was RM73 including shampoo, powder, ear cleaners, 2 bottles of gravy and 10 packet of treats. So cheap isn't it? RM73 would only be enuff for the 10 packets of treats in KL!!! Too bad it was quite heavy for us to carry the stuffs as we still want to walk around the place. Otherwise, we would have bought even more.

Thanks to unkaleong's advice, we decided to explore Yaowarat Rd at Chinatown, a well-known food paradise at night. Lots of chinese restaurants with their proud display of sharkfins and birdnests greeting customers at their shop front. Must be pricey!! You will also find many many many stalls along the street selling bird nests, sharkfins soup and seafood. We tried the sharkfins soup (RM5) and I couldn't even see a tiny strand of fin!! It's more like a Fish Maw soup..aiyah..what you expect for RM5?? Since we felt cheated, I was not even interested in trying the bird nests for RM20 per bowl. Especially since I have lots of birds nest stocked in my fridge now...hehehe.

Mandarin Orange Juice..freshly squeezed, 100% original and no sugar added. You can find this almost anywhere. But be careful not to buy those prepacked as I suspect those were added with sugar. Make sure they squeeze it in front of you.

There were many seafood stalls like 'Tai Chow' along the road, with their yummylicious seafood displayed. Every stalls were packed with tourists and their tables are so cramp and stall. I was very hot and sticky and getting very impatient now....

The pricing....

The gastronomic delight from the sea

We headed to a chinese restaurant at the backlane for dinner instead. Not too crowded and much more spacious and comfortable. Suddenly loss of appetite...I was hot, sweaty and sticky. I told Hubby not to order too much food as I was not hungry at all. Hubby was worried about me since it's so 'UN-ME' to have no appetite. Hoping to boost my appetite, we ordered the Tom Yum Kung. So huge pot for RM10 only with lots of prawns and straw mushrooms. It was super hot and sour and I only managed to drank a small bowl. It didn't help my appetite at all, in fact, my tongue was sticking out throughout the meal due to the spiciness.

Stir-fry broccoli....nothing special, tossed with garlic and oyster sauce. Definately need some fibre in my diet.

Hubby's favourite, NZ Green Mussels cooked with Thai Herbs which I only took a piece. Somehow, I just do not feel like taking a second bite. So ended up Hubby happily finished off the mussels.

Our last order was the Grilled Prawns which was really sweet and succulent. Hubby insisted that I take 3 since I barely touch the mussels and to assure him that I am felling okay, I finished 2 pieces and struggled a bit on the 3rd.
The dinner was about RM50+ including 2 coconuts. Hubby said he was quite disappointed with my 'performance' tonite. Well...I was too! But I think it was the heat...I hate being sweaty and sticky, so uncomfortable. We headed back to the hotel after that and bought 2 mangoes to munch before going to bed. So tired and sleepy...dozed off within seconds!! ZZZzzz..

My 2006 Bangkok Trip
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Other Bloggers' Bangkok Experience:
Jackson
Jason