Bangkok 2014 (3 Nights Condensed into 1 Article)

I've been neglecting to write this for quite some time, but after coming back and being hit with a major flu and fever, it was really hard trying to get myself to open the laptop and write a long entry on my vacation in BKK back in mid May.

So after weeks of procrastination, here goes.

I hardly consider BKK a place I'd visit often, maybe because it's not far enough for me to consider it as a yearly vacation, and it's not near enough like KL where we can drop by every year for our favorite street foods.

Still, after the Tier decided it was high time for a short getaway, we found ourselves on a plane one Thursday evening packed and ready for a short weekend getaway to the land of smiles. There wasn't much of an itinerary for this trip, mainly just shopping and eating, which is why you'll probably see lots of pictures of nothing but that in this write up.

Our arrival was on a Thursday night, and since there weren't many places to munch, our two haunts were the 7-11 (which serves up one of the best to-go sandwiches around) and a quick visit to Thonglor 13 where we had Pad Tai and Pork Noodles for a late dinner.

Friday morning, we met up with Fong who came a few days earlier than us. We had booked the same hotel and thus met at the lobby to go chill around BKK together.

Breakfast was at Big C supermart near by, though I headed for street food and found myself sipping on kum kuat juice and having rice w basil chicken and egg by the road side.

Mind you, if you have a weak stomach, street food may not be the best thing to have, I do not consider myself a strong eater, but heck, when in BKK, eat like a Thai.

After eating like an average Thai local, we then proceeded to eat like Thai hipsters. Roast was a place Al found online which served up some pretty awesome coffee and brunch items.

Upon arriving, the table next to us was occupied by 8-10 Singaporean teens who looked like the sort you'd find at Haji lane. So if they are cool enough to come here, I guess we were in the right place to be. =D

The coffee was awesome - I can't give much comments cause I always mix my coffee with milk, plus I'm fine sipping from a cup of Starbucks, but considering this was better than a cup of the green mermaid, I guess it's something worth praising about eh?

Not only was the coffee awesome, the food served up that day was absolutely delicious!

I had the seafood stew, probably one of the best seafood dishes I had that served up more seafood than stew, wicked! I need to learn how to make this, cause all the while chowing down on it I was busy trying to figure out how I could replicate this at home, it's just so hearty.

Lunch was followed by Mango Sticky Rice shopping...we'll get to that later.

After more shopping, dinner came, and what better way to do so than to chow down at Greyhound? I've tried the one in Hong Kong but never got the chance it eat it in BKK where it all began.

The food was awesome, thought admittedly, I kinda preferred the complicated noodles in Hong Kong, hmmm...something to do with the taste perhaps? They are both similar, though the green chili in HK was a lot thicker than the one we had in Bangkok.

The eating didn't stop at Greyhound though, dinner was followed by supper, this time at the hotel itself, where we also prepped 3 different mango sticky rice selections and did a blind taste test.

Talk about eating none stop, and this was just our first day there in BKK alone.

Day 2, I found myself up early to head out and walk around a bit. Breakfast was by the street side with a fellow local who was also having a meal before he started work.

After breakfast though, it was off to meet with Alron for lunch. Hans had woken up with a bad tummy and needed to rest, so we set off first for Four Seasons which we heard a lot about from Colin.

The duck was good, but some how I wasn't thoroughly impressed, but it certainly was good. I concluded that though I like duck, I didn't love it that much, hence it wasn't so much Four Season's lack of cooking, rather my lack of appreciation for the dish.

The Char Siew was ok, I can understand how Colin compares it to the one at West Villa in HK, it's similar, but in terms of taste and texture wise, it's still miles apart.

So lunch was lunch, but lunch had no coffee nor cake, so then where next? Cafe loh. This time, we found ourselves at Mr Jone's Orphanage, a place that served up cakes, sweets, and caffeinated delights.

The space at the outlet we went to was tight, like...super tight. a table for four could already barely fit four of me, and I'm pretty small sized mind you.

Did I mentioned the obsessive amounts of teddy bears and toy soldiers? I took photos, they are on Facebook. Basically for me, this was borderline amber-alert, but hey, the locals seem to like the theme eh?

Apparently the Thai Yo-yo Nationals was also happening that weekend, and since we were in the area, it would be impolite if we didn't drop by and say hi!!!

I have lost touch with a lot of the new tricks and stuff, but it's good getting to meet old friends and chatting up with people I've met since 2004 till now.

The new kids are just full on crazy, Thailand players look promising, let's see how they take on the stage at AP later in July this year.

Dinner, needless to say, was another round of Greyhound back at Siam Centre, with some familiar dishes and a few new stuff we wanted to try. The food at Greyhound is pretty awesome mind you, and I think there's a lot more to explore which we couldn't tackle in one sitting.

Anyway Day 2 sort of marks the end of our trip, come day 3, it was just a little light shopping, eating, and then it was off to the airport.

Bangkok was great, the food was good, the company even better. I have to say, after all that street food eating I had, plus the stress from my text the next day and the lack of sleep, not to mention me downing a bag of chip upon passing my paper, I ended up catching a really high fever the following Tuesday, and have been slowly recovering for 2 weeks.

BKK has been a fun getaway...would it replace KL? I'm not sure, KL certainly has its merits (and traditions)...but all in all, it's been an awesome journey.