Sunday Yum Cha

this entry is dedicated to dora, to remind her how bleddy expensive dim sum is in singapore compared to bangkok's hai tien lo in the pan pacific hotel.

it's also dedicated to ethan for waking up so early on a sunday morning to have dim sum with me.


dear dora, you know how little the amount of dim sum we had at crystal jade? very little lor. and do you know the price tag attached to the meal? i damn angry lor, nowhere cheap like hai tien lo in bangkok lor! are you feeling restive now or not?


but ok lah, at least got great company like ethan to have dim sum with on a sunday. hor hor hor? ethan hor? teo boh?

but i still want to go back to bangkok's hai tien lo and pig out there lor...

D Is For Down

D is for Down.

I can't go to KL cos of work on the weekends in August.

I really wanna be in KL in August.

And now, they took away my last weekend in August and the first weekend in September for work as well.

I am sorry.

D is for Down.

Down, it really is.

O shall be for Out.

Out, it must be then.

Tres Fabuleux Bangkok - 14th July

david arrived the night before and we dragged him to the same starbucks coffee joint the very next morning


and we were ready to do more visits to another temple involving a giant swing... no kidding


here it is - the giant swing in the phra nakon district, facing the the wat suthat temple. all that is left of it is the 30 metres structure that used to hold a swing used during the harvest season. men would perch on the swing and had to swing high up and to catch a sack of gold for theirs to keep. the then reigning king in the early 1930s had to ban the ceremony after... errr... many men unceremoniously died while trying to grab the sack of gold. right.


the facade of wat suthat


view from a different angle


the courtyard


gorgeous, gorgeous finely crafted windows! i also want!!!


both david and james apparently had trouble locating the "many-tiered and massive roof of the wat suthat complex..." as found in the brochure


one of the many buddha statues along the walled perimeter of wat suthat


cute kiddy monks during lunch


temple devotees


and the four of us continued our sojourn on foot through the many rustic sois of bangkok


the UNICEF office where james holds a humane job as a humanitarian... both dora and i too, wants to have a humane job like james has and live fabulously like he is living it up in bangkok right now


dora and i rightfully holds the conviction that submitting this photo of us looking as humane as possible together with our CV and resume when applying for a humane job with the UN will increase our chances of getting an employment there


forest whitaker lived in the very same building as james' office when he was in bangkok for filming way back then


the oh-so-bloody-gorgeous-view of the chao phraya river from the balcony where james' office is... arghhh! i also want!!!


and if you look to the left, that is the other view of the chao phraya


all want to act cute only... they all not shy one...


bagpackers' haven - khao san road - made famous by leonardo dicapacicililiyoyo in the movie "the beach"... i don't know how these skanky looking bagpackers do it but i think i won't last more than an hour here. but the imitation ray ban i got was a steal... for 8 frigging SGD!!!


aboard the river taxi along the chao phraya


the nervous smiles - upon realising the fact that we did not see any life vest on board


wat arun or the temple of dawn - in all of its towering majesty as our river taxi passed by it


the food court at emporium mall - i had to have another plate of pad thai there, it was frigging fuyummyfuckingliscious! and the fish maw soup i had was out of this world!

and men being men, david and james got all too exhausted and went home. dora and i were left to our own devices - we went straight to 'boots'.

as with my several previous bangkok holidays, i never did learn my lesson when it comes to shopping for toiletries at 'boots' - a lesson which almost cost me in terms of my cargo weight allowance each time i take the plane bag to singapore.

all in all, i bought:
a. 2 bottles of body lotions
b. 8 bottles of shower gels
c. 6 tubs of facial cleanser
d. 4 tubs of shaving gels
e. 1 jar of face cream

total net weight of toiletries purchased - 5kg

and i was tempted to add two 1-litre giant ass sized shower gels, but my rudimentary mental arithmetic sent me alarm bells that i may exceed my cargo weight limit when i fly back to singapore later. dang! dang cargo weight allowance! dang you budget airline!


no holiday to bangkok is complete if one did not partake unto the deserts and fabulous drinks that greyhound cafe in the emporium mall has to offer... it's something i'd always do whenever in bangkok


the parfait in greyhound... oh-so-fucking-yummy!


view from vertigo, the rooftop bar of the banyan tree hotel where we had pre-dinner drinks


another breathtaking view where the lit-up lumphini park is almost visible


my lychee martini rocks! and please do ask dora to relate the story behind the orchid found on her drink if you see her next time - she'll enlighten you with a new cultural insight she had learn from james and me pertaining to thai culture


vertigo - i fucking love it!


with the cool evening breeze perpetually blowing in your face, not even singapore's new asia bar above swissotel can rival the experience vertigo has to offer


to do this, i think i'll need a boyfriend... dang!


dinner time - we went to the district of sukhumvit's arab quarter for a middle-eastern fare - while james and dora were busy looking at the signboard for the menu...


...my digicam lens wandered off and caught sight of a oh-so-cute-thai-guy making bread... oh-so-cute... awww... u can dough me anytime cutie...!


fantastic dinner with fantastic company... yummers!

on the way home, we each got ourselves a scoop or two of gelato along sukhumvit road.

it was yet another marvelous day in bangkok.

oh yes one more thing... did i talk about macaroons and cakes from the grand hyatt erawan already?

that'll come pretty soon then.

Tres Fabuleux Bangkok - 13th July

i got up way before mister james did, our kind host who let us stay in his lovely apartment. seriously, it was a lovely apartment... decked with old wood carvings from the southeast asian cultures, old wooden and teak consoles, contemporary paintings and a rubik cube on his coffee table.

james, who holds a humane job under the auspices of UNESCO as a humanitarian, left for work for humane reasons, and dora and i - to our own devices. we were both ready to take on the city.


this is as close as we got to keeping to our exercise routine (like we had back in singapore) - we visited the pool downstairs from james' apartment and after a minute, we went on through the sois of bangkok in search of glorious food.


i don't do this in singapore, but dora said we must do this in bangkok. starbucks was just across the road from where james is living at and we had to go visit it for a cuppa.

the both of us were totally bowled over by thai hospitality from the staffs of starbucks. we felt the initial reaction - that restive feeling started to brew in both dora and i. why can't we ever get impeccable service such as this in singapore?

i told dora i am seething on the inside at the startling degree of asymmetry between bangkok and singapore when it comes to service and hospitality quality.


all was calm on a friday morning in starbucks. lovely french doors opened into the deeper exterior of the place.


aaargh! their starbucks is housed in a lovely wooden villa!


the food loft @ central chidlom - it's like le vill'age or marche' in singapore, only difference is that it is not tacky and does not contain cheesy decor. and oh, did i say it has impeccable service standards? and supremely all-smiley and helpful service staffs too?


with a view to boot from where our dining table was


pad thai - pure culinary heaven on the taste bud till the last stands of noodles and taugeh and juicy prawns


and we walked down past the grand hyatt erawan where the famous erawan shrine is situated next to it - the four faced brahma deity


the erawan shrine replete with female thai classical dancers in service of dedication of song and dance to the deity for every devotee's prayer that was answered

although james and david (who joined us in bangkok on later in the evening) were alarmed at how dora and i exhibited our disturbing eating pattern and habit throughout the whole trip, james was glad to know were were both planning embarking some serious cultural tour of the city of bangkok.


i forgot how majestic the sight of the golden stupas and glittering roof stuccos were when i first visited the grand palace complex many years back. one has got to be there to revere the awesome architecture of the whole complex.


the avenue leading to the entrance of the grand palace


one of the first murals on the doors of the main gate we came across - i went completely crazy over them non stop


a close-up shot on part of a massive mural depicting a scene for the ramakien, the thai version of the ramayana epic


the upper terrace where the golden reliquary, a buddhist scripture repository and the royal pantheon of the past chakri kings are enshrined


watching the courtyard swarming with tourists and travellers like myself, i can't help but reminisce the days when i read ancient and modern thai history in school and university. for a while, i imagined how the early chakri kings could have strolled in the palace courtyard - long before commoners were allowed in its hallowed compound.


pat on my back - not bad an attempt at a shot on my cheapskate digicam


along the corridors of the emerald buddha temple, aka wat phra kaew


the main doorway leading into the hall where the statue of the emerald buddha sits atop a more than ten metres altar gilded with gold and precious gems. dora and i sat on the floor inside the main hall where the emerald buddha sits... and i was totally in awe of the massive murals on all walls and the ornate interior produced by the finest thai craftsmanship.


the royal pantheon - prasat phra dhepbidorn


dora and her newfound bling-bling buddy as accessory


she wasn't quite pleased when i requested a shot of her from her cleavage upwards


looking at this very window makes me want to be so frigging rich cos i'd like the same for my windows at home too, including the kitchen and bathroom windows


endless wall murals on the depiction of buddha's life


the chakri maha prasat hall where the central throne hall is situated


very very hot... cannot tahan


quaint small cafe where we had our 10 frigging bhat cold mineral water... 10 frigging bhat! that's like under 50 cents in singapore... we felt restive all over again


so we did the tourist trapping of hopping onto a tuk-tuk to MBK mall where we met james who knocked off work by 4pm (at 4 frigging pm!!!).

under my instigation, dora and i had a quick but fantastic KFC meal at MBK. we conspired not to reveal this part of our eating habit to both james and david.

dora suggested that we should clean our hands and fingers with antiseptic gel to rid ourselves of the KFC smell of oily fried chicken, in a bid to destroy all evidence on us partaking greasy junk food. i totally adore this girl for her brilliant ideas.

but we both can't lie or keep a secret for nuts, and confessed our actions to james when we met him at MBK. david soon too, found out. it's official - both dora and i are are singaporean tourists in bangkok.


back at james' apartment in the evening, the three of us had a tete-a-tete over wine, beer and gin & tonic before heading out to dinner at soi lang suan


dinner at thang long with james' friends - sara, jeffrey and sittisak - and many many beautiful boys there made me go a tad haywire along with the many many glasses of wine and rum & coke


dora went back to receive david who had just arrived in bangkok that night. and i tagged along with the rest of the gang to a nice bar called 'the room' along soi lang suan facing lumphini park. i think i had one too many whisky by then... but hell it was frigging fun.

we went back at 2am, and as i got ready to sleep, i had piggy thoughts of pigging out the next day at more food courts and food halls all one may find in bangkok.

hmmmm... food... equals to fat... but i'm on a holiday.... so it is fine right? sure is fine.