Bangkok 2013: Food, food, FOOD! (Part 2)

Finally a continuation of my food adventures in Bangkok. Just a disclaimer though - I'm not a food blogger and my food posts serve more as a guide and a collection of memories rather than a recommendation. Hence, my vocabulary will tend to stick to words like "OMNOMNOM" and "delicious" HAHAHAHA. To me, the pictures do most of the talking? :) 

Seriously though, I hope my posts give you readers some ideas on where to go! Food in Bangkok is almost all excellent so you can't really go wrong with any stall! :) 

To read part 1 of my Bangkok food trail, go here. 

We went to Chinatown to search for some amazing food and we found it! The journey there was torturous though, so much traffic!! 

We walked past a really really crowded seafood restaurant but nope we didn't want to have seafood so we just walked on and found this really crowded area in a small alley. I'm so glad we stopped there because the food was glorious! 

I'm not sure of the restaurant's name and location because we just stumbled upon it. So here are some photos! 

The next day, we decided to have a good breakfast/brunch and Yinghui highly recommended after you Dessert Cafe and so off we went! We read online that there was always a queue so we went a little bit early and HAHA we were their first customers.

Anyway, I will highly HIGHLY urge you to visit this cafe (they have a lot of branches! Refer to their website here) because the toasts were DELICIOUS. So sinful, but ARGH SO GOOD!! You can really taste the butter and even though it's possibly going to cause a heart attack if eaten frequently, you just can't stop! I'm dying to have one right now!!

My favourite has got to be the Shibuya Toast. Prices can be a little steep for Bangkok standard but if you compare it to brunch places in Singapore, this place is a complete bargain!

Let me rant about something. I don't understand how certain cafes in Singapore dare to charge more than S$20 for eggs benedict??? And then you get two minuscule servings of poached eggs on english muffins? WTF IS UP?! If you want to charge me more than S$20 you better put in effort to whatever you are serving to me! No side salad?? Just poached eggs on english muffin with a terrible hollandaise sauce and you charge more than S$20?? Daylight robbery. I understand you have high maintenance costs and whatever but you WILL NOT get repeat customers if you practice such dishonesty. What happens after is not a surprise AT ALL - the cafe closed down because only flies came in to enjoy their food. DUMB.

Ok rant over.

Just look at how much I'm getting for what I paid. Two scoops of ice cream?? EXCELLENT! Yinghui and I are both big eaters but we couldn't even finish one Shibuya Toast and one Matcha Toast (We ordered two to share!)

Matcha Toast was also a delight. Please try this in Bangkok! :D

In Bangkok, it's actually quite difficult to find a place that sells Phad Thai. I was googling for the best place to have Phad Thai and this restaurant was the most recommended online! Even Misstamchiak recommended it so yes we have to go!!

Thip Samai Restaurant

Samran Rat, Phra Nakhon Bangkok 10200, Thailand

This restaurant specialises in Phad Thai and other variations of the Thai noodle dish. We were queueing and waiting for our table when we noticed that it's like a Phad Thai churning factory. Two men were in charge of just frying the noodles, a lady was in charge of portioning then two men were in charge of just coating the noodles with egg. BAM BAM TEN PORTIONS DONE. Super fast!

Orange juice in Bangkok is so sweet and refreshing. Gotta have some form of juice every time we dined!

The star of the night - Phad Thai! There's really a difference to this Phad Thai and those in Singapore. This was moist and slightly on the sweet side, while those in Singapore are more like a lighter and sweeter char kway teow.

We didn't eat ours with peanut because lol we didn't know we could ask for peanuts until we were done with our phad thai. But it was still extremely good!

Our last meal in Bangkok was from A&W. LOL. We just had to!!

I ordered fried chicken waffles for breakfast (yes breakfast!) and wtf I was not expecting my ice coffee to be served in such a huge-ass mug. O.o

Curly fries for breakfast!! The awesome thing about A&W is that they serve EVERYTHING on the menu even during breakfast. You can have the usual breakfast set or you can have your burgers. Anything you want on the menu, you can order it!!

The sinful fried chicken waffles burger that was very satisfying. :')

So that's that! It was such an amazing trip with great friends and great hotel (YAY GLOW!), and especially great food. Can't wait to come back to Bangkok again for more amazingness! :D

Hopefully my BKK posts have been useful! Thanks for reading guys! HAVE A GREAT SUNDAY! :D

Bangkok 2013: Food, food, FOOD! (Part 1)

Whenever I go to Bangkok, I just focus on food and shopping. Massage is great, of course, but you can't do massages daily (you are going to wreck your blood circulation). Food, on the other hand, needs to be taken care of at least 3 times a day. SO YAY FOOD.

My food trail in my recent Bangkok visit will be divided into 2 posts. We ate A LOT but hey a full tummy and is a happy tummy.

Our hotel was located at the Pratunam area so of course we had to get some amazing crepes! I hate buying crepes here because the aisle is extremely narrow and the crowd is insane. But it's worth the hassle.

This lady here is damn smart. We initially asked for just one banana chocolate crepe. I think she realised that the four of us knew each other and we were about to share one crepe, so she added extra servings of banana and spread more nutella. Of course, she charged us more also. LOL. But whatever, it was a very good crepe. :)

Location: extremely near Glow Hotel Pratunam. You'll definitely pass it if you're going to Platinum Mall, it's just on the way to the overhead bridge that brings you Platinum Mall! 

SabX2 Wanton Noodle

4/32-33 Soi Petchburi 19, Pratunam, Bangkok 

This restaurant was our first stop and it was so good! The pork leg is extremely popular and will sell out by noon. So come early for the pork leg rice! This is also the place where I consumed my first huge layer of pork fat. It was surprisingly good and there wasn't a weird smell. I'm craving the pork leg so much now! The wanton mee was of course rather delicious as well but I much prefer the pork leg!

I think this place is a tourist MAGNET. Even the lady who took our order knew how to speak Chinese.

GLORIOUS PORK LEG. NOMNOMNOM.

We celebrated Yinghui's birthday on the first day too! She was recommended this Baan Ying Cafe & Meal by her colleagues. This restaurant specialises in omelette rice and mango sticky rice. We wanted to order mango sticky rice but the server told us that they were not serving that item that day because the quality of mangoes wasn't up to par. Wow A+ for quality control!

Baan Ying Cafe & Meal

2/88, Sukhumvit Soi 19 Rd, 5F, Terminal 21 Shopping Center, Bangkok

I ordered the normal omelette with some sort of spicy sausage topping and wow this is fusion food done right. The sausage was really spicy and it had hints of lemongrass! The omelette was soft and definitely tasted like it was mixed with some sort of chicken stock. VERY YUMMY.

The tom yum was quite disappointing. It looked scary in the picture but it wasn't spicy at all.

Thai Milk Tea to wash everything down. This was so sweet (as with all drinks/sweets in Thailand) but I just wanted to keep drinking because of how fragrant the tea was.

This was a random purchase from Platinum Mall's food court. We were so tired of shopping that we decided to take away our lunch and have a feast in our hotel room. The mango sticky rice was great! Every single time I buy mango in Bangkok, it will be sweet. MY HEAVEN.

Somtam Nua

392/14 Soi Siam Square 5, Rama 1 Road, Bangkok 

Somtam Nua is a highly recommended restaurant on Googleland. Every lifestyle blogger recommends this place and so I wanted to try it out as well!

Finding the restaurant was freaking tough. It was located near Siam Square and very near Siam Station, but it's hidden in one dubious corner. We almost wanted to give up searching, but finally we found it and we had to wait around 20 minutes for our table.

The restaurant itself is called Somtam Nua, so of course we had to order their Som Tam (papaya salad)! This was S-P-I-C-Y but so refreshingly spicy. NOMS.

I don't really remember the name of this dish but it was a chef's recommendation and I love the combination of sticky noodles and pork floss!

We ordered their fried chicken wings too and this was simply divine. I think the next time I'm in Bangkok, I will visit Somtam Nua again and order one portion of this just for myself. :D

Mango Tango

Siam Square Soi 5, Rama 1 Rd, Pathum Wan, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 

(it's very very near Somtam Nua. Walk out of Somtam Nua, turn left and walk straight). 

This is a must-go for mango lovers. Sweet mangoes on every plate! I didn't really like their small servings but whatever, the sweet mangoes made up for the medicore serving and service.

A visit to Chatuchak (JJ) Weekend Market will never be complete without a serving of the famous coconut ice cream!!

There are a lot of such stalls around but you need to find the best one!

Location: Walk towards the huge clock tower in the middle of the market. You will find a nice lady selling coconut ice cream there and HERS IS THE BEST. 

Each of us were given a cup of refreshing coconut juice too. :D

Next on our list was to try the red velvet waffles at Greyhound/Sweet Hound Cafe. We went to the one at Siam Paragon.

Sweet Hound

 1st Floor Siam Paragon

To be frank, I thought it was just alright. Nothing too fancy and my tastebuds weren't too excited. I expected a stronger cream cheese flavour but nope none of that. The sweetness of the waffle overwhelmed the entire dish and it was just meh for me.

Ah, this is the end of part 1! I'm glad I divided my Bangkok food adventures into two parts because if not, I'll be so much hungrier!! Moreover, I just had a root canal treatment so I can only feast on water, porridge and soft bread now. :(

Part 2 will be coming SOON! :) Have a great day guys!

Essence Cosmetics Private Sale Haul

Essence Cosmetics is currently having their Private Sale (1st to 3rd November 2013, 11am-8pm) and when I got to know about it through their facebook page, I knew I had to take a look. Fortunately I did make a visit and I bought so many things!! :D I went at around 1145am and there were less than 20 people at the venue (Concorde Hotel, Level 3, Studio 3!) and most of them were first-time cosmetic users who were preparing for prom. So clever ah these kids, so well-informed!

This time round, the sale is definitely bigger. There were other brands on sale too! I bought items from Adidas and Catrice as well. There were also a lot of perfumes on sale. It's a definite must-go if you're a fan of perfumes and good-quality cheap cosmetic products. So many nailpolishes too!

Anyway, here's my haul! In total I spent S$82 on 32 products. SAY WHAT?!?!?!?!

1. essence Home Sweet Home Blush in 02 Wool-D You Cuddle Me? - S$4
2. essence Gel Eyeliner in 02 London Baby - S$2.50
3. essence Soft Touch Eyeshadow in 03 Oh De Prep - S$3

3 for S$10

4. Catrice Gel Eyeliner in 050 Black Jack with Goldie Hawn

5. Catrice Better Than Waterproof Mascara

6. Catrice Evolution to Revolution Ultra Black Volume Mascara

7. Catrice Liquid Lip Tint in 020 Wine-Tastic - S$3
8. Catrice Eyeshadow Base - S$3
9. Catrice Eyeliner Pen in 050 Black Blue - S$3
10. Catrice Re-Touch Light-Reflecting Concealer in 030 Rosy Beige - S$3

11. essence I Love Runway Highlighter - S$3.50
12. essence Eyeliner Pen (Semi-Permanent) in 01 Came - Saw and Conquered (LOL??) - S$3
13. essence 100% Splash-Proof Eyeliner Pen in 01 Ultra Black - S$3
14. essence Rebels Spiderlash Mascara in 01 Punk Royal - S$4

15-20. Assorted Adidas deodorants for kengyang and I HAHAHA. Tiny ones were 4 for S$5 and the 2 huge ones were 2 for S$5.

21. essence 24h Hand Protection Balm (Repair) - S$2.50
22. essence Show Your Feet Foot Protection Stick - S$2

23. essence Oz: The Great and Powerful Cracking Top Coat in 05 Delicate but Determined - S$2.50
24. essence Ready for Boarding Nail Polish in 04 Via Airmail - S$2.50
25. essence @holografics.com Holographic Nail Polish in 01 Gagalectric - S$2
26. essence @holografics.com Holographic Nail Polish in 04 Prism@tic White - S$2
27. essence Nail Art Magnetics in 04 Mystic Wish! - S$2.50
28. essence Snow White Nail File - S$1

4 for S$10
29. Catrice Ultimate Nail Lacquer in 600 After Eight
30. Catrice Ultimate Nail Lacquer in 33 In The Armee Glow
31. Catrice Ultimate Nudes in 050 Moulin Rouge Light
32. Catrice Absolute Eye Colour in 070 Mr. Copper's Fields

Crazy bargains!! Can't wait to play with my new items. I just swatched the eyeliners and they are SUPER PROMISING. YAY! :)

Have a great weekend ahead guys! :D I'm going for Halloween Horrors 2013 on Sunday and I can't wait!! :D

Glow Pratunam Hotel, Bangkok

I'm back from Bangkok and the 5d4n trip was an awesome one. Great company, great hotel, great food, meh shopping (but whatever the food still rocks) and great taxi & tuktuk adventures.

For this trip, we booked 4 nights at Glow Pratunam Hotel via Expedia and it was the best decision we have ever made.

After this post, if you decide to stay at Glow too (I urge you to do so!! It's AMAZINGLY COMFORTABLE), book it either through Expedia or the website itself:

Expedia: http://www.expedia.com.sg/Bangkok-Hotels-Glow-Pratunam.h5248530.Hotel-Information?&rm1=a2&semcid=gog_sg&kword=glow_pratunam!e.ZzZz.100001284989.0.28816376397.glow%20pratunam.glow_pratunam&gclid=CPmZhJm_wroCFQxBpgodJjkAcA

Glow Pratunam website: http://www.zinchospitality.com/glowbyzinc/pratunam

Booking through Expedia was fuss-free and everything was confirmed within the first hour. It was so fuss-free that I started to doubt the authenticity of my booking. But no, my worries were unnecessary, everything was fine and dandy! Each of us paid around S$50 per night (S$200 total, BARGAIN for such an amazing hotel) and we all genuinely miss the fluffy and comfortable bed now. :(

When we arrived, the counter staff asked for our passports and we were then directed to the sitting area for a welcome drink. So fancy ah this sitting area. We were given a pandan-flavoured drink (I highly suspected it's bird's nest but I was the only one who thought so hahahahaha) and after that filling up a simple form, one of our rooms was ready! We had one room with a king size bed and one room with twin beds.

The room is SUPER comfortable and extremely clean. I was so shocked because it looked like the usual high-end hotels! Even the toilets were clean and we had almost everything provided in the toilet - toothbrush, toothpaste, huge containers of soap and shampoo, bathrobes, etc. etc. etc. 

On the first day, I didn't know where the hairdryer was but when I found it, I was amazed because they provided a really good quality hairdryer! Not those old and about-to-electrocute-you kind, but a brand new and multi-functional one! LOVELY. 

Glow Pratunam Hotel staff members were very friendly and they could all speak English quite well. No complaints there! Thanks to them, we had a great stay and we had bottles and bottles of water stocked up constantly. When we didn't want to make up our room, they even called to ask if we needed more water! So nice right?? :) 

The best part of the hotel room definitely was the beds. So comfortable and so fluffy that I wanted to stay in mine all day. 

Very clean toilets!!

We had quite a view too! 

Location-wise, Glow Pratunam Hotel is fantastic for shopaholics. The hotel is just located opposite of Platinum Mall and it's built on top of Shibuya 19. Central World is just around the corner (give it a maximum 10-minute walk?) and there you have it - shopping from bargain wholesale stalls and shopping from the usual high street shops! 

The nearest train station, Ratchathewi BTS station (N1) is not very near, but still walkable, it's around 5-6 blocks away. 

This area is notorious for the traffic jams. I guess that's the only negative thing about the hotel - the traffic jams. But hey, the hotel can't really control that right? So I'm still giving Glow Pratunam a full 10 out of 10. 

If you are visiting Bangkok, do give Glow Pratunam Hotel a try! Not expensive and very very comfortable rooms. After a long day of shopping under the hot sun, coming back to such an excellent room is simply comforting. :) 

Glow Pratunam Hotel

919 Petchburi Road, Kwang Thanon Phayathai, 

Rajdhevi Bangkok 10400

Tel: +66 2 257 3999  

Fax: +66 2 257 3977