That very, very short but awesome Bangkok trip

The good thing about this job is that... it's so easy to just hop on a flight for a weekend getaway right after work. And where else but BANGKOK! Heart, heart, heart.

Our tired but excited faces on Friday night. Bangkok is the place I miss the most, after two years of staying in the States. Can't wait...

After a short flight, just enough to complete Chocolat, we touched down in the Land of a 1,000 Smiles. For some lucky reason, the flight attendant of Thai Airways gave me her fresh flower brooch as we left the air craft. Sweet gesture.

And the taxi queue has improved since the last time we were here, three years ago! They now have a machine to issue tickets to direct you to the proper taxi berth.

Couldn't resist calling room service after we checked in at the hotel. Mr. Jang wanted to go downstairs to buy some food and water, but I thought it was too late, too unsafe. Better spend a bit more to buy more comfort.

Saturday was the only full day we have in Bangkok. Shopping was the only thing on my mind, but I have learnt that you've got to feed the man first. So we had brunch at Chatuchak Weekend Market. 

Jeed-Jard was the store we loved from our last trip. We went back - their grilled pork neck and fried chicken hip are still as good. 

Mr. Jang caught a monk buying meat?!




And then the crazy shopping begins. I love this place. They have everything at a bargain!

Paper mate was giving out free pens. Grabbed two. 

A portion of the loot. Resisted decking myself with everything I've bought on the spot.




After a fruitful shopping trip, we headed back to the hotel for a short rest. It started raining as we reached the Mo Chit BTS. By the time we arrived at Chit Lom, it was pouring.

We ducked into Amarin Plaza to hide from the rain. On our way to the rest room, we found a massage parlor which looked clean and decent. It's 400Baht for a 60-min traditional Thai massage session. Very affordable.



In the evening, we took a cab to Sortrel Cottage for dinner and live music. The air was fresh after the day's shower. I love the ambiance - it has a dempsy feel at half the price. And I made a new friend - the lab puppy who was prancing around.

Sunday morning was dedicated to Platinum mall - the wholesale mall. As usual, we ate breakfast at the shopping place (saves time!) Pad thai in the food court, at less than 100Baht. Yum.

Alas, I didn't find anything I fancy after an hour of looking. I must have been too spoilt for variety and price at Chatuchak. It was only at Mr. Jang's warning that we are running out of time that I dashed around trying to find items to buy.

And then it was feeding time again! Mr. Jang likes live music so we chose the alfresco area of Baan Ying Cafe and Meal at Central World. Obviously, I was more interested in the food. Comes in really small portions, though.

And then coffee and dessert at Simply W, just a floor down. I love these pretty cafes in Bangkok.

And then it's time to say goodbye! It's always too short, too soon to say farewell for Bangkok.

But at least, I am bringing home awesome memories and goodies!

That quarter-of-a-century mark!

It's my family's 25th anniversary of moving to Singapore! Yep, we basically 'celebrate' this day every year but it's extra special this year because we have spent a quarter of a century in this sunny island.

Before Mom flew back to Hong Kong on Sunday, we had an early celebration by having seafood at East Coast. We stayed at Bayshore Park when we first came and we would walk across the underpass to eat black pepper crab and sotong youtiao. Reminiscing our early days.






On Tuesday, Mr. Jang and I went to Parkway Parade to have steamboat dinner. I was looking for Mini Steamboat Delight at the basement food court - our love for Tom Yum soup base started right there. But it has closed down. What a pity!

So we settled for JPOT, which was almost as good as Hai Di Lao. And there was a promotion of 30% off for $100 spent. We stuffed ourselves silly just to get this discount.

And then to end off the celebration, I had a scoop of chewy Mocha ice-cream at Scoopz. Brown for all my ice-cream please. If not chocolate, then Mocha, or Coffee, or Hazelnut. 

To another 25 years in Singapore!

Breakfast on Sundays

Woke up on Sunday to this scene in the kitchen.

I've got an elf in the house who does housework and cooks. Woohoo!

That impromptu trip to Johor Bahru

The first thing we buzzed Mom about when we woke up at 12 noon was, "Do you want to go JB?"

See, we were supposed to drive her to Woodlands to collect her bicycle in the repair shop. Since we are driving so far that way, might as well make a trip across the causeway!

The whole drive plus waiting time at the immigration took about 1.5 hours. Made it to KSL city mall safely despite missing a few turns. Quite proud of my first attempt to drive into JB.

KSL city plaza reminds me of MBK at Bangkok. There are endless eateries and shops selling handphone accessories, cheap clothing and shoes. 

We caught sight of a Bak Kut Teh shop across the street from KFC. It was 3.30pm - an odd time to be having such heavy food, but the shop is filled with people. We decided it must be good!

The soup is neither peppery nor herbal - the two most common soup base for Bak Kut Teh. It has a flavour of its own, strong with a tinge of sweetness. And you are allowed to add extra ingredients like beancurd skin, enoki mushrooms or fish maw.

We ordered one serving of soup, one serving of pork knuckles, preserved vegetable and dough fritter. The whole bill came up to be 56.6 ringgit. Very affordable!

Thereafter, we strolled around the mall. I bought some hua mei for Gaga cos I think she will love it. 

After staying on for another hour or so, we made our way back to Singapore. We were really tempted to abandon the bicycle collection plan and stay for dinner - so many choices to choose from. Alas, we resisted and headed back, in time for Mom to get her bike.

The good news is, she also managed to get a better bike. The owners allowed her to do a trade-in (the one she bought was WAY too high for her), and she took home a smaller, newer bike. Happy as a bird.

Before really heading home, we stopped by Causeway Point for dinner. Kuriya Japanese Market for bentos, udon and sushi. With that, we officially signed off our awesome Saturday.

Painting the umbrella

Have been wanting to try painting a fruit umbrella for the longest time - my favourite is the lemon. Unfortunately, it is not that easy to get a brolly that yellow in Singapore. Plus, you WILL get a lot of stares in this land of conformity, walking around with a giant lemon slice.

Since I bought a cheap umbrella from 7-11 from that rainy farewell, I decided to do my experiment on it. I didn't like the plastic looking 7-11 logo, so the first thing I did was to cover it. Needed some tape to line the paint-in area, and two coatings. Some paint got out of the line as I didn't tape it properly (oops, first time!)

Then I created some 'birds' with the tip of the brush.

I think the final product looks OK - a little whimsical, and very girly.

Now all I need is a drizzly day to test it.

Another weekend in the east

So lazy to head out to town these days, especially since my new work place is also in the East. (Gasp, I have been working for more than two months now, and I haven't blogged/grumbled about it. That's a very good sign.)

Our afternoon snack at the balcony. That is, after we came back from a baby's full-month celebration and meeting a buyer from Carousell at Bedok. We waited for the buyer for half an hour but at least she turned up, unlike the last one who stood us up. 

While I got busy in the kitchen, Mr. Jang vacuumed the house, mopped the floor, cleared the laundry. Bless this man. He doesn't mind doing housework.

Since we are still full from all the junk we ate, we decided to burn some calories. Cycled to Blk 85. More junk. I am still living in the 80's era; I thought satay costs 30 cents a stick. It costs 60 cents. What?! For that tiny strip of BBQ meat?

No wonder the man said bringing $20 for hawker food is NOT enough these days.

Back home, forcing the husband to take a selfie with me in my hippie look before going for a shower. Not having kids means I can still act like one. Awesome.