Something new in Bangkok

For the most recent Bangkok trip over the Jubilee Weekend, we took up the courage to try something different. Yes, Bangkok again!

1. Boating along The Great Longkang.

Our hotel for the first three nights was Holiday Inn along Soi 11. There's a boat stop behind the hotel and I did not realise what a popular mode of transport this is for the locals and tourists until I arrived at the rundown quay. 

For about 11 Baht each we got from our hotel at Nana Chard to Pratunam. We didn't know how to get on the boat and watched with our mouths gaping as people scrambled up and down in a few swift steps. The second time the boat came, we were ready. In we go!

There are little pulleys at the side to hold up a long plastic sheet. If you are lucky and the chap sitting at the end of the bench holds on to those pulleys throughout the trip, you will be safe and not get splashed with murky water. God knows what people threw inside the longkang.

2. Bobae Market

We got off the boat at the Bobae Market stop. Weren't sure where the outdoor market is located, maybe we went at the wrong time, but we ventured inside Bobae Tower. The merchandise reminded me of the 90s. Nonetheless, I bought two knitted tops and a pair of shorts at 300 Baht. Around 100 Baht each. Not too bad.




3. New Restaurants

First things first. Hello Kitty House at Siam Square One! Thank you Mr. Jang for including this in the itinerary. The whole place oozes sweetish girly charm. Cuteness overload.







This trip, we also made sure not to repeat Sortrel or Banrie as much as we love them. We hit the jackpot when we chanced upon Clik. We were in fact lost trying to find Kuppa Cafe at Soi 16. We saw the signage for Clik which serves fusion food and made the detour into a small lane. What a great choice.

The food is absolutely fresh and the ambience is perfect. The place is clean and spacious, and we discovered that it is newly opened in April. The owner is a fellow Singaporean, Chef Clement Ng, and ended up making friends with this multi-talented man. You can tell he put a lot of heart into making his dishes, from the way he describes his work and his philosophy about food. He also showed us the work-in-progress Level 2, which will host private groups and classes.

We will definitely recommend this gem for its food and service. No regrets patronising Clement's restaurant!

(On a separate note, we followed another blog to try out Kalapapruek at Central World. Food was average and service was terrible - made us pay double even though the kitchen cooked the wrong order. We are never going back there again.)

We also went to a place which apparently sells the BEST pad thai. The restaurant opens at 5pm; by then, a long queue has formed. We were 2nd in queue having arrived slightly after 4.30pm. There really isn't anything else on the menu other than pad thai. It wasn't as fantastic as I thought, but at least I can say I've tried it!





There is also a popular chicken rice place located diagonally opposite Platinum Mall. We sat across two Japanese tourists who kept taking photos of the food. I could vaguely make out that they said chicken rice originates from Singapore. I just didn't know how to tell them, the sauce here is different, dude!





Other than that, I took up the courage to try street food finally. My tummy is weak, thus the great fear of running to the toilet immediately. Luckily, Mr Tummy was quite cooperative this time. I especially love the fried chicken outside our hotel!




4. New night markets

At Clement's recommendation, we checked out JJ Green Market - a place where you can find loads of vintage loves. Unfortunately, we went on a Thursday night and the vendors weren't out at full force. Nonetheless, I had a good stroll amongst the few stalls which were open. I bought two cutest toy cars - Beetle and Chevolet, and some wood crafts. I would have bought more if not for Panda's watchful eyes!

The next night, we went to Art Box, which had become popular recently. I adore the buzz and the hipster atmosphere. My guess is that most of the vendors are tertiary students - they are young, innovative and modern. The products are different from what you would find at Chatuchak; prices are reasonable. It is accessible too - Phetchaburi MRT station is just one MRT stop away from Sukhumvit.

Art Box is not held regularly and its venue changes (I think), but if it fits your schedule, it is highly recommended that you check it out!

Our Bangkok trip is once again a success (thanks, Mr Jang, for the planning this time round). We are still thinking of making one more trip before the year ends. Hope to discover more places the next round.

Amazing Bangkok. Part 2.

I TOLD YOU.

I told you I will go again when I have the chance and I DID! Pestered Mr. Jang like crazy and woohoo! We went back to BKK again last weekend to pick up where we left off! Mind you, this came at a price. Mr. Jang covered the airfare while I paid for hotel and the spending money for the both of us (doubled that of last trip) but I haven't been happier! ^ ^ At last, I have enough shopping and eating money!

And we were smarter this time round. Did all our necessary must-have shopping within the first day (went CTC, Platinum, MBK, Victory Monument and Terminal 21). On the second day, we laze around in the hotel and had a good swim in the pool (and eating fries by the poolside) before heading out. The highlight has got to be Sortrel where there's good music and air-con (unlike Banrie which is mostly outdoors).

I think these two trips have more or less satisfied my Bangkok cravings. But then again, I will never grow tired of this place (just now how I will never grow tired of France.) Looking forward to the next trip there. ^_________________________^

This place at CTC sells the most wonderful fried chicken. Ordered two round.

Back at Banrie to relive the Tom Yum and try the Pad Thai.

Mr. Jang chose pink (!) for a top at Terminal 21.

My new boyfriend at Terminal 21. I wanted to sit in his lap but alas! The butt has grown a little too fat for that.

The mooooooo cheesecake and pudding.

We look more like BFF. Hahahaha... @Sortrel near Chong Nongsi.

Ok this one look more like husband and wife.

Ottoya at half the price in Singapore!

My new leather Labrador organiser. B2S @Central World

Amazing Bangkok

"I WANT TO GO BANGKOK!!!"

That was my desperate cry to Mr. Jang a week ago. I really, really needed a short getaway and Bangkok popped into my mind immediately because of the food, the shopping, the whatever whatever. I've been there umpteenth times and I'd never, never grow bored of Bangkok. It's THE PLACE to go if you just want a quick overseas perk-me-up! So Mr. Jang worked his magic. He bought tickets on Wednesday and then off we went on Friday morning!

Needless to say, the trip was just full of... eating and shopping. It was a trip of new discoveries and old familiar places for me. On our first day, we chanced upon Terminal 21, a new shopping mall next to Westin Hotel, and after grabbing a bite we went around floor by floor to look at the different stalls. Every level is uniquely themed around a different city, even the toilets are designed according to the country/city's culture!

Pad Thai and Fried Rice

Tokyo fashion in Terminal 21

And then, following a short rest back at the hotel and a failed attempt to shop at Platinum Mall, Mr. Jang brought me to this charming place frequented by locals. Ban Rie is an outdoor restaurant next to Ekkamai station which serves local food and western bites, and has a fantastic live band singing a mix of Thai and English songs.

Give the lady a Singha!

OMG-so-shiok Tom Yum Soup

The next morning, while waiting for Mr. Jang's Thai friend Dream to swing by to pick us up, we crossed the road to this breakfast cafe Au Bon Pain to have fresh croissants with egg and bacon with cafe latte. It's simply heavenly (so much so that we came back to have the same thing the next day!)

If only Singapore has this!

After visiting Pang Pang Big Size and her new born baby (I shan't upload the photos here because Mr. Jang said her in-laws are very strict), Dream dropped us off at Chatuchak market where ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE. There's ain't many photos of shopping because obviously I was too busy to take out the camera but yes, it was just madness! The major unfortunate thing was that when we tried to change for more money to shop, the money changer was closed! That sort of left a big hole in my heart and till now, five days after we came back, I still go "grrrrr" at Mr. Jang cos I think we should have changed more before we left SG.

Pork chop at Chatuchak

Mr. Jang's burger... looks quite juicy, I think!

Ever so happy when he gets to sit down and eat/drink.

Yakitori cravings satisfied.

On the last day of the trip, we wanted to go to Siam Square but alas! The only place was under some kind of reconstruction. The only other place we could go in the interest of time was MBK. So off we went and we ate like, two rounds of Japanese ramen because it was so cheap - 120Baht for a bowl of ramen, six gyoza and a drink. The rest of the money (or whatever was left) was spent on buying snacks for our colleagues.

I really hope I'd get a chance to visit Bangkok again soon... like in the next two months? I feel that my retail therapy stopped too abruptly due to the lack of capital and I haven't eaten enough yet! Mr. Jang said he is checking out the ticket prices again, so if I could I would really go again - this time fully-prepared with $$$!!!

Four times Christmas at Cafe Lumiere

26 Dec, Singapore - Following its soft launch earlier in the month, Cafe Lumiere officially opened its doors to host four Christmas gathering over the long weekend. It first welcomed a care group cum pot luck dinner on Friday evening, which ended at 1.30am and broke the record of previous care groups hosted. It was mainly due to the difficult book of Isaiah, which somehow ended up into a prolonged discussion on tithing. The co-owners, Grace and Mr. Jang, had no recollection of how the topic has gone off the path.

On Christmas eve, Cafe Lumiere hosted a close group of colleagues from Grace's old office, Meeka.  It was the first lunch that Grace ever prepared in the sit down western meal kind of setting. There was pork rib (from NTUC), honey baked ham (from NTUC), wine (from NTUC), and a gigantic log cake (from NTUC). The non-NTUC items were pasta, stringed pineapple and cheese hotdog, and salad with homemade vinaigrette dressing. When asked how she felt on her first attempt to prepare a meal, Grace said: "I was really excited and am just glad that there are no reports of food poisoning thus far! The only negative comment I had was from ex-colleague, Meds, who said my fireplace decor failed... But that's sort of OK coming from Meds!" She quipped.

The Christmas eve dinner session was dedicated to Mr. Jang's JC and majong friends. Interestingly, Cafe Lumiere is also known as MJC - the short form for "Majong Club". True to its name, MJC members presented a majong table as a housewarming gift to the couple. It was quickly put to good use after the members had their Christmas feast and the party ended at 3am in the morning, or so Grace heard as she has already collapsed into her four-poster bed slightly after midnight due to the long day spent in the kitchen.

As for Christmas day, it was a relief for the owners that the party only started around 7pm. Grace and Mr. Jang were exhausted from helping out at the Children Ministry in the morning. Some of the junior kids apparently ate the chocolate stars that they hid in the santuary for the older kids. The latter could not find the complete set of stars for them to piece together the words of "SAVE", "(L)AMB", "H(O)PE" and "LOV(E)". The couple spent some time trying in vain to locate the stars which had mysteriously gone missing.

At 7pm, Grace and Mr Jang welcomed their friends and family to Cafe Lumiere for the grand finale Christmas Day dinner. And what a feast the group had - it was all from a catering service! But it was all made cosy and personalised by the wonderful presents, desserts, and wine brought by their pals. The Christmas spirit was further enhanced by the fact that everyone came dressed in the theme of "Winter" albeit with various interpretations - tropical winter, temperate winter, but luckily no north-pole winter as the air-con could only go as low as 17C. Come gift exchange time, everyone had a fantastic time unwrapping the goodies brought by one another. Even Grace's brother-in-law, OSH, bought a proper gift from L'Occitane this time round. Suspiciously though, he did not know what L'Occitane is when asked. Being the good wife that she is, Est, Grace's sister, refused to comment when asked if she bought the gift on his behalf. The night ended on a high note as the group laughed their guts out watching an old movie, 唐伯虎点秋香.

We bring you some photo highlights from the dinner finale, which is not a lot as Grace was either too busy in the kitchen or at the dining area eating. For the rest of the other events, there were no photos taken from Grace's phone cam (she totally forgot).

Cafe Lumiere wishes all a Merry Christmas once again!

Cafe Lumiere co-owner Grace (right) with her favourite sister Esther (left) and dog Almonn. She calls them collectively: Sismonn.

Almonn was almost put up for sale, if not for his hidden ferocious character. 

The Crazy Trio from Sec One. From left: Grace, Chick, and Hwei.

(*Grace realised that she also forgot to take a Christmas photo with cafe co-owner and husband, Mr. Jang. Oopsie!)

A morning worth waking up for!

I always dread waking up early on Saturday mornings because it's the only day where I could sleep in, which is why I sometimes hesitate to make appointments on Saturday mornings, even brunch! Today, however, I am glad I made the extra effort to wake up AND dress up slightly to have brunch with chick, sis and BIL at White Rabbit.



Sis looks happy while waiting for her food.

Chick deep in thought about her upcoming wedding?

We had egg benedict, lobster and cheese omelette, linguine aglio olio, and... ok, I forgot the name of the dish BIL ordered. The food was good but it clearly wasn't the differentiating factor - the ambience was. I think it beat the PS cafe at Ann Siang Hill where we went two weeks ago with Godpa. There was just something really magical about the church-like architecture with its high ceilings and stained glass windows.



linguine aglio olio

egg benedict

lobster and cheese omelette

I forgot what this is called but it's supposed to be real good!

There was a wedding going on when we were having brunch and us being us, we took advantage of the setting at the alfresco area to take some photos (after the guests have left, of course). Check out how we attempted to do an "outdoor" photoshoot ourselves, with us as the models and us as the photographer, while BIL tried not to look too embarrassed by us.