After the convention was over, Dad & I headed to Bangkok for a little leisure time.
We checked into the Hyatt Erawan, it’s a lovely hotel. A little older but still very nice. Here’s the lobby, there’s trees! Not real trees but still a nice touch.
View from our room. Nothing spectacular.
Bangkok waterways
Near the hotel, there is a temple.
Lots of traffic in Bangkok.
This cab driver tried to cheat us. Stay away from this man.
Headed straight for food. I love thai iced tea! I could drink this stuff all day!
This one is 25 Baht. you can get them on the street for 10 baht (Php 14.)
The fruits are so yummy. Here’s some mangosteen.
Fried veggie cake (I’m not sure if this is what it’s officially called.) I used to order this stuff from my neighborhood Thai place when I still lived in New York so I was thrilled to find it in Thailand. It doesn’t look appetizing but I really like it.
Tub Tim Krob or water chestnuts in coconut milk. Yummmmmy. One of my favorite Thai desserts.
The real reason why we came to Thailand – Sticky Rice & Mango!
Shopping in MBK. Huge mall, didn’t find anything to buy. The shopping is much better in Platinum Mall (for women’s clothing and accessories).
Saw this sign in the fitting room. Your makeup might be scary. Beware.
There’s shopping everywhere in Bangkok, even on the sidewalks.
If you ever find yourself in Bangkok, two must-do’s: Shop and Eat. 🙂
…Cont. from: Thai Adventures Pt. 1: Arrival in Pattaya
So now, this is what my view looks like at night. Pretty.
Our first night, we were treated to a buffet dinner at Mantra. This is the hotel’s fancy bar/restaurant. It’s gorgeous inside. I was too busy stuffing my face to take photos.
I had the presence of mind to capture this bottle of coke. We collect coke bottles so I always pay attention.
The new Ford Ranger, parked right outside the restaurant.
After dinner, I dragged my dad out so I could road test my new camera. I wanted to capture the local color.
It was an adventure! We went back to the street we saw earlier in the day. It was Monday though so there weren’t that many customers but still… wow! The atmosphere was very vibrant and alive.
I wanted to take photos of the girls (and “girls”) standing around trying to attract guys but since it was a red light district I didn’t know the photo protocol. In Amsterdam’s red light district, if caught taking a photo, they will throw your camera into the canal. I didn’t want to risk it.
Balcony Pole Dancing.
I like this photo but I hate how it’s blurry. My bad.
My dad insisted that I talk to them and ask them to take a photo. At his urging, I very shyly went up to a group of girls and to my utter shock they were more than happy to oblige. I showed them the photos afterwards and they LOVED how they looked. They couldn’t get enough of the camera. It was tons of fun.
Are they guys or girls? You be the judge. I don’t know how guys don’t realize that these girls are actually guys also. Well, they were guys.. once. Seriously, a good majority of the women available were ladyboys or transsexuals. Maybe they can fool foreigners but they can’t fool us fellow Asians. Here’s a test you can take to see how good you are at discerning ladies from ladyboys.
Horny Bar. Classic.
My mom just pointed out that the one in Pink looks like the wife of a certain Boxing superstar… What do you think? 🙂
It was a Monday night and kinda slow for them so having me around to take their photo helped pass the time I guess. All the same, they were working so whenever foreigners would pass by, they would holler and try to grab their attention and offer services. It was insane. I almost couldn’t believe that I was right there in the middle of it all.
My favorite photo from the set:
I have to give my dad credit since he was really quite patient and supportive throughout this. I imagine this must have been really uncomfortable for him. But thanks to him I was able to snap great photos and I have an amazing story to tell. Thanks Dad. 🙂
I haven’t been able to blog lately because Dad and I spent the week in Thailand. First half of the trip was for a Ford ASEAN meeting in Pattaya. I couldn’t take photos of the convention itself since that was confidential. However, here’s some highlights of the travel part of the trip:
While this isn’t as bad as NAIA Terminal 1, we still have such a sad looking Airport.
Vin-Vin Kiosk gave us a few laughs. With an establishment like this, it feels more like a bus terminal than an international airport. I don’t know who chose “Vin-Vin Kiosk” over a nice Starbucks or Jollibee. Bangkok airport has Rolex, Chanel and Dior, we have Vin-Vin Kiosk.
“Is this a guy or a girl?” – A question that I ask repeatedly over the course of my trip. Haha. In this case, it is a guy.
My plane food, Philippine Airlines’ food is decent.
Suvarnabhumi Airport is so impressive. I couldn’t take a picture but it’s so amazing. Here’s one of its staff buildings. If that’s just an administrative building, the rest of the airport is awesome x 100.
When we arrived in the airport, we got into a huge double-decker bus and hit the motorway for the drive to Pattaya.
Their roadways are so vast with no traffic.
They have cabs that are pink.
In Pattaya we stayed in the Amari Orchid. It was terrific, five-star and first class. The hotel lobby smelled wonderful, like a spa. I didn’t get to take a photo. But we had a welcome sign!
Here is my room.
Nice personal touches on my water.
My Bathroom.
the view from my room/balcony.
I could see into the Holiday Inn’s pool. Looked real nice.
It was super cloudy so the beach didn’t seem all that attractive. I haven’t yet mastered my camera to be able to capture the scene nicer. Look closely, you can see the Hollywood-esque Pattaya City sign.
Here is dad’s room. Both rooms are very modern and spacious.
We had a bit of downtime before dinner so we took the opportunity to walk around. The hotel is adjacent to the beach. It can’t compare to Boracay, that’s for sure.
Side streets
Here’s a hotel built like a ship. Clever.
Convenience Store shopping – some Thai Lays. (no pun intended)
Soda bottles, don’t see these too often anymore. I got in trouble for taking this photo. I didn’t understand why. What’s so bad about taking pictures of a couple of bottles?
You will see some interesting characters in Pattaya which is known mostly for its seedy attractions. Here’s a red-light district street during the day:
For the second time in this blog post.. Is this a guy or a girl?
Answer: a guy. Here he is, scratching his butt or adjusting his mini-skirt. I dunno.
Caught this Caucasian Monk. Don’t see those very often.
I love how they have mini-shrines or altars dedicated to their gods. At any given time, you’ll find people offering a short prayer.
Food all over Thailand is really good. Dad and I didn’t hesitate to jump right in and sample some street food. SO GOOD. It smells amazing. They have these makeshift food carts attached to motorcycles.
They prepare the food in front of you so you know it’s clean and fresh.
She’s making our Seafood noodles. Generous on the squid and shrimp too. – 40 Baht (56 Php)
Gotta tell them to take the spiciness down several notches otherwise you will be breathing fire. In fairness, it was actually very good. Just extremely spicy.
We also bought corn from this nice lady. 20 Baht or 28 Php for 2 pieces.
The corn tasted like regular corn except unappetizing because some kernels were this funky shade of gray.
Okay.. that was my day 1. Will blog again tomorrow about the night portion of our first day.
Alpha Land Tower has another secret, tucked away on the 6th floor, next to The Alpha Restaurant is this modern and cozy Japanese restaurant called Ukiyo. My friend and I ventured there for lunch one day and we were pleasantly surprised.
The interior is really nice. There is also a great view.
First off, it’s not your everyday lunch place. It’s pretty fancy and the prices definitely reflect this. When we went for lunch, we took advantage of their lunch sets which allowed us to enjoy the food at a discount. Even then, it’s still pricier than your usual. When you come here, you’ll find yourself dining with expats and executives so that should give you an idea of the type of place it is. If you’re expat/executive or aspiring to be, then you’d feel right at home here. 🙂
They have an extensive menu of Japanese Dishes but we weren’t in the mood to really think (since we had limited time for lunch) so I got a Tori Karaage Bento. I’ve forgotten the price but this is somewhere between P300 to 400. It was good, comes with a heaping portion of rice, a side salad, miso soup, tuna bites and orange slices. Tori Karaage is fried chicken and this is boneless. The taste is okay, texture is good, juicy on the inside, crunchy on the outside. They used a strange spice in it either lots of pepper or paprika or something, I couldn’t identify it. It was okay, I think I’ll try something else next time though.
Woops sorry my photo is blurry.
My friend got a Chicken Teriyaki Bento. This was the same price as the Tori Karaage. He said it was good, he inhaled it. The sides are all the same.
We sat at the counter and got to watch them make the sushi. They also have regular tables, booths and function rooms.
We got a Spicy Tuna Roll – P190. It’s good, there’s nothing particularly special about this. It’s your regular Spicy Tuna Roll.
For Dessert we had the Banana Tempura. This is what it looked like. We were dissatisfied with this dish mainly because it costs P290 which is horribly expensive for something that looks like I made it at home. It literally is vanilla ice cream (nothing special), strawberry sauce (buy at any supermarket), chocolate stick (from any supermarket) and fried bananas. In fairness, the banana fritters were yummy. I just didn’t like the presentation and the fact that I had to pay P290 for a store-bought sundae.
I think eventually I’ll go back to try their other dishes so I can really give it a fair review.
Ukiyo Japanese Restaurant
6th Floor Alpha Land Tower, corner Pasong Tamo & EDSA
Randomly as I was walking in Galleria, I impulsively popped into Mondo Juice to see what the deal was. Best decision, EVER. I’m obsessed, OBSESSED. I think since I discovered it, I’ve gone no less than twice a week and it’s only been about a week and a half since I first tried it. It’s that bad. I’m seriously obsessed.
The interior is bright, clean and modern. I would prefer to study there than Starbucks. The downside is that this branch is located next to the 4th floor Arcade so it can get pretty loud. As much as I want to study here for hours and hours, I can’t because of the noise. This isn’t Mondo Juice’s fault but still. Maybe Galleria can move the Arcade somewhere else. Haha.
I’m not a sandwich person. I’m not a shake person either. But upon the urging of their friendly staff I tried the Pastrami Sandwich. I also grabbed a bag of chips. I know it’s called Mondo Juice and healthy shakes and drinks are their main product but admittedly, I’ve never tried their shakes. Perhaps one of these days. (I’ll make sure to update this blog when I do.)
Pastrami Sandwich – Oh my goodness. I love this sandwich. They press until it’s flat so it doesn’t look like much but I promise you it is delicious. They heat it just the perfect amount so the cheese melts and the flavors of the sandwich mesh together. Again, I’m not a sandwich person but this is deeeeelicious!!!
Before –
After: Heaven. <3
Tuscan Sandwich – I tried this one time. It’s also quite yummy. It’s similar to the Pastrami in construction. The differences in taste are very subtle. This is good if you like ham. But I’m a beef lover so the Pastrami is still my favorite.
Bag of Hand-Cooked Potato Chips – these are the perfect side to your sandwich! The hand cooked really makes a difference. I’ve tried both versions, the Salt & Pepper and just Salt. Personally I prefer the Salt (Pink Label) though, the flavors are almost identical.
I’m addicted to these chips. I bet they put drugs in them, they’re just that good. I am a sucker for a bag of extra thin, lightly salted, crunchy, not greasy, home made potato chips. In general I’m a potato chip lover and this ranks high on my scale. They are hands down better than Cibo’s Potato chips (which everyone raves about).
I’ve always wanted to buy two bags just for myself except I’m embarrassed because people will think I’m “matakaw” also… the chips are NOT cheap. This is the downside to them, they’re P95 which is definitely indulgent, just for a bag of chips. I wish that they were cheaper. Mondo Juice can definitely cut back the cost on this, they don’t need the fancy zip lock, foil/plastic packaging. Honestly I can inhale an entire thing in one sitting, there’s nothing to reseal. Cost and public judgment are the only two reasons keeping me from buying more bags in one go.
If you read labels like I do, you’ll notice the witty touches they put on their packaging. I’m a fan of this. It makes me smile.
I don’t know what this means but I laughed!
Unfortunately, this one is spelled wrong. But it’s okay.
I wish I took a photo of the Salt & Pepper label that says “ingredients: 5lbs from tasting.” That applies to me. I could eat my weight in these chips.
