Tag Archives: coconut

Asiatique, Poolside and Nahm

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Hello Friends,

After our canal tour, we rested for a bit at our hotel. We ended up walking down along the river to a small touristy attraction called Asiatique, where there was a ferris wheel, shopping and food.

We were so hungry at this point, we basically were getting cranky. We stopped at this place called the Dishes and the parents said it sounded good. In we went. We ordered a soup and pineapple fried rice.

We walked around the outdoor and indoor stalls and explored what they had to offer. We wanted something sweet to finish off our dinner, so we stopped by a dessert place, where I got a coconut popsicle and Annie got the mango dipped in chocolate with almonds. The parents got a strawberry toast.

On our way walking back out to the street, we saw this amazing wall of locks, very similar to ones hanging on the Pont des Arms in Paris. We walked all the way around and it was very charming.

Our second official day in Thailand dawned bright and early thanks again to jetlag. I was up at 4:30 and really really needed a cup of coffee. I got dressed and Annie and I went downstairs to check out this buffet that we heard about from one of Annie’s friends. It was pretty tasty. So tasty in fact that we ate there again today. But after eating the buffet and feeling very full, we decided to lounge by the pool for a little bit.

Armed with sunglasses and sunscreen we made our way to the 6th floor, where there’s a lovely view of the river as you sit poolside (see below photo from our balcony). Both Annie and I blogged and then popped into the pool to cool down. It’s been around 85 with full humidity and only an occasional wind, which was stronger by the pool, less so in the city.

From there we stopped by the hotel cafe to fuel up on quiches and tea before walking to a Thai massage place. Despite the unique name, it was a good place.

Annie and I walked back to our hotel where we freshened up for an evening out. We called an Uber for all four of us and off we went to Nahm, which is in the Como Metropolitan Hotel a few miles from our hotel. Nahm had recently been named the 5th out of the 50 best restaurants in all of Asia by the S. Pelligrino.

Annie and I ordered six dishes for the table, and man was it good! The flavors were great, and there was only one dish that was on the spicier side. We all agreed that the pumpkin curry was the best dish there.

We ordered dessert, one I was familiar with (mango and sticky rice!) and one new one with corn, rice, mangosteen and coconut cream. Our service was great, and the whole restaurant was very modern and elegant.

As we arrived and still as we left it was raining hard. We were lucky enough to have covered entrances or else we would have been soaked! We all were pretty tired at this point so we called it a night and went to bed.

Love,

-S

 

 

Teak Boat Tours

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Hello Friends,

Our first day in Bangkok we rose early thanks to jetlag. Bangkok is 14 hours ahead of California, so our bodies hadn’t quite caught up yet to our location here halfway around the world. 5:20 am my brain was wide away, so Annie and I showered and got ready for the day. Luckily there is both a Starbucks and a 7/11 on the same corner as our hotel, so we popped down for coffee after getting dressed. I tried to order my usual, but I’m not sure that the barista understood my order as I got some fruity green iced tea instead of my normal chai. It was tasty though not what I expected.

 

We had a teak boat tour scheduled for 8:30, so we left the hotel and took the river taxi down to the local metro called the BTS, and our stop was the  #7 Saphan Taksin Station. Each station was labeled by numbers as well.

Annie had taken the canal tour before and had secured the same tour guide named Nui for a 5 stop tour. We would explore a floating market, a pagoda, a garden temple, the orchid farm, lunch and an artists studio.

Our first stop was at the Wat Sat floating market, that due to flooding in the canals and the consequent building of flood locks was permanently moved to land. We were blown away by the exotic fruits they had: mangosteen, rambutan, pineapple,dragonfruit, lychee, and longan.

They also had people cooking and making prepared foods, like grilled meats, bananas and rice in a banana leaf. There were various rices in large bags and tons of flowers. We tasted the grilled banana wrapped in rice, as well as a freshly cut pineapple.

From there we hopped back on the teak boat and drove through the canals to the temple Wat Paknam, which is a popular attraction in Bangkok. Wat Paknam is a large, royal temple where many come to meditate.

We saw many monks dressed in bright orange as they went about their practices. We saw many golden Buddha statues and one large statue of a former abbot, but my favorite was the 5th floor glass statue and the ceiling. Airy and brilliant with color, you can also walk the balcony’s to get a great view of the city and the various canals.

From there, we jumped back into the teak boat and went to the garden temple. It was a totally different feel, very quiet, but closer to nature. Nui explained the Buddhist principle of karma, which is the closer relationship between cause and effect of the individual.

It was a warm day, roughly 88 with humidity, but the cool air and light spray from the water was great on the boats. Standing still and listening to Nui at each spot was a little warmer. My hat kept me cool and shady, but we had to have covered knees and shoulders for the various temples. The sun slid in and out of the clouds as we tried to stand in the shade of the trees. From the forest temple we jumped back into the boat, and on our way to the next stop, we passed some boats that were cooking food. We stopped and tasted two different dumplings: chive and taro with a chili oil sauce. The dumplings were steamed and then pan friend right before eating to ensure a crispy taste. They were served in a banana leaf bowl and were delicious! I almost wanted a second one, but I knew there was more food coming.

Then we continued on in the teak boat along the canals over to the orchid farm. It was rows upon rows of different flowers and different types of orchids. Apparently the farmer cuts of the top orchid and sells that, and the plant continues to grow more flowers. They had a tiny concrete walkway in between the rows for us to walk on. Nui kindly snapped a few pictures of us among the flowers.

At this point in the orchid farm it was far less breezy and pretty warm. Annie had gifted all of us with these mini fans for Christmas, and us two got them out. They were a lifesaver!

We jumped back into the boat and Nui and our boat driver steered us over over to our lunch spot. We had the best cashew chicken I have ever had in my life along with a tasty Panang curry. I had a pineapple smoothie, but Annie got a passionfruit one which had better flavor. Our coconut soup was delicious.

From there we walked down the walkway and over to the artists studio for a puppet show about Hamuman the monkey king and his love of this mermaid.After that many people took pictures with the puppets, but I was too shy. I instead took photos with the statue by the water. We drank iced coffees and Nui told us about the history of Thailand and King Rama.

From there we went back to our drop off point and walked to catch our train. Nui was absolutely the best! She told us funny jokes, took so many pictures of us, and directed us to all the best spots and food.

Nui handled all the talking, ordering and purchasing of everything. I totally recommend booking a tour with her if you are ever in Bangkok. Also she walked faster than any of us and was the smallest!Love her!

-S