Krung Thep Part 1

Sawasdee! Just got back from a fun and filling trip to Bangkok. Its been about 10 years since I last saw Sash. She hasn’t changed a bit except she is a now promising producer of films in Thailand. Bangkok is very different when travelling with a local, in a car. I also went to a lot more cafes and restaurants as opposed to the street food I normally eat when in Bangkok. I arrived very early in the morning. Sash’s mum got someone to drop over bags of fruit shortly after. Good old mum, she knows her daughter well. All Sash had in her fridge was booze and butter!

We had lunch at Siam Paragon because I needed a pair of shoes. I can’t believe my stupid pair of shoes snapped right on the tarmac walking to the damn plane. We went to a café called Chilli and shared some crispy fish som tam and raw salmon salad. I also had grilled pork with sticky rice. After lunch we went to Visage for dessert. She had the chocolate passion fruit mousse and I had a chocolate éclair. Good stuff and best coffee I had during my trip. I had a lot of bad coffee the rest of the trip except for the last cup at Conrad Hotel. It was so strong! My god, I think if I had left my spoon in it, it may have dissolved. Don’t be fooled by Greyhound’s trendy interior and display of cakes because both coffee and cake suck. We bought some rice noodle parcels filled with seafood for dinner but when we got home, Sash’s mum organised a full blown meal complete with two maids to serve us. You got to love Thai hospitality. We had grilled king prawn, fried fish and homemade nam prik with assorted vegetables. It was incredibly appetising and comforting. The dishes were cleared and we were brought plates of beautifully carved fruit. Damn… We also had some jasmine scented jelly which was quite horrible because I felt like I was eating soft soap. We went off to Suan Lum night market to work off the food. There are lots off nice shops where you can get bargains. Good place to go if you are not around for Chatuchak or J.J as the locals call it.

The next day we visited Playground. We had dinner at Kuppa which reminds me of a trendier Delicious. I had duck liver parfait to start and a steak sandwich to follow. The duck liver was really nice! Creamy with a heady hit of brandy. The steak sandwich was just what I needed. Meaty with lots of caramalised onion and wholegrain mustard. We went to meet another friend at To Die For. Beautiful place with a huge deck, double sunbeds and retractable roof. Shame about the coffee and cake. Coffee was weak and the cake, disappointing. Oh well, lying there under the stars more than made up for it.