Sunday 23 October 2011

Thailand: Damnoen Saduak Floating Market

Damnoen Saduak Floating Market is one of the famous floating markets in Thailand.

Going to the Floating Market via Boat
Initially, I wasn't that interested in going there. It was only Mich who really wanted to go. Good thing we went anyway, because looking back, I enjoyed the tour.

Mich and I before the start of the market tour

It's a nice way of experiencing the traditional market of the Thai - on a boat.






Most of the items seem to be overpriced, except for this one.
I had a great time taking in the sights and sounds there, particularly the vendors cooking noodles, selling colorful fruits, hats, and souvenir items.


Thai Crepe

Noodles, anyone?

We just can't resist the food. Despite the price, we still bought some - Pad Thai, Banana Fritters, Mangoosteen... Oh, I miss them!
Pad Thai Noodles... Nom nom nom

Saturday 15 October 2011

Sweet

Spent my half day with Jori at the mall where I got this lovely pair of shoes...

I felt like I'm Cinderella with all the shimmers and glitters
I also got yummy pralines from Kaycee.

Beryl's Dignity Assortment Chocolate Pralines
Thank you dear. These were really gooood!

Monday 10 October 2011

China Town in Bangkok

Hualampong Station is near Bangkok's China Town. So after our Ayutthaya tour, we went
to China Town to do some street food walking tour.

The staff from Hualampong Train Station said we can ride a tuktuk for 50 baht to get to Chinatown. She even provided a note with "China Town" written in Thai alphabet to be given to the driver.

After a few minutes, we arrived in China Town. It was a bit dark. I was expecting a lot of people with a lot of stores. There were indeed a lot of them but some were already closed. Maybe because it was a Sunday. We walked on the left side of the street, checking for the suggested street foods that we have researched but found none. I was losing hope because we can't find anything pleasing to the eye. At the same time, it was a bit scary walking there with few people passing.

So we went back and tried our luck on the other side of the street. Good thing there were a  handful of food stalls and people gathered there.

One such stall was the Satay food station. We saw a lot of customers buying their grilled chicken meat with peanut sauce.
Chicken Satay


Another was the kway teow station. Their noodles were very appealing, as well as the fried rolls.
Kway Teow

The best among the rest! :)

Since they all looked yummy, we tried them all. The best for us was the fried prawn rolls. 

Afterwards, we walked on the next street. It was livelier and more crowded than the others. I guess this is the main street of China Town.

Traffic in night time Bangkok
After doing our pasalubong shopping, we checked out the Saphan Phut market. It was one bus ride away from China Town. The night market did not pass my expectation. Though there were a lot of stalls around, I cannot find anything nice plus it seemed that this night market was for local people because most of the vendors didn't understand English. We just strolled a bit more (but still failed to find something) and decided to go back to our hotel.

Tuesday 4 October 2011

Where to eat when in Ayutthaya, Thailand? : Baan Watcharachai

We reached Ayutthaya at around 12 noon, perfect time for lunch. We decided to go to Baan Watcharachai, one of the recommended restaurants listed in the Lonely Planet book. Our tuktuk driver even agreed to take us there for free before we went on paid tour!

As we entered the restaurant, I felt something was wrong. It was just an ordinary eatery and nothing similar to the descriptions in the book, though it was also a riverfront restaurant. We asked the waiters what was the name of the restaurant but they were just smiling. Uh oh... there was really something wrong! So we went outside and looked for the driver and told him that we wanted to eat at Baan Watcharacahi. He said the restaurant that we wanted was too far. His friend even said that it was closed due to the flood. Oh, the excuses! Still I insisted, good thing the driver caved in and finally drove us there. Arghh...

When we arrived at the place, I can really tell the difference! The place is huge and has a nice garden before you reach the place. There is also a stationary boat where you can have your lunch. 


You need to remove your shoes before you enter the boat. Inside the boat were low tables and cushion chairs, similar to some Japanese restaurants where you need to sit Indian-style. The place is truly relaxing.



There are a lot of dishes to choose from. We ordered baked fish in three different yummy sauces and a sour and spicy tom yum soup with prawns.



Baked Fish + 3 yummy sauces

Prawn Tom Yum

Mich and I - ready for Ayutthaya Adventure


Sunday 2 October 2011

Ayutthaya, Thailand


We toured around Ayuthaya on our second day in Bangkok. Mich and I decided to go to there the locals' way - by train. 


Travel time is around 1 1/2 hours and it only costs 15 Baht. Trains have resemblance to the old PNR trains. They're non-air-conditioned but fans and seats are available as opposed to the faux information service near the train station. Yes, there is indeed a information service counter before you enter the ticketing booths. They will tell you wrong info regarding trains which will make you want to hire a cab instead of trains, so better avoid them. Go straight to the ticketing booths and you can get reliable info from them.

Upon reaching Ayutthaya, don't forget to proceed to Tourist Information area and ask for a mini-Ayutthaya booklet. That includes a map and info of the places you will be visiting. After getting a copy, we hired a tuk-tuk (similar to small multi-cab in the Philippines) for 200B per hour to tour us around the area.

Ayutthaya is huge. It has amazing and large ruins. I wonder how grand it was before it was destroyed by the Burmese.

Wat Chaiwattanaram



Top: Promod; Short: Thrifted from Bangkok; Sandals: TRF by Zara



Wat Lokayasutharam

Wat Mahathat
Wat Mahathat
We were not able to visit the whole area due to time constraints so I suggest you go there as early as possible.

Ayutthaya Ruins
By Train: Go to Bangkok's Hualampong Train Station
visit www.railway.co.th for train schedules