Chinatown, Bangkok

Its a holiday today so I'm free to blog. KTJ life don't really give you much time to blog but I shall try to keep this going at least twice a week. Life is good but its gets hard at times (aspecially when you try so hard but fail most of the time). Thank God for putting such supportive people around me. Its good to be surrounded by positivity when you're down and friends that make my day.

Well, I'm still in a festive mood today so here's something about Chinatown in Bangkok. Really interesting place. Many countries have their own Chintown-s, and they have one thing in common which is good food!

Bangkok's Chinatown was just bursting with food at every corner. It had a very tourist-like feel to it, similar to Malaysia's Petaling Street. The sun was setting and everything had a nice light to it and I like the vibe of the place. And there was so many pictures to take! I remember clicking away furiously on the camera.

Hahha...lanterns. So typical but yet it adds to the mood.

This is one of the things that I developed through photography. It actually makes you more aware of the little intricate things that happen around you. You really see the world differently through the eyes of a lens.

I enjoy observing people going though their daily routines, walking up and down the streets, vendors peddling their wares, even the old auntie frying noodles on her charcoal lit stove. These little things, mundane as it is make wonderful photographs-people in their element.

Interesting thing, this place is called Chinatown but language-wise its more Thai than Chinese. The hawkers did not understand my mandarin. Well either they don't speak the particular dialect or my mandarin really is that terrible.

Food here isn't very cheap by the way, it isn't cheap in Bangkok generally anyway or even here in Petaling Street (I went on a food spree with my dad the other day and a bowl of porridge set us back Rm 6, but it tasted really good so all is forgiven).

Interesting eats at Chinatown would be bird's nest (Fun fact: You know bird's nest is essentially bird's saliva? xP ). The quality of bird's nest served is not top notch but a cold bowl was refreshing nonetheless after a tiring day of walking.

Another thing worth trying is the random people frying stuff at the side of the road. Somehow they can really draw you in by the aroma alone as I remember smelling something good frying from a block away!

Food was good and available at every corner. Being the adventurous nut, I bought stuff along the way much to the protest of my more hygenic and health conscious dad. He says the food taste good because of the 'added' flavour from the stall being on the roadside. My stomach was still alright after that so all is good =)

Chinatown was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. There was just so many good things about the place. I should do this kind of thing with my dad more often. Its fun travelling with him because he's always up for some adventure like travelling a few hours outside Bangkok city to visit the floating market and he was so willing to walk with me all over Bangkok.

Hmm, I haven't been to Mumbai........*hints*

Wise words

Its no wonder the Thai's love their King and Queen so much.

Welcome to the family

Got this lens (AF-S Nikkor 35mm 1.8) at Low Yat Plaza today. Played with it at Berjaya Times Square, the new Nikon Centre. Really cool place where you can try out all the nikon products. HAhaha I think I annoyed the sales guy a little.

See the lens casing display has two glass doors and the guys had the key to one side only. This enables him to be able to slide open half of the cabinet. I wanted to see a lens on the far end of the other side. Lets just say he had to do a little stretching.....lol.

Can't wait to try this new baby out!

Clark Quay, Singapore

I'm currently in a very festive mood so I shall post up something that reminds me of festivity which is Clark Quay. Last year when I was there, the place was just bustling with activity! Its such a happening area. We spotted many other fellow MUN participants partying hard all night. Us? We were just strolling and chillin.... =)

By the way I just got back from Raub, Pahang. I had such a good time back there with the family. They were very gracious and friendly as always despite me being a banana. Lots of awkward silences over the dinner table but the good food makes up for that.

Then uncle surprised us by bringing out a box of fireworks. I can't remember the last time I played with fireworks. It brought back so many fond memories, uncle even bought this huge-ass fireworks that was the size of a big box.

Got a really cool video of it, 10 good minutes of festivity. I would post it up but......erm.....technically fireworks are illegal here. =( I don't want to get anyone in trouble but posting 'evidence' here. lol

Well, until I'm done sorting through the pictures let's head back down to Singapore!

I really like the lighting. It seems like the people who designed the place took photography into account which was very consistent and does not require much fiddling with settings. And as I said the place was bustling with action! That or I need to get out more often.

This chef even posed when he noticed me taking a shot. Those huge glasses are a crowd puller.

Then there was this huge entourage of ladies having a Bachelorette party. They were WILD. These people certainly attracted loads of attention to themselves. This band was playing and the bachelorette herself danced right through.

I also noticed this interesting bar, "Clinic" that has a very interesting set up. As shown in the picture above, people sit in sofas modelled after hospital beds and drink from IV lines. They also serve shots in syringes. 0____0

This is a band I was talking about. We even had one of these play during the THIMUN closing ceremony so I'm assuming this kind of thing is popular in Singapore. Later during the day we bumped into one of the girls who performed at Thimun. The story is quite lengthy, so I'll elaborate another time.

Here's Azelli, Jinho and Syahirah chilling as the band plays. Clark Quay is happening!

It was a good break after being all intellectual during the day debating about international issues and such. Now I shall return to enjoying my week long break from school. Have an awesome Chinese New Year and hope you guys have a great time.

Happy Valentine's Day!

She has been bugging me to help her take pictures for the blog header. I've procrastinated for over a year now, I do not kid you it was that long. On Chinese New Year Eve, I looked out the window and the lighting was just gorgeous. Its not common to have such nice light in the evening.

So I asked her to put on something nice quickly, cause' there was probably 30 minutes of light left. The results was awesome! Got some really nice shots. It helps to have such a photogenic sister hahaha.

Oh, and she recorded a cover of Valentine by Kina Grannis. Check it out, Happy Valentines Day!

Fried Mars Bars

*Whoops! Its not American. I do agree the UK flag and words "British Take Away" may have given me a clue. Did some googling, and found out that its actually scottish. *sigh* I apologise for stereotyping Americans. lol

These things are THE bomb! Too good, too good! You may wonder how you can make something already fattening even more fattening, but the Americans did it. The person who thought of frying mars bars is a genius!

We stumbled upon this shop in one of the shopping malls in Singapore last year. Its was during the Model United Nations conference. The term 'fried mars bars' sounds kind of familiar to me. I think it was featured in one of those AFC food programs.

All of us shared one big cup, and it was good! Next day, we went back and this time we got one cup each. But we all got overkill from the super sweetness. Hmm....somehow it didn't taste as good as it did the first day or perhaps we got over it sooner than we thought.

Hhahah, I tried replicating this at church's Psalmist Coffeehouse one Sunday and it was an epic fail. Lol, using waffle batter wasn't such a good idea. I'll probably have another go at it this holiday and we'll see how it turns out.

Manna Thai Restaurant (Siam Paragon) in Bangkok, Thailand

Lately, I've been scouring food blogs to look at food. I'm really looking forward to Chinese New Year. CNY has always been synonymous with good food, and the fun of sharing it with a big group of people. Then there's all the catching up and laughing at my 25+ year old cousins when the older folks drill them with questions about their boyfriend/girlfriend and marriage.

Last two weeks or so have been very satisfying so far. Had my first reunion dinner two weeks back and the food was GOOD! Roasted piglet, lou sang, steamed fish-you name it! Then last week dad brought me to Lot 10's Hutong food court.

One Saturday ago, I went with the dad and sister to Dave's in One Utama. Gosh, the pork ribs were so good. We also had the house pizza which was probably the best pizza that I've had in the while. The last time I had good pizza was in Alexis. Then we topped it up with squid ink pasta.

That was one awesome lunch, probably the best that I've had in a food court. We ate loads of food hahha- pork knuckle, hokkien mee, oh chien, beef noodle, egg tarts, and char koay teow, all by the 3 of us =)

The resonating theme in all these meals is PORK!!! I had so much good food recently, I'm looking forward to CNY. Perhaps I'll try to convince dad to bring the family up to Penang. 3 days till CNY holidays, can't wait!

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Just a quick flash back to last year's trip to Bangkok with dad. On our final night we had a good meal in one of those nice Thai restaurants in Siam Paragon. We did not really hit the jackpot with street food so we went for this (although the Pad Thai near our hotel was really good).

I liked the food here. Its all proper with the nice set up and all, so perhaps you loose the authentic feel. But I genuinely enjoyed my meal there.

This was some sort of crepe with santan filling. Quite surprising because I expected it to be savoury rather than sweet. But it was good in an interesting way. And it even came with chili! Hmm.....crepe+sweet santan+chilli. Interesting combination.

The tom yum koong was really good. Perhaps not enough kick for people who like it really spicy but it was just nice in my case. It was spicy enought to get me sweating a tiny lil' bit. But then I THINK I have a pretty good general toleration of chilli. Its been a while since I've eaten something so spicy it blasted my mind.

This is some kind of curry crab dish. Good stuff. I'm really hungry in my current state anyway so perhaps my judgement can be slightly biased haha.

Oh, the Pineapple Friend Rice was undeniably good! It had the sweet succulent taste from the pinapple. Well I'm a really big fan of pineapple fried rice and its hard to go wrong with friend rice.

Its some seafood thing......I think its the other tom yam thing. I can remember the curry being very creamy and rich. Serving it in a pineapple is a nice touch too. Kinds of remind me a little of otak-otak. It had a similar taste lingering there.

Mojito! Really like this drink. Cross between Limau Ais and a tinge of alcohol.

Basically, good all rounder restaurant serving good food. Probably can't compare to those gems you'll find in the streets but its a good place to go when you're tired on that last night, and tired of searching.

Manna Thai Restaurant
Address :G Fl., SIAM PARAGON, 991 Rama1, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330
Tel.0-2129-4555
Email:manna.paragon@gmail.com

Highlight of my weeks

Besides the little bible study groups held throughout the week this is one of the things that I look forward to every week. Life may seem stressful but all it takes is a cupcake to make it all better. Thank you Miss Sarah and team for churning out these babies week after week. It makes me T.G.I.F. every single week.

Its a good thing I have class at the 6 Form Center during break time on Fridays. That way I can dash downstairs to get hold of one, before those greedy really hungry people start stuffing their pockets with more than one cupcake. Seriously, those things disappear FAST!

These pictures are from last year's Bake-a-thon, where we were raising cash for kids in Tondo which is located in Manila, Philippines. We sold each cupcake for a minimum donation of Rm 1. They sold like hot cakes! (pun...hhahah)

The cupcake team did a good job rolling out all the cupcakes. Ms Sarah's kitchen table was overflowing with cupcakes by the end of the day. I helped by watching them decorate the cupcakes, besides taking pictures and eating. =_____=

Here's Syahirah and Emily doing some baking

Azelli working hard to make those cupcakes look more appealing.

Yes, today is cupcake day =)