boat food at the Floating Markets of Thailand

every market has got to have some food being sold.. if not it won't be a market! so during the journey of the floating market, we saw different types of "food boats".. we only managed to try only a few.. wished to try more though...

anyway, here were saw some spices that was sold on the banks of the canal... and even a tea shop too! soo many types of tea!!

but of course when one is in Thailand, one must try the mango rice! and sure enough there was a food boat selling mango rice! and we shared a plate... we were too hungry that i forgot to take a pic OF the mango! hahahah too bad i got to share with you here of ME eating it! :P

you'd think the mango rice is enough? nooooo...... i had to try the pork noodle! managed to find a boat that sells it and quickly ordered one! the noodles are quite different. it's texture is like glass noodles (tanghoon) but it's not clear, it's like the normal beehoon yet a lil different... can't really explain... the soup was simple, very mild, light and refreshing in a way. good way to start the day with something light.. but i was craving for more types of food.. my appetite has started...

we also found this fried spring roll, they had some with pork and some without. we tried the one without. lovely! spicy and hot! just out from the oil! hahah... when biting into it, you'll feel a different type of texture to this fried poh piah... it's not like the one u're used to here in Penang. looking inside, it's because they put glass noodles in it!!! nowonder lah!!! my mouths watering now...


once we got our boat food, the boatman continued to go through the market.. we were wondering what are we to do with the bowls! he said just eat and when we're back at the jetty, he will return it to the lady.. waaa... now THAT's service!!! so while eating in the boat, i saw lots of food boats passing by, really wanted to stop and get some but there's too much to eat for 1 person.. so i had to let it go... half of the time i don't even know what they were selling... hahahahha

so when you get on this trip, try your best to try their boat food... no regrets i tell you! u'll come home a happy camper! :D

Floating Market, Bangkok, Thailand

our hotel staff was quite helpful to us. they managed to get a good taxi rate to bring us to the floating market, wait for us, and bring us back! did you know that there are more than one floating market? or maybe the "others" were actually different docks/jetty that bring you to just one same market? who knows eh....

anyway, the taxi came super early morning and surprisingly we managed to get up and get ready on time. the ride to the markets were quite long, nearly 2 hrs! on the way we got to see some sights of Bangkok and the outskirts...

finally we reached this little jetty, and we were greeted with lovely fresh coconuts! yumm!!! that perked us up!! while having our coconuts, we saw a few boats splashing by and we were also given a brief explanation on where we're going and what we can do while on this journey.. then we hopped on to our little boat :D

the ride was interesting! the canals were done up nicely (cemented banks) though water overflows to the other side... you can see water under the houses at the side of the canals... i can only imagine how it's like at night or when it rains!! Ooooo.... on the way, we could see people washing clothes, washing dishes... all at the banks of the canals... children playing with their dogs and with water.. such fun.. not too sure bout hygene though... hmm...

then we were brought to this Coconut Sugar Farm. it's part of the tour. we got off, then went to see how coconut sugar was made... interesting as i've never tasted coconut sugar before. it's from the "juice" from the palm and cooked over wood flames. it can be quite sweet. and not only sugar, they also make sweets and peanut munchies from it.

at the Coconut Sugar Farm, they were also selling souviners... don't ask me why they were selling these (pics below).. LOL!!! they also sold the normal ones, like picture frames, key chains, magnets...etc

after the Coconut Sugar Farm, we continued our journey, passing a few shops on the left and on the right.. sometimes stopping so that we could buy some things... we were not really interested, i was looking forward more to the actual market to try their foods!... after a few attempts of telling the (btw cute) boatman that we were not interested, he brought us straight to the market...

my eyes just became bigger as there was sooooo many type of food that were sold in these boats! i wanted to try em all! but we had a time limit and i was the only one who was interested in eating... takkan i eat all by myself right?! anyway i found out that there was a drinks boat, fruits boat, even raw meat boat, noodles boat, rice (with dishes) boat, and not sure what other food they were selling... just wished we had more time....

i did managed to try their pork noodle that was made by a lady in her boat, i just saw her sitting there, turing left and right making the noodles, everything was at her arms length, and if she couldn't reach, she had a stick with a hook to get to the thing she wanted. she was at the bank, and had a helper help her with serving to people that sat at the bank of the canal. here's the lil clip i took.



we also had some mango rice and fried spring rolls on the way.. yummy! oh.. and can you believe it, there was a canal traffic jam when we were there too! too many boats! all couldn't move! there was no system on going on the left and coming on the right, everyone was everywhere!!! you can imagine the hayvok!
once we were done, we were brought to a temple (our first temple visit) that was by the bank of the canal. we got down, visited the temple, took some pics and hop on the boat again to get back to the "jetty".

i had fun! though i secretly wished we had more time and to try more foods.... but overall, no regrets with the long journey there and back. :) if i do go back to Bangkok, i'll sure to make another trip to the floating markets :)

Bangkok Boutique Hotel, Sukhumvit, Bangkok

Bangkok Boutique Hotel was our home for about 4 days. after checking in and speaking to the locals on what we can do and where we can go for here, we found out that the location of this hotel was quite good! 5mins walk to the MRT station (something we didn't know the night we arrived, hence the "hardwork" in reaching the hotel), malls are nearby, Chatuchak Market too was a few stations away and so were the temples.

this is a boutique hotel, so you'll see lots of artsy fartsy stuff around the hotel. lovely cosy interior and the staff too are friendly and very helpful! one set back was that our room was on the 3rd floor....NO lift! hahaha so imagine after being out the whole day walking non-stop, we got to end our day with stairs to the 3rd floor... :P

view of the lil garden and koi pond from our window

what impressed us from the room is the interior... we had lovely Thai scripts on the wall and picture frames. there was also a cupboard, dressing table, flat screen tv, rack, coffee/tea facilities and a well equipt bathroom! i love it! and money's worth too!! we went to the other room that we booked and the interior is quite different! i believe every room has different mural designs and that's what makes it interesting :)

the bathroom too was nice,
there were towels, toiletries, hairdryer and shaver plugs, hot/cold shower.
everything that a hotel bathroom should have.

if you're looking for a place to stay in Bangkok, especially Sukhumvit area, i suggest this hotel and i'm very satisfied with it. what more having the MRT station 3-5 mins walk from the hotel! the hotel is at 241, Sukhumvit 21, Bangkok, Thailand

Big Mama Pizzeria, Sukhumvit, Bangkok

my first time going to Bangkok and told myself that my 1st meal would be something Thai. When we reached, it was evening and had some "transport" issues going to the hotel. so on the way we stopped by the next restaurant and it was an Italian restaurant. all tired from the trip, we just wanted someplace nice and cooling.

Big Mama looked cosy. it was next to a Chinese restaurant off Thanon Asok Montri Road. it was quite full but luckily we had a table. they had lots of different types of pizza from the usuals to new flavours. this restaurant is also an art gallery. you can see lots of paintings on the wall and they're for sale as well.

so we shared a TomYam pizza, interestingly nice and a chicken schnitzel salad. the pizza was light and fluffy, not too thick and not too crispy, just nice. we loved it! especially with the TomYam flavour. the salad too, i love it! something in it made it refreshing :) we only had that as we weren't too hungry, just tired, hot and thirsty. oh and also they served bread as appetizers.. so we were already full from that. i had a mango yogurt drink. very refreshing. it was smooth and light. it was kind of sweet but it really tasted of mangoes. food was good (maybe we were too hungry)

there was a small cup of crayons and the table setting had paper, i started to doodle but my creative juices was not active that night... anyway, after relaxing and chilling, we managed to speak to the owner and finally found out where our hotel is... so after a lovely dinner, we slowly and surely headed to our hotel. hoping the next few days will be better...

Pulau Beras Basah, Langkawi

Pulau Beras Basah was the last stop of the 1/2 day island hopping tour i took when i was in Langkawi. this place was lovely!! the sea was CLEAR, the beach was white and soft.... we were given about an hour or so to hang out at this beach. when we reached it was quite quiet. lucky i took some pics before the crowd came along...

when the other boats arrived (which was actually the same boats that we met at the Tasik Dayang Bunting)... everyone was there and the beach became noisy and full with people. i wonder if we could just get a boat to bring u to the beach and spend the whole day there.. hmm... must find out the next time i go there... hahahah...

anyway, managed to get "proof" of can-see-feet water shot! hehehhe

there was parasailing for those who want to "fly like an eagle".. and i believe there's other water sports too, was not too interested, hence didn't look out for it. the beach is quite long and it's good for walks up and down the beach. there's also huts for you to hide from the sun. but if not, there're many trees around to enjoy the shade.
i would love to come here again, during off season where there's LESS people.. but the thing is i DID go off season and there was still LOTS of people... so anyway, i guess it depends on luck. unless you have intel to tell u when it's busy and when it's not. Wet Rice Island, i'll be back!!

Eagle Feeding, Langkawi

one of the stops on my island hopping trip in Langkawi was to see the eagles and feed them. well, not WE feed em but the boat man feeds em so that the eagles can come closeby for us to see them... it was quite awesome to see so many eagles flying above you... but i always thought eagles were bigger... hmm....

here's a lil clip i took of the eagles flying around us... maybe i should embed the song "I believe I can fly..." hahahahha... enjoy!