The Chewys’ Family Trip to Bangkok Day 2: Hello Kitty House, Siam Ocean World, Teddy House’s Kitchen, After You Dessert Cafe & EAT (Eat All Thai)

Posted on October 2, 2015 by missuschewy

From Day Two of our Bangkok trip onwards, things got more exciting because I had put in much effort in planning our itinerary to cater to all of us as a family. But first, Little misschewy needs her milk milk in the morning before we all get ready to head out for a day of adventure!

Hahaha looks l like I spoke too soon cuz she fell asleep while we were making our way to Hello Kitty House at Siam Square One! Our Tula baby carrier has lotsa sleepy dust! 😛 We were there quite early, even before it was opened for business so we sat at one of the pink benches outside and waited patiently. In the meantime, I also passed a sleeping Little misschewy to misterchewy so that I could pose for photos however I wanted at Hello Kitty House later on. LOL.

Hello Kitty House finally opened at 10am and we were greeted by a glum-looking male staff in pink polo tee. Some Hello Kitty related song in Japanese was playing on repeat but it was very lively and cheery. I’m not a hardcore Hello Kitty fan but the song made me feel hyper and suddenly in love with Hello Kitty. HAHAHA. The place looks so prettyyy and best of all, it was relatively empty!

Let’s check out the upper floor!

Hello Kitty heaven!!

This is like the perfect place for a Hello Kitty fanatic to hold her ROM ceremony or something. Hahaha.

Ordered cakes because they looked so pretty in their rainbow colors!

Just look at this! Candy Cream Cheese Cake (THB 175) in my favorite pink and blue! Prior to our visit, I read reviews that the food at Hello Kitty House really cannot make it but aiya since we were there already, just try right? Eh but surprisingly the cakes didnt taste that bad leh. Or maybe my taste buds got problem. Hahaha. But Chanelle loved the cakes too!

The Rainbow Mille Crepe (THB 175) was also irresistable! It came in shades of red, yellow, green, blue and purple! I took a tad too long to admire the cake that misterchewy asked me, “Are we going to start eating?” Lololol.

Yes we are! But since Little misschewy woke up from her nap, let me take a photo with her first!

Very unwilling! Okay fine..

She wanted to eat the cakes too! And gave her stamp of approval!

We went to the basement of Hello Kitty House where the shop and spa are located.

Plenty of Hello Kitty merchandise here!

After an ultra sweet breakfast at Hello Kitty House, we headed to Siam Ocean World which I had blogged about separately.

Settled our lunch at Teddy House’s Kitchen! Besides Hello Kitty House, this is another cafe that will appeal to little kids.

Teddy House Kitchen is filled with plenty of stuffed bears which makes the whole place look inviting.

We decided to just order one pancake so that we would still have room for other food later on. We were the only ones in the cafe but our pancake took really long to be served. Thankfully, it tasted quite good with maple syrup and vanilla ice cream!

Next, we went to After You Dessert Cafe! The hubs and I had heard so much about After You’s delicious shibuya honey toasts and made this cafe a must-visit on our list.

Not surprisingly, the place was packed to the brim and we chose to sit by the window as it was the only empty space left.

It was Shibuya Honey Toast without a doubt! The toast was crisp and had a dense and chewy interior. SO DAMN GOOD. The three of us were chomping down on this.

We walked around for a bit at Central World before having early dinner at EAT (Eat All Thai), which was recommended by my good friend YP. EAT is all about using premium ingredients to whip up delicious Thai food.

The only time we can eat in peace is when Little misschewy falls asleep! LOL.

Salted Chaiya Egg

Phad Thai

Crab Meat Fried Rice

Tom Yum Goong

We stopped by Erawan Shine to offer our prayers before heading back to our hotel and calling it a day!
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The Chewys’ Family Trip to Bangkok Day One: Aloft Bangkok Sukhumvit 11 & Sukhumvit Soi 38 Street Food

Posted on September 28, 2015 by missuschewy

Hellooo chewys! I wanted to blog about our Bangkok trip earlier while it was still fresh in my mind but unfortunately, the bombing took place at Erawan Shrine shortly after we got back and I thought it wasn’t such an appropriate time to share our travelogue so I decided to delay it for a bit. As I had mentioned briefly in my previous posts, this trip’s agenda was to celebrate our 5th dating anniversary as well as my birthday! I never had a birthday trip before so I was rather excited even though I had been to BKK a few times. Hehehe 😛

We booked an afternoon flight so that it wouldn’t be so rushed for us. With a little one around, be prepared to spend at least twice the amount of time than you normally would. We used to take about an hour at least before we could head out of the house but now we need to wake up extra early to start preparing! I’m also quite paranoid when it comes to packing because baby’s stuff are usually necessities. If I could say so myself, I think I almost brought the whole house to BKK. LOL XD

Much love to Changi Recommends for lending us one of their overseas Wi-Fi router. The Changi Recommends booths are located in all 3 terminals and are open 24/7. It was very convenient for us as we only had to pick up the Wi-Fi device after checking in our luggages. That saves us on delivery charges! Upon your return, simply return the device by dropping it off at the Changi Recommends booth at your arrival terminal. Now that’s hassle-free! The last thing you would want is to fret over the collection and returning of your Wi-Fi device, so I’m really glad that Changi Airport Group established this subsidiary in 2012 to save travellers all the unnecessary trouble while providing affordable internet access to keep us connected during our trips.

A shot with Little misschewy’s favorite durian before we wave goodbye to my in-laws!

Our third family trip this year! We travelled to Phuket in January and Hong Kong in March 🙂

A wefie before take off! I’m not sure if the monkey face by Little misschewy was intentional but I’m posting it up anyway!

I don’t know about you but I love plane food! Somehow, plane food makes me really happyyy! This was some fish spaghetti and it was quite good!

But we couldn’t really eat in peace with an active toddler who refuses to stay in her seat.

The hubs Tula-ed her and walked up and down the aisle a couple of times and she finally conked out. Zzz.. I think misterchewy looked sleepy too. Hey, nobody said parenthood would be easy 😉

Sawadee ka~ Welcome to the Land of Smiles! 😀

We were desperately trying to hire a cab using the Grab Taxi app but to no avail. I guess the airport is too huge and the drivers ended up waiting elsewhere even though I had typed out the exact location where we were standing. Some drivers called but there was a communication breakdown and we were like argh ok nevermind forget it. Wasted my overseas call money! Lol. In the end, we decided to try our luck and went downstairs. Ahlamak! Should have just come here earlier la! Just get a printout from the machine and there will be a taxi car plate number stated on it. Plenty of taxi drivers waiting there!

A few hours without Internet connectivity made me feel uneasy so I switched on our Wi-Fi router as soon as we touched down. The hubs benefited from this as well since the router is able to connect up to 8 devices simultaneously. If it wasn’t for this router, I couldn’t have posted so many photos during our trip on my Instagram and Facebook page 😛

Because of the traffic jam, it took us almost an hour to reach our choice of accommodation, Aloft Bangkok Sukhumvit 11, which is one of the Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) properties. Hotel accommodation in Bangkok is fairly affordable across the board. We went ahead with Aloft because we could earn Starpoints and the hotel rates were really attractive. Plus, the hotel is located quite near Nana BTS Station, which is a pretty centralized location.

Aloft Hotel also provides complimentary tuk tuk service to and from Nana BTS station.

Aloft hotel has this very cool and artsy fartsy vibe which I think most youngsters would appreciate. Lol.

Our Aloft Room spans about 30 to 33 square meters – plenty of space for Little misschewy to roam around even with a playpen in the room. I love the layout of the room and also the idea of waking up to a nice view of the city upon waking up.

Our ultra-comfortable platform bed was topped with plush bedding.

The bathroom is also very spacious. There is a sliding door to separate the walk-in shower from the vanity sink.

In case you are wondering, that’s a bottle sterilizer which we requested from the hotel.

The floor can be very slippery for toddlers so please request for a baby bath tub!

The view from our room.

Hahaha failed wefie with the bubs because she just didn’t want to sit still on my lap even for 3 seconds.

I actually planned to go to HERO Food & Gathering for dinner but misterchewy, being a fuddy duddy, was more keen to check out Sukhumvit Soi 38. I mean most guys should be quite thrilled to be eating in a restaurant full of Marvel superheroes right? So Sukhumvit Soi 38 it was. We took a cab and it was a huge mistake because the jam was horrendous. Should have taken the BTS instead.

We found it strange that there were only a few stalls there. Little did we know that Sukhumvit Soi 38 was closing down and most stalls had relocated elsewhere.

We walked all the way to the end and started with the wanton noodle stall. This was not bad but the slices of char siew were pretty good stuff.

The phad thai was so damn good that we had to resist ordering another plate in order to save space to try other food.

We saw this stall selling sticks of meat and seafood. Basically, you pick out the sticks that you want and someone will barbecue the food for you. We tabao-ed some back for our supper.

Wanted to try more food but the little one was cranky already. Settled our dessert before heading back to our hotel.

The mango sticky rice was amazing! Very sweet and juicy mangoes and the glutinous rice was wonderfully soft and chewy.

That’s all for our first day in Bangkok! Keep a lookout for day two!
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Bangkok for Kids: Art in Paradise Bangkok

Posted on August 17, 2015 by missuschewy

Heyhey chewys! We have come to the third and final post of our three-part series on things to do in Bangkok with kids! As I had mentioned earlier, there are many child-friendly attractions in Bangkok but since we were only there for a few days, we had to plan carefully to make the most of our trip! We went to Siam Ocean World on the second day of our trip, and Kidzoona & Molly Fantasy on the third, but realized that we didn’t get many family snaps which was a pity. So, on the fourth day of our trip, which also coincided with my birthday, we decided to head to Art in Paradise, the first 3D art museum in Bangkok! What better way to take interesting photos that will serve as wonderful memories many years down the road? 🙂

Art in Paradise is located within Esplanade Shopping Mall, which is some walking distance from Thailand Cultural Centre MRT station. Silly me got it wrong and we walked all the way to Thailand Cultural Centre after we exited the station. Upon realizing that there’s no Art in Paradise there, we took a cab to Esplanade Shopping Mall. Please don’t get confused like I did! Admission for adult foreigners costs 400 baht and 200 baht for children above 100cm. All footwear are to be removed and deposited at the counter before entering the museum. There are over 150 paintings across various themes and we had so much fun posing for photos, Little misschewy included! Shall let our photos do the talking 😉

Art in Paradise Bangkok is a great place for families to create memories through interactive 3D art. Even though Chanelle might be too young to know how to pose, her unintentional poses and occasional photobombing make the photos interesting! Hope you guys enjoyed this post! Stay connected with us on Facebook www.facebook.com/missuschewy and on Instagram @missuschewy and @misterchewy 🙂

Art in Paradise Bangkok
99 Esplanade Room No 408
4th Floor
Rachadapisek Road
Din Daeng Bangkok 10400
Tel.: 026-609-130
Email: aipbkk2013@gmail.com

Opening Hours:
Daily
10am – 10pm

Bangkok for Kids: Bangkok Sea Life Siam Ocean World

Posted on August 14, 2015 by missuschewy

Helloooo daddies and mummies! Here’s our second of three-part series on things to do in Bangkok with kids! If you have missed our earlier post on Kidzoona and Molly Fantasy, click here to read it. You know how it’s kinda funny when misterchewy and I look back on our last trip to Bangkok in 2012.. We were trying to decide if we should visit Bangkok Sea Life Siam Ocean World while we were at Siam Paragon. After much deliberation, we both agreed to take our kid there the next time we visit Bangkok. Three years later.. HERE WE ARE! 😀

Little misschewy had not been to the S.E.A Aquarium at Sentosa so we reckon this would be an eye-opening and engaging experience for her. Furthermore, she knows what a fish is so we thought it would be interesting to introduce different forms of marine life to her. The tickets are priced at 990 baht for adults and 790 baht for children 3-11 years old. We only needed to purchase a pair of adult tickets which worked out to be around SGD 80! We managed to save a bit by getting the Weekday Early Bird rate at 745 baht for adults, which is about SGD 60 for a pair. We saved $20! However, the small catch is that you have to enter before noon on a weekday! With proper planning, it wasn’t difficult at all.

Indeed, from the moment we stepped into Siam Ocean World, Little misschewy was so enthralled by all the different types of fishes that we spent quite a fair bit of time before moving on to the next species.

This Octopus is really ginormous!

Lionfish! Reminds me of my scuba diving days. I wanna go diving again! 🙁

We stepped onto a glass panel and watched various sharks swim underneath us. Pretty cool!

This seems to be meant for kids and it’s sooo cute!

Little misschewy was initially afraid and clung on to misterchewy tightly. But after awhile, she refused to leave! LOL.

Heyyy fishie fishie!

Now, that’s a different kind of ‘fish’! Hahaha.

The otters were just lazing around!

This is the part where visitors get to touch and feel marine life such as starfish and sea cucumber.

Going on board the Ocean Feeding Boat allows one to get up close and personal with sharks, stingrays and a great variety of fish. SEA LIFE staff will provide an insightful introduction while feeding the fish by hand. It costs 180 baht per person and this activity is available from 10.30am to 8pm.

Adorable penguins!

Some of them were just standing still for so long and I actually wondered if they were real. Haha.

There’s a mini playground within Siam Ocean World!

This part of Siam Ocean World took our breaths away. It’s really magnificent plus the music that was being played had that mysterious mood to it. Watching all these gigantic sharks swim around was such an amazing experience!

As compared to our very own S.E.A Aquarium, I would say that Bangkok Sealife Siam Ocean World wins hands down in more ways than one. If you have a young toddler like us, a visit to Siam Ocean World is highly recommended! 😉
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Sea Life Bangkok Ocean World
B1-B2 Floor, Siam Paragon,
991 Rama 1 Rd, Pathumwan,
Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
(Nearest BTS: Siam)
Tel: 662 687 2000
Email: marketing.bangkok@merlinentertainments.biz

Opening Hours:
Daily
10am – 9pm

Bangkok for Kids: Kidzoona and Molly Fantasy

Posted on August 11, 2015 by missuschewy

When our friends knew about our plans to take Little misschewy along to Bangkok during my birthday week on the last week of July, many expressed their concern because Bangkok is popularly known as a shopping and eating paradise. Would having a young toddler in tow ruin our holiday plans? And more importantly, would Chanelle enjoy this trip or be bored to tears? Even though Chanelle is barely two years old, she sure knows how to play and have fun! With that, I planned our Bangkok itinerary with her interests in mind, in addition to ours. There are many things to do in Bangkok with kids but due to limited time, I shortlisted three main attractions in Bangkok for kids and families. I will first be introducing Kidzoona and Molly Fantasy in the first of my three-part series 🙂

There are a number of indoor playgrounds scattered all over Bangkok but I decided on Kidzoona based on two very important factors:

1. Kidzoona is highly accessible as it is located on the 5th floor of Gateway Ekamai Mall, right next to Ekkamai BTS Station. Kidzoona allows re-entry on the same day, so parents and children can take a break at any of the cafes or restaurants within the mall. A few other indoor playgrounds that I had researched on are located away from BTS stations which can be rather inconvenient.

2. Kidzoona’s play areas and play structures are age-appropriate for young toddlers like Chanelle. I feel that some other indoor playgrounds like Funarium and KidZania, on the other hand, target older children about 4 years and up.

Kidzoona and Molly Fantasy are two concepts under the Aeon Fantasy group, a Japan-based company which specializes in the operation of entertainment facilities for children in shopping centres. Apart from Japan and Thailand, Aeon Fantasy has also found its way around other Asian countries such as China, Vietnam, Cambodia, The Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia. All I want to say is.. Please come to Singapore soon!!

Upon stepping into Molly Fantasy, we were greeted by a barrage of coin-operated kiddie rides and arcade games. Little misschewy loves to go on kiddie rides these days, but ain’t nobody got time for that! Besides the kiddie rides and arcade games, Molly Fantasy houses a large play area, Kidzoona, which is what we were there for. First, we had to fill in a form and pay upfront before entering Kidzoona. Adults pay a flat rate of 90 baht but the rates for children differ based on their height and are pricier on weekends.

The green lockers are for you to store your personal belongings and valuables while the white lockers are meant for footwear. We were unlucky that the green lockers were unavailable so we had to constantly keep an eye on our bags.

There are educational toys and books for the little ones. Saw a baby boy hammering away at a wooden xylophone. Super cute! It’s a great place for young ones to get warmed up before proceeding to the giant ball pool.

Lounge area where tired parents can take turns to rest and recharge. There’s even a massage chair to sooth those aching feet!

This inflatable giant ‘hamster wheel’ is so cool!

One of the reasons why I enjoy taking Chanelle to the indoor playground is because she likes watching other children play and it brings a smile to her face.

Hahaha. The look on Little misschewy is like, “Mummy, can I play now?” We have not been to many indoor playgrounds in Singapore but the ball pool at Kidzoona is hugeeeee and attracts children of all ages!

Inflatable bouncy castle!

Chanelle tried to climb up but it proved to be too steep!

Papa Chewy to the rescue!

WHEEEE! Chanelle asked to go on the slide at least another three more times! Good workout for Papa Chewy! Hahaha.

This section of Kidzoona is quite similar to KidZania, where children are free to experiment and take on various roles in the ‘working field’. It was adorable watching how kids served their parents who acted as customers or patrons.

Of course, we couldn’t resist a photo of Little misschewy in one of these cute outfits! Her first part-time job at a burger shop! HAHAHA.

“Hello! Burgers for you?” I whatsapped this photo to Chanelle’s godma, and she replied that she will BUY ALL THE BURGERS from Chanelle! So sweet can! LOL.

Ooh! Look who’s a sushi chef? Irrashaimase!

Mummy is going to post a photo of this sushi platter on Instagram while my personal sushi chef prepares some hot green tea for me!

The hubs and I are glad that the local children we met at Kidzoona are either well-mannered, or their parents are quick to intervene before things turn ugly between kids. Chanelle happened to pick up a toy which was left behind by a little boy and he took it back right out of her hands but his father immediately handed it back to Chanelle before pulling his boy away. This lovely girl didn’t push Chanelle out of the fire truck when Chanelle climbed in. In fact, she shifted herself to make more space for Chanelle. Her kind gesture truly surprised me because I have come across selfish kids who refuse to share.

It was a joy watching the two girls smile and interact with each other and they occasionally waved at misterchewy and I!

We spent close to 2 hours in Kidzoona and paid another 40 baht for Little misschewy to go on this carousel ride before leaving Gateway Ekamai Mall. Besides keeping the little ones happy, it’s also a fantastic way to expend their energy so that parents can have a peaceful meal when their kids conk out after a few hours at the indoor playground 😉
Stay connected with us on Facebook www.facebook.com/missuschewy and on Instagram @missuschewy and @misterchewy 🙂

Kidzoona and Molly Fantasy
Floor 5, Gateway Ekamai Mall, 982/22 Sukhumvit Road Prakanong, Klongtoey, Bangkok 10110
(Nearest BTS: Ekkamai)
Local Phone:02 108 2650
International Phone: +66 2 108 2650
Email: contact@aeonfantasy.co.th

Operating Hours:
Daily
10am – 9pm (last entry 8pm)

Price:
Adult – 90 Baht
Child under 105 cm – 180 baht on weekdays/300 baht on weekends
Child over 105 cm – 220 baht on weekdays/360 baht on weekends

Bangkok Day 4: Victory Monument Boat Noodles & Ban Khun Mae

Posted on November 30, 2012 by missuschewy

Heyhey chewys! We have finally come to our fourth and final Bangkok blog post! I was feeling kinda emo on the last night of our trip because time passed way too quickly. We had so much fun in BKK, eating shopping and sightseeing! Next time honeymoon how? Sure emo until very jialat one. LOL. We wanted to get the most out of whatever remaining time we had left in BKK so we chose to check out early and leave our luggage with the conceirge. Decided to forgo hotel’s buffet breakfast as well, so that we could hunt down the famous Bangkok boat noodles. Word has it that everyone should go to Victory monument for the best boat noodles! 😀

It was really coincidental that we bumped into our cab driver whom we had hired to take us sightseeing on the second day of our trip! This time, we told him that it was our last day and we just wanted to try the boat noodles at Victory Monument. The hubs asked him what are boat noodles called in Thai and he replied, “Kway Teow”. Hahaha seriously? 😛

Victory Monument! I’m sure it will look more stunning at night. 🙂

Not exactly what I would like to see before a meal! But anyway that’s how we knew we were on the right track. Our online research tells us that the boat noodle shops are located along the canal.

We walked past a number of boat noodle shops and weren’t sure which was the one everyone was raving about. That was until we saw some Thai workers clad in orange, and we knew this was it! Beatrice Tan also blogged about her experience at this stall but I first got to know about this place through J2Kfm’s blog.

Interestingly, we read from various blogs that nobody ever leaves without eating a few bowls of boat noodles in a single sitting because the serving is very small. Most people order at least 5 bowls and probably another 5 when they are done with the first 5. LOL.

We didn’t want to be too ambitious, so we ordered 4 bowls to be shared amongst ourselves for a start. We were also served with two metal cups of crushed ice, so we thought we had to order some drinks by default. Haha.

Here are some facts about Bangkok boat noodles. Apparently, boat noodles are not called boat noodles for nothing. Bowls of noodles served in thick and savory broth were originally sold and served from boats along canals and floating markets. Other than dried spice and herbs, a little bit of pork blood is also added to further enhance the taste of the broth. If you have read our post earlier this week, and wonder how does this differ from the boat noodles we had at Chatuchak market, I think I kinda prefer the latter although I like the novelty of these being served in small portions at Victory Monument. The flavor of the broth was intense, but not as full-bodied as the one we had just the day before. It was also slightly saltier (which explains the need for free bottled water on each table? Idk..) in my opinion.

One of the waiter seemed to be ‘peddling’ some of the fried stuff and asked if we wanted any of these. Asked him what were these and he was smiling sheepishly at us. Actually none of them spoke English. Oh wells. Found out from J2Kfm that these were Salt & Pepper Crispy Pork Rinds. Something to go along with your noodles and if you like fried cracking stuff, you will like this.

Lo and behold! Both misterchewy and I managed 9 bowls in total. We probably could stomach a couple more bowls but we had to think ahead, for lunch! 😛

Clearly, the husband gave his stamp of approval. Everything totalled up to SGD4, including drinks! Cheap right? 😀
Now here’s the details:

Sutyot Kuetiau Lua Payak
Phaya Thai, Bangkok 10400, Thailand

Took the BTS to….

Mahboonkrong (MBK) Center! Time for some serious last minute shopping! Actually, I had never felt so stressed shopping before. Had to constantly keep track of time and we were brisk walking from shop to shop, machiam GSS going to end soon. Hurray! We managed to get our Paul Frank iPad covers! 😀

Back in Singapore when we were planning our itinerary, I thought it would be nice to go to Siam Ocean World at Siam Paragon. However, it did not materialize in the end because I kinda feared that it would be too kiddish for us and we would be bored out of our wits. Maybe we can bring our little Chewys there in a few years’ time 😛

The cab driver who dropped us off at Victory Monument earlier recommended Ban Khun Mae Restaurant. He mentioned “Khun Mae” in short. Hubby Chewy was very eager to try their food and after shopping at MBK, he pulled me into an Apple store and approached the customer service people behind the counter. I was trying not to laugh because the Thai staff couldn’t understand him of course. We didn’t know how to pronounce “Khun Mae” properly and any slight variation in pronounciation could lead to an entirely different meaning all together, or it just doesn’t mean anything at all. Suddenly, one of them exclaimed, “Khun Mae!” and everyone went, “Ahhh Khun Mae!” LOL. It was hilarious!

We got one of them to write down the name of the restaurant in Thai, along with its address so that we could ask for directions along the way in case we got lost. And with that, we managed to find Ban Khun Mae. Nice to know that the restaurant had been awarded Certificate of Excellence for the year of 2012 by TripAdvisor! It had to be good right? *Rubs hands in glee*

Ban Khun Mae is kinda like a family restaurant and it has been around since 1998. It is located in the heart of Bangkok, in the area of Siam Square. Prices are wallet-friendly and you get to enjoy authentic Thai food in a casual and comfortable setting.

Hahaha. Fourth consecutive day of stuffing myself with food food food! I got chipmunk face alreadyyy..

Since this was gonna be our last proper meal in Bangkok, we had to order the Tom Yam Kung (170 baht). The soup was spicy enough to tickle our taste buds and the ingredients were really fresh.

We were eager to try the Deep Fried Squid Seasoned with Garlic and Pepper (220 baht) when it was served. However, it was a little disappointing. Both misterchewy and I agreed that it was somewhat tough to chew. The tentacles part was pretty alright though.

We felt that the Deep Fried Marinated Chicken wrapped in pandan leaf (120 baht) was well done. Juicy, tender and fragrant best describes this dish.

I think this was our one and only Mango Sticky Rice (150 baht) that we had throughout our Bangkok trip, which is kinda sad. LOL. The mango was really sweet! Who would have known that mango could go so well with coconut and rice? 😛

The bill amounted to less than SGD30 for the above dishes and two fresh coconut drinks. On a random note, I look quite small here. LOLOLOL.

Ban Khun Mae Restaurant
458/6-9 Siam Square Soi 8, Rama 1 Road,
Patumwan District, Bangkok 10330
Tel. (662)250-1952-3, (662)658-4112-3

Opening Hours
Daily 11am – 11pm

Started to emo again after lunch because it meant that we had to go back to our hotel soon to collect our luggage. Boohoohoo. Passed by Krispy Kreme and after finding out that misterchewy had not tried it before, we immediately joined the queue and bought two Original Glazed donuts 😀 Yummyyy!

Krispy Kreme! When are you ever gonna come to Singapore?!

At the airport checking our boarding details!

For the benefit of those who are wondering, misterchewy and I arrived with a half-filled luggage on the first day and we went home with a full one and an additional hand-carry which we had packed into the luggage before we flew to Bangkok. We bought mostly clothes at Platinum Mall but we didn’t buy alot also.

Deng deng deng deng! I was searching high and low for Luk Chup since day one but only spotted it at the airport! I wanted to buy more but it was the only pack left D: Basically, these are a type of Thai dessert made from mung bean flour and are shaped like various fruits and vegetables such as watermelon, banana, cherries, mangoes and chilies. It has a unique sticky texture and is very sweet! Bali Thai used to sell them but I can’t find them anymore. Heard that these can be found at Golden Mile!

Me and my favorite Thai dessert were reunited! And I’m gonna eat you~ Nom nom nom 😛

Some of my last few shots together in Bangkok after checking in our luggage and before boarding our plane.

Goodbye land of smiles! We look happy but actually I was really reluctant to leave Bangkok! Sob sob.. But nevermind, we are about to start planning for our next trip which would probably be our honeymoon after our customary wedding! YAY! 😀 😀 😀

Bangkok Day 3: Fine Dining @ Vertigo Restaurant and Moon Bar

Posted on November 27, 2012 by missuschewy

Good Tuesday morning, chewy chewy friends! I had a really shiok weekend staycation with misterchewy and I can’t wait to share it in words and photos with all of you! But first, here’s another photo-heavy blog post that places more emphasis on the highlight of our third day in Bangkok! Before we get to that part, let me tell you that misterchewy and I woke up super duper early so that we can go shopping! Why don’t we get this kind of enthusiasm back home? LOL. Again, breakfast at the hotel!

We chose to walk about 20 minutes to Platinum Mall. Good thing I tied up my hair in the morning because I knew that it was gonna be hot. The funny thing is, we reached the shopping mall early at around 10.30am but most of the shops were not opened for business yet! So we sat there and wait. Sorry no pics of us shopping because we were too busy keeping a lookout for nice clothes etc. Don’t bother to haggle with the store owners because they will automatically give you a discount if you buy 2 pieces or a wholesale price for 3 pieces and above.

Took a tuk tuk to Chatuchak Weekend Market! Yeah tuk tuk FTW~ 😛 Hungry us decided to eat lunch first before shopping around! There wasn’t any menu, just the banner on top and everything was in Thai. We tried conversing in very simple English. “Chicken, beef or pork?” Luckily the young one understood and replied, “This pork. This beef.” “Ok two bowls. No beef.”

Photo taken by misterchewy while I was busy Instagramming and subsequently posting on Facebook 😛 We only found out later that these are the famous Bangkok boat noodles. Took a sip of the savory, hearty broth and the rest was history! The boat noodles were really slurpilicious goooood! We enjoyed the broth thoroughly; it was well-flavored for a good amount of spring onions, sweet basil and probably a dash of pork blood had been added.

Felt really satisfied after finishing our delicious bowls of boat noodles and it was time for us to see if there was anything worth buying at Chatuchak market!

We managed to get some souvenirs for colleagues and friends. I bought a handful of Singha, Chang and Leo beer magnets for myself! Really cute! Took a tuk tuk (yes again) back to our hotel and showered plus nua-ed a bit before our long awaited dinner! 😀

Ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you that I had actually made email reservations to dine at Vertigo Restaurant and Moon Bar around 2.5 months before the trip. Kiasu much? Kiasu better than be disappointed right? As the popular saying goes, “Book early to avoid disappointment!” 😛

Since most things in Bangkok are cheap, I decided to splurge a little more on fine dining while we were there. Also, prior to this, we were actually comtemplating a staycation for our first year wedding anniversary cum misterchewy’s birthday. Decided not to go with the staycation in the end and chose this short getaway instead. So this dinner is also part of the belated celebration 😛 Our dinner cost around the same as our airfare, even more than our hotel stay!

Located on the 61st floor of Banyan Tree Hotel, Vertigo and Moon Bar is an alfresco fine dining restaurant that offers a breathtaking view of Bangkok both in the day and at night. There are two sittings for dinner and I chose the first round which is the sunset period, from 6pm to 8pm. Second seating is from 8.30pm to 10.30pm. Moon Bar closes at 1am so if you want to chill out after dinner, you know you are better off staying put in your seat.

Allow me to backtrack a little.. We didn’t take a tuk tuk to Banyan Tree la. Cab fare from our hotel costs 200 baht only. Considering the distance, we probably had to pay 150 baht if we were to travel by tuk tuk. Anyway, we can’t afford to mess up our hair. LOL. We reached about 30 minutes early and had pre-dinner drinks!

Please be warned that there will be quite a number of photos because I was trying to capture the various views during sunset 😀

A very friendly waitress offered to help us take some photos! 🙂

From this point, the sky started turning purplish!

I love this scene the most! How I wish time would just stop.

The both of us chose the 5 course set menu (3100 baht) which was around SGD300 for two after GST. Yes, this was our most expensive meal in Bangkok 😉

We were later asked if we could change tables so that they could accomodate a large group. Didn’t want to make things difficult for them and we agreed. They gave us two complimentary glasses of Prosecco but too bad I’m not a fan. Hehe.

Amuse Bouche

Roasted Tomato and Tangerine Soup

Lobster Spring Roll with Spicy Mango Dip, served with mesclun salad

Seared Bay Scallops, Sweet Potato Puree, Green Asparagus, Coconut, Chili, Lime

Duck Confit, Sauteed Onion Potato, Braised Red Cabbage, Orange Jus

This dinner place was solely planned by yours truly and I’m glad misterchewy enjoyed the dinner and ambience as much as I did! Besides, I picked up the tab for this one because he paid for my airfare, accomodation and expenses for the trip. Why does this sound so familiar? 😛

Cabbed back to our hotel!

A little souvenir from Vertigo and Moon Bar for us to bring home! They went round taking photos of all guests and developed the photos for each table, which I thought was a really nice gesture. Our dinner at Vertigo will definitely serve as sweet memories in the many years to come! 🙂

Vertigo and Moon Bar
21/100 South Sathon Road
Sathon, Bangkok 10120, Thailand
Banyan Tree Bangkok, 61st level
Tel: +66 2 679 1200

Opening Hours:
Daily
Vertigo Restaurant: 6pm – 11pm
Moon Bar: 5pm – 1am

Bangkok Day 2: Damnoen Saduak Floating Market, The Grand Palace, The Fabulous Bar & Dessert Cafe and Khao San Night Market

Posted on November 22, 2012 by missuschewy

Hello chewy chewy friends! Very good right? I didn’t make you all wait long long for my second BKK post! 😛 If you have not read our BKK Day 1 post, it’s here! Soooo.. We were quite disciplined and woke up early enough to settle for breakfast at the hotel. Looking to save money of your accommodation? There are great deals on the Expedia hotels page.

The buffet breakfast spread was alright, nothing to shout about. While we were seated, we looked around and noticed that there were quite a number of Singaporean youngsters like us. Hoho.

I didn’t really think much about the food. Can’t believe misterchewy went for a second helping! Hahaha.

Our plan after breakfast was just to visit one tourist attraction which is The Grand Palace. The moment our cab driver knew we were tourists who were interested in more than just eating and shopping, he offered to ferry us around and take us to Damnoen Saduak Floating Market and Temple of the Reclining Buddha in addition to The Grand Palace for just 1000baht (SGD40) excluding ticket admission charges. We felt that it was quite a good deal considering that at least we would have something to keep ourselves occupied with for about 5 hours.

Little did we know that Damnoen Saduak Floating Market is located damn far away from our starting point, about 100km southwest of Bangkok. It took us more than 2 hours to get there! If I were a kid, I would be like, “Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?!?!” Hahaha you get the drift. And to our horror, the admission cost us 1500baht per person, which means we paid a freaking SGD120 for the two of us to sit on the wooden boat for two hours!

The only consolation was probably that we had the boat (I’m so inclined to call it ‘sampan’) all to ourselves and it was sheltered. But then again, it made taking photos kinda difficult.

Some people call this the James Bond Floating Market, since some scenes from the The Man with the Golden Gun was shot there and subsequently released in 1974. Another 2008 crime thriller film, Bangkok Dangerous, starring Nicholas Cage, was also filmed there.

And trust me, it was a nightmare whenever the boatman stopped the boat in front of these merchants because their prices are marked up really high and they would try to sell you every single thing that they could. What’s even funnier is that we didn’t express interest in those things that they were selling in the first place and they kept asking us to name our price. Like wth?! In the end we bought some cutesy elephant pouches for my colleagues there and then just to shut them up. LOL.

We also spotted a few of them selling fruits, drinks, noodles and other snacks but the boatman didn’t even slow down 🙁

Part of the boat ride included stopping by the souvenir shop for about 10 minutes. I was actually quite reluctant to get off the boat because I was so afraid that I would slip and fall into the water.

Nothing worth buying here!

We were like O_O when we saw these! I mean, what are these doing here?! LOLOLOL.

Hahaha. Told misterchewy to pose for a photo and he did! And the shades on the statue didn’t belong to us :S

This, on the other hand, looked pretty cool. I could have bought something here but the boatman didn’t stop.

This old granny looked quite cute sitting there so I hurriedly snapped a photo. Hahaha.

Ummmmm.. No comments.

And then, we stopped by a temple. So cool right! There’s a temple within the floating market! Yeah, had to get off the boat again.

Fish feeding time! Fish food cost 10baht. I got tired of watching misterchewy throw the food in small quantities and told him, “Aiyo like that feed until tomorrow also cannot feed finish one leh. Just dump the entire pack la” and he did. LOL. -.-

The rest of the boat tour was uneventful. Even the boatman knew that there was nothing interesting for us to see, and he sped up for the last 10 minutes.

Let me tell you that our visit to The Grand Palace was pretty much a nerve wrecking one. They stop selling admission tickets at 3.30pm and when we reached at 3.25pm, there was already a queue. We were all advised to return another day. Both of us were like.. Whuttttttt.

And so we walked back dejectedly to our cab driver who had parked his car some distance away from The Grand Palace and told him what was being said to us. He actually ran in and came out with tickets and said we could pay him afterwards! We had to loan proper attire because no shorts and sleeveless clothing were allowed. Mehhhhhh.

I think misterchewy looked quite cute in these pants or whatever you call it. As for me, I was quite pissed with what the Thai auntie picked out for me but I couldn’t take my own sweet time to choose since we were already running out of time. The husband kept offering to help me take photos but I refused because my attire was really quite chui! Walking fashion disaster I tell you! D:

My mood was kinda ruined because of the fugly outfit plus we didnt have much time to tour The Grand Palace. Yeah despite that, I still tried taking some photos here and there. Trust me, when I’m in a bad mood, I refuse to do anything one. LOL.

This photo was taken by misterchewy! I can’t master this! Arghhhhh..

TADAH! I know you guys must be wondering how AWESOME my outfit was. LOL! Towards the end of the tour, I told misterchewy, “Help me take a photo.” He thought he heard me wrong because I was quite adamant initially about having my photo being taken in this horrendous attire. “Don’t take my face la. Just take my back, I pretend I taking photos with iPhone.” Very awful combination right?! Wah lao very malu, face don’t know where to hide liao. T_T

Our final stop was supposed to be at The Temple of Reclining Buddha but we were exhausted. More importantly, we were feeling ravenous! So we told the cab driver to take us to The Fabulous Bar & Dessert Cafe. Decided to tip him nicely too since he really went all out to help us.

This cafe turned out to be a pretty hip and nice place to chill out at! We made ourselves comfortable while poring through the menu, which only consists of desserts and drinks.

Basically we want everything when it comes to desserts and sweet treats! But of course we have to be realistic. Lol. We narrowed it down to just two desserts and two cocktails! 😛

The Fabulous Signature didn’t exactly blow us away but one good thing was that the cake was not cloyingly sweet.

The hubby has had a weakness for molten lava cakes for the longest time! Naturally, he was the one who had his eye on the Chocolate Satin, which I felt was yummier than the cake. Just imagine creamy rich chocolate oozing out from a warm cakey crust.

My Bangkok Delight and misterchewy’s Single Lady. LOL.

The Fabulous Bar & Dessert Cafe is quite strategically located along Khao San road, where the entire street comes alive at night.

Address: The Fabulous Bar & Dessert Cafe @ 32 Jakkapong Road. Taladyod Phranakom, Bangkok 10200.
Tel: +66 2 6291144

Ehhhhhhhhh sexay laday ohohohohoh oppa gangnam style! See what I mean?

Khao San Night Market is really very happening!

We saw this auntie selling Phad Thai! There was a queue and we decided to join it. Must be delicious! We couldn’t resist the aroma too.

Eating Phad Thai by the streets and downing Singha beer! Best! Oh and one plate costs a mere SGD2.

I think we covered most of Khao San Night Market and took a tuk tuk back to our hotel.

Upon seeing that there’s another night market right outside our hotel, we decided to shop around some more!

It had been a really loooong day for us but it was fruitful, that’s for sure! Our next post will mainly feature our experience at one of Bangkok’s fine dining establishments that offers a spectacular view of the city, so look out for it! 😉

Bangkok Day 1: Erawan Shrine, Chu Chocolate Bar & Cafe and Once Upon A Time

Posted on November 19, 2012 by missuschewy

Greetings chewy chewy friends! Yes I’m finally blogging about our Bangkok 4D3N trip! We were there from 12th to 15th October, a few days after our wedding photoshoot. I had been really looking forward to this short getaway because I can finally indulge in whatever I wanted to eat and drink temporarily! Not that I was on a crazy diet before the photoshoot.. I still ate practically everything I craved for, but in moderation 🙂 Anyway, it’s too much to squeeze everything into one blog post so I will be splitting them into 4 separate posts which will basically cover our activities from Day 1 to Day 4 😀

We reached Bangkok in the morning and as it was still early for us to check into our room, we left our luggage at the hotel and carried out our plans without wasting time!

We walked about 15 to 20 minutes from our hotel to Erawan Shrine that is in front of Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel, near Chit Lom BTS station. Despite the hot weather and sweltering heat, many devotees could be seen at the shrine.

Address: Erawan Shrine @ Thanon Ratchadamri, Lumphini, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
Opening Hours: 06:00-24:00

And it was time to find something to eat! Good thing misterchewy had also done a bit of his own research and suggested going to Chu Chocolate Bar and Cafe for our very first meal in Bangkok. The food isn’t Thai cuisine to begin with but it is opened by a local, Toey Na Ranong who is also the chef.

Chu is highly accessible by BTS, just have to alight at Asoke station and it is connected to Exchange Tower on the second floor, where Chu is. Very convenient!

I had a Hazelnut Cream Soda (100 baht) while misterchewy chose the Vanilla Cream Soda (100 baht).

Even though we were famished, we decided to share only the Lemon Curd Pancakes (190 baht) because we wanted to save stomach space for dinner. The pancakes were so fluffy and delicious that we were kinda tempted to order another item from the menu to try out!

Address: Chu Chocolate Bar & Cafe @ 2nd Floor Exchange Tower (Asoke Intersection), Bangkok, Thailand 10110
Tel: +66 (0)2 663 4554
Opening Hours: Monday to Friday: 07:30-21:30 and Saturday – Sunday: 09:00-21:00

We shopped for a couple of hours at Platinum Mall before heading to Swensen’s for a short break because our legs were protesting already. Haha.

Does our Swensen’s have Snic-a-Choc sundae? I only recall seeing Frosted Chocolate Malt, Sticky Chewy Chocolate etc!

It was both our first time sitting on a tuk tuk and we were quite excited! But we weren’t aware of the market rate and the driver ketok-ed us. We only found out from a taxi driver the following day that the average rate from Platinum to our hotel is about 50 baht but the driver quoted 150 baht.

We didn’t want to splurge on accommodation and my colleague recommended Baiyoke Boutique Hotel which really was good enough for us. When we got off the plane in the morning, we took the railway from Suvarnabhumi International Airport which is very convenient and the trip took only about 30 minutes. Baiyoke is about 5 minutes walking distance from Ratchaprarop railway station if you take the shortcut 😛 We checked into our room, which was clean and cosy, and took a short rest before heading out for dinner.

Our dinner place, Once Upon A Time, was also suggested by misterchewy and the restaurant’s name sounded appealing enough!

We walked from our hotel and I was quite amazed that misterchewy knows his directions quite well! Both our last time to BKK was with our parents when we were still kids. Of course, he navigated using his iPad but he only had to check a couple of times and knew which way to go.

Alfresco dining looks very romantic right! But it was too dark and we were afraid of being bitten by mosquitoes so we chose to sit indoors.

It is actually darker than what you see in the photos. I actually had to bump up the ISO to get decent shots of the interior.

Look at the amount of food! I think we kinda over-ordered for two. Hohoho! Good thing the food was lip smacking and we licked our plates clean.

We called for the bill and it was presented in a huge wooden box. Total bill was 1600 baht, which is roughly the equivalent of SGD $64 for the above 4 dishes, rice and 2 bottles of beer. Definitely not our cheapest meal in Bangkok and not our priciest either 😛

Once Upon A Time was previously occupied by the owners and is now converted to a restaurant on the ground floor but the bedrooms on the second floor are open to visitors for photo-taking purposes.

Address: 32, soi Petchaburi 17 (opposite Phantip Plaza) Petchaburi Road, Pratunam, Bangkok, Thailand.
Tel: 0-2252-8629, Mobile: 0-1833-8336
Opening Hours: Daily from 11am until 12am.

Didn’t wanna tire ourselves out on the first day and decided to return to our hotel for a good night’s rest.

Our room was cosy and clean, and had practically everything we needed except for toothbrush and toothpaste. Good thing we realized earlier in the day and stopped by a convenience store on the way back after dinner. Our next BKK post will feature a couple of sightseeing places that we went to. Till then, take care and have a great week, chewy chewy friends! 🙂

Address: Baiyoke Boutique Hotel @ 120/359 Ratchaprarop Road (Behind Baiyoke Sky Hotel), Rajthevee, Pratunam, Bangkok, Thailand
Tel: (+66)2 251 8800-1, 2251 8255-58

missuschewy

Singapore Lifestyle and Travel Blog

Category Archives: #Bangkok

The Chewys’ Family Trip to Bangkok Day 2: Hello Kitty House, Siam Ocean World, Teddy House’s Kitchen, After You Dessert Cafe & EAT (Eat All Thai)

The Chewys’ Family Trip to Bangkok Day One: Aloft Bangkok Sukhumvit 11 & Sukhumvit Soi 38 Street Food

Bangkok for Kids: Art in Paradise Bangkok

Bangkok for Kids: Bangkok Sea Life Siam Ocean World

Bangkok for Kids: Kidzoona and Molly Fantasy

Bangkok Day 4: Victory Monument Boat Noodles & Ban Khun Mae

Bangkok Day 3: Fine Dining @ Vertigo Restaurant and Moon Bar

Bangkok Day 2: Damnoen Saduak Floating Market, The Grand Palace, The Fabulous Bar & Dessert Cafe and Khao San Night Market

Bangkok Day 1: Erawan Shrine, Chu Chocolate Bar & Cafe and Once Upon A Time

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