Abloom (Self) Serviced Apartment, Pahonyonthin, Bangkok

If you travel with a group of your family members or friends, you may wish to choose some 2 bedroom or 3 bedroom suites. So in Bangkok, there are lots of choices for serviced apartment. Thanks to TC, I tried my first time in Center Point Petchburi soi 15 in 1998 at B1,200 for a studio of 40 something sq. m. Now it's around B2,600 for a studio. So with my 2 sisters' families, I tried this Abloom on soi 3 Pahonyonthin Road, the main road under the skytrain north line to Mo Chit (Jajatuk). Location wise, it seemed to be a bit far but it's not that far to me. 4 stops to Siam. However, if your activities is in Thonglor or Silom, it's then a bit far. Abloom's rooms are pretty good, but the services is so so. We tried the laundry but the washing machines and dryers are horrible. They don't clean the detergent and softener compartments. There are some molding inside. So I need to take that out and clean that by myself. Then they don't have the complimentary coffee/tea. For the bathroom, they don't refill the shampoo/body cleanser/toilet paper. So you need to do all those by yourselves. So that's why I call it a "self" serviced apartment.
1. we stayed at room no. 2046. What a coincidence! We were subconsciously in the mood of being slow and blurry.... 2. the kitchen is quite nice and good for you to re-heat some leftover which we brought back to the hotel when you can't finish your meals.

3/4. Besides, I need to clean the bathroom by myself. I saw some spider web on the corners and spent about 0.5 hour to clean the unseen dust too. Interesting.

5. we had a two bed room suite for about 110 sq. m. The bedroom is spacious, but the furniture is a bit scratchy.

7/8. the living room.

9. Mandy swaying in the sun. This post reminds me of the leading girl actress Mirai Shida of the Japanese TV drama "Devil's Teacher" - the same girl for "Mother at 14". 10. the water was a bit chilly. However, we only tried the swimming pool once as there were some Middle East men jumping into the pool right after shopping with their shoes on but taking off everything but their "white" underwear! So you know what happened then - you would see their private parts clearly. We complained that to the management office and asked them to warn those people.

11. Jason by the pool. 12. the pool

13. Jason taking the Tuk Tuk. 14. the Tuk Tuk is a complimentary service but it's up until 9pm.

15. Mandy's family

Le Beaulieu, Bangkok

The first time I tried Le Beaulieu was my stay at the Sofitel Residence on soi 19 Sukhumvit with my business fellow in December, 2006. Surprised the breakfast was so good and then we tried their lunch set. Overall, the restaurant is quite in Southern France Mediterranean style and also the taste is too - quite rich in flavour. So I brought my sister to there in August, 2007 and they fell in love with the atmosphere of Le Beaulieu. So there we came another visit a few days ago.

1. the group. 2. my favourite French bread. I took 3 and half of it!

3. The Salmon appetizer. 4. Frog Leg Tempura

5. Snail Lasagne as appertizer seems a bit too much. 6. Caesar salad with grilled chicken breast.

7. Scallop Risotto - Jason and Mandy's favourite! 8. Beef fillet - very nice done. tender and juicy inside.

9. Grilled free range chicken. 10. my order for the main course - seafood on rice. Quite a big portion.

11. the olive oil and balsamic vinegar. 12. creme brulee with caramelised mango.

13. pistachio rice pudding. 14. vanilla ice cream on coffee pastry.

15. Chocolate mouse. 16. iced coffee by illy

17. Hot choco for the kids. 18. hot tea served after meal.

19. the Entrance.

Greyhound Cafe, Bangkok

Been to Greyhound Cafe every other year on and off. Not much attached to it, but visit it when I feel like a herbal jelly. So this time I was reminded of their famous Chicken Wings which I long forgot it, as I am not addicted to chicken wings. Thanks Mandy for her radar to her favourite food.

1. the shop at Siam Center. 2. the thumb protectors for Mandy and Jason - a gift from the ice cream cup.

3. jason waiting for the food and drinks. 4. Another delight of GH cafe is their iced lemon tea and it has become a must for my sisters to get it whenever in Bangkok. It's because they freeze the lemon tea in ice; so the taste is still there when it's dissolved.

5. we ordered 3 plates of Chicken wings at the Emporium branch. 6. Then the next day we had another 3 plates of wings at the Siam Paragon branch.
7. I ordered a pineapple, orange, passion fruit yoghurt drink called "pick me up". 8. the one at Siam Paragon is actually called "Another Hound". When I first saw this brand, it just reminded me of my bus ride in between Palm Springs and LA on Greyhound bus in 1994.

9. see how good Jason did his job. 10. our green photographer Mandy. I will have her and Jason's photo gallery soon. Stay tuned!

10/11. the interior of the branch at Emporium.

Kanabnam, on Chao Phrya River, Bangkok

Think this is the best Thai restaurant I have ever been to. Getting there isn't difficult. Just take the orange color boat from Sathorn Pier and get off at the Krung Thon Bridge stop and the restaurant is after the bridge next to it. Thanks to Thailand Club who brought me and my sisters' families there. All the food are so nice there and my no. 1 recommendation for local Thai food! Also taking the boat is another good ride and to avoid paying those B500 longtail boat for touring. You just need to pay B17 (HK$4). Then take a taxi back to the hotel or your next destination, as the boat service stops at 7pm.
1. The restaurant. 2. me and my sisters' families.

3. view to Krung Thon Bridge. 4. crokle (not sure the exact spelling).

5.Yum Shrimp salad - excellent lemon grass crunchy and sweet/sour taste with the shrimp. 6. stir fried bitter gourd leaves - very good stir frying. High heat quick stir frying!

7. oyster omelette - the best I have ever tried! Crispy outside and juicy inside! 8. a must for this river prawn - see at the bottom of this section for how to make it.

9. fried fish in Kiang Leiung soup. Very nice match and soup! 10. though it's not a free range chicken, it's marinated quite well and also grilling in a nice way to keep the juice of the meat.

11. stir fried morning glory. 12. seabass grilled in rock salt.

13. Pad Thai - very nice one! Like I told before, there are a few things I often want to have in order to tell how good the restaurant is. So I have a Pad Thai ordered. They use some very nice dried shrimp and it's a very nice quick stir frying. It's just some little details that makes the dish a whole lot different! Most of the so-called famous Pad Thai are either like a factory-made food or something with heavy gravy, but this one is not. It's made to your oder and the ingredients are nicely picked. 14. my favourite somtam - also very nice!

15. even the Tom Kha Kai is nice! 16. see how this cheerful madam grill the chicken with charcoal.

17. see how the prawn got cooked. 18. the chef poured some oil in it and made it a 2 floor flame like a mini-volcano. I already adjusted this photo to 100% reduced exposure but the flame was too explosive. Even if you are 10 feet away, you may get a bit sun burned. Advise putting on some SPF 30 sun tan lotion. :)

19. Then it's done and served on the table. Interesting the chef put some parsley in it and made it so aromatic! Bravo for the show and 2 thumbs up for whole concept of cooking!