The Oriental, Bangkok

On our last night in Bangkok, we decided to end our trip with a bang! A dinner at the exclusive and classy Oriental hotel ought to do it! So we took a train down to Saphan Taksin, then a short boat ride down to the Oriental. When we arrived, we headed to the Verandah for dinner, where they had a view facing the river and the Peninsula Hotel.

That night was breezy and comfortable, and the place was lit with candles to give a romantic air and feel to it. The verandah overlooks the river and other cozy looking hotels and restaurants really provided a nice ambience for an easy chat over dinner.

We ordered a few of their dishes which we felt were specially appealing.

My barbequed salmon steak was savoury as well as sweet. The sweetness came from the natural freshness of the fish. The tender fish meat together with the sauce, literally melts in your mouth. Secondly, the seafood kuay teow was unique, very different from Singapore's. It is a fat rice noodle, which was really crispy and yet soft and flavourful on the inside. Together with the fresh seafood, this dish is a definite must.

Towards the end, I decided to have dessert so I asked for creme brulee. However it was not included in the menu but thanks to the waiter's quick thinking, he managed to get me a couple of smaller portions of the dessert from the buffet table over at the other end! They really lived up to their reputation of providing customer delight. I will always remember that bit of excellent service, and I left with an extremely good impression of the Oriental Bangkok Thailand.

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If It Swims We Have It

Our trip to Bangkok, Thailand would not have been complete without a visit to the Seafood Market and Restaurant in Sumkhumvit! It's a huge place and pleasantly decorated with different kinds of fish and marlin suspended from the ceiling. What's interesting is that you do your "marketing", selecting from vegetables to a wide variety of seafood. Then, you get to choose how you'd like the items to be prepared the way you'd like it and certainly piping hot and fresh!

We had dinner there and we ate King Tiger Prawns, garoupa, crab and a variety of other vegetables.

The grilled King Tiger Prawns in butter sauce was deliciously fresh and succulent, the meat tasted like heaven when I took that first bite into it! The juice from the prawn was sweet, the meat was mouthwateringly flavorsome and when you dip the prawn into the sauce, simply divine! The richness of the meat together with the luscious butter sauce is enough to send you to heaven and back.

As for the steamed garoupa, the savoury smell of the gravy with ginger hit us immediately! The meat of the fish was so fresh, you can say it melts in your mouth! The meat was so succulent that just one bite will keep you wanting more! Never have we finished a whole fish so cleanly! No bits of its meat was was spared.

The black pepper crab was another WOW. My favourite part of a crab is the roe. This crab had so much roe it was simply unbelievable! The orangey-yellow roe was sinfully savoury, delectable and extremely tasty. The meat was just yummy!! Mixing the peppery seasoning with the crab meat, the roe and rice together, that bite was simply out of this world! Yum yum..

However, what was disappointing was the lack of deserts - there were only tropical fruits available.

Overall, it was pricey, but very rewarding and a "must have" experience.


P.S: the address of the restaurant and phone number :
89 Sumkhumvit Soi 24, Sukhumvit Road.
Klongtoey, Bangkok 10110 Thailand
Tel: (02) 661-1252-9

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If you love chocolate ...

On our last day in Melbourne, we just had to go pick up the tempting chocolates and sweets that we saw when we first arrived. We also didn't want to return home empty handed. These sweets and chocolates are a must and we wanted to bring these back as gifts for all at home - a must try especially the honeycomb! We headed for Darrell Lea and Chocolate Box to pick up whatever we fancied. The purchases were heavy and we headed back to the apartment to "unload" these before going for more shopping!

First, we headed for Max Brenner, famous for everything chocolate by the Bald Man at QV, located at the corner of Lonsdale Str and Swanston Str. We treated ourselves to a rich and sinful breakfast!

We ordered a warm Chocolate Souffle topped with a strawberry and a honeyed waffle with bananas and chocolate topping. The warm Chocolate Souffle was not just a chocolate cake. The inside was filled with warm melted chocolate that oozed out as I took a bite. I liked the bittersweet taste which was simply yummy. Mum ordered the honeyed waffle which was a wee bit crunchy topped with sliced bananas and real chocolate, melted.

To complete the meal and keep warm, I had a hot white chocolate, that as the name implies, is made of white chocolate, while my mum, being weight and health conscious had "skinny latte". Ahh, the warm beverages were good and warmed us up especially in the freezing weather. This chocolate experience is a must try! However, try going during off-peak hours cos the queue tends to form especially at lunch and dinner times. Simply fabulous and memorable meal to end our vacation!

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Sights and Dining at Philip Island, Melbourne

We signed up for a Penguin Tour at Philip Island. First, the coach took us to Warook Country Cafe. It was actually a cafe, with a wildlife sanctuary next to it. First we went to the cafe to have a devonshire cream tea. It had 2 fresh piping hot scones, with what looked like home made cream ( none of that whipped cream ), and strawberry jam! Delicious! After that, we went out to see the animals. They had Kangaroos, ducks and sheep all over the place, I even saw a Joey (all up close and personal)!

After that, the coach brought us to the Koala Sanctuary, where we could venture in, and they provided us boardwalks and notices which pointed out the koalas which were perched on the trees to us.

Then we went on the main attraction, the Penguin Parade at Philip Island. When we arrived, we awaited the arrivals of the penguins at the beach. We were extremely excited, and kept pointing out flotsam as the penguins! Finally at around 5.40PM, just as it was getting dark, we saw the 1st batch of penguins bunching together to form a group before heading up the beach to find their burrows! They were only about 30cm tall, and slightly plump. They scrambled up the beach fumbling and tumbling over as they were full of fish in their bellies!

Later, around 7pm, we headed to Cowes for dinner. Decided that we should try out some seafood, so we went to Jetty, a restaurant specialising in seafood! It was packed with people, even on a Monday night! After settling down, we decided to order a soup, Cauliflower and Cheddar cheese soup! It was really rich, with tasty cheddar and bits of cauliflower! Then we had the Breaded Sweetlip Fillet(Fish) which was extremely fresh and succulent. The skin was crispy with the breaded crumbs yet the inside was soft yet succulent and tasted really fresh. And we also ordered the Caesar Chicken Salad. Which had the freshest vegetables I've ever tasted with Chicken bits that were just so tender, and bits of barbequed pork! It also came with a poached egg which was just boiled to perfection, it was really a delicious dinner! I would love to go back there again!

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Acland's and China Town, Melbourne

It was Sunday morning, and we decided to go down to the St Kilda's Sunday Market facing the sea. However it was a little early when we arrived, as they normally were open at around 10 AM. So we decided to go down to Acland's Str to look for breakfast. There, we found a deli which gave out such delicious aromas we had to try it. So we went in and ordered a Ham and Egg Croissant, ham cheese and egg croissant, a latte and a hot chocolate. Though we had to wait a while for breakfast to arrive, it was definitely worth it! The Ham and Egg Croissant was spilling with scrambled eggs and ham! the eggs were fluffy and light and really tasty! the ham cheese and tomato croissant was delicious, the cheddar cheese was really tasty, and it went really well with the tomato and ham! To finish it up , we had the hot chocolate and latte! What a way to start off your Sunday!

Then we decided to explore Acland's Street before heading to the Sunday Arts and Craft Market. We saw many quaint and traditional looking bakeries. THe one that struck us most was Monarch! They had such a variety of chocolate and pastries, we could not resist going in to buy something. In the end I came out with a bar of chocolate hazelnut nougat! it was a bar of chocolate fudge with hazelnuts and bits and chunks of nougat! really sinful but delicious!

After shopping for the entire day around St Kilda's, and Melbourne's CBD, we visited many shopping malls, Melbourne Central, GPO and QV(Queen Victoria). We decided that it was time for dinner. Again, we decided to have Hong Kong Cuisine, as they are well knowned for their Hong Kong feasts in Chinatown. Thus, we went to a hong kong eatery along Little Bourke Street, which looked truly authentic, as though it had been plucked right out of Hong Kong. We settled down and decided to order their famous Roast Duck and Char Siew(Pork), seafood crispy noodles and fried vegetables with garlic. THe portions were really gigantic! The roast duck and char siew were really good, no colourings added to the pork, simply delicious. and the seafood crispy noodles were really delicious, with generous portions of seafood, such as scallobs, fish, squid and vegetables. My favourite had to be the Vegetables fried with garlic! The vegetables were so fresh and succulent and sweet, it went terrifically well with the garlic!

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For the pizza lovers ...

After shopping for two hours at Chapel Street in South Yarra, we were famished. We walked along the stretch of Toorak Road, which was lined with many different restaurants. We finally settled for a Japanese meal at Yoyogi Restaurant. Though hungry, we were too tired and didn't feel like eating much. So we shared a California Roll Maki, which came in 10 pieces! That whetted our appetite for something hot to warm us up on a cold and blustery day, so we ordered Agedashi Tofu! It was one of the restaurant's recommended dishes! It was tofu covered with a thin cripsy layer of batter soaked with soy sauce and topped with fish flakes! On a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (very good), I would rate the food quality 3.5 and the ambience 3.

After that, we headed back to the Melbourne CBD area and continued to shop for awhile. Later that evening, we met up with my mum's ex-colleague who brought us to Pizzeria IlBimbo at Brunswick, Fitzroy. Standing atop the roof was a large statue of a diapered baby (similar to the diapered dancing baby in the show, Ally McBeal). It was a restaurant cum pub and seems pretty happening. We ordered 3 personal pizzas (about 11 inch each) and shared a salad.
We ordered 3 types of pizzas - meat, seafood (Di Mare) filled with octopus, squid and other seafood and mushroom (Funghi). The pizzas were wood fried which explains the deliciously flavourful taste and with a slightly woodsy smell. For the Di Mare, the seafood was very fresh and for the Funghi pizza, I have never seen a pizza so filled with mushrooms! Really delicious! We had fresh salad of lettuce with french dressing. Each pizza cost about A$5.90-A$7.90. And on Mondays-Thursdays all pizzas go for $4 each!!

To complete the meal, we crossed the street to Trampoline, an ice-cream parlour for gelato! There were many tempting flavors, it was almost impossible to choose. Decision making time - but I took my time at to savour the delightful and colourful array of ice-cream. I finally chose Lychee and Lime sorbet. It had a sweet and tangy taste, highly recommended after a heavy dinner as it was refreshing. Mum had Spotty Doc which was vanilla with chocolate chips. Verdict : Absolutely Oomphy!with every munch. Yummy!

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Asian Delights in Melbourne

After a few hours of shopping at Smith Str in Collingwood, Melbourne, we settled for lunch at Coconut Palm, a Vietnamese restaurant. We had Special Fried Rice(equivalent of Singapore's Yang Chow Fried rice) and Seafood Glass Noodle Soup which were simply delectable! They were extremely generous with ingredients such as chinese sausage and shrimps. The fried rice was topped with a fried egg. The Noodle Soup was a little spicy with lots of seafood in it! After lunch, we continued our walk down Smith Str for more shopping at the Factory Outlets!

Towards early evening, we returned to Melbourne city and headed for Little Bourke Str (Chinatown Precinct), which had excellent food as well as some shopping. At the cross-streets of Little Bourke St and Russell St, we found a quaint little chinese restaurant, called the Beijing Hot Pot, Noodle and Dumpling Cafe! It was a small eatery and nearly every table was filled with small groups of patrons. It was a little rowdy and obvious that the folks were enjoying the meal. At every table, they had Hot Pot, which is similar to steamboat. It looked good, however as there were only two of us, we decided that the quantity was too much for the two of us and decided on ala carte. We had Xiao Long Pao(which came in either 10 or 15 pieces), fried onion pan cake, spring rolls, Dim Sum and a Beijing Special Noodle. The Spring Rolls came first, a serving of 4 pieces. The skin was crispy and the fillings were mashed potatoes and some bits of vegetables. It was very good or were we very hungry? As for the XiaoLong Pao, the skin was pretty thick with a generous filling of meat. The pan cake was huge and thick, and quite succulent! Lastly, the Beijing Special Noodles came. It was called 'Ja Jiang Mian' where you have to "do it yourself" by adding the Black bean sauce and condiments of shredded carrots, cabbage and cucumber which were placed in little bowls. Then we tossed the noodles with the condiments before it was ready to serve.

It was all very filling and satisfying! Besides that, it was also a very affordable place to dine at. We promised ourselves that the next time we're there, we'll have more than two people and we'll go for the hot pot.

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Queen Victoria Market, Melbourne

One of the "must go" places of interest in Melbourne is the Queen Victoria Market (QVM). At 8:30am, my mum and I went to Elizabeth Str to catch tram #57 to Victoria Street, which was a short walk to the QVM.

Across from the tram station, we could immediately smell breakfast and coffee as we walked past several cosy cafes lining the street to the QVM. Then just around the corner is a building housing the gourmet market which sells a good variety of edibles such as candies, bread, sausages, cheese, etc! It was hilarious to hear the Aussie candy stallowner speak Singlish to get our attention.

Outside of the building was a market which had a colorful array of organic fruits and vegetables which prices were not cheap.


Then, a little further on was a huge covered space housing, I believe more than a hundred or more of stalls which reminded us of "Chat-tu-chat" (a weekend flea market) in Bangkok, Thailand except that it was much cooler (in temperature, that is) and had orderly rows of stalls rather than a maze. If you're looking for cheap buys - personalised dog/cat tags, crystal, footwear, bomber jackets and stuff - this is the place.

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