Showing posts with label solo travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label solo travel. Show all posts

Monday, June 8, 2026

[Travel] Manohra Dining Cruise @ Anantara Riverside Bangkok

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Booked the Manohra Dining Cruise for the Round 2 timing (7pm to 9pm) to cruise along Chao Phraya River while enjoying the set menu. It'll be my first time sight-seeing by boat in Bangkok!

Reservation was through GHA Discovery website as the pricing there (฿2,749.47 inclusive of tax) was more attractive than direct booking with the hotel. 

Confirmation was via subsequent email and payment was made within the specific time frame prior to the activity. The activity was confirmed within a week of the payment.

Reminder email was received on the day prior to the activity and one is strongly encouraged to 'check-in' at the Manohra Cruise Lounge at Anantara Pier 30 minutes before the cruise.

Manohra Cruise Lounge at Anantara Pier


pre-boarding canapes and welcome drink at Manohra Cruise Lounge

canapes: Thai fish cake (back) and crispy seabass (front)

tea (unsweetened)


Guest would be handed over a postcard that also acted as the boarding 'ticket' and names of staff whom would be attending to the assigned table (your table). Basically, the table number assigned at the lounge is also the same table number  onboard.

boarding 'ticket'



bar at Manohra Cruise Lounge


welcome dance



Guests were treated to a short welcome dance while waiting for boarding time. After which, staff would announce boarding has commenced and guests were ushered to the boat.

Loy River Song


time to board


seated



Oh, I just realized that my table is out in the open while some were at the inner deck where it is sheltered. It was also kind of windy and I asked the staff what would happen if it starts to rain. She said the weather forecast indicated that there would not be raining that evening.

view of Anantara Riverside Bangkok from the boat


Not gonna lie, but as soon as the boat departed from the pier, I had a sudden thought, "What if I get seasick?"  
The wind was picking up and the tablecloth fluttered for quite a bit and it knocked the menu over. Hahaha, but then, life is full of what ifs, doesn't it? Let's enjoy the here and now.


Sights


Asiatique The Riverfront


passing by Asiatique

zoomed in view


Icon Siam




Holy Rosary Church





Wat Arun






This was one of the two most popular spot to take photos. Staff would proactively go round and offer their help to take photos for the guests.

close up view



Wat Pho Pier




Grand Palace





Rama VIII Bridge




closer view


This was also a popular spot for the photo taking.



Dinner Set Menu


Drinks

Soft drinks, juices and coffee/tea are included in the package.

Pepsi

orange juice



Amuse Bouche


LOHN POO  หลนปู

crab meat, charcoal choux, coconut cream, salmon roe and betel leave


Finished the choux in one bite then discovered that there's this 'glue' like substance that stuck the choux to the betel leave. I asked the staff if one is supposed to eat the betel leaf together with the choux and she nodded. Oops, seemed like my neighboring table also didn't know.


Appetizer


GOONG SORN KLIN  กุ้งซ่อนกลิ่น


The prawn flesh was firm and the pomelo salad underneath the almond tuille was not spicy. Then I realised, perhaps the staff had mistaken my off-handed remarks for the food not to be too spicy was taken that seriously? True enough, when the staff came over to check on the food, he asked if the dish was not too spicy. I answered truthfully that it wasn't even a tiny bit spicy...

When Paint came to collect the plate, she asked if I don't like the prawn head? I was confused for a second and realized, that the prawn head was meant to be eaten as there's some stuffed paste in it. Oops, ok I had a taste of it before she collected the plate.

Soup


TOM KHA KAI TORN  ต้มข่าไก่ตอน

chicken roulade

shimeji and ceylon spinach


The galangal coconut broth dish was the best thus far. Served warm and with a hint of spice. First time seeing ceylon spinach and it had a nice crunch.

pressed on the dried chili to get more heat




Main Surf


KHAO SOY PLA COD  ข้าวซอยปลาค็อด



This dish was creative as it takes the flavours of khao soi and merged it with a modern presentation. However, the weakest link was the cod. The texture was surprisingly unlike cod as it was rough whereas cod is usually smooth and buttery. This had none of those texture.


Main Turf



KHAO MOK NUAE YANG  ข้าวหมกเนื้อย่าง


This second main dish was Thai wagyu beef striploin from Korat. The Surin jasmine rice with turmeric was packed densely and flavoured beautifully with the Phetchabun tamarind jus/sauce which had a hint of spice.

The beef itself was firm and chewy. I liked the cucumber relish but left the carrots untouched as it was hard to bite.






Dessert


MANGO STICKY RICE  ข้าวเหนียวมะม่วง

coconut ice-cream

sweet


The dessert was lovely, although the sticky rice had grown cold from the strong winds onboard. 


Petit Four


TRADITIONAL THAI DESSERTS ขนมไทยโบราณ


I had deja vu when the petit four was presented. Haha, that's because I had quite a bit of those at the resort. My favourite was the one with coconut cream.


returning to Anantara Pier





Manohra Cruise

Address: 257/1-3 Charoen Nakhon Rd, Road, Samrae Bangkok 10600, Thailand



First round: 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM. Check-in at 530PM
Second round: 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM. Check-in at 630PM
Third round: 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM. Check-in at 730PM




Thursday, June 4, 2026

[Travel] Chill Chill @ Anantara Riverside Bangkok Resort

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I had enjoyed the previous stay at Anantara Siam Bangkok, so this time round, will be trying out Anantara Riverside Bangkok Resort.

The travel time from Suvarnabhumi Airport to the resort was an hour and taxi fare was ฿800 inclusive of highway tolls.

First impression, there was no one at the resort's car drop off point. There was one staff nearby but he was on the phone and does not appear to be working.

Walked to the receptionist counter and was greeted by the tour staff. Read about the welcome ceremony for resort's guests from past reviews but there was none on my day of visit. Though, I did see those golden bowls on my check-out date.

hotel lobby


Anyways, got my room fairly quickly thanks to Pepe. The intern walked with me to the room as the compound is quite large and one needs to get the bearings to know which building is housing which facility.


mini map of the resort

Was allocated the Junior Suite River View, thanks to the double upgrade from GHA Discovery Titanium membership. As this was a room-only upgrade, it does not include the Kasara Lounge Benefits and the room mini bar items are chargeable. It does come with a complimentary breakfast though. The building across the resort, the Riverside Plaza has a small Tops supermarket, hence one could get some snacks and drinks from there as well.


walking to Riverside Plaza

a glimpse of Luang Pu Thuat statue as seen when walking towards Riverside Plaza


Junior River View Suite


Room is located at Level 5 and there is a direct lift down to The Market for breakfast. The Market and Sala Lakorn is the same place, serving guests at different timings of the day.

spacious room @46 sqm


more space

King sized bed

thank you Housekeeping team for the cute mini elephant towel~

balcony

view from balcony

Asiatique (zoomed in view)

Anantara shuttle boat


It was cool to have a balcony with the river view but remember to keep the balcony door closed to keep the humidity and insects outside.

admiring the room from all angles

bathroom




bathtub

Let's have a coffee-break in the room!

all the flavours were nice



Welcome Amenity


welcome amenity

colourful luk chup ลูกชุบ


au lua อาลัว

foi thong ฝอยทอง

Thai pineapple biscuits


candy looking sweets similar to khanom alua?

Had to Google to find out more on the sweets. Sugar level must have spiked by quite a bit that day!

if you're looking for the DND button~


Sunrise


sunrise observed from balcony

Sunrise in Bangkok was at 540am, hence woke up early to take some photos. Headed towards Anantara Pier to see if can get any nice shots.

546am at Anantara Pier




a lone stream gauge perhaps?


552am - the sun is up


shuttle boat at the pier

beautiful morning



Elephant Statue




its trunk hugging the lamp post






Swimming Pool








Other Nooks and Cranny in the Resort


if lost, just look at the signboard

BYOB (bring your own pingpong ball to play?)

see if you can spot this

water feature



Breakfast at The Market


The days usually started early for me. I suppose this is the phase of perimenopause? Would usually go downstairs for breakfast at 7 or 730am.

The Market is the same location as Sala Lakorn.

table for one

yoghurt and healthy jars

breads

cereals

cheeses and charchuterie

pastries

for the kids


As you might have guessed from the photos, I explored a bit more of the food in the morning, as compared to the previous night for dinner.

my favourite drinks counter

Chefs hard at work

outdoor seating

noodles live station

eggs station


Guess what I ate for breakfast.


plain porridge with assorted stuffs

scrambled eggs with 'everything'?


Ok, I might have made a mistake with my Day 1 breakfast. The porridge here was thick... and I mean really thick! Devoid of water actually. There was two types of porridge; pork and plain and I took the plain one as I didn't realize they have a flavoured one. 

Chef asked me if I want everything with my scrambled eggs and I don't know why I answered yes...maybe I wasn't fully awake. Ended up with a deconstructed omelette? Hahaha!

Other than that, the iced mocha here rocks! Loved it.

iced mocha

stirred not shaken


There was a wonderfully cheerful staff at The Market in the mornings, and he would be going from table to table to spread a bit of morning cheeriness to guests. Thanks to Sky's recommendation, I was informed that one could get Thai iced milk tea as well.

Thai iced milk tea


A bowl of noodles in the morning sounds about right. So I did just that. They had beef/chicken pho for Day 1 and Day 2 was yen ta fo (Thai style pink noodles).

let's eat noodles

beef pho


The pho soup was sweet, hence a squeeze of lime and some chili flakes would balance that out. Actually, I underestimated the chili flakes. It ended up being pretty spicy! Guest could choose the preferred noodles and I got the wide noodles. Nicely chewy but not doughy. Good! But I think Chef loves onions...there were too much of that.

wide noodles and loaded with onions


Day 2 noodles menu had yen ta fo, so I got one to try. Had two types of fish balls, squid and tofu puffs. Sweet spicy broth.

yen ta fo

sen lek noodles





ABC and orange ginger juice


The juices were super sweet. Not sure if additional syrup was added or naturally sweet. I liked the ABC (apple, beet root and carrot) and the ginger orange.

pak moh yuan - special item spotted

fried rice with massaman curry

stir fried flat noodles

pak moh yuan (adapted from bánh cuốn)


Spotted something that I haven't tried before and that's the pak moh yuan or khao kriab pak moh. Wrapped in translucent looking flour wrapper/skin and its fillings were loaded with savoury mushrooms/black fungus and minced meat. Tasty!

I was also intrigued by the interesting building structure and stopped to converse with Unif, one of the staff that I met on that day. 


interesting build


hot mocha

almond croissant, waffles with nutella and mini pancake


Ended the meal with fruits.




An enjoyable stay and exploration within the resort's vicinity. Stay tuned for other experiences!



Anantara Riverside Bangkok Resort

อนันตรา ริเวอร์ไซด์ กรุงเทพฯ รีสอร์ท

Address: 257/1-3 Charoennakorn Road Samrae Thon Buri, Bangkok 10600, Thailand

Websitehttps://www.anantara.com/riverside-bangkok








 
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