Tuesday, June 10, 2025

[Travel] Exploring Chiang Mai & Chiang Rai - Quick Breakfast at Nai To Congee, Private Van Travel to White Temple, Blue Temple and Lunch at Lulum Restaurant

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We had a full day of travelling ahead, so we started early at 8am. Our transport was ready to take us for a quick breakfast then head up north to Chiang Rai to visit the White Temple (Wat Rong Khun) and Blue Temple (Rong Suea Ten Temple).

Arrived at Nai To Congee around 830am and managed to secure the last available table.

Nai To Congee shopfront

retro feels

order chit (with English menu)

multi-language menu

I didn't dare to drink since we will be on the road for the next 2 to 3 hours. Indicate your table number, mark the orders in the order chit and pass to the staff at the counter. Payment is after meal.

The place is self-serve style and staff would call out your table number if there's any dish that is ready for pick-up.

iced coffee @฿40


Dipping custard @฿50



pork congee with boiled egg @฿45



The congee is similar to Cantonese style where it has a drizzle of soy, sesame oil and some shredded ginger. Served with a soft boiled egg and yummy meatballs. The flavour is light so feel free to add more seasoning (available at the table) for stronger taste. It was unfortunate that the temperature of the porridge was just lukewarm.

Egg Pan @฿55

stir fried pork with holy basil fried noodles @฿65

stewed chicken feet @฿55


Fried rice with sausage @฿50



seats

Totally recommend the stir fried pork with holy basil on fried noodles, fried rice and the stewed chicken feet. So good!

We spent about SGD5 each for breakfast. 


Nai To Congee Shop ร้านโจ๊กนายโต

Address: Ragang 2 Ko Alley, Tambon Hai Ya, Mueang Chiang Mai District, Chiang Mai 50100, Thailand

Business Hours: 
Closed on Sun.

Mon - Sat: Monday, 7 AM–2 PM





It was a long long journey to Chiang Rai and we reached Wat Rong Khun (White Temple) at around 1215 pm. The toilet at this temple was impressive with its high number of cubicles and the cleanliness.




a surprise find

map of White Temple

















There are places where one could explore if one does not wish to get the ticket to enter to the inner compounds of the temple.

entrance ticket










The bridge was the most congested when we visited as there were tourists blocking the space as they were busy taking photos of themselves posing at the bridge. One could hear instructions/warnings from nearby speakers in multi-language urging tourists to not stop at the bridge, and to walk quickly so as not to block others.

After wandering around for sometime, my mobile phone had overheated. It was indeed a super hot day. However, on hindsight, the hot weather was a blessing otherwise if it is raining then this trip might not be possible.
 
Here is wiki link to White Temple for more information.

Wat Rong Khun วัดร่องขุ่น


Address: Pa O Don Chai, Mueang Chiang Rai District, Chiang Rai 57000, Thailand


Business Hours:
Daily: Friday, 8 AM–5 PM






It was time for lunch, so we head off to Lulum which is near the Blue Temple.



signboard


interior

floating platform section


menu

this, and this


coconut smoothie

grilled northern style sausages @ ฿149

fried small shrimps



deep fried vege

minced pork salad

grilled pork @฿149

Northern style appetisers @฿199

green pepper (not spicy, smokey)



shrimp fried rice @฿99

Steamed Tilapia with tom yum herbs @฿279


We didn't expect the portion of the dishes here to be so generous. Nevertheless, majority of the dishes were enjoyable. Loved the shrimp fried rice but the shrimp/prawns were blanched separately hence, not much taste on the shrimp. Fried rice was tasty. Steamed fish was good with tangy sauce and firm flesh.



super crispy pork rind, lovely sausages


It was a very filling lunch and we spent about SGD26 each for this meal.


Lulum Restaurant Chiang Rai ร้านอาหาร​ หลู้ลำ เชียงราย


Address: เลขที่ 188/8 หมู่ที่ 20 Kwae Wai Rd, Mueang Chiang Rai District, Chiang Rai 57000, Thailand
Business Hours:
Daily: Monday, 10:30 AM–8:15 PM







Next stop, Blue Temple.










Here is the wiki link to more information on Blue Temple.


Rong Suea Ten Temple วัดร่องเสือเต้น


Address: 306 หมู่ที่ 2 Maekok Rd, Tambon Rim Kok, Mueang Chiang Rai District, Chiang Rai 57100, Thailand

Business Hours:
Daily: Friday, 7 AM–8 PM





Sunday, June 8, 2025

[Travel] Exploring Chiang Mai - Stay at Novotel Nimman Journeyhub and Dinner at Lalarb Laloung

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Took a flight via Scoot from SG to CNX but unfortunately our flight got delayed and we arrived at Chiang Mai pretty late after 2 hours delay. 

Took a van taxi from Chiangmai International Airport for 300 baht to downtown Ninman. Went to one of those counters at the airport, enquired the price from the staff and once agreed, she passed us a piece of paper with the details of our taxi van. Waited for about 10 minutes or so, and the driver came to get us. We were only 4 pax but we have about 5 medium and 3 cabin sized luggages to transport.

hotel lobby

Chiangmai beer

We realized the proximity of the airport and the hotel once we arrived at Nimman. The check-in was smooth and staff informed that our rooms were upgraded as it was booked using Accorplus Gold. Yay!


Deluxe Room



minibar

complimentary snacks


shower


housebrand coffee

The room was spacious and clean. However, it is probably not suitable for platonic friends as the toilet area can be seen from the bedroom as there's a gap between those two areas. The door of the shower room is open out and I suppose one might be exposed when trying to reach the towel? Hmmm. Maybe I'm just too conservative, haha!


We have decided to have dinner at nearby place since our flight got delayed and we were rather hungry. Ivan turned on the Google Maps and led us to our dinner location. It was a case of so near yet so far, as we probably spent 5 minutes trying to align our direction with Google map and then walked for another 12 minutes to reach our dinner location.

The restaurant is not at the main road, so it is probably easier to find during daytime than at night.

There were only 1 table occupied when we arrived and we noticed that the table was also almost done for the night.

There are indoor or alfresco seats, and the staff indicated that we could sit right infront of the drinks fridge.


our view for the night

Staff brought out English menu for us and the order chit was written in Thai. So, we would point to the English menu and informed the staff whom would try her best to match it with the order chit.


English menu

One could also show the staff photos of the dishes that you would like to order and she will try to mark it into the order chit. We did a combo of all sorts and finally, the orders were placed successfully (we hope!)

I got the staff recommendation for beer, and it turned out to be a good choice. Rose beer from Tawandang brewery. Refreshing and slightly sweet.


cheers

I think best not to take the drinks from the fridge ourselves but to inform the staff on what we want and she'll help to take, pour it out into glasses with ice. Keep the bottles/cans nearby as staff will need to count those for the final bill.

cheers to friendship!


Food arrived soon there after and we got confused before realizing what it was and had a few laughs.

stir fried egg with vegetable

spicy soup

fried chicken tendon

Northern Spicy Noodles

grilled intestine, pork neck

We thought we ordered curry but it turned out to be spicy soup. Then somehow our table ended up with french fries (unintentionally).

french fries


sour sour pork with egg


Then, we realized what it was. Some of the items in the order chit were not what we wanted as it was probably a miscommunication on our part with the staff. Staff was apologetic though it was a fault of ours for not translating the order chit to verify. They sent us a coconut dessert for us to try. So sweet of them!

The food portion here was more of izakaya style, except for the Northern noodles. The noodles were interesting as it tasted like mee siam! Hehe, that was one of the surprise discovery. Stir fried eggs with vegetables, sour sour pork with egg and the deep fried chicken tendon / cartilage were good. Spicy soup was tasty and appetizing but kind of hard to share.

Then I decided to try placing order for the foods that we wanted but didn't manage to order successfully in round 1. Ordered beef larb for Ivan, crab fat for Tracy and for myself, got the fried omelette and deep fried pork belly. It was a success as seen from the photos. Haha!

crab fat

fried omelette

beef larb

deep fried pork belly

Sam chan tod (deep fried pork belly) was good. Flavourful on its own.

It was a fun and interesting experience for our first night in Chiang Mai. Thank you to the 2 staff who attended to us that night.


resident cat


Novotel Chiangmai Nimman Journeyhub

Address: 7, 77 หมู่ที่ 2 Huay Kaew Rd, Chang Phueak, Mueang Chiang Mai District, Chiang Mai 50300, Thailand

Websitehttps://all.accor.com/lien_externe.svlt?goto=fiche_hotel&code_hotel=B4F8&merchantid=seo-maps-TH-B4F8&sourceid=aw-cen&utm_medium=seo%20maps&utm_source=google%20Maps&utm_campaign=seo%20maps




ละลาบละล้วง Lalarb-Laloung

Address: ร้านละลาบละล้วง, 44 Thetsaban Tambon Change Phueak Soi 1, Chang Phueak, Mueang Chiang Mai District, Chiang Mai 50300, Thailand

Business Hours: 

Daily: Wednesday, 11:30 am–10:30 pm


 
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