Thursday, June 26, 2025

[Travel] In the Heart of Bangkok - Dinner at KubKao' KubPla @ Central Embassy

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One of Hence and Tracy's favourite restaurant in Bangkok, located at Central Embassy. Have learnt that during recent experience in Bangkok, if the Grab ride to the destination is 15 minutes, call for Grab at least 15 minutes + (normal duration to reach destination x 2).

Managed to reach Central Embassy around 5.45pm so I was on-time for our 6pm dinner with friends from Australia.

shopfront

menu

interior

According to Google Maps, this restaurant has a few outlets in Bangkok. This one at Central Embassy has a cafe'ish vibe.

will leave the ordering to the experts

coconut smoothie while waiting for our friends

This round, my go-to drink seemed to be coconut smoothie. Maybe it was the heat, so needed some cooling down. Hehe.

Crab Meat Omelette @฿1200

stir fried Chinese broccoli with crispy pork @฿265

Deep fried seabass with fish sauce @฿620


The crab meat omelette was good, with good chunks of crab meat on the outer side (decorative purpose) as well as lovingly enveloped inside the omelette. Turns out Chinese broccoli is kai-lan. The deep fried seabass was superb on its own. The meat was flavourful and cooked just right. There was a dipping sauce but none of us needed it.

Shrimps in fish sauce topped with spicy sauce @฿295

The raw shrimps dish was better than I thought. The shrimps were firm and plump. The marinade was refreshingly tangy, and not too spicy.

Spicy tom yum soup with shrimps and young coconut @฿360

fried chicken wings served with sticky rice @฿185

Dinner was an enjoyable affair. Lovely to meet up with old and new friends, and interesting to hear them share their perspective on various topics.

mango sticky rice @฿189


The mango sticky rice was good. Fresh mangoes sweet and juicy, paired with slightly warm sticky rice. 

Thank you Hence and Tracy for the treat!


KubKao' KubPla กับข้าว' กับปลา

Address: Phloen Chit Rd, Khwaeng Lumphini, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand

Websitehttps://www.facebook.com/kubkaokubplabyiberry

Business Hours:

Daily: 10 am–10 pm



Monday, June 23, 2025

[Travel] In the Heart of Bangkok - Relaxing Stay at Anantara Siam Bangkok, Evening Cocktails and Breakfast at Kasara Lounge

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Flew via Thai Airways from CNX to BKK. Landed at Suvarnabhumi Airport and took a taxi from airport to Anantara Siam Bangkok. Fare was a fixed rate of ฿500, inclusive of highway toll which was about ฿120 or so.

There was quite a bit of jam, once we entered city center and especially along the Rajadamri road where traffic came to a slow crawl at around 330pm. Had a dinner appointment with Hence and Tracy (they be staying at a different hotel) at 6pm, so I was a tad anxious.

Reached hotel at about 350pm, and was immediately greeted by the doorman. Friendly chap and I didn't have a chance to get my luggage from the taxi as it was taken care of by him and he informed that he will bring the luggage to my room.

I smiled but there was quite a bit of question marks floating in my mind. How would he know which room I'll be assigned to since he doesn't even know my name. Hmm... the mysterious of a 5-star hotel.

hotel compound


Everything moved in a flurry as another staff at the door asked if I'm checking in today and then she brought me to the lift to the 7th floor to check-in at the lounge. Ok, at this moment I don't even know where the luggage went to.

Grand Mural


Kasara Lounge


Lounge staff was dressed in beautiful traditional wear which looked elegant. Soft-spoken and polite handling of check-in and welcome drink was served while staff was processing the room keycard.

lounge view

decor

welcome drink

mini snack

The tea was chilled and sweet. Just the thing that I needed after the 45 minutes taxi ride. Staff also asked if I'd like to have my afternoon tea but I couldn't due to the dinner appointment. 

Next, I followed the staff to my room (because first time in this hotel, so haven't gotten my bearings yet and I was in some sort of a hurry) and one needed to remember which glass door to exit to the nearest lift to the rooms.

Was upgraded to Siam Suite, thanks to GHA Discovery Titanium membership perks.

Siam Suite

bedroom

closet

bathroom

soap

separated toilet

bathtub and shower

view from bedroom

welcome note, fruits and chocolate

minibar (chargeable)

And yes, the luggage was already delivered to the room when I first entered. Thanks to the efficient team!

super big TV in the room

if you need liquor...

press this if you do not want to be disturbed


Took a quick bath, changed clothes and it was time to head out to Central World for dinner. Central World is actually pretty near to the hotel like about 15 minutes car ride without the traffic jam, but since this was my first time re-experiencing Bangkok traffic, decided to be on the road by 5pm (just in case). Grab took about 12 minutes to reach the hotel, and another 30 minutes to reach Central World.


Kasara Lounge

Breakfast


There is a live station for eggs with one Chef available at the lounge. The rest of the food such as cereals, fruits, pastries, cakes, breads, fried rice, cheeses are available buffet/self-serve style.

There is also a menu where one could order from the staff. Once the guest had settled into the lounge for breakfast and staff enquired if you would like them to bring you a cup of coffee/tea, after that you are pretty much left on your own.


started with pastries, cake and coffee


omelette


profile view



Pad See Ew (Stir fry noodles from the menu)


The pad see ew took about 15 to 20 minutes to arrive and tasted pretty healthy, so the accompanying condiments helped to enhance the taste by quite a bit. I liked the white vinegar and the green chilies in it, few drips of fish sauce and some chili flakes. The greens were unfortunately too tough. 


The danish pastries were pretty good.


Evening Cocktail



beverage menu


wine

Monsoon Valley Wine (Hua Hin)


The white wine from Monsoon Valley was pretty good. Refreshing and easy to drink. The wine fared better than the mojito.

Mojito


small plates

cold cuts, cheeses for the wine

cheesecake




Anantara Siam Bangkok โรงแรมอนันตรา สยาม กรุงเทพ

Address: 155 Rajadamri Road, Lumphini, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand

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


Saturday, June 21, 2025

[Travel] Exploring Chiang Mai - Breakfast at Koay Chup FahThaNee, Coffee at Roastniyom, Lunch at Khao Soi Lung Prakit, Tea-break at Yumpumajedyod

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The morning started with rain at around 6am, and we do have a lunch appointment with Salina and Ed at 11am, so the gang said let's go out for 1st breakfast first. I can only follow...

We got there by Grab but he overshot and we had to walk back to find the shop.

signboard

Chefs

There was one table of locals enjoying their breakfast. The menu is displayed on the wall of the shop but I think the staff knew we were out-of-towners, so she decided to give us the English menu.

menu

menu for out-of-towners


We would be ordering 2 koay chup to share, then one portion of roast pork and one portion of sausages for sharing as well.

Not too sure what the special does but it was only 10 baht difference, so we got the koay chup special. On hindsight, I think it was for a larger portion of koay or the hard boiled egg.

interior

Food arrived pretty quickly.

roast pork @฿100

closer view of the crispy skin

homemade pork sausage @฿80

The roast pork and sausages were served with a thick soy sauce which tasted sweet.

koay chup (special) @฿70

The koay chup soup was very peppery and it hits! Served warm and comforting on a wet and cold morning. The bowl has some roast pork, pork sausages, pork liver, spleen/tongue, lean meat and the noodles were more tightly coiled than the koay chup that I had tried before. I liked the pork sausages in the soup more than on its own. The roast pork works either way.

hearty bowl

It was a hearty bowl and should be pretty filling for one pax.


Koay Chup FahThaNee ก๋วยจั๊บฟ้าธานี

Address: ถนนสิริมังคลาจารย์ ถนน สุเทพ เมือง Chiang Mai 50300, Thailand

Business Hours:

Daily: 7 AM–3:30 PM






As it was raining, and still early after our meal, we went over to Roastniyom Coffee which was just 5 minutes walk away.

coffeeshop

menu

pastries


The coffee place was bustling at 950am on a weekend. Many were waiting for their takeaways.

let's try local beans


I was curious on Thailand's local produce for coffee beans and opted for a latte using Huay Hom beans.

Waited for about 15 minutes for the coffee and staff was kind enough to send it to our table with a small cup of water. The latte was smooth, balanced and not too milky. Just the way I liked it.


hot latte using Huay Hom beans @฿85


One thing to note is that this outlet does not have a washroom but the air-conditioning was pretty strong and nice.

Roastniyom Coffee กาแฟรสนิยม


Address: 51 Siri Mangkalajarn Rd, Tambon Su Thep, Mueang Chiang Mai District, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand

Business Hours:
Sun:  8 AM–7 PM
Mon- Sat: Monday, 7 AM–7 PM





Our main event for the day is the lunch appointment at what our Thai friend called the best Khao Soi in the world. So naturally, I was excited!

Again, we took a Grab to Khao Soi Lung Prakit and luckily, there was no queue yet but the place was full. We queued for a while and suddenly, the shop uncle called us in and directed us to a table but unfortunately, the guest seated at the adjacent table said that she was waiting for her friend to take that table. No choice, we head back outside to queue again.

My bladder was close to bursting by then so, had to go around the market to look for Public toilet and thankfully, found a good one! In Thailand, one needs to keep all the ฿1 and ฿5 coins as normally it ranges between ฿3 to ฿5 to use the public toilet. This one was ฿5 and it was money well spent because the toilet was clean.

the small white building behind the tree

Ok, time to go back to the lunch place and everyone was seated inside the shop, and had ordered by the time I went back.

beef khao soi

fried chicken

chicken khao soi

meatballs khao soi


My first sip of the broth was from the beef khao soi. Yums! It was a deep taste and very flavourful. The beef chunks, depends on what you get. Mine had some sinewy tendons in it so, it was kind of chewy but our friend who is a frequent customer at the shop, also had a bowl and said that the beef was very tender.

The broth from chicken khao soi seemed a little different and I liked it on its own, or when jazzed up with some of the pickles or the raw onions. Khao Soi broth here is not spicy on its own and had a 55-45 percent of sweet-savoury kind of ratio (my own guestimation only, so depends on each taste buds).

I finished most of the noodles as I find it quite enjoyable with the deep fried version and the non-fried version, especially paired with some lime juice and raw onions.

Thank you Salina and Ed for the treat!

And, there was a queue at around 115pm.



Khao Soi Lung Prakit Kad Kom ข้าวซอยลุงประกิจกาดก้อม

Address: 53 Suriyawong 5 Rd, Tambon Hai Ya, Mueang Chiang Mai District, Chiang Mai 50100, Thailand
Business Hours:
Daily: Sunday, 9:30 AM–4:30 PM






After lunch, I was already very full. But the group decided that we still needed lunch. So we called Grab to go to our next destination.

The ride was about 15 minutes and I was feeling rather sleepy and in fact, dozed off for a short while in the car.


Our second lunch/tea-break destination (we arrived at about 130pm) was also a busy place. We waited for about 10 minutes before a table was available. The restaurant has an area with seats where one could wait to be seated or for Grab riders to wait for their packages.

The purpose of us visiting Yumpumajedyod was to try their som tam. Although I was the one who pinned this place on Google Maps, I was a tad grumpy to be there when one was feeling super full and kind of sleepy.




The group decided on 2 types of som-tum, fried chicken wings (this one I had wanted to try), fried pork neck, and squid eggs. 

I was observing the other tables and most were enjoying full meal at this hour. Even after our food arrived at 230pm, there were still people coming into the shop!

The salads were the first to arrive. I was amazed by its taste. Very strong tasting and well mixed. Tangy and appetising. Very good.

corn and mango salad with crispy fish (anchovies) @฿89

mango salad with raw prawns and crab @฿249


fresh coconut

Thai milk tea @฿55


fried pork neck 

steamed rice

squid eggs @฿109

chicken wings (4 pieces) @฿118


The squid egg was interesting. Texture was soft and tender, and mildly salted flavour (on its own). The chicken wings were the last to arrive and it was served piping hot. Worth every minute of the wait as the wings were well marinated, well fried and juicy inside.

Strongly recommend to order any of their mango/papaya salads and the chicken wings.


Yumpumajedyod Chiang Mai ยำปูม้าเจ็ดยอด สาขาเชียงใหม่-เจ้าของแบรนด์


Address: 23/5 Jed Yod-Chang Khian Rd, Tambon Chang Phueak, Mueang Chiang Mai District, Chiang Mai 50300, Thailand


Business Hours:
Daily: 10 AM–12 AM





 
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