Travellers

Jumat, 07 Juni 2019

Air Conditioned Floating Market in Bangkok ? SOOKSIAM Got You Covered!

Pardon me for my lack of posts, and thank you to those who's still waiting for my posts by DM or dropping comments. I'm still here guys, just lacking the will to write these past few years, and also lacking the interest to explore this city food scene and write reviews about it. So well, rather than having so much excuses, I'll just post anything I feel like posting.

So I went to Bangkok last month and I feel like this place worth to write. Since the weather was so hot and humid on my last visit, well 2 years ago I also visited this city around this time but I do not remember Bangkok being this hot 37°C-38°C average daily, event 35°C on the evening, it was such a hassle to visit Bangkok's outdoor scene like temples, markets, and else. So I found this perfect place to visit when you are craving for traditional food and also street food without having to battle the heat.

This place is called SOOKSIAM, located in the latest mall addition, ICONSIAM. I've been wanting to visit ICONSIAM itself since last year when it was just opened, simply because it got many of my favorite brands covered. I went right to the restroom after arriving at this mall, and just the restroom decoration itself awed me. This might be the most gorgeous restroom I've ever seen or not.

SOOKSIAM offers wide varieties of food and beverages, from traditional Thai food to fruits, street food, packaged snacks, in such reasonable price. How can I not love this place when it got so many affordable tempting food in a convenient and well decorated ambience.

What's also special about this place is the floating market. Well, it's not a real floating market and you don't get to ride a boat here. But the food vendors are really in a boat. You don't get the same experience elsewhere.

You can get a bowl of Fishballs Noodle for THB 60, it might be around THB 50 at other market. Not so much differences though.

Who's into Thai local fruits? Well you'll have a party here.

I don't know what's the name of this dish in Thai, but it is similar to Lo Mai Gai - glutinous rice with pork sausage, salted egg yolk, and mushroom on top of it, wrapped up in lotus leaf. THB 60 for this dish, and yes it's good!

There are so many other kind of food you could find here.

The famous Thai tea brand Cha Tra Mue also has a stall here, and I wouldn't miss a chance to enjoy my favorite cup of Thai tea here.

ICONSIAM is easily accessible by taxi, Grab, or free shuttle boat. You could alight at Saphan Taksin BTS Station and walk to Sathorn Pier then hop into the free shuttle boat to ICONSIAM. I read that there's also free shuttle bus available from Krung Thonburi BTS Station.

I went here by Grab, and went to Asiatique after by free shuttle boat - hop into the free shuttle boat to Sathorn Pier, alight there, and hop into the free shuttle boat to Asiatique (the queue will be next to each other).

So, see you from another part of Bangkok (or maybe other city).

Selasa, 26 Februari 2019

My Personal Comfort Food Choices Around Hong Kong & Macau

This post will cover my food journey on my latest Hong Kong-Macau short trip a few months ago. Yeah, it's been a while since my last Hong Kong trip, 5 years exactly. This post will be useful for those who are not too ambitious about trying new and hype food, and cherish comfort food more than anything. Well, that's me as I am getting older. Fiuh.

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1. Dim Dim Sum

Of course you can't miss dim sum out of your Hong Kong must eat food list. There are so many good dim sum restaurants all around Hong Kong. You might want to choose one based on your budget, location and time. I chose Dim Dim Sum since the Jordan branch opens until 1 AM in the morning. Dim Dim Sum is one of the moderate priced dim sum restaurant in Hong Kong that has several branches all around the town. Besides its opening time, I chose this place because it's located around 15 minutes walk from where I stayed in Yau Ma Tei, Mong Kok area.

Lots of dim sum selections are available here, and English menu is available. We tried around 10 kinds of dim sum to share between 4 people, and the taste of the food did not disappoint us. Speaking about the price, I just realised on this trip that food in Hong Kong is relatively more expensive compared to food in other countries in Asia, even from Japan and South Korea. So when I said that the price is moderate, expect to spend around HKD 100 (HKD 1 = ± IDR 1800) per meal per person.

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2. Butao Ramen

As a noodle lover, I couldn't miss a visit to this very well-known ramen restaurant. Some famous foodies named Butao Ramen as their favorite ramen restaurant, well I guest it has been one of my favourite too. They got several ramen menu to offer, but I always choose Tonkotsu Ramen every time I pay my first visit to a ramen restaurant.

The broth was perfect for my liking. It got just the right amount of thickness, and savouriness as I expected. Butao Ramen also has several branches around Hong Kong, so you could choose to visit the branch that is closest to you. I visited the one in Tsim Sha Tsui area on a fine Sunday noon, maybe around 2 PM, at it was not too crowded. Just perfect!

And I had to say that their pickled beansprout was so good! I kept eating them even after I finished my ramen.

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3. Shake Shack

Since my first visit to Shake Shack back in Tokyo, I kept wanting to taste their burger again. And I was so glad when I knew that they had opened their branch in Hong Kong. Since it was just a few months after their opening, a long queue was welcoming me at their outlet in IFC Mall.

If you're a first timer, try their ShackBurger®. I got myself a Double ShackBurger® (HKD 76) since I've been craving for a while. I really love their patty, so juicy and tasty! Other than burger, Shake Shack is also famous for their milkshake, they even has a Hong Kong special edition milkshake, the Milk Tea Shack. But this time I skipped the milkshake and enjoyed my Double ShackBurger® with fries (HKD 27).

My friend had a 'Shroom Burger that was also good! I think fried portobello mushroom could hardly go wrong. On my next visit to Shake Shack, I think I'm going to have Shack Stack, the combination of two.

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4. % Arabica

Yeah, I also had their coffee back in Kyoto, and since they have a branch nearby Harbour City - a mall that I visited, I paid a visit to their humble outlet on the ferry terminal to have a cup of latte. Actually there are many other worth visiting coffee store all around Hong Kong that I could opt to visit, but maybe I will visit them next time. And yeah, expect to spend around HKD 40-50 for a cup of coffee here in Hong Kong.

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5. Ca Tu Ya

I randomly visited this place on a rainy Sunday night in Hong Kong since it was very close to our staying neighbourhood. Ca-Tu-Ya is a Japanese family restaurant that serves varieties of katsu. It has quite many branches in Hong Kong. I had their shrimp and pork set meal that was served with rice and miso soup. It was overall decent. The shrimp and pork was well battered and fried, the soup was warm and pretty tasty and the rice was good.

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6. Hong Kong Disneyland

Well, here's an extra tip for you who is going to Hong Kong Disneyland. To make your visit more efficient, don't just buy the park ticket, but opt for the park+meal ticket. It will be cheaper than just buying the park ticket and purchasing the meal at the park's restaurants later. The meal ticket can be used at most of the restaurants in the theme park with extra 1 popcorn or 1 Mickey waffle ticket that you can redeemed at the food cart around the park. You could buy this package and the park official website or other website like Klook.

My meal look tempting right? I got this Royal Mixed Grill at Royal Banquet Hall. The portion was great, though I was still able to finish it but my friend couldn't. Taste wise, well nothing special, just a plate full of protein and fat that will energised you during your Disneyland day.

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7. Nampeng Cafe - Macau

In this short Hong Kong trip, I took a day out of Hong Kong to visit Macau which is only an hour ferry ride away. I started my day in Macau by visiting this famous cha chaan teng called Nam Peng Cafe. We took taxi from the ferry terminal to this place. We couldn't stop in front of the store since it was on the road where no car is allowed, so we stop nearby and walked there.

Their signature meals were Nam Peng Macaroni and Nam Peng Sandwich. We ordered both, sandwich for each of us, and the macaroni to share.

Both the macaroni and sandwich is filled with ham, pork, and egg. It was a heartwarming and decent breakfast, but I must say it was not that special. Nothing beats bubur ayam and bakmi in the morning.

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8. Lord's Stow Bakery

The pride of Macau is this Portugese Egg Tarts from Lord's Stow Bakery. Your trip to Macau would not be complete without tasting these sweet and lovely tarts. You know that sometimes you got your egg tart too sweet, too buttery, or maybe to dry, but Lord Stow's tars were just perfect. I got my tarts from their store in The Venetian Hotel. There was quite a queue on our visit but it was all worth it.

Well since it was such a short trip I don't really have much to share. Feel free to recommend me your favourite pick in Hong Kong or Macau so I could try it on my next visit here.

Senin, 22 Oktober 2018

JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: November Snow at Shirakawa-Go

It was one fine Sunday morning when I went to Shirakawa-Go from Takayama. I booked a half-day tour from J-Hoppers guesthouse, the hostel where I stayed in Takayama. You can book this tour also even if you don't stay at the place, but it's cheaper if you stay there. Actually, I didn't expect to witness any snow in Shirakawa-Go since it was still November, but it did snow!

Apparently, my friend went to Shirakawa-Go just the day before I went there. He told me it was snowing hard that day. He told me that it was quite hard to reach the observation deck since to road was slippery because of the snow.

The snow did not fall the day after - the day I went to Shirakawa-Go, but the snow leftover was still there. Thank God! I could finally experienced snow all around me. And the plus point of taking this tour was, it stopped right at the observation deck so I didn't have to walk there.

The view from the observation deck was magnificent. I marvelled upon the view of the village, surrounded by mountains, and snow. It was so beautiful.

From the observation deck, the bus headed to the village. It stopped on the parking lot and I had to walk to the village by crossing the bridge.

Even the view from the bridge awed me, thought it was just river with rocks and snow covering it. So yeah, snow is something huge for someone who lives in a tropical country like me. I consider myself blessed to experience this, since my friend came here the next month, somewhere in mid December, but there was no snow track at all at this place. So, check the weather forecast before you come here on November or December and manage your expectation.

The main attraction of this village are the gassho-zukuri farmhouses. Gassho means 'hands in prayer' which the steep tatched roof resembles. Some of these houses are more than 250 years old.

A few of these houses are open for public, with admission fee of course. I visited the Kanda's house and paid JPY 300 for the entrance fee.

Take a look on the interior of this house. Upon entering the house, you could spot traditional heater in the center.

First floor is for daily activities, this floor is where the living room and other rooms are.

Meanwhile the second floor is where they placed the farming tools.

More storage space in the attic.

This was the view from the attic. Beautiful wasn't it?

After visiting Kanda's house, I strolled around the village. Apparently not all of the houses in the village use gassho roof. Some are more modern, but still having that country-side feel. The village wasn't all white, but it was still charming.