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Oct 10, 2024 12:00 AM Strolling Bangkok’s Soi Phayanak Near the Ratchathewi BTS
Video clips and photos of a stroll along Bangkok’s Soi Phayanak (Street), which starts as a T-intersection off of Phaya Thai Road beneath the Ratchathewi BTS Skytrain station and next to the Asia Hotel that I stayed at. It was only on my last day in Bangkok that our tuk-tuk driver to the Pratunam neighborhood that afternoon took a shortcut to Phetchaburi Road via Soi Phayanak and I realized the street entrance that looked fairly boring could be so intriguing and full of local color by just driving a short distance down it. The tuk-tuk ride inspired me come back to explore the street on foot before taking a taxi to the airport for my flight home, in part because I still wanted to locate a temple to make an offering at before leaving the city. During the walk, I learned that Soi Phayanak changes names to Soi Rama 6 Soi 19 at the Rama 6 Road intersection, before crossing a small khlong then dead-ending near multiple train tracks. I would finally find the Wat Boromniwas temple and make the desired monks offering thanks to the help from a few randomly encountered locals, including a Lao ladyboy. https://youtu.be/9s1iED2NBgE
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Oct 02, 2024 12:00 AM The Akha Loma Village of Ban Kok Phao, Northern Laos
A visit to the Akha Loma Village of Ban Kok Phao, located on Road #1B south of the town of Bountai in Phongsali province, northern Laos. This was the first ethnic minority village that we stopped at after turning left off Road #2E on to Road #1B near the confluence of the Nam Noy and Nam Phak Rivers in Phongsali province.
https://youtu.be/oWdkBA0buAQ
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Aug 22, 2024 12:00 AM The Challenge of Changing Lao Kips to Baht in Bangkok
After checking into my AirAsia flight from Bangkok’s Don Mueang Int’l to Luang Prabang Int’l, I tried to change Baht into Lao Kips (Lak) to have the local currency upon arrival, and was told that they didn’t sell Kips and that I would have to charge currency once in-country. I would next learn that the LP airport did not exchange foreign currency, and I would have to do that once in the city, though thankfully en route to the Luang Prabang night market I was able to find an ST Bank branch on Sisavangvong Road near Haw Phra Bang Temple open in the evening (USD $200 = 4.55M Kips). Returning to Bangkok, the airport information desk suggested I try changing my residual 705,000 Kips in Chinatown or maybe Pratunam. As I was staying at Asia Hotel in Ratchathewi and again had WiFi, it looked like walking to a bank on Rama I Road near Siam Paragon would be my best bet, but lucked out by finding a ‘Superrich Thailand’ branch in MBK Center, thus shortening my walk. They only took 100,000 Kip notes, with my 700,000 Kips turned into 700 Baht.
Address: MBK Center (Third Floor, Zone A), 444 Phaya Thai Road, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330
Phone: 02-254-4444
Web: http://superrichthailand.com
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Aug 22, 2024 12:00 AM Hongmin Chinese Restaurant - MBK Center, Bangkok
A good Chinese restaurant on the second floor of MBK Center Mall that my brother-in-law likes when visiting Bangkok. We ordered family-style, choosing a fish maw soup, an appetizer plate that included siu mai, fried taro and cocktail sausages, savory stir fried cabbage with lardons, Peking duck, seafood lo mein, fried fish and black pepper beef. The food was delicious.
Address: MBK Center 2nd Floor Zone A, 444 Phayathai Road, Wang Mai, Pathum Wan, Bangkok
Phone: 02-026-6843
Web: www.hongminrestaurant.net
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Aug 20, 2024 12:00 AM Myanmar Food House - Pratunam District, Bangkok
Located at 640/43-44 Phetchaburi Road next to the Pantip Plaza/AEC Food Wholesale Pratunam shopping center, we had seen Myanmar Food House (the Burmese characters above the English signage apparently reads ‘Bagan’) in passing while getting massages across the street and decided to try it on my last day in Bangkok. Inside the restaurant was some stainless steel steam table trays with some good looking Indian bhuna-inspired Burmese curries. We got a table and I ordered a Burmese pork curry that with rice and a bowl of soup broth, plus we ordered a plate of veggies (sliced carrot & cucumber, lettuce & small purple eggplant) with ‘ngapi yeh’, a thin & watery, spicy, smoky & savory-salty fermented fish paste for dipping. I also ordered a mug of fermented toddy palm juice brought over from Myanmar, which was cloudy & whitish with a slightly sweet & sour taste estimated at maybe 3.5% to 4% ABV. The pork curry was good but the serving was small in my opinion.
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Aug 18, 2024 12:00 AM Scenes Along the Mekong River Cruising From Luang Prabang
A series of short video clips taken while cruising along the Mekong River to and from Luang Prabang, Laos. The majority of the clips were taken on a boat trip upriver about two hours from Luang Prabang’s Xiong Thong Dock near the confluence with the Nam Khan River to the Pak Ou Buddha Caves located near the confluence of the Nam Ou River, which included a stop at the rice whiskey village of Ban Xang Hai about 3 miles downriver from Pak Ou. The clips near the end are from a half-day trip along the far bank via Road #4B by tuk-tuk that began by crossing the Mekong River by vehicle ferry, and ended with a return by boat upriver to Luang Prabang from the Hmong village of Ban Pak Leung.
https://youtu.be/BM8mxoN8gP0?si=WPWrjE3v91GlH56o
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Aug 17, 2024 12:00 AM Khao Soi Lamduan Faham Restaurant - ICONSIAM Mall, Bangkok
Sharing the same name as the original famous restaurant in Chiang Mai, Khao Soi Lamduan Faham restaurant is located in Bangkok’s Chao Phraya riverside ICONSIAM Mall as one of the more noteworthy eateries in its Level G SOOKSIAM food and merchandise vendor center. Through a combination of permanent restaurants and rotating vendor stall offerings, SOOKSIAM allows the visitor to sample foods from all 77 provinces across Thailand, and also features a functional Indoor ‘floating market’. Khao soi is a spicy red curry coconut noodle soup found in northern Thailand, Myanmar and Laos (which to my tastes, is very similar to a Malaysian/Singaporean laksa noodle soup) that uses egg noodles and generally chicken for the protein, with crispy fried egg noodles as a topping. I tried the restaurant’s basic bowl of khao soi (about 90 Baht as I recall), which came with a single chicken drumstick. I thought the khao soi was quite good, with the rich gravy flavorful and mildly spicy, though a bit on the thin side. The portion was on the small side and a few orders would be required to be filling in my opinion. Online reviews suggest that the ICONSIAM location compares poorly to the original location’s, but it is still definitely worth a try in my opinion.
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Aug 11, 2024 12:00 AM Tamarind Restaurant and Cooking School - Luang Prabang, Laos
While in Luang Prabang, I was able to try Tamarind Restaurant’s set menu Lao Specialties platter at their Mekong River-facing restaurant location on Chunkham Road after returning from a morning cruise up the Mekong. The meal included a pumpkin soup with a side of crispy fried thin bamboo shoot slices, grilled sai oua Lao sausage, fragrant minced chicken fried in a split lemongrass stalk, thin strips of buffalo skin in a very spicy jeow bong chili paste, nori-like ‘kaipen’ sun-dried river algae sheets infused with a savory sauce made of tamarind and green & black olives, thin slices of garlic & tomato and sesame seeds, a mild tomato salsa, a smoky eggplant dip and a cool dipping sauce with minced fish & shrimp, accompanied by a Beerlao Dark. It was a very memorable & flavorful (and at times spicy!) taste of Laos. Tamarind also has a Nam Khan River-facing restaurant and cooking school location on Kingkitsarath Road along the south bank of the old town peninsula. A YouTube slideshow my Lao Specialities platter photos is linked below, along with Tamarind’s web address.
https://youtu.be/xWTF76s4QCU?si=LqtxuHv2SE6jFu-g
Web: https://www.tamarindlaos.com/
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Aug 08, 2024 12:00 AM Temples of Luang Prabang Slideshow
A brief slideshow of selected Buddhist temple photos taken around Luang Prabang in November & December 2023, with the background audio track being the chanting of a Lao monk recorded during a blessing ceremony performed at one of the temples visited (see prior video posted on my YouTube page).
https://youtu.be/TbIqC3ocsRc?si=8gyOSgW_FtqKOIbP
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Aug 07, 2024 12:00 AM Street Food Vendors In & Around the Luang Prabang Night Market
Luang Prabang’s de facto ‘main drag’ for visiting tourists (a much more laidback, historic and photogenic version of Bangkok’s Khaosan Road) is Sisavangvong Road, which runs from Soukkhaseum Road at its northeast end near the foot of Mount Phousi Hill, and Inthasome Road at its southwest end. In the evening hours, much of Sisavangvong Road is occupied by the famous Luang Prabang Night Market, during which canopied vendor stalls with hanging lights are setup along the sidewalks that extend beyond the curbs and turn the two-land road into a narrow walking street lined with clothing, jewelry, artwork & ethnic handicrafts, souvenirs and other goods offered for sale. A number of curbside food vendor stalls line the street east of the rows of canopied vendor stall, particularly along the T-intersecting Ounheuan Road that flanks the grounds of the Royal Palace, National Museum and photogenic Haw Phra Bang Temple. An ST Bank office is conveniently located on Sisavangvong Road east of Ounheuan Road which was open in the evening for changing currency into Kips. The night market’s main food vendor area is at the west end near the Inthasome Road intersection, which features both pop-up canopied & ‘brick and mortar’ food, drink and sweets vendor stalls, in addition to tables & chairs and public restrooms (for a 3,000 Kip fee). Across the street and parallel to Inthasome Road is a narrow alley that also features a number of street food vendor stalls, with additional street food vendor stalls along Inthasome Road, one near the entrance of the Wat Phonxay Xayxana Song Kham Temple with its twin seven-headed protective Naga serpents.
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