BANGKOK

“The Land of Smiles”

the beginning of our annual housemates trip.

HND → BKK

don’t get me started 🤣

can you imagine a 5 foot, small woman trying to lug these across an airport?

luggage size cannot be defined by the photo— they were indeed, huge

since i was traveling from Tokyo, the multi-connecting flights for the booking I purchased on Chase Travel was limited. i mean, come on. 4:30 AM arrival? unfortunately, it was the only time i could get.

i didn’t mind the wait for my housemates, since they were all arriving at a later time. i thought i could just cruise on by to the airbnb & it would all be fine.

but nah. if you know the process with airbnb, the check in isn’t until early afternoon. for our Bangkok airbnb, it was 2:00pm.

so, what did i do for nearly 10 hours? i waited.

the Starbucks near our airbnb wasn’t going to open until 7am, so there i was. waiting at the airport until said time.

i took a grab taxi — and if you don’t know what “Grab” is, it’s basically the Southeast Asian version of the U.S. food delivery services like Instacart and DoorDash — all the way to Starbucks and played another waiting game.

i ordered 2 things:

a yuzu coffee slush — overly sweet, but i def had to try because it was yuzu flavored
tuna sandwich — quite yummy, quite healthy considering it was on wheat

and i worked on my MBA assignments.

grab taxi pick-up (estimated wait time: 15 minutes)

yuzu coffee slush & tuna sandwich

exhaustion was playing with me that this point. it hit 12pm, and i was just hoping to just bat another eye for it to show 2:00.

funny enough, the workers took their rounds asking if i was okay or if i needed to order another caffeine pick-me-up because i looked exhausted. i made sure to let them know i was okay, and each time, they asked if i was going somewhere.

— which was interesting because two suitcases and a carry on that were packed to the max were nestled by my side.

as it finally hit 2pm, i immediately ordered a grab taxi and hauled myself over to our stay.

accommodations

when you visit a new country, you get to see the everyday life and conditions that the people live in.

as i was approaching the airbnb, the grab taxi was slowly moving itself through the street that was wide enough to solely fit a 4-car sedan.

with the housing situation in this country, it is important to note that it is limited.

as i went inside the house, it was spacious. large common areas, large bathrooms, and large bedrooms.

but — my rival did make its appearance. stairs. and not the regular kind of stairs where you can easily walk up with no issue.

they did not have grip. they were waxed. and at an incline of 45 degrees.

thus i told myself: “my suitcases are staying downstairs”.

overall, it was a lovely place. a home that felt like a genuine hug.

first dinner: a homecooked meal?

stairs not pictured, but they were right behind that large vertical block next to the fan

also wanted to show off our snacks for our first of many 7/11 runs:

tomyum fish skin, protein shake (for the gains), lychee and strawberry drinks, a rice meal, a salmon onigiri, and a curry toasted pan sandwich

papaya salad, shrimp pad thai, multigrain rice, green curry

mango sticky rice with coconut cream; rice = pandan flavored

we wanted to save our big backs for the more popular restaurants, so we decided to go forth into the city and find a quick bite for dinner.

you already know — we had to get the classics.

papaya salad: ⭐ 10/10

maybe im biased. i just love papaya salad. the papaya was fresh, the other veggies in the salad were also fresh.

the sauce had a good tang to it, and it wasn’t overpowering — perfect amount of light soy sauce and lime.

shrimp pad thai: ⭐ 7/10

i don’t think there was anything special about this dish. it was just as i know it to taste in the U.S., the flavors are the same.
however, it genuinely did taste more authentic. and no im not just saying this just because i was in Thailand 🤣

green curry w/ multigrain rice: ⭐ 6.8/10

multi-grain is always a yes — let’s get that out of the way.
the curry — i think the green curry i’ve had before just taste different. this one was something i wasn’t used to.

it had more of an herbal flavor to it. i believe the name is Gaeng Khiew Wan — but don’t quote me on that.
it was a good tasting experience; however, i wouldn’t order this dish again

mango sticky rice: ⭐ 4.4/10

freshness of the mango = top tier
coconut cream = pretty good, not too thick nor sweet
pandan sticky rice = im going to take a few steps back :(

the pandan flavor wasn’t there, the grains were hard — and how can you highly rate mango sticky rice if half of the dish doesn’t live up to its name?

overall: ⭐ 6.8/10

you can’t let one “mid-tier” experience ruin your entire foodventure. there was obviously more hope considering this was just the first stop!

falling in love with speakeasies (in Asia)

what is a modern day speakeasy?

a modern day speakeasy is generally either a bar that has been around since the 1920s and so is selling history, or a bar that resembles what is was like in the 1920s and so is selling nostalgia (Study, 2023)

why is it called a speakeasy?

one was supposed to speak softly to get in, which in turn would prevent the speaker from getting noticed (Study, 2023)

what were speakeasies disguised as?

they were disguised as smoking rooms, doors off back allies, or simply doors that would appear to be ordinary doors that typically would lead to nothing (Study, 2023)

i hadn’t been to many speakeasies in the past. only a couple within the LA, Orange, and SD counties. after hearing about how Asia hits the ground running with their take on this historical American concept, i had to see for myself.

for this speakeasy, we were having trouble even finding the entrance. that’s how i knew that this would be a highly rated place in my books.

i mean look at what i thought was the entrance →

it wasn’t even the entrance! we had to walk through the side and up a couple of stairs.

“guys… should we leave? i’m scared” - H. Nguyen

thai tea, smokes, and a conversation left on opened

and up the stairs we went to find a chilling, eerie, and left on opened conversation between two spirits.

just kidding — or maybe? it seemed like two people decided to have a quick smoke and chat over thai tea.

or maybe they were ghosts. we’ll never know!

though not pictured— and to not scare you away—, if you looked over to the right, you would see the area is “an abyss, is just a hole, a darkness, a nothingness”.

definitely the end of a “20 somethings” by SZA moment.

menu provided by the speakeasy

black rice: black rice and sesame milk, earl grey tea, ginger, and tequila

one corner of the speakeasy — it’s truly giving 1920s

anyone who knows me (and has had a drink or two with me), will tell you that i’m very picky with my drinks. they say i choose the most interesting sounding drinks.

i believe that my choice in drinks stem from working in a tea shop over multiple years.

i like to immerse myself in flavor, and how “right” the flavors can create the final concoction.

in this case, i chose the black rice. i’m a sucker for rich, robust flavors and sesame — so this was an absolute pick for me.

all the ingredients were infused perfectly, complementing each other. tequila was also the best choice for this combo.

TO BE CONTINUED…