river procession

The last day in Bangkok, a last post about Bangkok.  At least I'm not too many days behind, right?  Big sigh of relief on that.

Our Wednesday in Bangkom started off easily enough.  I was up early, Conrad was not.  No matter - we intended on a late breakfast anyway, and so it was.  After breakfast,

we had time to go bob around in the pool, and then go and make ourselves pretty for an afternoon out with J-J and Vanda. 

They had driven up from Sattahip to take us to a late lunch and to see a spectacle.  We were really curious about what we would see.

We ended up at a restaurant on the west side of the river, a place owned by an actress from White Lotus. 

Honestly?  The location is what makes it.  The food was fine, it was food.  I liked it enough, but it wasn't anything unusual compared to what we had been having.  And I know, it doesn't have to be - I guess it's the Thai equivalent of a place here that serves American classics.  It was fine.  The mai tai was, well, I don't know what it was.  And in a plastic cup.  So weird.  We eventually had a very modest NZ white, and there were glasses for that, so serving cocktails in plastic cups was a jarring choice.

We ate, then collected along the front of the riverside deck along with everyone else.  It was after 3:00, and the show was underway.  The show?  A dress rehearsal in full uniform and costume for a river procession to be carried out by the royal family early next month.  But even for this, there were crowds watching on bridges and along the river.  I can see why.  Pageantry like this is always fascinating - why were all the men at the front of the boats in pink, what was the singing/chanting saying (or was it just to keep the strokes in time?), were there women involved?  We saw two or three dozen boats go by, taking lots of shots but eventually just watching.

Once that was done, it was time to head off.  So much traffic!  Vanda had had to park blocks away at a hotel, so we had the walk there to contend with.  At least there were some nice sights to see! 

We invited them to come back to the hotel for a drink, and they accepted.  That was a nice little last hurrah with them.  They were lovely hosts while we were there.

Conrad and I had the evening to ourselves and no plans.  We didn't want to shower and wander far afield - we really weren't that hungry.  So we took ourselves back downstairs to La Scala for a light meal of burrata and pizza with truffles.  A cocktail each, a glass of wine as well.  It was a nice and easy way to end the trip.  The staff were so lovely.

So yes, our last full day in Thailand featured very average Thai food and then Italian food at dinner.  Funny how that works out.  But it's ok.  We had a great day of it no matter what, and spending it with friends watching something very Thai (and that happens only rarely) was a cool way to go.

a seven-course meal

Marie, my darling sister, was in Vietnam with her brother Dave earlier this year, and she had a recommendation or two to share.  One of those was for a Hanoi restaurant, Maison 1929.  

Have the pomelo salad, she said.  And so we did.

It was a relatively easy walk to the restaurant.  I say that to mean that one block from the hotel we turned left and headed in a straight line.  The sidewalks were cluttered with scooters, the city was livelier than earlier in the day, and we had to walk in the street at points.  Just like everyone else, no big deal.

6:00 seems to be an early dinner time here, and maybe we can blame that choice of time on jet lag.  We’re actually doing not badly on sleep even if it is just before 6AM as I start writing this.  But no, we opted for an early meal, and as such, for a goodly part of the time at dinner we were the only ones on their small balcony overlooking a five-way intersection.

The restaurant had à la carte options, but we opted for the discovery menu, seven courses.  We each had wine - cocktail choices were very limited - and I thank Conrad for having the red wine first so that I knew to ask for the white wine instead.  

That was a small point against the meal, one of the only ones.  Otherwise, it was terrific.  Yes, we were warm sitting outside, but there was a fan keeping the air moving, and we settled in to watch the traffic below and enjoy our company before having a week or so with a larger group.

But on to the food, right?  In order of courses:

Fried clams.  Squeeze lime on the clams, mix, scoop on to the crackers.  Tasty, light, a good way to start.

Pomelo with fresh and dried shrimp.  Marie was right, this was a star on the menu.  Loved it!  My second favourite course.

Spring rolls, a trio that included crab, pork and mushroom, and beef.  All of them were good, but I liked the pork and mushroom best.

Squid stuffed with sausage and served with a turmeric sauce.  My favourite.  That sauce was so good!  Tender squid, too.

Sautéed duck.  Another one I loved.  I enjoy duck but all too often I find it cooked as a breast, sliced, and so chewy and kind of cold.  This was very tender.

Pork ribs.  Tasty and tender.  I took the meat of the bones and use the lettuce and herbs as a wrap.

Oh, we also had rice to go on the side for the three entrees.

Banana cake with coconut ice cream.  Nice, not too sweet, a little mundane after the previous courses, but fine.

Filling but not too filling, the meal was a good one.  We walked back, wound down, and got into bed before ten.  Now I want some breakfast and maybe some postcard writing!

I am on a plane

Packing yesterday, flying today.  Van picked us up and got us to the airport in good time to enjoy a little lounge time.  

Boarding, lovely seats,

and now flying.  Yes, I paid for wifi!

Two hours or so into the flight, and having had one of the best airplane meals I’ve had in a long while,

I am going to get comfy for the next several hours, doze a whole eventually.  Oh, I should mention that we have pajamas!

Tokyo ahead,

not our last stop though.  Stay tuned!