All right, now, don't ask me how it is, but for some odd reason that I can't explain, Second day of Bangkok seemed to revolve very much around food.
Maybe it was planned.
Maybe it was just meant to be.
Oy, I'm not complaining.
Especially when it isn't every day that I get to eat as much fried tang hoon as I want to for breakfast.
And it isn't every day that I get to have platters of dim sum so huge with so much filling inside that I can never look at the island's dim sum offerings in the same light ever again.
I'd like to say that first impressions began from the Peking Duck and the dim sum buffet lunch over at Fei Ya Restaurant somewhere near Pathumwan.
But in retrospect they actually began during breakfast at the cafe downstairs in the apart-hotel.
It would be a bit overkill to say that REX Cafe at Citadines on 8 was a highly recommended, exquisite dining place, but she had a vibe that made it easy to chat and chill out- by night and by day- and she felt comfortable enough that you could come down in your jammies at breakfast and have a coffee.
They might not have had the largest of breakfast offerings but there was the salad, there was the fruits, the cooked foods, the cereals, breads, cubed butters and jams. There were also a bit of yogurt, juices, and the eggs- prepared by the homestyle chef working at the kitchen inside.
We hung out in the room all morning then headed out to Renaissance Bangkok Ratchaprasong Hotel where on the second floor there was Fei Ya Restaurant.
I had thought we'd be there for just the Peking Duck- it had come highly recommended- but upon reaching there we discovered a dim sum buffet going on- and decided to take it on.
Let's just say we felt really, really stuffed by the time lunch was over, and no wonder, for we'd had not just the (fatty) skin of a skillfully-roasted Peking duck wrapped inside crepes, we'd also had plates of dim sum that included yam puffs, siew mais, crystal chive paus, bean curd skin rolls, char siew sou, a dish that I think was some sort of sushi rice wrapped with seaweed drizzled with gravy, and a cheong fun that came stuffed with one of the largest (fried!) fillings that I'd ever seen.
Not just that, my friend had placed for me an order of hor fun with gravy (because I'm a huge fan of flat rice noodles) and the noodles were so thick and chewy that I felt it a complete waste if I didn't finish it all.
Naturally we weren't going to end lunch without any dessert, so, yeah, there was that- one bowl of iced honeydew, one bowl of mango sago- with a huge scoop of coconut ice cream on top.
Off it was for a spa session after that, and can I say that this place at Thong Lor made for one of the most memorable spa sessions I've had, ever?
I'd like to think that it were the charm of the beautifully refurbished house which Urban Oasis Spa was located in.
I'd also like to think that it were the tranquil atmosphere in which this spa was in.
There's much about this spa that I'd love to talk about.
Whether it be that distinctive tree in the courtyard with the unusual round smooth-skinned fruit, whether it be the architecture and layout of the place, the oriental-leaning style, or the treatment itself, I'd love to talk about it all.
But there'll be another place to write about it, so let me just say that I've got a new respect for Ayurvedic treatments, in particular the Shirodhara, and that I will never see these treatments in the same light again.
People who know me will know that I have a thing for head massages.
It is one of those treatments that truly relaxes me and guarantees I will fall into a deep sleep.
So, yes, I was delighted when, along with the East Indian style massage, there was the Shirodhara in the two-hour Ayurvedic Package where the gentle dripping of herbal oil onto my forehead induced me into a state of serenity that I had never, ever, ever experienced before. Within the treatment itself was an Indian head and scalp massage which- whatever the therapist did- soothed my (cranial) nerves in a way that I did not know was even possible before.
I shan't go into detail here- it will be on another part of the blog- but I'm presently on a hunt for any place that offers Shirodhara massages, because whilst there is many a massage that will let me fall into deep sleep, there is few, if none, other than this, that will make me feel like I've entered a completely new plane.
It was a very dazed me that walked out of the couple suite with my hair still half wet from the shower that I'd taken to wash off all the oil.
It was also a very dazed me who agreed to beat the 'suck chair' traffic and walk back from the mall called EmQuartier at Phrom Phong BTS Station to Sukhumvit Soi 8- because Google Maps said that it wasn't too far, just two BTS stations away.
Technically it was, except that we didn't count for the plethora of distractions along the way- crowd, street vendors, more crowd- and soon enough I decided it better to make a stop at The Westin Grande (for an errand) before continuing our way.
A good decision it turned out to be, because not only was there enough to explore a gourmet/health food convenience store with its gluten-free products, protein bars and healthy sweets, there was still time afterward to drop into the brightly-lit Terminal 21 Shopping Mall.
There wasnt much this evening that I wanted to buy, unfortunately, so off we went, making our way along the still very crowded street, and finally back to Citadines where, despite not feeling very hungry, we got comfortable with a meal of beef kebab and lahmahjun, plus a Michelin-starred Pad Thai from Fai Ta Lu, that, even though was our dinner, was late enough to be deemed as supper.
The way they did the Pad Thai reminded me of the way we do our fried hor fun Chinese style.
And it also reminded me to have an open mind, because whilst there're many ways to serve a meat dish- beef, chicken, prawns, whatever- in Pad Thai, Berkshire Pork Loin skilfully sliced and fried, can be served too.
