There wasn't much- in terms of touristy stuff- that we did today.
Morning there was, of course, a great breakfast at the cafe downstairs, where this morning, for some reason, I didn't eat as much as I did the day before, and so stuck to my favorites of stir-fried flat rice noodles with soy sauce, two fried eggs, one stick of moo ping, and a handful of cherry tomatoes.
I think I really do love cherry tomatoes with cooked food more than I do with salad.
They're sweet, they've got that burst of juice that makes for a refresher on your palate, and they're easy to eat.
We got some work done this morning, then afterwards headed out to the MahBoonKrong Center, or the MBK, a short walk away from where we were.
You know, up till now I had not realized how interconnected this entire area was.
Not in terms of building connectivity, of course, there's the Wat Pathum Wanaram School in between Central World and Siam Paragon, but then there's the Skywalk that brings you to Siam Paragon, Siam Discovery Center, and then, diagonally across, over the road that is Rama I, is MBK Center.
The last time I came to this place was many, many years ago.
It's almost embarrassing to say it, but it must have been just about two decades ago.
(Life caught up, life changed, and at this moment I'm just thankful to be here)
But MBK has been around for a fairly long time, and at once time was synonymous with Bangkok Shopping.
It still is, I reckon, but the shops seem to be slightly different now from what I remember them to be- or at least that's how it seems to me.
MBK lives up to her reputation of being a shopping stop for tourists.
Doesn't matter whether you're looking for souvenirs or if you're not looking for anything at all.
There's something for the average shopper.
You might be looking for knick knack souvenirs like magnets or key chains or pouch bags with elephant motifs printed over it.
You might be looking for lovely shaped bags with elephant motifs on it.
Or the signature elephant pants that have now become a form of soft appeal in Thailand.
We weren't looking for anything in particular this afternoon, so we simply wandered around, but then we came upon a pop up booth by Polo Ralph Lauren, and so got a pair of bermudas pants and a pair of slip-on sandals.
My friend needed a pair of slippers anyway.
Me, I came upon a store whose name I do not know but they had baskets of essential oils, body mists, massage oils, room sprays and the like all put out for display outside the store.
I'd been looking around for fragrances, body mists, and the like, so bought a room spray, a body mist and a massage oil- floral scented, lavender scented- all for about 500B (if I remember correctly).
Then because we weren't looking at knock-off bags and knock-off sports shoes, nor were we looking for graphic Tshirts and singlets or casual linen pants, down we went to the TOPS supermarket instead.
A smaller one this turned out to be, but more than enough for one's interests and souvenirs of snacks and food, so we got a bag of mango gummies (which I really wanted), and a bag of grape gummies (that turned out to be super chewy and lovely sweet).
There weren't many people here at the supermarket this afternoon.
Maybe the locals weren't out from their offices yet and the tourists weren't yet looking at groceries.
But there were a lot of people outside the many cafes and restaurants in MBK.
Amongst the variety, casual Japanese cuisine seemed to be the most popular, with what I think were at least two to three restaurants distributed over three floors.
There was a sort of casual Western restaurant offering steak and poultry and fish.
Then, there were one or two BBQ restaurants as well.
Everything looked so good, and we might have tried, but then we'd munched through a thickly buttered bo luo bao, and a lovely almond croissant whilst making our way here, so didn't feel hungry enough for a full meal.
What's more, we were heading over to Chinese-Teochew restaurant Ping's at Pathumwan Princess for dinner.
Coming to the lobby of this hotel brought back special memories for me.
It has been a long time.
This evening we decided on a meal of fish maw soup, claypot deer meat, and oyster omelet.
One might feel surprised just why we'd come all the way here for these three dishes, and not anything more.
But fish maw soup is, to me, a Thai-Chinese specialty that they do very, very well.
If you're not squeamish about eating a fish's innards (I think it's sturgeon), if you're a fan of collagen and thick, brothy soups that feel almost like a meal in itself, fish maw soup is one that's good for you.
One thing I like about how they do is it just how generous with fish maw pieces they are.
Don't come here expecting to find a few skinny thin slices of maw floating around in your soup.
Nope, not gonna happen.
We got a huge pot of smooth, thick, brown-colored broth that was thick in texture, and which had at least 10 huge chonks of fish maw bobbing about inside.
If the soup left a rounded, rich, comforting taste on our tongues, the claypot deer meat and the oyster omelet played a part in stimulating it.
Some might say that deer meat venison is nothing much to shout about- we can get it at nearly every zichar place on the island- but theirs was super peppery with no sparing of those little black peppercorns, there were so many chunks of red peppers and green peppers inside the dish, and the venison was thick and chewy with a bit of burnt burnt taste somewhere as well.
It might not sit well with those who don't fancy red meat or heavier, gamier types of meat, but it is a good dish to have after a long day, and a dish to have when you want quality and have your stomach filled with the sense of shiokness you might not otherwise get.
Perhaps this be the style of Thai-Chinese cooking.
That every dish they make be fulfilling and satisfying and empowering.
Because that's precisely how I felt even with the (seemingly ordinary) oyster omelet.
It's not a difficult dish to find.
But I like my omelet fluffy.
And I like it filled with oysters juicy and big and fresh and delish.
It was a memorable meal that we had here at Ping's.
Somehow it made us feel comforted- not just in terms of the food- but also in the very fact that we were here, we were having a meal here, we were looking out the restaurant's window to this view, and we were in conversation with each other.
Dinner finished, we decided to walk back to Centara Grand.
It wasn't a long walk back anyway.
But for some reason- maybe it was the walk, maybe it was that we'd had (only) a bun and pastry each for lunch, or that we'd shared just one bowl of rice for dinner- we got a little hungry later in the evening, and since Grab is remarkably efficient here in BKK, we ordered in a supper of pork ball century egg porridge.
Just one bowl.
Which was enough.
Except... I regret to say that I don't have a picture.