Morning today was occupied in the room getting some work done.
I don't know what we had for breakfast; I can't recall whether we had it at the cafe downstairs, or whether we brought something in. Chances are that we ate at the cafe downstairs, and whilst it might not be as plentiful as other places might have been, there were eggs, there was toast, there was coffee and I'm pretty sure I had a scrambled egg or two.
Lunch today was boat noodles and basil beef rice at Na Ploenchit Boat Noodles in Ploenchit.
This non-descript bowl of boat noodles has set the gold standard of boat noodles for me.
So much so that I refuse to try any other places when I'm in the city, and I won't go back to my usual favorite place on the island for this dish as well.
It isn't that they don't do it well here on the island- TTC is pretty authentic after all- but this bowl here at Na Ploenchit has set the bar so high in terms of thickness, broth, and taste, that anywhere else with a milder, clearer broth no longer appeals to me.
I'm not sure if it is the pork fat, or the lard that makes the difference.
But I love the fact that I can choose the nice beef slices here.
i love the fact that I can choose my flat rice noodles here.
And mind, they're not the skinny width kind like kuay teow, but more like large strips of hor fun prepared in such a way that the width of each noodle is wide and the thickness of each strip made thin.
The broth might look dark of a very dark brown, but it's got one of the most rounded tastes I've ever had and although I don't know what it is they put inside, very likely it be the herbs (and something else) that make this soup so good.
Beef slices here too are remarkably big and tender and I have a most lovely time chewing through it all.
Of course, the crunchy pork lard does make a tremendous difference too.
After lunch we headed down to Ekkamai where my friend had an appointment.
But today instead of waiting around in Major Cineplex like I always do, i went around exploring the area instead, beginning with a walk back down the skywalk down to Ekkamai BTS station. Along the way I passed by a gym in the other wing of the Cineplex building, then out it was onto the skywalk.
My original intention was to explore the shopping mall opposite the road, but then I switched plans and decided to visit the Bangkok Bus Terminal (Eastern) instead.
I'm not sure precisely where the buses at this terminal go to, but from the looks of it, they run daily trips towards the eastern provinces of the country, including Chanthaburi, Chonburi, Trat, Rayong and Pattaya.
Some of the more popular bus routes include those going down to Trat, Koh Chang, and Pattaya, and this afternoon I caught sight of several travelers buying tickets down to Pattaya.
Perhaps soon I might be able to do the same too.
Otherwise I might consider going down to Trat.
I've heard it to be quietly interesting.
Here at the Bus Terminal there're a couple of minimarts and snack shops that offer drinks, sweets, chocolates, snacks, and little bites to last the bus journey all the way down.
There's also a waiting area, which is un-airconditioned, but is open, well-ventilated, and extra airy with fans to help keep travelers cool.
I didn't manage to go around as much as I wished to, however- it looked like it was going to rain- so back to Major Cineplex I went to wait.
After my friend arrived, we had to decide whether we wanted dinner in the area, or if we ought to return to the Chidlom Siam Square area.
We decided to head back.
Someone thought a hotpot dinner would be good, so after some googling, we went to this casual buffet style hotpot restaurant in Central World.
I wish I knew what the name was, but it's been a while and I'm afraid I don't remember.
Perhaps it might have been Shabu Shi, or it might have been You&I Premium Suki Buffet, either one.
Chances are it's probably the latter, because I remember that it had a rather unique name, and for our dinner this evening, what my friend wanted was meat- lots of meat.
Don't ask me how many trays there were.
No surprise if there were at least eight or ten trays by the time we finished.
Much of it, if I'm not wrong, was beef in various cuts and various forms.
One thing about them that I particularly liked was that they were all served chilled fresh and cold- I don't like it when buffet places bring out meat that's been unceremoniously dumped into the tray as if it were a rushed thing- yet at the same time it didn't take too long for the meat to thaw out for us to cook in the pot.
I know, because we were kept rather busy eating throughout the entire time, alternating between cooking and eating and cooking and eating.
There were two soups this evening.
I chose the pork bone broth.
My friend chose what I think was the herbal broth.
But it wasn't just the freshness of the unmarinated meat that I liked.
Neither was it just the cuts of the meat.
No, there was more.
There was the buffet near the entrance where you could help yourself to a variety of vegetables, including carrots, radishes, tomatoes, onions, corn, lettuce and even tofu.
Carbs came in the form of rice and noodles, and you could have as much as you liked.
There was, I think, a little bit of seafood- but I had been too busy looking at the vegetables and so am not really sure.
And then there were a variety of fried bites, plus drinks and dessert at the corner.
They didn't scrimp on the dessert.
Besides the fruit- which I helped myself to a couple slices of watermelon- there was also a waffle machine where you could make your own waffles and add your own toppings, and ice cream.
I took some ice cream.
But I hadn't wanted to miss out on their small bites, so there was also a plate of deep fried morning glory leaves fried tempura style that I had long wanted to try, along with a fritter or two that I think has to be either sweet potato, or corn.
