Breakfast this morning consisted of organic eggs and pumpkin toast that we had bought the day before.
I added a couple of frozen strawberries for sweetness and color.
There's nothing more pleasant than having a flask of hot coffee on the table together with a plate of beautifully fried eggs and perfectly fried thin toast that you break apart and dip into EVOO that you've specially brought over from home.
Let's just say the strawberries really did add a light, fresh, sweet to the savory.
We did some work in the room during the morning.
In the afternoon we headed out to a new place for lunch.
Located on 231 Soi Charoen Rat 4 in Khlong San, Original Pad Kra Pao 1993 is known for their varieties of basil-based dishes.
Pad Kra Pao is, literally, stir-fried meat with holy basil. There're spicy and non-spicy versions, and this diner here close to the Wong Wian Yai BTS station is famous for her authenticity.
I can't remember just what their entire menu entails, but there's Pad Kra Pao with Ground Beef, Trip Beef, Crispy Pork, Trip Pork, Chicken, Seafood, Squid and Shrimp.
Then there's Minced Beef omelet, Minced Shrimp omelet, Minced Pork omelet, then Tom Yum Kung and Pork Sukiyaki.
There were so much to choose from we didn't quite know what to take, so we chose a plate of Holy Basil rice with Beef, and for me, a plate of Mama Basil Beef.
We also got a bowl of Tom Yum Soup, the clear version.
When lunch finished, we took a Grab to Platinum Mall.
I needed a wardrobe update, and I wanted to see if there were styles in this fashion megamall that met both the criteria of carpeted meeting room, and stifling tropical heat.
Not easy to find, gotta admit, but thankfully, from a shop right at the back of the mall somewhere amidst the maze, I found some.
It wasn't that there weren't any single-color, or single-style outfits- no, there were, quite plentiful, even- but it were either the fabric or the color or the style that didn't suit, and although there might come a day where we can dress in comfortable pajamas-like outfits for the meeting room, that day is still far, and right now I'm glad for what I managed to find.
Linen is probably one of the best fabrics for our type of weather.
Better yet if there're colors to choose from, and this afternoon I bought myself one of latte brown, one of dove blue.
It wasn't just me who managed to find what I needed.
In the midst of all the 100-150B elephant pants, my friend managed to find some of linen.
And he bought three.
Armed with our shopping, we headed for a foot massage at The Forest Massage.
I often refer to this place as being near the iconic Baiyoke Sky Hotel (it is literally just behind) but the actual address is in fact 181 Soi Ratchaprarop 3, Thanon Phaya Thai, Ratchathewi.
It's not difficult to miss, however, a full wall of (decorative) green leaves decorate the building, and all you need to do is to head towards the correct Soi- maybe you'll need to turn left turn right a little- look for the unit with this whole wall of green and the big "THE FOREST" sign, and you're there.
It's a soothing place- one which we like- and, yes, amidst the lovely spa music playing overhead, I fell right asleep.
For dinner this evening my friend wanted to try a new place, so down Soi Ratchaprarop 3 we walked, made a left, walked down under and past the Ratchaprarop Airport Rail Link above our heads, and down towards Rang Nam Alley, also in the area of Thanon Phaya Thai, in Ratchathewi.
Kuang Seafood is an unassuming restaurant right at the mouth of this alley.
It's not difficult to find- just walk down the road until you find a row of tanks outside a restaurant- and there you are.
Perhaps it might have been lovelier weather in December (there's sometimes more wind) but not this evening that was a little bright, and a little humid, but no matter, the place was welcoming, somewhat familiar, and service was prompt and good.
Entering the restaurant of Kuang Seafood I wondered whether I the non-Thai speaker might speak either Mandarin or English.
The staff looked like they were fluent in Mandarin, but they spoke fluent English, so, yep, I decided not to try.
There're plenty of dinner options on the menu.
I can't remember what all their options are- there's definitely seafood of all kinds, fish of all kinds, squid, vegetables, even a bit of poultry- but their popular dishes range from the Crab with Rice Vermicelli, Stir-fried Prawns with Broccoli, Smoked Duck and their variety of soups.
One of their most recommended dishes are the crabs, so this evening we decided to go for a Crab Yellow Curry, a Steamed Snapper Fish with Soy Sauce, and, because I was thirsty, a fresh coconut.
The Crab Yellow Curry was so good that even though it's been a few months since I had it, I still can remember the taste, and yes, right now at 1150pm on a weekday night in June, I'm missing it already.
Perhaps it were the element of surprise that I remember, because, see, at first I had thought it was going to be (just) a (typical) bowl of yellow curry with a few pieces of crab parts thrown inside.
But (embarrassingly) I underestimate the Thais.
And (embarrassingly) I underestimate the Thai-Chinese.
Because right now I can say this with absolute conviction.
I don't know how Singapore's chili crab is, I don't know how Thailand's chili crab is, but this- this mountain in a dish here- this Crab Yellow Curry at Kuang Seafood was one of the best I have ever had.
If this was meant to be a curry, I don't think I have ever, ever, ever had a gravy of curry this thick, this creamy and this smooth.
Now that I think about it, the texture felt a little like that of sharks' fin, which, although I haven't eaten it for years, I'd had it oft enough during birthday dinners at Chinese restaurants to remember the texture and taste.
What really surprised me, however, was the egg.
And the abundance of it.
So good did it make the gravy that I didn't want to leave it behind long after the sweet, bouncy, tender flesh of the full sized crab had been finished.
And even though I ladled myself an extra two bowls of the gravy to eat just on its own, there was still plenty left behind.
Pity I wasn't able to bring it back.
Would've gone so well with instant noodles otherwise.
It wasn't just the Crab Yellow Curry that I liked.
The Steamed Snapper was just as amazing too.
First off, the fish wasn't charged by weight.
It wasn't one of those things where such and such a weight was charged such and such a price.
But that also didn't mean that the fish was small.
No way.
It filled the whole plate.
What I particularly liked about this fish was that it had been deboned.
i didn't have to worry about finding tiny bones in the fish as I ate my way through it, trying it first with the sauce it had come in, then dunking it in the curry gravy afterwards.
It went pretty well with the latter.
There'll be more dishes that I want to try the next time I come.
Like this Crab Tang Hoon dish that had in fact caught my eye, and which, having had it once at a crab restaurant in MacPherson back on the island, I wanted this time, being in BKK, to try.
We took a Grab back to Urbana Langsuan afterwards.
I had been anticipating a nice, quiet evening with my laptop and my music and my phone.
Instead, to my great disappointment and distress, I found myself having problems with Cloudtalk.
Not with the app- that was working fine- but with the remaining credit that showed I only had $1.50 (in the demo) even though I had applied for the Starter package and thought it already activated.
What made it even more confusing was that I couldn't top up the amount.
Apparently it couldn't deduct from the GXS card.
I panicked.
My friend got irritated and pissed.
And back we were, reminiscent of the first night when we arrived, struggling to find alternative options that, whilst available, were sadly unsuitable for both the narrow timing and the need.