Nom nom, splish splash.
Last month I revisited Thailand, and got to eat to my heart’s content while experiencing the world’s largest water festival.
We were mall rats during the day considering April is Bangkok’s hottest month. Our hotel was centrally located in downtown and we were able to walk the pedestrian bridges to various malls in Siam Square.
10/10 would do again.
Mall Food
This was our first lunch, and literally a replica of our typical Thai meal for ⅓ of the Bay Area price. Stir-fried morning glory is one of my favorite dishes, and the drink here was the first of my daily Thai teas.
This pad thai was so yummy, the noodles were chewy with the perfect amount of sauce. It was on the basement floor of Terminal 21 at an unassuming food stall. I wish I got the name of them, but apparently they had previously won awards for their dish.
We also dined on level 5 at Pier 21, and ate pork broth noodles and roasted duck + char siu with rice.
JT loves ice cream and this dark chocolate soft serve was all him. Igot a Thai tea with massive chunks of herbal jelly.
We got some pork wontons and noodle dish to snack on, and I was once again reminded to not mess around with Thai chili spices.
Also, peep the world’s tiniest water gun as my primary defense for the water fights.
By our last night, we needed something other than Asian food. Ironically, our burgers were the most expensive meal on the trip. It sure hit the spot though.
Street Eats
We stumbled upon Aree Seafood for our first dinner. The acidity in the fish broth was so good, I was drinking it by the spoonful.
Fresh watermelon smoothie is my go-to whenever it’s hot out, and our bodies definitely needed more time to acclimate to the warm weather and humidity.
It was JT’s first time in Thailand, so we perused Nana Plaza as it was about two blocks away from this restaurant. Out of all the girls there, JT picked me to go home with him! =P
We popped into a McDonald’s just to take a break from the heat. They serve matcha + oreo cookie mcflurries over there. ‘Nuff said.
This Singapore chicken rice from Chinatown was delicious and filling, and it cost less than 3 USD.
Fun fact: The very first time I tried Shanghai pan-fried dumplings was on my first date with JT. I did not enjoy it because I found it too salty, but have found it was just a one-off since we still frequent the same restaurant for date nights.
Price-wise, we paid 6 USD for the six pictured, and it costs $14 for the same quantity in our hometown.
Take me back!
I love dragon fruit, but don’t ever buy it here in the states. Since it’s imported, it’s quite expensive for the quantity you get. You can see me carrying a whole cup of it from a street vendor that cost only 1.50 USD.
To satiate my craving for it otherwise, thank you Starbucks for their mango dragonfruit lemonade (replace lemonade with water—thank me later).
I rarely overindulge, but couldn’t help myself. Eating was our #1 activity in Bangkok. Walking 15,000 steps a day surely helped to stave off unwanted weight gain.
We thought their malls were wildly impressive, and far superior to any American mall we’ve visited.
A street view of the water fights. There were vendors selling water guns that were 20x the size of our puny one. From experience, I got shot at way more during the times without carrying any defense so that thing came in handy!
There were many trucks driving around with a bed full of people and tubs of water to refill their guns. It’s something we’d never witnessed before! Just a fun and harmless way to have a good time.
Bangkok’s vibe reminded me of California, super chill and relaxed.
My first visit was a decade ago in 2016 with my friend Tyna. I felt like a completely different person this time around: more established and confident, emotionally mature, and *gasp* married.
We thoroughly enjoyed this trip, and I hope to take JT back to Thailand again to check out other cities.
P.S. This is the closest I’ll ever get to ROSÉ:
