Bangkok 2015 - Two

Continued.....

I read on Saturday that Patrick Macnee, the British actor of the original Avengers TV series as secret agent John Steed has died. He was 93. It was a clever spy drama which began in 1961 in Britain but debuted in the United States in 1966. It ran for eight seasons but was in syndication for decades. He has an umbrella with gadgets and a beautiful sidekick in Diana Rigg.

(Avengers Theme)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeK3Lkd_XL4

I could easily remember this going back so many years because TV programmes were limited those days and this was the coolest. Also just at the time before screening, the man selling "char siew pau'' and ''siew mai'' would parked his motorbike and and started chanting. The question is do you wish to live to 93? I think if you live to that age and drop dead it is okay but if someone who is bed-ridden then many told me there is no point. 

I have actually postponed writing but as I wrote this, I have also just attended the wake of a family friend whose eldest son has passed on at 20 years of age. Born with a medical condition of the heart, he was not even supposed to have survived for a few days but the parents wanted him anyway and with love, faith and hope he lived for another 20 years despite his condition and went through IB and got to NTU, being an inspiration to others. He fought the good fight. 

Then there was the earthquake in KK that killed innocent people. The senseless massacre in Tunisia, France and Kuwait. For the rest of us, what are we doing with our lives? Adding years to our lives but have we add life to our years? And there were some folks who asked me why God let innocent people die? I shall tell you when I meet you or when I could pen a few chapters some day. I am not in pensive mood just right now but such thoughts are always with us are they not? I have seen death from a young age and up close. Life is just so fragile in case you had forgotten or too busy to remember. We should not be asking why God, we should be asking why are people still so cantankerous and still bickering?

Meanwhile...

No matter how many times I have been to Bangkok, I have been continuously been amazed by the energy. Even street peddlers, taxi or tuk-tuk drivers need to feed their family. They will find ways to do something. Bangkok has the ''ooh la la'' moments or ''Ulala''.

I think many of us should not contemplate retirement. You can ease off into oblivion, ride your horse into the sunset like a good cowboy but never really retire. When you have nothing to do except, eat, shop and do nothing, you get tired not retired. Re-tire should be about putting on new tyres but you choose the new directions.

Well, what did I say about eating? The special roast duck at Four Seasons is good. 

They are as good as most good Chinese Restaurants.

Their concoction of ''tau kwa'' cubes was yummy.

The soya sauce chicken was good as what you will find at Crystal Jade. 

When in Rome, you do what the Romans do but you won't believe that in a well stocked super market, our favourite tom yum noodles were sold out but we got lucky the next day.

And what a lovely way to decorate the eggs with straws inside.

There is nothing like a cold beer in hand with good music.

As the poster said: The Voice of Thailand Season 2: Pla Suchaya:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LG269rw9nFA

When she was singing slow and soft, she reminded me of Hong Kong's once teeny bopper Agnes Chan. At times she sounded melancholic. Equally, she could suddenly bring out her full vocal range. Impressive. We were lucky.

(Pla - Love of My Life):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mrpUB8Z7S4

(Pla - A Thousand Years):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZCKfZpjQhE

Macaroons everywhere. It is over populated with macaroons here. There are everywhere especially at Paragon. Macaroons paradise. It was the first time I had so many of it.

Let me warn you that it is not easy to do nothing but eat and shop. Maybe I may feel different if I were born a woman. From air-conditioned malls to the humidity and heat, my mind keep drifting to a desert like a horse with no name. 

(America - A Horse With No Name):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSAJ0l4OBHM

I looked out the window and knew I could never finish with Bangkok. 

A quick breakfast at the hotel and more action was to follow.

The sign said wonderful things about milk but in this heat, it was easy to hallucinate about beer.

We are on to the last leg - to Mah Boon Krong (MBK).

The pig trotter was no longer as superb as it once were in my book.

But the unique ''kway chap'' especially with the fast-to-cook noodle was really good. They have a lot more types of ingredients than you care to know. Seriously.

And for those with a sweet tooth.

I like this. Is it sinister enough to scare a few people?

When I saw the huge poster across the street, I well, er almost puke - Miss Puke massage and aromatherapy.

Do you miss this? I used to chew on them when playing sports and had dispose of them properly but alas!

In my most recent trips, my favourite purchases were chopsticks and slippers. Chopsticks are interesting and flip-flops? Well, I forgot to bring mine.

Siam Square has always been interesting that is why I like to stay here. This is like our very own local people market. You could see that small boy standing their a long time playing his violin.

We were food hunting again. 

It was fully booked for dinner so we have no choice but to have early walk-in dinner.

Somboon. Been to different Somboon many times.

One of my favourites at Somboon is the crab. They do not call it chilli crab. They call it curry crab. It is very special here because they have this version where they de-shell the crab and leave you with only the crab meat. Solid!

This version has lots of eggs in the gravy. Still goes very well with rice. I found a place in SG where they can also de-shell the crab for you. I'll talk about it another time.

Tom Yum is just too good to give a miss. In fact, I like lemon grass a lot. I'll not only have tom yum but also lemon grass drink, you should even buy the lemon grass oil to use at home.

One of the main reasons we were having early dinner was because someone was missing the giant prawns and have such a strong urge for it but the big prawns that came were er...well, big prawns that looked quite big only in the menu.

Again, another good steamed sea bass.

The Koreans are here too. Was told this Korean dessert is good.

But I picked a Japanese soya with red beans instead.

It was a way of repaying them for their kindness. I was waiting here dying of thirst and the promoter gave me 2 small cups of their special lemon/lime juice. 

We loitered around Siam Square. It was happening yet casual. When I was shown a photo of this dog I did not believe it was real so I went to the shop to check. It was smiling at me.

Bought a watch for the son to prepare for NS. Cheap and rugged.

Then I got one for his old man. G-Shock. The Guru was shock! My Ice watch has goneth but I was conned into buying this by friends who told me in such a way that if I did not buy it I could be a fool because it costs more back home. So a fool and his money was soon parted.

This is multi-level marketing/sales.

I have never once completed walking anywhere. 

Are these being offered for lucky draw?

Look how vibrant their night market is. Compare it with those back home. 

I have yet to try a motorbike taxi.

Well, I got myself  a pair of shoes. The last time I bought a pair of shoes here was in the late 80s or early 90s. A pair of casual nubuck so uniquely designed and I love them much. I am always a lace man when it comes to shoes simply because they are smarter. 

But we get lazy or late some times so better to standby a pair of slip ons. I got them because they are easy to slip into them and they have lace! It was about birds and stone. 1 stone 2 birds.

No matter how much I have walked, I would have eaten too much. I have to be back to some serious work out when I get home. 

Will I come back? Sure but never in June.