Motormouth From Ipoh – Asian Food & Travel Blog

Bangkok Street Food – Don’t limit your imagination to Pad Thai or Tom Yum when in Thailand.  

Coming back refreshed, rejuvenated and recharged, the seven days of summer (yeah yeah .. it’s always summer here in this part of the world) have taught me quite a few of things in life.

That for one, there is still more than meets the eye when it comes to Thailand. On the surface, the country seems to be nothing more than a land of smiles, Tom Yum and shopping. Oh, and not forgetting bad traffic and the punchy red light districts.

But underneath the layers of obvious to the naked eye, therein lies a plethora of interesting elements; from food to culture, temples to arts and the people; the 7 days of summer just blazed through with barely a moment of boredom.

Colourful elements at play – the RED pomegranate juice, the RED bird’s nest drink, the YELLOW pineapple man and the bowl of tummy-warming radish soup for breakfast

We spent a total of 7 days in Thailand, majority of the time in Bangkok, punctuated with 2 days in Pattaya and a half day tour in Ayutthaya. Could not be anymore ambitious this time; only losing out to the 9 days Bangkok-Chiang Mai-Pattaya journey 7 years ago (was it THAT long already?), while definitely more tourist hotspots than last year’s street food hunt.

July seems to be the shopping season fitted for the kings & queens, with every mall outdoing each other with the most ridiculous deals. Seriously.

Pattaya – Second time here, though I highly doubt that I will return one more time.

Now there should not be any excuse as to why you can’t afford the time off to visit Bangkok every once in a while. You don’t need a lot of $$$ (unless you plan to cart home the entire shopping district … don’t laugh, some of us REALLY almost did), the food is delicious and cheap, traveling around is almost effortless (taxis that rarely will rip you off your heads, and go by meter even during the twilight hours, and well-connected network of trains) and weather is always sunny.

Though there were occasional short burst of rain, the plan went smooth without much hiccups.

And everyone went home satisfied. Burping from all the chillies. Or the gas inhaled while bargaining like the Malaysians that we are.

Ayutthaya – A moment of serenity before the shockwave of pulsating Bangkok

Some bits and parts of the itinerary evaporated amidst the onslaught of activities. For at least 16 hours on the road or on the prowl, I felt that my legs have a life of their own.

The food hunt was not the most intensified version like last year’s when we went all over the place for Isaan food, gourmet burger joint and even waking up early to reach Nang Loeng market.

However, there were quite a bit of surprises here and there … and should keep your appetite going in the future posts.

(Man, that last sentence just does not hold much water nowadays, doesn’t it? I lied about the chapters on New Zealand, Saigon, Taiwan,  Sweden …. and now Bangkok)

The Sexy Ladies. Immortalized.

I pledge to dedicate this whole weekend to writing travel stories. And the next. Now if only I can keep the flagging passion up.

Meanwhile, happy midweek dear fellow foodies! I know you have more than a few food picks to share …..

Read more about Bangkok  – 
* Bangkok 2009
** Bangkok 2012