Orchids of Thailand

Orchids are everywhere ....i am sure, if my mum visits Thailand, she'll have a great time looking at these orchids ..absolutely beautiful!

I took these pictures in Chatuchak Market ...there were various types and colours ....and (I think) it is cheap as well ...some are only 150 baht (Rm 15) ...if in Sarawak, some orchids, especially the big (grown) and flowering orchids can be sold for more than RM60 (at least!) ...

and these pictures were taken at the Subvarnabhumi Airport ...a huge array of orchids surrounding the statue of Buddha ...

and a close-up shot:

this one is actually purple, but somehow it seems like blue when captured by the camera

and these wonderful orange orchids

and for visitors who want to bring a little bit of thai back home, there were plenty of pre-packed orchids in the booths inside the airport ...

Really colourful and very pleasing to the eyes ....the fresh orchid, I mean ....the one above (in the box) is nothing compared to the one on the lobby of the airports ....

Orchids are also the main features in the lobby of Pullman Hotel ....adding a touch of elegance to the environment!

So, thailand is not only great in terms of food and bargains ...the orchids are great too!

Last Dinner in Bangkok

Since we ran out of money after visiting Chatuchak Market, we did not plan for any more shopping spree ....instead, we had a leisurely evening on our last night in Bangkok ....before dinner, we spent the afternoon sitting in Glen Lounge having our free high tea ...and at 7.30 we went out for our last outing ...the destination is about 5 mins away on foot (we took the free tuk tuk shuttle hehehehe) ...at Victory Monument area ...

That night we went for steamboat ...a vegetarian steamboat at MK Restaurant

Elena & out hot and steaming steamboat ...

and another shot ....it was nice!

and the condiments ...and sauces for the steamboat ...

I also order the jade noodles that night ...different from what I am used to ...just because it is green!

It was a nice, hot meal ...a pleasant meal to end our trip ...and thanks Moi for the meal :-)

After the meal, we strolled around the mall ...and ended with with lots of DVDs (they are cheap and original!), more clothes and accessories ...

High Tea @ Pullman King Power, Bangkok

he last day we were there, Elena and I went for a high tea ...it was free as we got some 1000baht  cash back from the hotel ...but that can only be used in the hotel ..so, we though we better use some of the money ...

The high tea was served at Glen Bar ...when we were there, not many people were around ..so, lots of photo opportunities!

Note: photo deleted as requested by Moi :-)

the waiter is preparing our food tray at the bar

and our tea are served! Not really calling out to be eaten ...portions are smalls ...but, it is free - so what the heck :-)

the environment was cozy ... a nice place to relax ...too bad we had to rush as we were going out again after the tea ....

street vendors of Bangkok

I am amazed to see there were vendors every where in Bangkok ....the aromas of tasty foods can be smelt almost everywhere ....some may thing the smell is a bit pungents - as most dishes use fish sauce - but to the other, like myself - i find it absolutely mouthwatering!

here are just some of what Bangkok has to offer - food wise:

 I don't know what this is  though ....

and fried quail eggs

hot taro balls - coated in sugar

fried squids and eggs - i tasted it and i don't like it :-(

and lots of seafood - either they fried it, grilled it or put it in with other dishes (e.g. papaya salad with crab meat)

prawns - still alive and kicking before being thrown onto a hot grill ...and the smell was just awesome!

another type of prawn ...

the red-coloured crab

Seriously - the food on offer were plenty ...lots of choices, cheap and easily available ....a real food heaven!

Som Tam - Thai Papaya Salad

I have heard of this dish for a long time ...saw it numerous time while watching Channel 703 at Astro ...and saw it in my Thai cookbook ...but never tasted it myself ...until last Sunday!

it was marvelous - a hint of hot and spicy, a bit sourish ...and some crunchy papaya, tomatoes and peanuts ...and it is supposed to be eaten with raw cabbage, and raw long beans ...and with a choice of plain bee hoon or sticky rice ...i chose the former ...

very plain ....but when you combined it with som tum, it becames really flavourful ....loves it!!!!

I ended up having som tum again the night before we left Bangkok ...this time I bought it from a street vendor in from of the Victory Monument Station ...about 5 minutes walk from our hotel ...it was, again, really tasty!

this is where i bought it ...only 25 baht ...that is a really huge mortar ...where they pounded the papaya and all the ingredients all at once without spilling anything out in a messy manner ...perhaps I should get this type of mortar and pestle in order to make great papaya salad ...emmm???

birthday cakes

like i said before Al had three birthday cakes ...the cupcakes for the 2nd July - his actual birthday ...and a big tortise cake for the party and a smaller pandan cake for supper with families....

the tortise cake ...this is a one and half kilo vanilla chiffon cake with fresh cream, very tasty! I like the chiffon cake - what we did was getting rid of the icing and just had the freshcream vanilla chiffon ...

and after the guests from the party had left, Al had another cake cutting ceremony...

He was in his element ...he loves having all the attention and having another cake coz he loves singing Happy Birthday and blowing the candles....i think we had to sing 5 times before he cut the cake!

what a lucky boy! Now I am looking forward to September for adik's birthday! hehehe i am also in my element as a party planner :-)

Cupcakes for birthday

Al had 3 different cakes for his birthday ....since his birthday fell on a Friday, we had a very simple, family celebration ...i bought these really cute cupcakes for the occasion ...

Al had been practicing his "Happy Birthday oooo uuuuu" song for the last 2 weeks ...so, it was a really happy occasion for him when he saw a cupcake with a candle on it! He immediately started to sing :-) while adik, as usual is busy doing his own thing!

Al - singing happy birthday song to himself!

Adik - daydreaming and just wanted to be left alone :-)

The cupcake was tasty!

Moments with Colleagues

I have been busy recently ...i had lots of photos but no time to do my posting ...so, this blog has been neglected ....so, decided to do a photo entry today ... all the photos are taken during freshies' week ....

as usual, we had our orientation week ...and meeting with new students, mentor-mantee session and so on ...

taken during the coffee break ...with Faezah and Elena ...the three of us were trying every cakes that was on the table ...hehehheeh

Elena's trying to be fierce ...

going to the Mentor-Mantee session ....the students were not there yet as we arrived early ....

Outside our main Hall - after the speeches and cofee break ....these are my colleagues whose offices are in the same block as me ...

 my non-academic colleagues ...Amy, Ros and Siti ....

We had more or less similar function everytime we had this session with the new students ...the students are getting younger and younger each time ****sigh*

silence is over

helloooooooooooooooo

I am back....have been down with asthma attack when I got back from Sibu - and all my really energy-draining tasks finally did it - they made me suffered from asthma attack - the worst one for me ...was bed-bound for 3 days ...went to clinic for nebuliser, had tonnes of medication ...and was ordered by the doctor to have a complete bed-rest ...was coughing like mad as well ...so, irritating ....

i tried my best to abide by the order - but i cannot sit still - as I have a birthday party to organised - will do a posting on that later ...

as for now - am going to bed - but i promise that more updates are coming soon :-)