Somboon Seafood Bangkok

Somboon Seafood Restaurant is one of the more popular seafood restaurants in Bangkok. It is especially popular with Japanese tourists. They have a number of branches all over Bangkok but the main branch is located on Suriwongse Road and is normally packed.

The company logo on its menu

The menu is generally what I would term as Thai Chinese food with emphasis on seafood. Thai Chinese food may have dishes of a fusion nature sometimes. The menu is quite extensive and although the place may be packed, food is served quite promptly.

The signature dish here is the fried curry crabs. Many restaurants in Thailand has tried to copy this but they cannot even get close to this dish. Most of my guest and family who come here agrees with me on this.

The famous fried curry crab. A must try.

This trip in December 2012 to this restaurant is with my family and so we did not really indulge in all the rich food. We had kind of a more balanced meal.

Seaweed with tofu soup, a popular dish in Thai Chinese restaurants.

One of my favorites in Thai seafood restaurants is fresh oyster Thai style. In the west, this is normally eaten either with some lemon or tabasco sauce but in Thailand, a host of condiment are added which include fried shallots, 2 types of chilli sauce, a type of "belacan sauce" and a type of vegetable which I can never remember. This vegetable if eaten by itself is bitter but when eaten with the oyster, turns sweet. Very strange but delicious.

Fresh oyster Thai style

One of the popular items here is crab meatballs. This is a popular Thai dish and the ones here are pretty good.

Deep fried crabmeat balls

One of my favorite dish is also fried fish in fish sauce. This is done crunchy on the outside and soft in the inside. When eaten with the sauce, yummy!! This is also a classic dish in Thai restaurants.

Deep fried fish in fish sauce

We ordered this Chinese dish but didn't find it as authentic as in Hong Kong or Malaysia. Normally, we do not order very traditional Chinese dishes because the taste has evolved.

Sea cucumber with mushroom

There are also a number of other interesting dishes which I have not included here and maybe I will post an update later.

One can also order all types of crabs, prawns, shark fins, abalone, squids and all types of meat too. Prices are not cheap by Thai standards.

Large crabs ready for cooking or grilling

Large prawns on the grill

For more information, you can visit their website at www.somboonseafood.com.

Until the next time, cheers.

Assumption Cathedral Bangkok

The Assumption Cathedral in Bangkok is located in the old part of the city, a little off Charoenkrung Road and very nearby to the famous Oriental Hotel. It is also a stone throw away from the Chao Phraya River.

This church has been renovated very beautifully inside in the style of a European style church.

A status of Blesses John Paul II outside the church

The inside of the cathedral

Another view of the inside

Photography was not allowed, so I took just a couple of quick photo. We attended the Saturday sunset mass.

A view of the entrance

The main facade of the cathedral

The contact details of the cathedral are as follows :

ASSUMPTION CATHEDRAL
23 Oriental Avenue, New Road,
Bangkok, Bangkok 10500
Tel: (02)234-8556,
(02)234-4592, (02)233-7120
www.assumption-cathderal.com

The only problem is the website is not in English although there are English sections. You can also get more information of the cathedral from following wikipedia page, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assumption_Cathedral,_Bangkok

You can also have details of mass times for the various churches in Bangkok on this webpage, http://www.stjohn.ac.th/Department/info/ch_schedule.html.

Until the next time, cheers. 

Chiangmai famous night market

After a period of 20 years, I could not wait to visit the Chiangmai night market. One thing for sure, it was not the same as it was years ago.

So much has progressed in the city and the night market itself. The market area is now built in a more comfortable surrounding and has spread to over a number of places.

One is able to find all types of things to purchase (the same as in Bangkok) but there are probably a few items which are more indigenious to the northern area.

There are also some open areas where food and drinks are served. Some fair type of games are also held, though not many.

Traditional dances are also shown for free to the public.

It was the end of November 2012 and I was quite surprised that it was not crowded. Maybe it was a weekday and not yet the peak season. However at the end of the night, the road was still rather busy.

Anyhow, a visit to night market is always fun and no matter how, you will end of buying things and also enjoy the price haggling.

Until the next time, cheers.

Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in Chiang Mai, Thailand

On our recent trip to Chiangmai in early December 2012, we managed to attend mass at the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Chaingmai. The cathedral is located in the city centre and has a nice garden and place to relax while waiting for the mass. The compound is large as it also houses children from the highlands who are in Chiangmai for their studies.

The compound also houses a very nice grotto to our Lady and also statue of the founder of the church.

The interior of the cathedral is airy and cool and decorated in the northern Thailand tribal influences.

Details of the cathedral are as follows :

• Address : 225 Charoenprathet Rd. Tambon Chang Khlan, Amphoe Muang, Chiang Mai 50100
• Tel. no.: 0-5327-1859 Fax. 0-5327-1861
• Website :  http://www.cmdiocese.org/th/en/infor/church/chiangmai/51-51

Mass times :

• Monday - Saturday (Thai) : 07.30 p.m.
• Chapel (Left side of Sacred Heart Cathedral)

• Sunday (Thai) : 06.30 a.m. / 08.30 a.m. / 06.00 p.m.

• Sunday (English) : 11.00 a.m.

Until the next time, cheers.

Chiangmai, Thailand

It has been about 20 years since my last and only visit to Chiangmai. I had wanted to visit many times in the past but somehow kept postponing. This time in early December 2012, we made made a trip by driving from Bangkok to Chiangmai and then on the way back, we went to the ancient city of Sukhothai.

The drive to Chiangmai was pleasant and nice although it was more than 550 miles. We passed lots of greenery and mountains as we approach Chiangmai and the roads were in generally good condition.

Nice roads with flower trees alongside.

Beautiful mountain ranges before approaching Chiangmai.

As I was doing the driving, I did not have much opportunity to take lots of photos but I was very happy to see that a number of old houses have been converted to either restaurants, coffee houses or retail shops.

Very nice old wooden houses.

Another view of old Chiangmai

There was a place (I forgot the name) that was sold and promoted local art, had books to read and a cafe. It was a very nice place to get some quiet and away from the afternoon heat.

I liked the way it was decorated and the coffee and cakes were also very good. They were also reviewed by Tripadvisor judging from the sticker that was on the door.

 

Nice bookself. I took this because I thought of replicating this.

One thing that also got my attention was the sale that was ongoing with optical shops. I really could not understand why the discount was such a fraction. I asked around but no one could give me the answer. This is not just in Chiangmai but in Bangkok as well.

Why this discount rate?

At the start of our trip, my wife was done with some food poisoning (but the rest of the children and me were OK). As we stayed quite far from the city, we were told that the nearest hospital was a Government hospital. As my wife is Thai, we went there as her condition was not too bad. 

On a previous trip to Koh Lanta, we had a good experience with the Govt hospital there, being the only hospital on the whole island. Our daugther who was about 5 years then, had a quite severe allergy outbreak. The young doctor there was very professional and hardworking. Thinking of the same, we did not mind going to this Govt hospital.

However, we were disappointed as the doctor was very slow in their work and did not seem very eager to see patients.. After waiting for more than an hour, the doctor just prescribed medicine without doing any checks. We walked out and bought some OTC medicine.

I was more angry at the doctors for making many other tribal villagers who were in much worse conditions waiting for so long for treatment. it was obvious that they had to travel very far to reach the hospital.

It is always very painful to see the poor and marginalised being penalised die to their situation.

Counters were empty.

A look at the treatment room of the hospital.

Apart from the above experience, our trip was very good and we enjoyed ourselves very much with the sight seeing, nice weather and of course, good food.

Sorry for not being able to provide more photos.

Until the next time, cheers.