Cafe Amazon

The first time I saw a Cafe Amazon was not in Thailand but in the Philippines. There is a Cafe Amazon at the PTT service stop along SCTEX. I didn't know it was a Thai brand though I knew PTT to be Thai. Fast forward to our recent trip to Thailand and the cafe, I found out, was all over the place (that's in a good way, of course). There seems to be one at every corner and at least at every PTT along the expressways.

The shop's menu include various drinks. There's something there for everyone or anyone's fancy.

Coffee, tea or choco to take home, prepare and enjoy. We picked up a few boxes for souvenirs including pasalubong for friends.

My iced chocolate drink for our long road trip to Kanchanaburi

They also have sandwiches, cakes and pastries, juice, water and other stuff to go with your drinks.

We thought that this is a company that's competitive particularly to the likes of Starbucks.

Their coffee and chocolate are good. The banana bread was also okay. We only had some drinks to go when I took these photos as we were on our way to Kanchanaburi from Bangkok. We eventually went back to a Cafe Amazon near our hotel to get our morning drinks there.

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Siam Thai Express - Thai food at UP Diliman

Maybe because of the recent travel to Thailand, I had some cravings for Thai food. Fortunately, there's Siam Thai Express as the Gyud Food Hub at the university so I was able to enjoy Thai food for lunch on workday last week.

Chicken Krapao and Thai Milk Tea

We've been eating a little bit more frequently at the food hub at UP Diliman. It's a good thing that the selection is good though we have our 'go to' or suki there including the chicken inasal and Japanese options for food. For drinks, there's that coconut kiosk, a shake booth and stores selling milk tea.

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Chocolate review: another taste of Valrhona Dulcey

I've said before that I don't usually feature white or milk chocolate here. I regularly make exceptions though and this is another one of those. Dulcey is delightful though on the sweet side as chocolates go.

Dulcey is a white chocolate

Ingredients including information that the chocolate contains a minimum of 35% cocoa butter

Nutrition information

Storage information

This is something new with the Valrhona packaging - information, description of the chocolate. Dulcey is described as "very subtly salty, mellow biscuit flavor"

Would I get this chocolate outside of the pack or box it came with? I think so and probably will but not in the same quantities as the other Valrhona chocolates we prefer like Manjari and Caruibe. Any chocolate lover will definitely like Dulcey and enjoy this chocolate.

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Ramen in Bangkok

Indulging in Thai food for most the time we were in Bangkok, we eventually opted for some more familiar food. There are many Japanese restaurants in Bangkok so it was easy to find one where we can have some good ramen. The food gallery at ICONSIAM had Baikohken Ramen, so we decided to go for it (our daughter's choice actually). The food gallery is actually part of the Takashimaya located at the mall so it's on the high end side of food courts.

Tonkotsu ramen

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Crossing the Chao Phraya

To get to the ICONSIAM from our hotel, we rode on a boat that the hotel committed for its guests for this purpose. There is a regular schedule between the hotel and the mall during the day. The Chao Phraya is a very busy corridor so crossing the river can be tricky with the heavy traffic that includes barges being pulled by mighty tugboats.

Our boat arrived from ICONSIAM ferrying guests from the mall.

The boat is designed as a traditional river ferry with obviously Thai elements on the vessel.

Hotels along the Chao Phraya operate similar boats. The Peninsula, which was across from our hotel, seem to have the most in operation. You can even use the boats for river tours.

A photo of our pilot

Ports along the river - each building has its own port for river ferries or boats

Berth at ICONSIAM

More about the Chao Phraya and river transportation in future posts.

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Mandaue Sunset

I interrupt my posts on our Thailand trip with this sunset taken while we were traveling along the Marcelo Fernan Bridge from our hotel in Mandaue to the 10,000 roses in Cordova.

The light from the sunset turned the surroundings red orange. This is what the first bridge looked like from the Marcelo Fernan Bridge.

I caught the setting sun over the horizon that was Cebu City. The swirling clouds provided a bonus sight to nature's artwork.

I went to Cebu a couple of days after arriving from Bangkok. The trip was for a project we were doing in Mandaue but we had some time for a side trip to Sibonga and a place called Simala. I will also post about that very soon.

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Baan Phad Thai, Bangkok

Our first meal in Bangkok during our recent vacation was dinner at a restaurant that was highly recommended by office mates (mostly Thai) of our friend who is now based in Bangkok. We met up with her as she was free that evening before she headed to Manila for the Holy Week break.

The specialty of this restaurant is obviously Phad Thai

Menu

We were early at the restaurant so it wasn't crowded yet.

Fried spring rolls

Thai milk tea

 

Very attractive presentation of the chicken wings and rice

Their version of chicken wings is crispy and with crisp-fried sprouts and arugula

Chicken satay with peanut sauce

Phad Thai with grilled river prawns

The rice they served was the sticky variety

My favorite mango and sticky rice for dessert. The rice has pandan, an aromatic herb, which explains the green color. That's sweet coconut milk on the side, which you can pour unto the mango and the rice.

Our daughter's ice cream was served on a clay pot and with nuts, rice crispies (pinipig), sticky rice and sweet coconut milk.

 

The great food is no wonder as the restaurant has been recognized for it.

The restaurant is easy to find as it is near Silom and and not far from Shangri-la Hotel.

This was an excellent dinner and did not disappoint though we didn't have expectations to start with. All our food were flavorful and as authentic as it can get. We wanted to eat there again before we went home but there were just so many places to eat in Bangkok so we weren't able to go. It's something to do again when we return to Bangkok in the future.

 

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Mango and sticky rice

On our first meal in Bangkok, I made sure to order my favorite whenever I am in Southeast Asia - mango and sticky rice. While I've enjoyed this combination in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, perhaps my favorite outside of the Philippines would be Thailand's version.

Baan Phad Thais's mango and sticky rice

 

The mangoes in Thailand are a different variety but at the hotel where we stayed, I noticed they had at least two kinds of mango. One is the Thai variety and the other was distinctively a Philippine variety. More about mango and sticky rice in future posts.

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Back in Thailand - a preview

We greet the month of April by previewing a series of posts on our recent trip to Thailand. Here are a few photos that are sort of a sneak peak into what I will be posting this month.

Nice to be walking around Bangkok again. I would say its generally safe and you get to see a lot including the shops and restaurants.

A friend took us to dinner at this restaurant

The restaurant was highly recommended by her colleagues at her office. And no wonder, the restaurant has been recognized by Michelin for many years.

A preview of the Grand Palace as we walked towards the entrance

The structures always impress unless you're really not into history and architecture

Guardians at the gate and the distinctive Thai architectural elements

More photos and stories soon!

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A Blessed Easter 2024!

 Before the day is through, I would just like to greet everyone a Happy Easter!

The main altar of the Assumption Cathedral in Bangkok where we attended Easter Mass

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Back in Bangkok

We’re back in one of our happy places to be in again. Bangkok’s been one of our favorite destinations since the 2000’s. There was a time when we were here twice a year. Those trips were mostly business, actually academic-related as from 2001 to 2008 we had collaborative research network among ASEAN Universities hosted by Chulalongkorn University. I’ve returned several times after but the last time I was in Bangkok was in 2018 for a seminar on road safety. This is the first time we are in Bangkok with our daughter (her second ASEAN country) so we’re only very happy to share with her the experiences in Thailand.

 

Clearing immigration

Where to next and how to get there? Well, its to the hotel, of course, and we booked an airport taxi to simplify things. Taking the train would have been an small adventure but we had some hefty luggage with us so the taxi works right.

Marveling at the spacious terminal of Suvarnabhumi Airport

I will be posting about our travel to Thailand this coming April. I just have to organize the photos for this purpose.

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The International Shrine of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage

I am sharing here photos of the Shrine of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage in Antipolo City, Rizal. The shrine was recently declared as an international shrine by the Vatican but even before this has been an important and very popular pilgrimage site in the country. It is often mentioned alongside Quiapo (Black Nazarene), Baclaran (Our Lady of Perpetual Help) and Cebu City (Sto. Nino) among the most visited churches in the country.

The shrine as seen from the main access road

Another view of the shrine as seen from the main gate of the complex

The main altar of the shrine

Retablo dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe

P. Oliveros Street is the main access road to the shrine and connects to Ortigas Avenue Extension. This will be closed to vehicular or motorized traffic from 6PM (or even earlier) today until 6AM tomorrow for the annual Alay Lakad.

May everyone have a meaningful Holy Week!

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