For all you veges out there

This sure is one very good reason for you to book a flight to Bangkok right now.

Pack your bag, slip on your flip flops and relocate. May Kaidee's Vegetarian Restaurant is waiting for you.

We've had to eat here quite a lot over the past few days, we simply couldn't go anywhere else. Every dish we've tried has been excellent. So fresh and rich. They also make a mean banana and coconut shake. Trust me, you will find it very difficult to leave. Besides, how could anyone resist May's wee drop dead gorgeous pup? He is far too cute for his own good and gets up to all sorts of mischief racing around chewing on patrons flip flops and sleeping on feet!

This is hands down the best vegetarian restaurant I have ever been to. If you're in Bangkok, you must check it out. They have two restaurant's in Banglumpoo and also a branch in Chang Mai.

For all you veggie's out there, these pics are for you.

A wet stroll through Chinatown

Chinatown is very cool. Buzzing with energy, strange food, and bizarre sights and smells that sometimes overwhelm. I taste tested several different dumplings, each of them delicious in their own right, packed with tasty prawn, pork, and herbs.

We strolled around, absorbing as much as we could, eyes peeled for tasty tidbits. The Chinese seem to be fish crazy (a minefield for Bighead!) and with all the stalls advertising in Chinese, it was difficult to tell exactly what was in the food. Even fish crazy Samesame was a bit too shy to get into the seafood these guys eat. Definitely not for the faint hearted...

And then we saw them.

The satay boys.

I know, I know, who goes to Chinatown and eats satay?!

Bighead and Samesame do! I'd like to add at this point that we have been a little satay deprived here in Thailand.

And look...
These dudes rock out some of the best satay we've tasted.

And then it rained...

Like I've never seen it before!

But wait there's more...

I've since found out that there is also pink shirt Tuesdays (for the King) and blue shirt Fridays (as the Queen was born on a Friday).

I'm not sure which story is correct (if either) but first we were told that the pink shirts came about because the King was in hospital for two months and when he came out (on a Tuesday) he was wearing a pink shirt. So to show how pleased they are that he is well, every Tuesday they wear the pink shirt (identical to the yellow ones, only baby pink). The second idea was similar but something to do with the King wearing a pink shirt during protests earlier in the year. If anyone can add to this feel free.

Here he is again hanging on a cab driver's rear view mirror, cool fish huh?

What's with the yellow shirts?

I spent most of yesterday (Monday) wondering why so many people were wearing yellow t-shirts, most identical in colour and shape with the same symbol on the left. The first person I asked simply said, "it's our Monday", finding it difficult to explain any further in English. After a few more attempts I was told that it's because the King was born on a Monday, so every Monday the Thais celebrate the birth of the King by wearing these shirts.

Needless to say that the King is very popular here, you see it everywhere you go.When you go to the cinema, everyone stands before the movie starts for a video montage of the King, accompanied by what I think is the national anthem. Not too sure, does anyone know?

Street Food Frenzy

Oh deary me, I am soooo in love with Thai food! I may even have to create a new blog to cater for my new love! I don't remember it being this good, although I don't remember the people being so nice either... perhaps we are the ones that have changed?

Bighead and I decided to go for a wander through the market, in search of a bite to eat. Everything looked so exciting, it was really hard to choose. Unfortunately, a lot of the food is portioned out in to small plastic bags (which looks cool but makes it hard to avoid using them). We ended up getting this Thai style salad bag (which you can see at the bottom of the pic above), some honey coated dried beef, and some mini grilled bananas. We headed down to a park next to the Chao Phraya, and went about making up these delightful leaf packages from our salad bag (just as the lovely stall owners had showen us). The bag included: Green leaves (not sure what kind), shredded roast coconut, ginger, red onion, dried shrimp, peanuts, honey and chilli. Devine.
I meant to remove the chilli from my parcel after taking the photo, but I forgot and accidently ate the whole thing. It was hot, but I'm pleased to say, the experience has definately not put me off chilli. In fact, it's probably given me the confidence to be a little more daring!

Such a tasty lunch, so different and fresh and all for just NZ$6.

Something for everyone

I've reached the conclusion that this right here, is our favourite mall. Not too flashy, not too hip, not too ghetto, but just right.
The size is utterly mind boggling. There are another two central spaces just like this and an extra two floors you can't see! We managed to find just about everything we were looking for.

It's called the Pinklao Center, located just across the river from Banglampoo. We found it by accident last time we were in Bangkok and located it again today. It really does have everything you could ever ask for, including some great food stalls. It's popular with the locals too which is great (we only saw two other pinkies while we were there).