Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

 

We Tried Burmese Food

...and we won't be going back. 

I'm not saying it wasn't good. It was, probably. There were many locals eating there. The flavours that their cuisine is famous for just aren't for me.

Too much lemongrass and pepper. And the stems of those greens were inedible. We ended up eating the mushrooms and drinking some of the soup but chucked out the veggies. It was listed in the menu as "Hangover soup". 

Tea leaf salad. Fermented gree tea leaves with a bunch of spices and chillies and other condiments, and a ton of assorted nuts.

Deep fried crispy fish with crispy bits... we identified some shallots and garlic, but the rest of it was probably flour. It was pretty good, if a bit dry.

Fried tofu - that wasn't tofu at all. Burmese tofu is apparently made of chickpeas.

And 20 minutes later I had a twisting ache in my stomach. Nope. No more for us. Been there, done that. 

How am I Spam?

 

It has only NOW occurred to me that some of my messages / comments (and yours) have landed in the spam folder. It's really weird that Blogger would flag my own replies as spam. 

If you have commented in the past but it hasn't showed up on my posts, I do apologise.  What a mess. 

Where to Next? And Some Foto Treats from Bangkok

We've just recently come back from a trip to Thailand (Bangkok) where I spent a lot of time walking about the malls. Well, just the couple of malls near the hotel, because all the "traditional" sight-seeing had already been done in my youth when I visited with my family (it's a popular short-holiday destination if you live in Asia).

BIKSS was there for work. And I tagged along. It was more of a quick get-away than an actual vacation, if you know what I mean. 

BUT we're planning next year's holiday and have no idea where to go. Well, I have ONE idea, but am thinking about other possible options. 

At the moment we were thinking we could go to a different part of Tasmania than Hobart, since BIKSS enjoys the slower more laid-back pace in general, but that involves a pretty long flight.

Or we could do Hue in North Central Vietnam cos I want to visit the Basilica of Our Lady of La Vang (which is 90 mins drive from Hue) and some of the churches in Hue itself, the Phu Cam Cathedral being one of them - click the Images tab to see pics.

Hue also feels like the kind of place BIKSS might like. It's got a citadel, fort, moat etc., things that appeal to his love for military history. And it also has a great menu! That's something *I* will enjoy!

We also looked at Delhi. But I'm not sure I'll be able to survive the smell. 

There's the option of Dubai. But all that desert. And heat. 

So I dunno.. if you have any ideas about where we could go in Asia (if there's somewhere you've been that really made an impression on you) do leave a suggestion in the comments!

Since there aren't a lot of touristy pics, I'll leave you with a few choice selections from BKK - 

A fried donut bun with pork curry and cheese filling. It was surprisingly good. 

I'm going to stick cheese on my curry bowls from now on!

The view from or dinner venue the night before our departure.

Bikss got a mani (no polish) while I got a pedi. With their high tech drying system LOL. I mean, that's ONE way to get your customers out of the chair quickly. Time is money after all. And the shop had a steady stream of customers to be sure!

If there's ONE thing BKK has no shortage of, it's sweet treats! 

Here's more - 

(How cute is that hippo!)

(Local brand, based on K-beauty formulation and manufactured in Korea. I didn't get this, but I did pick up some foam cleansers and a bottle of bakuchiol serum.)

Japanese desserts and Korean cosmetics are really big in Thailand evidently.

MORE sweets - 

I had Afternoon Tea for brunch at the Cath Kidston Tea Room. It was probably the best scone I've ever had in my life. Lightly toasted, warm, and just a little hint of crisp on the outside, but fluffy, light and full of buttery flavour on the inside. The cakes were delicious. That there was an option for roobois was simply perfect!

My favourite brand for tinted sunblock. I made BIKSS buy 5 tubes for me the last time he was here without me. I still have some left from then. So I didn't need more this round. I DID pick up a powder compact for about $4 USD. Even tho' I do own and use Western brands like Clinique, Revlon and Physician's Formula, I find that Thai cosmetic brands have a better / wider / more nuanced range when it comes to matching their bases to Asian skin tones.

Spoils from the first day's shopping - 

This lot plus the big box of aromatherapy stuff I ordered to be delivered from Chiang Mai made up the bulk of my loot. I did pick up a few more small items (essential oil rollerballs, lip balms) but nothing I couldn't stuff into my already-gonna-be-too-full luggage. 

And last of all, my favourite thing to eat in Thailand - skewered grilled pork (left) aka Moo Ping. We went to get some the very night I arrived! 

---------------------------

EPILOGUE

This trip has taught me 3 things - 

1) Don't bother bringing a swimsuit cos hotel pools are never really good for laps. And if I'm going to be swimming, it's gonna be for exercise. 

2) From next year onwards I'm not going to bother with souvenirs. It's just too much stress having to think about what to get everyone. 

3) I'm going to have to get a Medium sized suitcase cos my Cabin sized one is way too small for clothes AND shopping. As my girlfriend and I were discussing over the weekend - there is a minimum volume of luggage space that's automatically gonna go to the toiletries bag, the tech bag, the pharmaceuticals bag, and the one extra pair of shoes. Those 4 things are non-negotiable. That's already HALF the cabin bag. 

And with that, I shall leave you. I hope you enjoyed the pics/vids!