Friday, 23 May 2008
Sunday, 11 May 2008
Halal Food in Pattaya
9th May 2008-Friday
5.45pm: Received a call from Keiron giving me two choices to where we would be spending our weekend, either to go to Pattaya or Hua Hin. I told him to come home first and decide later.
6.00pm: He reached home and both of us packed our stuffs and headed for the car. Our friendly neighbours asked, 'Pai nai?' (Where are you going?) and I said 'Mai Ru' ( Dont know), to illustrate that we're not sure of our destination at that moment. They looked puzzled. How could these people dont know where they are going? must have been in their thoughts. We got into our car and drove off leaving Tharvin House, Khlongluang 40 without any decisicions yet. On the way we stopped by at Din Daeng Mosque to perform our Maghrib and Isya' prayers and resumed our journey. By then we had decided to head for Pattaya. On the way we stopped by at a Muslim Restaurant at Assumption Road, Si Racha Town. We had a bowl of delicious kueyteow Radna for only THB35. Si Racha is about 15km from Pattaya. We continued our journey and decided to put up a nite at The Family Holiday Mansion on Soi 13, Pattaya 3rd Road. A room with a double bed costs THB600. It's a three star hotel with a clean and comfortable room and has a swimming pool. It also has a safe car park with 24hrs security. After checking in, we went out looking for DVDs (this is one of the things we do over here). While roaming around, we saw this nice looking place called Keerati Home Stay and decided to check it out. One of the many things that I like in Thailand is that you can view the room without any obligations. We went up to the first floor...and...ohhhh I really like the paintings on the wall. They are painting of various flowers on old wood. The decor made us feel as though we were in a traditional house in Malacca....the floor tiles used, the wooden windows and doors....a four-poster wooden bed and the bathroom was really comfy.We fell in love with the place instantly and were informed that it cost THB900 per nite. Without any serious thoughts, Keiron just blurted out THB800 and the guy who entertained us agreed, told us that we can check in as early as 8 on the next morning. Besides that we could use the facilities ( swimming pool, gym, sauna etc) at the Metropole hotel which is just next door.....and the best part was free wi-fi. We agreed and paid the deposit and left.
Keerati Home Stay
33/40, Moo 10, Soi L.K. Metro Pattaya City, Banglamung, Chonburi 20150.
Tel: +66 3841 6234 email: keerati_home@hotmail.com
10th May 2008
11.00am: Checked in at Keerati and went to have brakfast cum lunch at a Muslim eatery opposite a mosque on Sukhumvit Road, after the junction to Pattaya North Road (Pattaya Nua) if you are from Pattaya town going towards Bangkok. We had Rotii(roti canai) with Kaeng Neua (beef curry) and Kaeng Kai (chicken curry). 2 pieces of rotii cost THB60 and the two bowls of curry cost THB60, too. After lunch we went back to Keerati to lepak and watch the DVDs we bought on the day before. In the evening, Keiron went out to get some thulian(durian) and mangkut(mangosteen), and chocolates, too. We spent the whole evening surfing the net and watching DVDs at our own time as both of us have a notebook each.
11th May 2008
11.30pm: Checked out from Keerati and went to a Muslim restaurant situated at Pattaya Klang (Central Pattaya) Road. Coming from Sukhumvit Road, you'll pass Carrefour on your right. The restaurant is on the left not far from the traffic lights of the junction to Pattaya 3rd road. This place serves typical Thai dishes from kueyteow(noodles in soup) to ala carte rice and other Thai dishes. Price starts from THB40. We had the noodles and they are tasty.
After having the noodles, we decided to have croissant and french bread at a French bakery called La Boulange Pattaya at 245/166 Moo 9, Pattaya 3rd Road; tel. +663 8414914 or visit www.la-boulange.com
After having bread and a cup of cappucino we headed for Toatilla Mosque at Pattaya Tai (South) Road for solat. Then, we decided to have seafood at Bang Saen beach which is about 30 km north of Pattaya, on the way back to Bangkok. There are many Muslim food stalls at the beach road. This is a local beach as most of the visitors are local Thais. This place is equivalent to Port Dickson in Malaysia. Though this beach is popular among the locals, the food is no doubt pricy. We had 6 poo yang (grilled crab)-THB400 and a bowl of tom yum goong (fresh water prawn tom yum)-THB180.
5.45pm: Received a call from Keiron giving me two choices to where we would be spending our weekend, either to go to Pattaya or Hua Hin. I told him to come home first and decide later.
6.00pm: He reached home and both of us packed our stuffs and headed for the car. Our friendly neighbours asked, 'Pai nai?' (Where are you going?) and I said 'Mai Ru' ( Dont know), to illustrate that we're not sure of our destination at that moment. They looked puzzled. How could these people dont know where they are going? must have been in their thoughts. We got into our car and drove off leaving Tharvin House, Khlongluang 40 without any decisicions yet. On the way we stopped by at Din Daeng Mosque to perform our Maghrib and Isya' prayers and resumed our journey. By then we had decided to head for Pattaya. On the way we stopped by at a Muslim Restaurant at Assumption Road, Si Racha Town. We had a bowl of delicious kueyteow Radna for only THB35. Si Racha is about 15km from Pattaya. We continued our journey and decided to put up a nite at The Family Holiday Mansion on Soi 13, Pattaya 3rd Road. A room with a double bed costs THB600. It's a three star hotel with a clean and comfortable room and has a swimming pool. It also has a safe car park with 24hrs security. After checking in, we went out looking for DVDs (this is one of the things we do over here). While roaming around, we saw this nice looking place called Keerati Home Stay and decided to check it out. One of the many things that I like in Thailand is that you can view the room without any obligations. We went up to the first floor...and...ohhhh I really like the paintings on the wall. They are painting of various flowers on old wood. The decor made us feel as though we were in a traditional house in Malacca....the floor tiles used, the wooden windows and doors....a four-poster wooden bed and the bathroom was really comfy.We fell in love with the place instantly and were informed that it cost THB900 per nite. Without any serious thoughts, Keiron just blurted out THB800 and the guy who entertained us agreed, told us that we can check in as early as 8 on the next morning. Besides that we could use the facilities ( swimming pool, gym, sauna etc) at the Metropole hotel which is just next door.....and the best part was free wi-fi. We agreed and paid the deposit and left.
Keerati Home Stay
33/40, Moo 10, Soi L.K. Metro Pattaya City, Banglamung, Chonburi 20150.
Tel: +66 3841 6234 email: keerati_home@hotmail.com
10th May 2008
11.00am: Checked in at Keerati and went to have brakfast cum lunch at a Muslim eatery opposite a mosque on Sukhumvit Road, after the junction to Pattaya North Road (Pattaya Nua) if you are from Pattaya town going towards Bangkok. We had Rotii(roti canai) with Kaeng Neua (beef curry) and Kaeng Kai (chicken curry). 2 pieces of rotii cost THB60 and the two bowls of curry cost THB60, too. After lunch we went back to Keerati to lepak and watch the DVDs we bought on the day before. In the evening, Keiron went out to get some thulian(durian) and mangkut(mangosteen), and chocolates, too. We spent the whole evening surfing the net and watching DVDs at our own time as both of us have a notebook each.
11th May 2008
11.30pm: Checked out from Keerati and went to a Muslim restaurant situated at Pattaya Klang (Central Pattaya) Road. Coming from Sukhumvit Road, you'll pass Carrefour on your right. The restaurant is on the left not far from the traffic lights of the junction to Pattaya 3rd road. This place serves typical Thai dishes from kueyteow(noodles in soup) to ala carte rice and other Thai dishes. Price starts from THB40. We had the noodles and they are tasty.
After having the noodles, we decided to have croissant and french bread at a French bakery called La Boulange Pattaya at 245/166 Moo 9, Pattaya 3rd Road; tel. +663 8414914 or visit www.la-boulange.com
After having bread and a cup of cappucino we headed for Toatilla Mosque at Pattaya Tai (South) Road for solat. Then, we decided to have seafood at Bang Saen beach which is about 30 km north of Pattaya, on the way back to Bangkok. There are many Muslim food stalls at the beach road. This is a local beach as most of the visitors are local Thais. This place is equivalent to Port Dickson in Malaysia. Though this beach is popular among the locals, the food is no doubt pricy. We had 6 poo yang (grilled crab)-THB400 and a bowl of tom yum goong (fresh water prawn tom yum)-THB180.
Thursday, 8 May 2008
It's Fruit Season in Thailand!
If you love to eat local Thai fruit, April and May are the best months to visit Bangkok as it's the fruit season. They are really cheap and you can get them at almost everywhere in Bangkok. Never buy them at Siam Paragon as they are over priced there. This morning I bought 3 kilos of mangosteen(mangkut) which cost me only THB50(about RM5). Durians(thulian)-be it monthong, channi or kadum- are being sold at as low as THB25 per kilo. Besides these two, there are also mango (ma'muang), lychee (linchee), papaya (malakow) etc. what I love most being in Bangkok is the food served. I lurvvvve food and because of that I realised that I've gained some kilos since I first got here in January 2008. Muslim halal food is not difficult to find as there are many of such restaurants over here. From time to time I shall introduce these eating places in this blog. I've finished reading 'Tears of the Moon' by Nora Roberts, 'West End Girls' by Jenny Colgan and 'The Spellman Files' by Lisa Lutz. Currently I'm reading 'Biografi Muhammad bin Abdullah' by Zulkifli Mohd. Yusoff and Nor Naemah Abd Rahman.
Monday, 5 May 2008
Today is Sunday. We are at Siam Paragon again. Looks like this is where we like to hang out when we dont know where else to go. Keiron is at Kinokuniya, enjoying his free reading session. Yesterday we had lunch at Bang Pa in, not far from Keiron's office. We had tom yam kung-Prawn tom yam(my favourite) and Phad Kaprow nuea(stir fried beef with sweet basil leaves), which is Keiron's favourite. Then we went to check the status of our new place at Prachachuen Residence. We may be moving there next month or July depending on the status of the repair done on the cracked walls.Oh..I have beed called for a job interview scheduled on 13th May. at 10.00am. Actually, if I do get the job only will we shift to this new place, a brand new studio apartment.Last nite we had a marvellous dinner with Din and his family at Aladin Japanese Restaurant at Soi Suan mani, off Pracha Uthit Road, Hwai Kuang. It's a Muslim Japanese Restaurant.Meal for five of us cost Baht1500. Kind of costly but the food served is really good...worth the money spent. After dinner we adjourned to have coffee at Esplanade which is on Rachadapisek Road not far from the Cultural Centre MRT station.We finally got home at midnite. Today, we started at 12pm and headed straight for Keiron's fav Indian Muslim restaurant, Tamil Nadu located at Soi 11, Silom Road.I had tosey massala while Keiron had Briyani rice with fried mutton.Keiron plans to see Iron Man but I'm not really into it.Guess we'll be spending our evening here again.I've just finished reading 'My Sister's Keeper' by Jodi Picoult and am now reading 'Tears of the Moon' by Nora Roberts.Jodi has a marvellous way of describing events, objects, people etc. I may want to read her other works soon.Thanks for the lovely book, Kak Zai.
Thursday, 1 May 2008
It's been a while since I created this blog but never really had the chance to post anything. Today, I decided that I have to start posting on it. Today is 1st of May and it's a holiday for the private sector but not the government sector in Thailand. Keiron and I are at Siam Paragon. We've been here since 3pm. We got stuck at Kinokuniya for 4 hours. After browsing and free reading, I finally bought these books: 1. Webster's New Essential Writing Handbook 2. Most Common Mistakes in English 3. Taking Minutes of Meeting 4. Copyeditor's Handbook 5.Little Mac Book 6. Indesign CS3 7.Baeb Feuk Had Kad Thai (Learning to write Thai Letters for Children) and 8.Rian Roo Pa Sa Thai (Learning Thai Language). The last two books are actually for children but I'm using them for myself. Keiron got only one book: Leadership for Dummies. We spent Baht 4400 on books today. I should have applied for the membership card which entitles the holder a 10%discount on purchases of books. I'm now at the Cafe Inn Plus, Siam Paragon. Surfing the net costs Bht40 per hour. It's now 8.24pm and both of us are hungry like wolves. We can spend the whole day here as there is a prayer room for the Muslims. Take the South lift and go down to the basement. It's situated opposite of the men's toilet.