The 22,000km Trip (11) Bangkok: Cats of Bangkok

As you know by now, I'm a fervent cat lover and where ever I am in the world I always have a keen eye to spot cats. Bangkok is no exception and I found them everywhere and of course, I had to point my camera at them!

Lazy bums :)

Temple cat

Staring contest

Once in a decade...

I voted! Scary to think that the last time I actually voted at a polling station was over 10 years ago.......!

バンコク食通 あれこれ

旅先でお勧めのレストランを時々聞かれるのですが・・・バンコクにいる時は友達と会う時以外はほとんどレストランでは食べません。屋台、コンビニ、食堂が主かな？　一日中歩き回って疲れているので手っ取り早く食べれるのが一番！タイのＢ級グルメもおいしすぎなのであまりレストランに行く必要がないのも事実。しかも最近は日本の食品メーカーもタイに多く進出しているので全体的にタイの食品もランクアップしてきたように思えます☆　なので今回の滞在でスーパーや屋台で気に入ったものを独断の偏見に基づいて幾つか紹介します　＊＾＾＊。次回のタイの旅の参考になってくれれば・・♪


毎日のように飲んでいたのがこの豆乳。このブランドのものは湯葉入りでほんとにおいしかった。甘さも控えめだし、大豆の味もちゃんとしてる。日本でもこういう豆乳あればヒットしそう。

タイアイスティーでこれの右手に出るものはない☆　よくデパートとかで紅茶の缶が売ってるけど電車のキオスクでも100円ぐらいで売ってます。かなり甘いけど暑い所ってやっぱり糖分が欲しくなるんだよね。

もともとあまりシュウマイは好きではないのだけど・・・タイのはなぜか大好き。熱々のシュウマイを棒で突き刺して、甘酢っぱ辛いソースに漬けて食べるとおいしい。おつまみにも最適

ビールといえば・・・タイのビール！値段は150円ぐらいなのでまあまあなのだけど、カンボジアの一缶50円に比べるとちょっと高いなと個人的に思うのですが・・・　；＾＾　まあそれはさておき、いろいろと飲み比べてみたけど、やはりあたしはＳｉｎｇｈａ派

夕飯はよくＲと一緒にフードコートで食べることが多いのだけどその後も小腹が空いたので宿泊先の向かい側の屋台で焼き鳥ならぬ焼きポーク（？）を買い足してました。一本30円で柔らかジューシーなお肉でビールと合う合う。ソーセージは香草やタイのハーブが入っていてピリ辛なのですがこれがまたビールとも合う～

ドリアンは苦手な方も多いようだけどあたしは好き（意外と高価なので自分からは買えないけど　汗）。でも苦手派にはドリアンチップスがおすすめですよ～臭みも独特のねっとり感もなく、芋チップスのような感じ。少し前までは地元の人しか食べないようでコンビニで置いてあったけど、最近はお土産屋さんにまで置いてるちょっと高級感ありのスナック菓子のようなっちゃってちょっとびっくり。

これ実は中にくり抜いたカボチャの中にカスタードが入った蒸しかぼちゃプリン。カンボジア発祥のデザート（クメール語ではソンクシャン・ラパウ）なのだけどどういう訳かバンコクの夜市に
あって思わず一切れ衝動買い。東南アジアのカボチャは日本と違ってあまり甘くないけど、カスタードの甘みが蒸しているうちにカボチャに広がって本当に大好き。もし見つけたらぜひぜひぜひ試してみてください♪　日本でも広まれば大ヒットするのにな～と思ってる注目の一品。

 

タイ料理で一番好きなのは実はベタにパッタイ　笑。でも海外でタイ料理ってまだまだ高級感のあるエスニック系料理でなんであんなに焼きそばが高いのかが謎。ここでは新鮮な野菜と海鮮でささっと屋台で作ってくれる上味も格段においしい。将来タイに移り住むときはパッタイの屋台屋さんの隣がいいな　笑

おまけ：タイにいてまでフランスパンを買う男、Ｒ。彼曰くフランスパンは色々あるようで、これは「バスタード」という名前で意味は「ほら吹き男」だそう。ネーミングの由来が気になる・・・・タイも最近はパンブームも本格化してきてデパ地下にもいろんなパン屋さんがあるのでパン派も安心。

お部屋を貸していただいたアンさんと一緒に夕食を食べることに♪　これは近くの食堂で。名前は忘れたけどまるで冷やし中華のご飯版！？説明が難しいのですが、ご飯に野菜、卵、エビの甘辛煮などがキレイに盛り付けられています。さっぱりしていておいしかった～

 

　バンコクではほぼ半分ぐらいはデパートのフードコートで食べます。これが早くて安くておいしい。ファーストフードよりもずっと安いし、種類も豊富。いろいろなところを試したけどコスパが良くておいしいのはＴｅｒｍｉｎａｌ２１（Ａｓｏｋ駅）のところ。一品大体約100円なので300円もあればお腹いーっぱい！

一品サイズが小さめとはいえ、おデブまっしぐらの食べ方ですね ；＾＾　これはあんかけ麺と蒸しダック丼

時々テイクアウトも利用してます。仕事帰りのＯＬさんとかもよく利用しているようなので、列ができてそうなところをチェック　笑。これはカオマンガイ。

あたしがこの世で一番好きなもの。。。それは青マンゴー＆唐辛子ペースト。唐辛子がミソでマンゴーすっぱさ＋辛いのコンビネーションが絶妙。カンボジアに住んでいた頃は毎日食べてました。懐かしい～

Beating the Crowds in SF

Tourist season is starting and I had to beat the crowds for some of the most beautiful sights in my beloved city including Little Italy and the infamous Lombard Street. Goodness, there were already quite a handful of them (I went in beginning of May) and more surprising were the amount of rude tourists (someone scorned at me for getting in front of them to take a picture, after they were taking a million of them already anyway) and in the middle of the street with their selfies. No wonder the residents around that area are not too happy. But nevertheless, it makes you proud when you see the beautiful views of the city. 

A hidden spot for great views is the San Francisco Art Institute. It's open campus and it's a fairly small school so you can make your way into the courtyard and go up on the second floor where you can see the entire bay including the two bridges, Alcatraz, and Coit Tower. You can also grab some coffee and snacks at the cafeteria.

There's also students exhibits which are quite interesting

Real "Sushi" Making at Home, Japanese style

Most non-Japanese people really like to ask me "How one can make sushi". Once and for all, I honestly have no idea. Sushi is not cooking, it's an art form by a highly skilled professional who needs at least a decade of training before one can call himself a "sushi chef" (hence most sushi chefs in the world are totally fake). Japanese people do NOT make sushi at home, simply because we can't. We only have sushi at home when we do take-out or delivery. The closest thing to "making sushi" are norimakis (or commonly called, "makis" in the Western world) or temaki sushi or chirashi sushi. Now, don't get fooled by the name. It's entirely different from what you would get at a sushi restaurant. The only thing that is similar is that all 3 dishes use sushi-meshi, or rice that has kelp broth and vinegar mixed in and kept at lukewarm temperature.

 Among our family, we do temaki sushi a lot just because it's a make-it-yourself style. Temaki literally means "hand roll" so we basically put however much rice on our seaweed, and we add various toppings to it and roll it up. It's kind of like a Japanese version of a taco.

Traditionally, we wrap slices of sashimi, thinly fried omelette eggs, fake crab meat, fish roe, and some green onions but lately people have become creative and use other ingredients so basically anything goes. In our family, we like to use avocados as you can see!

 You take a small amount of rice on to your seaweed (if you put too much, you won't be able to roll it at the end)

Place the slices of sashimis on top of the rice

Then roll it up

 It looks really nice if you roll it into a cone shape so you can see the various colors of the ingredients inside.

It's much less time consuming and less skilled involved than making norimakis; plus you can adjust all the ingredients to your liking so our family really gets a kick out of it anytime. Plus we always find creative things to put into our rolls. I also like putting cheese as well. It works great at parties and mixers since it helps starts conversations and keeps things interesting. You an probably google up more precise recipes and ways to do it but it's really easy way to enjoy "sushi"

The 22,000km Trip (10) Bangkok: Wat Hua Lamphong

Wat Hua Lamphong is a few stops away from the infamous Wat Pho but it's not very well known among tourists. However interestingly, it's one of the most popular temples among locals. Apparently praying at the temple gives you a lot of merit. Since my health was in the dumps, I decided to pay a visit there.

A few stops past Wat Pho, you need to take another boat that gets you to the other side. And sure enough the boat soon became full with local Thai people in their nice outfits and food offerings. It was quite refreshing after days of being swarmed in tourists!

To be honest, it's nothing too spectacular or grandiose compared to the other "tourist" temples. Nevertheless, you can feel the heightened spirit of the place with local aunties and uncles praying intently and making their offerings. You also see students chilling after their courses and children playing in the area so you can really experience how much the temple is integrated into Thai everyday life. Because there's no one walking around with their cameras (except for me of course!) and loud speaking foreigners, there's a really nice cozy relaxed feeling. If you want to get away from the hustle bustle touristy locations, I highly recommend a visit here; and while you're at it, make a wish!