I had a plan. It was a rather ambitious plan and you know what they say about the most well-laid plans… the plan was to visit three cities in three countries to visit old friends. The dog- and cat-sitters I had arranged quite unexpectedly fell through. And then this opportunity for a short stay in Bangkok came up.

My friends were hopping over for a quick business trip. They are big foodies and so it was also going to be a lot of eating. They had already booked an AirBnb, which had plenty of room for one more. One of the friends also quickly helped me arrange for a sitter and so all I had to do was book my flight.

Bangkok is under 2.5 hours by plane from Singapore and it’s a popular destination for getaways. It’s a very busy and bustling city and I was glad to just be following my friends. We didn’t do much shopping, though we were in a lot of malls, mostly using them to get to places while being inside air-conditioning. I did fall in love with the architecture of Icon Siam. The escalators formed these wonderful patterns.

This eclectic city is such a gem for photographers. There is so much for the eye to capture. And a wonderful place for smells, tastes… There is something for everyone. Truly.

Check out Bangkok

Food! Try these desserts…

There is a lot of food in Bangkok. Good food. I did have to watch what I ate as lots of dishes are spicy and I’m not so great with that. We ate both western and local food. Food court and restaurants. Coffee shops and street vendors. Everywhere are vendors set up selling something delicious, to smell, to taste. You can’t go wrong with mango sticky rice, which is probably the most well-known and familiar Thai dessert. Eating a juicy ripe mango is such a treat.

Then there is Khao Tom Mud which are glutinous rice dumplings that come with fillings like taro and peanut. Steamed in banana leaves, these small balls are gloriously soft/stretchy/sticky and delicious.

Another delicious and very pretty dessert is Khanom Chan, which is multi-layered cakes. These are both chewy and jelly-wiggly. Steamed, Khanom Chan are made with rice and tapioca flour, coconut milk, and panda essence.

Living in Singapore, we can enjoy a variety of Asian cuisines, including Thai. There is really nothing quite like getting it local.

This weekend trip to Bangkok was short, with lots of fun and good eating with my friends I’m thankful this opportunity came up as I really needed some time out. One upside of living in Singapore is how convenient is to travel from and how many destinations are just a short flight away.

Also, it’s not easy to find a reliable sitter for two large dogs and a cat as I recently discovered. So having our mutual friend come watch them for a few days, last minute, is what made this trip possible.