CANAL COWBOYS

You must have seen those long boats with a long steering stick and a tiny propeller that deliver huge power racing up and down the Chaophaya River in Bangkok. The real cowboys, however, are the canal taxis (more like buses) moving at mind boggling speed around the Klongs or canals. I was totally mesmerized by this aqua version of the Indianapolis 500 ... it was chilling in fact. Do you have any idea how fast these vessels have to go to create that wash? I made a mental note of getting on one, for a joy ride that commensurates with my age, since my body and heart can no longer cope with the Disneyland varieties.

DISPARTY

One does not have to look too hard for disparity in a big city, this one is right in the middle of Bangkok. This musician, blind and alone, was pacing up and down Gaysorn, home of high end luxury global brands. The contrast may be glaring but not that many seem to notice as passersby just kept walking, without even taking a second look. He was using a terribly outdated Minus-One gadget, playing the orchestral background of an unknown Thai tune while mumbling totally out of key notes.

It was an uncomfortable scene that was sad to watch, after all the excitement on Pratu Nam, the street food, the chicken rice ... all of a sudden my adrenaline charged world was dampened by this single image, by this blatant disparity. I gave him B100 or rather, I put B100 into his harness but he did not seem to notice, staring straight into what must be a terrifying version of total darkness. Questions after questions pop up ... Who is he? Was he born blind? If not how did he lose his sight? Who looks after him? How can he survive begging like this? I have no answers.        

KUANG HENG @ THANON PHETCHABURI

Any true blue Bangkok foodie will point you to Kai-Wong-Gai on Thanon Phetchaburi for your 'Chicken Rice Baptism'. With an army of staff dressed in pink polo shirts at the corner of a side street one cannot miss this 'talk of the town'. I did that, many times, when I was studying at Wandee Cooking School back in 2010 but have since become a turncoat.

Let me introduce you to Kuang Heng, a direct competitor, on the same street less than 5 minutes away across the street from the Palladium Mall. The lady boss, as shown, is always there leading literally from the front of house. Her staff has something Kai-Wong-Gai does not have .. they smile, they chat, they are not robot-like, and they give the obvious impression they like what they do. Quality of their chicken rice has been consistent since my first visit 3 years ago, when I was fed up with waiting at the 'Pink Place'. Voila! What a great find, aside from tender and well poached chicken, well seasoned broth, they even serve livers and gizzards in a special homemade sauce, my favorite.

Give Kuang Heng a try when you are in the neighborhood, and like me, you may never look back.

STREET FOOD HEAVEN

The Bangkok street food scene is, in my book, pretty close to Nirvana.

A perfectly grilled stick of octopus (I much prefer the tentacles) plus a stick of mixed meat balls gently brushed with a wafer thin layer of fish sauce, dipped in a vinaigrette with or without chili ... I asked for the former, trying to act nonchalant and macho since the old lady next to me placed the same order. It was delicious but God, was it hot! I lasted 3 bites before begging for relief from the fruit cart nearby for a giant slice of the very sweet watermelon in season, to extinguish the flames on my tongue.

B30 for the 2 sticks, B15 each, plus B30 for the watermelon, a total or B60 or $14 ... an unbeatable Amuse Bouche before my main meal, Chicken Rice down the road. I was leaning against a lamp post on Pratu Nam in the open embrace of Bangkok by night, people watching, sweating profusely and loving every bit of this carefree encounter.  

BANGKOK AT NIGHT

These are pictures of the main drag, Pratu Nam at dusk, from a pedestrian bridge. It is a scene I never seem to have enough of and God knows how many of the same shots I must have taken. Bangkok really comes alive at night and unlike other Asian cities the uniqueness goes beyond the sight, it is the sound .. or noise really .. that makes the difference.

Engines on idle while waiting for the red light to turn green (which is like eternity most of the time) .. shrill whistles of the traffic wardens .. orders from the pedestrian marshals .. honking from the Tut-Tuts .. street food peddlers selling goodies .. multiple language and dialect exchanges from tourists .. the list is endless and everything becomes more intense as the night goes on.

By the way there is one thing that we, Asia's World City, can never do .. in fact our municipal bureaucrats will not dare to even try. The sidewalks on both directions of Pratu Nam are opened after office hours, one side for open air food stalls that cater to locals and tourists, the other side is an extended night market. It is like opening up Nathan or Hennessy Road at night, can you imagine that happening?

GEM AT BKK AIRPORT

There is a little gem at the ground floor level of Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok that used to be not so well known oasis. From its previous incarnation as a Staff Canteen it is now opened to the general public. With the influx of tourists, notably the budget travelers, this place is perfect if you need to check withdrawal symptoms with a last morsel of Thai fare before the gate. I am not sure if it is true but several tour groups actually include this stop as the 'last hurrah'.

For B100 one gets a set of coupons that can yield a decent meal from B40-B80, plus a drink for B15 or a bottle of water for B10 ... imagine, all you ever wanted from the Thai street food scene are available. If you cannot spend the B100 you get a refund, it is very civilized, despite the crowd which is the only negative.

If you can stomach it give this Food Court a try. My favorite is the Minced Pork, Meatball & Liver Congee with fried garlic chips & chopped scallions. It is the 6th hawker stall clockwise facing the cashier. I have been a patron, for years, literally.

NOW .. WHY CAN'T WE DO THIS?

We call ourselves Asia's World City .. and I have not even begun to forgive whoever created this nonsense name which we (at the least I for one and I know I am not alone) now live to regret.

Our Airport Express costs HK$100 for a 25-minute ride and as comparison the Bangkok version from Suvarnabhumi to Phaya Thai is B45 or HK$10 for a 40-minute ride. The Local Line makes 6 stops along the way and the Express Line, mainly for tourists and not run routinely, costs a bit more. Yes, our trains are appointed with carpets, trimmings  and more attractive overall but how do the Thais manage for 90% less for a longer ride? You will say the Thai line is heavily subsidized by the Government but in the same vein so is ours.

Sometime I wonder where our World City, our beloved home, is going ... don't you?  

BANGKOK SOJOURN

I am not quite done with blogs on our trip to Turkey but that said, my attention was distracted by 4 days in Bangkok with Dora's team of Tutors from her school ... our annual Summer Outing. I will return to Turkey later, apologies!

CRAIG CLAIBORNE

On our Aegean sojourn I have been totally immersed in a book written by Thomas McNamee .. "The Man Who Changed The Way We Eat" .. on the life of one Craig Claiborne - Food Critic Extraordinaire from the 50s to 70s in America. What captivated me was Claiborne's personality, his plain genius, his illustrious career, his eccentricity, his irreverence, his flair, but above all the style of his penmanship which shaved my naive aspirations to write about food and eating to a mere crew cut, if that.

From being the Food Editor at the New York Times he later started the Craig Claiborne Journal and from what follows you will see what I mean.

"When you are ready to dine, and not a moment earlier, open your favorite oysters - only the fattest and fleshiest ones to be sure - and make sure that each is still alive by exploring its reflexes. This is quite simple - simply touch the edge of the lamella (muscle on the edge) and if it does not retract, the oyster has expired.  Remove the living creature from its shell, in the most delicate manner possible - and bring it immediately to your mouth with no extraneous trimmings whatsoever and in a trice, with your teeth, perforate its liver. If it is an oyster of proper freshness and quality, the whole of your gums will soak in it, your mouth will be filled with its juices, the true criterion of an oyster that has reached its peak.

You should rest for a moment in that state, then slowly swallow the juices and finish off the mastication and deglutition (the action and process of swallowing) of the mollusk. After that, invigorate yourself with a mouthful of good, dry white wine, munch a piece of  black or white bread, buttered or not, to solely neutralize the tongue in order to savor to the fullest the oyster to follow .."

Now, have you ever read of even heard of eating an oyster, or for that matter eating anything, being presented in such a vivid, poetic manner?  

SERASER @ TUVANA ANTALYA

Tucked away off the main street in Kaleici in the city of Antalya is the Tuvana Hotel, a real gem of a boutique on a quiet side street that is within walking distance to the Kaleici Marina. It is a collection of 4 stylish old houses and each room is characteristically designed with old world charm and modern day conveniences.

Even better is Seraser, their fine dining restaurant. We were told this is 'the' best in Antalya but there was no way to confirm because we did not eat anywhere else. It was so good we had dinner there two nights in a row during our 2-night stay. I am a big fan of Octopus and they captured my imagination with a grand trio of ... a carpaccio, a homemade black ink pasta and a braised version that took my breath away. Our guide said aside from the commonly used tricks of either vinegar or beating the poor octopus to submission before cooking it, the Turks would soak it in cumin overnight first ... something I ought to try.

Serasesr is quaint, quietly elegant and very relaxed. Our waiter Taner Sensoy is a breath of fresh air, the other dishes we picked, though lacking in the 'wow' department, were well presented, even though the Turkish wines were disappointing. If you are a hotel guest you get 10% off the food, but not drinks. Our tab was about HK$350 per head which was good value for money.

If you visit Antalya stay at the Tuvana, and eat at Seraser.

SERASER
www.seraserrestaurat.com
Karanlik SK N 18
Kaleici Antalya Turkiye
(90) 242 247 60 15 

QUOTABLE QUOTES

"When you are dead, you do not know that you are dead. It is difficult only for the others."

"It is the same when you are stupid ..."

What does this remind you of?

ONE MORE OFF MY BUCKET LIST

One of the items on my ToDo list for this Aegean sojourn is to swim in that water, The last time I was in the neighborhood was almost 15 years ago when we took the girls sailing with the MacCarthys near Mararis, which is further south and technically at the edge of the Mediterranean where it meets the Aegean Sea.

My prayer was answered after our visit to Assos. From the top of the mountain to the beach front Nazilhan Hotel was only a 15 minute ride. There I was, in the welcoming but not exactly warm embrace by definitely the most refreshing waters I have even swam in. It is not crystal clear like what we are used to in Asia but that opaque blue and mild saltiness are unique. My body was tingling with the sensation of an icy plunge after a sauna in the spa but my mind was pretty close to heaven.

By the way that undulating shadow of a big island in the upper right hand corner is Lesbos, which belongs to Greece, and where the word 'lesbian' originates.          

PEGASUS

Budget airlines has seemingly become an essential piece of our travel life these days, offering not just no-thrill flights but accessibility to 2nd and 3rd line destinations their macho competitors can ill afford to operate. I like this underdog notion as the big boys do need wake-up calls. While we do not go out of our way to book budget flights getting on them is refreshing.

We just flew Pegasus from Antalya direct to Izmir which took just under an hour. If we flew the flag carrier Turkiye it would be via Istanbul, which is totally inefficient. Ground service was hassle free, the aircraft was clean, the flight was on time, the crew smiling but best of all, they left us alone. Look at their in flight fast-junk-food menu, I almost could not resist.

Pegasus is owned and managed by the influential Sabanji family, the CEO was a young family member, and a supportive Tufts graduate. Fly it if you have the chance!

BELIEVE IT OR NOT?

This is how the story goes .....

The omnipotent Ottoman military machine under the reign of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent was all powerful in the 16th century, until it was checked in the Siege of Vienna in 1529. Jubilant with the army's retreat a baker in the city decided to celebrate with something different.

What did he do? He created a pastry in the shape of a half-moon to remind Viennese of their hardship days of being surrounded.

This, according to our guide, was how our breakfast favorite, the Croissant, was born. Do I hear a second opinion?    

NEVER TOO LATE

We met this gracious lady in Ephesos who hails from Adelaide Australia ... a most energetic 75 year old who travels alone, who carries the disposition of a teenager, who is ever so curious about everything around her, and who has this engaging personality that grows on you. Her back may not be ram rod straight but her strides are as solid if not better than ours. If you think age may one day catch up with you, all you need is to take a good look at this kind Aussie lady, and think again.

Yes, it can be done, and it is never too late.