Wednesday, February 05, 2020

Samyan Food Legends - The Food Court at Samyan Mitrtown in Bangkok [Thailand] #samyanfoodlegends

I may love to eat but i am hardly an adventurous foodie; hence, when it comes to food courts in Bangkok, my only preference is Pier 21 @ Terminal 21 Asok even though my favourite Thai Omelette with Rice is no longer there. 

In my recent trip, i stayed at the few-month old Triple Y Hotel and attached to the building is the equally new Samyan Mitrtown shopping centre! Given the convenience, we decided to check out its Samyan Food Legends food court on the second day of our visit. 

Similar to many other food courts in Thailand, you can exchange cash for a card to be used for purchasing food at the stalls. At Samyan Food Legends, you can also opt to pay using your Rabbit Card. Now, let's indulge! 

The one thing i hate about food courts is that the selection is wide and when you don't live in the country and have a bare understanding of its language; there's a tendency you take a longer time to decide what to order! 

Stir Fried Rice Noodle with Seafood - served with the crispy stuff that tasted like keropok with less salt, i joined the queue for this particular stall as the items on the menu were familiar to me. What i am most scared of is when i order something without knowing it contains things i don't eat like innards.

This had egg, squid and prawns; 'safe' ingredients and the noodles, while a bit too dry for my liking, had a mild sweetness which i found palatable.

Mixed Vegetables Rice - this would be no stranger to Singaporeans and you can even find familiar dishes. Again, i was concerned about the ingredients in each pan but as i can see with my own eyes and there's a simple translation in English; chances of getting the wrong thing are reduced. 

Fried egg, green curry chicken, chicken with cashew nuts - the latter was a tad too sweet for my liking whereas the green curry chicken was spicier than what i usually have. Not bad although not even close to the one at Krua Apsorn! Yes, you definitely need the plain white rice to drown the spiciness and sweetness.

Thai Desserts - yet again another stall that i spent a bit of time at as there were too many choices and everything looked so darn delicious! I wish i had a stomach to try a bit of everything but no; i don't see the point of wasting my money this way and knowing myself, i would try to finish as much as i could and that's so not healthy! 

You can also pick and choose although i don't quite know how to do so in Thai. I thought the "8 Chinese herbs in longan juice" i ordered would allow me to select the kind of "liao" i wanted but the server happily took all the items. You should have seen the crestfallen expression on my face! 

Sweetness is key to Thai desserts and having more ice would have helped to dilute the sweetness in every spoonful that goes into my mouth. The "herbs" given to me include the Chinese chestnuts, Chinese wolfberries, lotus root, longan, dates, ginkgo, white fungues etc.

The last piece is the above; which i have no idea what it is! Everything appeared marinated in sugar and i am hit with a sugar rush right after this meal. That's not good considering how hyperactive i usually am on normal days! 

Interesting Information 
This is something i really hope would be replicated in every food courts or even hawker centres in Singapore; for diners to dispose their food waste, segregate the tray from the cutlery and return the tray.

Would the food waste be used for something else? In Singapore, there are already cases of converting food waste into compost for ecological and sustainability reasons. 

Another thing that should have been in Singapore; common cutlery stations where you can put your cutlery into hot water being using them and a wash basin for you to wash your hands before food. That's basic hygiene and definitely help everyone in fighting the recent Wuhan coronavirus outbreak.

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Address
756 Phayathai Rd, Wang Mai, Samyan Mitrtown
Pathum Wan District, Bangkok 10330, 
Thailand

Pricing
Stir Fried Rice Noodle with Seafood - 80 Baht 
Mixed Vegetables Rice - 60 Baht
8 Chinese Herbs in Longan Juice - 50 baht 

Tuesday, February 04, 2020

Tsui Wah Restaurant (翠華餐廳) along Wellington Street @ Central [Hong Kong] #tsuiwahhk

Tsui Wah is no stranger to frequent travellers to Hong Kong as there are almost close to 30 branches. Even right here in Singapore, there are two branches; one at Clarke Quay and the other one in The Hereen! 

Well, i tried neither and my first experience was actually at its home base; Hong Kong, where the golden facade glistened in the midst of tall buildings in the Central area of Hong Kong Island. 


There was no queue at about 2.45 pm when we arrived but the first floor was already packed with customers; thankfully, there was still available seating on the second level.


Established since 1967, Tsui Wah is well known for its crispy bun with condensed milk and the milk tea! However, there are a total of 10 signature dishes which included Hainanese Chicken Rice (that Singapore is famous for) and Malaysian Beef Brisket Rice! 

Milk Tea - said to be made from "premium ceylon tea leaves and Holland's black and white evaporated milk with many years of tea-straining know-how", i must say this was a darn comforting beverage to ingest after a tiring exploration to the Central-Mid-Levels Escalators.

Crispy Bun with Condensed Milk - cut into half, buttered, toasted and drizzled with sweet, condensed milk; the mini French loaf was nice (crispy exterior as promised) although not THAT exceptional for me to rave much about the taste.

Having said that, i was craving for more after cleaning up both pieces! Maybe i could buy the mini ones from this bakery shop in Chong Pang and see if i could replicate it. 

Chicken Curry with Rice - we didn't opt for Hainanese Chicken Rice although Alex appeared rather keen in the chicken curry with rice. It was pretty good; albeit spicier than Singapore's version which was interesting as i thought many Hongkongers don't take too well with spicy food. 

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Address
15D-19號威靈頓街 #15D-19 Wellington St、
香港工商大廈地下、閣樓及一樓, Central, Hong Kong

Location Map

As above

Operating Hours
24 Hours

Website

Pricing
Milk Tea - HKD $21
Crispy Bun with Condensed Milk - HKD $20
Chicken Curry with Rice - HKD $66

Other Branches
As above. Visit the website for the updated list.

Monday, February 03, 2020

Playing with the Augmented Reality (AR) Fun Photos Using the Sky100 Observation Deck App @ Hong Kong #sky100AR

I am not really into technology stuff and while i have heard about augmented reality (AR); the first time i got to actually experience it was when i visited the sky100 observation deck in Hong Kong

Did you notice the coaster-like disc beneath the ticket in the first photo? I have no idea what it was for although i did obediently download the sky100 app as advised and proceeded to the AR Fun Photos option right after installation. 

Wow! From my phone,  the International Commerce Centre building (which houses the sky100 observation deck) sprouted from the disc and it looked as if i am holding it like a scale-down model. It felt weird yet magically interesting! 

Upon noticing the two larger discs on the observation deck level; we knew exactly what to do. Whipped out our phone and activate the AR Fun Photos again.

A human-sized image of the International Commerce Centre (ICC) building with a rainbow right above! I am rather noob on what else to do with it and a staff member kindly told us what do in order to make full of this the AR. 

Take photos with it of course! 

Last AR fun photo - parachuting with the Hong Kong skyline behind us! Not that real in the photo as Alex failed to grasp my instruction! I think it's real nice to have this AR option and the best thing; you don't have fork an extra cent, aside from the admission fee paid for the sky100 observation deck.

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Friday, January 31, 2020

Joke Sam Yan - Delicious Porridge near Triple Y Hotel @ Bangkok [Thailand] #jokesamyan #porridge

Is the joke on Sam Yan today? Just kidding as the word 'joke' means porridge in Thailand although i thought the pronunciation could have been drawn from the Cantonese dialect! 

Yes, it's once again porridge day in Bangkok and this came a day after Jok Prince (a Michelin bib gourmand eatery)! I researched before my trip and identified Joke Sam Yan as a potential place for breakfast as it's pretty near our accommodation (the new Triple Y Hotel). 

The place was packed when i reached at about 9am on a Saturday and many people were asking for takeaways! Mind you, it's not just a bag of one or two packs of porridge; some had ordered like 10 or 20 and it's not an uncommon phenomenon. 

Ordering can be a challenge as the staff didn't seem to understand much English and the menu was in Thai and Japanese! There were pictures though and i just pointed to what i wanted; small porridge, with egg and only meat balls / patties! 

Don't you just love it when eateries have tissue paper dispenser?! 

Our porridge! More 'grainy' compared to Jok Prince; the portion at Joke Sam Yan was bigger but in terms of flavour, i would prefer the one from the Michelin bib gourmand eatery.

Hold your guns first; there's something better than Jok Prince. The delicious minced meat balls which were more patty than ball-like; there's a tinge of addictive pepperiness to them and the taste of the porridge with the meat patty and strips of raw ginger was unforgettably good! 

See how clean my bowl was! 

We returned the very next day as the porridge was just calling to us! I currently have a bet with my mom and the stake is a trip to Bangkok (ya, like again); no prize for guessing if i would be bringing my mom to Joke Sam Yan! 

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Address
245 ซอย จุฬาฯ 11 Wang Mai,
Pathum Wan District, Bangkok 10330,
Thailand

Map
As above.

Pricing
Porridge (S) - 40 Baht
Egg - 5 Baht

Additional Information
Don't bother getting the youtiao from Joke Sam Yan as the version they had was the crispy type which would not be able to soak up any porridge! The one in the picture above wasn't from the eatery.

Right opposite Joke Sam Yan was a stall that sells youtian (the kind we are more accustomed to; albeit much smaller) and cost 3 baht each. There's only one problem.

They close right early; youtiao was already sold out at 9.15 am.