Saphan Lek - Damrong Sathit Bridge @ Chinatown in Bangkok [Thailand]

A bridge that spans only about 30 meters, and appears to be more a road than a bridge, wouldn't be of much interest to me, if not for the information panel at its side. 

Known as Damrong Sathit Bridge, it was a national monument in Bangkok with origins as the "first Iron bridge that was built in the reign of King Rama V" and "rebuilt with reinforced concrete in the reign of King Rama VII". 

There used to be a flourishing makeshift market at this side before 2015 but the authorities decided to shut it down given that it's illegal with safety concerns. At the moment, the area had redeveloped into a nice, tree lined promenade.

Work continued on the other side and I can't wait to see how it would turn out to be! With Sam Yot MRT station just 200 meters away,  I bet the area would be as thriving as the makeshift market demolished a few years ago.

=====

Click here for my 7 Days 6 Nights Papazao Itinerary to Bangkok

Mom's Birthday 2022

It's the busy September period where a few of my family members would be celebrating their birthdays! Within my immediate family, my mom is the first to be presented with the cake! 

My elder sister was just teasing her the other day about the wearing of samfoo; which she said she would start donning it from the age of 50. It never materializes although it was understandable given that it's no longer as trendy.

Fans at the restaurant kept blowing out the candle and we had to request nicely that they be shut off for a few minutes. It was a small cake we purchased this time, from Chateraise, as my family isn't that big on cakes. 

Knowing the confectioneries from Chateraise wouldn't come cheap, I was surprised to hear that this was less than S$20 as it was some cake of the month!

 

Time to sing and blow out the candle! Long, long time ago, everyone was saying we must put out the exact number of candles that corresponds to the age; no one does it nowadays as it can be time consuming sticking the candles in and then removing them, not to mention the higher risk of wax dripping onto the cake.

This mango princess cake was delicious! Cream wasn't cloyingly sweet, sponge cake was soft and fluffy and the mangoes were sweet. 

Even though I have wished her multiple times, here's another belated Happy Birthday to my mom. Hope she would win more lottery and remain healthy!

Phuket Town Mookata - Meat Mountain Set @ 182 Woodlands Street 13 (Near Marsiling MRT Station) [Singapore]

Barbecued food is a major weakness for me and I did find myself having it ever so often; be it in the Korean, Japanese or Thai form! In terms of pricing, Thai BBQ, known commonly as mookata, is the most economical..

I guess social media is aware, and keeps bombarding me with suggested postings of barbecued dining establishments. One that caught my attention recently was Phuket Town Mookata at Woodlands.

How to resist those beautiful photos of meat mountains that literally melt my heart with its display, and activate the craving for meat!? Since I have a kaki (friend) who loves mookata like me and he lives in Woodlands, we decided to meet for a meal there after work one day! 

After ordering and payment, one of the staff shall prepare the equipment in anticipation of the food. A plastic canister filled with the soup would be placed on your table for ease of topping up. 

Please take your own chilli from the table in front of the stall. To me, chilli is extremely important in Thai barbecue and right here at Phuket Town Mookata, you have four types to choose from; original, sour, sour spicy and savory spicy.

Do not take too much! I tested all four and I didn't quite like sour and sour spicy. Original is my favorite and tasted more similar to the chilli served by other mookata establishments.  For savory spicy, it had a thicker consistency and while richer in flavour; there's a tendency to overshadow the meat marination. 

Frozen pork lard; the lubricant for the pan and the nuggets of rendered, crispy delights at the end of the meal. In case you need more, do request from the friendly staff member.

Here's our mini meat mountain! I would have loved to order the mega meat mountain for that visual impact but with just two of us; we decided to play safe as I doubt we could have finished a set catered for 4 to 5 persons! 

However, once it was placed on our table; our initial thought was that there weren't that much meat. Turned out we were wrong as the meat was packed tightly and once you unravel the mountain, it turned out to be quite a lot of meat that left us full and satisfied later on.

In addition, there was also a basket of vegetables and tang hoon. Other ingredients on the platter included crab sticks, meat balls, luncheon meat, Thai fish cake, hot dog and cheese tofu.

Just for the mountain of meat, there were a variety consisting of signature sauce pork, pork belly, garlic pork collar, sesame chicken, black pepper chicken, green curry chicken, tom yum pork collar! 

The feasting begins!

I was extremely happy with the meat although I would have replaced the black pepper one (a bit overpowering for me) with the garlic, sesame or signature. And of course, dipping the grilled meat into the chilli is a necessity! 

Chilli went very well with the tang hoon too.

In summary, this would be one mookata stall you would see me returning in the very near future! We literally cleaned up the entire set and despite thinking we might need to order extra meat; our stomachs were simply too full! 

The voucher would definitely entice me to return soon. 

=====

Address

182 Woodlands Street 13, 

Food Paradise Coffee Shop,

#01-06, Singapore 730182

(Walking distance from Marsiling MRT Station)

Map

As above.

Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/phukettownmookatawoodland

Ala Carte Menu

As above.

Pricing

Mini Meat Mountain Set - S$25.90

(NETT)

Charoen Nakhon BTS Station - Along the Gold Line and Next to ICONSIAM in Bangkok [Thailand]

Before the pandemic, access to ICONSIAM for general tourists is only limited to the free ferry service or GRAB. You can also opt to rent a car and drive there, or take the public bus, if you are familiar with the routes. 

Now, you have another option! Via the Charoen Nakhon BTS Station along the Gold Line, which was open in December 2020! I actually didn't know and just happened to chance upon the station, which was right next to ICONSIAM, when I spotted the train tracks while shopping on the ground level. 

I could have taken the free ferry to Saphan Taksin BTS station but with some time to spare, I think we should check out the gold line. Just the word "gold" makes me feel that I would win some lottery after taking a ride along the line.

Train platform; although there were two sides, only one was operational. 

Knowing my directions pretty well, I knew this direction would bring me to Krung Thon Buri BTS station along the Silom Line, which would be the same line for Ratchadamri station, where Grande Centre Point Ratchadamri is.

Other end, towards Khlong San BTS station. You can actually see the station in the above photo; at the moment, Gold Line has just three stations, comprising a distance of just 1.72 kilometers; that's less than half my usual jogging range. 

Direct connection to ICONSIAM. According to Wikipedia, the Gold Line wasn't included in the Mass Rapid Transit Master Plan for Bangkok and was partially funded by property developer, Siam Piwat; the same company that develops ICONSIAM.

Arrival of the train! 

Interior of the train; reminded me of the skytrains at Changi International Airport as there were limited seats, driverless and featured a dual-car operations.

Wait, it's going towards Khlong San BTS station?! 

No, I want to go to Krung Thon Buri BTS station! 

This is the Taksin hospital; not sure if it is good news for the patients as train tracks can be insanely noisy and even in Singapore, the MRT tracks have to be "flanked by vertical boards up to 4.5m high that can reflect or absorb sound waves".

Finally on the correct track. That unique building in the center, is Millennium Hilton Bangkok. At over a hundred meters tall, it was overshadowed by its two towering neighbors.

Going back to ICONSIAM again.

Photos taken on the train ride; it's mainly a residential area I feel although I bet there would be plenty to see or do as it's a local district. As I was mentioning to a friend, Bangkok is huge and there are always new places to explore. 

Check out the video I took while on the Gold Line! I just realized I have uploaded the wrong train picture at the start of the video! 

Back on familiar grounds; Krung Thon Buri BTS station along the Silom Line. 

=====

Click here for my 7 Days 6 Nights Papazao Itinerary to Bangkok