Food
Oh man, I love the food culture in Bangkok. A huge variety of delicious food is available at any time of the day and they are so affordable. We ate everything from cheap street food to cheap holes in the wall to seaside restaurants and almost everything was awesome. It was liberating to not worry about cooking and just eat out all the time. We can’t do that here in the US because eating out is quite expensive and it’s not very healthy. Asian food seems less fattening and the portions are smaller so I don’t feel so bad about eating out all the time.
Now that we’re back, I’m struggling to get back into the routine of cooking most meals. We’ve made chicken soup, pizza, and Nam Prik Ong. They were all good, but we were spoiled from eating out so much. Cooking was a bit difficult because our pantry wasn’t very well stocked due to our long absence. We had to make some strange substitutions. I’m making spaghetti tonight so at least it will be easy…
Weather
Thailand was hot and humid, and we were starting to get used to it. As soon as we touched down in Portland, RB40Jr began sniffling. The rainy and cold weather is a tough adjustment to make. The internet says Bangkok is 90 degrees with 80% humidity and Portland is 50 degrees and 84% humidity. What! Portland has higher humidity than Bangkok? That seems crazy to me. It was so hot and sweaty over there. The beating sun made it feel much hotter than 90 degrees. Maybe the internet is wrong about the humidity? I feel so dried out here.
Culture
It’s jarring to come back to Portland and seeing all the Christmas decorations up. I’m not into it at all this year. Mrs. RB40 will have to carry Christmas and put up the lights this year.
Everything just seems so much more subdued in the US. In Bangkok and Chiangmai, life was more vibrant and raw for some reason. We were impressed by the sheer entrepreneurial spirit that people displayed, even when they were struggling. There were food stalls in the street, people selling flowers to motorists stuck in traffic at the stoplights, and all sorts of store fronts. People were out and about more in Thailand and it was just more lively.
I also have a huge extended family in Thailand. It’s much quieter here in the US because most of the time it’s just the 3 of us. In this article, whenever I mention ‘cousin’, you can assume it’s a different cousin…
Blogging
I’ve enjoyed blogging about traveling and it’s going to be a tough adjustment going back to writing about personal finance. Yes, even bloggers have to go back to work sometimes… I’ve got to figure out how to make money writing about traveling. Anyway, here is one last post about Thailand. I hope you enjoy all the detail and food pictures that we usually don’t see in the States.
Rayong
After our quick tour of Angkor Wat, we headed back to Thailand to visit more family members. I have extended family in Rayong and Chonburi. These places are off the tourist track and it’s a chance to see how locals live. Rayong province is along the Gulf of Thailand which has some beaches, but the beaches in the south are much nicer. Ko Samet (island) is in Rayong province, but did not plan to visit this time. We’ll have to plan a visit next time we come to Thailand.
The flight from Siem Reap to Bangkok was a quick 60 minute flight and we met up with my uncle and 2 cousins at the airport. We weren’t sure how we’d get to Rayong and it was great that my cousin could drive us. We could have taken a taxi which would have cost around $60, but driving is somuch more convenient. It was really nice of our cousin because he had to come back to Bangkok for work the next day. The drive to Rayong took about 2 hours and we headed to Rayong’s old town to have some boat noodles.
Boat noodles
The boat noodle soup was so full bodied and spicy. I loved it! You don’t see this type of noodle in the US because Thai restaurants here rarely specialize. In Thailand, many restaurants specialize by having only a few dishes on the menu. RB40Jr had a pork, egg, and rice dish that wasn’t spicy. Mrs. RB40 had a clear broth soup, also not spicy. The bottom dish was shared and it had meatballs, pork, and liver with a spicy dipping sauce. I’m salivating as I’m writing this because it’s time for lunch.
Lodging in Rayong
After lunch we dropped by my aunt’s family compound. Their family has various businesses in Rayong and we visited the Tra Chang brand fish sauce factory. I used to be able to find this brand in the US, but I haven’t seen it recently. Apparently, the fish sauce business isn’t as profitable these days and they’ve scaled back operations. My aunt booked us 2 rooms at the local hotel and my cousin who drove us took off to see his friend and headed back to Bangkok.
We checked in at Hadsangchan resort and relaxed the rest of the afternoon. This resort was across the street from the beach, so RB40Jr loved it. That evening we had dinner with my extended family at the resort’s seafood restaurant. We dilly dallied at the beach so I didn’t get good photos of the food. Dinner was delicious. It’s hard to beat eating fresh seafood across from the beach.
The next morning we went to visit another cousin’s coffee roaster and café. She gets her coffee from Chiangmai and runs the roaster. It’s neat to see all the businesses my cousins are working on. They were really busy so we headed to a local attraction – a carnivorous plant nursery.
These carnivorous plants were pretty interesting. The owner said big hotels have been ordering these pitcher-looking plants for eating. They fry them up and serve them like French fries… The guy said they taste pretty good. Interesting…We didn’t have a chance to have a taste, though. RB40Jr was particularly fascinated with the Venus fly trap plants.
Lunch at the fish cake factory
Time for lunch! We went to the Rayong fish cake factory on the way back from the nursery.
Tom Yum noodle for me. It looked very spicy and it was deliciously so! RB40Jr had dim sum. I ordered a Yen Ta Fo for Mrs. RB40, who had never had it before. The pink color comes from the fermented red tofu. This one looks like it had noodles, fish cakes, cubes of pig blood, white fungus mushroom, and vegetables. She said it was interesting, but probably wouldn’t order it again. We also got some extra fish cakes on the side with a spicy dipping sauce.
Khao Laem Ya National Park
It was hot by the time we finished lunch and my cousin decided to take us to a national park. We were a bit reluctant because we were getting worn out after our long trip and the sun was high in the sky. However, we decided to go with what the local recommended.
My cousin goes biking at the Khao Laem Ya National Park occasionally and it’s a small park. You can see Koh Samet (island) from the beach and find some nice seashells. When we arrived at the beach, there were a bunch of monkeys causing a ruckus. They were trying to get into a store to grab some food. These monkeys were very mischievous and knocked down quite a few things, including a large can of coffee creamer and a table umbrella. We hung out at the pier and looked for some shells on the beach. It was a nice break.
We headed back to the hotel for a little rest before dinner. Mrs. RB40 had gotten bit by a few mosquitoes so she refused to come out of the room. We went to a noodle place and had Pad Thai for dinner. It was pretty good, but there are so many better things to eat in Thailand. Pad Thai is extremely popular here in the US, but it isn’t that popular in Thailand.
Chonburi
The next day, we checked out of the hotel and headed to Chonburi which is about half way to Bangkok. My grandparents lived in Chonburi and my mom and her siblings grew up there. We visited my uncle at his snack shop. He sells dried squid and other packaged snacks. This shop is like a little townhouse that has a shop downstairs and living quarters upstairs. My grandparents had a fabric business here when they were young. My extended family has rented this shop for over 60 years. The landlord refused to sell…
There were only 2 rooms upstairs and they are pretty small. My mom had 8 siblings so the place was packed full of kids when they were young. She said the smaller kids used to sleep on the stair steps. That’s pretty tough, but they all survived their childhood. Our 2 bedroom condo is a palace in comparison.
My cousin just finished building a new house a few years ago so they have a nicer place to live now, but my uncle and aunt continue to run their squid snack business.
Here are the grounds of my cousin’s house. The corner has a café business! Pretty cool, isn’t it?
My cousin also collects and sells antiques. The house has a big storage space, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, and a good size living area. It’s a really cool property that he built for around $85,000. That’s including fencing, the cafe, driveway, and everything. I didn’t get a picture of the house, but I assure you, it’s very nice. He said you can’t build at that price anymore. He built the place 3 years ago when the economy was tanking and everything was much cheaper than usual. The land was an inheritance from my grandparents. I think each kid has a small piece of property around this area.
Jungle restaurant
That evening we went out to a jungle restaurant. You can order frogs, deer, crocodile, and all kind of game meat there.
The top left dish is a Tofu Yum (spicy salad). In the same picture is jungle Kang Keaw Wan, green curry with no coconut milk. Apparently, there are no coconuts in the jungle. The next dish is steamed egg for the kid and Mrs. RB40. The middle dish is Hoy Comb (snail) curry. It was actually pretty good. Next is a dry fried duck dish. This one was hard to eat because there were a lot of bones and not much meat. Lastly, Pad See Ew noodle for the non spicy crowd.
Back to Bangkok
The next day we headed back to Bangkok for our last two days. We didn’t have much planned and took these two days off to mostly relax and hang out by the pool. Oh, I wanted to hunt down a few restaurants that I read about on the internet, too.
Braised pork leg
Charoen Saeng Silom is a famous braised pork leg and rice restaurant in Bangkok. It’s hidden in a tiny soi (alley) right across from the Sky Bar at Lebua. You might have seen the Sky Bar in The Hangover 2. We had to walk down a few of these sois because I didn’t know exactly where the restaurant was, but we found it eventually. The sois look a bit sketchy and I probably wouldn’t go that way if they were in a different country. I was comfortable in Thailand, though. I didn’t see any foreign tourists in those small alleys.
The food was the best braised pork leg I’ve ever tasted. The meat was tender. The skin and tendon just melt in your mouth, so much better than any pork belly. This isn’t the healthiest dish, but we won’t be back in a long time. This meal cost about $5. Mrs. RB40 loved it and she was very thankful that I was adventurous enough to find the place.
Joke Prince
The Joke Prince is another tiny restaurant off of the main street. The sign and menu is in Thai so it’d be tough for a foreigner to find this little gem and to place an order.
They make a very nice rice congee with a smoky undertone. I liked the pork meat balls and thousand year old eggs, but wasn’t a big fan of the innards. Joke is a smooth rice porridge. I think it’s actually Chinese. The Prince theater used to be here – hence the name. This meal also cost about $5.
S&P Thai food chain
Lastly, here is a good Thai food chain you can find at many malls in Thailand. S&P serves Thai and international food. The food is clean and you don’t have to worry about getting a stomachache. We have eaten here a few times and it is good way to ease into Thai food.
Mrs. RB40 ordered spicy papaya salad and fried pork leg with sticky rice. I got a kurobota pork on rice dish. This meal was a bit more expensive at about $14. We had some drinks and an appetizer, too.
The price of our 3 weeks vacation
I think we did pretty well this trip.
Flights – $2,200 for 3 tickets to Thailand and $656 for Cambodia
Hotels – $646. We only paid for 8 nights of hotel stays. My aunt’s family owns that hotel in Rayong and she comped us. Heh heh.
Sleeper train – $67
Cash spending – $300 in Cambodia and $300 in Thailand. That’s 2 days and 3 nights in Siem Reap. The Angkor Wat tickets and tours weren’t cheap. In Thailand, my extended family paid for most of the meals. That’s why we didn’t use much cash in Thailand.
Total – about $3,500.
That’s very cheap for a comfortable 3 weeks family vacation in SE Asia, wouldn’t you say? Next time, I just have to figure out how to get free flights and the trip will be practically free. It’s cheaper than living in Portland if we take out those flight tickets. Of course, we’d have to start paying for our own meals if we stay longer than a few days at each location.
That’s it for this Thailand trip. Thank you for following and commenting on our adventure. I’m going through a huge Thai food withdrawal so I guess I like sharing the misery. I hope you’re not reading this before lunch. <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/2/72x72/1f642.png" alt="
