Image courtesy flickriver.com

Located in a 100-year old former pawn shop alongside the tram tracks in the bustling Wan Chai district, The Pawn is one of a number of newer restaurants in Hong Kong that promise (and mostly deliver) standard British pub food done well. 

On Friday evening, the entire group of Xangans plus two partners and another visiting friend (who, coincidentally, is a long-missing-in-action Xangan) gathered around a second floor table located on a balcony with a street view. Because of the desire for privacy by a number of the diners, certain faces have been obscured.

The atmosphere is nice and service, like most in Hong Kong, is spotty. When one of our diners asked the waiter for a suggestion of a drink with vodka (or something like that), the waiter replied, “The drinks are in the menu.” Very unhelpful. The menu itself is interesting and decidedly meat-centric. We ordered several starters and opted for larger mains designed for sharing. 

Glazed pig cheeks with apple cider, mustard seeds, and warm potato salad garnished with a crispy sliver of fried pig skin. This was a well-prepared appetizer with classic flavors. Nothing cutting edge but certainly enjoyable.

We also had a roast chicken risotto with thyme and sage crumble, quail egg, and sweet onions. Risotto is always a treat, although this one (as with so many others) was too firm. A real risotto should be soft and spread out on the dish. Flavors were fine, though, and the rice was properly cooked.

The organic beets, ricotta cheese, pear, pistachio, dandelion leaves, and sunflower seeds arrived on a weathered serving board in a presentation right out of Jamie Oliver’s “30 Minute Meals”. It was difficult to tell whether the chef was trying to be rustic or artistic. Again, the combination of flavors was nicely autumnal although a bit more seasoning would be nice. 

A main dish of macaroni bake with Shark Bay crab in champagne cocktail sauce, topped with toasted Gubbeen cheese served as a reminder that one should under-promise and over-deliver, not the other way round. The pasta was gloppy, the crab nearly absent, and the “champagne cocktail sauce” was indistinguishable from a typical cream sauce.

We ordered a trio of roasts which are suitable for sharing. All are served in proper British fashion with crisp Yorkshire puddings, a side of cauliflower and cheddar cheese bake, duck fat-roasted potatoes, and an oversize boat of gravy. This was the whole young chicken with smoked garlic and marjoram. It was a nicely done chicken, juicy and tender.

This was the lamb shoulder with sticky redcurrant sauce. It was nicely cooked, pink but not underdone, and had loads of flavor.

The Berkshire pork belly with caramelized Granny Smith apples was also tender with crispy skin. The fat was nicely rendered and meaty – not too squishy in the way that excess fat can be. The apples were a little scarce, another few slices would have been nice. On all the dishes, the quantity of potatoes seemed stingy for dishes designed for sharing.

Finally, the naturally reared (whatever that means) Cedar River sirloin with sage slow-roasted onions. Didn’t see the onions, though, just some cabbage and mashed potatoes. Still, the meat was well-cooked and surprisingly tender for a sirloin.

For all of the mains, the preparation was competent even if there was little that was groundbreaking about the menu. For a restaurant setting out to be a traditional British gastropub, they fulfill their promise. Even if you leave uninspired, you leave satisfied.

The dessert menu turned out to be the spot where the inspiration was hiding. While the dishes remained simple, there was greater playfulness and creativity.

A clever take on Eton Mess, one of the most classic of English desserts, arrived a martini glass filled with small toasted meringues, rich raspberry sorbet, clotted cream, and delicate Thai basil leaves. Using individual meringues instead of a larger meringue broken up, made for an eye-catching presentation and the basil leaves added a delicate perfume that elevated the dish. 

A chocolate fudge pudding was properly rich without being monolithic. The malt chocolate sorbet provided an interesting contrast in chocolate tones and the toasted homemade marshmallow and dusting of pistachio crumbs were perfect accompaniments.

One of the “more than meets the eye” desserts was this treacle tart. Treacle, a golden sugar syrup not unlike Karo corn syrup, makes for a sweet and crisp tart that is essentially a pecan pie minus the pecans. In and of itself, it is crisp but otherwise uninteresting. Add to it a scoop of the blood orange jelly and your taste buds are sent to another dimension. The jelly is sweet, tangy, and brings out the slight saltiness to the tart. Excellent combination.

A final dessert, leaning towards the modernist edge of plate design, was the watermelon, white chocolate, strawberry sorbet, and granola. The watermelon was, I think, compressed. Each piece was firm, seedless, and bursting with concentrated watermelon flavor to a degree one could never find in a simple slice of melon. The effect was intense and the combination of flavors and textures made for a satisfying finish even if the plate itself was a bit of a mess.

Overall, the Pawn turned out to be a good choice for dinner and will be on my to-return list next time I am in Hong Kong.

On Saturday morning after a hearty local breakfast, we headed to Lantau Island to visit the Po Lin Monastery and try the famed vegetarian food served there. Lantau is the largest of Hong Kong’s many islands and is among the least populated. More than half of it is covered in park land, making it a pleasant contrast to the densely populated areas of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon.

When I lived in Hong Kong in 1998-99, a visit to Lantau required a 45-minute ferry ride from Central and, if you wanted to go to the monastery, an additional bus ride to the far end of the island. Since 2006, you have had the option of taking the Nong Ping 360, a nearly 6 km gondola that leads from the Tung Chung MTR station across the water and over the peaks, dropping passengers off just a short walk from the monastery. The gondola ride, which takes about 25 minutes, is not for the faint of heart!

Along the way, you are treated to a spectacular view of Hong Kong International Airport. Built on neighboring Chek Lap Kok Island with tremendous amounts of landfill, HKIA serves more than 53 million passengers a year and will soon be building a third runway and additional gates.

The Nong Ping 360 gondola sets you down in a shopping and entertainment area called the Nong Ping Village. Built in a Chinese architectural style, it contains a number of very touristy attractions and, of course, a Starbucks. We would have hurried past the village and on to the monastery but a stealth storm caught us. We sought refuge in a tea shop for an hour, where we learned the intricacies of the Chinese tea ceremony.

After the rain, we headed to the Tian Tan Buddha, a 34 meter (112 foot) tall bronze seated Buddha statue that was, until 2007, the largest seated Buddha statue in the world. You have to climb 240 steps to reach the statue and on this overcast and misting day, the view was limited. Afterwards, we visited the Po Lin Monastery across from the entrance to the statue. 

The monastery, which dates from the early 1900s, is famous for its vegetarian food. When I visited in 1998, the food was very tasty. With the opening of the Nong Pin 360, the number of visitors has increased tremendously and, it seems, the quality of the food has declined.

The spartan dining room was filled with visitors, mostly Chinese. We purchased a ticket in advance for a set meal and the dishes were brought by a waiter.

The meal began with an odd soup. We struggled to identify the ingredient but eventually decided it was some sort of a yam or sweet potato. The texture was very soft and the broth itself was nondescript.

A dish of stir-fried lettuce and shitake mushrooms. I expected that the mushrooms would have more flavor but these were pretty bland. Of course, I should point out the Buddhist vegetarian food is generally supposed to be bland – no onion or garlic, for example – as the purpose of food is to sustain life, not to bring pleasure.

Stir fried vegetables and firm tofu. While this was a simple dish, the vegetables had a pleasing crunch that added some much-needed texture to the meal.

A stew of corn, peas, and tofu in a tomato sauce. This was pretty tasty because the corn provided a more pronounced flavor than most of the other dishes.

This stir fry dish had a trio of mushrooms, baby corn, carrots, and textured vegetable protein. TVP is basically made from soy flour, the after product of soybean oil extraction, and can be fashioned into meat-like pieces. This dish was actually pretty tasty and did provide more of a meaty feel.

An interesting deep fried dish like a spring roll. The outer skin was very flaky, perhaps made from tofu skin? The inside was very bland but of course the crunchiness offered a nice change of pace.

Interior view of the fried spring rolls. I think the filling was primarily daikon radish strips and carrots, although I may be wrong about that.

Overall, the meal was a disappointment. The experience of getting to and from the monastery by gondola was interesting, though. While on the way there, we noticed a hiking path that more or less follows the gondola’s path from Tung Chung to Po Lin. It looks like it would take about 2-3 hours to hike. Maybe on a future trip the focus should be on hiking the route instead of eating the vegetarian food. 

As we left the monastery, the rain started to fall again. Along the path back to the gondola, Rudy spotted a shop (a tent, really) selling douhua, a dessert made with very soft tofu. You might best call it “tofu pudding” and it is served with a mild sugar syrup and has a pleasing texture. Served warm, this was the highlight of the trip, a perfect conclusion to an otherwise bland meal.

The evening I arrived in Hong Kong, I joined fellow Xangans Gary and Rudy for dinner at Sunning Restaurant in Causeway Bay. Sunning is a long-time favorite of locals, dating to 1948, and specializes in Western food. It is the type of place where local families go for special events or weekly Sunday dinners, a chance for “fancy” food that today feels reminiscent of the era of Julia Child. 

Despite its lengthy history, the restaurant moved not long ago to Lee Theatre Plaza, a modern building in Causeway Bay. The new interior is tasteful, clean, and modern. The white linens are starched. The waiters dress in tuxedos. It is easy to imagine that you have entered a time warp and landed in the 1960s Hong Kong celebrated in director Wong Kar Wai’s film In the Mood for Love.

Gary ordered (and shared, thankfully) a dish of escargot. Unlike all the other escargot I have eaten, this dish wasn’t drowned in butter and garlic. Instead, the snails were served with a rich brown sauce and rested on a layer of broiled, molten mashed potatoes. They were tender and scrumptious.

I ordered foie gras on toast, a very basic pate that was tasty but not fancy. The taste of the foie gras reminded me of the Oscar Mayer liverwurst my grandfather used to serve me for lunch on Triscuit crackers.

As the main courses arrived (Rudy had the lamb chops and Gary had the sirloin steak), the waiter brought a plate with baked potato toppings: sour cream, bacon, and chives. Classic!

I ordered the Spanish Kurobuta pork served with the special house sauce – same the was on Gary’s steak. All of our dishes were garnished identically: baked potato, half a roasted tomato, and a floret of cauliflower. The simple presentation reminds me of the food at Uncle John’s in Bangkok, a hole-in-the-wall restaurant where a former hotel chef turns out Western classics in distinctly hotel banquet style. The Sunning version was tasty, well-cooked, and completely unimaginative. That isn’t a complaint, though, because the restaurant serves exactly what is promised at a reasonable price. No molecular gastronomy is needed here.

The three of us shared two desserts. The first to arrive was a lemon soufflé, perfectly spongy and light with a dry middle.

The second dessert was a Baked Alaska. This Betty Crocker classic is something I haven’t seen in a long time and was eager to try. It was the expected show-stopper, a meringue covered Mount Vesuvius with two maraschino cherry nipples served en flambé. 

Here’s a brief video showing the flaming dessert in all its glory:

The inside of the dessert was different than I had previously had. In addition to the yellow cake base and ice cream, there was fruit cocktail. While unexpected, it lent additional retro credibility to the dessert and I’ve decided that I will have to prepare Baked Alaska one of these days soon.

(For a more complete review with better pictures, visit Gary’s entry about the restaurant.)

Returned Sunday afternoon from four days and three nights in Hong Kong. The purpose of the trip was to meet a group of Xangans who were visiting from Los Angeles, Vancouver, Jakarta, and Singapore. Our own mini Xanga meetup, I guess.

The city was lit up with holiday displays, as spectacular as ever, if not more so. The weather was moderate for the first few days, but took on a damp chill near the end of my stay. It made for a pleasant break from the warm weather we have had in Bangkok.

Different people were available on different days, as many had other friends and family members to visit while in Hong Kong. Nonetheless, there were plenty of fun activities.

We rode many different modes of transportation, including the gondolas on Lantau Island.

After soaring to new heights, we visited the Po Lin monastery and had a vegetarian lunch.

We had the opportunity to learn about the intricacies of Chinese tea while dodging some rain.

We found ourselves in crowds, waiting to eat at popular places.

We tried intriguing and tasty foods.

And, of course, we took lots of pictures of the food – even things as mundane as dinner rolls! More details in the coming days.

Even though Thailand doesn’t officially recognize Christmas, we still had the opportunity to celebrate, gathering at the house of friends for a 16-person dinner. It was several days in the making and, of course, I was in the kitchen, too.

This was the third or fourth meal that Nat and I have cooked together, supported by his staff. I’m definitely the sous chef in the operation, responsible this evening for only the soup and appetizers, although insert myself in plenty of other tasks. Left, looking a bit like the Soup Nazi in Seinfeld, I call people over with their bowls for a serving of cioppino. Right, Nat and I share a laugh while cooking. (Thanks to Nat’s cousin Kik for the pictures.)

Simple canapes: white bean hummis with roasted red pepper and sundried tomato chutney, and shredded roasted beetroot with fresh mozzarella and a drop of balsamic and black truffle syrup.

My latest version of cioppino, the classic San Francisco Italian style seafood stew. This recipe is from chef Michael Mina and is even nicer than the previous recipe I used.

A beautiful foccacia bread sprinkled with flaked sea salt – perfect for sopping up the broth from the cioppino. One of our two stuffings, this one made with mushrooms and the other with chestnuts.

Potatoes dauphinoise, thinly sliced with a rich and creamy interior. Sous video turkey, super moist and perfectly cooked, dropped in a deep fryer at the end for a crispy exterior.

Carrots roasted with maple syrup and sprinkled with corriander. Creamy Brussels sprouts with roasted pine nuts.

Desserts are served! Angel food cake with whipped cream and strawberries – elegant – and a coconut cake with fresh coconut in both the cake and the buttercream frosting. Served with homemade peppermint and pineapple ice creams.

Bee, Doug, Oates (former Xangan), and Tawn pose mid-way through dinner, trying to pace themselves so there is room for the cake.

After our dinner, half the group stuggles to remain upright. From left, Linda, Doug, Bee, our hosts Nat and Cha, Tawn, and me. Hope you and yours had a happy celebration, too!

Bangkok-based Beervana, a specialty beer importer, recently sponsored a Christmas Luau, a Hawaiian feast cooked by chef Tim Butler (from Eat Me restaurant) and hosted at Flow House, Bangkok’s first spot for “indoor surfing” on the FlowRider wave machine. Bangkok Glutton writer Chow invited me to come along for the fun.

It was a warm and windless evening, which didn’t bode well for an outdoor dinner. The location, Flow House Bangkok, is on Sukhumvit Soi 26 near Rama IV Road. It has a nice second floor terrace that overlooks the Flow Rider wave machine and provided a private dining space for our twenty or so diners.

The Flow Rider provided plenty of entertainment, watching the (mostly younger) crowd surf on this high-powered sheet of water. Especially fun was to watch how, when they wiped out, the spray of water would carry them up the ramp and onto the platform at the top of the wave. Looks like fun!

While we waited for dinner to be served, Beervana’s owners plied us with a couple of their imported beers. Beervana searches for unique beers with character. They are typically non-pasteurized and non-filtered and are made by small, independent brewers. While I’m not a beer drinker, several of their beers were very enjoyable and all paired well with the food.

After a bit too long of a wait, the first course arrived, an ahi tuna poke with ginger and chili coconut vinaigrette. Poke is a typical Hawaiian dish generally made with raw fish mixed with various dressings. In this case, the vinaigrette made the poke into more of a ceviche. It was okay in itself but the accompanying beer, an Anderson Valley Poleeko Pale Ale, was excellent.

Second course was a grilled prawn with ogo ogo seaweed salad, basil, and Spam. When preparing prawns for large groups, the risk is that the prawns will be overcooked. In this case, the prawns were actually slightly undercooked. The seaweed salad was underwhelming and the prawn lacked seasoning. The addition of Spam (and cilantro instead of the basil listed on the menu) added nothing to the dish other than a convenient shortcut to make the dish more “Hawaiian”… kind of. Paired with an enjoyable Anderson Valley Boont Amber Ale.

The third course was very nice, a spicy lomilomi salmon with heirloom tomatoes and coriander. Lots of lomilomi salmon in Hawaii is served with smoked salmon of so-so smoked salmon and is usually too heavy on the tomatoes. In this case, the salmon was excellent and there was plenty of it. Assertively flavored, it had a nice kick. The course was served with an Anderson Valley Solstice Cream Ale, which tastes heavily of cream soda and didn’t do much for me.

After a long wait, the whole roasted pig was served. It was ostensibly served “family style” but that meant that we needed to walk over to get our plates.

The pig was very flavorful and moist. Pieces of crisp skin were enjoyable but the skin attached to the sliced meat was rubbery. The taro puree and pineapple lime confit, while simple, were nice accompaniments for the pork. This was served with a Rogue Yellow Snow IPA, which was nice but I soon reverted to some more of the Anderson Valley Poleeko Pale Ale served with the first course.

For dessert, we were served vanilla coconut custard with roasted pineapple and rum. This tasted okay but way too much gelatin had been used so the custard was rubbery. The pineapple went well with the custard, though. Served with a Rogue Chocolate Stout that complimented the dessert but I don’t like stout – too bitter for my taste.

All in all, it was a fun evening. It is fun to try a new experience and the idea of pairing beer with food is an interesting one. The beer was a bottomless flow, so if I were more of a beer drinker, it would have been heaven. Instead, it was just a slice of beach in Bangkok.

There are moments when I feel like there is little point in writing entries about meals, about my garden, about interesting sights I see here in Bangkok. This is a period of time in which there are a lot of uncertainties, a lot of decisions to be made, and it is hard to whip up my enthusiasm to write posts about the more pedestrian aspects of my life.

Being an adult is about making the choice to do the correct thing, even when it would be easier or more pleasant to do something else, right?

Sometimes I hate being an adult.

Using your credit card internationally is a convenient way to pay for things. Less risky than cash, credit cards also offer a lot of protections. Sometimes, though, paying with credit cards while traveling can turn into an expensive proposition. Unexpected fees, unknown conversion rates, and other costs creep onto your statement.

Even with credit card companies that profess not to charge any fees for international use, you never know if the exchange rate will be favorable. It is no surprise, then, that a popular – and legitimate – scam that purports to provide travelers with the convenience and security of locking in their exchange rate at the time of purpose, is becoming more common.

This practice, known as Dynamic Currency Conversions (DCC), catches many people unaware but in every circumstance, you end up with a poor deal. Here’s how DCC works:

When paying with a credit card overseas, the merchant may offer to charge you in your home currency, so you have the “peace of mind” of knowing what the conversion will be. More often than not, this DCC is not offered, but the staff instead use it as the default option. The charge slip will show your sale price in local currency and, below that, in your home currency. A disclaimer will say something like:

[  ]I accept that the selected transaction currency is USD and is final and acknowledge that I had a choice to pay in THB. I accept the conversion rate and final amount and the currency conversion is conducted by merchant and is not associated with or endorsed by Visa.

You may think that if you want to pay in the local currency, all you need to do is leave the box unchecked and then sign the charge slip. Of course, the staff will simply check the box afterwards and you will be charged the DCC.

Who does this? Here in Thailand, I’ve noticed that credit card machines powered by Bangkok Bank seem to be the most frequent ones pushing the DCC. Boots, a British-based personal goods chain, is a regular offender. I’ve also received reports from friends of King Power, the company that has a monopoly on duty-free goods at Bangkok’s two airports, does this, too. I’m sure these two companies are hardly alone.

The impact of DCC on your bank account is significant. A recent charge of THB 5,295.75 was “conveniently” converted for me to USD 180.06. I declined the conversion and insisted on being charged in Thai Baht. The charge that hit my credit card statement was only USD 173.00. The DCC represented a 4.1% charge over what my Visa credit card issued by Chase Bank charged me.

Travelers abroad, permanent expats as well as tourists, need to be vigilant for Dynamic Currency Conversions. If you are presented with a charge slip that has your home currency, or any other non-local currency, listed, refuse to sign the slip. Insist that the charge be refunded and that another charge slip be prepared in the local currency.

As Visa notes on their website, “If you do not want to use DCC when making a purchase, then you have the right to refuse the offer and have your transaction billed in the merchant’s local currency, which will then use Visa’s conversion rate.”

If you are so inclined, you can also speak with the store’s management and let them know what you think of the practice of providing DCC as the default payment option. It is hard to imagine that the extra income these businesses earn doesn’t factor into their decision to offer this “convenience” for their customers.

Recently, we had a friend visit from San Francisco who is vegetarian, trending vegan. Now, I spent two years or so in university as a vegetarian, so my reaction to vegetarians isn’t inherently hostile. Plus, unlike some vegetarian friends we’ve had visit, this friend is very low-key about what he eats and that made it a lot easier to accommodate him. That said, the experience of trying some vegetarian Thai restaurants here in Bangkok was not so positive.

During his visit, we ate at two restaurants that are specifically vegetarian. The better of the two, which I’ll write about here, is Khun Churn. A 15-year old Chiang Mai restaurant, Khun Churn opened a branch a few years ago in the basement of the Bangkok Mediplex building, adjacent to the Ekkamai BTS station. The retail floors of the building are largely deserted and arriving at 7:00 one evening, we almost gave up on the restaurant being open, so many lights were already turned off.

We arrived to find a friendly and inviting space, though, nicely decorated and with welcoming staff. The menu is comprehensive and accommodates not just vegetarians but eaters of “Buddhist Jae” food, a sort of strict veganism that also includes no garlic, shallots, and certain other foods that overstimulate the senses. The kitchen is able to mix and match as you desire, leaving out ingredients that you don’t eat or including them if you do.

Our meal got off to a particularly good start with Miang Takrai Bai Chaplu – a version of Miang Kham, a popular Thai appetizer. The normal dish features betel nut leaves served with a variety of condiments – small pieces of lime, shallot, peanut, dried shrimp, fresh chili, and ginger. The name means, roughly, “many things in one bite,” and provides a nice way to perk up your taste buds in anticipation of the meal ahead. Khun Churn’s version contains sliced lemongrass, mint, roasted sesame, ground peanuts, roasted coconut, cilantro and chili paste blended together. Needless to say, the flavor packs a wallop and is intensely interesting. 

Sadly, the Miang Takrai was the flavor highlight of the meal. The next dish was Kuayteaw Lord, noodle rolls stuffed with tofu, black ear mushrooms, bean sprouts, and served with a black sweet and sour sauce. These were okay, but the sweet and sour sauce (mostly sweet) was the first of too many dishes that relied on the sweet soy sauce. Thai food is known for its balance of flavors – sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and spicy – and all too often, “sweet” was the dominant note.

The next dish was called “Merry Mushroom” and featured three types of mushrooms – erringi, Shitake, and oyster – breaded, deep fried, and served with an garlic and onion cream sauce. Well, that’s what the menu said. It was not a cream sauce, but was a soy, garlic, shallot, and coriander sauce. The Shitake mushrooms stood up well to the deep frying but the erringi and oyster mushrooms tasted like breading and nothing else. The sauce was okay, but didn’t stand out.

For the next dish, our guest asked us to order Pad Thai, so we ordered a version called Pad Thai Woon Sen, made with mung bean (“cellophane”) noodles rather than the typical wide rice noodles. This version was less sweet than many of the other pad thai dishes he had eaten on this trip, but the overall flavor was still a bit one-dimensional. Pad Thai relies on tamarind paste to form the sour base of the sauce. Without fish sauce, the dish ended up unbalanced and some sort of salt would have helped round out the flavor.

Since Khun Churn is a northern Thai restaurant, it seemed appropriate to try a famous northern dish, Nam Prik Ong. This dish is usually made with chili paste, ground pork, and tomatoes and is served as a dip for fresh vegetables and deep fried pork skin. Here, tofu was used instead of pork and the pork skin was replaced by a clever “tofu skin” that achieved the same texture in the hot oil. I hate to say it, but tofu makes a poor substitute for pork because tofu doesn’t add any flavor. Something – a little concentrated mushroom stock, perhaps – was needed to give the dish its characteristic meatiness.

We ordered another take on a classic dish, chicken stir fried with cashew nuts – Gai Pad Med Mamuang. This version substituted tofu for the chicken. The problem is, the original version (one of my favorite dishes) is made with oyster sauce or fish sauce, which gives the dish that satisfying umami flavor. Instead, they relied on sweet dark soy sauce which gave the dish a very sweet flavor but lacked the roundness or robustness that would have made the dish satisfying. Again, a pinch of salt or some mushroom stock might have helped deliver the missing element.

We concluded with a Gaeng Kiaw Waan – a green curry with tofu and vegetables. I was curious to try this because the previous Thai vegetarian restaurant we had been to served such a miserably watery version of this classic curry. The version at Khun Churn was more robust and had a creaminess that was enjoyable. Sadly, the flavor was still very sweet and lacked the necessary balance.

As a whole, the meal was good but not enough to make me want to return to the restaurant on its own merits. Instead, it will remain filed in that dusty category of places to bring vegetarian friends to.

Afterwards, we walked across the street to the Gateway mall, a Japanese themed mall, to enjoy some Japanese style shaved ice desserts. This is when vegetarian dishes being very sweet is okay!

 

I don’t mean for the title to sound sexist, as this cake could be enjoyed just as well by a little girl, but when I saw it sitting on the counter at the Mandarin Oriental Shoppe at Emporium Mall, I thought immediately of a certain nearly four-year-old boy with whom I recently had a long conversation about the names of the different Marvel superheroes in The Avengers.

The conversation went in circles around the character Hawkeye, who is his favorite superhero. I was telling him that Hawkeye’s alter-ego name is Clint Barton in the same way that Spiderman is also known as Peter Parker and Batman as Bruce Wayne. For some reason, even though he knew of Spiderman and Batman’s alter-ego names, he couldn’t grasp my explanation of Hawkeye and Clint Barton. I tried both Thai and English, but for some reason he just wasn’t buying it. His mother also tried to explain it, to no avail.

Sadly, Hawkeye isn’t represented on the cake.

Can’t believe I forgot to upload the photo of the sunset at Wat Pho and include it in my previous entry about the afternoon trip to Bangkok temple.

Have gone ahead and added it into that entry, but for those of you who already read the entry, I will include the picture here so you can enjoy it. Shot by an iPhone 4s – pretty impressive, no?

We have had a steady stream of visitors over the last few weeks, with more to come before year’s end. I took an afternoon to accompany one of our guests to the old part of the city, Rattanakosin Island. When I have guests, I try to show them more than just the typical tourist’s view of the city, even when going to see the popular tourist sights.

To be a good host, you have to know just how much excitement your guests can handle. In this case, I figured Jordan could handle a ride down the city streets on the back of a motorcycle taxi. Maybe I should have set expectations ahead of time, as I think he was a bit shocked when we first set off.

After a ride on the Khlong Saen Saeb canal boat and a connection to a tuk-tuk, we arrived at the Grand Palace and Temple of the Emerald Buddha. This is the must-see tourist site, the most important temple in Thailand and one of the most spectacular examples of the overwhelming decoration of Thai religious architecture. But it is tourist high season and the complex was flooded with tour groups.

I tried to work around the outside of the complex, looking for angles and vantage points that were free of tourists and that allowed for greater appreciation of the ornate beauty of the temple. This shot, taken on the side of the main hall which houses the Emerald Buddha, shows a worker applying a new coat of paint to the base of the building. The paint was a brilliant shade of red and the man worked with slow, methodical strokes of his brush. His activity seemed almost meditative.

A short walk away is Wat Pho, the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. This is another popular tourist spot, but most tourists just walk into the main hall with its huge image of the reclining Buddha, and then leave. The temple complex, which predates the founding of Bangkok, is much larger than one might think and is worth exploring.

In the back section of the temple is a large Buddha image hall that I find more impressive than the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. As we were sitting there, admiring the detail, an older monk arrived. He prayed in silence for several minutes and then after the grandfather clock struck 5:00, he flipped a switch, illuminating the statues. Other monks had trickled in and they began their evening prayers, beautiful chants in the Pali language that echoed off the mural-covered walls.

As the sun set into the muddy horizon, we wandered around the rest of the nearly-deserted temple complex. A white cat napped beneath the legs of an old statue of a Chinese lion. A few tourists wandered by, looking for the massage school located on the temple grounds. It was a very different experience than the one you get in the usual rush to see the sights. Hopefully, it was memorable.

For our trip to Chiang Mai for the wedding, the grooms thanked us for Tawn’s help with the maids of honor’s dresses by flying us on THAI Airways business class. Of course, a 55-minute flight hardly needs business class, but it was a nice treat!

Our plane, an ancient Airbus A300-600. Despite its age, the plane was clean and in good condition. Before departure, we were able to relax at the Royal Orchid Lounge in the domestic terminal. They offer comfortable seats and a range of snacks and beverages.

The interior of the plane, which is used mostly for domestic routes and near-regional routes, is a bit of a throwback to a bygone era of decoration. The seats are equivalent of domestic (US) first class, comfortable but without a lot of extra leg room. Of course, it is perfectly comfortable for such a short flight.

Tawn settles in for his flight, complete with a pink pillow, hot towel service, and a selection of pre-departure beverages. Pretty impressive for such a short flight!

Despite the flight’s brevity, they actually serve a snack service, complete with crisp white linens, real silverware, and porcelain dishes. On the flight north, there was a poached chicken breast with a green apple salad.

The dessert was a sweet sticky rice covered with coconut cream, fruit, and black beans. In addition to a variety of herbal drinks, coffee and tea service were provided. The pacing of the service was relaxed and we didn’t feel rushed at all.

On the southbound flight, we were served cold chicken larb patties – chopped chicken with Thai spices, and fresh vegetables. The dessert was a coconut pudding with fresh fruits. Very tasty.

Our plane parked at the gate in Chiang Mai. Service both ways was very attentive and friendly. If I ever have the means, I’ll make business class my regular choice when flying!

My blog is honest. The things you read here are accurate representations of real things I have experienced. My blog is also incomplete. I am circumspect about many details of my life, especially about my work. As I have written before, my blog originated as a way to keep friends and family informed about my experiences when I moved to Thailand more than seven years ago. I would normally not share the following type of news in this forum, but it seems the best way to bring people who are close to me up to speed.

For almost thirteen years, I have been an employee of Company R and the company it purchased a few years ago, Company I. A few months before moving to Thailand in October 2005, my manager unexpectedly asked whether my responsibilities could be shifted in such a way so that I could continue working for a few months as my replacement was found. We agreed that writing and updating training materials (instructor’s guides, online presentations, and collatoral) was a part of my job that had received less attention than it needed and would be suitable for remote work.

This short-term arrangement began well and eventually the fact that I was working 8,000 miles away from the head office was a non-issue. In fact, the ability to alternate days and nights with my colleagues because a benefit and my performance appraisals have glowed ever since. I regularly receive very positive feedback from all levels of the organization and have often been told that I am invaluable.

Two and a half weeks ago, I was invited to a “strategy” conference call with my boss, her boss, and the HR director for our division. Based on the attendees, I wasn’t surprised at the news that was delivered, even though it was completely unexpected.

My job is being eliminated in favor of a new position at our training headquarters in suburban Atlanta. I was given 90 days’ notice of the move (the new position is mine if I want it) and 30 days to choose whether to accept the offer. If I do not, I will be out of a job in mid-February.

My work experience with Company I has been very good, especially the people with whom I’ve worked closely over the years. Our acquisition by Company R has been positive and I actually feel better about the company’s future now than I did before the acquisition. There are a lot of elements of our division’s business that carry my fingerprints and I have a deep sense of ownership of the work I’ve done and the materials I’ve created that are used by more than 8,000 employees every day.

That said, after evaluating all the relevant information, I chose not to move to Atlanta. Doing so would mean leaving Tawn behind and ending our marriage* – something that isn’t an acceptable option.

I suppose it would be normal to feel angry or upset, but I appreciate that Company R gave me 90 days’ notice instead of the usual 30 and will also pay me 16 weeks of severance pay, which should cushion the blow.

One reason I’m not upset is that for the past couple of years I have realized that I’ve been enjoying the flexibility and ease of my work arrangement while not progressing in my professional development and my earning. In fact, thanks to the weakening dollar, my salary has dropped more than 25% in real terms since I moved here.

An initial inspection of my options and networking with friends here in Bangkok confirms that I should be able to find a position that will match my current salary or, with some extra effort, increases my compensation. Of course, that will come at the price of a regular office job and the hours that go with it! 

In any case, that’s the news. A big change but also a tremendous opportunity. I don’t know if I will provide very much detail of the job hunt but may provide an update or two as appropriate.

*Because of the Defense of Marriage Act, a US federal law that denies me the right to sponsor my husband for immigration because we are of the same sex.

A few weeks ago, I was visited by a quartet of friends, several of whom are transportation geeks… er, enthusiasts. Reprising a transportation-themed tour I led two years ago, I took my guests on a six-hour excursion around the metropolis. This time, the number of modes of transportation increased from seven to ten: Thong Lor red bus, Khlong Saen Saeb canal boat, taxi, third-class heavy rail, non-air conditioned city bus, Chao Phraya express boat, ferry, tuk-tuk, Bus Rapid Transit, and Skytrain.

I hope you enjoyed the journey!

A few weeks ago, I shared some pictures of signs I had seen in Shanghai that were good examples of odd translations into English. While the signs in Thailand are generally more accurately translated, I did just recently run into one that made me pause.

An office building across from Central Chidlom department store is being renovated and rebranded as The Mercury Ville @ Chidlom. The tag line: “The Ville of Urban Eatery. The Venue of Urban Dining Flagship in Town.” I have no idea what that means.

This week we have been in Chiang Mai, the largest city in northern Thailand, to attend the wedding of two friends of ours. Both Thai, one of them is from Chiang Mai, so it seemed the perfect setting for them to start married life.

The wedding was held at the Rachamankha Hotel, a 24-room boutique hotel located in the old city walls. The entire hotel was taken over by the wedding party and we arrived a few days early to enjoy the setting.

The entrance to the hotel is flanked by a pair of buildings that are designed in an interesting blend of tropical, Chinese, and colonial styles.

The interior courtyards echo Lanna architecture, the kingdom that covered Northern Thailand from the 13th to 18th centuries. Most of the rooms line the two courtyards. Ours was to the left. The pavilion in the center offers comfortable seating and nice breezes.

One of the front buildings is covered with vines, giving an interesting European feel to the entrance area.

The preparations for the wedding started two days before. The grooms’ friends provided many of the services: flower decorations, cupcakes, and in the case of Tawn, designs of the wedding party’s female members’ dresses. Above, Tawn and I pose with the beautiful floral decorations.

Tawn poses with the nieces (and nephew) of the groom. He designed the dresses for the girls.

The day of the wedding began with a traditional Buddhist wedding ceremony. The wedding party and guests walked to the local temple at 6:45 am to feed the monks.

Monks and novices after receiving their alms. They then chanted and blessed the wedding party.

We returned to the hotel and later in the morning, performed a traditional ceremony in which the parents and elders pour water over the couple’s hands. The beautiful puang malai garlands were placed around the couple’s necks. And in a nod to northern Thai tradition, guests tied strings around the couple’s wrists to wish them good luck and happiness.

In the late afternoon, a traditional Christian ceremony was held by a friend of the grooms who is a minister. A few minutes before the guests were seated, I snapped this picture of the courtyard that was decorated for the ceremony. The flower arrangements were amazing. The small white flowers in the grasses at the front of the picture were added by the florist.

After the service, guests were invited to participate in a loi krathong ceremony, in which small rafts holding flowers, incense, and a candle are launched – usually in a river or lake but we made do with the swimming pool – as a way of sending away bad fortune.

The swimming pool filled with krathong.

After dinner, guests participated in another version of loi krathong that is unique to the north: yii ping. These paper lanterns are launched in the same gesture as floating the rafts of flowers, incense, and candles. It is something I’ve always wanted to see in person as it strikes me as very beautiful.

Here are two short videos that show the guests launching the lanterns. They will give you a sense of how beautiful the tradition is.

This second video is in HD.

We had a wonderful time at the wedding, truly honored to be a part of this special moment in two friends’ lives. We wish them all the happiness and a long life together.

For our flights to and from Shanghai, we flew China Eastern Airlines. The only reason we chose this carrier, which is a member of the Sky Team alliance, is that their price was 60% of any other carrier’s – the Shanghai market seems to command unreasonably high air fares. The flight was fine, although the flight attendants are frumpily dressed and are surly in their attitude. They make the flight attendants at US airlines look cheerful. The thing I found particularly odd was how the meal service differed on the outbound and return flights.

Our outbound flight left Bangkok at 2:00 am, arriving Shanghai at 7:00. I would have expected that there would be no meal service for this four-hour red eye flight but about an hour after our delayed departure, the flight attendants served a choice of hot entrees for a relatively substantial meal. This is the duck with wide rice noodles. 

Our return trip left Shanghai at about 9:40 pm, arriving Bangkok just before 1:00 am. Considering that you need to arrive at the airport a few hours before departure, I expected they would serve a hot meal service, similar to what they unexpectedly served on the outbound flight. Instead, we were served a plastic box of snack items: dinner roll, slice of banana bread, hickory kernels, apple chips, onion cookies “with original flavour,” and what I think were Oreo-flavored cookie bars. In short, a very sad selection of food.

In this day and age, I guess I shouldn’t have any expectations for food served in economy class anywhere in the world, but I was confused by the difference in service levels between the two flights on the same route.

The fastest way to get between Pudong International Airport and downtown Shanghai is the maglev train. In fact, at speeds up to 430 kilometers per hour (267 miles per hour), the Shanghai maglev train is the fastest airport transport on the planet.

Mag lev, short for “magnetic levitation,” is a system in which a series of magnets allow the train to actually levitate above the track and be propelled and slowed. This means that there are no wheels or rails and, subsequently, no friction. It is an expensive technology but one that, if the costs could be decreased, could have profound effects on rail systems across the globe.

Interested to try this technology, Tawn and I decided to ride the maglev train to the airport for our departure. It was a short and fast trip, but one that required a taxi ride to the station in Pudong, the newer side of the city on the east bank of the river. The maglev station is connected to the subway system, but bringing your luggage in the crowded Shanghai subway is not a fun prospect. You could argue that, if you are already in a taxi, it would be faster just to keep driving to the airport.

Once we arrived at the station, we found the system easy to use and the train ride itself was relatively smooth and, of course, incredibly fast! All in all, the maglev train is probably more useful if you are staying in the Pudong area or are traveling light enough to connect to and from the subway. Even if you aren’t, the maglev train is worth doing at least once, just for the experience.

Oh, Shanghai, you really do have such interesting things to see, don’t you? My trip there was full of odd moments, funny signs (not all of which were intentional), beautiful scenes, and colorful images that I will long remember.

A trio of signs in a housing estate meant to encourage residents to respect the greenery. Translations into English were a bit questionable: “You need spicery and I protection” (maybe relative to variety being the spice of life?); “Meet with life and green counterparts”; and “Treat plants wall and get good return” (okay, I kind of understood that one).

“Assists the happy building?” Sorry, come again?

We saw several health clinics with rather blunt names. Here is the Diarrhea Clinic. Okay, I guess that is easier to say than “Gastrointestinal Distress Clinic”.

Random advertisement: “Have duck, must have suck!!”

Street food! We passed a shop specializing in ham. They were preparing for a delivery, strapping ten smoked and dried pig legs to the back of a bicycle.

Roasted corn and sweet potatoes sold on the street. Perfect for cool weather! On the right, Daniel tries one. Sadly, I forgot to get a picture of Jason, too.

Lots of modern vehicles in Shanghai, but also a lot of people using pretty old (and inventive) methods of conveyance.

Wait a minute, is that a large stuffed bear in that cart?

Almost anything can fit on the back of a bicycle, even if it means that the passenger has to walk alongside.

The antiques market (“antiques” really needs quotes around it because few things are really antiques) is a great place for kitsch. My favorite must-have item:

Yes, a portrait of Chinese Communist Party heroes that changes images as you move. From the left: Jiang Zemin, Mao Zedong, and Deng Xiaoping. I guess the American equivalent would be Lincoln, FDR, and Kennedy?

Bird ownership is very popular in Chinese culture. I passed this guy standing on the street and couldn’t figure out at first glance what was in his hands. 

Lots of effort made to beautify the city. In front of a new set of retail shops that are about to open, someone decided to build a little fence around a fire hydrant, which they must have thought to be unsightly. The beautify the fence, they tied small artificial plants to it. Of course the tags are still on the plants, making the whole thing as ugly as could be. Oh, and I checked: the artificial plants were made in the USA. No, just kidding… they were made in China.

There were lots of buildings being built and shops being remodeled. I found this one interesting just because of the mirror.

Beautiful small park in the midst of the French Concession. It definitely has a European feel to it, doesn’t it?

Maybe it was just the chilly autumn weather, but love was everywhere in Shanghai.

Lots of people were taking wedding photos. It is common in a lot of Asian cultures to take your wedding photos before the day of the wedding. Maybe there is a rush of weddings in the next few months, to sneak them in during the auspicious Year of the Dragon?

We wanted to get in on the action, too! 

Okay, one more Shanghai entry coming up (about the mag-lev train to the airport) and that wraps up that trip. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the United States.