Noodles galore in Bangkok

Just came back from a fun-filled weekend in Bangkok. Jin and I went on a noodle eating spree which started with our old friend Nont taking us for chicken noodles at his favourite noodle joint. I love thai noodles at these hole-in-the wall places as they are sooo yummy and you get to mix in as much as you want of sugar, chilli flakes, cut chillis, soy and fish sauce for to taste. The next morning, we walked down 5 minutes from our hip hotel (see below) and found a duck noodle shop.. in Bangkok, everywhere you turn is great food. The final noodle meal was saved for the best. Located at Soi 26 @ Sukhumvit, this place (which Jin's old boss Eric had introduced to him a year or so ago) sells Thailand's numero uno pork noodles.....the testimonial: between us we finished 5 bowls!!!

Stayed at a great boutique hotel - Shanghai-Inn - located in the heart of the ever-bustling Chinatown. This place caught my eye with it's "chinese" decoration theme - big vietnamese lanterns and four-poster bed. I had actually anticipated the place to be quite tacky but it turned out that the folks here do know how to imitate tastefully :). There was even a bird cage surrounded by 2 huge lanterns in our toilet with 2 fake birds in it...cute! Service was fantastic, rooms very clean - for $60 a night and with its great locale (24 hours of food at your doorstep - forget about the free breakfast at the hotel! - and a TOPS supermarket on the ground floor), this is one place I would definitely recommend and stay again on my next trip!

I actually came on my own to Bangkok on Friday night as Jin had work commitments and could only join me on Sat. Arrived into the sparkling new Bangkok airport - took budget airline which had to land really far away from the main terminal and required a good 10 minute bus ride to reach the terminal from the landing spot. Went to check out Khao San despite it being already 11pm - did not like it..very dirty and more wild. Next morning, ventured out to walk the backlanes of Chinatown - stumbled on a wholesale market selling tons of hair accessories..bought a few for fun to give away :).