A Singaporean's guide to living in Thailand

[chonburifc]

สวัสดีปีใหม่ or sa-wat-di pi mai to all Siam bros.

Greeting from Muthu

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Hehehe. Khun Muthu can read Thai also. Happy sonkran too.

 

[chonburifc]

Wah, this self prescribed de-tox therapy ..shiok some more, not like medication or supplement:p

YY, i confirm cannot unless i want to surrender ic very fast.

 

[Ramseth]

I never like fresh water prawns. Only use sea prawns. For today's hay-mee its all big tiger prawns at 240 baht per kilo.

Freshwater prawns can be farmed till very big and meaty but seawater prawns are more tender and sweeter, you're. Thai suki uses seawater prawns, that's why it tastes better than common hawker prawn dishes. Japanese amaebi sahasmi uses top quality seawater prawns, that's why it can be eaten raw.

It's hard to find seawater prawns in Singapore wet markets nowadays, but sometimes depending seasonal supply, can be found in supermarkets. Frozen and packaged seawater prawns still taste much better than freshwater prawns sold fresh. In US, the term prawn means from freshwater and the term shrimp means from seawater, unlike here where prawn means bigger and shrimp means smaller. The term prawn is seldom used there as most of their supply are from seawater catch.

 

[Jah_rastafar_I]

We all use the same term to refer to soggy cocked rice as porridge. The exact terms are porridge and congee. Porridge for Canto style congee and porridge for Teocheow style porridge. Chok v. Bei. You don't have to trust me, just go and cook up a Canto congee and a Teochew congee. See for yourself how long each takes.

so the frog porriage is chok or bei? The one in thailand is which one?

 

[Ramseth]

so the frog porriage is chok or bei? The one in thailand is which one?

Surprisingly, with a good number of Teochews in Thailand and almost no Cantonese except some from north Malaysia, Thai-style porridge is the Canto-style congee, i.e. chok. I'm Teochew but I'd say the best mixed bei porridge is Taiwanese style. Very hard to find in Singapore nowadays. The two best used to be at Kallang Oasis and Telok Ayer HC (the original Lau Pa Sat). Both are no more. :( The best Teochew porridge is still fish porridge, not mixed porridge.

 

[chonburifc]

Surprisingly, with a good number of Teochews in Thailand and almost no Cantonese except some from north Malaysia, Thai-style porridge is the Canto-style congee, i.e. chok. I'm Teochew but I'd say the best mixed bei porridge is Taiwanese style. Very hard to find in Singapore nowadays. The two best used to be at Kallang Oasis and Telok Ayer HC (the original Lau Pa Sat). Both are no more. :( The best Teochew porridge is still fish porridge, not mixed porridge.

Good Teochew fish porridge must come with "Pin Her" (sorry don't know how to type, but literally flat fish in Teochew/Hokkien). If not, cannot be the best.

 

[rusty]

Surprisingly, with a good number of Teochews in Thailand and almost no Cantonese except some from north Malaysia, Thai-style porridge is the Canto-style congee, i.e. chok. I'm Teochew but I'd say the best mixed bei porridge is Taiwanese style. Very hard to find in Singapore nowadays. The two best used to be at Kallang Oasis and Telok Ayer HC (the original Lau Pa Sat). Both are no more. :( The best Teochew porridge is still fish porridge, not mixed porridge.

I love this chok at Rambuttri.

 

[chonburifc]

I love this chok at Rambuttri.

Yes, this look authentic.

 

[rusty]

Yes, this look authentic.

After a heavy drinking session, this will definitely soothe your stomach. (No wonder my tummy so big) 555.

 

[Khun Ying Pojaman]

Hey since there are two of you, you can go try the Hunan restaurant I told you about. Really good but may be a little spicy for your Taiwanese friend. Worth a try.

Bro, I'm back in Taiwan, just hours ago. I thought about it too, but because of what happened the previous night that we narrowed down to "alien food" I thought it might be better to keep his stomach clean. I must say I hate playing Florence Nightingale to a married man.

We will probably be staying in Baron. Any dislike about the hotel?

Bro, I booked through Agoda but it was without the breakfast. Lets talk about the good things first. 永和豆漿 is just next door, and it opens from 6.30 am to midnight. The portion is very big, so beware. The Family brand convenience store is also around the corner, which will take care of your occasional itch when you need a bite at night. The place must have been a 英租界 when the foreign armies invaded ancient China, and the architecture creates an illusion that you're somewhere in Wallstreet or Fleet Street. The Bund is less than 5 minutes' walk, and what I have uncovered is Captain's Hostel which is part of Hosteling International or YHA, whatever it's called, is even more expensive than Baron Hotel. Baron is a gem in upmarket and expensive Shanghai.

The not-so-good stuff. The rooms are unfortunately not soundproof. As for the environment, you just have to bear with the beggars outside the Family Convenience Store. On my way back to Pudong International Airport, I opted for the Metro instead of Maglev. It took me 50 minutes but it's 7 RMB against 40 RMB.

 

[Ramseth]

After a heavy drinking session, this will definitely soothe your stomach. (No wonder my tummy so big) 555.

Thai chok won't give you fat tummy or make you overweight. Look at how fit and slim most Thai men and women are. Whenever I see a chok stall in Thailand, I order chok with extra tab tai (liver and kidney). That makes a 40bht. bowl of chok 60bht. but trust me, while the money. You can't find tab tai chok like that in Singapore. The chok stalls are usually for breakfast time but if I wake up early enough before all sold out, I can still catch a bowl as an early lunch (brunch in US English).

 

[Khun Ying Pojaman]

Thai chok won't give you fat tummy or make you overweight. Look at how fit and slim most Thai men and women are. Whenever I see a chok stall in Thailand, I order chok with extra tab tai (liver and kidney).

Are you referring to dog liver and kidney ?

 

[yinyang]

good number of Teochews in Thailand.. Thai-style porridge is the Canto-style congee, i.e. chok. I'm Teochew but I'd say the best mixed bei porridge is Taiwanese style. Very hard to find in Singapore nowadays. The two best used to be at Kallang Oasis

You mean porridge with some sweet potato in? Besides Oasis Kallang, there was this Gold Leaf Taiwan style too.

Daresay you can get away with teochew with sino thais anywhere in LOS. Not just central like Bkk, up north to south in Hatyai too (their ah hiah...)

 

[Froggy]

I must say I hate playing Florence Nightingale to a married man.

On my way back to Pudong International Airport, I opted for the Metro instead of Maglev. It took me 50 minutes but it's 7 RMB against 40 RMB.

So it means you do not mind to play Florence Nightingale to a bachelor ha?

Pii you mean there is MRT to Pudong airport? I always take the taxi as this is the only way I know and it costs about 160-180RMB. Is the MRT crowded? Which station did you board? Do you have to walk far to check-in counters when you arrive in Pudong?

 

[Froggy]

Thai chok won't give you fat tummy or make you overweight. Look at how fit and slim most Thai men and women are. Whenever I see a chok stall in Thailand, I order chok with extra tab tai (liver and kidney). That makes a 40bht. bowl of chok 60bht. but trust me, while the money. You can't find tab tai chok like that in Singapore. The chok stalls are usually for breakfast time but if I wake up early enough before all sold out, I can still catch a bowl as an early lunch (brunch in US English).

Pii Ram I think your chok is very expensive leh. My morning chok costs only 15 baht with a few moo-sap balls and some pork liver, this is what most motorcycle taxi drivers will take. Special is 25 baht and you get the same amount of chok but more ingredients like stomach, intestine, spleen and kidney and a half-boiled egg. For me I always order 30 baht but only egg plus moo-sap and pork liver. Yim-mak-mak roi.

 

[Khun Ying Pojaman]

So it means you do not mind to play Florence Nightingale to a bachelor ha?

Lesser of the two evils.

Pii you mean there is MRT to Pudong airport? I always take the taxi as this is the only way I know and it costs about 160-180RMB. Is the MRT crowded? Which station did you board? Do you have to walk far to check-in counters when you arrive in Pudong?

I boarded the train @ Nanjing East Station. It's a straight line about 17 stops before reaching Airport. But at 廣蘭站 you have to alight and board the opposite train. The Metro is not crowded except during morning and evening rush. No, the check-in counters are not that far away.

 

[Froggy]

I love this chok at Rambuttri.

Hi rusty, Songkran Chokdee. Can direct me where is this Rambuttri? Not familiar with this name leh.

 

[Froggy]

I boarded the train @ Nanjing East Station. It's a straight line about 17 stops before reaching Airport. But at 廣蘭站 you have to alight and board the opposite train. The Metro is not crowded except during morning and evening rush. No, the check-in counters are not that far away.

Thanks KYP. I will try MRT next time. Taxi drivers in the city are ok but don't know why when they get to Pudong airport they kee-siao always drive like they from hell, very scary especially in their stupid VW 2000. This time I cannot because I will be rishing to Pudong airport from Hangzhou and factory had arranged a car to drive us there.

 

[Ramseth]

Pii Ram I think your chok is very expensive leh. My morning chok costs only 15 baht with a few moo-sap balls and some pork liver, this is what most motorcycle taxi drivers will take. Special is 25 baht and you get the same amount of chok but more ingredients like stomach, intestine, spleen and kidney and a half-boiled egg. For me I always order 30 baht but only egg plus moo-sap and pork liver. Yim-mak-mak roi.

Your 20 to 30 baht version is roadside stall price. 15 baht? Seriously, I've never heard of from Hatyai to Chiangmai. I'm not putting them down as cheapskate, they're honest hawkers and we need them around too. When I say 40 to 60 baht, it's hotel cafe or restaurant version. Still worth the while, still under S$3.

 

[Alamaking]

I love this chok at Rambuttri.

I tried the chok at Khaosan, not bad