Having "Me" Time

I've been up since 5.30am this morning.  I'm up this early not because I'm ill, nor do I have somewhere to go this early in the morning, but I'm up because I was so exhausted yesterday I came home and fell flat on my bed at 9.30pm and a good eight hours later, I am up.  I have to say that I feel totally refreshed and alive once again.  Since it's the weekend (and because I'm getting hungry) I thought I'd take you on a little trip to have duck noodles at an old Bangkok market. If you've been following me since last year, you'd probably know how I love having noodles for lunch. I still do (though now I can also have them for dinner) and when I discover a noodle place that's delicious, I just get all happy and giddy.  Today's duck noodles is the one at Nang Lerng Market which is near to the Nang Lerng stadium where horse races are held.  It's on the border between old Bangkok and modern Bangkok and not too far by taxi.  It's ar...

If you've been following my blog you can probably tell that my life revolve around traveling, exploring new places, finding good places to eat and then running it off.  One cannot have all the good stuff without some spending some time to exercise and take care of one's body.   One important factor to maintaining one's health is to also understand what we eat.  What goes into our bodies?  What ingredients are used to cook what?  How is a croissant different from a whole wheat bread? They are both bread aren't they? What's in a quiche and fruit tart? While baking quiche and making fruit tart over the weekend a thought hit me.  This was a wonderful way to learn and realize what really goes into our food!  Here you get to know all the ingredients! Croissant, a favorite of mine requires lots and lots of butter for it to get all those layers and soft texture.  Oh how divine it is to just sink your teet...

Sunday is our day.  On Sundays (when we have time) we like to go explore Bangkok, there is so much to see, so much that is yet to be discovered in this City of Angels.  Today, we started our journey on Bangkok's oldest road: Charoen Krung Road.  Built in 1861, this road runs through the major sites of Old Bangkok and still retains the charm of old Bangkok.  Our main destination though was the Muslim Restaurant near to Charoen Krung Soi 42 and by the intersection of Silom Road and Charoen Krung Road. Now I've been on this road many times before, but usually it was on a car passing by on my way to the hotels that sit along the Chaophraya River.  Walking, however, gives you a whole different perspective on things.  You get to see and explore what previously you would have missed.  Going carless, you get the freedom of walking wherever you so desire and ending up in unexpected places.   A little Bangkok adventure.  We love it. And s...

With all the festivites going on, Christmas and New Years is undoubtedly one of my favorite time of the year.  I get to meet friends, catch up over lovely meals accompanied by weather that is nice and cool in winter. It doesn't snow in Thailand, but the temperature drops to the mid-twenties (celsius).  It's lovely and cool.  Perfect.  And as one of my friends put on her facebook status it is the "perfect weather to get fat."  I think this perfectly describes how we all feel. A lot of activities during Christmas and New Years undeniably revolve around eating.  We meet, we eat.  We celebrate, we eat.  We travel, we eat. Then we sleep in between those "meets" and "eats."  Oh how easy it is to pack on those pounds that won't just go away.  Nevertheless, do not fear them...there is a way to overcome them and one tip is to Plan Your Meals . I used to never plan my meals.  I'd just eat what I felt like eating each meal a...

I feel like I haven't been to Singapore if I haven't had Bak Kut Teh .  What is it?  It's pork rib soup.  What I love about it is that the soup has lots of pepper and as a meal it is not too heavy.  We have this dish also in the southern provinces of Thailand and in Malaysia but I have yet to try the ones there.   I think there will be slight variations.  There are lots of places to have Bak Kut Teh in Singapore, but my newest discovery is called " Outram Park Ya Hua Rou Gu Cha ."  It's a long name.  Don't ask me what it means.. On my previous visits I'd go to the one on Rangoon road, but this trip I wasn't able to so you can imagine my delight when my good friend Dalin told me that there was one not far from the hotel I was staying at.  We walked there and it was a mere 5 minutes walk away from the hotel and is located at the base of Tangong Pagar Complex.  Mind you, this is not the same as Tangong Pagar P...

After a night here and a day full of activities and meeting people, I feel myself settling in and getting in pace for the next two weeks.  Being around the business district on weekends can be a bit quiet, almost isolated, but on weekdays there is a whole different energy. There are people walking around each going on their way, each with their own lives.  The energy then settles when we get to dinner time and everyone goes get something to fill their empty stomachs.   This past evening I got to reunite with a good old friend who lives here in Singapore and she introduced me to this new kind of pizza that is currently in trend in Singapore. It's called " Skinny pizza ." Now I've never heard anything about it, but it sounded delicious. Anything with "pizza" sounds good to me but I have to beware of the cheese that comes with it.  My friend tells me that its pizza made of extremely thin crust topped with vegetables and other toppings of ...