Two more steps I am using on my current portfolio

This second trading cum investing post is to include some plans that weren't mentioned in the earlier post.

1) I calculated the projected dividends starting last year. Based on the dividends from the year before, or from Bloomberg app, I calculated the dividends I am expected to have if I did nothing and let the portfolio stay on auto-pilot. This number helps me by letting me know realistically how much dividends I am getting. With it, I can decide if it is too high and needs to be higher. This helps me decide whether to buy into more dividend-bearing or REITs. This helps me focus as I do look at the stock prices everyday. This would help me focus and look out for more buy opportunities for these counters.

2) Taking a controlled-loss to off-set against gains made this year. This is a way for me to help slowly weed out the losers in my portfolio. The reason being the maxim ' Sell the losers and buy the winners'. Unfortunately, most of us do the opposite and actually keep the losers in the portfolio (did not have stop-loss) and sell the winners. The problem doing this is that your portfolio becomes filled with losers over time. As for the losers in my portfolio, I have missed the stop-loss range and mainly because I didn't have an exit strategy in my vocabulary, I have sat on them for quite a while. This year, I am playing around with this step to help me slowly get used to making losses (as small as I can, but still I have to be realistic) from slowly and gradually getting rid of these losers in my portfolio and off-setting them against the gains I have made. So that the effect on me is two-fold. First, my portfolio over time can become healthier, cos the losers are sold off and the capital, though reduced, can be put into the winners. Second, this helps me overcome the loss-aversion by getting me repeatedly having to deal with some loss and this keeps reminding me, in the face, why I SHOULD have had a Stop-loss in place. Cos the losses are definitely bigger than the stop-loss amount if I had done so. The downside is my actual annual gains are lowered cos used to off-set against the losses which has accumulated over the years. This should drive me to make better and smarter buy-decisions, come up with stop-loss target before I buy anything. This process will take some time to see results but I need to learn about the stop-loss mentality and internalise this to avoid more of this sitting on losses.

I am in the midst of starting to read up about trading of stocks with a couple of books. Am trying to adopt certain concepts and come up with a more comprehensive plan. My goal for my portfolio is 10% nett returns and the final and higher goal is 20% return.

Restarting my journey towards a trader cum investor in 2015 onwards

In the very early month of 2015, I sat down and tallied up the P&L for my investments for 2014. I always do it every year to get an idea of how well I was doing in investments. It was kinda a surprise that the nett gains were less than $5K given my portfolio capital has increased over the years as more of my money (in excess of my buffer) are invested into stocks. Granted I did choose not to sell and realise a gain to make the end sum of close to $10K and was satisfied to live with my decision then.

After a month, I had a 180 degree change of perspective. The dissatisfaction and discomfort from work set me thinking about HOW to generate more income to make up my lowered income, HOW to consistently make gains and become a full-time trader, WHAT do I have to do to end up working for myself as I've realised that actually I work very hard and wholehearted at work, HOW to make my investment work harder since my capital has increased annually. 

Then I took another look at the P&L over the years from 2009 to 2014 and realised immediately that the past two years, my portfolio underperformed with very low returns for the amount invested. That didnt make much sense to me. With a new-found sense of perspective, I looked through and realised a few things about my portfolio - definitely mistakes I have made and will hope to rectify.

1) Auto-pilot

My portfolio had been on auto-pilot mode, with very few sells to realise anything. Given it was a side-way market, the old-me kinda of chose not to sell cos the gains were not as high as my 25-30% target. This is kinda unrealistic in the sideway market and cos in my earlier days, there was the market crash in 2008-9 so those initial gains were in such figures. But realistically speaking even 5-10% nett is a good return given the extremely low interest rates. We all dream of buying a stock and holding and that it will appreciate to several hundreds of dollars, eg Google and in effect, become a millionaire. That does happen to people but those chances are rare. Not sure if possible with SG shares. US market perhaps. There are risks for these new shares when they started out as newly listed small companies. Who can identify the next tech giant etc? But if I keep letting it go on auto-pilot, there will be continued low gains because I am not selling and my counters are unfortunately not Google and are not making astronomical capital appreciation. So it's a double-loss in that. Why shouldnt I realise some gains through buying & selling and still be invested?

2) Too attached to the shares

This is one which was mentioned in trading books (started reading them when I relooked my portfolio) is that there are certain familiar counters that I favor over others and am reluctant to sell them off, at times in parts, even completely, unless there are super-high gains. As one of those many who made this mistake, this attachment meant that even when there are gains to be made, I didnt sell. Then prices dropped back to my purchase. In effect, I have missed the opportunity to make a gain. Sell when it went up and buy back when it came back down. So this meant no gains were made though there were chances. I had this problem of attachment cos in my first 2 years, I had encountered a share that shot up to very high prices when I did this, sell it off with the intention to buy back lower. It never came back down and it was delisted with private offer. There is this fear of a repeat for the counters in my portfolio. The thinking mentioned is to overcome this. The goal is to make money, the counters are your means of doing so. Getting attached and not realising gains does not make sense. There are many other counters even if such unexpected event comes in. Learn to let them go, and look to buy back. If its gone, go elsewhere.

3) Not many dividend stocks

As I took advice (foolish of me and I need to learn to bear the consequences of my decision to do so), I bought into some penny-stocks that dont offer dividend. As a bigger part of my capital went in, even as I invested more overall in stocks, my returns were affected when the penny-stocks fell in prices (pain pain) and get trapped inside, with no dividend, some of my other counters yielded some dividend but overall in the whole portfolio the dividend portion is smaller. And when I sell off these dividend counters for capital gains, I dont receive the full dividends, partly cos I dont own them at that period when dividends came. Some are annually, semi-annual or quarterly. I took a hard look at my counters and decided to search for higher yielding dividends counters such as adding more REITs into my portfolio. I expanded from my 2 familiar to 5-6 REITs across retail, commercial, industrial and logistics rental. Reckon a bit of diversification across different rental markets would be prudent. I was purely into commercial and retail reits. But many have the same idea so REITs werent cheap. Had to wait a bit and just jumped in. I did end up with higher prices then cos thereafter the market nose-dived (not the highest price but still higher) But overall it helped my portfolio to have shares that specifically generate dividends and payouts even when I dont sell them and they are just sitting inside my portfolio. So just by this, I have increased the dividend proportion of my portfolio. Even as I put in extra money, they went into these REITs. Until I was satisfied it was better then any extra went to better counters.

4) Buying in times of irrational exuberance and over-confidence

I think all investors make this mistake. I find that I had made quite a few poor buy decisions when I managed to get a decent gain from selling. The sense of accomplishment, plus pride and ego and exuberance at my own ability made me itchy to jump straight back into the market to buy something, usually at a higher price. Doesnt make sense to do so. I have learnt an important lesson from reading the trading books, 'Dont always need to be in the market. Dont always need to buy or sell. Having NO position is also a position.' or aka the Cash is King maxim. This is still something I am figuring out. Though before it fully became internalised and conscious, I made the same mistake again. 

5) Buying on other's advice...

The book says, just like you dont ask your bartender for stock advice, any unsolicited stock advice one should be weary. Very rarely it pans out. So... I did buy into the counters my Dad were into and seriously regretted and am still in the red. I have to take responsibility for my own actions - which was I chose to follow... I cant keep blaming others and this wont help me grow as a trader and investor. Though I did it again and bought into one counter from discussions with friends and am in the red but at least then the lesson had sunk in a bit and it was a small punt. I had learnt that some trades should be in small amounts for these so-called chances, hence the word punt is more apt. Unfortunately greed got into me and I put in bigger sum in one of the punt after I had made a bit of gains and suffered when the music ran out. I have to take responsibility and learn never ever ever to buy on other's advice. (A couple friends bought into my counter and bought in at high price then which took a big hit when stock prices dropped in mid-Aug 2015) 

6) Not taking loss

This is a very foreign concept to me. Tell me which investor or trader looks upon loss positively. Unfortunately I am often caught in this loss-aversion mentality. In human psychology, we are adverse to loss. An equivalent loss is felt much more keenly than a gain. Plus there are other aspects at play, such as ego and pride at having to admit 'I was wrong' (an incorrect decision to either buy or sell) and most of us will throw in more money to 'average it down' lower in hopes of eventually getting a gain ('I was right') when prices finally went up. Problem with this is that the losses can get bigger and bigger. Then the 'averaging technique' meant more and more capital goes in and gets locked up in the losses. And chasing a stock as it plunges is very taxing on the capital, every extra stock you buy in hopes of averaging down, magnifies the losses when prices went further down. A lot gets locked in and one would be unsure of WHEN you can break-even. There are those that rebound and there are those that never comes back up again. A lesson from trading books is that 'The intial Stop-loss is the smallest.' How very very true. This is something I am trying to work on and internalise. I still havent set up the correct stop-loss way of thinking and internalise this concept. But when you have missed the stop-loss target, then you are stuck. Then you have to wait and wait and hope. Then at what limit are you going to say, this is long enough, I think I have made a mistake?

7)  Losses are cost of the Business and a lesson

Nobody likes losses, mentioned in the earlier point, period. But making a loss is not the end of the world unless it was a devastating one that wiped out your entire capital. Imagine being in a business, losses are part of the cost of doing business. Hence the goal is to keep losses small and continue to make more gains. So that the overall nett effect is positive. A loss can also be a cost for a lesson. Learn the lesson well cos you have paid for it. Imagine paying fees to learn and train to become better. Gains are not always good too. You might have made the mistake of not 'letting profits run' and at times you learn little from making gains and learn more from making mistakes and losses. Just dont let the chance to learn from it be wasted. 

Results in 2015

So with these main ideas in my mind and with new perspective and understanding, I went about 2015 and increased my nett gains significantly, hitting the nett dollar returns I had in my 2nd year of investing (though with a much capital base) Almost tripled my 2014 paltry sum, and my dividends alone was close to $3.3K. Though with the event in my family that took up all my time and attention Sept to Dec even Jan. At least the dividends and payouts from REITs helped alot. Though I did make the mistake of buying on exuberance again, not taking loss, averaging. As any investor would tell you. These are the mistakes we all make. There are still lessons to be learnt, realised, internalised and it feels like a journey. I try to make fewer and smaller mistakes as I learn more about how to set up your own trading system, trading rules (not computer systems), scenarios for decisions, indicators, stop losses and trade size decisions, precise buying or selling decisions , execution, reflection, seeing it through from start to end and repeat it without deviation.  After 7 years of investing, finally I think I have grown a little more and will continue to read and try to set up all these. I dont have any hard and fast rules about buying, selling, when to buy or sell and so on. Now that is a challenge and a goal to work towards, not just 2016 but into the future.

Appreciation and a new-found sense of thankfulness

I am thankful and grateful to friends who have stood by me through this very traumatic, stressful and frustrating life event.

The messages to ask how I am getting along, coming personally down to have a meal and provide a listening ear, checking on me as I kept radio-silent ( like what my sister aptly put it, you don't know if you can ever be happy or express happiness during the whole duration of the mourning), and offers of help when needed. All these helped in their ways.  Though I did get a few messages from colleagues, but those are not the same. The personal touch of friendship that can provide the emotional support to forge on ahead. It definitely helped to have a listening ear, sound and reasonable advice and opinions, acceptance and non-judgement and most importantly support.

Family was and still is a complicated double-edged affair. The few who actually helped, those who sat by with empty promises of helping, those who complicate matters through unsolicited opinions, thoughtless words, gossips, unwarranted judgement. Some just talk but can't walk the talk. Others kept referring you to another and not get involved. Some things are simple but became complicated. Some things are straight-forward but became so round-a-bout and twisted. Some simple actions became corrupted through the judgemental discussions behind our backs. Threading carefully to avoid blunders and seeking to solve the problems on the Malaysian side. Using them instead of being used. This is not exactly the Game of Throne level but makes you wonder really about family ties especially about the extended family. Not just that, at times with the immediate family too.

So this whole life event has left with a new-found sense of gratefulness and being thankful for the family, friends and health. Things easily taken for granted, lost in the pursuit of things, covered by the dust as life grinds away at work. I am left with a heart that has aged immensely. Feel like an old melancholic soul at times. Have not really sat down and slowly sort through my own things and emotions. The first time I went for KM put a smile when finally I was out of the house and doing something which I was before all these began. Hope to slowly resume other aspects and put in driving lessons. Hope the things in Malaysia can be initiated soon so that I can then focus on the job search. That is another which I have not sort through also. Of course, unless against all probability can strike lottery and live without having to worry or deal with these... Life does go on.

Being inspired to start blogging again, who cares if anyone is reading this.

My blogging came to an abrupt end in August. That was when everything in my life came to a sudden stop.

The reason: My dad's hospitalisation and the subsequent diagnosis.

In my last unpublished post, I was trying to put in words the devastation in the initial stages of events then. Little would I know that there were so much more things behind. That the initial stage of the diagnosis was just the tip of the iceburg.

Having reached the current stage now, where the 100 days are over, can resume most things normally and until the 15th of the Lunar New Year, I can go to other's homes. It has been an epic tough journey. There are still more to go, nothing being settled at the Malaysian side and how there are so many complications for relatively straight-forward things... just that I am not the party overseeing... there are my uncles and aunties and the older-generation to deal with the brewing problem that have stewed for a good 40 years at least.

I dont want to retell the epic story from Sept to end-Jan. There are many epic-fails and lots of eye-rolling involved. Too much for me to say it again. Too many emotions, that certain memories and events still trigger the tearing up and bring tears in an instant. Think I need time to heal those. Time has healed some. So I will just list down the events as a reminder to myself what had happened.

Sept and Oct:
Hospitalised, Diagnosed, Drafting the list of assets, hoping to do a will and searching for financial info, Kept updating the list and kept having to revise and revise, Aunties and Uncles came and complicated some things with their advice, Hesitation and Reluctance, Massive cleaning up for space, Insistence on discharge, more massive decluttering, checking and learning about health equipment, many trips to the SG banks to open accounts, make enquiries, trips and calls to stock brokers and etc, enquiring about getting a maid, finishing the maid online course, numerous trips to the hospital, kept running the errands, asking the workplace for No Pay Leave for 2 months and getting half a year instead until the end of the contract, going into Malaysia on my own using public transport to go the banks and stock brokerage to settle the requests, emailed will-writer, talked with Uncle's lawyer, try to get the money ready for use... so many many things and the eventual passing.

Nov:
The funeral wake, the logistics and costs of the funeral wake, cremation and the process, putting the urn at home until the Gong De and the requirements for offering, folding gold and silver paper for days, more going in to Malaysia to settle banking, the 2 nights of visitation and the preparation, the Gong De itself, the bringing the urn back to put in the grave plot, the complications with the death of the loser uncle and having to deal with the other uncle with negotiations and having to deal with the talking, undependable way of getting things done, continue with the offering requirement until the 100th day, more massive decluttering and sorting through all the things to clean up the house.

Dec:
The Ipoh trip - Pahang road trip and the dramas, the continued decluttering, calling to cancel, change subscriptions to newspapers, membership, coming up with an agreement between siblings about the distribution etc in Singapore, started the litigation process and met with lawyer with regards to SG side of things, have to revise the list of assets on hand and include the complications for the Malaysian side in a list, met up and talked to Uncle.

Jan:
Setting up a couple more accounts, managing the household finances, updating subscriptions and Giro etc. Managing Mom's insurance, bank accounts and pocket money etc, In charge of payment for the air-con, lights and new coat of paint and new doors to brighten the house, continue to keep an eye on Mom and finances, accompany her to the lawyer and etc, prepared for the 100th day ceremony.

Feb:
Accompany her to the lawyer firm, help out with home errands, and slowly resumed Krav Maga.

Don't want this to end...

Tomorrow is the last day do the vacation. Sigh,  I dint want to dace the long marathon term with all the changes.

Lemme look at his rather eventful holiday: things did

July 31 - ate a delicious meal at Royal Mail with Quet.

Aug 1 -  accompanied Geoky to "shuan Lin" temple and ate at Strove waffles, all the way in Toa Payoh

Aug 2 - Went for our first durian buffet at GoodWoodpark with Quet. Ate a bellyful of dessert for dinner.

Aug 3 - Resumed Krav Maga after a long absence due to feeling unwell, and work. Glad to try to be more active and regain my fitness.

Aug 3-10 - Massive spring cleaning do the room to move furniture and shelves about, to create a working space and also cleared up shelves so can store things more efficiently instead of letting mom'sthing encroach and end up more and more stacked boxes that eats up more and more of the space. The first three days, I bagged up my things and her things. My things were easy, can throw or put together, hers weren't and I had to repack them. And arrang them before I could work on my own. Took me longer than expected to pack and wipe and then sort and arrange. For my own stuff, I threw out a lot. Recycled those that were a pity so they get a second lease of life and a little bit goes to Salvation Army. Can be reused, resold. Still left with maybe 5% but those final ones, are seemingly the toughest to try to finish off. Let me see if I can clear a bit more.

Aug 12-16 - flew to Bangkok for my solo trip. It was a good one, I completely forgot about the things until I came back and the news of the explosion came about. The news did distract me. I didn't focus as much on things except tidy, go for KM and follow the news update.

Aug 20 - went to JB with parents for a long yet unproductive trip. That made me considered my plan to go into JB using the buses. Initially I was out off by this but I realized I had better go and see how it's done.

Aug 24-25 - DF flies off and I had a 'staycation' of sort at Tab's place. Used the oppt to go to New Ubin's seafood to try their Angus beef ribeye. A feast indeed. The foei gras with egg n truffle oil is delicious. The serve of the ribeye was good, with the beef oil drippings fired rice. Their choc lava cake with vanilla ice cream was good.  Did help myself to more vanilla ice cream and choc lux baileys. The next morning, I just stayed indoors until Tab returned from work. We ate a late lunch at a coffee place nearby. Then headed to Junction 8. That night I went to KM, catching a ride with Tabs bro. I didn't know there were so many stalls just behind the street from the KM venue. Learn something new. Time to explore if I reach there early next time.

Aug 26 - I went to JB  on my own p, without telling my parents, in case they would nag. I made up my plans on the go. But the first part, already went wrong. Saw and ended up on the wrong bus to JE, so I took bus 160. It went a scenic route. Down memory lane as it went past Bukit Batok, Teck  Whye. Cos it was mid-week, I cleared and arrived past noon. Did take my time, going to the loo at the immigration customs so I did not rush up the same bus at the immigration point.  Once I arrived, I headed to the RHB bank to settle banking things, set a current account, internet banking. Those took a while and I was very hungry after it was done. Went to look for lunch. Decided  to try the Sushi King which I had no chance to try if I go with Dad. The conveyor belt sushi for single diners didn't look fresh so I ordered ala carte. Their mix and match menu, I chose a don and a udon and miso chawamushi set. Free hot tea. Fresh and warm meal for S$8, worth it. I actually met two office aunties colleagues. They recommended me to buy the egg tart from Lavendar. I went to the bookshop, bought a few stationary and then dabao quite a bunch of breads home, charcoal loaf, azuki bread loaf, scones, three egg tarts, a horn, a caramel long bread, a plain pastry. And had a iced honey milk tea. Spent an equivalent of S$38, quite worth it. Coming back was easy cos this time I got off at Kranji mrt, so after that was mrt transfers and bus home. Came back and saw the exchange rate hit RM$3 and queued up in the long queue to change some.

Aug 28 - First time Cat Cafe and a violin performance, not free but quite worth it. Nice music and the use of loops. The fat flurry cat stole all of our hearts by being active and letting us stroke it. The rest were pretty shy.

Aug 30 - Helped out in the KM grading taking place, I reached around 10am. It wasn't compulsory for me to help but since the main instructor asked and he has been nice to me, I didn't mind helping out since I won't be working the following Mon. My final day of the holiday. I was tasked with mainly taking pics. No complaints, I was spared having to do heavier work of being the assailant etc but after hours of standing, my feet kinda tired. We all had a KM get-together, our main sponsored for helping out. Got a decent meal and after everything, left around 4.30pm. Like that one day is mainly over.

Final day, I have some minor errands that won't take long. There goes the plan to do work during thr holidays. I am refusing to do anything. Not that it's urgent or even necessary, things of my own initiative.

First Solo trip - Bangkok 12-16 Aug, marred by bombings

A bombing happened at Erawan shrine, and as more information comes in, the victim toll and number of injured rises and the placement of the bomb is now said to be inside the shrine. There were multiple bombs. With sadness, I feel for the innocent, both tourists and the local Thais, the people who work inside, the dancers, musicians, helpers, those peddling their wares just outside the shrine.

Was I scared? 

Was it a 'close shave'?

I don't think so. Cos I was there on Thurs, returned to Sg on Sunday, 10pm. The blast happened at 6.55pm, Monday. There were numerous flights out of the country on Sunday. How many of us who left on Sunday itself felt it was a 'close shave' and want to participate in this now 'how lucky u were', which I am sure my mom would start on it tomorrow once the news got printed on the newspapers.

There wasn't any near-death experience but it made me reflect on the fragility of the human life, how one thing beyond your control or prediction can impact you irregardless. In cruder terms, "when it's your turn, you can't run". 

Hope they will catch the perpetrators and bring them to justice.

I haven't finished this post yet but there's a second explosive on Tue, 1pm,  thrown from the bridge towards the walk walk in the pier at Sarthon, which I visited also on Friday, same day I visited Erawan shrine in the morning... If more tourist-packed areas are targeted, then those areas I had just visited could be potential areas. 

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The bombing did affect the sentiments cos I just came back from a great, solo trip which is like a trial run for my Japan solo trip. How can I do a 2 weeks one, if I had not tried any before? It was also like a sort of test of my independence and what issues, troubles I would have as a solo traveler, hiccups, points to note, things I haven't considered but which arose etc. I must say, I think I am okay as a solo traveler, just I prefer the city area to rural areas mainly for the accessibility. I still can't drive. Rural and Nature, while it holds great beauty and therapeutic properties, I rather leave that to non-solo travels. Travel insurance is a must in Japan trip.

This trip came about partly cos I had a great time eating the numerous food in Bangkok with Quet in the earlier trip in April. I asked my mom if she was keen, prepared to pay for her but she couldn't commit due to health reasons. So hence in my booking it was Queens bed and a solo ticket. In case she changed her mind, I can add a flight ticket. In the end, due to health reasons, she declined and I was going on my own. I had looked forward to it, with trepidation and a sense of adventure it help me get through the very tough term when a lot of times, I felt like giving up. Think the Japan solo trip is something to ground me and keep me focused on getting through till the end. (But in light with the blasts, these worries and unhappiness seem trival)

The flight and hotel came up to S$570, changed S$500 to baht and borrowed my sister's foldable bag, carried my backpack and sling. Didn't get check-in luggage cos I wasn't sure if would be buying that much but I did, for family and friends. If it was just my own, I wouldn't need the foldable bag. Learnt a few lessons about traveling as a solo traveler about bags, things to pack and buying alcohol in the airport before flying.

Chose a flight time that suits my style, I headed off. It was a relief cos for the past one week before, I had been doing massive spring cleaning. Down to the last 20%. I couldn't finish b4 I flew off.

Day 1 - 12th Aug (Wed) Arrival, MBK & Siam area

Reached Bkk without a hitch, first task was to get a sim data card then headed to the basement to catch the airport rail. I opted for the City line instead of the Express cos there is no need to change trains. It goes to Phraya Tai, where I took the BTS to Siam. Could have taken to National Stadium but I wanted to take a peep at how to walk from Siam. Using google map, as a reference but it was easy to located the hotel. Very straightforward. Check-in was easy except had to give a 2000 baht security deposit. So suddenly I am short cash for one day. I did change another $100 by Thurs, but at the end of the trip, I didn't use that extra, and had 202 baht left. I explored the room, like the design and large queen bed, extra space, a lot without sharing, felt spacious. Went to check out the gym, very small and minimal and the dining where complimentary breakfast is served from 6am-10am. Great for a person like me who wakes up erratically during travels. Saw the Macs just downstairs attached to the hotel and saw the Lek massage next door.

I was starving and headed to the nearest mall, MBK to find this Sukishi shabu buffet. Seated at the seat, you have a choice from 3 soups, I thought it was a half-half two soup, so with miscommunication,cos the Eng wasn't good, I 'chose' Tom Yam, there's miso and chicken. I told her two choices and she gave me my latter choice. No issue. So the shabu raw ingredients came about on the conveyor belt. I just had a terrible conveyor sushi meal in IMM last week and this seems too much like it but I chose carefully and dumped about 20 plates of pork, baby corn, salmon and the occasional beef in and ate. On top of eating 2-3 serves from the cooked food selection, their rice and pork, salad were good. Ate until super full and paid 350bht  ($14) Then walked around MBK,my first time there. They have one part that is Jap-run, saw a lot of Jap food including one that looked like a more attas Jap grill buffet with quality meat, at a similar price range. But not sure if it catered to a single diner. Anyway I was too full to even consider. There is a maids cafe on the same floor. A very modern arcade and a new cinema. Then when you walk to the other parts, it's like back to Thai style malls. stalls selling many products, no prices, have to bargain type. I just walked around and just
look. A game shop had old consoles like sega, Nintendo that played the old games, so very nostalgic
seeing them. The entire week of cleaning up my room and throwing away many things brought out troves of things that conjured up memories, many kinda forgotten until I saw something that triggered  a particular memory, an era, something personal, way of thinking and even personality of my younger self.

Then I walked over to Siam area. I noted and was super glad to see a Soontra juice stall at the Nat Stadium BTS station, bought one. And continued on. Aiming for Siam Square area, aiming to go to the Disney shop there first to check out if there was any cute Dale Disney stuff my sister would like. Took a few pics. After that I walked around, seeing the long queue for After You, I just walked until I covered most, then crossed over to Siam Center, never been there b4, which had the so much brands, though cheaper brands like forever 21, XXI, I think. They had a bunch of cafés inside including a Greyhound, Mr Jones, Sukishi, and a few unique ones, notably Petit Audrey. Unfortunately my stomach was filled, otherwise it's tempting to visit them all.

Then I walked over to Siam Paragon which is even more brands, especially the luxury brands. I headed to the basement to buy some water and run the errands my Mom wanted. To buy some. Offerings to bring home for GuanYin, ancestors and deity housed at home. So I looked around the Gourmet supermarket and they have wide and interesting selection of stuff. There is a Taling Pling restaurant, which meant I didn't have to go to the Central branch. It was on my list to eat as I had a superb Thai meal in April when I visited with a friend. Bought water, some candy, milk for my Bottega Nero 1 liter of choc liquor (no more buying alcohol b4 I recharge my destination, drank until Siam still couldn't finish the last bit) and butterscotch pudding I couldn't resist (didn't taste good) and walked inside Siam Paragon. I didn't cover everything, up on one wing until the floor with a departmental stall that sells toys, looking for my sister's request. Then walked back to hotel. Along the way, I bought a Mango Ice drink from Yellow Dellow and it was superb, a new love and it was almost 10pm. Drank it as I made my way to the hotel.

Decided to have a 2hr Thai massage at the Lek just beside. 500bht, gave a good tip cos the woman did press hard throughout. Think in part is I didn't doze off, so no chance to slack. I went back at midnight. Interesting thing was just b4 my massage started, there was a blackout which they managed to restore, just after I had changed and lay down on the mattress. Definitely memorable experience of holding onto a hand phone to shine the light on my feet which she washed it and later use it to reach the room and even change with that. Definitely out of the usual experience.

Went back, showered and drank a cup of "chocolate milk" adult version and watched Tv. Updated FB, made sure my sis told mom that I was safe. Read up about potential places and planned the itenary. I didn't switch off all the lights, left a few on and watched until I was super sleepy and then switch off the tv and a few more lights. Left two lights on and slept about 2am.
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Day 2 - 13th Aug, Thursday, Erawan with Touristy or Shopping Central & Platinum

I slept with 2 itenarary planned before, either Shopping one or Touristy one. I woke up early cos in the early morning, had to run to the toilet. Suspect over-eating and abit spicy. Pop a charcoal pill and in the morning, I headed for the complimentary breakfast. The spread is decent, though fewer items than the full Holiday Inn breakfast but same quality. Remembering how I mixed my own salad in Holiday Inn Chiangmai, I used the veg with generous amount of vinegarette and cream, threw in scrambled eggs and it was really tasty. Toasted bread with butter and honey was a sweet and delightful treat. Orange juice and black coffee. This was my same breakfast for the next 4 days. Made bigger and bigger bowls of my salad, throwing in generous amounts of eggs and chicken sausages. Happy breakfast time. A solid meal to start each day. I think I can eat this for consecutive days and
days.

Went back to room and ate more charcoal and poh chye pills. It was close to 9am then but I wasn't sure if Action Zone, the Muay Thai shop I wanted to go to, was open. A quick check of google showed it poems at 8.30am. So after making sure my stomach could tahan, I walked over with google map and gps. Just a short walk, 10mins of walking. Easy to locate cos many posted about it.

I went in and there were already other customers. There were 3 Africans, really tall and built, buying Muay Thai goods and large sport bags. I started asking the prices for the hand wraps. Got the cotton ones, Red, Blue, Green. Then a big bunch of French Muay Thai practitioners, 4 males and 2 females. Suddenly within the small shop, it's crowded and u had to squeeze to move about. I started looking through their catalogue for boxing gloves. In the end I went for Twins, 12 oz to replace my Everlast pair which ironically didn't last... One of the inner cushions near the wrist had a tear... Useable but if I am already there, no harm getting. There wasn't any red, blue or black though. I was down to either purple, green, pink, tiger stripes or some flame stripes... I chose the purple one. It's the most safe option, and I can't imagine myself going for training and wearing some striped gloves... training is not for showing off, I don't think it gives any credibility to my skill to be parading some funky gloves unless I am going for those type of classes. I didn't haggle much cos while I was paying, the French group started haggling. So I paid S$52 for my gloves and about S$6.80 per hand wrap.

I walked back to the hotel and had a chocolate Nero + butterscotch pudding. Stomach wasn't as stable yet, so I stayed in the room watching movies on Fox Movies channel until noon. Decided I will go for the "Shopping itinerary" as I wasn't sure if I needed to run to the toilet, so better to be safe than sorry, malls would be a better option. I ate one more charcoal pill and headed out. The plan was to walk 2 stops to the Erawan shrine, finish prayers then go to Central, walk to Platunum-Platinum, then go
Big-C, en on the way back, go to Siam square one area etc.

I got my daily dose of the beloved Soon Tra juice, carrot. Along Siam Square One area, I was at the crossroad. On one side is Hello Kitty, on the other is A&W. Both are in my extensive food lists, which I can't finish even In this trip... In the end, it was a no-fight. Went into A&W, ordered a root beer float with small curly fries. They don't have the corny dogs. After a savory bite, I continued walking over. Along the Skywalk, I noticed the skies turning darker. Just as I got to the traffic crossing just across the hospital from the Erawan shrine, felt drops of rain. Decided to come back before 8.30am tomorrow instead. Some believe one shouldn't pray during overcast, rainy days and no later than 6pm, as the "gods" are not around then.

Proceeded and made up plans along the way with regards to what I will do in the malls. Inside Central world, I headed to buy a movie ticket, cos I've never watch a movie before, it'll be something interesting. Paid 220bht for Inside Out, which has opened in Thailand, ahead of SG. Had an hour plus before my movie but it was about lunch hour and I already had something savory. An idea struck me, I shall go for desserts now then after the movie, look for an early dinner, so that as a single diner, it's easier to avoid the crowds and also made sure I could get seats. Alright, headed to After You and ordered the Baby Honey Shibuya weigh banana and a small Best Iced Choc drink. There were empty tables then so I got comfortable inside and waited for my dessert. Of course doing the Instagram and photo taking of the food. They were fantastic and totally enjoyed chewing down on the soft butter toasted bread with copious amount of honey poured by me, with the vanilla ice cream and banana. Absolute bliss. Sat and ate, then nursed my drink until it was time.

Going for a movie is really a different experience. Firstly, the movie ushers won't allow you entrance until the time print on the movie is up. Meaning, even 5mins earlier is a no-no. Quite a few movie goers found this out like me. I sat on the chairs and waited. Then after you go in, then the commercials start playing. Second element is you will have to sit through the commercials, very
few trailers though. As a first timer, the commercials were all interesting and amusing at times. The trailer for a Thai movie with a female lead and three Thai guys, reminds me of the Taiwanese plots. But pretty good looking; who to choose, the best friend who cooks and is creative and supportive, the rich corporate guy who is cool and a bit badass, or the boyish one who looks like Korean star, executive, sensitive? Ask any girl, a tough choice. Then after 20+mins! a msg appeared, 'Please stand for the Thai king', so you stand out of respect, nobody sat, just complied. And they played a clip that shows the Thai King in all his majesty and his virtues, maybe the song was composed by him, lots of photos and also his annual letter to the Thai people. After a few minutes, then it ended, we sat down and the movie began. Yes, so thirdly, you have to pay respect to the Thai King b4 a movie. Then SF cinema, is a new one. A good part is the seat can recline as you lean back and you get a nice view of the screen, without any heads blocking the view, how cool! There was a very cute clip done by Pixar about a volcano love story. The tune is still in my head, even a week after. Catchy and definitely sweet. I did feel Inside Out is not meant for young kids like Frozen was. It had lots of elements and jokes, adults, perhaps youth can catch. I did identify with the teacher counting down the days of the term until her holiday break.

After the movie, I headed to GreyHound. In my previous trip with a friend, she was raving about it but we didn't manage to squeeze it in. So it was relatively empty at 5pm, so getting a single table wasn't difficult. I had done my research and ordered their 'Complicated Noodles', Crispy Fried Chicken wings and the Granulated Thai Milk Tea. The Complicated Noodles involved taking the lettuce, putting in the noodle slices, cilantro, scoop the meat and the sauce, generously and balance this package carefully and take a bit bite, careful not to spill all over. Divine, is the word to describe. Very good balance of the taste. One could taste all the elements, yet they blend together very well. Then after comes a fiery kick on the tongue from the sauce. really worthwhile to eat it again. The Granulated Milk Tea was very sweet and thick. Just that it didn't melt fast enough to save my tongue from the fiery burn of the Complicated Noodles, as it was obviously frozen into slabs of ice and
scrapped and crushed to make it. The chicken wings were cut into two bones, so it's really easy to eat.
 Very well seasoned, salted and shrimp taste. Generous portion of 5.5 wings, yes I counted as I finished everything, not to waste food. After a couple of wings, I asked for ketchup. A personal quirk, I like ketchup on fried rice, eggs and fried chicken. Savored the meal and left a tip. Then I walked along the outside of Central. If I keep walking inside, might not know how to come out cos got many wings, sidetracked. Chose to walk outside. Saw a big white tent which turned out to be a bunch of food stalls, like a night market style. My attention was caught on these huge huge grilled prawns. 400bht for five big ones and 1000bht for five even bigger ones. Again, I have no stomach for these. Though I was reminded of seafood lovers. As I continued on, there were a bunch of Thai Zi Char stalls with its own made tents and tables at roadside pavement. They have a main stall or two per part that sold huge ass fried salted grilled fish. Looks delicious even as these huge fishes, pre salted and cooked once and placed on a big pile. again, I don't have enough stomach for even some no matter how tempting.

So I had my dinner earlier and was shopping while others were looking for dinner. I reached Platunum and it brought back a sense of nostalgia cos my friends and I came here once, way back in 2005/6. I still have the long double purse/wallet from Bag-kok from then. I was looking for something similar to put foreign currencies, that I have from travels to Taiwan, Thai, Yen and ringgit Not enough long, flat wallets for such long notes. I walked starting from the top, nothing really was a I-must-have. Still being in the midst of tidying up my room and limited hand luggage meant I can't go overboard. At Bag-kok, I looked and asked and touched many and in the end I bought 3 similar 'camera bag' style famine and cute bags for mom and two sisters, remembering how much they liked the one I bought from them in Taipei,though pirated. This one is original. Entire Platinum and Platunum, only one shop. The solid plain color, baggy, yet hugging funky Jap/fisher caught my attention but they were pricy, 650bht and with 3 pieces potentially 490bht, still I wasn't sure if I
wanted so many, nor was it a good deal and must-have. Then I walked along the linking bridge to the other Platinum building. The crowd was bigger here. Saw a lot of shirts, can't buy, I have too many.
Really cheap, like S$8 for the same I pay twice in sg. Oh well, too many stalls and bigger and many lanes. After just two floors, my legs felt really tired. I decided to walk back, go to Big-C.

Walked and saw how bad the jams was. Past the Thai Zi Char which were brimming with customers. Earlier nobody was eating here and I saw the big ass fish. Now I see people having their dinner eating the fish. Tempted but continued on. Crossed the overhead bridge and went into Big-C. First off to the supermarket to run errands, getting something nice, for Guan Ying, ancestors and deity. I walked and picked up different items, including two Sminoff alcoholic drinks, honey and melon. Surprisingly the honey didn't taste good,a bit bitter but the melon one had a very nice honeydew melon aftertaste fragrance lingering. These ready to drink cost 56bht, so a lesson for me is that I don't need to buy any more alcohol when I depart. Like how I have to drink a lot of milk + choc Nero, granted it tasted nice but everyday is another thing. These ready to drink will be pay answer next time and they won't burn a hole. Just they are mild, like drinking slightly alcoholic carbonated soda.

I carried the bags and continued back towards my hotel. Along the way, I watched the ever crowded Erawan shrine and the shrine dancers dance gently and gracefully as the incense swirled upwards, carrying wishes to the deities above. At Siam Square One area, I stopped by Yellow Dellow again to get a ice mango. Nice and drinking that, I walked along the back towards the hotel. It's nice to be powered by a nice drink as one walks around, for long distances. I chanced upon one of the few authentic Thai food, for beef noodles, but too full to eat, noted its position for reference. Reached the hotel and settled in. Watching action movies, drinking chocolate milk, Alcoholic soda, hot tea. A pretty decent second day. Was glad my stomach was normal the entire duration that I was outside. Looked through the internet about the next day's plans.

Day 3 - Tourist Itinerary

I woke up early, 6.30am and headed for breakfast, and there were early risers too. I ate the same,
except I made a bigger portion, adding lots of tamagotchi rolls and chicken sausage that my salad was more like the veg were side to the protein. Had a massive bowl. After that, rested and bathe and headed out. Got two bottles of Soontra juices, lychee passion fruit and butterfly pea. Drank one for the daily dose of vitamins. Delicious and walked over to Erawan shrine. I was determined to go there before the crowds, the heat. Surprisingly I was the first at the counter to ask for the shrine dancers. Got 4 for my family and 2 for myself. They danced together and so there were 6. I prayed for health especially, and more luck and fortune in light of my job situation. I had planned in my mind to go come back in Dec to give thanks but in light of the incident, my mom will worry incessantly so I will give thanks in Sg. Bought the incense set and light them. Not sure of the order, so I start and of one round, following the rest.

Then I walked to Siam and hopped onto the BTS to Saphran Thaksin station which is the link to the Sarthorn pier to take the ferries along the Chao Phraya river. But besides the tourist ferry which was well publicized, with its employees, moving about and helping u with tickets, I don't see much for the others, apparently there is the normal ferries, but I don't see the ticket booth, and couldn't tell which pier to board etc. so in the end I settled for a single trip tourist ferry, 40bht. It was a big ferry. Enough to have three rows. I sat down and took some photos and selfies. Got off at Tha Tian stop. Immediately I went to take the barge 3bht, to cross the river to Wat Arun. I intend to go there, then Wat Pho then Emerald Buddha, then that Soi Rambuttri. Unfortunately Wat Arun, 50bht, is partially under restoration, I took some pics here, finally took out the selfie stick and got a couple of pics. Went into the temple and put in a donation and got holy water sprinkled and the monk tied a white string to my left wrist. I kept it on until I reached SG safely. Took out my Butterfly pea drink and drank, glad to have a nice drink as the sun burned hotter. Nice weather though.

The. I took the barge across and went to Wat Pho. Got a free drink courtesy of some promotion? As soon as I walked out, put one in my hand, many tourists also have that. Grateful as by then it was noon. Getting hotter. Got the entry ticket, 100bht and headed in. Very titanic reclining Buddha.
Largest one, I've seen thus far. The temple has very high ceilings and with murals showing Buddha's life. There wasn't a lot of time to admire them cos the constant stream of visitors, I ambled along, taking a video and some pics, including a selfie at the feet, not the head. Then walk onto see the back of the statue, it's long u-turn. I saw a donation, for 20bht, they give you a small bowl filled with one cents and you walk along the interior wall and put the coins into the alms bowls lined against the wall. Then it's time to come out. Exchanged part of the ticket for a cold mineral water, small but welcomed as the heat intensified. The temple compound was huge, even with a map in the brochure, I couldn't see them all. But I went into at least 4 and paid my respects and put in a donation. Was getting lost and tired, saw an ice cream seller. For 20bht, rested under the shade eating the nostalgic old-fashion styled, simple but yet delicious coconut and a creamy one with cake bits. Went to the toilet, put on more sun block and went off to the final temple, the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.

It was housed in the palace and that meant I have to walk along the long long long white palace walls. At least I didn't encounter the scam. But I didn't take out my umbrella cos many tourists all walking about. I sauntered on with my cap and sunblock on my face. It was a very very long walk. The entrance is far far far away. My legs were pretty tired from Wat Arun and especially Wat Pho. I finally reached the entrance and there were throngs of tourists, especially China ones in their tour groups, tour buses. Had to walk and avoid the crowds and squeeze at times and as I got closer to the main ticket area, I was hesitant. First it was nearing 2pm, scorching hot, long long queue, armies of tourists, and the ticket price was 500bht. I wanted to see if there was a plain Emerald Buddha entrance cos I didn't want to visit the palace but there is only one type of admission. So I walked
along the small rows of shop to seek some relief, saw a small cafeteria one and was immediately glad cos there was air-con. They have instant food, ice cream and cold drinks. I got a milo bar, 10bht, unbelievable. Sat down at the table and ate it gratefully, resting my feet and cooling off. This cemented my decision, not to go to the Emerald Buddha, I didn't fancy the squeeze with the crowd. I stayed there until all my sweat dried off, got a kit kat green tea ice cream cone to walk out of the
compound. It's easier to walk under the sun with something cold to offset the heat.

I used the gps and walked to find Soi Rambuttri, the place reminiscent of old Bangkok before all the malls came in, at least according to online websites recommendation. It was a long walk, 1.6km on google map but longer than that due to detours I had to take at times. Got there finally, could feel the heat radiating off me from all the exposed arms and neck areas. Speaking the way you find the roadside stalls, some abandoned buildings left standing, some small shops, yet once you reached the place, suddenly the population of blond foreigners exploded. They are everywhere. Khao Shan street is full of stalls selling clothes, bags, accessories etc that lined both sides, so dense that you can't see the storefront. All the buildings are short, 3-4 stories shophouses. And lots of backpackers. Then I walked behind, think I got to Soi Rambuttri, no more stalls. Now can see the shop fronts. Then you see like backpackers hotels and dining that caters to expatriates or bagpackers. There are massage with chairs in open like how it was in Big-C but no longer, but despite my legs walking outside, I didn't feel compelled to have a massage, reason was I was hungry. The ice cream gave me enough to reach there. I walked up and down but wasn't enticed by what I saw. Instead I saw a phad Thai roadside stall that had no one. It had at least a table and chair out of the sun, the other along the same street was only takeaway. I ordered a phad Thai with egg and a small bottled mango juice, just costing 50bht! I was surprised at the price when I asked and paid for it. It was delicious. Ate it hungrily yet appreciatively. Washed it down with the mango juice and I was revived. I intend to walk til the end of the street, saw a stall selling iced drinks and I bought a Thai Milk Tea blended ice shake that was so thick and sweet and satisfying. Best Thai Milk Tea ever, phad Thai too. Surprisingly from just road side stalls, and nope I didn't get any tummy aches. I used google map to navigate back and
following it's path, I had to walk a narrow alley. I was scanning front and back, as I walked, encounter a man on two separate times and I did scan to see if anyone tried to surprise me. But it was during the day, 3.30pm-ish, and I landed up back at Khao Shan, I would never take the path at night though.

Retraced my steps then and headed back. A 1.8km back to the Emerald Buddha then another and another km plus of walking back to Tha tian pier but there were more and more tourists at the pier. I had initially planned to the smaller yellow or orange ferry, to experience a small ferry, more local but when I saw how many more pier stops they made compared to the most direct one, the tourist boat, I got on the tourist boat that also had greater frequencies. Oh well, not a great loss. The sweltering heat was reaching my unbearable point. Guzzling cold mineral water while waiting. Got back to the BTS and this time I took it all the way to Nat Stadium BTS, instead of walking from Siam. Changed trains and I got out at the further from hotel exit cos that's where the SoonTra stall is at. Bought 4 different bottles, coconut, lemon grass, lychee passion, beet root passion. Walked back to the hotel and decided I am done for the day, sunburnt feet hurt, got blisters and sweated enough, so I visited the Macs just below the hotel. I saw the Minions fries container, looks cute but couldn't understand how much more it cost on top of the meal, anyway I bought a samurai burger meal, up sized with the minions French fries container, think it just cost 10bht more. With my food and drinks, went back and put the juices in the mini fridge, ate a few fries. Relaxed and had a long shower to wash off all the fatigue. Ate hungrily and rediscovered how Macs fries do taste good. Downed two juices, a big coke. Later on more choc milk. It's nice to see the sun setting and the skies turning dark. The stadium opposite had morning jogger and in the evening, there were teams playing football and joggers too. I was contented to stay in. In my mind, I was mapping out tomorrow's plans, also some food to eat. But my feet were hurting, blisters, that I wasn't sure if I wanted to walk all the way to Thong Lor for Roast. I decided that the second outlet, being in a mall might be a better choice.

Day 4 (Sat) - Slowing down, Chatuchap & Phrom Pheng 

Things slowed down a bit for me, well cos I was having blisters on both feet from the 'touristy' walking about. My calves were ok but not my feet. But I travelled light so I had brought only one footwear. It wasn't meant for 15km of walking in a day.

I did the usual, eat up hearty breakfast. An even bigger serving of  my own mixed salad with more lettuce this time. Perfect balance. Only wished I could eat it more. After breakfast, I rested and then headed to Mo Chit, using BTS. This time I took from the Nat Stadium and did a changeover at Siam. And just sat until the end. I remembered how to go there from the previous trip with Quet. Being prepared, I wore shorts and a cotton top, cap, and brought along water. It was obvious how to go there. There were long lines of people, lots of different nationalities, heading in one direction. I hopped to the MRT to use the toilet, walked and headed there. It is not yet that hot but there were many people walking about. I kept my bag infront, on the shortest sling, hugging my front. So my valuables were safe. Also my bulk, extra cash and passport were in my money belt, just had more than enough in my wallet. I didn't have anything in mind, perhaps some fisher pants if the print wasn't too funky or too pricey.

I entered and almost all the shops were open and just started walking. I walked past lots of stalls. Nothing prompted much interest, partly cos I have limited luggage space. Already bought 3 bags and my gloves so I didn't have that much space left. Halfway through walking through half of the place, I would walk a lane then reach the end and go the next lane. At the middle, I came across the coconut ice cream. There were toe stalls so I just chose one and chose to eat the version in the coconut shell. It was very light and the nuts were aromatic and crunchy. Really very nice, with the coconut flesh. Wouldn't mind eating a whole bunch of it. But I refrained. I was planning to head to the second outlet of Roast, in Phrom Pheng for lunch and explore that area.

Walked and saw a wallet place. A flat wallet for 100bht and a bigger one is 120bht. Fitted what I had in mind. Bought two. Then I walked along and saw the funky fisher pants that reminded me of my Aladdin pants. Started asking for the price, went from 250bht ($10), straight to 220bht at another only if I buy 3... They were the plainer ones. Then I walked along and saw another shop that put up a sign 175bht, for the normal fisher pants. I saw the stall had more funky style Aladdin pants, at least 3 colors making up a pair. Asked the price, is 200bht ($8), already is cheaper than the earlier two stalls. I asked for a better price of I buy 2, she quoted me 350bht, which is just $7 per pair. I though, looked, touched some more then I settled and bought the baggy ones and not the plain fisher ones. Happy that I managed to buy something for myself. I was getting tired and decided to leave.

I went to the Mrt to use the toilet and then walked around the small underground mall that was like of otaku. Looking for my sister's request. But found nothing, though I saw a shop that offered a course on how to work leather and make bags and wallets. Then headed back and got off at Phrom Pheng BTS, went to the Helix to find Roast. I was looking forward to nice food but when I reached there, there was a really long queue of tourists. I was disappointed cos I was hungry then and as a single diner, it's kinda hard to get a seat. So I saw there's Greyhound but ti had a much shorter wait, one infront but I wasn't ready to wait. So I went walking about. Inside were all branded stuff so I headed outside to the streets. I saw from the BTS a bunch of Jap restaurants. I walked over, and most entered one but I wasn't sure if I felt like eating cold Jap food, after my mind was filled with thoughts of steak and all the meaty goodness. I took a pic or two and walked across the street cos there's another mall, Emporium. Also there were a bunch of street vendors for Thai food. I noticed the big contrast and irony... Surely present in every city. The posh branded malls, just beside it are the small older shops and Thai street vendors, the beggars. The tourists going to glitzy posh malls, the normal Thai people going to their norms, the Thai street food, the shops that caters and am most authentic amongst this shopping belt setting.

Inside the Emporium, it is more a dept stall style so a big area to walk through on the top floor. I headed to the top to look for food. And saw some. Was walking about thinking how it's very Jap. Cos there's is Jap supermarket. And I walked around and saw like a bunch of stalls. I walked into a food court like place except it's the Thai style where you get a card like Marchies and get your food charged to the card. Been in a couple with Quet in the previous trip. We had gone to the one in Central and Embassy. I didn't walk a full round. A quick glance. I saw more jap food compared to the other food court I had been. Wanted something light cos I might want to eat something else and quickly decided on pork Okonomiyaki.ordered one plus a set of salad and miso soup. 180bht + 50bht. The Okonomiyaki was very well-executed. Very crispy on the top, Lots of mayonnaise. Very very nicely done. I haven't tasted an authentic one but this is really a nice one except it was big and I was a bit ni by the 2/3 mark. Then I decided to head back to the hotel.

Took a train all the way to the Nat Stadium BTS and got out at the exit that had the Soontra stall. Bought 4 more and headed back. I did another dabao of the Macs. I got a fish fillet meal with upsize of the fries and Coke. Dropped everything and had a hot long shower. It's really a simple unadulterated joy to just exclaim a sigh of relief after downing a bottle of chilled juice. A delicious meal, and I am rediscovering the shiokness of eating Macs and Coke after a tiring day out. Then watched action movies and sipped coke.

It was nearing 8pm before I dragged myself out to Siam to look for dinner. Decided on Taling Pling cow had a delicious Thai meal last time with Quet in Central. In my first night of exploration, I noted that there is one branch in Siam. I got in and can see a surprised look when I say, table for one. But it was relatively empty then so no issue. I wanted a Phad Thai but they had no more... So sad but I ordered the prawn tom yam, and asked for recommendation. The waiter suggested the Fried chicken wings. So I had that. Plus ice milk tea.iwas glad I had eaten phad Thai from the street vendor in Soi Rambuttri then. And after tasting that very shiok Thai milk tea smoothie, theirs tasted a bit mild, but thrice the price, given its a restaurant. I would very much want to explore street food more in the future. The Prawn Tim yam always delicious but has a fiery after kick. I poured so much over my plate of rice, it was rice swimming in tom yam soup. Generous portion of fresh and large sized prawns. Bliss. And the fried chicken wings, was boneless, filled with a filling that consisted of pork, vermillion, cilantro, water chest nut and very nicely fried and moist. Delicious wings. My dinner was very satisfying and the priciest of my meals thus far, abt 550+ and tip ($25) but definitely worth it. Then I walked about Siam and headed back. Along the way I wanted to get a Mango ice blended but there was queue, so I didn't.  Drank more choc milk Nero.

Day 5 (Sun) - MBK, Siam, flight back

I had requested for late checkout, 1pm instead of 12pm. So after a heavy breakfast, I hung around until quite late then I headed out for lunch at MBK. Due to time cos I really slacked in the room too much, I opted for Jap. In a big but a bit empty Jap like canteen... I ordered a Salmon prawn like don. It has another name cos it came in a wooden container that looked like a bucket. The salmon slices were fresh. Fresher than what I would get in sg even at a higher price. Ate and went back to the hotel. I had already packed my bags earlier, so just enough time to double check, grab my bags, leave a small tip for the cleaners and check out. Left my bags there until 3pm. Got my Soontra juices, I walked to Siam. Still full but killing time. It was the last chance to go to Hello Kitty cafe but I didn't feel up to it. Plus it was the weekends so many tourists and locals up and about. More people so cafés harder. And I wasn't up for a cute dessert. Explored Siam Square part more and finally made it up to the top floor of Siam Paragon. Never went all the way up and there were many food places too. But I was tired and full. Had a seat and watched people passed and drank my final Soontra juice. Then went back to the hotel to pick up my bags.

Got on to the interchange to take the high speed rail with some hitch. The BTS was stuck for a while in two stations and it took more than ten mins to clear just that two cos of high usage? But it was not nice to be crammed and waiting for >10mins. Got to the platform and waited. I was a but concerned if I would be late. I reached the airport around 4.30pm and the flight was 5.45pm. The man at the flight counter told me to hurry cos immigration is a long passage away. Luckily he never weighed my two bags, bursting at the seams cos I squeezed everything in. Cos I weighed myself and it was 13+ kg, exceeding 10kg allowed for budget airline. The ride back was ok. And I arrived but was a bit nauseous so I opted to pay for a cab, after buying the alcohol. Got my Moms wine request and got Somerbys ciders for myself. Cambridge is expensive, $37... Luckily I save some taxi fare from my earlier rides using mrt, airport rail.

Thoughts:

This trip turned out very good. Did the shopping, the touristy sights, enjoyed every meal. Nothing was bad. Happy that I don't have to be a bodyguard to anybody except for myself. Of course I was very careful and vigilant (yet given the news of the bombing, just being careful would not prevent everything) and could assure my mom with Facebook and WhatsApp. A different sort of freedom that is refreshing but yet it invokes a different sort of loneliness. It is not always there but at the end of a day, after a hectic day out, back at the hotel. Just a brief moment, it does pop out. You are a stranger in a foreign land. Alone in a sea of thousands of people. The ones who care about you are in another country. Hope nothing bad happens cos you are alone in a foreign country. Luckily this feeling doesn't last long. Just comes as a random thought after a long day out. Another might be not too good to watch any scary ghost movies or trailers on TV while being alone in the room. I do hope to return to try out more of the delicious food, restaurants & street vendors, more massage (this entire trip I only did once, didn't feel sore to warrant more) and wear fisher pants, eat coconut ice cream, drink Thai milk tea and mango smoothies. I can definitely do solo in urban cities, not so much in the rural.

But with the sad and devastating bombing, it would be a while before can go back without worrying my family.

Crab buffet and lots of food weekend

After the previous crab dinner, at Punggol on grading day, guess crabs were still on my mind. Then when Chope sent a mail about crabs. What caught my eye was a crab buffet, with good variety and supposedly a good one in sg. An icing on the cake was an additional 25% discount if book through the app. Straight off, asked the rest if they were interested. Nailed a date for 4 pax. Something to look forward to.

I headed there after work. This year has been tough and I breathed a sigh of relief once I stepped out of the workplace and headed for dinner. I reached the starving and was soon joined by Tab. We were the first seated and could dig in.

The salmon sashimi was fresh and delicious. Had half a crab and alaska leg. It was cold and I was slightly worried if I ate more, it would trigger my cough. So I switched to a second counter. A small bowl of Tom yam with crab strips. A curry but I took the sauce cos the flower crab used was not worth the trouble to dig out the flesh. Ate with crisp and mantou. Also had 2 halves of the crab tempura with varoius sauces. The mango salsa was delicious. By then Quet joined us.

We continued eating. I went to take the Kway Pie Tee. Couldn't make a good one like what Tab did. Mine became a deconstructed pair. Didn't eat the laksa or the herbal one but Tab n Quet said they were good. I went for the chili crab and salted egg yolk. Ate them using hands and at times the crab flew out of my hands. The same for Quet. Luckily we were all wearing black and dark colors.

Halfway through, a lady staff appeared at our table with a bucket of potato wedges. I told her I didn't order that but she assured me it's complimentary. Coincidentally, Tab was just saying how all the savory dishes were making her crave for fries. Quet and Tab came back to the table and I told them, there's fries. They were surprised and I told them the story. Tab was very glad. Saying how God exists and works in miraculous ways. Indeed a very big coincidence. We dug in and I also mentioned that a male staff was asking if they could serve the complimentary Crab in a pan. I told him to wait until FH arrives. So at least he would have a warm dish.

FH arrived and dug in. Showing us how to eat Alasakan crab legs efficiently. I observed how he worked through the crab half. Very pro and efficient. I think I need more practice. The butter crabs were delicious. Light and moist. Quet went to look at the dessert and came back with durian penyat. We were all tempted except for Tab. We turned to dessert. I had a coffee latte then switched to breakfast tea to aid digestion. Ate more sashimi and a bit of the crab in the pan. I spotted Magnum mini in the chiller and told them excitedly. In the end, we all ate a mini bar each. I sipped more hot tea after every bite. Very fulfilling end except we were all super full.

Quet and I walked about to digest and later she dropped me at the train station. Tab and FH went off for foot massage. It was a nice way to start a long weekend.
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I ate a.... LOT during this long weekend. Put back the weight I lost. Oh well.

Ate a lot of leftovers from Sat to Sun. Stuff like using leftover rice to cook fried rice and tw the while thing. Later cooked instant noodles. Repeat. I cleared the fridge of the leftovers.
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After rejecting my Dad's offer to go to the food fair at the Expo. He asked if we wanted to go on Sat but my sis and I refused. My sis went out for volunteer work. I stayed home and dozed here and there. My dad went to the food expo by himself and later told us how nobody gave him a seat and how he had to stand for 2 hours and his legs felt weak. Kept raving about the thai shark fin soup, Or nee he bought. I kept dozing on and off. The fatigue and also the intense heat. My mom wanted me to take a cab and go fetch her friend from the KTM railway station but I declined. She wasn't feeling well. Later I felt bad and told her I will go. Fell asleep and when I woke, nobody was at home. It was supposedly take a taxi, fetch her friend and take a cab back. But it was not to be. I woke up and felt hungry. Made my own lunch from the leftovers. Fried rice. But by evening, 5pm nobody came back. Later my mom told me how how the train was delayed for over 2 hours. I declined the offer for dinner with mom and her friend and the friend's relatives. Ate dinner of instant noodles and bread with leftover meat.

Sunday, I headed out by late afternoon. Cooked fried rice leftovers for lunch. Had to go to Star hub to change the TV controller. I also checked out Marks & Spencer to look for work khaki pants but there was no sale. Not worth it to buy without. Very few of that style to buy too. So I went to the food section and bought $27 worth of cookies. Those with chocolate and toffee were heavenly. All sitting in the fridge. Ate one and very shiok. Had two dinners. One while in PS, the other is instant noodles again.

Monday, so bored and decided to be kinder to Dad. We offered to go with him to the food Expo. We lazed until 2.30pm. My dad drove there. We reached there and the crowd was quite thick. We headed to the dining part and managed to get a seat for dad rather quickly. Then I went to buy the food. We ate thai shark fin soup, satay, green mango salad, papaya salad, siew mai and tapioca. Later bought some food and headed home. The heat was bad but yesterday was worse.

As bored as I was, still better than work.