Monday, October 29, 2018

THE TWO SHOPS AT NARADHIWAT

The dining options have significantly narrowed down to three choices ever since Oxfam kept Chatrium Sathon as its official hotel in Bangkok: Charlie Brown's which is the nearest to the hotel, or either the Ter Sap Woey Shop or Chiagkhong which are a 280-meter walk to the Naradhiwat Rajanagarindra Road.

The Ter Sap Woey Shop has always been the first option and Charlie Brown's the last, but the "cleaner" and snug atmosphere of Chiangkhong has been drawing us recently specially when we found out that its price is comparable to that of Ter Sap Woey Shop and its food is in fact more appetizing.

So it was at Chiangkong where I opted to welcome with my Line Manager my second straight week in Bangkok, dining on crunchy Morning Glory (aka ginisang kangkong), the nearly perfect omelette and a really great dish of spicy stir-fried pork as we caught up on the preparations for and possible scenarios from our ASEAN Influencing Workshop. 


I like Chiangkhong so much that since I'm calling the shots for the reception dinner, I took the team there for a spread of sun dried pork which turned out dry, surprisingly juicy fish cakes, that Morning Glory, stir-fried chicken with cashew that Art said is as Thai as him, and a superbly steamed sea bass althought the fish is not actually sea bass, all selected by me under the guidance of the head waiter who smelled of Rexona deodrant, and who was finally able to distinguish between brandy and whiskey.     


Overall, we had a good workshop and started celebrating that with what was left from the reception dinner's bottle of Thai whiskey as we went through debriefing after which we decided to make "hugas" at the Ter Sap Woey Shop for a change where a solemn Madam Proprietor informed us that selling alcohol is not allowed on Chulalongkorn Day.

I was so "bitin" which was somewhate assuaged by a perfecty grilled Ruby Fish [glamorized tilapia] and a few minutes later, the Mekong Ladies who were not able to get into the free shuttle to Asiatique showed up and vent their frustration on a rather large snakehead fish [dalag]. 




And that was Chiangkhong and Ter Sap Woey Shop along Naradhiwat, our regular source of sustenance in the boring neigborhood of the Chatrium which is actually a good hotel specially after I finally got introduced to its well-equipped gym where I heaved and boxed in the nine mornings of October that I stayed there.     


I finally went home after 11 hellish days in Bangkok right into a birthday party in Bakal 2, a day before Bulan arrived from Iloilo, and three days before Sunday where we fulfilled our duties to the Craft. 


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