Ok, so before this blog gets stagnant again, lemmie share with you some pictures from my recent press trip to Bangkok!

~Proudly sponsored by the good rice people at Golden Phoenix~

DAY ONE

After touching down, we were immediately whisked away to our hotel to unload and then off to brave the hideous Bangkok jam before arriving at our destination - The ABC Cooking School

Thats me being the chef's assistant, only because I was being sabo-ed by the rest! Geez. That is what happens when you're the youngest. Hurhur.

Gayle, from Food & Travel, got it too. Haha. She had to peel prawns!



Two dishes we learnt how to cook - Thai-style Fried Rice & Pineapple Rice with Seafood




Two dishes we actually cooked - Tom Yam Kung and Sticky Rice with Mango (done sushi style)



Josephine, from Se Xiang Wei, and myself with our Tom Yam Kung (and holding up the prawns I helped to shell. heh.)

And here's us posing with our packets of Golden Phoenix rice before leaving the cooking school. Haha! It felt so weird, like we were mini-celebrities. When we first arrived at the school, there were tons of people around, constantly taking our pictures. I really can't imagine how uncomfortable and exposed celebrities must feel...
From L to R: Our guide, Jen Lee (The New Paper), Ambiga (NTUC Lifestyle), Me, Gayle (Food & Travel), Josephine (Se Xiang Wei), Kenny (Mileage PR) our cooking instructor, Bonnie (Golden Phoenix Rep), Z (Chinese Gourmet Magazine...Gah...Can't remember the name!)

The cooking class ended later than planned and we were caught in the insane rush-hour traffic on our way to the Siam Niramit show. By the time we arrived, we only had time to empty our bursting bladders and find our seats in the ginormous theater. We completely missed the buffet dinner that we were supposed to enjoy before the show!

Too bad we weren't allowed to take pictures during the show. It was pretty spectacular with all the sounds, special effects, flying around (yes! FLYING!), songs and dance. It helped that I went for SE2101 because a lot of the performances were based on traditional Thai folk stories.

I did manage to take pictures outside though, albeit not the most interesting. Haha!



Elephant! I love animals!



Heehee. Yet another 'elephant'.



The words read "The stage of SIAM NIRAMIT is certified by GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS as the highest in the world". No kidding. They need the height for all that flying around!

(To find out more about the show, click HERE)

The entire show took about 1 hour 45 minutes. By the time all of us fought with the crowds to got out of the theater, collect our cameras (we had to deposit our cameras! so strict one...), find each other among the hordes of mainly ang mo tourists, we were absolutely starving!

So we all voted to go for a much needed late night supper. So we told the driver to take us somewhere to eat. So we all got into the van.
Guess what. It took the driver about 45 minutes to get us to our dinner destination. I mean. How hard is it to find food in Thailand??! Street food is EVERYWHERE!
Geez.

Finally, we ended up at a popular chicken rice place.



Pork rib & bittergourd soup + duck & black mushroom soup + lotsa chilli sauce



Chicken! I can't really tell you if it was good or not because I was hungryyyyy. The piece of chicken blood was untouched by the ladies at my table. Instead, it was promptly sent over to the other table and eaten up happily by Z!



This is what you get when you order cold water. Despite the brownish tint (i'm guessing due to tea leaves or smthg) it just tastes like plain ol' water.



The Full Feast!

After satisfying our tummies, finally, we arrive back at The Hotel Intercontinental.



The Study and Sitting Area



The huge comfortable bed - Just to prove how huge the bed was, when I slept on the left side, I woke up in the morning the find the right side still neatly straightened and folded, the door hanging thingies didn't move an inch either!



Close up of the study area.



Complimentary kiwi fruits! Too bad I didn't have the time to enjoy them. If they gave fruits that didn't need peeling, I might have gotten round to eating them!

And that's all for Day one. Stay tuned for more!

(: