From breakfast to a boozy nightcap in Bangkok
When I have the opportunity to travel solo, I try to squeeze in an adventure day. My definition of an adventure day means I just do whatever I feel at the moment with limited planning and hardly a schedule to follow. In real life, my days are always packed with a full schedule. So taking it slow once in a while is such a luxury for me.
On my last full day in Bangkok, I decided to take myself on a breakfast date at Fran’s known for their brunch dishes. I ordered the salmon and avocado toast with cream cheese, where their sourdough bread is made in-house. The only downside to spending the day alone is that I can’t order as much food as I want. Thankfully, I had some friends arriving the next day. We decided to eat at Fran’s again before I flew out and so, I was able to try a lot more of their offerings. Their specialty is the bacon slab on a bed of scrambled egg and sourdough toast. We also ordered bacon pancakes, and full English breakfast with pork sausage, bacon, ham, baked beans, potatoes, sauteed mushrooms, and scrambled eggs. For dessert, we had the sticky date pudding.
Back to my adventure day, after having breakfast, I headed towards Chatuchak. The past few days I was in a hurry getting to my appointments, where I would book a Grab to get around. Since I had time, I decided to explore, I opted to ride the BTS Skytrain or the Bangkok Mass Transit System to get around. Chatuchak is a very touristy location; however, it was my first time to go there. The only reason I had to go was because my mom asked me to buy pillow cases for our sala. After several video calls with my mom, I ended up buying pillow cases, shawls, sarongs, and a canvas bag since it all couldn’t fit into the bag I already had. By that time, I was hungry, again.
I had one last item on the list I needed to get for my mom—sampaloc. Not just any kind of sampaloc; she had a specific brand that she wanted. I felt that instead of going around in the heat at Chatuchak, I would have better chances in the mall. But first, lunch. I made my way to Central World. A good friend of mine, Fatima Potenciano, recommended Thong Smith. Considering it was a very late lunch, there was a line to be seated. It was a quick line but I was starving.
Thong Smith is known for their Siamese boat noodles. They have preset boat noodles with or without soup to choose from, but you also have the option to customize your own bowl, including the spice level. They have different toppings to choose from, such as beef balls, offals, braised beef shank, tendon, and the more premium cuts such as Wagyu tenderloin and rib eye. You may also choose from a selection of noodles to customize your bowl, such as rice noodles, vermicelli, egg noodles, flat rice noodles, and even konjac noodles.
I ordered the D10 with Australian Wagyu rib eye, beef balls, braised shank with rice noodles, level 2 spicy, and Thai iced tea. It was honestly one of the best meals I’ve had in Bangkok. I even ordered an extra serving of rice noodles to finish off the soup. After lunch, I made my way to the grocery to get the sampaloc or sugar-coated tamarind candies for my mom. I then headed back to my hotel to freshen up before dinner.
For dinner, I met up with a family friend, Jah, at Charm Eatery and Bar along 124 Soi Sathorn 12, Silom, Bangrak. We had the deep-fried marinated pork belly for an appetizer, which was pretty much like chicharon, green curry with a puffy and light roti and the stir-fried crab rice. We spent the evening laughing and telling stories about our mothers who were classmates at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Growing up, Jah and I were into the same things. We were both gymnasts in our early years.
One visit to Bangkok, Mom and I made sure to catch up with Jah and her mom, Pimjai. We even watched one of Jah’s rhythmic gymnastics training sessions. Unfortunately, I wasn’t as graceful as her and rhythmic gymnastics was not yet well known in the Philippines then. In our teen years, we found out we both enjoyed musical theater. Jah has pursued her theater career and even studied in London. She now lives her dream and teaches theater, while performing for shows whenever she can.
After dinner, I decided to make the most of my day. I rode a tuktuk, just for the experience, for a nightcap at Vesper, an award-winning cocktail bar. They have been part of Asia’s Best 50 Bars from 2016 to 2025, this year ranking #29. Last year, they also made it to the World’s Best Bars at #85. They have a selection of cocktails for every palate, such as sweet and dessert, short and boozy, fresh and fizzy, sweet and sour and, of course, the vespers. Service was fantastic, and I was well attended to. Sitting at the bar put me where the action was and allowed me to chit-chat with the team behind the bar. What a great way to cap off the trip!
