Entries Tagged 'Bangkok' ↓

Don’t let the sight of green goo oozing out of your pastry make you lose your appetite- it’s just pandan cream. A tropical plant with long green leaves, pandan is used in Southeast Asia to flavor many different foods and drinks. Called ‘Thai vanilla’, it has a sweetness that lends itself particularly well to making desserts. One of the most popular uses in Bangkok is to make it into a rich green pandan custard, which can be eaten inside rolls (like in the above photo), or slathered over toasted white bread.

A sign outside of Wat Phra Kaew at Bangkok’s Grand Palace points the way to the Emerald Buddha, one of the holiest icons in all of Thailand. Though, given the crowds of tourists that line up to see it, you probably won’t need the sign to help you find it.

This shop at Bangkok’s Grand Palace stocks all the tourist essentials: film, batteries, and, importantly for a sweltering Bangkok day, cool towels.

With knock-offs of the famous ‘I am not a plastic bag’ tote becoming the latest fashion trend in Bangkok, the days of getting a plastic bag for every item bought at 7/11 may soon be a thing of the past. But while this conservation fad will hopefully cut down on unnecessary waste, there’s one job plastic bags will still have to perform. Rather than serve their iced-tea or orange soda in plastic cups, sidewalk drink vendors in Bangkok often opt instead for using a plastic bag. They scoop in some ice, pour in the drink, and insert a straw. And while it may not be terribly stylish, it is actually less wasteful than buying your drink in an individual aluminum can or a plastic bottle.

Not Pepsi One, not Miranda Cream Soda, not even Coca Cola classic… the soda that the spirits of Bangkok resoundingly prefer is sugary pink Fanta. But whether it’s because they like the fruity flavor or that the pastel color matches their sticks of incense is a mystery.

Though the grilled herb-marinated pork at this floating market stand was delicious, there may have been other factors drawing the largely male clientèle.

Catch sight of one of these carts out of the corner of your eye, and you may think you’ve just been passed by a moving forest. Vendors push these nurseries-on-wheels around Bangkok’s sidewalks, hoping to pass an interested buyer. From four-wheeled carts, they sell ferns, flowers, and leafy palms. Though you may have trouble squeezing past them on the sidewalk, they certainly help keep the streets of Bangkok looking green.

One of the most unusual (and most popular) snacks available on the sidewalks of Bangkok are freshly made Belgian waffles. Armed with a mobile waffle iron and plastic pitchers of dough, vendors serve these golden treats at any hour of the day. But don’t worry about the lack of maple syrup- these waffles are flavored with a distinctly Thai ingredient: kernels of sweet yellow corn, a Thai dessert staple.

Thai Spirit Houses are usually inhabited by plastic models of apsara dancers, and adorned with offerings of food and fresh flowers. Why this one has a plastic truck parked outside is a little unclear.

One of the most dazzling sights at Bangkok’s Grand Palace are the murals that line the inner walls Wat Phra Kaew. Depicting the Ramakian, the Thai version of the Hindu epic the Ramayana, they sparkle in lucid shades of gold, crimson, and turquoise. Though the temple is over 200 years old, they’re so dazzling that they look as if they were painted last year- probably because, in fact, they were. The murals at Wat Phra Kaew are under continuous restoration – as soon as the entire length of the mural has been repainted, the artists return to the beginning and start again. As Thailand’s holiest site, the temple has to look its best, after all.