On the trial of Dim Sum...

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In an effort to subdue the desire for Dim Sum, we venture to Siam, shopping paradise and food mecca. After spotting the Dim Sum restaurant, we decide to build up an appetite by trying a couple of shopping malls. Both the Siam Centre and Siam Discovery Centre have had a slight facelift, shops have come and gone, but Starbucks (where I’m currently sat) and Habitat are still here. We also have a wander around the Siam Paragon Centre, a flashy glass, marble and gilt shopping centre. It’s deceptively quiet on the ground floor and packed with shops like Chanel, Bulgari, Hermes, Armani and other stupidly expensive boutiques. We decide to venture into the basement where there is a food hall (yes, I know it’s always the food). The Paragon has probably the biggest and busiest food hall and food court I’ve ever seen. Every type of culinary delight is available here, from spectacular sushi at Kabuki (I’d need a second mortgage to eat here) to Subway. We wander around, mouths watering promising to return.

We leave the Paragon for our Dim Sum fix. By now I’m ravenous and when given the menu go a little mad, the guy behind the counter can’t stop laughing. We take a seat and after about five minutes twelve bamboo steamers are crammed onto our table. There’s a table of six school children next to us, they have five steamers between them! Kev and I happily munch our way through a ridiculous amount of dumplings. I ask how much we’ve spent, 1,500 bhat (£22) he tells me, oops. He’s joking, the bill is in fact a paltry 244 bhat (£3.40) including drinks, if only Ping Pong were as cheap as this!

We head off to MBK for some extra shopping, but after a morning walking miles we only manage a couple of floors for me to check out the bags, then head off back to the Skytrain and our hotel for a much needed shower.

Tonight we stay local with a trip to Yok Yor a Chinese seafood restaurant on the riverside. After waiting half an hour for a boat across the river we’re seated and enjoy some fabulous Karaoke. Songs that I recognise but can’t understand. We order the usual Tom Yam soup and some other dishes, amongst them yellow crab curry. I’ve been told that yellow crab curry is not to be missed and I can confirm it’s delicious. Kev gives up on it as there is too much shell for him, but I carry on determined to suck out every last bit.

We promise ourselves that tomorrow we are going to sort out some tours for the rest of the week, we have spent enough time acclimatising.

Pictures will follow when i get them back off the camera..

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