who's the king? dosa king!

on a random exploration into nana chard to find indian food, dosa king caught my eye.
for one, it's rarer to find restaurants that serve south indian food, and for two, especially one that specifically announces its dosa. dosas inevitably remind me of one of my old roommates' mom, who would always make dosas for us whenever we stayed over. dosas are large, thin, crispy, savory crepes that may or may not have filling (usually a potato bhaji) and served with sambars and chutneys. dosa king had a pretty good regular masala dosa that was especially crispy, had good sambars with it (i think one was a yogurt and one was a lentil), and a mildy spiced potato/onion bhaji. very homey.
lexie and i also ordered their vegetable korma (creamy, comforting vegs), kabuli channa (tomato based chickpeas dish), and garlic naan (buttery and garlicky enough)."
bev-wise, i had the badaam milk, a pain i subjected my-lactose-intolerant-self to because of its deliciousness: mildly sweet, almond milk spiced with cinnamon and cardamom. lexie got a creamy, tropically mango lassi that was also delightful.

badaam milk, mango lassi, and dosas with sambars.

vegetarian north & south indian food. about 150B/dish; about 100B/drink.
located @ 153/7 sukhumvit soi 11/1
and for all you web-savvy: www.dosaking.net

serithai park

so, i'm discovering that bangkok has all these parks tucked back in sois that you need to be a little savvy to find (or have a friend who runs a lot).
sirithai park flanks a canal/khlong that you could walk along for around 2 hours, i've heard. in the park, it's wider so that it's more like a lake. it's got some nice gazebos, paved paths, and plenty of carpety-grass for picnicking (i strongly suggest an isaan picnic).
plus, like any good bangkok-ian park, it has tai chi in the mornings, draka courts, evening dance-aerobics. downside is if you want to play soccer - none allowed on the pristine grass.

located on Serithai Soi 43, (about 200m into the soi) across from the Bueng Kum District Office.

In high school my favorite week of the year was Spirit Week, when everyone dressed up in different themes for each day. In Bangkok, every week is Spirit Week. But its not like high school where you can be Too Cool or Indie to participate. Here it is SO COOL to participate! This is the most spirited city! That said, I have to say--- my strongest recommendation for Bangkok so far (in my 5 days here) would be for this: Holidays.

Holidays are awesome!! Here is a short list of reasons why.
1) Everyone has off work!
2) Themes!! Such as decorations and spirited clothing/jewelry/patches.
3) Races. Who doesn't love a road race?
4) Special songs. :-)
5) Food and treats
6) Kids performances!
7) Balloons.
8) Fireworks and other firey things

All of these things were featured on the King's Birthday, December 5th!! The day included waves of yellow, candlelight ceremony, Thai dancing, beer and lots and lots of sanuk. I can't wait for the next holiday.