relax. you're in koh chang

koh chang
this is just to try to lure you to go to koh chang. oh, what great fun!

getting to koh chang from bangkok: you have to get out of bangkok sometimes. fortunately, it's not hard to find beautiful places in thailand. koh chang is easy to get to: via air (fly into "trat"), van (pickup at khao san rd.), private car (you're on your own with that), or AC bus (oh so many options).

we took a 5-hr bus ride to koh chang from bangkok's ekkamai station (473B roundtrip), which i recommend. buses also pick up at suvarnabhumi airport, mochit (northern bus terminal). try to take a bus to go to laem ngob or the center point pier and you won't have to pay for a taxi/songtaew like if you got off at trat.
you have to hop on a ferry out one of 3 piers, which runs every hour and costs 30B for 40-min ride to the island of koh chang. here's a helpful webby for the all transpo options possible to get to koh chang. i love the internet.

my recs for fun things:
khlong plu waterfall: about a 1 km hike in from the entrance, you reach a crispy, chilly waterfall with 2 swimmable pools. you definitely want to jump in the water after you hike up to the falls. great 2-3 hour excursion. if you're into hiking, you can take a 10km (ish) trail from khlong plu waterfall to tharn mayom waterfall.

baan chang offers elephant rides, trekking through the forest or along the river (you can bathe the elephants). 1 hr is 500B, 2 hrs is 900B. you don't trek that far, but they give you a good chunk of time either riding on the bench on the back of the elephant or riding on its neck. how often do you get to ride on an elephant? baan chang seems to try to take good care of the elephants, too, which is always a bonus. (on Klong Prao Rd. T: 084-863-8185, 081-761-1554)

unless you have a tried and true iron stomach, do not go on a day-long boat trip. every time i have been on one of these, someone has always thrown up and multiple people get seasick. if you can get a boat just to take you to one to three stops and hang out for a long time at an island, i think it's the best way to go. renting a speedboat for a full day runs around 7000-9000B. My recs are for koh nok, koh mak, and koh thong lang. koh nok is a tiny little island that has great reefs for snorkeling.
koh mak has the most beautiful white sand and crystal-clear water. and i swear it smells like fresh laundry and can feel incredibly serene (if there aren't other groups of people coming, too). stay as long as you possibly can.
koh thong lang has amazing coral and is packed with sea life. an island slightly larger than koh nok, it offers more fish and sea stuffs to snorkel through than koh nok, though it's also further from the main island of koh chang.

accommodations:
it's easy to find lodging in koh chang smack on the beach for all budgets. your best bet is to internet search for hotel deals. string of hotels along klong prao beach and white sand beach. backpacker hotspot at lonely beach.
we found a half-price deal for koh chang paradise resort and spa on the klong prao beach which has cute little bungalows at different ranges (their highest level has individual pools and are constructed in a blend of traditional thai and american southwest styles. oh, if i had money...

sometimes i like being a lady

witch's tavern

hands down, the best thing about the witch's tavern is their wednesday lady's night. it makes me proud to have two glorious X chromosomes to partake in opportunities like this (i.e. free booze). every wednesday 5pm-9pm, all ladies drink free from a selected menu (chang beer & well drinks). it is oh-so-satisfying to receive your bill at the end of the night with a long list of zeros. i like the look of this place: a distinctly southern, 2-story pale yellow mansion with bar seats, tables, booths, and couches - sit wherever your butt desires. a great bangkok bar/pub with an drool-inspiring expansive menu (tapas to burgers to chinese to thai) but will take a formidable chunk out of your wallet and sadly not that good. judging from the menu, it really seems like their food would be good, but don't expect much.
their spanish tapas (240B) were mundane and bland comprising chorizo, a few olives, garlic mussels, and toast. eddie's burger (290B) was decent: hearty portion, on a good homemade bun, but too salty and over-seasoned and dry. margherita pizza (220B) was just a normal thin-crust cheese pizza with dried basil sprinkled on top. and do not be tempted by the apple&blackberry crumble (170B) which was just warmed-up apple chunks and a couple blackberries mixed with a bland vanilla pudding and handful of semi-sweet crumbs. food = disappointing.

one thing that makes witch's tavern stand out among bangkok bars is its extensive cocktail menu with old faves and new twists. as tasty and as interesting as they sound, i have yet to try such an expensive drinky.

the bar island floats in the middle of the large 2 story room with seating surrounding. not great ambience for having conversations (it's pretty loud), but nice to chill and listen to the jazz band. outdoor seating available (i.e. get your own drink at the bar and drink it outside).

oh and all you bingo-lovers: free bingo on wednesday nights. one round at 11pm, jackpot anywhere between 3000B-15,000B.
happy hour 5-8pm: buy one local beer, get one free.

witch's tavern. thonglor btw soi 8 & 10. hours 11am-1am.
tapas 140-280B, farang mains 240-390B, thai mains 140B, sushi/sashimi 100-350B, desserts 120-180B
beers & cocktails 90-300B.
webby: www.witch-tavern.com

you'd better stretch beforehand

oishi buffet

can you handle the intensity of a 1 hr 45 min buffet? this type of gastronomic challenge requires an iron will, a sharp mind, and lightning agility to sprint your way through mountains of food. i was seriously running.

oishi buffet is the inspiration for all japanese buffet restaurants in bangkok and it's easy to see why. they've got sushi, shashimi, salads (bar and premade), shabu shabu/hot pot, grill & mongolian bbq to order, fish and stir-fries made to order, soups, gyoza, tempura, duck, hand rolls, fruit, shaved ice, frozen yogurt (including green tea!), cakes and pastries. served with a range of beverages including teas, coffees, sodas or for a little extra: beer, other bottled soft drinks. unfortunately for me, i'm chinese, and have the "getting your money's worth" gene, which forces me to try everything and eat as much as possible. i was hurting afterward; though, a good kind of hurt.

the big standout in my opinion is their mongolian bbq grill (made to order) with their korean-seasoned meat and a pretty large spread of sushi rolls. everything else is good, but pretty average. it's just awesome because you get SO MUCH OF IT.

don't get overzealous, though, it's "all you can eat but pay for what you don't" meaning that if you have too much leftover, you're paying for it. mind what time you go, too, since 5-9p is the most expensive rounding out to 499B (and they add on a 17% service and tax charge). the cheapest time is from 2:30-4:30p at 399B.

oishi buffet. thonglor soi 10. (other outlets at phaholyothin soi 19 and siam discovery 2nd floor)
hours 11a-10p. 499B (+17% service/tax) per person. 02-714-8760

webby: http://www.oishigroup.com/brand_oishi_brand_eng.html

sweet oasis

ann's sweet

parched. so parched. must. find. air. conditioning...preferably with lattes.
finding an aircon cafe in the banglumpu/kao san area was a little harder than i expected. poo on those hippies and their preference for balmy bungalow cafes.

ann's sweet was such a nice, climate-controlled little bakery and coffee shop to duck into before the rained poured. situated at the bend between phra athit and phra sumen, across the street from santichaiprakan park (prasumen fort), this bakery has really great pastries. because of its tiny size (about 4 square tables), i asked where the pastries came from and was surprised to find that the owner and namesake of the shop bakes them all herself in the back. she's actually still a culinary student and is making desserts as she learns them.
i was very impressed with her cute, mini strawberry cheesecakes (120B) with a strawberry cheesecake layer (as opposed to a strawberry topping), which were deliciously velvety and rich, and pleased to find a little pineapple blended into it. i like that she twists an original just a tad. paired with a full-bodied lavazza latte (60B), i was set to wait out the downpour.
the only downside is that the seating isn't exactly what i would call "comfortable." blocky, wood furniture with tables that have a shelf underneath the glass top, holding a lot of fun and entertaining magazines, but also making about 3 inches of space between the chair and table for your legs. don't expect them to fit. they won't.

her other pastries include a triple chocolate mousse (120B), brownies (25B), and trifles (80B) among other things. full lavazza coffee menu and an extensive selection of teas.
don't feel like pastries? have some of their iberry ice creams.

ann's sweet. thanon phra athit, across from santichaiprakan park (fort phrasumen), banglumpu.
hours 5am-8pm (8:30p on weekends). 06-889 1383

books a la cosmopolitan

skoob bookstore

tucked on the second floor of 'penny's balcony' stripmall on thonglor, skoob packs its small space with an impressive amount of new and used english & japanese books. unfortunately, i can't comment on the japanese literature available, but the english selection has a fair number of fiction and non-fiction, popular and slightly more obscure titles. though, if you're looking for something specific, it may be more difficult to find. and as a plus, all the used books i looked at were in good-as-new condition.
there's a jazz-flavored cd corner. it literally is a corner, but i was actually surprised with what albums they had - a mix of world, folk, indie, experimental. and they've got some funky, thai-cut tote bags for sale that are a livelihood project for rural areas.

and for all you caffeine-addicts, stay all day if you like: lavazza coffee & cookies available. seating sparse, though.
skoob. thonglor soi 16 (2nd fl. of "penny's balcony")

webby: www.skoob-bkk.com (it's a great ordering site for such a small shop)

book smart books mart bookmark

bookmark

a trendy 2-story independent bookstore in thonglor (in "the 3rd place"). one of the most interesting features is the "tribute" to the owner painted on the 2nd floor. i think i'm much more used to bookstores with anonymous, nerdy, wallflower-type owners.
the 1st floor is mainly thai books the owner has chosen, covering a wide range of interests. the 2nd floor stocks books and mags that are more geared to the creative/design reader (art, architecture, design, fashion, etc.); very pretty and engrossing.

it's got good ambience: it's quiet, it's well-lit, there's several choices for seating, and nice views out onto the patio garden. plus, the location in "the 3rd place" is super convenient with coffee shops, internet, cozy seating. i can be there all day in this literary oasis. bookmark. thonglor soi 10 (on the 1st floor of "the third place" complex). hours 10am-9pm.

big beefy american

the garage bar and grill

ah, the elusive american beef burger in bangkok. can't all restaurants just make a decent, all-beef, easy-on-the-mayo, grilled burger?
from its burger aptitude, we definitely knew the garage was a restaurant owned by someone american, or at least someone very proficient in american culture. i mean, we were asked how well we wanted it cooked. the garage has a wide smattering of good-sized beef, veggie, and other meat burgers that come with steak fries and coleslaw (~180+B). my "down under aussie burger" came with a fried egg and beets - i'm such a sucker for eggs and beets. in addition, they've got other american fare (pastas, pizzas, corndogs, etc.) and lunch specials for 99B.

the decor of the garage must be mentioned. old car seats line the wall, hand-painted denim jackets with celebrity profiles, english mags and books piled on coffee tables, and a shady balcony patio.
poo boonthanakit, the brains behind the restaurant, moved to ny as a kid, struggled as an artist there (he paints the denim jackets himself - he'll gladly show you his portfolio, too), moved back to bangkok after 21 years, and started the garage.

other fyi:
happy hour 3-7p. buy any 2 drinks and get 1 free. free popcorn and chips&salsa (no refills)
live music playing american covers. the garage bar and grill. 7th floor of central world plaza (original location at All Seasons Place Retail Center, 2nd fl. - near US embassy)
open daily 11a-10p; sat 12p-10p

webby: www.thegaragebkk.com