16th Episode of Bangkok days and Nights

I had forgotten to include two pictures from yesterday; one shows a typical shrine at a corner of a soi in Suanplu and the other an apartment block nearby.


Thursday 22nd July 2006 continued:
Adam was having a night out with the boys from his office, so we had a prawn stew and settled down to watch ‘Walk the Line’ starring Reese Witherspoon and Joachim Phoenix. We all enjoyed the film very much especially Sheila and I because some many of the tunes were very familiar from our teen age years. Sheila and I were particularly impressed with Reese Witherspoon and her portrayal of June Carter, before seeing her in this film we had the impression, from women’s magazines that perhaps she was just one of the Hollywood bimbos. We revised our opinion completely and believe that she thoroughly deserved the Oscar for her performance. Joachim we thought was weak by comparison, but conceded that Johnny Cash was a ‘huge’ figure to try and portray.
Friday 23rd July 2006
This was another of our typical days involving Pilates and swimming with excursions to buy the Bangkok Post and feed the dogs. Friday afternoon/evening we watched another film starring Reese Witherspoon, ‘Legally Blonde’ and had a lot of laughs and decided that we should also see ‘Legally Blond II’, hoping that it does not suffer the normal curse of the sequel. Dinner was cashew chicken with ginger and other herbs and spices, “oh the trials set by a gourmand housekeeper.
Saturday 24th July 2006
The brevity of these notes are a result of me just trying to recall the days without any notes and my memory is not what it should be, I think.
Despite her wound in her foot Rosalind and Sheila decided that they needed some retail therapy while I walked to the French pastry shop to get some Danish pastries, why they are not called Danish pastry shops is one of life’s mysteries.
Adam and I went to the gym where I pushed myself to do eighty laps while Adam had a good work out with his personal trainer. When Adam and got back to the apartment we sat down to watch another movie ‘Groundhog day’ starring Bill Murray, it seemed a bit eerie to watch again a movie about a day that keeps being repeated. But we still enjoyed it very much laughing at bits we remembered and those that we had not.
Sheila and Rosalind struggled in from shopping, Rosalind with her sore foot and Sheila with a number of blisters as she wore her new shoes, but was pleased with the fact that her knees and back were not aching, and this proved the worth of the design of her ‘Earth’ shoes. Sheila had brought me a ‘Jim Thompson’ black polo shirt that I am very pleased with, the cotton is very soft and smooth, sort of matches my personality.
Rosalind had booked dinner at 2000 at the ‘New York Steak House’ in the ‘Marriott’ hotel. Rosalind had also bought a bottle of champagne to celebrate Adam exceeding his profit budget for the financial year by 32%. We drank champagne on the balcony watching the sunset over the Bangkok sky-line, and at 2000 Rosalind telephoned the hotel and said that we were on our way and had been delayed by traffic. We left the apartment soon afterwards with Adam driving and a surprising lull in the traffic we got to the restaurant at about 2040. As we approached the restaurant we noticed two Thai dancers performing in one of the coffee rooms. Their costumes were exquisite from the gold pointed caps to their heavy gold embroidered jackets and skirts. If one can imagine the most glorious costumes from ‘The King and I’ then you will be able to picture the scene. Their movements seem to require a gentle dislocation of their shoulders and fingers yet performed with such grace it is truly awe inspiring in the beauty of the dancers and their movements.
The corridor to the New York Steak House is a floor of black marble along which stretches a reflection pool with open water lilies floating tranquilly on its surface.
The appropriate single adjective for the New York Steak House is Elegance with the capital ‘E’. Our table was in fact four tables put together each of them a metre square and covered by thick white line tablecloths. Our chairs were high wing backed chairs upholstered in black silk with very deep, but firm cushioning with a black silk bolster to cradle the curve of one’s spine. The carpet is so deep and plush that as you put your foot down it is embraced by the carpet and gently caressed as you lift your foot to take the next step. I normally expect the most elegant restaurant to be staffed by waiters who provide unobserved but most appreciated service. In this case we were attended by about six Thai ladies performing different tasks all of them in subdued black and tan outfits that were suitably conservative, but complemented their modest smiles that displayed very white teeth and large almond eyes. Although each of our tables was large we had no difficulty in carrying on our conversations as there was a gratifying absence of any background music and the décor dampened out the sound of any other diners who were nearby. Adam selected an American wine from the Nappa valley, one which they had enjoyed in the Nappa valley on a visit a couple of years ago.
I was pleased that soon after we were seated a wooden platter was placed in the centre of the tables on which was a ceramic dish containing four different small loaves of bread. The loaves had all been cooked together so it was a bit like ‘pull-apart’ bread, but they were very different and exquisite and not really what one should call small, “I do like good bread”.
For entrée Sheila had Crab cakes, Rosalind had a Caesar salad, which was prepared fresh at the side of the table by one of the young ladies looking after us. I opted for ten escargots in garlic butter; they were presented on a round plate with ten depressions in the plate so that each snail was in its own bath of warm garlic butter. In the middle was three large pieces of toasted bread to act as little alters on which to sacrifice the escargot to my palate. Adam had a crab meat salad for his entrée and American Beef Tournedos for his main course, Sheila ‘Surf and Turf’ a huge lobster tail with an eight ounce American fillet mignon. Rosalind an eight ounce fillet mignon while I settled on a ‘mixed grill’ a huge tray presented over a framework of three tea-lights. The mixed grill included a piece of fillet mignon, some lamb cutlets, a pork steak and a very large tomato au gratin surrounded by a large serving of buttered button mushrooms. When given the option I agreed that we needed another serving of the small loaves, and this was my undoing as I sadly record that I was not able to even sample the lamb cutlets and only half of the pork This is not consistent with my usual performance when I ensure that ‘my plate is licked clean’. While dissecting the bread I scattered bread crumbs across the table, and at least four times one or other of the young ladies would appear with a silver backed brush and silver dustpan to groom the table. Adam ordered another bottle of red even though I was still enjoying the first bottle. After Adam had ‘approved’ the wine it was decanted and a measure provide for each of us in another glass.
About a minute later one of the young ladies lowered her head to whisper in my ear “I am very sorry sir, I may have caused you some inconvenience, I have served the second wine in the same type of glass as the first wine and it may cause you some concern, would you like me to transfer it to a different glass?”
“No it’s not a problem just leave them as they are,” I replied impressed with her discreet and solicitous demeanour.
The walls of the New York Steak House are hung with sepia prints of scenes of New York that is again an example of the understated elegance that is an important part of the ambience.
Rosalind and I were the only two who ordered a dessert both of us opting for the American cheese cake; I had my second wind by this stage and find it hard not to try the cheesecake. I was not disappointed and we all finished with our various elections of teas and coffees.
We arrived at the apartment at about 0030 having enjoyed an exquisite dinning experience rather than ‘dinner out’. When reflecting on the evening the only small thing I would change is the name of the venue; ‘The New York Steak House’ for me is not a name that conjures up an image that the location provides. My mind wandered through various options: ‘The New York Steak Mansion’, ‘The New York Steak Palace’ each thought seemed crasser than the one before. No the problem was the word ‘steak’ it just has to go, even though it is the signature item on their menu. ‘The New Yorker Restaurant’ I believe communicates more effectively the cosmopolitan aplomb with which delivers it’s very ‘fine fare’.
Sunday 23rd July
Again I just managed to beat the buzzer and proclaim a “good morning” to the others as they completed their breakfasts and we prepared for our various sessions at the gym. I did my usual seventy-six laps I think. It poured with rain at one stage and I lost count as I moved my towels into cover in one of the sala that surround the pool area.
Rosalind and Adam prepared a pumpkin soup for dinner that provided some relief from the excesses of the previous night and was excellent.
Sheila has just finished reading the book that our neighbour Bette Paterson gave to me it is called ‘This Thing of Darkness’ written by Harry Thompson. It is not often that one is able to name a book that has been enjoyed equally by a husband and a wife; this book is one of them and a book that we both heartily recommend.