[Day 3] Exploring Siam Ocean World, Bangkok

Siam Ocean World is one of the largest two-storeys in-door aquarium in Southeast Asia which is located at the basement of Siam Paragon Shopping Mall in Bangkok. The exhibit is divided into 7 zones with individually designed theme and apart from its recreational options, it also proves a very good learning center for kids too.

With our Day 3 schedule packed with fun at Siam Ocean World, afternoon tea at Agalico and cruise dinner on board Chao Phraya Princess, I am sure you will be excited to follow us through the posts and read about our experience in those places.

Kimbap - 김밥

Kimbap (김밥) is a popular Korean dish/finger food made from steamed white rice (bap) together with various other ingredients and rolled in seaweed sheet (gim/kim), sliced and served in bite-size. Often kimbap is prepared as one of the picnic food or eaten as light lunch with together with kimchi.

While doing some read up on Kimbap, I also learn that although it might look similar to Japanese sushi roll but their rice are actually seasoned with sesame oil rather than rice vinegar which is commonly found in Japanese sushi rice.

BULGOGI KIMBAP

Above was my first Kimbap inspired by my IG (Instagram) friend, @honeybeesweets88 who always whip up mouth-watering dishes and bakes for her family. And since I am looking for some Korean flavour, I wrapped my version with Bulgogi, spinach, carrot, egg and kimchi, whereas for my kid's non-spicy version, I use kani (crab stick), egg, cucumber and carrot.

(Serves: 3-4  | Preparation: 15 minutes | Cooking: 10 minutes)

Ingredients:

• 3 Cups Uncooked Short Grain Rice, rinse and soaked
• 1 - 2 Teaspoon of Sesame Oil, optional
• 5 Sheets of Nori (seaweed)

Fillings:
• Beef Bulgogi
• Some Japanese Cucumber and Carrot Strips
• Egg Omelette, Julienne
• Blanched Spinach
• Kimchi

Method:-
1. For Rice: Cooked the rice in the rice cooker till done and leave it to stand in the cooker for at least 10 minutes before stirring in sesame oil and mixed well.

2. For Spinach: Blanch it in boiling water for 30 seconds, remove and drain well with kitchen paper towel. Season it with some mixture of light soy sauce, sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds.

3. For Bulgogi: Stir-fry the marinated meat with some oil over medium heat till cooked through.

4. Next place a sheet of seaweed with shiny side down on a bamboo sushi mate. Divide cooked rice into 5 portions and evenly spread one portion of the warm rice on the seaweed sheet leaving about 2" space allowance on top (facing the far end).

5. Layer the fillings lengthwise on the rice (refer to the photo above) and gently roll up from the bottom end (close to you) using the bamboo mat as support (apply some pressure to secure the roll with both hands) and tuck in the fillings using your fingers.

6. Repeat with the rest of the ingredients and rice. Lastly, rub some sesame oil on your knife before cutting the roll will prevent the rice from sticking on to the knife.

Note:
~ I used the standard rice cooker cup to measure 3 cups of uncooked rice.

~ Rinse and soaked uncooked rice in the rice cooker with water measuring to "mark 3" for at least an hour before cooking.

~ You can either get marinated bulgogi meat from local supermarkets or stay tune for my upcoming recipe on bulgogi.

Beside Bulgogi Kimbap, I also made another version using Fried Rice for one of our weekday lunch. It's pretty easy using some left over rice which I stir-fry it with beaten egg and garlic then wrapped it up with kani (crab stick) and asparagus.

If you are interested you could also check out my previous recipes on Korean Dishes or common Korean Ingredients too.

[Day 2] Health Land and Mahboonkrong (MBK)

After spending the whole morning at Chatuchak Weekend Market till almost 1.00pm, we decided to visit Health Land which is located near Asok Station (about 10 minutes walk) where we could pampered ourselves with Foot Reflexology And Body Massage to re-fill our energy level and continue the shopping spree. Furthermore, foot reflexology is one of the common spa services that tourists love and it could be easily found at most shopping malls, shops along the streets and even in their night/weekend bazaar too. And the face is it really cost much cheaper (around half the price or less) then what we usually paid in Singapore.

Mayer Expo Extravaganza

This weekend if you are looking for some kitchen appliances (such as blenders, toast oven, electric kettles or build-in oven and hobs and etc) for your kitchen, do head down to Singapore Expo Hall 4B to check out Mayer at Expo Extravaganza starting from 12 - 14 July 2013 (Fri - Sun), 11.00am - 9.00pm. This year they featured well-known brands like Bugatti, Bamix, Ariston and KitchenAid.

[Mayer Expo Extravaganza] Some of the featured brands

[Mayer Expo Extravaganza] Ariston

At the Mayer Sales you would also be able to preview Ariston new "Luce" series with a range of sleek built-in ovens, hobs and hoods plus Ariston's Hotpoint small appliances like slow juice, soup maker and kettle.

[Mayer Expo Extravaganza] KitchenAid Mixer

KitchenAid's collection of colourful trendy mixers are on discounted price of SG$649 for their KSM 150 Stand Mixer which I think is a good steal. Other than their well-known mixer, KitchenAid also launched some new products such as food chopper, automation toaster, food processor with easy adjustable slicing disc, induction cookers and etc all available in KitchenAid's signature Artisan styles and vibrant colours.

[Mayer Expo Extravaganza] Trendy Kitchen Appliances from Bugatti

[Mayer Expo Extravaganza] Some of the discounted kitchen appliances

[Mayer Expo Extravaganza] Range of products under Mayer

For busy homemakers or working adults, Mayer has specially developed these innovative products like smokeless grill, soup maker, automatic bean-to-cup coffee maker, mini cupcake and donut maker, auto program cake maker and etc to meet their daily needs.

[Mayer Expo Extravaganza] Sampling and Cooking Counter for Mayer products

[Mayer Expo Extravaganza] Food sample from baked by the Mayer new products

[Mayer Expo Extravaganza] Naturai P-10 Machine from, Mistral

The all new Naturai P-10 Professional high speed nutrient machine is tailor made to incorporate the healthy blending method devised by a phenomenal expert in naturopathy and nutrition. It is designed with unrivaled high speed and specialized extraction functions to retain the living properties of raw food, providing the whole nutritional value. You can hands-on trying out the machine and sample the end-product too.

[Mayer Expo Extravaganza] Naturai P-12 Machine from, Mistral @ SG$599 each

[Mayer Expo Extravaganza] Cooking Demo using Bamix hand blender

[Mayer Expo Extravaganza] Bamix Magicwand (hand blender) @ SG$299 each

Bamix Magicwand is a multi-purpose blade, whisk, beater and straight cordset which comes in three colours of lime green, red and black.

[Mayer Expo Extravaganza] Mistral and Honeywell products

For those who loves to bake, you could also join in one of the above "hands-on" baking workshops by KitchenAid at a discounted price of SG$20.00 each workshop.

Recently, Mayer also launched a Mayer Friends App which is an opportunity for Mayer Friend to enjoy a myriad of rewards offered by all the brands Mayer represents. Below are some benefits of being a Mayer Friend and you could read more on Mayer website here.

Mayer At EXPO Extravaganza
Singapore EXPO  Hall 4B
Date: 12 - 14 July 2013
Time: 11am - 9.00pm
Admission: FREE