Our favorite neighbors invited us for dinner when their daughter who learns English with me graduated from her Master’s Degree.

We felt it was an honor to be invited by a Thai family, so we did not have second thoughts!

We went to Hot Pot, a restaurant in Fashion Island.

You just put in the meat and veggies into the boiling pot..

It's eat-all-you-can so you can just choose anything you want to put into your hot pot.

I love the dumplings and the pancit-- very similar to the ones we have in the Philippines so I really enjoyed that.

After that hearty meal, there was unlimited dessert so we got ice cream, those Thai sweets that is similar to our halo halo. And oh, by the way, drinks were unlimited too.  But I have a confession:  I am not that good in dining at eat-all-you can restos because I easily get full! Sigh.

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This is what we had for lunch during our friend’s birthday.  This whole meal costs around 3 USD.

Jeffer’s Grill is located at 4th Floor Terminal 21, Bangkok.  Branches are also available in other malls in the city.

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Every Filipino that’s outside the Philippines would be drooling at this!  This is actually sweet potato coated with sugar.  The sugar part is not that healthy, but then again, it’s alright to indulge once in awhile, right? Haha!

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Sta. Fe is one of the food chains in malls. We were attracted to its menu displayed at the entrance, because we could eat a full meal at 89 THB (around 3 USD).

I had this chicken set (roasted chicken, a little bit of fries, with a carrot-cabbage sidedish.  We were a bit disappointed that the chicken was not fully cooked, though.  But then again, what can you expect with a 3 USD meal?

If  you are a businessman you are aware of the importance of knowing your customer’s preferences.  One of the secrets to excelling in business is to have a benchmark survey among your target customers– once you know their preferences and you believe you are able to satisfy what they need, it would be safe to launch your business.

Nowadays it’s a lot easier to take your business worldwide.   Well, not that easy, but at least it’s a lot easier  compared to how businesses were done 2 decades ago sans the internet, the social network sites and the invention of websites.

If you have to take your business to the next level, or if you are aspiring to have a market worldwide, you would definitely need  customer satisfaction surveys.  Customer feedback would determine your business’ next step to take– what to products to mass produce, what to get rid of, and how to improve product quality, etc.  It is impossible, however to get feedback without the help of survey software.

There is no better way of getting accurate, up-to-date feedback from your customers all over the world than using this tool.

If customers indeed know best, then business people should value their feedback, and strive to give them the best they deserve.

@credits to http://2days2cents-realestate.blogspot.com for the photo

Everyone has a dream vacation.  I have mine, too.  Well, it has always been my dream to see those snow-capped mountains in Switzerland or those beautiful mountains of New Zealand.  I wonder what it would be like to ride on an RV on  a fine, sunny day and just drive past those gorgeous lakes and mountains?

I only see recreational vehicles in movies, but I have never ridden on one yet, so I can only imagine how exciting the experience would be.  There are no RVs here in Thailand, but at the rate of how tourists love the places and beaches, I would not be surprised to find RVs for rent anytime now.

Maybe buying an RV would be a good investment for Thai businessmen since they could always have them rented.  They would need RV financing for that, which would not be that much of a problem.

Is riding on an RV your dream, too?

I don’t necessarily dream of having my own RV myself, but to ride on one would be good enough for me!

This is my Ria’s delicious banana cream pie.  Our 10-year old is very much into baking and cooking.  She loves to pursue a degree in music, but is also excited about the thought of having her own cafe and restaurant someday.

I know starting a business would be challenging, but if she is really into it, she will do good I’m sure.

For starters the biggest challenge would be the capital to start the business. She would need capitalization for the construction, payment for equipment leasing and a lot of other necessities to get the business started and running.

I guess it’s too early to tell what she really wants in life– for now we are supportive of our little chef’s dreams and aspirations!

Thailand has always been known for its Thai massage and spas. To be very honest, I did not like Thai massage the first time I had it but the longer I’ve stayed in this country, I have fallen in love with Thai massage– in fact, it has been a very helpful stress reliever.

I have not explored Bangkok’s spas yet, though. Hubby has won a spa package in one of the famous spas in the city but has not gone there to claim his price yet. Maybe I should tag along?

I can’t wait to be pampered again. I would be the happiest woman on earth as soon as those custom spa covers will be lifted, and into the hot tub I dip in!

@credits to www.spacoverdirect.com for the photo

I have been craving for bananacue since day 1 here in Thailand but sadly, we don’t have that variety of banana available here.  They use a variety  that is very similar to the table banana that we have in the Philippines.

One day I decided to buy a bunch of those and made my own bananacue!

Verdict: cravings satisfied… BUT still missing those fat big bananas on a stick!  Sigh.  I miss Pinas.

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credits to google for the photo

Ria really wants to have a princess cake like this for her 11th birthday.  It’s not until October, so maybe I could still buy an oven between now and then so I could try making one of these.  It looks complicated, but it’s not really– I searched on youtube how to make it and I was pleasantly surprised that it is not actually as difficult to make as it looks!

Roi , on the other hand wants me to make him a guitar cake. Here’s the youtube tutorial for that:

Ok– so first things first. I really need to get an oven soon! But that’s only after we transfer to another house. There’s so much need for that one, too and that’s definitely top priority. We still have to buy a sink for the kitchen, some switchplate covers for the rooms, maybe fix the ceiling that’s kind of worn out already… So much to do, so little time– so much to buy, so little budget! Haha!