Banrie Coffee and Restaurant

       A friend adores eating out as well as trying restaurants. Banrie Coffee Bar and Restaurant did not escape her eyes of interest. After watching movie, we walked the path going to Ekkamai BTS Station as she would be taking the skytrain to Ploenchit and I will be taking the bus back to my place. And there at the corner of Sukhumvit 63 along Ekkamai is Banrie Coffee and Restaurant, at the foot of one of the four Ekkamai BTS Station exit, opposite the Bangkok Eastern Bus Terminal.

     The setting and ambiance of the restaurant is one of a kind, not the typical airconditioned restaurant with a well decorated wall and neatly arranged chairs, but rather it has a sort of of antique look design of a garden. The view when seen outside looks like an old place that has not been taken care of and the brick walls around had been left to crumble or they had chosen to ignore. The trees and plants look like it just grew up and left as the way they grew up, not trimmed or were not under the caring hand of a gardener. The picture of the restaurant as I picture it in my mind is warm lighted ambiance due to the warm type of lighting, color of furniture as well. But when sitting in one of the tables in the open area, the ambiance makes the diners feel relaxed with a garden-like feeling though the tables and chairs are not the expensive wooden ones. I remember I had to choose the table where the chairs have a back support as some are benches. There are areas of different settings to choose from including an air conditioned room that would be good for a touch of fine dining (but not really fine dining). Diners also have the choice to stay out in an open area or in a covered air conditioned one.

       The restaurant serves Thai foods for a complete meal as well as appetizers for those who wish to linger and pass the time while drinking some beer or other alcohol drinks while listening to the live music rendered by a Thai singer and a guitarist. The live music can be enjoyed in the open area as well as in the close room.

       As the name calls for coffee, they serve special coffee with their own style of serving.  It was evening that we dined and was not good for me to take coffee so I did not have the chance to try their coffee. However, my friend did and the serving was not the typical way of putting in a small cup for hot coffee but they put it in a medium sized drinking glass. I had learned the coffee came from the Southern part of Thailand, made of Arabica and Robusta beans which has been roasted to level 8. They described it in their website as bitter and make the drinker awake.

       As it is a Thai restaurant, same as typical Thai restaurants, not all waiters and waitresses can comprehend English language and if ever they can, some can only understand very few basic English. When we dined for the first time, we pointed out most of our orders on the menu book. But when we ordered rice, since I am familiar with the name of fried rice with seafood I volunteered to  tell the name "khao phad talae". A bit funny, at first they brought to us one cup of steamed rice in a white plate; second time, one cup of fried rice in the same type of plate. We were three and the dishes we ordered were for the three of us so it is common sense that the rice should be good for us three also. Finally, for the third time, they got it right. The second time we dined-in the restaurant, my friend ordered Pepsi but we were given a bottle of Coke. 

        There are many foreigners who go to the place and I do not understand why mistakes that can be rooted down to not understanding what the customers got to say. But anyway, if one can't speak Thai it is best to just pinpoint the food to be ordered in their menu list. As the Chinese saying goes, less talk less mistakes.

        Thai foods are good enough and they have variety of liquors to choose from. When one wants and feels like discharging after drinking or eating a lot, the toilet are nice and clean with a touch of uniqueness that compliments well with the entire perspective.

       By the way, do not be surprised if one says Banrai or Banrie... I think Banrai in Thai and Banrie in English. Even their website is confusing to what the real name is as it both contains the same name. Nevertheless, it is a nice place to dine if you are somewhere near Ekkamai area.

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The Splendor of Nong Nooch Tropical Garden

        
     Splendid! It is the most beautiful place I have ever been when talking about nature, and the first time for me to  be in a vast botanical garden. When I visited the majestic Grand Palace (the number 1 must-see place in Bangkok) I admired it as such I uttered it was the nicest tourist place I had ever seen. However, when I was in the grounds of Nong Nooch Garden, I had the best time touring, my eyes feasting on the colorful surroundings, every moment admiring the landscape and scenery. My favorite was the French garden which held me breathless and in awe as I tried to take pictures in every angle. It is really a beautiful place worth visiting! Though we stayed overnight, still I think we were able to tour only about one-third of the approximately 600 acres (1500 rais).

       Approximately 155 kilometers from Bangkok, I got to know Nong Nooch Garden Resort when I saw one photo of it in an online Filipino Community in Thailand, the Siam Pinoy. From then on I had the strong desire to visit the place and included it in my list of places to visit. Opportunity came when there was a three day weekend vacation in July 2011 in celebration of Buddhist lent.  Three of my friends planned to go to Underwater World in Pattaya but I convinced them to go to Nong Nooch instead. Anyway, the garden is also in Pattaya.  One in the desire to go out of Bangkok City and have fun, six of us went for the tour.  But beforehand I had made inquiries and reservation at Nong Nooch. It is best to always plan and organize things ahead to make the tour enjoyable, hassle free and successful.

     
       When I called the office for inquiries the lady I talked to asked for my email address and sent the location map. Overall I found the staff very accommodating and friendly. The entrance fee for foreigners is 500 baht per person and 100 or 200 baht for Thais which includes touring around the approximately 600 acres area, entrance to the Thai Cultural show and Elephant show.  For Thais, the entrance fee of 100 baht does not include the cultural and elephant show.

     As I had inquired on details, I arrived to a conclusion that for foreigners it is more than worth the cost to stay overnight than just going for a day tour most specially if done by group of two or more. Why is it so? It is like this... if one stays overnight, the entrance fee is waived and one has to pay only for the room. They  offer different type of accommodations from the luxurious one to backpackers standard room. So far cheapest rate of a room good for two is 1,200 baht per night and it already includes buffet breakfast for two. I was with five of my friends and we rented a room for 5 at a rate of 3,000 baht plus 350 baht for an extra bed since we were six. Each of us only paid approximately 560 baht for an overnight stay. With the 560 baht each, for almost two days, we had more time touring the very big area, taking pictures with different poses with very nice backgrounds, dining in two of their restaurants, watch the Thai cultural and Elephant show.  We did not have a car to go around the place but it was not a problem at all because we just made a call at the reception area for pick up and after few minutes the shuttle service comes in whatever part of the resort we are waiting.

         There are so much things to see, different types of accommodations to choose from, exquisite gardens, restaurants, aquarium, activities to do such as biking, and two-storey building showcasing special cars, as such it is really advisable and wise to stay at least a night to explore the approximately 600 acres area. Nevertheless, if one wants to have a quick tour, there is a tourist bus inside the compound that goes around the area. The passenger have to pay 100 baht only for a round trip. The cultural show is very entertaining and so the elephant show. The elephant show so far is the best I have seen. Two of my friends had their pictures taken sitting in between the trunks of two elephants for a fee of 50 baht per person. I wanted it also but I was not ready with the bad smell from the elephant that might stick on my clothes. After picture taking with the elephants, four of them had pictures taken with a young tiger for a fee of 60 baht per person. 

          
       How did we go there? From Bangkok, we took a bus bound to Pattaya at the Ekkamai Bus Terminal. The bus trip took two hours. When the bus reached Pattaya bus terminal, we could have taken or rented a "taxi" (songtaew) straight to Nong Nooch but we decided to have lunch at the center of Pattaya at Festival Mall. From there we rented a songtaew to bring us to the garden. We had a bit of a guilty feeling as the songtaew driver gave as an initial price of 1,000 baht but we had hard bargaining and it ended up to a price of 200 baht. No one among us six had the idea how far we had to go, we only focused on the amount to be paid for the songtaew. Only to realize and have a guilty feeling when we were on the road as the driver traversed the Sukhumivit road to the garden, the longer we traveled than expected, we realized that the 200 baht is very unreasonable price and not enough for the driver to earn enough for the trip. After some sort of "deliberation" we finally decided to pay the driver 75% more. Maybe income was not good that time so he heeded to our very low price instead of having no income at all. Although as foreigners, it is always best to bargain at the lowest price one can think of to avoid getting ripped off.

        

          There are many tourist places that can be visited in Pattaya or Chonburi province but among all the places I had visited, Nong Nooch Tropical Garden is the best place I had ever been so far and I enjoyed every moment being there. Just imagine, we had almost a thousand of pictures taken! See for yourself then...

          When we left the place, we dropped by and had lunch at Pattaya Floating Market. Another good place to visit.