BBQ at Northfield Lodge

We heard about the BBQ event taking place at North Field lodge and were quick to call up and reserve our spot. But still it seems, a bit late, as we missed out on sitting outside and doing the bbq'ing for ourselves ...



We were comfortable inside, and had Rob in the kitchen, doing all the bbq'ing for us.



After everyone is seated, we start with a bowl of soup ...



and then a plate of salad.



Then the meat starts rolling on out ... first some thinly sliced pork cooked to a nice char;



a variety of meats on sticks are next to hit the table, always a winner.



Fair chunks of grilled beef are next to follow,



then some little weiners and grilled onions.



We even get treated to a bit of kangaroo meat. Nice and juicy, still pink in the centre.



Before finishing off a fine summer Niseko BBQ with a banana split.



North Field Lodge
Izumikyo No.2 83-76 Aza-Yamada,
Kutchan-cho, Abuta-gun,
Hokkaido, Japan, 044-0081

T: +81 136 226 675
E-Mail: info@north-field.jp

What to do when the fruit bowl is full ??

When faced with the dilema of the fruit bowl being full ... kind of a little funny that it was full of bread, though ;p There's only one thing to do .... sit the banana's on the table behind the bread bowl.

Breakfast at Suk 11, Bangkok

Being on holidays ... sleeping in ... aah, so lovely! But we found ourselves wanting to get up when staying at Suk 11, as to not miss out on the morning breakfast. We would always head downstairs just in time, and it was always so nice looking down into the communal area that was bustling with morning madness, coffee's, breakfast, check in's and check outs.



We'd go straight for a tea and a plate of the daily offerings. Today we have little banana's, sticky rice parcels with coconut braised banana and a little cup filled with taro, black rice and corn swimming in a sweet coconut milk.



I could never resist a slice of toast with Thai-ya. What we were calling a Thai version of Kaya jam, that was made with coconut, sugar and Thai tamarind tea.



Always a good start to what was always a great day in Bangkok!

Bangkok Airways; Phuket to Samui

Okay, so we've become a little lazy in our travels, or maybe it's just that 7 weeks in Thailand just doesn't seem like long after the months on end we've spent there exploring every year for the last 3 years.  It would have been cool to do the bus trip from Phuket to Surat Thani and then doing the ferry trip over to Samui. But as we were trying to squeeze as much out of each day as humanly possible, we opted for Bangkok Airways.

When we're checking in, my bag is a bit overweight. She kindly suggests I take some heavy items out of my checked baggage and somehow fit them into my carry on. I find this rather amusing, as it's all still going on the same plane. And it was a tiny little plane ...



Lucky there's banana chips available in the Bangkok Air lounge, which do a good job at soothing my nerves for the extremely shaky, if only 45 minute flight over to Samui.



Ahh, how beautiful Samui airport is. Completely open with little walkways connecting the various places together.

Kluay tod - deep fried banana's

On the walk back from the little Muslim stand after a big lunch, we often did not have room for banana's ... but that didn't mean we wouldn't buy them.  



She was there everyday, but the times would vary. Hand's of banana's piled up behind her, at all different stages of ripeness. She selects how many she's going to prepare that day (maybe based on how much batter she has in the giant bowl) and just fries away 'til there's nothing left.



We'd always see people waiting, as it takes a good 10 minutes to fry the banana's over medium heat. But when the locals are waiting for these 'nana's, we know we're onto a good thing.

She peels and slices banana's straight into the bowl of batter. The batter is made with coconut cream and is oh-so-very crispy and there's a few sesame seeds scattered through it. They bubble away in the giant wok until there is no more bubbles, a little drain and they're good to go. They are crispy, golden and aroy maak!



Somedays's we have the full intention of taking them home and enjoying them later, when we're not quite so full.



But they never seem to make it the whole way ....


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