My Valentine’s gift to Alexander came a week late in the form of a night spent at Luxx near Silom.

They were fully booked the previous week, so I decided to move the date, which worked out fine because Thursday was a public holiday. We left home around noon and checked into our sexy room early, before going out to explore the neighborhood around the hotel. It was beautiful tree-lined area with lots of neat old architecture and a variety of restaurants serving all kinds of cuisine, from Thai to Iranian.

For dinner, Alexander took me to the incredibly hip and stylish Eat Me. The setting was perfect for a romantic dinner for two and the menu was incredible. Begin with a cocktail menu with items like Bloody Mary made with saffron infused vodka and continue from there. It was the perfect dinner to compliment our stay.

We enjoyed a hearty breakfast in bed the next morning before checking out and heading back to work. It was unfortunate that we had to work Friday, I would have loved to sleep in some more, but it was going to be an easy day with just some grading. Only a couple of hours.

My pleasant mood was spoiled by the discovery that the fee for a re-entry permit for Thailand has gone up by 2000 Baht. Ridiculous and ludicrous. I was shocked and enraged and I still cannot understand some of the buerocratic nonsense we have to put up with to be legal workers. It’s almost as if they encourage people to work illegally and do regular visa trips to pretty destinations like Vientiane in Laos. Ugh!

To top that, my students are doing horribly in their exams, really just terribly. One after the other paper I graded was either a fail or just passed. And I thought this paper was going to be way to easy for them! Luckily all the other teachers I spoke to complained of the same thing, so hopefully I won’t get fired!

We left school at around noon, both of us feeling gloomy and in very bad spirits. While at Tops to pick up some groceries, Alexander began insisting that I bake some treats this weekend, and I could not think of a better way to rid myself that came and clung to me after our pleasant inner-city getaway.

So after lunch, a nap and an old Sex and the City episode I got out a bunch of ingredients and went baking-mad.

First item was a mango bread/cake. I used this recipe (mostly) on Barbara’s blog. I did change the quantities a bit, dividing everything in half. I also did not have any nuts or raisins around so I just added a lot of toasted coconut to the mixture. I divided the batter between two pie dishes and decided to turn the whole thing into a cake. And this was the wonky result…

I know, not very pretty. I do believe I have said before that I am no food stylist, but who cares when it tastes good? And I can assure you, this is very-very yummy. Thanks Barbara! The frosting is a broiled coconut frosting. What you do is you mix 1/2 a cup dessicated coconut with 1 tablespoon melted butter, a tablespoon brown sugar and a tablespoon of whipping cream. Spread this on top of the still warm cake a few minutes before it should be removed from the oven. Obviously it should be watched closely so it doesn’t burn. I spread a layer of lytchee jam between the two cakes, so it’s all very tropical and real tasty.

While that was baking I started on some banana muffin batter, throwing in a handful of poppy seeds just for fun. As soon as the cake came out the muffins went in and here is the result (which we enjoyed for breakfast the next morning)…

And after that, I rested. Enjoying a big slice of cake with some tea while the scent of freshly baked goodness hung around the apartment.

(The pictures of Luxx and Eat Me were taken by Alexander.)