The Long and Short of It

I was ambivalent about my previous stay at Victoria's Guest House. The room was tiny and cold with perfunctory cleaning. But Victoria's uses its own booking site instead of me having to navigate travel aggregator sites. It also has several rooms available at the last minute without price gouging. Once I checked in though, I realized that with so many spots free for a place with only 11 rooms meant that there were likely only a few guests. Ironic then that I heard someone walking around directly above me later that night. They were also much more noticeable the next morning (one drawback of a basement suite).

I chose a basement space (there are 5 such rooms), specifically one with a "cot available" option. They were the cheapest ($99/night) and I hoped that with the extra space for a cot, it would be larger. It was a good guess: the room turned out to have enough room for my yoga mat and luggage at the expense of a smaller bathroom. I was still worried about the heat when I saw a small portable heater in the corner. But it wasn't needed. In any case, there was a mini split AC unit with heating option. Unfortunately, I was only able to switch to heat mode once. Otherwise, it was always blowing cold air so I turned it off. Spotty cleaning was still a problem though.

I walked down the street to Si Lom Thai for an early dinner. Last time, this spot was full up during the evening rush. I don't usually put much stock into staffing, but it was a good sign that everyone spoke Thai. I could see why folks order from here. Both the laab chicken ($12) and veggie green curry ($16.95) were delicious. I haven't had laab in a while and this version was a perfect balance of rich oil and tart lime. Too bad they didn't offer it with sticky rice. The curry was perhaps not sublime, but still of excellent quality. Si Lom also had vegan versions for multiple dishes. The décor was eclectic and fun, with a large wall graphic showing a Muay Thai fight. I was intrigued to see a poster for an upcoming competition hosted by Naka Muay Thai Academy.