BKK TRIP - EAT, SHOP, MASSAGE
Just came back from a recent 4D3N bkk trip with my kaki (who requested to remain anonymous. Ha...). Actually it was an impulse decision. All the recent bombing news and the reportedly unusual 'cold weather' at bkk doesnt help either. But i desperately need a break to shut my mind off and put aside all the issues happening in my life, even for a short while. Think it has been almost 5 years since i last went bkk. I realised many things have changed over there. There are new shopping malls, new night markets and even new airport!
Day 1
Our flight was in the afternoon. Ideally, it would be better if we could get a morning flight. Oh well... At least we still have a bit of time left to shop for the rest of the day.
Prepare to fly off! *Excited*
On board the plane :) 
In the air! 
Partial landscape of Thailand just before touching downAt the bkk airport, we received our first 'surprise' when a lady approached us and brought us to the taxi stand. Initially, we were like "wow... such good service". But we got a rude shock when the cab driver actually quoted us 600 bahts to our hotel. What the hell! @#$&@!%. I got do research one ok. I knew that the cab fare should only cost us 300+ to 400 bahts max. It was then that we realised they were taxi touts who tried to 'tok' tourist's money. Irritating man. But we were very lucky after that when we met a cab driver who not only told us he used meter without our prompting, but also knew the location of our hotel very well. In the end, our cab fare only cost 223 bahts, even lesser than what i expected. Surprisingly, he even told us to forget the extra 3 bahts! Wow... Never expected to meet such an honest driver after the bad experience we just encountered! *Thumbs up*
Our hotel!
Clean room but not so great view, and someone was complaining about it all the way. Ha... 
Straight after that, we decided to take a tuk tuk to Baiyoke Sky Hotel to have our dinner buffet using the discount coupon we printed from our hotel agent. Again, we had an unpleasant encounter when the hotel staff told us the discount coupon was not valid and they can't found our reservation! All the way there only to be told the bad news. Now we had to find somewhere else to eat. Such a major disappointment and it totally threw my itinerary for the night off course. Arrgh! Felt so angry even as i type this out. Luckily there was a night market in front of that hotel and we decided to shop around first and think about how to settle our dinner at the same time.
We spotted an elephant along the street and several tourists started crowding around it, as if it is some kind of rare species. Actually i am also quite curious why elephants are allowed to roam on the street since i spotted it not only once during my trip in bkk. So i turn to my best friend - "Google" for help. Ha...
"The spread of farm machinery and limits on logging have reduced the demand for elephant laborers, forcing the mahouts to find other ways to make a living during some seasons. One of the best options, they say, is using the elephant to attract donations along a busy city street."
O_o I did not even realised they were solicitating for donations. Even foolishly thought that the thai governments are so proud of their national symbol that they decided to parade it down the street just to grab tourist's attention. So, pardon my sua ku-ness.
In the end, we returned to Baiyoke Sky Hotel again, not for the buffet of course, but another 24- hours dining place there - Sky Coffee Shop. Unlike the 'Kopitiam' in Singapore, this high class "coffee shop" serves international & thai cuisine. Lolz...
Our Jap food! Yum~ 
This Pad Thai looks ordinary. But beneath that harmless looking piece of omelette was the best Pad Thai i have ever eaten in my whole life! I am really not exaggerating. I literally can't stop eating it once i had my first bite. The ingredients were generous and the rice noodle was fried so well that every mouthful is savoury and not as dry as some of the versions i tried before. Super impressed! The service there was excellent too. I guess this dish really helped to save the major disappointment that we faced earlier with the buffet issue. Really a case of 赛翁失马 焉知非福! I will definitely go back there again for the pad thai if i ever travel to bkk again. As it was too late to travel to the night market by then, we decided to retire for the night.
Day 2
Breakfast at the hotel. Better than we expected :)
Next stop: Cab down to Chatuchak(CTC) for more shopping!
HAP PIEEEE New Year~ Wel Comme to Thailand! OMGGGG! 199 Bahts!
The uncle standing on the chair was so funny loh. He was shouting out the same phrase over and over again to passerbys, with a rhythm to it as well. We even saw an ang moh who was so amused by it that he started imitating the uncle. Lol... Of course, this uncle also caught our attention so we decided to go check out what he is selling. Turns out he's selling bags for 199 bahts. Hee... But we did not buy anything from that shop.
A drink stall along the street of CTC.
The drinks were dirt cheap! It's like only 40 bahts (Approx S$1.70) for a glass of refreshing ice cold cuppuccino. Tastes quite shiok too.
Mini Doughtnuts and mini yellow bean fruits bought from CTC :)
Went to the Platinum Fashion Mall for more shopping after that. The last time i was in bkk, it was still not built yet. Things here are selling at wholesale price. So it would be better to go in a larger group so that it's easier to get wholesale price. And just like what everyone said, the mall is really huge! Really see until my eyes blur and caused a 路痴 like me to become even more 路痴-er over there. Wahahaa...
Managed to buy 2 bikini sets at 250 bahts (approx S$11) each. Damn cheap!!! So happy! Singapore is selling at least twice the price or more!
Spotted Fuji Jap restaurant at the mall and decided to settle our dinner there. Sadly, the food though cheap, wasn't as good as i expected. The meats were quite dry in my opinion. We spotted what appears to be pushcarts or stalls at Pratunam Center from where we seated. Hence, we decided to go check it out. And we were right! There are many stalls set up along the whole stretch outside Pratunam Center. Woot! Many cheap buys here too! Really 误打误撞 cos we did not plan to go there at all. Went Central World Plaza for our Naraya shopping after that. Pratically went crazy there. The store is so much bigger than the one at Asia Hotel. But it was also more difficult to find what we wanted. Again, i see until my eyes blur. People were grabbing items after items off the rack as if it was free. I think i have lost count of the number of times i said the word "cheap" in bkk. Haha...
Trimurti shrine - God of love
Ganesha shrine - God of accomplishment, wisdom and wealthThere are also two huge erawan shrines located outside Central World Plaza which are dedicated to Trimurti and Ganesha respectively. Seems like many locals and foreigners like to come here to pray. Since i was already there, i decided to pay my respect as many people claimed that the shrine is very potent and usually wishes will come true. But in return, i have to go back to pay my homage if my wish is fulfilled. Hmm... Guess it's just a small price to pay for our wishes to be granted. I don't mind going back to bkk again. Can shop more, eat more and massage more. Wahahaa... Not knowing exactly what is the correct way of praying, i sought one of the worshippers there for help. Ha... Thankfully, that helpful lady understood english and even explained to me step by step what i should do and what each shrine represents. So nice right?
By the time we were done, it was again too late to go to the night market which i planned for the 2nd consecutive night. Haiz... So we went to have a 1.5 hours thai + foot massage near our hotel. Quite shiok cos this is the first time i went for a thai massage. My whole body actually ached the next day, as if i just had a work-out the previous day. I wonder why. I guess i must have been too stressed up recently and hence my muscles became very tense. So the massage maybe helped to improve my blood circulation and hence results in the aching?
Day 3
We missed the timing for our complimentary morning breakfast by 15 mins and the hotel staff refused to let us have it :( Hence, we decided to go A&W, only 5 mins away from our hotel for our breakfast. God! I miss A&W!
The place is so empty that we only saw 2 staffs working there.
Curly fries, waffle and root beer! :)
While walking to Platinum Fashion Mall, we passed by the pratunam market (i think). We realized that there were more varieties and even cheaper bargains over there. Also stopped by MBK for a short while. Was surprised to find that MBK is still selling bags and shoes at 199 bahts. Ha...
Went MBK food court for lunch. Ordered the pad thai, mango salad and mango sticky rice (not in pic). The pad thai here was not as good as the one in Baiyoke Sky Hotel though. Haiz... But the mango sticky rice was WOW... Heaven! We planned to try the mango sticky rice at MBK again the next day but totally forgot about it as we were too busy shopping :(
Took Tuk Tuk down to Sampeng lane to shop for accessories. Unfortunately, we arrived there too late and most of the stalls were already closed. Decided to settle our dinner at T&K, a seafood restaurant by the roadside in Chinatown.
Packed with hungry diners.
Other than the sharkfin which was so so, the rest of the food was nice, especially the famous charcoal grilled prawns which everyone seems to be ordering! I luv prawns and they really infused it with a wonderful smokey flavour. I even sucked on the prawn heads, which i normally don't, to suck the juice and meat out of it. Too good to resist i guess. Hee... The bird nest and steam garlic fish was good too. But nothing beats the prawns. Damn... i sooooooo crave for the grilled prawns right now. Actually wanted to order the crab fried rice too but we had a late lunch. Was worried that we can't finish the food. Haiz... Wasted.
Took tuk tuk down to Memorial Bridge aka Sapharn Phut night market after that. Finally managed to follow our itinerary for once. Ha... The set up is similar to our pasar malam over there. Bought 2 dresses there. Hee... So happy. Did not stay very long there though cos time is precious! Returned to our hotel after that to drop our loots from our day shopping before cabbing down to Suan Lum night bazzar.
A mysterious looking monument which we spotted while in the cab
Suan Lum night bazzar!
Suan Lum night bazzar is a more orderly version of Chatuchak and the shops here are definitely cleaner and more spaced-out. Compared to other night markets and shopping malls, we realized that things here are not cheap. We even spotted similar items available elsewhere selling at a much higher price at Suan Lum. However, i have to admit that some of the stuff here are more unique and of better quality. Did not buy anything much here as things are too expensive for my likings.
We even managed to find the tom yum goong flavour seaweed at Suan Lum, which strangely, doesnt seem to be selling at most places.
Apparently, they did not bother to remove the x'mas deco. till now. Ha...
The open air food court there is massive! They even have a stage for live bands and performance. Enormous football screen hangs above the podium, perfect for a soccer fan like me. Ha... The food stalls there operate using coupons to purchase our food. Quite troublesome i feel.
Ordered the mango sticky rice to compare the difference with those from MBK foodcourt. Not much debate here. MBK foodcourt won hands down.
Day 4
Went Central World Plaza and MBK again for some last min shopping before leaving for our flight in the evening.
Chanced upon Baskin Robbins while at MBK and decided to stop by for some ice-creams
I like both the strawberry cheesecake and chocolate flavours ice-creams. So yummy~
On our way to Suvarnabhumi Bangkok airport
We were delighted initally when we boarded this cab back to airport by chance. The cab is not only pink in colour, but also spotted burberry lookalike seats. Soooooo CHIO!!! The driver was quite friendly initially, but was too shy to pose for the camera. Ha... However, his attitude took a 180 degree turn when he 'self-imposed' extra fees to the actual cab fare and we refused to give in. Just because we are tourists doesn't mean that we are stupid or don't even know how much is the highway toll fee etc. Arrgh! Really hate it when cab drivers are dishonest. Even if give tips, I rather give it to the first driver who drove us from the airport to the hotel rather than this dishonest driver. If not for the constant honking from the cars behind, he probably wouldn't even got off his seat and helped us to lift out our luggage from the car boot!!! Or worse, maybe drove off with our luggages. So scary!!!
Later on, we were glad that we did not gave in cos our remaining moolahs even when pooled together, was only enough to afford one BK meal at the airport! Yup, we were already down to the last cents by then. Kinda pathetic right?
Waiting for our flight home at the departure hall.
My loots! :)
Final thoughts:
We realized we should have booked 5D4N because 4D3N is too short. So we ended up rushing here and there. The weather there was neither as cold as what was reported nor scorching hot like it normally would be. In fact, it was quite cooling at night. The thais are generally warm and friendly people, some even went to the extent of helping us out when they realised we looked lost. They also appear to be a religious group of people as the 4-faced buddhas can be spotted almost everywhere.
Shopping is a paradise over there. Hence, bargaining is an essential skill, even for the fun of it. Lol... Massage places are aplenty. Food is cheap and tasty. No wonder i have a lot of foodie pictures. Haha... Even transportation by cab or tuk tuk is as cheap as taking train. Oh, did i mention taking the tuk tuk can be a hell of a ride? Wahahaa... Of course,there are a few rotten apples that spoil the market and it can't be help. Otherwise, the trip will be more enjoyable. Traffic jams practically lasted the whole day, even late at night. Walkways there are rather uneven, nearly causing us to trip over a few times if we are not careful. Beggars are a common sight along the street too. Suddenly, i realised how fortunate i am to live in Singapore cos i have been taking certain things for granted.
Will i go back to bkk again?
Definitely!!!
And next time i am gonna jio more people to go with me! Ha...
Who wants to join me? :)
Posted by 大路痴
@ 3:39 PM
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