Sadly, today’s our last day in Bangkok and we have a rather early flight, so apart from packing up and shopping at the airport, there wasn’t much that we could do.
However, we did have an eventful taxi ride to the airport. Upon checking out of our hotel, the hotel staff kindly hailed a taxi and helped us negotiate a reasonable price. Everything was fine until we started loading our luggage onto the boot of the taxi. Apparently, our luggage were too big / there were too many of them to fit in the boot. We also couldn’t place them at the seats because they were rather bulky and we wouldn’t have enough space to sit comfortably. As a result, our driver put our luggage in the boot and secured it with RAFFIA STRING – bearing in mind that the hood of the boot could not be closed properly. This meant that during our ride to the airport, we had to look in front to make sure that we were going in the right direction and glance backward periodically to make sure that other motorists didn’t swipe our luggage. I think we got whiplash from doing that haha.
Since we have checked-in online the previous night, we only needed to drop off our bags at the counter when we reached the airport. But – here comes the highlight of the day – the plane was full so we had a free upgrade to BUSINESS CLASS. *cue loud cheering and squeals of delight* (the only catch was that we had to wear long pants – till now I’m still not sure of the reasoning behind that, perhaps it’s just etiquette? )
So, after we’ve calmed down, we made our way to the tax refund counter (all tourists are entitled to this tax refund!) to submit our receipts and get some extra cash to fund our last minute shopping.
Alas, it was time to board the plane – BUSINESS CLASS HERE WE COME!
our happy faces hehehweeng enjoying her champagnegood airplane food
Although we only lived the good life for a short 2 hours, it was certainly an eye-opening experience and hopefully we’ll get to do it again in the future. That’s the end of our baNNgkok adventures! Hope you’ve enjoyed reading this as much as we enjoyed our trip and here’s to more good times ahead 🙂
I had those 2 bottles of soft drinks for breakfast today – I’m kidding HAHA. I was buying breakfast at 7-eleven when I chanced upon those bottles and I had to get them because I love how vintage they feel and you can’t really find them in Singapore nowadays. For today, we have decided to visit the iconic JJ Market (also known as Chatuchak Market) and cafe hop around Siam!
The most convenient way to get to Chatuchak would be to take the train to Kamphaeng Phat station, because you will be in JJ market once you step out of the station. The heat and the crowd in JJ market is insane, so remember to buy yourself some coconut ice cream once you’re there! They are usually served in coconut shells and can be found throughout the market. (I don’t have a picture of it because I finished it way too quickly, OOPS haha). JJ market is also really huge, so you might want to allocate a substantial amount of time to this place should you want to indulge in lots of bargaining/shopping here. I did tons of shopping here and I actually met Rui Fang along the way – the level of coincidence is too damn high. It seems as if we are fated to see each other every weekend even when we’re not dancing in Singapore haha.
After all those cheap thrills, we made our way to Siam Paragon to have lunch. Greyhound Cafe was the first cafe that we patronized, as shown below:
Beautiful interior of Greyhound Cafe
Honestly, this place looks way too atas to be just another cafe and we felt rather under-dressed when we stepped foot into this establishment. We knew that this place was raved about in Bangkok but this seriously exceeded our expectations. Moreover, their food is really really good too. If you ever come here (and you should), you need to try their chicken wings!
CHICKEN WINGS!
These things are really addictive; after you have had 1 wing, you simply cannot stop. I am not exaggerating, Hweeng can vouch for this. You should also try their Iced Thai Milk Tea:
ICED THAI MILK TEA!
The way that the tea is served is also very interesting because the waiters will first bring you a glass full of iced Thai tea cubes. After which, he will proceed to pour fresh milk into your glass of tea cubes and you will then need to mix the drink yourself. Another plus point for this cafe/restaurant is that they will serve you COMPLIMENTARY warm bread rolls with mozzarella cheese. (How can you not love this place?!) On the other hand, we did try a couple of their other items as well and let’s just say that not everything on their menu is worth raving about. All in all though, lunch was still very satisfying and we were so glad that we managed to come to this cafe.
The next cafe on our list is Mr Jones Orphanage, which is located in Siam Center (just opposite Siam Paragon).
Mr Jones Orphanage
This cafe aims to create an environment that reminds you of your childhood, so all sorts of toys are used to decorate it’s interior, ranging from teddy bears to train tracks. They are also famous for their cakes, but you have to take a look at the cakes on display at the counter, because not all cakes on the menu will be available everyday. I had the Ferrero Roche chocolate cake that was really rich and sinful, but it was definitely worth the calories. As for beverages, you should try their cold infused milk that comes in 3 flavours – Vanilla, Chocolate and Strawberry. Personally, I prefer the Vanilla one because it tastes the most refreshing and isn’t overly sweet.
For dinner, we went to After You cafe located at Siam Square (across the BTS from Siam Paragon / Siam Center).
After You cafe
Their best-seller is the Shibuya Toast, so I koped some from the one that Hweeng ordered. Since I wasn’t hungry, I ordered an affogato and it was okay I guess.
Affogato from After You
Interestingly, the vibe from this cafe reminds us alot of Sunday Folks, so it’s easy to find something similar in Singapore!
Feeling super full/bloated from all the food we ate, we made our way to Big C again to do even more shopping! I bought lots more pocky this time (because who doesn’t love pocky??). We also had time to browse through their clothing section, so both Hweeng and I bought cheap underwear hehe. They are from reputable brands like Triumph and PlayBoy so their quality shouldn’t be too bad. I also bought a customisable leather bag from a store just outside the supermarket. I can’t believe I paid only 220baht for it because I honestly felt like I should have paid more for the workmanship. (But well, stuff in Bangkok is cheap, so… hehe)
It was finally time for us to lug ourselves and our purchases back to our hotel so that’s a wrap for Day 3! 🙂
Sleeping at 1 am the previous night and waking up at 6 am (BKK Time) this morning was not the best idea. But since we’re in Bangkok, we just sucked it up and dragged ourselves out of bed.
We wanted to get some noodles that Hweeeng recommended, so we went all the way to Si Lom to find that stall. Unfortunately, we were too early and to our horror, the stall would not be open/ready until much much later. Feeling incredibly sad and annoyed, we went to get some Thai coffee. (Coffee works wonders when you’re cranky in the morning, try it haha). After buying some sandwiches from a 7-eleven store for breakfast, we hobo-ed on some steps outside some bank building. (Yes, I am aware of how dubious that sounds) It was only after we finished our breakfast that we discovered a cafe right next to the bank. Sigh, our stupidity astounds me sometimes.
Anyway, visiting the Grand Palace was on our itinerary today, so we made our way to the pier to take the shuttle boat. The one-way tickets cost 40 baht each, no matter where you get off. The way the shuttle boats work is pretty similar to the BTS, because the boats make multiple stops along the Chao Phraya river, of which includes various temples and of course the Grand Palace. You have to stay alert though, because they will announce the name of each pier right before the boat reaches its destination, and you would have to quickly gather your belongings and make your way to the back of the boat.
View of the river!
The Grand Palace is actually quite a distance away from the pier, so you have to look around for signages to make your way there. If your sense of direction is really that poor, just follow the crowd because there will be tons of tourists. (oh, just a side note: when visiting the Grand Palace, make sure that most of your skin is covered. i.e. No sleeveless tops, shorts or slippers as showing too much skin is deemed disrespectful and there will be attire checks done at the entrance. Should you fail to meet their requirements, you will be escorted to put on robes/other clothing to cover yourself). If my memory doesn’t fail me, the tickets were not cheap, but they were worth it because they not only gave you access to the Grand Palace, but also allowed you to visit the museums and the Buddha Chapel around the palace. However, if you don’t have that much time, just take a walk around the Grand Palace because it really is a beautiful place.
I’ll just let the pictures do the talking here:
After having lunch at Zaabeli (a restaurant located near the pier where we came from), we took the shuttle boat back to BTS Saphan Taksin. We then made our way to Central World (near Siam BTS station). There is a NaRaYa store there, so we went to check their products out, but personally I felt that their designs were too obiang for my taste (oops). Being tired from walking around all day, we decided to make a pit stop at Coffee Beans by Dao- a rather popular cafe located in Central World. They are famous for their desserts, so I tried their lemon meringue tart which was absolutely heavenly.
Cup of latte & a slice of lemon meringue tart!
The meringue was super fluffy without being overly sweet, and it provided a nice contrast to the tart lemon filling. Their latte was pretty good as well, and I only paid about 10 SGD for both items in total, so dining here will not burn a big hole in your pocket (unlike Singapore’s cafes haha)
With our tummies filled, we walked over to Platinum Mall to start another shopping spree. However, I would advise you to brace yourselves before entering the mall because shopping in there is complete and utter madness. There is an overwhelming number of retail stores cramped together, and you can drown in the wide array of products sold there. I’m not even kidding because this place is like Bugis Street x10.
We were really exhausted after shopping at Platinum, so we took a taxi to T&K seafood for dinner. Taking a taxi is the most convenient form of transportation because T&K is quite far from any BTS/MRTA station. Moreover, the taxi ride is unlikely to be expensive because you can negotiate a fixed price with the driver. For us, we only paid 200 baht for our trip there. In Bangkok’s Chinatown, there are a number of seafood places, so the easiest way to tell them apart is by the colour of the workers’ shirts. T&K employees wear bright green shirts, while their competitors don pink shirts.
Humongous prawns that we had for dinner!
Unfortunately for us, our day after dinner went downhill 😦 As we didn’t want to navigate through Chinatown, we hopped onto a taxi to go back to our hotel. This driver charged by the meter, but he did not seem to know the way back to the hotel. He was also behaving very oddly, which made us incredibly on edge. We grew increasingly wary of him so we just got off at the Phetchaburi BTS station. I guess this just goes to show that you can never be too careful. SIGH.
Ohwell, that’s all for Day 2! Day 3 will be better so look forward to the next post alright hehe 🙂
#baNNgkok because Ng and Neo (i.e. Me and Hui Ying/HWEEENG)
So our trip started with a flight delay. (*cue the unimpressed face*).Thankfully, it was just a minor storm on the Singapore side, so the delay wasn’t that substantial. The way our trip started wasn’t ideal, but it got worse upon reaching the Suvarnabhumi airport, because the airport was undergoing some major renovations. This meant that there were roadblocks everywhere and we had to go around in circles just to clear immigration. Unfortunately (or fortunately), those renovations are part of the plan to expand the airport’s capacity from 40 million to 60 million, so such inconveniences will not be eradicated until 2019.
Now, let’s move on the better part of the day hehe. After collecting our luggage, we boarded the Airport Express to Makkasan! (Bangkok train’s system is basically divided into 3 lines, the Airport Express, the BTS Skytrain and the MRTA Subway. While the BTS is above ground level, the MRTA is underground. Regardless of which line you take, you have to buy ‘train tickets’ for each individual trip. This means that if your journey requires you to change lines, you have to buy tickets twice, which can get irritating at times). Anyway, the cutest ‘train tickets’ were from the Airport Express, because they came in the form of cute yellow coin tokens. Sadly, we didn’t get to keep those tokens because they had to be used to activate the exit gantry at the station. I found the train ride on the Airport Express really interesting though, because if you looked on both sides of the train, you would see 2 different sides of Bangkok. On the left, is Bangkok in all it’s countryside glory.
View from the Airport Express
However, on the right, the entire landscape is of urban Bangkok. It seems as if the train line demarcated the border between the 2 sides of Bangkok, and I had fun discussing this intriguing juxtaposition with Hweeng haha.
For our 4D3N vacation, we decided to stay in D Varee Xpress Makkasan hotel. It was a rather good deal, because I remember paying $60 SGD/person for all 3 nights. While it’s furnishings weren’t luxurious, they were clean and comfortable.
I don’t have photos of us in our room, but the images I found (refer to above) are pretty close to what we had during our stay. My only gripe is that they had a very dubious safe. While its locking mechanisms worked perfectly, I could easily lift the entire safe up and run away if I wanted to, which defeats the entire purpose of the safe. (Or maybe I was just being hulk-like HAHA). Oh, free wifi is also available in the hotel, both in the lobby and in the rooms. In terms of the speed and stability of the wifi connection, the one in the lobby is much better. Moreover, the wifi in the rooms requires each guest to key in their unique code as their password, and this password can only be used for a maximum of 24 hours. If you want to save yourself from all the wifi hassle, just do what Hweeng did- buy a SIM card at the airport and you can get all the data you need.
After settling down as fast as we could, we made our way to Terminal 21! Terminal 21 is essentially a travel themed shopping mall, where different levels are furnished according to the famous city that they are supposed to represent. As silly as this sounds, the toilets are one of the highlights of this mall, because each one is decorated uniquely. We actually went to each toilet on each level just to take photos HAHA. Okay, I have no idea what happened to all the other toilet photos so these 2 will have to do. Apart from visiting every single toilet like crazy people, we also went around taking photos with nice props/backdrops that can be found scattered throughout the mall. This place is really photo-worthy so everyone who comes here should take as many pictures as they can!
Pretty pink wall! (Also, note our couple shoes HAHA)Lamp Post #1Lamp Post #2I couldn’t sit on the bike because I was way too short to get on it 😦Pretty lights!
For dinner, we went to the food court, which was located on the top floor of Terminal 21. I can’t remember if the food was cheap by Bangkok/Thai standards, but it was definitely good. The way the food court operates is pretty much like how the Singaporean Kopitiam food courts work, where customers buy a card, load it with money, then proceed to pay with the card at the different stalls. After going around the entire food court and being tempted to buy everything, we finally settled on Thai Milk Tea, Tom Yum, Pad Thai, Oyster Omelette (i.e. Orh Luak) and Mango Sticky Rice for dinner. It was so so satisfying and I would definitely go back there again.
Alas, time flies when you’re having fun and we soon discovered that we only had a few hours left to shop! This realization made us panic (or rather kan cheong), so we set time limits for ourselves to browse through the stores in Terminal 21. In the end, nothing much tickled our fancy, not even the international retailers like H&M, Esprit and Victoria’s Secret. (It might be due to our speed shopping though haha).
We then made our way to Big C Supermarket. As its name suggests, this supermarket is humongous and they have a really wide variety of products. To be honest, it became a little mind-boggling at times because you simply don’t know what to choose! (This reminds me of an article that we read in GP- The Tyranny Of Choice, thanks Ms Chitra for making this comprehension so memorable hehe). I bought so many food products that Hweeng had to help me stuff all of it into a large carton box and everything from Big C actually cost me around 2000 baht. (Yes I know, the things I do for food haha).
I had quite a workout carrying the box back to our hotel – while the box wasn’t that heavy, it was rather bulky, so my arms had to hold it in a awkward position. (My biceps were actually aching T.T) Unfortunately, I think carrying the box made me look very vulnerable, and we almost got picked up/assaulted by some dude on a motorcycle when we were walking back to our hotel. Thinking back, the entire situation was quite funny because the dude just stopped his bike next to us, and said ‘HELLO!’ in a super dramatic way. Both of us immediately glanced at each other, then glared at him with the super 不爽 expression and he responded by scurrying off. (Both of us talked about it and we realized that instead of feeling scared like normal people, we were just really irritated by the dude, so don’t mess with us ok haha)
Day 1 thus ends with us being safe and sound in our hotel room 🙂
adventuresofxmm 