Everybody I told was very surprised that I have gone as far as United Kingdom but not Bangkok. =p
This trip was initiated by Lynn and her secondary school friend, Ruoting.
Lynn is the organizer for the trip as she has the most free-time on hand (she is a teacher on holidays!). Ruoting, being a frequent traveler to Bangkok, naturally became our tour guide. Joyce was appointed as the treasurer of our common fund by her newly bought itouch.
Shopping is the main aim of this trip. But since this is my 1st trip to Bangkok, Lynn has kindly incorporated some tourist attractions in the itinerary for me. =D
We arrived in Bangkok at 1215 Bangkok-time – half a day gone due to Organizer’s “good” planning. (This is her first time planning for a trip and hence did not take into consideration the importance of maximizing travel time.)
4 of us with 4 almost-empty luggage bags could not fit into the normal meter-Taxi, so we had no choice but to take a maxi-Taxi. A journey to Pullman Bangkok King Power Hotel from Suvarnabhumi Airport on the maxi-Taxi cost us 750 baht. The duration of the journey depends very much on the traffic in Bangkok city – it can take approximately 30min to 1 hour.
Pullman Bangkok King Power Hotel is not the cheapest hotel in the region but it is a relatively new hotel – 2 yrs old and reasonably priced. The daily rate for a twin room is approximately 2000 baht without breakfast. Upon check-in, the hotel receptionist offered us a top-up of 800 baht for an upgrade to a deluxe room with breakfast. 2800 baht ≈ S$60/night for a deluxe twin room in a
5-star hotel is pretty worth staying, so we accepted the offer.
Pullman Bangkok King Power Hotel however is not very strategically located. The nearest convenience stall where we can get some snacks is about 10 min walk away. A trip to the nearest BTS sky train station – Victory Monument on the hotel’s complimentary tuk-tuk (7am – 10pm) takes about 10min.
The hotel also offers shuttle van service to/from Pratunam market (near The Platinum Mall - which is where we wanted spend the rest of our day) 2 times a day but the timing is not favorable to us. (To: 11am, 3pm From: 12pm, 4pm)
We had a simple lunch at the food court at Victory Monument before leaving for Platinum. The food court uses a card system (similar to Kopitiam system). Unused funds can be refunded. With the help of the pictures on the menu and some gesturing, we managed to get our lunch. Everything in Thai is small. The food servings were small – it’s half of our usual portion; the table was small too – the 4 of us could hardly fit in.The food itself was average.
Seafood Egg Noodle (similar to the 生面 we have in Singapore)
Seafood Rice Noodle (similar to the 'hor-fun' we have in Singapore)
Our first stop is to visit the famous Erawan Shrine (Thai: ศาลพระพรหม, San Phra Phrom)
Erawan Shrine is a Hindu shrine that houses a statue of Phra Phrom, the Thai representation of the Hindu creation god Brahma. A popular tourist attraction, it often features performances by resident Thai dance troupes, which are hired by worshippers in return for seeing their prayers at the shrine answered.
It is located at the Rajprasong intersection, in front of Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel, Bangkok. It is near the BTS Chitlom Station, which has an elevated walkway overlooking the shrine. A trip from BTS Victory Monument station to BTS Chit Lom station cost 25 baht.
You can offer prayers by buying some incense sticks, candles and flowers from the vendors nearby. Start in a clockwise direction from the entrance of the shrine, offering the flowers, candles and incense sticks to the 4-faced Budhha at the 4 corners.
I paid respect by just joining my palms together and prayed for world peace as I still don’t feel comfortable praying for personal gains abroad. ^_^
The Platinum Mall
The Platinum mall is 5 to 10 min walk away from BTS Chit Lom station. The Platinum mall houses a great amount of clothing and accessories over 6 floors, for both men and women. Although the stuffs sold there are not branded, they are similar quality as what we get locally. Most importantly, they are a few times cheaper – most items are below 500 baht. You can get much better prices if you are shopping wholesale.
One thing to note is that most clothing sold there are of smaller size range (Asian S, M)Though most of the clothes there are too small for me, I still spent almost 1/3 of my planned budget in that afternoon alone. =p
The shops in Platinum start closing at 7pm. We had shopped non-stop for 3 hrs by then but only managed to cover up till level 3. Tired out, we decided to take a break and have dinner at level 6 of Platinum. Our dinner for 4 at Fuji Japanese restaurant cost us about 2000 baht. Though the food is not fantastic, it is indeed cheap.
Suan Lum Night Bazaar
After dinner, we headed to Suan Lum Night Bazaar. Along the way, we passed by many stalls and parted with some money as well ^_^
Suan Lum Night Bazaar is a night market near Lumpini Park, a short walk away from Lumpini Station. The setting is very similar to Holland Village in Singapore.
To get to Suan Lum Night Bazzar, take the Skytrain to S2 Sala Daeng Station (Silom Line). Walk about 100m and you will see Si Lom MRT station. Take the subway train to Lumpini and follow the signage , you will see Suan Lum Night Bazzar. Alternatively, just take a 15 - 30 mins walk from Sala Daeng to Suan Lum Night Bazzar.
The Night Bazaar is open from 5pm to midnight, with some shops open until later. It has vendors selling gifts, clothing, jewelleries, compact discs, hand-made products like tapestries and fine arts, such as paintings and sculptures. The clothes and accessories sold there are a tad more expensive than The Platinum but the designs are more unique and interesting. There are also a lot of creative home-accessories and furniture. There is a large beer garden, with an array of food available, and live entertainment. On the other side of the market there is a quieter area with many restaurants offering both inside and outside garden seating.
We did not buy much at Suan Lum Night Bazaar – guessed we are all tired out.We end the day with a foot massage at one of the foot massage palour – 250 baht for an hour of shoulder and foot massage (It could have been cheaper but we were too tired to bargain). Nevertheless, the massage is cheap and good, much better than any other I had in Singapore. Like what the rest told me, Thai foot massage is not painful at all, its actually quite comfy and its effective. The shoulder massage is damn painful though; my poor shoulders must have been overworked over the last few months.
We got into a tuk-tuk waiting at the roundabout in Suan Lum Night Bazaar and headed back to Pullman King Power Hotel for 200 baht (We found out later that we have been overcharged, ~ 100 baht is more reasonable. We were caught in a traffic jam on a metered-Taxi for about an hour and it cost us only close to 100 baht.)
Taking a tuk-tuk is a “great” experience, especially when there are 4 of us, balancing a few bags each and rushing through the empty roads in the cool Bangkok air. We arrived at the hotel cold and with messy hair.
Bangkok Time
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