(The ultimate indulgence Update..Best viewed with Firefox. In IE, this vair long entry seems rather messy. Oops!)
Day 1 (Evening 1) - Big C Shopping Centre
We reached BKK int'l airport at 7pm..The plane had to linger at the runway for a while as the airport was busy welcoming the VIPs; this was conveyed by the captain to us the passengers. That aside, we finally reached BKK! So exciting one. While we were queuing up for the taxi, up in the night sky, we were welcomed by fireworks! Woohooo! it was for the King's 60th anniversary celebration..guess we were just lucky enough to be able to see 'em.. :P
Anyways, we decided to opt for the airport taxi instead of waiting for the metered taxi. We had wanted to book the airport transfer in advance but since it was the King's anniversary weekend plus our last minute planning, the airport transfer services we found online were unfortunately fully booked already. Approximately 30 minutes down the highway, we checked into the very comfortable hotel at ploenchit road, which we got at internet rates. I really like the location of the hotel. Chitlom Skytrain Station (E1) is right at its doorstep. Very accessible indeed.
After we settled down, we were famished by then. No food on budget airline..Okie there's food but hey u gotta pay....so it was no-no....and so, we set on foot around the hotel area. It was 9:30pm but the city was hustling and bustling with a sea of yellow everywhere (almost everyone on the street was decked in yellow to celebrate the King's 60th anniversary) and with the world cup fever going on, there was a massive crowd around the area. We got some foodstuff from Big C shopping centre to last us throughout the remaining night and tomorrow morning.
Day2 - Chatuchak and Suan Lum Night Bazaar
Rise and Shine. Had our breakfast and off we went to Chatuchak! Yeyness! First ride on skytrain from Chit Lom to Mo Chit. Spent almost the whole afternoon there till about 3pm before we returned to the hotel by taxi this time round, deposit all of our loot, called for delivery from Mak Yah Restaurant and off we went to Suan Lum Night Bazaar from 6pm to ard 10:30pm. While at chatuchak, we break for lunch at a halal stall at Section 18 of the market. Thanks to irris for taking the pic of the stall, i could recognise it immediately. And THE most important factor, it's clean. I had yummy pad Thai from this stall. Cheap, authentic and yummy Thai food! I am now motivated to try making pad Thai myself...hehe...
Chatuchak or JJ market as the locals calls it, was very interesting..Lives up to its name, alright. got a few things from there..Actually quite a number from there..heh! trays, tops, sandals, souvenirs, etc etc. the plain Thai silk that goes by yards were very cheap cheap...cheap cheap already madame.....heh.. At 9am it was already flooded with people but it was still not too bad compared to the 1pm crowd that thronged in....With the chatuchak map in hand, we were quite focused and got the hang of the market after a while..We went section by section and lane by lane..We weren't able to cover all of it of cos' but we got wat we wanted and were happy at the end of it all.. :)
halal stall at section 18 of chatuchak market
Suan Lum night bazaar, it's cleaner than JJ and since it's a night bazaar, it's a lot cooler than JJ, but of cos'....So, shopping there was quite the breeze, literally too..We got a few nice buys from here too including my table runners for hari raya...haha! Okie dah boleh raya dah....kekke..
There were lotsa huge stray dogs tho.....and yes, the biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig ferris wheel was definitely a sight... :)
suan lum and the heyugeee ferris wheel..
Day 3 - MBK,
We reached MBK, 2 skytrain stations away at 9am..talk abt kiasuism..and doors were still closed..A lady approached us and advised us to go to the Thai local centre..We got on our very first tuk-tuk ride with a very nice driver to boot, and went on our way. And of cos' we didn't get anything from there. V touristy. yipes! i suspected it to be so. the mere mention of 'thai local centre' triggers the signal that this could be a v touristy place and indeed it was. The v nice tuk tuk driver waited for us and he brought us to another place, manhattan..heh! we din get anything from here either..was contemplating whether or not to tailor a pair of suit but didn't eventually..Shld i regret? hmm..it's over.. No time for regrets now..hurhur...At the most, just go again lorr... hehe...senang jer cakap.. :P the tuk-tuk ride was just 10 baht, a total of 20 baht for the distance covered..nice tuk-tuk driver..didn't 'ketuk' us...It was then back to some serious shopping at MBK... :) buyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.......
After MBK, we went to bobae tower..From mbk we wanted to take the the tuk-tuk to bobae. Alas, we had a close encounter with the third kind, NOT the thousand smiles..we got out of that tuk-tuk and took a cab instead...After bobae, deposited the 2nd day loot back to the hotel and went in search of Mak Yah's restaurant. Thanks to my 'superb' direction skills, we went on an adventure to mak yah's..got lost a bit b4 we finally reached the quaint restaurant, all sweaty, hungry and tired...but at least i helped with the landmarks - Asia Hotel and First Hotel! pffft! After a scrumptious powerhouse lunch at mak yah's, where the sister bumped into her friend, we went off to
HRC at Siam Square
Inside the quaint mak yah's restaurant
Day 4 - Pratunam, MBK Again
Reached pratunam market ard 8:30 am where we were almost conned by the 3rd kind, into believing that pratunam market was closed for the day as it was the biggest holiday. After sighs of disappointment, we stayed through since some shops were already opened..gradually, one by one, the shops opened their doors and hey Pratunam IS open! chey! wanna cheat us some more...got most of my stuff from pratunam area and i therefore declare it my favourite area, followed by chatuchak. :) We still had time and went for one last round at MBK before we call it a day....did the final packing before it was off to
It was mighty fun...friendly thais...nice taxi drivers who had to resort to paralanguage (i hoped i got it right here.hmm..) to convey their message across; "poot poot", "ping pong" "Ow". So animated they were and with a sister who had just taken thai language, she either got good bargains wen the local thais understood her thai language OR she'd be asked to "speak english" instead by them, 'twas a very memorable trip indeed...haha! it was so funny! and the husband who had to become everything - photographer, shopping bags carrier, etc etc. I couldn't ask for more. khop khun maaaaaaaak khaaaaaaaaa.....I'm still missing bangkok y'all.........! :) i'm still missing the land of the thousand smiles.............. :)))))))
(the appropriate pics will be inserted accordingly, later on)
