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Bangkok 101: Pratunam |
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Written by The DayDreymer
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Sunday, 29 July 2007 23:37 |
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The wonderful things about shopping in Bangkok are the availability of two extremes - luxury shopping in comfort and the uncomfy shopping which makes it luxurious.
If Gucci, Coach and Prada are amongst the things in your shopping list, head down to Siam where you'll be bombarded with shopping malls housing branded goods. Not as if you can't get them in the local markets but unless you are anal about typos, then maybe Cucci, Goach and Praba may be a problem. On our first day in Bangkok, we took the MRT to Siam and discovered Geysorn. You would probably think it's similar to what we have in Suria KLCC but what makes this place memorable are the uber-unique art pieces. Like this wooden tree made of leaves of pinwheels.
 
In the concourse, watch out for giant drops of water!
 
And enter the garden of essences, where you are free to roam along samples of floral and fruitty scents.
 
We were getting restless already. We weren't here to sightsee, let's shop! The convenience about Bangkok is that if you want to travel to another area without walking, you could get a tuk-tuk. With THB40 per vehicle for a 5-10mins ride, please be aware that the fee excludes any accident coverage. Also, do not feel you've been short-changed if your what supposed to be a 10 mins ride takes less than 2 minutes to reach your destination. It really depends on how heavy traffic is on the 'OTHER' side of the road. Skillful. Very skillful.
And finally, we arrive at Pratunam's Platinum Shopping Complex. Woohoo! If you are a lady who loves accessories, clothes, shoes and bags, you will not be disappointed. The mall is air-conditioned but there are two downfalls -- you can't try on the clothes and you need to purchase at least three items (they call it 'wholesale') in order to get the discounted price. We created a new term: "Wholesale Support" Wholesale support - A shoutout used by any member if she needs support from her team in order to achieve their desired Return of Investment (ROI). Here's an example of how 'Wholesale Support' in progress. We call this the 'Blackhole' because it was the only place that got us to purchase more bags that we actually need.
 
 For you cynics who believed that shopping is just a way to waste money, time and space, I beg to differ. It promotes team work, encourages tactical and strategic attacks, improves your skills in negotiation, refining techniques of persuasion and develop mental math! Seriously... We should really consider including 'bargain shopping' in our education syllabus (although most ladies would boast that it's just an inborn talent) The shopping complex reminds me of Dongdaemun in Korea. Similar setup and you could get a little 'disoriented' after a while. After 7 hours of continuous shopping, we were exhausted and hungry. Oh, and very, very grumpy since the nearest MRT was about 10 mins away and walking under a mild drizzle didn't help to cool off our steam. But half way, we smelt food! Street food are so common in Bangkok that any Malaysians would be able to stomach filthy pavements and unpleasant scented paths. And it was just perfect weather to have a bowl of warm tom yum kung to regain our energy. With rice. Stir-fried beef and pork. Barbequed salt fish. Glass noodle salad. Roasted pork. Kangkung. Singha and Coke. Mmmm...
 
Dodgy in appearance but we voted this as the best dinner we had in Bangkok 
 
After refueling, we walked along the bustling Bangkok streets. It was damp and drizzling slightly but that didn't dampen our spirits. Just outside a huge mall was a mini temple. Thais are staunch Buddhist and even at this hour, they were offering prayers to their deity.
In comparison, we are a religious group of grrls as well. It's just that we pay homage to a different religion at a different temple --
The shopping mall. After grabbing some stuffs in Naraya (YaY! We finally could swipe our credit cards) at Central World, the grrls even managed to get some really cute shorts and jelly shoes from street vendor. I told ya, we won't stop at anything.
 
This is the end of day one. And the damage?
Roommates in room #302
 
Roommates in room #304
 
Roommates in room #308
 
to be continued... Chatuchak Day #1 |
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Bangkok 101: Hungry? |
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Written by The DayDreymer
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Friday, 27 July 2007 00:30 |
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I've mentioned quite abit of the inn we were staying in Sukhumvit Soi 57. Is it easy to grab a quick bite?
Just around the corner, eateries similar to the kopitiams that we have over here were abundant. After touching down and our McD's breakie fully digested, lunch awaits.
We weren't sure if they'll serve good food but being non-adventurous was not part of the agenda. As more customers started coming in to the eatery, we knew we were at the right place. Now, we had to think what to order. The fate of our hunger pangs was now in the hands of GKL and her fluency in Mandarin.
Thais love their broth clear and simple. However, if you'd like to add some oomph to the soup, they have te usual condiments served on every table; fish sauce, sugar, chili flakes (potent but excellent), crushed roasted peanuts and cut red chili soaked in vinegar. Gerry approves!
 
I had flat rice noodles with a variety of fish paste and fish cake and plenty of raw taugeh (yum!) and chopped coriander. Excellent! Just sprinkle some chili flakes and a dash of fish sauce, you got yourself a tasty and hearty meal. Portions are smaller than what is served in Malaysia but we are not complaining. It just means, we get to have more food later! Per bowl - THB 30 (RM 3)
We enjoyed the food here so much that we went back for another dose of noodle soup. I had my usual with glass noodle but GKL decided to go GROSS on us. She had the usual but with a side order of coagulated pig's blood. Yes, such food do exists. Bleack. 
It didn't sound at all appetizing especially for someone who never tasted it before. After some internal self-encouragement and pep talk, I led my spoon to a place I never thought I would; a scoop of piggy's semi-solid hemoglobin. I wanted to try it a little but it was difficult to cut through for a small, itsy-bitsy bit. It kept falling off my spoon that even GKL was tempted to help me. EeEEEEeeeeEEEe..
 
See what I mean! Review: Wasn't too bad actually. Just slurp it and have it go through your teeth like as if you are filtering the solid to liquid. Haha..
Hungry already from shopping for 8 hours straight? It is our lucky day as our noses followed the scent of deep fried lam yue kai (deep fried chicken marinated in fermented tofu -- ok, sounds horrible. Perhaps I shouldn't have translated) sold in a stall on wheels. Luck on our side, GKL must have wanted to seize more of it.  Hmm.. Someone ought to tell her that you break off the 'Wishing Bone' with someone in order for your wish to be granted. Babes... not chicken wing leh. No.. not even in Thailand :| Adjacent to the street where our inn is situated is a place that is famous for their orh chien (oyster omellete) and pad thai. Their orh (oysters) are obviously much larger than the ones we get over here. Even the texture of the omellete is crispier and less 'eggy'. A major diff is the taugeh in the omellete. Again, the Thais love their sprouts semi-cooked. We also (by accident) ordered another omelette with mini mussels. In all honesty, you wouldn't miss it even if you didn't have it.
However, not every restaurant that we randomly selected was palatable. Just like this one across the road. They couldn't understand much English despite pointing the item that we wanted that was written in English. In the end, our beef noodles turned out to be sliced beef with rice. And we wouldn't mind it so much if the beef was tender and juicy. But it is odd to have BEEF JERKY with RICE. No? I asked for beef, jerky. Dry, a little tasteless and tough.
Mmm... red rubies. We were really excited to have tub tim krob (mock pomegranate - waterchestnuts coated with tapioca flour in coconut milk). However, it came out quite disappointing. Sigh. Jadryn busy selecting what to include in her dessert 
 
 
To be continued... we heart shopping in Bangkok! |
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Bangkok 101: Babes on a budget |
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Written by The DayDreymer
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Monday, 23 July 2007 23:49 |
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I know that the review on Bangkok has been long overdue. I was thinking. Thinking hard on how to approach this travelog. And I think I got it. Bangkok 101: Babes on a budget; How to stay cheap! (No pun intended) 1) Fly with a low budget airline like Air Asia
Damage? RM 305 per person from KUL to BKK. It was reasonable! However, if you are bringing back the whole of Bangkok with you, perhaps the limit of 15kgs of check-in may be insufficient. That is if, you are on a mission, like these super troopers. *theme song of Chariot of Fire*
 
2) Get that pink taxi
Grab a pink cab at the Bangkok International Airport. A one way trip to Sukhumvit (also depending on which area of the town you are headed to) was THB 250 (RM 25). Traffic wasn't fantastic but we got there safe.. and plenty of sound. "What? You paid THB 250?? THB 180 for mileage and THB 50 for tips is how much?" "Oh. THB 230" I'm on holiday. I don't do mental calculation. Hrmph! (Anyway, the taxi driver overcharged us by RM 2 -- can't even buy one packet of chicken rice!)
3) As long as it's clean, we're staying here  We booked three double occupant rooms at the Sawasdee Sukhumvit Inn on Sukhumvit Soi 57. (Starbucks just 5-10mins walk!!!!!!) We knew the price we were paying will not get us fluffy bathroom slippers and silk duvets but for ~TBH1200 (~RM120) per pax for three nights, you really can't ask for more. Rooms were clean, towels and basic toiletries were provided, a mini fridge, air-con, TV with a couple of channels (BBC, NHK, Starworld) and mosquito netting (!!) were also available. Majority of Thais in Bangkok understand English. You don't really need 4 people at the reception and a person on the phone to get translation at the inn. English is widely used. Here's a picture of the room I bunked in with Shuks. Room #302.
 
It looks like the inn has gone through some minor refurbishment and they've done a good job to make it look pleasant -- especially their fresh coat of brightly painted colourful walls. Even these Malaysian tourists found it hard not to snap a few shots.
*As much as I have plenty of good things to say about this inn, the entrance from the main road to the lane where the it is situated can be quite dodgy especially at night. It's always advisable to walk in pairs or in a group. Be street wise. 4) Entertainment in the hotel Digital citizens facing withdrawal symptoms of not handling a mouse do not have to worry. Internet is available at the inn for THB 10 (RM 1) for 10 minutes. Guess who couldn't resist? Ahem. But but but... the taxi guy was late! :| If you are need a quick read, grab a novel at the bookstand that travellers leave behind after their trip.
  
Or be awwwww-ed by the resident heart-throb. He's sucha cutie!
5) Free breakfast! For THB 400 (RM 40) per night and it includes breakfast too! Isn't that a great deal? We didn't know how grateful we were for free breakfast until the day we flew off as we were running out of cash! Breakfast is served at the inn's restaurant, Smile Restaurant from 6am to 10am every morning. You get a choice of coffee, tea or juice.
 
The menu differs slightly from day to day. For instance, here are examples of our American breakie on day 1 and day 3.
 
You only get white toast. No choice of baguette, croissont, danish or buns. They don't ask you how you like your eggs done either. Jam is standard artificial strawberry!
6) Taking the MRT It is easy, cheap and convenient to travel around Bangkok with the MRT. Not only is it reliable but it beats the horrid jam ANYTIME. Sawasdee Sukhumvit Inn is about 3 mins walk to the nearest station - Thong Lo (E6)
A one way trip from:
- Thong Lo to Siam (where the major premium malls are) costs THB 20 (RM 2).
- Thong Lo to Mo Chit (where Chaktuchat market is) costs THB 40 (RM 4)
- If you travel frequently in one day, I suggest the day trip pass which gives you unlimited entry the whole day - THB 120 (RM 12)
If you are unsure where to get off, don't worry. You'll bump to cute girls that have a map with them all the time to assist you.
And even after the 3rd day of travelling to and fro on the MRT, you think you know your stops. Ummm.. not really. Shopping fatigue and suffering from intense dehydration (liquid cash not water) can cause you to SEE things (think: lost in desert with no H20 and a mirage in the distance). That's us stuck at Phrom Phong (E5), 1 station before our actual stop. Ahh.. wishful thinking.
To be continued... grrls gone wild-shop, eat, shop, eat... |
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Veni, vidi, vici |
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Written by The DayDreymer
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Tuesday, 10 July 2007 21:35 |
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6 girls. 4 days. 3 nights. 22 pieces of bags. *gulp* We arrived like that..... 
But came back with......
 
 
We even spotted one of our boxes being loaded up to the plane! Much to Jade's relieve. We had an incredible non-stop shopping trip. From the moment we touched down till the time we departed shopper's paradise, it was just baht out, out and out. And at times of desperation and the dire need to survive, the sign "Currency Exchange" just lights up our faces. Ahhh so nice. I want a holiday to relax now. Sigh. More pics of BKK soon. Slowly wait! |
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