Bangkok, Thailand Trip: General (Part 1/6)
WARNING: LONG POST
but I personally recommend you to read this post if you're going to Bangkok
I went to Thailand on Feb 25th till March 1st 2015.. I went there because:
but I personally recommend you to read this post if you're going to Bangkok
I went to Thailand on Feb 25th till March 1st 2015.. I went there because:
1. I heard it's a good place to shop and eat
2. I got super cheap flight tickets to do round trip from Japan to Thailand
3. It's close to Indonesia, so my mom and lil bro can come over too!
I have so many things to share and review about, so I'm going to split my posts into several parts..
So in this post, I will share about my trip in general and cover some places too that I think I don't need to share so much in details, while the following posts will be details about several places I think worth to share a little bit more :)
These are my posts plan:
Part 2/6: Hello Kitty House --> CLICK HERE
Part 3/6: Madame Tussauds --> CLICK HERE
Part 4/6: My Name is Napat Cafe --> CLICK HERE
Part 5/6: Wat Pho --> CLICK HERE
Part 6/6: Complete Shopping Guide and Haul --> CLICK HERE
P/S: I will edit this post, to put hyperlink so yo guys can go to the reviews you want to read directly.
Ok, so lets start Part 1/6
DAY 1
We (me and le bf) arrive Bangkok at 3 pm local time and manage to reached hotel (Hotel: Bangkok City Hotel, click here for hotel information) at about 5 ish, we checked in, put our stuffs and head to Platinum with our friend who is Thai. She stopped the taxi and we got ourself to Platinum for 37 baht only, since our Hotel is very near. First thing we did in Platinum was went to KFC (yea, my bf immediately want KFC since KFC in Japan is very different) to fill our tummy. Then we went around from the very 1st floor to 5th.. Most shops were close at 7 pm.. but I got to see a lot tho during 2 hours there.. My thoughts about Platinum was..
hmm.. if you're Indonesian, you can say Platinum is like Mangga Dua.. only, a bit better..
I have hard time to shop.. I'm very picky about fabric and neatness of the sewing (yea, fashion graduate problem, we like great stuffs).. Moreover, I'm a person who likes quality over quantity, so after wondering around in Platinum for 2 hours, I ended up buying 2 tops only from 1 shop, out of those zillionsssss shops.. (check my shopping haul post to know more)
Then I went to Siam area, we walked from Platinum, went through Central World , to Siam Paragon and had dinner in Siam Square's area
Oustide Central World
I forgot the restaurant name, but I had Pad Thai and some other foods I don't know the name cuz my friend was the one who ordered them..
Then we went for Mango Tango!
and afterward, we saw night market.. pretty much almost the same with Platinum in my opinion.. just more variety, like more foods, and DIY stuffs..
Night Market at Siam area..
We were so tired so we decided to went back hotel with taxi since I assume it will only cost me 50 baht maximum anyway.. My friend stopped the taxi, talked in Thai language, and we hopped into the taxi.. This time my friend planned to went back with BTS, so it's only me and le bf in the taxi.. To my horror, this taxi driver try to cheat us.. He didn't start his meter.. and asked for 200 baht!
while driving..
Taxi driver: 200 baht
Me: what?! (thought I heard it wrong)
Taxi driver: 200 baht
Me: No! use meter!
Taxi driver: No meter, 200 baht
Me: NO! NO METER, WE OUT! (yea, must use broken english so the driver understand)
Taxi driver: ok ok, 150 baht
Me: NO! OUT NOW!!! (yea, I literally yell)
Taxi driver: (pull over and still try to bargain).. 50 baht ok?
Me: (ignore him and walked away from the taxi with le bf) call my friend immediately
My friend was shocked lol.. She decided to hopped in together into taxi till we reached hotel finally and you know what, it cost us only bloody 39 baht!
Holy crap.. Guys, you better be fierce when it comes to bargaining with taxi..
So lucky we have this sweet friend who accompany us whole day long :') Thank you naa..
Day 1 ended like that.. and I thought I'll give it another try to shop tomorrow.. because my mom and lil bro will come tomorrow's night and I won't be able to shop.. They don't really like to shop, and mom is even more picky about quality
DAY 2
I went to Platinum again at 10.. I canceled my plan to go to Pratunam as my Thai friend said, it's just like Platinum, but no AC (Air Conditioner).. and I was like.. what?! No.. it's not worth it for me to wake up at 5 am to shop and most likely come back with nothing..
So yeah, I went to Platinum again, this time I walked from the hotel.. it took me about 10-15 minutes.. if you are used to walk, you can definitely walk!
I roamed over the building and went to the second Platinum building located right next to the first building.. and guess what.. I ended up with a hat bought in Platinum and only 1 set of clothes bought in the 2nd Platinum Building..
I GAVE UP.
I'm not saying Platinum is bad.. In fact, I got to see the Thailand's fashion.. Their styles more like Japanese and Korean combine I would say.. And I actually like some of their styles.. It's just I can't bear their fabric's choice and the sewing.. Quality wise is terrible.. Style wise is ok.. They have tons of variety.. but hey.. they are freaking cheap, so you can't really complaint about quality.. I think the most expensive would be 500 baht for a set.. most clothes range from 100 - 350 baht which is INSANELY CHEAP!
So if you are not as picky as I am, Platinum still the best destination for you to shop cheap clothes.. I recommend you to go with your girls so you can buy 2-3 clothes from the same shop and get wholesale price, which is cheaper.
I ate lunch in Platinum food court this time.. You gonna need to change your money first into card.. So go to the counter, give them the money.. They'll give you a card with same exact amount money you gave them.. You purchased, you ate, got left over, they'll refund you, no extra cost, so don't worry!
Then, I went to Siam again to visit Hello Kitty House (review on different post)
and visit a bazaar in front of Siam discovery and got myself a DIY wallet thingy
Went to Family Mart to grab this and I like it, taste like yakult! Drink this everyday in Thailand lol..
Visited MBK a bit, but went out after 10 minutes, because I don't really like it..
And around 5, our friend met us again in Siam Paragon.. She brought me to some Thailand's local brand which I actually like! They have good quality and style.. The price range is from 2,000 baht up.. Sad part is, when I tried it on, it was too big.. so I skipped it.. Actually I saw one store I liked before in Siam Paragon.. I approached and saw a dress I like, but it cost like 3,000 baht up, so I skipped.. :( WHY.. WHY the one I like doesn't cost me 200-500 baht?! =_=
then we went to Khao San :) Khao San is a road that is famous during night time.. We went there with taxi from Siam and it cost about 90 baht I think.. I forgot the exact amount.. but not more than 100..
The road is similar to Clarke Quay in Singapore but smaller.. It's just one long street with many Pad Thai, Scorpion candy ( and it's REAL Scorpio.. it creeps me out), Thai boxing pants, and moreeeee
Eat Pad Thai while walking is common here!
Only 50 baht! Pad Thai with egg and chicken
Must eat when you come to Thailand, COCONUT ICE CREAM :9
I LOVE THIS SO MUCH!
We covered the streets in 1.5 hours and went back to Hotel with Tuk Tuk at 8.30 ish
but actually we went back earlier because I want to meet my mom who gonna arrive at 9 ish (night time)!
So day 2 ended with me reunited with Mom and Bro :)
DAY 3
We went to Madame Tussauds (separate post), roamed around Siam (and of course Mom like Siam Paragon the most lol) and at 4 pm we got taxi to go to Asiatique.. It's better to go to Asiatique with taxi if you're 4 ppl.. It cost you 37 baht per person if you took BTS from Siam and cost you about 130 baht with a bit traffic jam from Siam to Asiatique with taxi. We went back to Hotel from Asiatique with taxi too, and cost us only 90 baht for taxi, and 20 baht for the taxi line service
I must say Asiatique is great! I can shop here! lol and the food was great too! They have loads of variety and watching the sunset is just lovely here..
Mandatory photo
Juliet's garden.. You can put your names too.. need to pay of course.. I didn't check the price because I'm not interested.. Just looks good for me but I aint pay to write my name there..
Snacking here and they were good! Recommended!
Mama Monkey.. basically it's like Pisang Goreng (fried banana), but they have variety in serving, it's interesting! taste wise, of course it's good.. it's fried banana! lol
DAY 4
We went to JJ Market or known as Chatuchak market.. It's super big! They have fashion and food on weekend only.. I heard they have flowers and something else on other days.. so best timing to come here is weekend! I also recommend BTS for transportation if you went there on Saturday.. It's kinda traffic jam so BTS is a faster way.. You simply need about 37 baht if I'm not mistaken and just go to Mo Chit station, and just walk straight or simply follow the crowds.. It's super crowded, so you better go a lil bit earlier, like 10 am.. it gets crowder after 11-12 ish..
I went to JJ market not for shopping as I'm aware about the quality most likely similar to Platinum and said JJ is more popular for mens wear based on some reviews I read. I went here to come to a cafe called My Name is Napat (separate post review).. We didn't spent much time there since it was too hot.. We just went to the cafe and ate coconut ice cream and I was able to got myself a set of clothes (1 top 1 bottom) while my bro got 2 shirts..
We went to Siam Discovery and Central World for our lunch.. then we just roamed around to see Thailand's retails and dept store.. and finally I brought Mom to Platinum regardless knowing she will not like it, we had lunch in their food court.. Platinum's food court was a good choice beside Siam Paragon's food area I think.. Platinum's food court has quite wide variety of food and they taste good, also they are cheap in price compared to Siam Paragon!
Mom and bro went back to hotel straight after lunch to rest while me and le bf went to 1st floor of Platinum to find the first store I shop because I want to buy the same t-shirts for my friends, because I cannot find any decent clothes elsewhere that not gonna break my pocket.. So yeah, went back to the very first shop I shopped in Bangkok to get omiyage for my girls..
At night, we went back to Asiatique.. since it was Saturday.. most taxi reject us, they simply said no because traffic was bad.. so no choice, we went there with BTS and got the chance to experience the boat... the boat is free btw..
We came back to Asiatique because we want to watch Calypso.. Initially we planned to watch the night before, but we couldn't get a good seat, so we purchased for tomorrow's night which is today..
After the show, you can take pictures with the performers.. but you gonna need to pay them individually.. you can give them 20 baht.. They will call you eventually like "hey, take pic with me"
The show was ok.. it's entertaining but not as good as I expected.. We (me and mom) expect something more or less like (or actually slightly below la because the price is also way below if compared to) Lido show in Paris.. Well, turned out it was quite small, but regardless it's not as we expected, we still enjoy the show :) In fact, it's still entertaining! Remembering it's not that expensive, I will still recommend this show! Where else you can see so many ladyboys? Yeah, btw, they were men before, not real women.. Some of them are actually prettier than real women IMO which is crazy.. Well, maybe the saying of "No ugly women, only lazy women" is true.. Anyway, if you're interested to watch, try to book ahead or ask your hotel, they probably gonna have cheaper price.. we didn't know about that, ended up paying 1,200 baht on spot, only to know later at night that our hotel offer the ticket only for 900 baht =_= aish.. pain..
DAY 5
Finally went to a temple.. Wat Pho (separate post) and we pretty much have no idea where to go anymore.. I would love to go to Tiger Temple, but afraid it will take so much time, while my flight is 2 am so need to go to airport 10 pm tonight.. Beside, we were too tired.. we barely could feel our legs.. So I ended up brought Mom to Mango Tango and Hello Kitty house lol then we just had a good time talking and Mom spoiled me by buying me clothes I wanted but cannot afford it by myself lol (the beauty of traveling with mom I must say)
It was a great time for me in Thailand as I met my Mom and Bro after a year not meeting each other.. In conclusion, Thailand is a great place to eat and maybe to shop if you're not as picky as I did. They have great food and a lot of Japanese food I realize lol.. I'm bad with spicy food, however I love their Mango Sticky Rice and their dept stores! I got a lot of inspirations from this trip!
Alright, I shall start Part 2.. lol..
See ya!
hmm.. if you're Indonesian, you can say Platinum is like Mangga Dua.. only, a bit better..
I have hard time to shop.. I'm very picky about fabric and neatness of the sewing (yea, fashion graduate problem, we like great stuffs).. Moreover, I'm a person who likes quality over quantity, so after wondering around in Platinum for 2 hours, I ended up buying 2 tops only from 1 shop, out of those zillionsssss shops.. (check my shopping haul post to know more)
Then I went to Siam area, we walked from Platinum, went through Central World , to Siam Paragon and had dinner in Siam Square's area
Feels like Orchard Road Singapore..
I forgot the restaurant name, but I had Pad Thai and some other foods I don't know the name cuz my friend was the one who ordered them..
Pork I believe.. and it was too good.. :9
First Pad Thai and I'm loving it!
Then we went for Mango Tango!
Mango Tango, all about Mango!
It's kinda expensive, but you gotta try this at least once..
The place has a good concept and this menu was delish!
and afterward, we saw night market.. pretty much almost the same with Platinum in my opinion.. just more variety, like more foods, and DIY stuffs..
We were so tired so we decided to went back hotel with taxi since I assume it will only cost me 50 baht maximum anyway.. My friend stopped the taxi, talked in Thai language, and we hopped into the taxi.. This time my friend planned to went back with BTS, so it's only me and le bf in the taxi.. To my horror, this taxi driver try to cheat us.. He didn't start his meter.. and asked for 200 baht!
while driving..
Taxi driver: 200 baht
Me: what?! (thought I heard it wrong)
Taxi driver: 200 baht
Me: No! use meter!
Taxi driver: No meter, 200 baht
Me: NO! NO METER, WE OUT! (yea, must use broken english so the driver understand)
Taxi driver: ok ok, 150 baht
Me: NO! OUT NOW!!! (yea, I literally yell)
Taxi driver: (pull over and still try to bargain).. 50 baht ok?
Me: (ignore him and walked away from the taxi with le bf) call my friend immediately
My friend was shocked lol.. She decided to hopped in together into taxi till we reached hotel finally and you know what, it cost us only bloody 39 baht!
Holy crap.. Guys, you better be fierce when it comes to bargaining with taxi..
So lucky we have this sweet friend who accompany us whole day long :') Thank you naa..
Day 1 ended like that.. and I thought I'll give it another try to shop tomorrow.. because my mom and lil bro will come tomorrow's night and I won't be able to shop.. They don't really like to shop, and mom is even more picky about quality
DAY 2
I went to Platinum again at 10.. I canceled my plan to go to Pratunam as my Thai friend said, it's just like Platinum, but no AC (Air Conditioner).. and I was like.. what?! No.. it's not worth it for me to wake up at 5 am to shop and most likely come back with nothing..
So yeah, I went to Platinum again, this time I walked from the hotel.. it took me about 10-15 minutes.. if you are used to walk, you can definitely walk!
I roamed over the building and went to the second Platinum building located right next to the first building.. and guess what.. I ended up with a hat bought in Platinum and only 1 set of clothes bought in the 2nd Platinum Building..
I GAVE UP.
I'm not saying Platinum is bad.. In fact, I got to see the Thailand's fashion.. Their styles more like Japanese and Korean combine I would say.. And I actually like some of their styles.. It's just I can't bear their fabric's choice and the sewing.. Quality wise is terrible.. Style wise is ok.. They have tons of variety.. but hey.. they are freaking cheap, so you can't really complaint about quality.. I think the most expensive would be 500 baht for a set.. most clothes range from 100 - 350 baht which is INSANELY CHEAP!
So if you are not as picky as I am, Platinum still the best destination for you to shop cheap clothes.. I recommend you to go with your girls so you can buy 2-3 clothes from the same shop and get wholesale price, which is cheaper.
I ate lunch in Platinum food court this time.. You gonna need to change your money first into card.. So go to the counter, give them the money.. They'll give you a card with same exact amount money you gave them.. You purchased, you ate, got left over, they'll refund you, no extra cost, so don't worry!
Then, I went to Siam again to visit Hello Kitty House (review on different post)
and visit a bazaar in front of Siam discovery and got myself a DIY wallet thingy
Went to Family Mart to grab this and I like it, taste like yakult! Drink this everyday in Thailand lol..
Visited MBK a bit, but went out after 10 minutes, because I don't really like it..
And around 5, our friend met us again in Siam Paragon.. She brought me to some Thailand's local brand which I actually like! They have good quality and style.. The price range is from 2,000 baht up.. Sad part is, when I tried it on, it was too big.. so I skipped it.. Actually I saw one store I liked before in Siam Paragon.. I approached and saw a dress I like, but it cost like 3,000 baht up, so I skipped.. :( WHY.. WHY the one I like doesn't cost me 200-500 baht?! =_=
then we went to Khao San :) Khao San is a road that is famous during night time.. We went there with taxi from Siam and it cost about 90 baht I think.. I forgot the exact amount.. but not more than 100..
The road is similar to Clarke Quay in Singapore but smaller.. It's just one long street with many Pad Thai, Scorpion candy ( and it's REAL Scorpio.. it creeps me out), Thai boxing pants, and moreeeee
Eat Pad Thai while walking is common here!
Only 50 baht! Pad Thai with egg and chicken
I LOVE THIS SO MUCH!
and only 40 baht! :') so happy
We covered the streets in 1.5 hours and went back to Hotel with Tuk Tuk at 8.30 ish
literally cannot feel our legs.. soaked them in warm water to ease the pain..
So day 2 ended with me reunited with Mom and Bro :)
DAY 3
We went to Madame Tussauds (separate post), roamed around Siam (and of course Mom like Siam Paragon the most lol) and at 4 pm we got taxi to go to Asiatique.. It's better to go to Asiatique with taxi if you're 4 ppl.. It cost you 37 baht per person if you took BTS from Siam and cost you about 130 baht with a bit traffic jam from Siam to Asiatique with taxi. We went back to Hotel from Asiatique with taxi too, and cost us only 90 baht for taxi, and 20 baht for the taxi line service
I must say Asiatique is great! I can shop here! lol and the food was great too! They have loads of variety and watching the sunset is just lovely here..
Juliet's garden.. You can put your names too.. need to pay of course.. I didn't check the price because I'm not interested.. Just looks good for me but I aint pay to write my name there..
DAY 4
We went to JJ Market or known as Chatuchak market.. It's super big! They have fashion and food on weekend only.. I heard they have flowers and something else on other days.. so best timing to come here is weekend! I also recommend BTS for transportation if you went there on Saturday.. It's kinda traffic jam so BTS is a faster way.. You simply need about 37 baht if I'm not mistaken and just go to Mo Chit station, and just walk straight or simply follow the crowds.. It's super crowded, so you better go a lil bit earlier, like 10 am.. it gets crowder after 11-12 ish..
I went to JJ market not for shopping as I'm aware about the quality most likely similar to Platinum and said JJ is more popular for mens wear based on some reviews I read. I went here to come to a cafe called My Name is Napat (separate post review).. We didn't spent much time there since it was too hot.. We just went to the cafe and ate coconut ice cream and I was able to got myself a set of clothes (1 top 1 bottom) while my bro got 2 shirts..
We went to Siam Discovery and Central World for our lunch.. then we just roamed around to see Thailand's retails and dept store.. and finally I brought Mom to Platinum regardless knowing she will not like it, we had lunch in their food court.. Platinum's food court was a good choice beside Siam Paragon's food area I think.. Platinum's food court has quite wide variety of food and they taste good, also they are cheap in price compared to Siam Paragon!
Mom and bro went back to hotel straight after lunch to rest while me and le bf went to 1st floor of Platinum to find the first store I shop because I want to buy the same t-shirts for my friends, because I cannot find any decent clothes elsewhere that not gonna break my pocket.. So yeah, went back to the very first shop I shopped in Bangkok to get omiyage for my girls..
At night, we went back to Asiatique.. since it was Saturday.. most taxi reject us, they simply said no because traffic was bad.. so no choice, we went there with BTS and got the chance to experience the boat... the boat is free btw..
We came back to Asiatique because we want to watch Calypso.. Initially we planned to watch the night before, but we couldn't get a good seat, so we purchased for tomorrow's night which is today..
I just took pic with the first two I saw.. lol cost me 40 baht.. gave them 20 each..
The show was ok.. it's entertaining but not as good as I expected.. We (me and mom) expect something more or less like (or actually slightly below la because the price is also way below if compared to) Lido show in Paris.. Well, turned out it was quite small, but regardless it's not as we expected, we still enjoy the show :) In fact, it's still entertaining! Remembering it's not that expensive, I will still recommend this show! Where else you can see so many ladyboys? Yeah, btw, they were men before, not real women.. Some of them are actually prettier than real women IMO which is crazy.. Well, maybe the saying of "No ugly women, only lazy women" is true.. Anyway, if you're interested to watch, try to book ahead or ask your hotel, they probably gonna have cheaper price.. we didn't know about that, ended up paying 1,200 baht on spot, only to know later at night that our hotel offer the ticket only for 900 baht =_= aish.. pain..
DAY 5
Finally went to a temple.. Wat Pho (separate post) and we pretty much have no idea where to go anymore.. I would love to go to Tiger Temple, but afraid it will take so much time, while my flight is 2 am so need to go to airport 10 pm tonight.. Beside, we were too tired.. we barely could feel our legs.. So I ended up brought Mom to Mango Tango and Hello Kitty house lol then we just had a good time talking and Mom spoiled me by buying me clothes I wanted but cannot afford it by myself lol (the beauty of traveling with mom I must say)
It was a great time for me in Thailand as I met my Mom and Bro after a year not meeting each other.. In conclusion, Thailand is a great place to eat and maybe to shop if you're not as picky as I did. They have great food and a lot of Japanese food I realize lol.. I'm bad with spicy food, however I love their Mango Sticky Rice and their dept stores! I got a lot of inspirations from this trip!
Alright, I shall start Part 2.. lol..
See ya!
Disclaimer:
This is not a sponsored post.
All pictures in this post, belong to this blog and should not be used for other purposes without agreement from author
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