Friday, March 13, 2015

Bangkok 2015 - Part 1

Went to Bangkok with my family last weekend! Although it is so near and a common getaway destination for many Singaporeans, this was actually my first time there! I was so excited the days leading up to my holiday!





ARRIVAL

Upon reaching the Suvarnabhumi Airport, the first thing we did was to purchase a drink (17 baht only! Which is less than SGD1 per can), and a data card so that we can access internet while in Bangkok. We chose AIS, which was offering 7-days unlimited data for only 299 baht. That is only around SGD12. Very worth it! The high-speed data only last 1.5GB though, and thereafter the speed will be slower. However, even though I emailed many photos during the trip, I only reached the cap on the fourth day, when I was about to board the plane back to Singapore. There is also 100 baht local calling credits, useful for making reservations at restaurants, etc.



We tried to squeeze 8 of us into a single large taxi for 700 baht and it was probably my worst taxi ride ever. In front was uncle, then 5 of us in the mid row: aunt, grandma, dad, me, grandpa (he's blocked by the car seat in this photo), and at the back was my mum, sis, and our luggage. I sat with only 1/4 of my butt touching the seat! It would not have been so bad if not for the super slow traffic jam which made the journey very long. Jelly legs after we alight!


Love this bright and sunny photo I took on the overhead bridge! It was lucky that there wasn't any rain throughout the four days we were there!


Really love the street food! Elaborate more further down this entry!


HOTEL





For accommodation, we booked The Berkeley Hotel Pratunam using Agoda. This is a new hotel, and the location is fantastic! Near Platinum Mall and Pratunam Market, SabX2 noodles, walking distance to Chitlom BTS, and a night market right outside the hotel!

We wanted to stay in a comfortable and nice hotel so we chose this even though there are cheaper options around the same area. It's still very affordable though! I felt that the price was worth it.

The room is clean and spacious, including the bathroom which comes with a separate bathtub and shower area! The partition between the bed area and bathroom can be opened up for couples staying together too.

Address: 559 Ratprarop Rd, Makkasan, Rachatewi, Bangkok 10400, Thailand
Website: www.berkeleypratunam.com





We went to explore the area around our hotel and have lunch too!



There are many street stalls selling this orange colored freshly squeezed juice. Not sure if the color is naturally so bright though! Does look a bit artificial hor? But it is so refreshingly good! Sweet and concentrated, we all love it.



LUNCH

For lunch, we went to SabX2, also known as Soi 19. They are very famous one! Before the trip, I googled for famous noodles in Bangkok and I saw SabX2 as well as Soi 19. I didn't know it's actually the same shop! Haha.

Address: 4/32-33 Soi Petchburi 19, Pratunam, Bangkok, Thailand
Opening Hours: 9am - 3pm



First complete group photo in Bangkok!


Pork knuckle and intestines. IT WAS SO TENDER AND GOOD.


We also ordered the wanton noodles afterwards. The portion is small, so don't worry about not being able to finish two mains in one meal! This wanton mee has got to be my favourite food in Bangkok. I don't usually like wanton mee in Singapore, but I really like the sauce used for the noodles here! There was a distinct taste of the pork lard oil which makes it very delicious. So, I hereby list SabX2 as my favourite wanton mee noodles dry version! (Favourite wanton mee noodle soup version is still the one I had at Hong Kong. Why don't we have good wanton mee in Singapore???) Some of my friends aren't very impressed by these noodles though. I guess even the most yummy food in the world can't please everyone!


Then, we walked pass this stall selling fried chicken that smelled so yummy and we could not resist! It was fried on the spot and served piping hot. It was so juicy and so good, we wondered what they use to marinate it! We craved for this every single day and night in Bangkok.


One drumstick only 80 Singapore Cents~!!!!!!!


Just our first meal in Bangkok and I already love this place.


PLATINUM MALL

Uncle went to tailor make some shirts so the rest of us went to Platinum Mall to look look see see! He told us to shop at level one, and he will call one of us when he comes back to the mall after he is done. In the end we went up to level five and walked quite a fair bit before wondering how come he hasn't called us. In the end, we realize that my aunt was holding on to his phone! Haha. We quickly went down to level one and went on separate ways to look for him. Of course, while searching we were also eyeing the clothes. Haha. In the end he found us! Heng ah!


My parents and grandparents.


Didn't buy much here, just some accessories which are really cheap! Although I heard that the price range here is higher than other shopping areas in Bangkok, I thought it was already quite cheap! The accessories I bought are 2 or 4 for 100 baht only, which is around SGD4. I did see quite a number shops selling clothes at 100-150 baht but mostly are 200 baht and above.

The sections are separated by levels. There is an accessories level, men's level, and the rest are for female.



The basement has this shop selling Tom Yum noodles and it is very nice!


Photo with my grandpa!






We just walked and walked around the streets. With my sis here in matching outfits! haha. I got my plain black sleeved top is from Earthdoll's retail shop in Bukit Panjang Plaza (#03-21) just before the trip. I like how it's lightweight and airy enough for the hot weather in Bangkok!


SIAM NIRAMIT

Traveled by BTS to watch the Siam Niramit cultural show during the evening! I think it was peak hour then, so it was really crowded and we had to change from BTS to MRT midway and walked quite alot. I was thinking, transportation in Bangkok is really jialat. Take cab got traffic jam. Take train got human jam. For tourists, to buy these single journey tickets, we had to queue to use the machine in order to purchase these and the queue was extremely long and slow! For us eight, we had to repeat the same transaction 8 times because there wasn't an option to buy 8 at one go. Also, the machine only accept coins, so we had to queue to change coins (maximum 100 baht per pax) before queuing one more time for the machine. Route: Chitlom BTS to Asok BTS, change to MRT line Sukhumvit station, travel to Thailand Culture Center station.


Finally reached!


Quickly snapped a photo with the huge elephant that was part of the show.


Explored the Thai Village before entering the theater.



I only had 1.5 hours of sleep before the trip so I was feeling very sleepy and the slow music made me fall asleep many times during the show! There are no dialogues, so it was kinda boring at times. We were all impressed by the stage set up and effects though! There are many stories pieced together and some of them are quite nice. We paid around 1500 baht (SGD65) per pax for this, which is kinda pricey!


Afterwards, we went for supper at this random outdoor restaurant by the streets!




The food took sooooooooooooooo long to arrive, even though we ordered the same dishes as my uncle's table! They cooked the dishes one by one instead of just cooking two portions together. Haha. The food was not bad though.


That sums up Day One at Bangkok!

Read,
Part 1: http://www.estherxie.com/2015/03/bangkok-2015-part-1.html
Part 2: http://www.estherxie.com/2015/04/bangkok-2015-part-2.html
Part 3: http://www.estherxie.com/2015/04/bangkok-2015-part-3.html


20 comments :

  1. We stayed at Berkerly too! :)

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  2. Such a nice post and pics also. I am from India but after seeing your pics I also want to visit bangkok.

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  3. WOW! What a wonderful Bangkok journey. I really like the part 1 post. Every image is truly nice & those foodie pictures are mouth watering. Hope you guys have great time out there!

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  4. Saw your post, how do you get to Berkeley hotel from suvarnabhumi airport? Is it near baiyoke sky?

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    1. Hi! I took a cab, around 700 baht. You can also take the airport train to Phayathai then change to BTS to ChitLom. It's within walking distance but better to have GPS because the hotel is not right beside the station. Else, you can ask passerby for the directions to Platinum Mall as it's very near the hotel.

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  5. Thank you for writing such a nice report about the city I live in. Looks like you and your family had great fun in Bangkok and certainly ate a lot by looking from at the pictures! LOL
    If on your next visit fancy doing something else as a family outing please come visit my shop in Bangkok. I organizy half day bicycle trips for families. Great way to exlpore and eat all while you cycle. For more info please visit http://www.gobangkoktours.com

    Keep up the good work on your blog. Loving it!

    Ray

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  6. Mind sharing where your uncle tailor-made his shirts from? And roughly how much it cost?

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  7. Hi I read that it is better to exchange foreign currency in Bangkok. Have you tried exchanging sing dollar over there?

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    1. Hi Jessie! I didn't leh, I changed in Singapore... I think doesn't make a big difference because I only change afew hundreds.

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  8. Hi Ester, may I know if you stayed in the North tower or main tower? Am interested to book the hotel but it seems like the North tower is quite far and many people experienced drainage problem in the toilet. Wonder if you faced the same prob when you were there?

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    1. Oh yes! I forgot to mention, book the main tower!

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  9. All pictures are really awesome. You can not believe but I spend my 15 minutes on this post. You are so beautiful.

    ~Smith

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  10. Great post. Thank you. Going next month.

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  11. Bangkok is the best place on earth in my opinion:) If you want to check out the markets in Bangkok

    Then go here to find out which one you want to do your shopping at!!

    www.nightmarketbangkok.com

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  12. Bangkok is my favorite city in the world. Here is Here is why I love Bangkok so much..
    Thanks for your blog! The coconuts photo made me really miss the city!

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  13. Bangkok for me is such a perfect place to enjoy and go shopping. It's included in my must visit places on earth. People there are the nicest I don't even have any complain. I also love their food. By the way, here's my top shopping malls there so hopefully you will find time to check this http://bangkok.klapsons.com/top-12-shopping-malls-in-bangkok/

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