The Land of Smiles Part 3 Sunday, August 11, 2013 |Comment(s)
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| Fredfredtan says... As promised, my last update on my BKK trip! (: Chatuchak, in my previous post, I had mentioned that travelling to Chatuchak is really easy. You can just take the BTS to the station Mo Chit. Another way is to alight at the MRT station Chatuchak. At Chatuchak, I think the whole highlight was food! Haha. A photo journey of the food that we ate!  
What I am holding is a Choconana, which is basically frozen banana dipped in chocolate sauce and almond chunks. It actually tasted like ice cream and a joy to eat in that terrible weather!
We had some street snacks for breakfast on our second day at Chatuchak before braving the heat and the crowd! I think I always look super happy with food! Hahah
 
And just like everyone going to Chatuchak, we MUST get the coconut ice cream. But I think we didn't get from the original store, but nonetheless, it was still really good.
Besides the ice cream and coconut meat, we can choose 2 other sides to go with it. The selection included sticky rice, peanuts, nata de coco, pumpkin and corn. I chose sticky rice and peanuts to go with my ice cream.
We were given a cup of Coconut juice to go along with the ice cream! Superb nice and refreshing! I bought a bottle of it after to quench my thirst! I think I actually enjoyed the drink more than the ice cream. :D Hahaha.
The weather was really terrible that day and we retreated to this bar for a short respite.
 And next,  Happy face again! I bet you know what it is- FOOD! Hahah. This is B's fave picture in the entire album. 
And my pretty travel buddy Jessica! :D
This fried chicken (or was it pork? I forgot which) was really really good! And the chilli went really well with it. But the rice was too dry though. They had huge plates of salad that looked really delicious, but we weren't very hungry as the heat really got to us and affected our appetite.
We wanted to head to Rod Fai market after, but the locals told us that Rod Fai is no longer operational. I think they moved though. If you managed to get to Rod Fai, please let me know! Because I was really looking forward to get there and was so disappointed. We ended up hopping onto a Tuk-Tuk...
  And according to him, no where else in Bangkok would you find seafood cheaper than Chinatown! Haha 
Our pot of Clear Tom Yum Seafood soup! Really good!!!
Morning Glory which Jessica loved!
And on to Nam Sing, which was next to T&K for some bird nest goodness!
My bowl of Red Bird Nest!
And on our last day, we planned to conquer the Siam group of malls, MBK and get our manicure!
Before setting off, we settled for breakfast at Krispy Kreme at Siam Paragon. There was free WiFi.
Actually prior to this shot, we were approached by a man who claimed to be a Singaporean. He could not speak much Mandarin and was trying to communicate with us in Cantonese. He told us that the previous night, he and his wife lost their valuables at Chinatown and as such have no money left. They wanted to get back home that day but have no money so he was asking if we can lend him some approx $100sgd. He would return us when we get back to Singapore. His mode of transport would be train. When we replied that we had not much money left as it was our last day, he said that we could give him approx $40sgd to reach HupChai where there would be more Singaporeans that will assist him in getting back. It was all very weird and he showed us his Passport and IC real quick to prove his nationality. We declined to help him as we really didn't have much cash left. It was enough to get us through the day before our flight back Singapore. After he left, Jessica told me that she suspects that he could be lying and that he could be part of a syndicate to con Singaporeans! So please beware of such people, who may take advantage of your kindness!
At around noon, we spotted the Magnum Cafe at Siam Center!
 
We went in to create our very own version of Magnum!
 
These are some suggestions for the not so adventurous people! Haha
My creation, but they ran out of Macaron and I chose Pistachio Nuts instead. On hindsight, I think they left out my Red Velvet Cake too!
   Next off, we went to MBK for lunch. The food court on the top floor was giving free Iced Thai Tea to all foreigners. However, food there was pricey and was taxed too!   Our expensive but delicious lunch! And after our lunch, we went to the mall opposite MBK, besides Siam Square for manicure! Very easy to spot this shop as it is located just after the overhead bridge that connects it with MBK.  Cheap and good service. Their nail arts are really nice and intricate too. Thanks for the recommendation Aik Kun! :D 
Jessica's Nails
My Nails. Pink and White Combi which really isn't me, but I had upcoming interviews then. As such, I couldn't choose too adventurous colours or designs. But I think they turned out really pretty! But the clumsy me ruined them within 15 minutes!
And home sweet home with our bags of loots! :D:D
If you have missed out on the other 2 parts.
Labels: Bangkok, Bird Nest, Bkk, BTS, Chatuchak, Chinatown, Krispy Kreme, Magnum, Magnum Cafe, Manicure, MBK, Shopping, Siam, T&K The Land of Smiles Part 2Saturday, July 27, 2013 |Comment(s) Fredfredtan says... Before I begin my post proper, I shall do a quick update! I have officially graduated from NTU! Woohoo! After 4 years of journeying to the west, staying in hall majority of the time, went on a half year exchange/internship to Shanghai, meeting the craziest people in Econs who share all my joy and sorrow in clearing our mods, having Hall mates to take popular and at times obscure electives together (and sharing those "illegal" past year papers) and of course meeting my first love. Hahha 
My graduation bears and balloon, missing the sunflower bouquet that was evident in all my photos! Will do up a post just on graduation. :) And together with convocation, I have finally found a job and will be starting real soon on 1st Aug, so pretty excited about it.
And onto BKK proper now! Hahah.
Remember I told you that I want to share shopping tips with you! Hahah, here is the place that I actually end up buying A LOT with my partner in crime Jessica!
WE CAME HERE AT 5AM TO GET THE BEST DEALS!
And I can reassure you that it is definitely worth waking up for the deals over here at this hour. The items are definitely trendy and you can also find similar items in Platinum, but you are paying less than half the price. Plus, shopping at this hour was way cooler (both figuratively and literally). We were fighting for good deals with other purchasers from this wholesale market! Prices differ when you get 3 pieces and above (usually) and that is why I say a good friend is very important to getting good deals too. The usual practice there is that the 3 pieces would have to be the same design in different colours. However, when we actually started shopping at 5am, the sellers were all very keen to do our business and were thus flexible on their 3 pieces and above rule. We were allow to mix pieces in their stores while some would ask for an additional small fee of 10 baht additional to each piece if we were to mix, which was still really reasonable too. But when more people enter the market at 7am, they became less willing to do our business.
Let me give you an example of a really good deal I have gotten. 100 baht each for a floral skirt with safety pants lining and a belt if I gotten 3 pieces and above. If not, it would be 150 baht each. So it works out to buy 2 get 1 free! Moreover, those same floral skirts were sold in Platinum for 180 baht without the belt. So for a budget of 900baht, I can get 9 different skirts with belts while someone else would only be able to get 5 pieces in Platinum. And at the wholesale market, practically everything was around the range of 100-150baht for everything, from tops to bottoms to one piece!
And in case you are not familiar with this market, it is actually right in front of Baiyoke Sky Hotel! After the whole shopping trip at Pratunam, we lugged back so many things, our arms hurt like mad and we were so shagged out.
We rewarded ourselves with Mac Breakfast. Actually, it was the only place that was opened for business that early, so it was a bit of a no choice. Hahha. And off we set off to Chatuchak!
 
Me with my new Naraya bag at the BTS platform. Getting to Chatuchak was really convenient. Just alight at Mo Chit station along the BTS line and walk a short distance over. Our adventure at Chatuchak was short-lived! We overestimated our energy level and underestimated Chatuchak. The morning shopping trip had zapped all our energy and we retreated to our hotel for a recharge at the massage place. Chatuchak was left to the third day.
We went to Terminal 21 after recharging! Terminal 21 is one of the new malls in BKK. It is built with the the concept of incorporating a different country theme on the different levels of the mall. As such, at each escalator, you will find a departure sign to the country you would be entering. Quite a neat idea, and of course a great marketing strategy as most people would be intrigue with the idea and would post up photos of the place to attract more people to come! Ingenious!
Prepare for a flood of pictures!
    We were actually heading to a restaurant recommended by Alex. He told us that the restaurant serves great dimsum at really cheap price, approx 20baht for every basket! I would definitely recommend anyone heading to Terminal 21 to have your lunch there. Cheap and good! 
Canton House Restaurant!
And the various dishes we ordered!
    
And after the delightful lunch, off to take more pictures in this beautiful mall!
         
And I was so excited to see this! Taokaenoi Land! :D
 
Items displayed on a conveyor belt! A wide selection of goodies! I left here with a lot of goodies!
 After that, we were headed to an exciting location- Asiatiq! It is also a place I would recommend you to go. I really enjoy Asiatiq and you would too! Simply take the BTS to Saphan Taksin station. Upon exit, keep to the left and follow the sign to queue for a free ferry ride to Asiatiq. The wait is approximately 15-30mins. There are several ferry services at the harbour, so please make sure you are in the right queue as the others are paid services.      Now, more photos...!            The grilled squid with the to-die-for chilli! The chilli was a good mix of sour, saltiness and spiciness, really big on flavour and had the awesome kick! I loved it! Even Jessica whose spicy tolerance wasn't that high was happily eating it while dousing the spiciness with a cup of ice beverage! Shiok!  Then off we went to explore the various boutiques at Asiatiq. A really comfortable shopping place but prices were rather steep too. But I bought a hat over there. I was looking for a long time for this hat as most places either don't carry them, or don't have the shade of red that I was looking for! 
Tadahhhhh~ Happy me with my hat, and my hands were full with all my Taokaenois bought at Terminal 21!
After such a long day, starting at 5am in the morning. And that concludes our second day in BKK! Stay tuned for the next installment of our BKK trip and would probably be the last post on BKK. (:
And in case you missed out on Part 1!
Labels: Asiatiq, Bangkok, Bkk, BTS, Chatuchak, Convocation, Grad Trip, Massage, NTU, Pratunam Market, Shopping, Terminal 21 |