Edit: All posts and itineraries have been shifted to http://totravelanywhere.com :)
Update - View my latest Bangkok guide 2015 here :)
Not really a Bangkok Guide, but just a random review since I'm bored.
Honestly I can't remember if this was my 8th or 7th trip to Bangkok, could be more actually.
Some visuals coming up, finally.
(Hehe had to pop a picture of my cutie first, taken this morning)
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So, after countless trips to Bangkok, my family stayed at the same hotel (again). Asia Hotel, I know there're lotsa haunted stories about this hotel and such, but it actually seems fine to be honest. I love the hotel for it's location, just beside the Sky Train (Rachathewi BTS) which is 1 stop away from Siam and 2 stops away from Chit Lom and not too far away from Mo Chit (where Chatuchak is located)
On the night we touched down, we immediately cabbed to Rose Hotel to tailor my brother's work stuff. Always ask for meter, if not they'll charge your cut throat prices. Cabs with meter are usually super cheap. (Anw my brother actually made 1 suit, 6 trousers and 11 shirts. Pretty good service and workmanship I must say, they even offered free delivery to our hotel on the last day. It was about SGD$180 for his suit, $36 for each shirt and $60 for each pants. Pretty decent for the quality.)
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We went to Pratunum / Platinum mall area on the second day (Chit Lom station). I gave Pratunum morning market a miss because the previous time I went, it was all trashy stuff and I didn't think waking up at 5am was worth it at all haha. I didn't buy anything on my previous time at the morning market which was just about 6 months ago, I remembered them selling cheapo stuff like what you see in bugis street, poor quality chiffon stuff and those -extremely-hot-material- NY/Baseball shirts... :/ Yup, so I just went to Platinum mall in the day. Again, I don't like platinum mall for the exorbitant prices they charge. You can find similar stuff in Chatuchak for like half the price honestly. I didn't buy any apparels there again as usual, but I managed to get quite a number of statement necklaces. Haha honestly, I think I went a little overboard, I got like 8 necklaces when I only have 1 neck to wear them. They weren't cheap at all though, standard prices about $10-$20 each, so I spent around $80+ on those necklaces I think.
The 2 daisy necklaces (neon yellow and pink) were my first buys from platinum mall, these were the cheapest necklaces I bought. It was 210 Baht for 1 and 280Baht for 2. So of course I had to buy both right? LOL. That's about $5.60 each, okay quite a good deal actually. But after that I realised they're actually Marc Jacobs inspired necklaces (the brand was imprinted on the golden buttons in the middle of the flower lol) I bought them pretty hastily cause my brother has a theory of -want then buy, don't waste time-. The white daisy necklace was from some random street stall at the night market opposite MBK (it's along the whole stretch of pathway from Siam station to MBK) I actually went back to this stall on the next night because I couldn't stop thinking about it when I didn't buy it on the first night I saw it.
More statement necklaces on level 6 of Platinum mall. I bought 5 necklaces from this stall, they're all incredibly expensive ranging from 250Baht to 450Baht, but I managed to get more discounts because I bought so many pieces from them. (Thankfully I decided to buy all of them because I didn't see them selling anywhere else after that)
I have this obsession about buying stuff of different colours if I really like it.
So that was the end of Platinum Mall. Yes that was all I bought. Clothes were way too expensive for bangkok standards and I didn't like the style this season either. By expensive, I actually mean more than $12. Maybe it's just me, but I usually try not to buy anything above 350 baht because I've been to Bkk countless of times since 8 years ago, where prices used to be 100Baht for clothes.. So to me, 350Baht is the maximum I'd pay for the quality of the clothes. Unless it's something really unique or if the quality is good.
After Platinum mall, we headed to the Big C supermarket to get snacks for my mum's colleagues, it's just opposite Central World / diagonally across Platinum mall. Nothing much, but we stumbled upon a random looking shop in the same building that's probably a "fake" Naraya, it's called Nanrita or something like that, where I got a floral jewellery bag thingy and a floral iPad case (not pictured).
Some random jewellery holder which I thought was really cute and I loved the floral prints anyway. This was $8 and my iPad case was $14.
The best part of the day was the night market, it was purely coincidental that we realised there was a night market (After 6pm, that was a Friday night) right outside the big C building. Basically the night markets are random stalls/vendors who lay mats on the floor and display their stuff. I got the neon aztec flats and the nautical ones at a steal. SGD $10 each, the moment I left the night market, I regretted not buying all the designs lol. Yeah, I kinda had a plan in my mind to actually buy the whole shop and sell it in Singapore for 3 times the price... So I went back the next day to the night market, but to my horror, the stalls were all gone. They're all makeshift stalls, so I guess the vendors changes everyday, or maybe weekdays/weekends are different?
Currently my fav pair :)
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Day 3 was spent at Chatchak (weekend market) - Mo Chit sky train station (my favourite place to shop!). You can go there by the MRT (underground train) as well, the stop is called Chatuchak Park. I've never taken the MRT in Bkk before though haha. I have been here so many times that I can actually navigate around this legendary weekend market that's so incredibly huge and not get lost. Lol I even went back on Sunday just to find 1 particular stall selling really nice garlic bread biscuits, it's like finding a needle in a haystack, not kidding.
Anyway, Chatuchak was pretty much a disappointment this time round. Usually I get like all my apparels and unique looking stuff from Chatuchak, but this trip it was like mehhh~ I only bought a vintage skirt and 5 tops (of the same design but different pattern lol). Maybe it's because I'm changing my style to more formal stuff so I hardly can buy clothes in Bkk anymore. So anyway, things at Chatuchak are (usually) a lot cheaper than stalls in malls, I mean obviously because the rent is probably cheaper too. If you can stand the heat and the crowd and small lanes, then Chatuchak is for you. It's extremely cluttered, but I love sifting through stuff and it's a must go for me everytime I'm there which is why I only head there during weekends. Maybe I love the place because I already know the place inside out, like I can tell you where you can find what (they've guys/girls clothes, pets stuff, furniture, food, air-conditioned boutiques etc) so I don't find it a hassle to navigate. You're definitely bound to get lost in the place if you're there for the first time, it's like 50-100 times the size of bugis street thereabouts I'd say (okay I'm bad at estimating sizes). I didn't want to go back on Sunday because I didn't have much to buy there anymore, but I forced everyone to go back with me only because as mentioned above, I miss their garlic bread snack LOL. I tried it for the first time on Saturday and I loved it on the very first bite.
Bread biscuits (crushed by the time I hand carried it back) from Chatuchak. I don't know what section/stall number this was, I just know how to walk to that stall HAHA. It's like situated in the middle of some clothes section. But anyway, this was sooooo good. I tried googling Triple D Bakery but couldn't find anything, but apparently they have other "outlets" too. It's like toasted thin slices of garlic bread with butter and sugar, the tastes complements so well I'm not even kidding.
And every trip without fail, I'll always buy this tumblr fairy lights back from Chatuchak. It's so damn cheap but I shall not reveal the price because I'm selling them on Carousell for $15. Hehe, I really wanted to bring in more of these but I couldn't hand carry too many fragile stuff.
This was the tank top I bought in 5 different designs haha. The rest are not captured but basically think tweed material, striped, and just more tweed.
Oh right, I bought this vintage dress as well, which didn't fit me sadly so again, I'm selling in Carousell. That's the bad part about shopping in Bkk because you can't try.
I forgot I bought this floral midi skirt as well from Platinum mall at 100Baht = $4 (cheapest you can find in platinum mall already, everything else was selling at 200-490Baht :/ ) on my last day in Bkk, but anyway it's poofy at the wrong areas, so I'm selling on Carousell (again). Haha Carousell is like the best place to sell my stuff, things come and go so quickly.
So that was basically it, my Bkk trip summarized. Just the usuals every single time, Platinum Mall -> Chatuchak -> Siam night market. My favourite has always been the night markets situated literally anywhere, but the pathway beside Siam station is always there every weekend night (not too sure about weeknights though).
No visuals of food because my family is boring and they're not really adventurous with food. The only thing worth mentioning was the superb $1.60 wanton mee makeshift stall behind my hotel. It's so much better than the overrated wanton mee at Pratunam (eeewww tiny portion, oily and doesn't taste that fantastic). Oh and I love their orange / pomegranate / coconut juice, for 20 Baht you get a taste of heaven.
Definitely not going back anytime soon again unless a cheap ticket pops up. Btw, I flew via tiger budget airlines but I wouldn't recommend it unless you don't care about comfort level. I mean afterall it's a budget airline anyway! Not even water was free though :( Died of thirst during the flight haha. And we only booked 20kg worth of luggage for the 4 of us because I decided that since each person can hand carry 10kg on board, that's like 60kg in total already. How can 60kg not be enough right? And I was right, we maxed out our checked in luggage with 20kg, but all our hand carry baggages were below the limit :)
This is probably my first and last review of Bangkok. Yay to newer upcoming travel destinations. :)
So that was basically it, my Bkk trip summarized. Just the usuals every single time, Platinum Mall -> Chatuchak -> Siam night market. My favourite has always been the night markets situated literally anywhere, but the pathway beside Siam station is always there every weekend night (not too sure about weeknights though).
No visuals of food because my family is boring and they're not really adventurous with food. The only thing worth mentioning was the superb $1.60 wanton mee makeshift stall behind my hotel. It's so much better than the overrated wanton mee at Pratunam (eeewww tiny portion, oily and doesn't taste that fantastic). Oh and I love their orange / pomegranate / coconut juice, for 20 Baht you get a taste of heaven.
Definitely not going back anytime soon again unless a cheap ticket pops up. Btw, I flew via tiger budget airlines but I wouldn't recommend it unless you don't care about comfort level. I mean afterall it's a budget airline anyway! Not even water was free though :( Died of thirst during the flight haha. And we only booked 20kg worth of luggage for the 4 of us because I decided that since each person can hand carry 10kg on board, that's like 60kg in total already. How can 60kg not be enough right? And I was right, we maxed out our checked in luggage with 20kg, but all our hand carry baggages were below the limit :)
This is probably my first and last review of Bangkok. Yay to newer upcoming travel destinations. :)
