Bangkok!

On the third of February (2 weeks back) Jolyn and I went to Bangkok to have a short getaway. The price seemed reasonable, and since I have never been to Bangkok before, I figured why not. We took a total of SGD900 with us. Our intention is not to spend money on shopping but to simply see the place, take in the scenery etc.

The flight there is simple enough – check into Singapore Changi Terminal 1 and wait for lift-off, then wait for three hours before we touched down in Bangkok’s International Airport.

Jo and me high in the sky, or waiting to fly

A short while after touchdown in Bangkok’s Airport, we went to our hotel in one of Bangkok’s taxis – a pink one, Hello kitty edition cab with a cheerful driver and good driving skills. Without further ado he weaved us onto the express way and through some toll booths and an hour later into a side road leading to our hotel, which is near the Victory Memorial.

hotel decor is pretty nice, and air-conditioned too

Being a fairly large group we split into 2 taxis, and our group reached the hotel first. We waited for the interpreter to arrive before checking into our rooms. A word of advice to the would-be visitor – Bangkok people.. shall we say.. are pretty good with words, so much so that you have to second check what they say to prevent additional expenditures.

Anyway, after checking in and dropping our luggages, off we went to see the sights and surroundings of the place we will be frequenting for the next 3 days. Victory memorial is basically a roundabout, full of cars and tuktuks, surrounding an impressive monument to the victory of WW2. You can find out more about it via Google, but the monument itself is pretty impressive.

Victory Memorial. Click on image to have a closer look.

Jo looking good with a Victory Memorial as background

And we went onto the Bangkok Train System (BTS) from Victory Memorial Station to Chit Lom Station, where some of the shopping districts are. The shopping centres there are not unexpectedly similar to those that we find back in Singapore, though they have space to expand and hence the stores are huge.

We ate at a thai restaurant, not bad, but I was looking towards some “local fare for locals” instead of “good food for tourists”. After a quick meal we went to pay our respects to the Four Faced Buddha nearby (much smaller than what I thought it to be, seeing some of the various other religious attractions that Thailand has to offer).

Top View of the Four Faced Buddha from the overhead bridge

Here's a street view of the attraction. Flower offerings are 50 Baht a set.

And then we are off to the heart of the little trip - Platinum Fashion Mall – where there are seven or eight floors of shopping heaven. And the girls go…

The shopping heaven's gates, or Platinum Fashion Mall to the locals

I have never seen so many shops on so many floors! I will leave the interior of the place to the reader’s imagination. Just imagine many many shops.. The girls went back with multiple bags of clothes that night. Indeed, the best money to earn is girl money!

At night we went to Suan Lum Night Bazaar to have a little Thai massage. Most of the photos are taken by the other girls, so no more photos are presented here. Just bring Bahts to spend.

Typical Tourist Attraction - Be prepared to haggle for the return trip to your hotel

Stay tuned for the subsequent days.. gonna call it a night =)

For now,
Jack