The Missus and I went to Bangkok over the weekend, spending 4 days there shopping, eating and watching Muay Thai. It was a great holiday, our first since Jan's European honeymoon, and my first time to Bangkok.
The Missus planned the entire holiday, scheduling the shopping, eating and transitting with information from our hotel location and even to the point of finding a little-known locale where you can watch broadcast quality Muay Thai with the locals live! Thank you dear, it was well-planned and we didn't waste any money going back and forth, or get lost even =)
We managed to get a room at the new Holiday Inn Express Siam, which is less than 5 minutes from the National Stadium BTS station. That connected us to all the main sights. The hotel itself was plush but devoid of amenities. However, it suited our needs perfectly and provided a level of comfort that made our respite from the shopping enviable. Cable TV after a tiring day is great for winding down by.
Chatuchak market - where you sweat till you think you can't sweat anymore.. then you sweat some more. Shopping in Chatuchak Weekend market was fun, its a huge place that is actually categorised, so you can choose to go direct to the pets and animals section, or the eating section. Most of the other sections are fashion and apparel. But what a bargain they can be gotten for! Beware of the heat though, its sweltering in there. Thank God for fresh Tangerine juice, coconut juice/ice cream and Thai tea with ice cream! Missus noted that in the 3 years since she last came here, there are now more and more "boutiques" being set up here. These set themselves up as more inviting, specializing in niche areas, less chaotic, some even have external air-blowers to make you more comfortable. Also, the previously ubiquitous fake tee-shirts that could be bought from every shop previously are no longer so. We were quite excited when we stumbled upon a shop selling tees that had hand-painted style prints that we hadn't come across before - quite original we thought!
Of the myriad of shopping malls there, we hit up Platinum Mall, MBK and Siam Paragon. Platinum and MBK is quite like Far East Shopping Centre and Sim Lim Square in Singapore, price-wise. You can get some discounts, and most things are affordable. Siam Paragon is just like Paragon Shopping Mall in Singapore, more up market with the luxury labels having an entire floor to themselves (though the other floors still contained branded labels). What we loved about Siam Paragon though was the food! There is an entire floor for food! You can find Ramen, Pasta, Viet food, Krispy Kreme, Beard Papa and so on! Krispy Kreme got our money a few times haha.. And then there's the cineplex and IMAX screens at Siam Paragon. We caught The Dark Knight Rises as a break to the shopping (and just coincidentally when the Missus was going through a bout of food poisoning), in a theatre that had well-spaced reclining seats. The Thai audience was very quiet, unlike in Singapore, and the only noise-maker was.... ME haha.. with my in-movie comments regarding the comic-based movie. The only downside was sitting through a ridiculously long 30 mins of adverts prior to the actual screening. We like Thai ads, cos they're quirky, cute and funny. But wow.. 30 mins is a tad too long.
From the tourists' point of view, most will go to Lumpini Stadium to catch Muay Thai fights. Entrance fees cost between 1500baht to US$65 per person. That's not cheap at all, and watching the bouts via TV from the Twins Specialist shop there, I didn't think the fights were very exciting either. Enter Muay Thai at Channel 7. The wife found out about this TV Station BBTV (Channel 7) that has a ring in a studio which hosts fights every Sunday. The locals and bookies will go there for the live action and the betting, the cameras will be set up all around, and the fighters get cash incentives to cause maximum damage. The fights were definitely a notch better than what I saw on screen earlier. Vicious, fast, and impacful. I love the fighters taunting each other with raised eyebrows, and we actually witnessed a knockout blow right in front of our eyes! Our experience was further heightened by a curious little man who asked us to follow him. He found us prime seats high up in the stands where (after a precarious climb) we were able to fully enjoy the view - from the camera's crow's nest! Awesome!
The half-day city tour which came with our package was almost a complete waste of time. Thank goodness the Missus had done this tour before so she could actually point out the sights for me. The tour guide was too busy showing off his Mandarin and selling his other tours to bother explaining what could be seen on our river cruise. The stop at Wat Arun was impressive, and we got a close-up of a place where monks roam freely, a change of pace and sound compared to the big city. If given a chance, I'd skip the jewelry stop and thank goodness we managed to skip the Honey shop tour and lecture too. Bah.
Bangkok is a built up city, very different from Phuket and Krabi, I feel. Tourists aplenty, bargains still possible (though the opening price and discounts are not as much as I was expecting), I'd highly recommend going there for cheap shopping and massages (I hear they're cheap and good). The Missus and I might come back here every few years for a spot of good shopping, but we'll probably stay for 3 days at most next time.
One night in Bangkok and the world's your oyster
The bars are temples but the pearls ain't free
You'll find a god in every golden cloister
And if you're lucky then the god's a she
I can feel an angel sliding up to me
Showing posts with label Holiday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holiday. Show all posts
