It’s been a month since I celebrated my birthday in Bangkok, but this is the first lazy Saturday that I woke up with no work in mind but only the sudden desire to forever remember my Bangkok trip by blogging about it.I travelled with my friend Cloe, who if not for her persistence I won’t be taking that trip and skipping my usual birthday bash with my Kamishitoo friends altogether. My plans to buy myself a new camera was also thrown out the window. But on hindsight, it was the best decision I’ve ever made at the time.
Why? For one thing, I have been reading books like “Eat, Pray, Love”, “Brida”, “By The River Piedra I Sat Down & Wept” and “Out On A Limb” which all talked about seizing the moment, getting out of the box, finding oneself, & experiencing other cultures. Suffice it to say that I was also at the point where I wanted to grow up and discover new places MY WAY.
With our plane tickets already paid for two months ahead, Cloe and I joined forces in looking for great but affordable accommodations through the net. We also came up with our DIY itinerary of the places we wanna see and the days we’ve allotted for shopping and spa treatment. Hello, what is Bangkok without such girly adventures? Hehehe.
Manila to BKK. It was already 1AM when we arrived at the airport. There were few people around so going through immigration was a breeze and there was thankfully a short queue in the cab terminal. We stayed at the Happy House in Pra Arthit for the first half of our trip and it’s located on the other side of the city. But our timing was perfect because there’s no traffic during dead hours. It’s a simple guest house (which reminds me a lot of Boracay’s Tans Guest House) but I love their friendly staff and the fact that there’s 7/11 a stone’s throw away from it. Cloe was sick with fever back then so it was a relief that there’s a store nearby in case we need anything.
DAY 1: It’s my birthday and greetings from my family and friends back home were flooding my
phone. It felt different not to be greeted in person but it’s my special day nonetheless so I was definitely in high spirits.
After grabbing a quick breakfast, we headed to Pra Arthit Pier along Chao Praya River for the boat express that would take us to Bangkok’s famous temples such as Wat Arun, Wat Pho and the Grand Palace. We also did a lot of sightseeing and more temple-hopping by renting out a Tuktuk! for the day. But what I enjoyed the most is the reclining Buddha in Wat Pho because I remember grabbing photos of it on the net for an ad campaign (Oodys Thai Restaurant) that our class did back in college. I love the intricate designs of the temples’ architecture. And I couldn’t help but admire the Thais’ pride of their rich culture and how they’ve managed to maintain their heritage through the years.
For lunch, we stopped by a small eatery where I ordered a “pork meal” which tasted like patatim and they served it with a star-shaped rice. O diba? And they didn’t even know it was my birthday! Hahaha. I honestly don’t know what that dish is because the staff there don’t speak in English. Good thing there was a Thai guy who volunteered to act as translator so Cloe and I still ended up eating a delicious meal.
Grand Palace was our last stop before we decided to go back to our hotel (via Tuktuk whose driver overcharged us) for siesta. Cloe badly needed it because of her fever. During which time I leisurely drink the best fresh mango shake I’ve ever tasted while checking my FB for more birthday greetings at the Happy House’s lounge. Our place is really nice during daytime because of its Boracay vibe with lots of foreigners sitting lazily at the open-air restaurants.
You can take a walk outside and stumble upon souvenir shops and authentic Thai massage parlors which offer good rates. By night time, Cloe and I took the #53 bus to Chinatown where we checked out the best places to eat. I learned that when you go to BKK, it is a must to try their street food and to dine in their al fresco eateries. I swear that’s where you’d see a wide range of mouth-watering Thai dishes. Unfortunately, our choices were limited to those which also serve meat because I am allergic to seafood. So we decided to dine in Texas resto where I ate roasted duck with sweet sauce plus a variety of meat balls and veggies that we cooked ourselves. Super yummy, promise!
DAY 2: It was late in the morning when we left Happy House so we decided to just go to Platinum Mall for lunch. That’s where I fell in love with ice-cold milk tea all over again. It was only Nestle’s Thai milk tea but I swear it’s the yummiest ever! Coupled with the maple waffle that I also bought in the food court...HEAVEN is the only word that can describe how I feel while eating then. Hahaha. One thing about their food court though is that you have to buy a stored-value card in the cashier for you to present in the food stalls where you’d like to purchase your meal. Then the person manning the
food stall will just have to swipe the card and the cost of your meal will be automatically deducted to your card. I guess it’s their way of doing their inventory efficiently. I didn’t really ask about it though.After that happy meal was heaven and chaos combined because we went straight to Pratunam market across Platinum mall to purchase wholesale goods. The trendy dresses that you’d see in Greenhills and other bazaars in Manila are all there for a much cheaper price. I swear, if I happen to bring all my raket money with me that time, I would have nothing left for Christmas shopping! Then my friend shopped some more back in Platinum mall before we went back to our hotel and ate at a nearby eatery frequented by a lot of foreigners. I ordered noodle soup with chicken and freshly-squeezed orange juice this time.
It was a tiring day. Did I mention that we got lost on our way back to Happy House? We did and that meant more walking for us. So we capped our night off with a heavenly massage at the spa right across Happy House. We availed the body scrub, body wrap and whole body massage package for only 680 baht! It was quite an experience maybe because my friend and our respective masseuses were laughing at a lot of trivial stuff about our vacation.
DAY 3: We weresupposed to go to Damnoen Sanduak floating market but we ended up in Chatuchak weekend market instead because of some stupid miscommunication. It was only 9AM when we arrived Chatuchak and some of the shops weren’t open yet. So we went by bus to Platinum Mall and we found out that they sell more items on a Sunday. I bought some nice outfits and a pair of comfy wedges.
We went back to our favorite eatery near Happy House for lunch, checked out the guest house and
returned to Chatuchak with our luggages in tow! We had no choice since our second hotel was in the suburbs and it’s more convenient if we stop by Chatuchak before going there. Chatuchak was “alive” by then. I got to see how an authentic ice-cold milk tea is made by a man who did some awesome moves while transferring the milk tea from one container to another. I also chanced upon a vendor who sells imported make-up products including my favorite Etude House BB cream! There were lots of good finds in Chatuchak and yummy streetfood as well.
Going to Bansabai Hotel was unforgettable for us mainly because it’s unexpectedly far from the city and is only accessible by cab or if you have a car. It’s located in a quiet residential area far off Lat Phrao and most taxi drivers are not familiar with it. Good thing I’ve become SORT OF an expert when it comes to map reading so I try to help our cab driver find his way to Bansabai.
Luckily, Bansabai Hotel proved to be the perfect place for R&R (rest and relaxation). Cloe and I have everything we need in our hotel room. And we even took a night swim before turning in for the night. Cloe kept laughing at me because I was really scared to take a dip in the pool because it gave me the creeps for some reason. It was only when we were back here in Manila when she finally told me that she was kinda scared too of Bansabai’s roof deck during nighttime.
DAY 4: Our last day in Bangkok and we spent it in Ayutthaya where we got to see the ancient city of a Siamese kingdom back in the 1300 to 1700. The travel time was long but worth it because the ruins in Wat Maha That and Wat Phra Si Samphet were really picture-perfect.
Back to the city, the shuttle dropped us off at Victory Monument. I was looking for a grocery so I can buy Nestle’s Thai milk tea but there was none in the area. That was a bit frustrating but we checked out a nearby mall instead where Cloe bought more items for her paninda back home. After which we took the MRT, BTS and another difficult cab drive back to our hotel. We lounged by the pool again together with some Koreans so it wasn’t so scary like last time. Then we ate Hainanese chicken for dinner at a nearby eatery. Then off we go to Suvarnabhumi airport.
It was as if we were there in BKK for weeks instead of days. I really had fun getting familiar with the shopping malls, the restos and even the out of the way places that we’ve been to. I appreciated the fact that we didn’t get tourist packages because it was quite an experience being lost and still be able to find your way to your planned (and sometimes unplanned) destination.
