Bangkok 2014 Day 1 & 2

DAY 1: 18 DEC 2014

It is time for another trip and Bangkok is on my list this time round!

We flew Singapore airlines as my miles were expiring and it will be a waste if

I didn't use them.

We took the 7.15am flight as it was the only morning flight available for redemption.

We arrived at Suvarnabhumi airport at around 8.40am.

After clearing immigration, the first thing I did was to head to the DTAC booth,

located outside gate 7, to get my prepaid SIM card.

I chose the 7 days happy tourist SIM, which costs 299 baht and includes unlimited data

and 100 baht worth of calls.

The activation was immediate, and I was all set for Bangkok!

Instead of taking the airport rail, we decided to take the public taxi because Bangkok

taxi fares are really cheap.

As there was traffic, it took us close to an hour to reach our hotel, Glow Pratunam.

Our taxi fare only came up to around 400 baht, which includes 50 baht for highway fee

and 25 baht for toll fee.

We finally reached our hotel, where the lobby was located on the 7th floor of a mall,

known as Shibuya 19.

Our room wasn't ready when we checked in at 11am, and so we decided to return later

to get our keys after some shopping at Platinum mall.

When we got our keys, I was really surprised by how good our room was!

Hotel room at Glow Pratunam

Bathroom amenities were all provided, room was clean, and four bottles of mineral water 

were given every day.

Our room overlooked Platinum mall as well!

The only thing I could pick on was that it was kind of a far walk to Siam or Central World

compared to Novotel Platinum.

But we managed to get the room at a steal, S$62 per night, so I shall not complain!

After checking in, we immediately went for some shopping at Platinum fashion mall!

There are three zones and a total of 6 floors in this mall, and you will probably need a 

full day to cover all the shops.

I didn't manage to take any photos of the mall because I was so engrossed with shopping, oops.

We took a break from shopping and went to the food court at level 6 to have our lunch.

The food court serves really good food, and at affordable prices!

My mum and I had beef noodle soup from one of the stall located in the front and

phad thai as well.

The beef noodle soup was super awesome!

The broth was flavorful, and the beef balls had a nice texture.

Most importantly, it is served with pho which is one of our favourite noodles!

Mango with glutinous rice

I've been craving for mango sticky rice ever since I booked the trip!

A plate costs 100 baht at the food court, and it tasted really good.

After lunch, we continued to shop at the mall.

I didn't want to pay more than 200 baht unless I really really liked the item.

Prices are mostly non-negotiable, so I didn't try to bargain.

In the end, I managed to get 3 tops and 2 pairs of shorts for a total of 750 baht, 

which is only S$30!

I was super pleased with my haul, especially the 150 baht denim shorts!

We returned to our hotel to deposit our shopping haul and headed off to Siam for dinner.

It took us 15 minutes to get to Siam Square by foot, with the help of Google maps.

Our dinner place, Som Tam Nua, was a little difficult to find, but we made it eventually!
It is located at Siam Square Soi 5 by the way.

Mummy posing with the signboard

As we were there at 6pm, we managed to get a table immediately.

The prices here are affordable too.

We spent less than S$20 for three dishes, two bowls of steamed rice and two bottles of coke.

Fried Chicken Wings

The fried chicken wings were well-seasoned and crispy!

The meat was tender and it was just the right amount for two to share.

Northeastern spicy soup

This bowl of soup was too spicy for me, even after requesting for it to be less spicy.

Other than the spiciness, this soup tastes really good, with many flavours infused.

Som Tam with Salted Eggs

We couldn't leave the restaurant without ordering papaya salad!

I chose the one with salted eggs because many locals were eating that.

The papaya salad had just the right amount of acidity and crunch.

We really enjoyed this dish even though we were really full!

After dinner, we decided to take a walk down the night market right by the main road.

Most of the stalls were selling clothes, with a handful selling accessories and shoes.

It was really crowded, and I couldn't look through the clothes peacefully.

The prices were about the same or slightly steeper than those in platinum mall, but I guess

bargaining is feasible at night markets, so you can try to bring down the price a little!

After the night markets, we walked towards Central World, another huge shopping mall.

We walked around the area outside the mall, which was full of Christmas decorations,

and SNOOPY!!

Giant blown-up Snoopy astronaut

Santa's sled

Pretty Christmas tree surrounded by a sea of Snoopy

Singha Beer open air concert

Other than christmas decorations, there were three open air concerts happening concurrently

at the open space outside Central World.

Heineken, Chang Beer and Singha had beer festival-like events there and it looked awesome!

I would have loved to join the fun if we had more companions with us.

Oh well!

Since we were in the vicinity, we decided to head to Big C supermarket,

which is located right across the road from Central World.

This supermarket is huge, and my main purpose was to buy Lays potato chips and Tao Kae Noi!

Luggage full of tidbits

Big C carries many flavours of Lays and Tao Kae Noi that cannot be found in Singapore,

and these make a good gift to our friends!

Pretz had a pretty good variety of flavours too, however, they were not sold individually.

In the end, we bought close to 15 packets of Lays and Tao Kae Noi,

and one of our cabin-sized luggage, originally empty, was fully packed already!

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DAY 2: 19 DEC 2014

So today is mummy's birthday!

I planned a whole day of yummy food just for her, and she hasn't been to any of them before.

The day started off with Pratunam morning market.

The morning market was situated just beside our hotel, and stretches all the way to

Baiyoke sky hotel.

After an hour of browsing through clothes at the market, I gave up and headed for

Platinum mall instead.

As the morning market caters for wholesale, you will have to purchase at least 2/3 items,

with the same design.

I felt that it wasn't worth spending 300 baht on three items with the exact same design,

when I can get 2/3 different items at Chatuchak or Platinum mall with the same budget.

I would probably visit this morning market again when my friends are with me, and we

can split the cost when we eye the same item!

And shopping at Platinum mall was pretty good!

I bagged a number of items before leaving for brunch!

Mummy requested to have brunch on her birthday, so I picked out a famous cafe visited

by many Singaporeans - Roast Coffee & Eatery.

Roast is located at on the 2nd floor of Speenspace in Thonglor 13.

To get there, you can either take a taxi or take the BTS to Thong Lo station.

From Thong Lo BTS, you should walk on Sukhumvit 55 for 15 minutes and then turn

left into Thong Lo 13 alley.

As we requested for indoor seating, we waited for about 30 minutes before going in.

We ordered 2 mains and a pot of tea to share as we were going to have cakes at

Mr Jones' Orphanage later.

Erawan

A pot of tea costs S$5, and it was actually lemongrass tea.

The tea was really soothing, and perked up my appetite a little!

Crab cake benedict

The crab cake benedict was one of the chef's recommendation.

Every element of the dish was really good and I really enjoyed my meal!

If I remembered clearly, this dish costs 340 baht.

Pulled Pork Burger served with fries

Mummy ordered the pulled pork burger and it was so yummy!

If I were to visit Roast again, I will definitely order this.

She enjoyed it a lot too!

Thereafter, we went downstairs to Mr Jones' Orphanage for some cakes.

The decorations were super cute and lovely!

Decor in Mr Jones' Orphanage

We ordered a kitkat monster cake and a passionfruit cake to share.
And I secretly asked the staff for a birthday candle, and they did!
So, mission accomplished!

We headed back to our hotel to get some rest before more shopping at Platinum mall.
When it was almost time for dinner, we walked towards Amarin Plaza, where the
famous Lin Zhen Xiang store is located.
This shop sells mainly pork floss products and fruit chips.

We bought two big bags worth of tidbits, for our family and friends.
Kind of crazy, but the tidbits are really good!

We walked back to Central World for the last installment for today's plan - mookata.
Bar B Q Plaza is a mookata restaurant frequented by Singaporeans, and it is
located on level 6 of the mall.
There were many people waiting for a table outside the restaurant when we arrived.
But we decided to try this place out nevertheless, and went ahead to get a queue number.
We were there at 6.40pm and we got a table at 7.15pm, which wasn't too bad!
Do note that once your number gets called, you will have to make your order before entering.

Mookata at Bar B Q Plaza

This was what we ordered to share:

Value Pork Set (209 baht)

Pork Belly

Enokitake Mushroom

One bowl of steamed rice

A pitcher of coke (79 baht)

Other than that, each table will be given a bowl of cabbage, which is refillable.

All you have to do is to boil it in the soup before eating.

There will be three condiments given to add to your meat: sauce, spring onions and garlic.

This was mummy's first mookata in Bangkok even though she has been to Bangkok

countless times.

Both of us really enjoyed our meal there, and the bill came up to S$17 for the two of us!

Super cheap and good!

This was also the reason why we returned on our last night in Bangkok (: