A few of us headed down to Bangkok from 10 - 13 December 2009, which was mainly a team retreat for us to catch some (well deserved) RnR. This was going to be only my second time in Bangkok, and the first time was when I was around 14 years old. I was therefore looking forward to seeing Bangkok again.
We arrived in Bangkok on Thursday, at around noon, and we waited for our van pickup to bring us to the Ascott service apartments we were going to stay at.
We checked in to the service apartment where we were greeted to a beautiful large apartment. We were literally going wow, wow, wow as we checked out each room.
It was going to be fun with a whole bunch of us staying in the same apartment. We chucked our bags down and it was time to hit the shopping district of Bangkok! Time to head over to Siam Central. The Ascott was conveniently located close to a skytrain station and it was a short 10-minute walk away.
The BTS skytrain system was so clean and efficient. Even with it being a public holiday, the trains were not packed with users and the trains all arrived very frequently. Once we got off at Siam Central station, there was a skywalk that connected to all the surrounding areas. I liked it. We then saw all the glitzy shopping centres around there, from Siam Paragon which then linked to Centralworld.
Pic at Centralworld
We had a slightly late lunch at the food court at Siam Paragon. So many food choices to pick from, and I settled for some really yummy beef noodle. Small portion but spicy and tasty. Polished off lunch with a big cup of Thai iced tea and then followed by mango stick rice.
We walked and passed Centralworld and our destination was to hit Platinum fashion mall. The skywalk did not stretch all the way there, and we could just about see it past Centralworld. We then walked next to the main road, with a tiny walkway and finally arrived at the mall. It was just levels and levels of cheap clothing. With each specialising in some sort of fashion e.g. jeans or women's clothing or leather goods. I wouldn't go back there again. There was just nothing nice to really buy. Just not my kind of thing I guess. I saw some people lugging massive roller bags buying everything in sight but after more than an hour of walking through more than 5 levels, I still hadn't bought anything.
It was then back to Centralworld where we headed to a bar upstairs to grab a nice cold drink.
Dinner was then spent at Baan Kanitha a converted Thai house which serves all sorts of Thai cuisine. Not that amazing the food but not that pricey as well. The soft shell crab in yellow curry was really good though. We never had anything like that before. The restaurant was on the same road as where Ascott was, so we thought it would be a short walk away. It took about 20-25 minutes but it was a nice slow walk in the cool Bangkok evening weather.
After dinner, we then popped over to Suan Lum Night Bazaar to again, check out more shopping. I again didn't quite see that many interesting things and we soon headed back to our hotel.
The next day, having had breakfast at the hotel (where breakfast was a letdown) and then having bummed a bit in the apartment, it was time to head out to hunt down a recommended beef noodle soup at a place below Grand Hyatt Erawan. A skytrain trip later along with the connecting skywalk, we found the place.
It wasn't that amazing, the beef noodle, and not quite worth the trip all the way down. It was still tasty and all. That afternoon was then spent doing grocery shopping. Yup, dinner was going to be cooked at the apartment where one of us had volunteered to cook dinner and make dessert. Having stockpiled all the necessary food, it was then time for everyone to pitch in.
Well, that is, until some of us got tired from cutting and slicing and decided to chill out by the TV for a while.
The following picture is what happens when you have a defective can opener and where you have to then force open the can with fingers/spoons/anything else you can get your hands on.
And then dinner was served!
The next day was Chatuchak day. Nestled right at the end of the skytrain line, it was time to hit the largest market I've ever been to, with stalls and stalls selling everything under the sun, from clothes, souvenirs, furniture and even pets!
On our many walks to and from the skytrain station near our hotel, we always walk past this RBS building. From a certain angle, the building gives the illusion like it is scarily thin.
Having spent most of our day at Chatuchak, we then prepared for dinner at another Thai restaurant where we once again stuffed ourselves. So much Thai food to choose from, all of them so tasty. Had more mango sticky rice as dessert. After dinner, we then headed to Sirocco on top of lebua hotel. It offered breath taking views of the whole of Bangkok.
Drinks were over-priced but the view was really worth taking a trip there. It was then an early night for most of us. The next day was again another free and easy day, where I spent most of it checking out the shops at Siam Paragon and eating at the food court over there again. Before we knew it, our Bangkok trip was over and we took the night flight back to KL where we arrived at the LCCT close to midnight.
A real fun holiday, and we tried to just think about the great memories of Bangkok rather than the fact that we had to go to court early the next morning.
We arrived in Bangkok on Thursday, at around noon, and we waited for our van pickup to bring us to the Ascott service apartments we were going to stay at.
We checked in to the service apartment where we were greeted to a beautiful large apartment. We were literally going wow, wow, wow as we checked out each room.
It was going to be fun with a whole bunch of us staying in the same apartment. We chucked our bags down and it was time to hit the shopping district of Bangkok! Time to head over to Siam Central. The Ascott was conveniently located close to a skytrain station and it was a short 10-minute walk away.
The BTS skytrain system was so clean and efficient. Even with it being a public holiday, the trains were not packed with users and the trains all arrived very frequently. Once we got off at Siam Central station, there was a skywalk that connected to all the surrounding areas. I liked it. We then saw all the glitzy shopping centres around there, from Siam Paragon which then linked to Centralworld.
Pic at Centralworld
We had a slightly late lunch at the food court at Siam Paragon. So many food choices to pick from, and I settled for some really yummy beef noodle. Small portion but spicy and tasty. Polished off lunch with a big cup of Thai iced tea and then followed by mango stick rice.
We walked and passed Centralworld and our destination was to hit Platinum fashion mall. The skywalk did not stretch all the way there, and we could just about see it past Centralworld. We then walked next to the main road, with a tiny walkway and finally arrived at the mall. It was just levels and levels of cheap clothing. With each specialising in some sort of fashion e.g. jeans or women's clothing or leather goods. I wouldn't go back there again. There was just nothing nice to really buy. Just not my kind of thing I guess. I saw some people lugging massive roller bags buying everything in sight but after more than an hour of walking through more than 5 levels, I still hadn't bought anything.
It was then back to Centralworld where we headed to a bar upstairs to grab a nice cold drink.
Dinner was then spent at Baan Kanitha a converted Thai house which serves all sorts of Thai cuisine. Not that amazing the food but not that pricey as well. The soft shell crab in yellow curry was really good though. We never had anything like that before. The restaurant was on the same road as where Ascott was, so we thought it would be a short walk away. It took about 20-25 minutes but it was a nice slow walk in the cool Bangkok evening weather.
After dinner, we then popped over to Suan Lum Night Bazaar to again, check out more shopping. I again didn't quite see that many interesting things and we soon headed back to our hotel.
The next day, having had breakfast at the hotel (where breakfast was a letdown) and then having bummed a bit in the apartment, it was time to head out to hunt down a recommended beef noodle soup at a place below Grand Hyatt Erawan. A skytrain trip later along with the connecting skywalk, we found the place.
It wasn't that amazing, the beef noodle, and not quite worth the trip all the way down. It was still tasty and all. That afternoon was then spent doing grocery shopping. Yup, dinner was going to be cooked at the apartment where one of us had volunteered to cook dinner and make dessert. Having stockpiled all the necessary food, it was then time for everyone to pitch in.
Well, that is, until some of us got tired from cutting and slicing and decided to chill out by the TV for a while.
The following picture is what happens when you have a defective can opener and where you have to then force open the can with fingers/spoons/anything else you can get your hands on.
And then dinner was served!
The next day was Chatuchak day. Nestled right at the end of the skytrain line, it was time to hit the largest market I've ever been to, with stalls and stalls selling everything under the sun, from clothes, souvenirs, furniture and even pets!
On our many walks to and from the skytrain station near our hotel, we always walk past this RBS building. From a certain angle, the building gives the illusion like it is scarily thin.
Having spent most of our day at Chatuchak, we then prepared for dinner at another Thai restaurant where we once again stuffed ourselves. So much Thai food to choose from, all of them so tasty. Had more mango sticky rice as dessert. After dinner, we then headed to Sirocco on top of lebua hotel. It offered breath taking views of the whole of Bangkok.
Drinks were over-priced but the view was really worth taking a trip there. It was then an early night for most of us. The next day was again another free and easy day, where I spent most of it checking out the shops at Siam Paragon and eating at the food court over there again. Before we knew it, our Bangkok trip was over and we took the night flight back to KL where we arrived at the LCCT close to midnight.
A real fun holiday, and we tried to just think about the great memories of Bangkok rather than the fact that we had to go to court early the next morning.
1 comments:
Nice pictures! Especially those taken when you were perched at Sirocco. The City night lights are beautiful. :)
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