HEY.
So this August I went to Bangkok with two of my church friends for a short shopping trip. It was AWESOME. I'm going to be blogging about it, including TIPS, TOTAL COST, PHOTOS, and EXPERIENCE split throughout a few posts so stay glued to my blog.When: 28 - 31 August 2014 (4D3N)
Where: Bangkok, Thailand
Flight Carrier: AirAsia (Singapore to Bangkok non-stop)
Cost: PER PERSON
Flight: SGD 202 (including seat, baggage and insurance. no meals)
Hotel: SGD 82 (a twin room with extra bed for 3 nights, split among 3 people)
Food and Transport: SGD 120 (3 of us pooled a fund of 3000 THB and shared throughout the trip, was sufficient for all, except for one taxi ride back to the airport for an additional 300 THB)
Shopping: SGD 450 (round off figure, adjust this according to your needs)
TOTAL: SGD 854 (less than SGD 1k!)
All photos taken with Lumix LX-5 and iPhone 5S, edited with Adobe Photoshop.
I would say it was a well organised trip as we have planned all the good food along the way. Transport wise we took cab and tuk tuk most of the time, with the exception of one train ride to Dalat Rot Fai, which I will elaborate later on. Cab fares were mostly affordable, a short ride of 10 minutes from our hotel to Siam area took about 100-150 THB depending on the headcount of people plus your bargaining skills. You can also go by metered fare if you'd like, but most cab drivers do not go by meter. One tip though: always go metered for long distance travel especially when you do not know the rough fare. Keep flagging for a cab until you find a metered cab.
Let's go!
Always start off with a selfie especially when I have make up on. Gotta look good yet be comfortable in your skin. I'm wearing 3 Concept Eyes BB Cream, Shiseido Eyebrow Pencil, Stila Liquid Eyeliner and Canmake's Blush. I totally forgot about my lip product that day. But do slap on some lip balm whenever you are going on a flight because the air is really dry when you're on the plane.
Met up with my mates for the trip; and Huining's (left) dad gave me a lift to the airport ^^. We were just taking some shots before we hop on the plane to celebrate Millie's (centre) end of exams!
Before we took off; at Singapore Changi Airport.
On board AirAsia's flight to Bangkok. I like how AirAsia has leather seats. As a budget carrier the leg room was still sufficient for me although the seats couldn't recline too far down. For a short flight it was bearable but I don't think I'd be able to survive a flight to say Japan.
We landed a short 2h55mins later at Don Mueang Airport (DMK) in Bangkok and took a cab to the city. The metered cab ride cost about 250 THB and took us 30 minutes. The bad thing about DMK is that it is the older airport in Bangkok as compared to Suvarnabhumi Airport which has train services there. Though it doesn't matter much if you have many baggage since you will most likely take the cab anyways but I prefer the option of having to take public transport at my own ease. If you don't want to take a cab, choose an airline that lands in Suvarnabhumi Airport.
Anyways, at the DMK airport, you can get 7 days unlimited data SIM card for 299THB. There are two shops once you come out from the arrival hall, it is opposite a small cafe. We went into this shop with the name 'MAGAZINE' because the sales attendants were all smartly dressed and heavily advertising outside the shop as opposed to the shop on the right which is like a normal shop. They even offered us free chilled coke after we have purchased the SIM card, and installed it for us! Good service and money well spent.
The reception at The 93 Hotel, Bangkok.
The hotel really exceeded my expectations for a newly built hotel that costs less than SGD 100 a night.
We arrived at about 5.30pm and were quickly checked into our room without further delay. A deposit is required for your rooms so make sure you have sufficient THB or your home currency (in our case we gave a refundable SGD 50 deposit).
I do not have many pictures of the room, you can check out my post later when I show off my loots but it matches the hotel pictures exactly. Clean rooms with shower, the Pratunam Morning Market just at our doorstep and street food along the way. What more can we ask for at such a price? Definitely your top choice to stay in Bangkok!
We were quickly headed for dinner after putting our bags down. Our itinerary was to look for Som Tam at Siam Square but were quickly put off by the limited selection of food on the menu (it was only one single page). My eyes quickly fixed at Ban Khun Mae within a stone throw. I had read about Ban Khun Mae whilst researching for our trip and it was highly recommended, although it was on the pricey side. We went in anyways because we were all craving for some authentic Thai food.
You can find Ban Khun Mae at Siam Square, Soi 8. When the cab driver drove us in, he stopped at the entrance of Siam Square. Do not mistake Siam Square for a shopping mall, it is merely an area of shops where you enter from the streets. And it is divided by Soi 1-9 if I am not wrong. So walk in from Soi 1 all the way until you find Soi 8, should not take more than 10 minutes.
Our huge Fried Fish with Chilli Sauce. It was 200+THB.
Fried chicken with sweet chilli sauce. I love the sauce! Though a comment noted by Huining was that the fried chicken wasn't as tasty as Nakhon in Singapore. If you've been to both, leave a comment down here, maybe? :)
Other dishes we ordered: Mixed Stir Fry Vegetables (70+THB), Pineapple Fried Rice (100+THB), and Green Curry with Pork (100+THB).
The Mixed Stir Fry Vegetables were ridiculously good for the price. They have stir fried it with some oyster sauce, making it taste really Chinese but good enough for our taste palettes.
I really disliked the Green Curry here though, there were too many green peas and unknown leafy green vegetables that were not really edible (seemed like potato leaves but tastes otherwise, minty and herb like). There were only a few slices of pork besides the greens.
Attempted hipster shot of taking our food. The bill added up to about 1000 THB (about 40 SGD) for 3 persons. So that's about SGD 15 per person for our first meal here. Pretty pricey by Bangkok's standard but we were satisfied! Bill included orders for Thai Milk Tea for 2 which were great (not in photos).
After having our first meal here we realised the food in Thailand is pretty pricey, even the food court at Platinum Mall cost us quite a bit. Read on for more. :)
A group shot before we left. The servers are really helpful here! Will come back again :).
On our way to Siam Paragon for dessert, we walked along this stretch of massage shops and saw these two recommended chains of massage.
Lek Massage (punny, right!).
And Chang Foot Massage (whereby we did our Thai Full Body Massage here). We tried both shops, will give my verdict later but I wasn't entirely satisfied with both places.
On our way to Siam Paragon as well, we were nearby the Siam BTS station. Just outside is lined with a few stretches long of night market! And it's our first shopping location, so we got excited.
Though we quickly got disappointed after finding out that most shops here are a flat 200THB (SGD 8) for tops or dresses alike. And there were no room for negotiations even if we were to buy like 5 pieces. I soon found out that you could still bargain, however, you must look for friendly shop owners. Most shop owners at the start of this stretch were unwilling to lower their prices though.
The styles were pretty updated I would say, almost similar to Bugis street in terms of the trend as well as the quality. Still a pretty good buy if you catch anything here at 200THB though.
Here's us with a selfie stick, posing outside Siam Paragon:).
We found After You quickly after entering into Siam Paragon's basement. The basement is full of restaurants and cafes. There was Krispy Kreme as well though we didn't get to buy it.
Cakes on display.
They sell souvenirs as well! Honestly, they were quite affordable and it's worthwhile to buy if you are really into their brand. The designs reminded me of Ghilbi Studios' Animations.
Since it's a really well known cafe, you have to queue. We arrived at about 9.20pm and were seated quickly after 10 minutes.
I'm holding the Earl Gray Tea with Jelly. It honestly tasted more like Chrysanthemum Tea because of the sugar in the jelly. It was disappointing for me as a tea lover because I really wanted to taste the Earl Gray. But it was still good!
We came here after diner so we only ordered one Shibuya Honey Toast to share. Goodness, it was so filling even for 3 of us to share one. And it really is up to the raves that it has been receiving. The toast is thick with heavily buttered center. Topped with two dollops of vanilla ice cream and a dash of whipped cream, YOU really want to eat this. And this was only about 175 THB, definitely the money.
Not to mention they actually serve cold suglarless tea (this sounds kinda pathetic but it is really good because of the sweet dessert) and I actually only found out after ordering at the counter because the dispenser was way inside the shop. I would have totally traded this free tea for my Earl Gray.
My Earl Gray Tea pales in comparison beside the Strawberry Drink (can't remember the exact name). It tasted really sour though, and was slightly unpleasant to drink though it looks totally the opposite. Try not to order this!
We went back to the night market to shop for a while and caught a Tuk tuk back. It was our first Tuk tuk ride for the trip and boy, the driver was SPEEDY. I could feel my face flying off and we were back in our hotel in no time. Nevertheless, it was the BEST Tuk tuk ride throughout our entire trip (we took it about 3x and none was comparable to this). A tip would be to take the tuk tuk at night with lesser traffic, and look for a younger driver, I think it helps. :)
Just before we retire back to our hotel for the night, we quickly roamed around the Pratunam Night Market. Most shops were already closed at 11.30pm but I managed to snag this 100THB spectacles frame. Should be changing this to a lens with degree (you can actually see I'm cross eyed because my dregees are like -6.50 and -7.00).
TIME FOR LOTD. Loots Of The Day. Was quite disappointed for the first day, but surprises came up the next few days. Anyways from left to right: Flower Romper (200THB), NYC and GAP tee (150THB each), Platforms shoes (150THB), and Jelly Sandals (150THB).
I bought 3 pairs of shades prior to this as well, and they were all for 200THB each (provided you buy for 5 pairs = 1000THB).
Don't ever go to Bangkok trying to shop alone because you will never be able to go home with cheap deals. Grab a few friends (not too many, you don't want all of you to be dressing in the same clothes) and ask for WHOLESALE price (usually 3 pieces and above). It will save you a whole lot of money. And also ask the shop owners if you could mix the wholesale pieces with other designs in the shop, to prevent repetitive clothes.
Hope this first post is interesting enough to keep you coming back for more.
I'm so happy that I'm able to blog properly at last. See you soon!
Kristy
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