Bangkok - Land of Smiles

I went on a 5 days trip to Bangkok with T and his mom over last weekend. It has been close to 10 years since I visited the last time and there were quite afew significant changes to the cityscape and road conditions. Upon arrival at Suvarnabhumi Airport, we were greeted by friendly Thais. Our first meal in Thailand was bought from 7-11. Yes, that's right, a foot long sausage and a pre-packed bun. Since we took a budget flight, meals were not provided on board the flight. Soon after, we took a taxi to our hotel. The driver was visibly amused by our broken Thai and mis-pronunciations of some words. Though there were some language barriers, he was able to share with us some 'must-go' destinations in Bangkok. This was our itinerary in BKK:

Day 1 (thurs)
We visit a tailor (Grand Fashion International, Bangkok) which was located beside Siam City hotel. Initially, we were apprehensive about tailoring anything from the shop as I did not have the shop's address nor pictures of clothes which they had tailored previously. However, the exterior of the shop won us over with it's professional set-up and service. The sales person was able to communicate fluently in English and all the tailors were Thais. We had no issues communicating what we wanted and spend quite some time picking the fabrics though the selection was not great. They took several measurements for us before requesting for a 2nd fitting the following day.

Grand Fashion International

Outside Platinum Mall

When the evening sets in, we headed to the wholesale Platinum mall to shop and have dinner.

Day 2 (friday)
Woke up early in the morning to head to Chinatown. We love the cultural influences in Chinatown, Sampeng market! T's mom was very excited walking through the narrow lanes, buying things and speaking languages that are familiar to her. We left in the afternoon after much shopping and headed back to the hotel for a short rest. The late afternoon was spent at the tailor for a 2nd fitting and for T to collect his shirt. We loved the the workmanship so much that T made a 2nd shirt. After the transaction, we headed to MBK for a hearty steamboat dinner and shopping. We bought some bags and souvenirs from Naraya for friends and family. Shopping at Naraya is crazy. Few people leave the shop without any purchases. I must admit, this 5 days are just dedicated for shopping! Shopping is such probably the favourite passtime of an average Singaporean!

 Sampeng Market

Herb & Flower tea

Wholesale bag shop

Day 3 (saturday)
Morning was spent at Chatuchak weekend market. It was my first visit. Maneuvering through the narrow lanes of shops and buying clothes/shoes/crafts/food from friendly shopkeepers was certainly an interesting cultural experience. I concluded that Thais are generally superstituous. It is important for them to be able to close the first deal with their first customer as they believe that it brings good luck for their business. It was an advantage to go in the morning as they were more than willing to sell their things at a good price to 'seal the first deal'. I bought some work clothes and swimwear while T got some bags. His mom didn't like the place very much as she felt that the things were not suitable for her. Lunch was taken at a cosy family cafe which served local Thai fare. I had Phad-Thai which was priced at S$1.20! That, coupled with a nice frizzy coke for the hot weather.

 Hawker fare at Chatuchak

 Optimus Prime at Chatuchak!

My fav paper shop

The evening was relatively exciting for me and T as we headed back to the tailor for the final (3rd fitting) for the dress. I loved it! Some alterations had to be made so they sent it to our hotel at the end of the day. T's 2nd shirt was gorgeous. It was a pretty good deal for him I suppose, at S$50/shirt! In the evening, we head to 7-11 for Magnum and snacks.

Day 4 (sunday)
Sunday morning was spent at MBK and Siam Discovery area as we needed to change more $. We had lunch at the infamous Fuji Japanese restaurant which served delectable Japanese cuisine. We ordered 3 set meals and paid about S$40 in total. We headed to Chinatown in the late afternoon as T's mom wanted to buy more things from Sampeng market. This time, we chanced upon a wet-market street and bought things like dumpling and dried raddish. We managed to find the shops that T's mom wanted to visit again, and tasted some local fare like Wanton mee (from HongKong noodles), coconut pancake (yum!) and local chee-kueh (didn't enjoy this very much) Soon after, we headed back to our hotel where we rested and went to visit Big-C supermarket to shop and for dinner and visited a night market before we retired for the day.

Day 5 (monday)
Being warned by the unpredictable nature of the traffic conditions in Thailand, we left relatively early in the morning after breakfast to the airport. T's mom got to eat her favourite mango glutinous rice again from one of the shops in the airport. T and I just settled for a subway sandwich. We took a 2pm flight back to SG.


My holiday in Bangkok was interesting. Though peppered with frustrating moments at times - when we got lost or get use to each others' antics. I am thankful for this trip and it is also my prayer that God will use this trip to build our relationship. My prayers goes to the nation as well. Duirng the trip, we were bombarded with news about the norweigian killings in Oslo and were sadden by the atrocities of the act.