Thailand Day 1 - Mall Hopping

June 18,2012

What's good with our itinerary is we can swap it from Day 1 to Day 2 or vice versa, so for our Day 1 it should be Ayutthaya and for Day 2 it should be Mall Hopping and Dreamworld, but we wanted to rest a bit so we decided to go Mall Hopping instead!

Mall Hopping

Shopping is love!

From Sunflower Place we head to Saladaeng Station and hop off to Siam Station, there are lots of shopping malls here in Bangkok!

Too early to shop ^^ we had some photo ops first!

These malls opens at 10am, so we head first to Pratunam Market. It was a long walk from Siam Station to reach the market, well there's nothing special in there, it was almost 10am so we go to Platinum Fashion Mall.

My eyes widen upon seeing a lot of clothings! This is gonna be fun fun fun! ^_^

We had our lunch at Mc Donald's Platinum Fashion Mall

Sawatdee Kaa

After some shopping, we go back to Sunflower Place, following the itinerary our next destination should be Dream World, but it was already 3pm and open checking the opening hours, the theme park will close at 5pm. So we opted not to go instead we take some rest and go back to Siam Paragon.

Madame Tussauds in Bangkok (Siam Paragon)

Siam Ocean World

We spend most of our time shopping! Platinum Mall closes early like most of the shop were already closed around 7pm, so I suggest you go on shopping in the morning.

A very exhausted day 1, I don't have enough sleep yesterday. Tomorrow is Ayutthaya day tour, we are planning to do this early in the morning, leaving Bangkok around 6am! ^_^

Thailand 2012

My second trip for this year  to The Land of Smiles.... Thailand!

I really wanted to go here because of shopping thingy, been hearing a lot about the cheap clothings that can be bought here. So yes, I'm excited to go shopping!!! ^^

Now preparing for this trip!

TICKET
Thanks again to Cebu Pacific promo, we got a round trip ticket of 2899php each (no check in baggage) Manila to Bangkok. We booked last January for this June travel.

ACCOMMODATION
I made a reservation at Sunflower Hostel thru Hostelworld, made a 10% downpayment online, a Twin Private Ensuite for two nights. One of the cheapest hostel I've seen, the reviews are good in Tripadvisor so I decided to booked here.

ITINERARY
We will be staying a total of 3 whole days in Bangkok, arriving almost midnight of June 17 and leaving late night of June 21. After doing some research on where to go, what to do and what to buy in Thailand, I've come up with a not so~so good itinerary! ^_^

June 18
Ayutthaya
Platinum Mall or Pratanum
Patpong Night Market

June 19
Siam Square
MBK Center
Platinum Mall
Pratanum
Dream World
Chao Phraya Dinner Cruise

June 20
Temple Tour (Grand Palace, Wat Pho, Wat Arun)
Shopping

So this is gonna be a shopping tour neh! ^^

MONEY MATTERS
For the nth time, here we go again to my favorite money exchange "CZARINA FOREZ"! Of course you need to call them for reservations. The buying rate is 1.37php per 1 Baht.

I've read in some blogs and forums that it's much better to exchange your PHP to BAHT, read that rate is much better here.

LUGGAGE
We only have check-in baggage going back here in Manila for 15 kilos. As they say Thailand is just like Philippines, a tropical country so we will only pack light clothings, like shorts and tops. I really want to shop and some of my friends ought me to buy them clothes there, so we really need a check-in baggage. I'm hoping for no excess baggage, I've read that they are strict in this stuff.



Am I ready? Well I'm excited to shop! ^^

June 17 - NAIA 3

The weather is not that good, there's a typhoon in Philippines! Arriving at NAIA 3 I go straight to Travel Tax window and paid 1620php, then proceed to Cebu Pacific window for the ticket and check-in baggage, then paid 550php for the Terminal Fee. Now at the immigration, well this is something new, she only asked where I work and that's it.

It's been 4 months since the last time I've been to NAIA 3 and I was surprised that they have free wifi already! Love it! ^^

It was announced that our flight would be delayed for 15 minutes, well I understand with that kind of weather.

Suvarnabhumi Airport
Arriving around 12 midnight already, we did not book our accommodation that night so we planned to stay at the airport. The airport was so huge!

Sunflower Place
We left at the airport around 6am, then head to the Airport Rail Link to Phaya Thai and ride the BTS going to Saladaeng. The hostel is easy to find, just follow the very detailed directions on their website and you'll surely find their place. Arriving at Sunflower Place we paid the remaining balance and additional 200 Baht for key card deposit. The check-in time is 2pm, but we arrived early and just planned to leave our things but the staff was so kind that they allow us for early check-in without additional charge! I love this hostel, the room is so nice and clean! I highly recommend this hostel for budget travelers like me. The twin bed room ensuite, has a refrigerator, a television, AC and they provide 2 bottled water (everyday), they clean the room everyday (changed the bedsheets and towels), the bathroom/toilet is also very clean, they also provide a small bath soap & shampoo ^^, wifi is also available in the room. At the reception area; there's a 2 computers, hot & cold water dispenser, free coffee/tea/milo/milk. There is also a small common room that has a microwave and dining area, with a small living area with television and comfort room. The place is also near to BTS Saladaeng and Patpong Night Market. There are lots of ATM, 7-11, Spa Massage house and food restos neaby. So again, I highly recommend this hostel.

Let's start the adventure! SAWATDEE KAA!