Indochina Trip 2013: Bangkok, Thailand

Finally touchdown at Suvarnabhumi Airport! Hello Bangkok! Sawatdee Kah! ^^

It's my second time in Bangkok, its nice to be back! I have love Bangkok for sooooo many reasons!!! ~kekeke~

Bangkok at night

Following my simple itinerary for this Indochina Trip, first stop is "Bangkok, Thailand", we head first to Sunflower Place. For the second time, I chose to stay here because this guesthouse/hostel is a great place to stay.

How to go to Sunflower Place from the airport:
We take the Airport Rail Link (Level G), we take the "SA City Line" to "Phayathai Station", that is the last station. Then transfer to BTS Station, to go to Silom BTS line, off to "Siam Station" and transfer to go to "Saladaeng Station" (take exit No. 1).

Then continue walking down to Silom Road until you reach Silom6 street. Then turn right until reaching "Thai Prime Massage Store". Turn left and continue walking towards "Green Point Condominion" and you will find "Sunflower Place"

While checking in, we ask the staff if she knows about the direct bus to "Siem Reap", we let her know that we are planning to take the direct bus to Siem Reap, and luckily she knew about it. She advise us to go at Thai Ticket Major outlet located in Siam Paragon level 6 (near cinemas). Unfortunately its already past 8pm and the outlet is already closed, we have no choice but to try tomorrow.

Sunflower Place

Quick review of this guesthouse/hostel: 
The room is always clean, spacious enough even the bathroom. The complimentary two bottled water is a plus. The location is good, few minutes walk from Saladaeng Station, near to KFC, McDonalds, 7-11, to banks (Standard Chartered and City Bank), to massage house and to Patpong. Consider the cheap rate per night, its not bad staying here. I have stayed here last year and I had no bad experience at all, the staff were all nice and approachable. Sunflower Place is a safe place to stay in :)

As I say this is "Amazing Race trip", we try to visit places as many as we can! After checking in, we head to MBK, a familiar place to me. You can buy cheap T-shirts souvenirs and cheap bags here!

How to go to MBK  from Sunflower Place:
From Saladaeng Station to National Stadium Station

After MBK Center, we stroll Patpong area, this place is near to Sunflower Place.

PATPONG
How to get there:
From MBK Center, take BTS National Stadium Station (the last station) and get off to Saladaeng Station, take exit 1 and just walk ahead.

Beware of scammers here, ever heard of the "Ping Pong Show". Some offer a cheap price but when you're done with your drinks, the charge will be doubled or tripled the price.

Dinner at the nearest KFC in Saladaeng Station :)

my dinner, safe dinner, not too spicy :)

che's dinner :) Looks spicy right? ..... Yes indeed!!!!

Thailand Day 3 - Temple Tour/Shopping

Sawatdee Kaa~

June 20,2012

Last day in Thailand, we already packed our things before we sleep last night and ready to check out before going to our next destination (Temple Tour). Sunflower Place allows us to leave our things, will just get it back at 8pm.

woah so many!

Accident do happens, last night we cannot use our ATM (BPI International) to withdraw some money, I immediately emailed them, and they replied ......."We apologize for the inconvenience. We wish to advise you that international access of ATM cards is temporarily unavailable at this time." We don't have any choice, it wasn't on our plan and did not expect it to happened, so we just exchange some of our remaining PHP at Super Rich Saladaeng Branch, this is also near to the MRT and just beside KFC. The rate is .65 BHT per PHP.

Now ready for our last trip of the day!


Grand Palace
From Saladaeng Station we head to Saphan Taksin Station, then walk to the boat terminal. We ride the orange boat going to N9 Tha Chang for 15 BAHT.

orange boat

Views from the boat

Arriving at Tha Chang terminal, you need to pass the market first, well we also follow some foreigners on the way out. ^_^

 After passing by the market, you'll see The Grand Palace!

outside The Grand Palace

We both decided not to entered the Grand Palace, we are saving our money to shop ^_^. The entrance fee is 400 Baht and a dress code is strictly implemented. You can even hear some announcement regarding the scammers outside the palace.

WAT PHO (Reclining Buddha)
This temple is located beside The Grand Palace, there is no dress code for this temple and the entrance fee is 100 Baht.

Of course posing to this Reclining Buddha is a must ^_^

And don't forget to claim your free bottled water.

Ramdom pictures at WAT PO!

monks

Philippines and Korea's Flag inside WAT PO ^_^ (annyeong!)

Looking for some souvenirs? You can buy some outside The Grand Palace (near the market)

looks like real monks! ^^

We opted not to go to WAT ARUN, we can't take the weather, soooooooo hot!!!! We go back to the boat terminal passing again thru the market place, again 15baht for the boat ride. Then from Saphan Taksin Station we go to National Stadium, then head to MBK again for lunch. ^_^

My lunch chicken and fries meal for 109 BHT

Stroll again in MBK, Siam Paragon and then to Platinum Fashion Mall.

Shopping is love! ^_^

Titanic Exhibit now at Bangkok (June 2 - Sept 9)

  
  

PATPONG NIGHT MARKET

If you're looking for the Ping Pong show, well you're in the right place. We did not stroll much here, as I says this place is on our way to Sunflower Place. What else can you see here? some souvenirs, some fakes accessories, clothes, etc. (as you can see above picture). 

After Patpong we go to Sunflower Place to get our things, we also take some rest at the reception area, the staff were so nice to even let us use the restroom and the computer ^_^. Now we are ready to leave Bangkok, so sad :( 

From Saladaeng Station we go to Phaya Thai Station and change to Airport Link going to Suvarnabhumi Airport.

SUVARNABHUMI AIRPORT

This airport is nice and huge! How I wish our airport is also like this.

Though we are already boarded on the plane at around 12:15am, our flight has been delayed for 1 hour, actually I'm not aware of it 'coz I already fall asleep ^_^

Now recapping my trip!

I want to comeback here, probably next year and just do the shopping thingy! ^_^  It is really cheap and lots of choices! I enjoyed the Ayutthaya tour, not only because of Mario Maurer, I was amazed to see the actual place of the ruin temples, questioning myself how did they made those temples! Those large Buddhas and Palaces were really amazing!

Weather
The weather is just like in the Philippines, 'coz Thailand is also a tropical country, but we were lucky during our stay because the weather is just fine, not that hot. It rains on the afternoon but not really heavy and it also stops, so we still manage going around Bangkok.

People
The people were nice too, like the staffs of Sunflower Place, very helpful and they even let us have an early check in without extra charge. Our tuktuk manong guide from Ayutthaya is also nice ^_^  We only encounter some ill-tempered sellers at Platinum Mall, well maybe it's just the way they talk. ^_^

Transportation
Very convenient to use! The only transportation we use is the BTS and airport rail rink, we did not try using the taxis, buses or tuktuks. The traffic in Bangkok is a mess, just like the traffics here in the Philippines. Better to always use BTS and just walk ^_^

Food
We only tried the McDonald's specials meal of Thailand like the spicy teriyaki and the KFC's Chicken Curry, so what more can I say about it... it is sooooo SPICY! Guess we both don't have the guts to try some of their cuisine, well another reason to go back in Thailand! Anyways, I tried their Milk Tea *love it*

Overall Thailand is a beautiful place, a great place to visit! A lot of things to do here, not only shopping! I'm happy that I visited this country and sure I'll be back here!