Did I tell you that I haven't travelled for the longest time ever? I figured that the packing and unpacking was too troublesome, so I told myself that I'd rather stay here at home.
But not this March holidays. My husband dragged me out of Singapore to visit the land of smiles. I couldn't be happier.
We borrowed a pen from the group of guys at the back there. Lol.
I always have this nagging feeling that things would be hard for us overseas because of the language barrier. To a certain extent, yes, but it wasn't too bad. Anyway, we packed really light for this trip, hoping to buy most of what we'd wear.
Let's start from the beginning. Like, very beginning. Any experiences worth mentioning.
Changi Airport
We didn't know that high cuts would need to be removed at Changi Airport to be checked thoroughly. LOL. Next time, leave those boots at home.
DMK Airport
I know for a fact that tourists would flock to Thailand for a good holiday. But seeing them arrive in groups and filling up the entire place with their people makes you question where you've landed, sometimes. Thankfully for us, we managed to skip the queue and join a shorter queue which none of them knew about. Pays to be observant.
A friend advised us to get a taxi from the taxi stand at the basement of the airport as they would charge us by the meter. Those taxis you see out front with drivers touting would charge a relatively higher price, saying that they'll incur extra charges since we're from the airport. After getting a local SIM card, we headed to the airport.
The Berkeley Hotel
Our hotel is located right next to Palladium Mall and across the street from Platinum, The Fashion Mall. So really, nothing could be better than to be of walking distance from THE shopping centre in all of Asia. Since we checked in really late, we rested for the night and planned to start early the following day.
Oh, and if you're planning to check in super late, it's best to call the hotel so they won't release your room and auto-cancel. Thanks Kak Lyana for helping to call! We did mention in our booking but she said not to rely on that.
DAY 1
Palladium Mall
Palladium Mall - Barely open at 10am on a Thursday.
Nothing much here when we reached pretty early. I only managed to buy one pair of sunglasses for 100baht.
Taken from the overhead bridge that connects Palladium Mall to the road leading to Platinum Mall.
Platinum The Fashion Mall
We did some damage in day 1 already. There are 2 zones, Zone 1 and Zone 2. I personally prefer Zone 2 because there are more stuff to buy there. However, we bought personalised caps for my siblings at Zone 1, cos they kirim, which was way better than the shops in Zone 2. Some shops had a limit as to how many letters you can add. They'll charge you extra for names/words with more than 8 characters.
More than 8 characters and it was only 350baht!
That's about SGD14 for a personalised Snapback. Not bad eh.
The damage done in Platinum was pretty scary. If we hadn't reviewed our expenses, we might have finished all our money!
Half a day's loot at Platinum. Mine and his.
I thought I bought more stuff, apparently my husband beat me this time.
We returned to the hotel to put down our baggage cos it was getting too heavy for our frail hands. It was only 1-2pm when we took the picture above. We took a 2-hour nap and went out again for dinner and round 2 of shopping. We covered Zone 2 a little more thoroughly, but not entirely yet.
The streets
Went out at night and had a good Thai massage. Painful, but good. Le hubby had a ladyboy masseuse and he kept his eyes closed all the way. HAHA! Got some grub afterwards...
Street food seafood
Grilled squid - 100baht
Grilled fish. Those skewers are rotating. All the time. So the fish gets this even crispy layer all around.
Vintage art pouches.
Bar in a van. They literally drive this thing around.
Talad Neon
We kept on walking until we came across a night market, Talad Neon, which is apparently situated right behind our hotel. Totally unexpected. And so pretty! This place is amazing and they have this foot massage thingy going on on a container terrace.
You know what, let me just show you the pictures.
How cute is this? Street barbers!
All the shops and bars are in containers. Live band playing at the moment.
Figurines. Toys. You name it!
I didn't dare try this because I've read about freak accidents when a girl had this dessert.
So tempted to try this but we were rather full from the street food we had.
Massage on a terrace. This was what I was talking about earlier. 150baht for 30mins. We came here again the next day and my masseuse dozed off while massaging me. omg.
Well, that's a whole different story for another day.
Here's the entrance to the game zone, aka pasar malam's mini funfair.
Halal food is not very much an issue in Thailand, apparently. Easy access for some night markets.
I have to say, the food in Thailand is cheap. It's no wonder they have good food everywhere.
DAY 2
We engaged a driver outside Platinum Mall the night before so that he could take us to the train and floating markets. Totally stoked, but really bummed when we had to pay 5000baht for the floating market.
Train Market
This was really an experience. It is literally a wet market by the train tracks. When the train comes, they'll simple pull in their stuffs and wait for the train to pass by. Everything goes back to normal after that. The first train arrives at 8.15 a.m. daily. We were there by 7.50 a.m.
Floating Market
Made a pit stop at the temple to sightsee.
MBK Centre, Siam Centre
We went round these places, but didn't exactly spend too much time there since we didn't quite like the place. At about 4-5ish, we headed to another night market, which is the...
Rot Fai Market
Came here by train. Took the BTS and a taxi to get here.
Cute art shop.
At this point, we looked around and said, "Huh? Like that only? I thought it was much bigger."
But please, when you come here, continue walking and you will see the bigger picture.
See what I mean?
"Bila nak game?"
Rot Fai is known to be a very hipster and vintage place, with retro vehicles everywhere and vintage decor for all its shops. Truly a pretty place.
Just a cat. That guards its owner's shop. Reminds me of Loki, somehow.
If we had the time, we would have joined the queue to try out this Ovaltine craze. Even tourists were queueing up. Must be THAT good.
Day 2's loot.
DAY 3
Chatuchak
We spent the first quarter of the day at Platinum Mall, and the outskirts of Baiyoke Hotel. There are plenty of halal food and restaurants behind the hotel. And the corn cup by the streets... they pop in your mouth okay.
Here's Chatuchak.
Ah yes, the fried squid egg. It was pretty darn good.
Hadi bought this sotong kering. Twice. The sauce is darn good too. They'll grill it on the spot.
And now I realised we didn't take many photos here cos it was rather dark already. Plus, we wanted to really soak in the experience of being there, y'know? We tried the fresh crab salad. Saw an angmoh trying it and we wanted to try it too. Not cos he's angmoh okay.
Surprisingly, it tasted good. I just wished we could have eaten it on a table instead of having to hold the bowl. But hey, we enjoyed it!
We didn't spend much at Chatuchak. If you ask me, I prefer Rot Fai Market. Maybe cause Chatuchak has become a very touristy place and prices aren't that cheap anymore.
Went back the next day. That's it for the trip!
Can't wait to go on the next one.
Batam!!
Mwah mwah.
All pictures taken on Fujifilm X100T and iPhone 7 Plus. No edits. Too lazy.
