Chronicles of a Jetsetter Wannabe: Bangkok, Thailand (30th Sep

Thursday, December 22, 2005

Bangkok, Thailand (30th Sep - 4th Oct 05)

"Eating was secondary," I declared to a fren.
"Then wat's primary?" she asked.
"Shopping!"

It's indeed the word which summarises the activities of the 5 days in Bangkok. We touched down on Fri late afternoon and after checking into Eastin Hotel, went to hit Central World Plaza. Can't believe how CHEAP the food and everything else there is! I added another city onto my "trying-out-the-local-Mc's" list when Chin juz had to eat something before doing anything else. Japan had the Chicken Teriyaki burger; Bangkok has the Samurai Pork Burger. After being satiated with meat, we stepped into Active Nation ("Sale up to 40% off! From now till 30 Sep 2005!") and didn't emerge till 9 pm, when the shopping centre closed for the night. I bought a Nike tote bag that I've beo-ed in KL, a Kappa top and 2 Wacoal sports bras for only $150!

The next morning, we had the chance to sit in a traditional Thai taxi, called tuk tuk. The driver offered 20 baht to drive us around the city, ending up at Ma Boon Krong, but instead he brought us to 2 jewellery shops to get his coupon for gasoline. At the first stop, we did not stay long enough, so he didn't get his coupon. So at the 2nd place, we lingered in the shop, asking questions about the various gemstones and giving all appearances of being interested. I was a bit dubious when the jeweller there showed us a piece he claimed to be 100 carat. I've always thought the maximum was 24 carats (can anyone confirm this?) Finally the tuk tuk driver dropped us across the road from MBK.

MBK was a mix of Lucky Plaza, Far East Square, Heeren Annexe and Sim Lim, with probably 5 times the crowd. The shops sold mainly the same things, like touristy t-shirts of Thailand, fake sports brands and grooming products on the lower levels, and furniture and electronics on the higher levels. After a late lunch at Thasiam Noodles (the food was not bad), we braved the drizzle and sidestepped the muddy puddles for Central World a good distance away. That Active Nation shop was still having the same sale! Bloody hell. Made me buy so frantically the night before...

I discovered a quaint brand called Chocolate on one of the upper floors of Central World. It's made in Thailand and the t-shirts I bought are between 145 - 195 baht, which is about $9. I was bogged down with shopping bags (an appealing visual to me for the longest time) when we landed up at Starbucks. A mocha frap there only costs 100 baht (S$4.20)! When it got darker, we hopped into a cab - minimum fare on the meter is 35 baht - and landed up in the slightly sleazy Patpong.

Most of the bustling area was taken up by pasar malam stores, with goods similar to those at MBK. However, walking at the fringes of the pasar malam area tended to get us, Chin especially, offers of "Tiger show, sir? No cover charge!" Chin badly wanted to go in and see how the gals could pop ping pong balls out of their... ahem, but was too intimidated. We were joking that we should hand them a floorball to try to pop it out.

We only saw some gals with great bods clad in bikinis dancing on the bar tops at some bars with doors wide open to the street. Dinner was at this cosy restaurant at the beginning of the Patpong strip. It's called Sip in the City and the food is good. Msg me if you're going to Bangkok and would like to visit the restaurant.

We cabbed back to Eastin, then popped across the road to Happy Massage parlour to try their foot massage at 250 baht for an hour. I giggled and squirmed when the masseuse scrubbed the soles of my feet gently with a soft brush, causing her and Chin to laugh at me. My session was not too bad, but Chin complained that he couldn't feel much with his elephant hide. Long day at Chatuchak the next day for us!

I liken the Chatuchak (or Jatujak) Market experience to that old Enid Blyton tale "The Wishing Tree" where a magical land appears at the top of the tree every week. Chatuchak is the magical market in this context. I made that remark to Chin at the end of an exhausting afternoon, when every shop appeared identical to me.

The shops were placed such that for every 2 steps you take, you gotta turn your head to the opposite side to look at what the other stop has to offer. This method tends to induce a dizzying effect after a few hours, but it's the most efficient way to cover the shops on both sides. We decided to go by a snake route (ref: the Nokia game) to cover as many of the Clothing/Accessories stores, but we still managed to mess up the pattern a bit and had to retrace our steps. Once I bought beach slippers for Sheryl, I felt the familiar shopping itch rearing its head.

My shopping list at the end of the afternoon reads as follows:

- 4 pairs of fancy beach slippers
- 1 fake Converse sling bag (looks like the real thing!)
- 1 pink 42l fake Northface backpack
- 1 beige skirt for work
- 1 blue flowy skirt
- 2 Red Bull tops
- 1 Drunken Monkey top
- 6 bras (extremely cheap @ 89 baht each!) -> Joked with Chin that I should tell Sis, "Because of you, Chin had to endure going into bra shops!"

The next day saw us in Chinatown at Sampeng Lane, but we only spent 15 - 20 mins there before we headed to Chao Phraya river nearby. We took the dirt-cheap Chao Phraya Tourist Boat ride which cost us 35 baht to and fro. We passed by Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn) and Grand Palace but were too lazy to get off to explore. That is Wat Arun on the right. Instead after the boat ride, we made our way straight to Central World again! That was the 3rd time we went to Active Nation and unbelievably, the salesgirl recognized us when we were out of the shop! And to my disbelief, I actually bought TWENTY adidas headbands for the team (at 59 baht each)! I had to borrow cash from Chin, who insisted, "Please! Let me lend you!" coz he was desperately trying to finish up his cash.

When evening fell, we went back to Happy Massage for the Aroma Oil Massage (600 baht for 2 hours), which was a novel experience for me. I think Chin and I are still slightly traumatized by how intrusive it got, haha. I'm just glad we didn't take the double room! My muscles were sore and aching when we made our way back for a late dinner (room service).

The next morning we had to catch our flight back to Singapore, and being at the airport rather early, we monkeyed around and came up with: