Stay: Ascott Sathorn Bangkok
As my flight out of Bangkok was at 8am on the last day, this is a 5 days itinerary instead of 6. We commute mainly on their trains and Uber. Places we went were quite common places that Singaporeans usually go to including some temples and tailor of clothes at Amari Watergate. My travel period was during the one-year long Thai King's mourning period.
Day 1
We arrived Bangkok at 10 and took a taxi out of the airport. The taxi uncle asked if we were going on flat rate even after we said we were going on meter before boarding. So we insisted on meter again and he went "Ok! Ok! I love meter!" Throughout our ride, he was talking on the phone in Thai and we kept catching him repeating "I love meter" to whoever he was talking to. He purposely tried to miss a turn at where he thought we should but thankfully, he didn't and we were using Google Maps to make sure we were going on the right track.
So, you might want to try Uber out of the airport instead. Remember to change the number to a Thai number so that the drivers can call you. We didn't know and still managed to get most of the rides. Until one uncle who speak English said he tried to call us after we got onto his car. Usually we will walk to a place nearby that is distinctive for pick-up, usually a hotel.
We reached Ascott Sathorn Bangkok, our stay for the trip. We got a one-bedroom executive and totally in love with the space. We took flatlays of our purchases on the floor and prepared our food in the kitchen. If you like, you can also wash your clothes.
We made prior reservation at Health Land Sathorn for a massage and it is located just 5 mins walk away from Ascott. It has many outlets in Bangkok and is very clean. However, the masseurs asked us for tips after we were done. I told them we don't have changes and she told us to go to the counter to change. I did give them very little and they were really unhappy. The massage wasn't fantastic either. I think it might depends on your luck with masseurs.
We took an Uber to Platinum Shopping Mall and had our lunch at the food court. Do note that you have to purchase a card with credits before you can buy your food from the stalls. The credits are refundable, without any deductions, so you might want to put in more instead of less.
Then, we crossed the road to Amari Watergate Hotel to tailor some shirts for guy. At the second level, there are a few tailor shops. We went to Alex and you can just Facebook message them for any enquiry including price. Paul which was right opposite was filled with people for the three times we were there (order, fit and collect). The clothes are OK and since we did not try the others, we couldn't tell which is better.
We walked back to Platinum Mall for shopping! The things were definitely not as cheap as it was four years ago. Next, we went to Central World which is now, thankfully, mostly linked by a covered walkway from Platinum Mall. You can access the walkway from outside of Novotel or at level 2 or 3 (can't remember which) of Platinum Mall.
We also tried the salt baked fish at a small roadside stall right outside of Central World.
For all tourists, we have to go to the supermarket called Big C, right opposite Central World. This link from TripCanvas and AroiMakMak are pretty useful!
Day 2
We bought some light breakfast from Big C the previous night and took a train to Saphan Taksin. From there, follow the sign to the pier. As there was some changes of the ferry, we just asked the guard standing there which boat will take us to Wat Arun. The ferry we took has an orange flag and brings us directly to Wat Arun. Someone will walk around the ferry to collect THB20 per pax (not the uncle with a mask).
For ladies, please remember to wear something that covers your shoulders and knees. You can rent a sarong outside the temple, which was what I did, but I find it more convenient to just bring your own sarong.
Part of it was under construction when we were there, so we stayed there for a while and when we wanted to head back to the ferry, we saw another section of the temple. There was no sarong rental and I got self-conscious that I was wearing a little too short for the sacred place.
We took the ferry to get to the opposite side of the river and followed the road to Wat Pho. We also took the chance to grab a quick meal in one of the shops outside the ferry terminal.
And here comes the deal, if you are not wearing too short in their definition, you have to get a sarong and there is no rental available. So we had to head out to the shops to buy a sarong at THB200. And here comes the other deal, we saw a lady got rejected from entering because of her shorts/dress by the dude checking the tickets and the lady selling the tickets was OK with it. BUT when we were inside the temple, we saw a couple of ladies who wore much much lesser. So. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
With Google Maps, we walked to On Lok Yun which was about 15 minutes walk away. The food were rather simple but we just couldn't resist ordering almost everything from the menu. We had some trouble getting Uber over there and decided against going back Amari for fitting.
We headed straight to Chocolate Ville because we wanted to reach there when it was still bright to take photos. It took us almost 2 hours in the car because of the jam and the driver took a wrong turn. Lucky, we managed to catch the light.
It was a really interesting place, somewhere that felt out of the city. The whole place just had a restaurant that sells Thai food and others like pork knuckle. The whole place was pretty picturesque. We agreed that it is a place to go once if you have never been there before and not worth a second visit. We decided to just Uber to the nearest BTS station instead of the whole way back instead.
Day 3
We walked to Rocket Coffeebar (less than 10 minutes away) and it served pretty good breakfast and coffee. The ambience reminds me of Melbourne and there are a few outlets in Bangkok. Then, we headed the same way as the previous day to the pier to reach Grand Palace.
It could be due to the Thai King's mourning period but we had to show our passport to the guard way before entering to the Grand Palace. The dress code was stricter even for guys and rental of sarongs are available.
We had a hard time trying to get Uber again and went straight to The Commons. We ended up having Jona Waffle (nothing worth shouting about), Lobster rolls (for the price you pay back in Singapore, I would say this is pretty value for money) and had coffee at Roots Coffee Bar. We got scared by the traffic jam, so we took a slow 15 mins walk to the nearest BTS station, which was just nice to burn off some calories and not feel too tired.
Arriving at Chit Lom BTS, we walked through Central World to Amari for fitting again. After which, we walked to Siam where we had dinner at Som Tam Nua (Level 4 Siam Center) and bought Pablo Cheese Tart (Ground Level Siam Paragon). The night market opposite these malls were gone and moved to another street. We couldn't be bothered so we went back to our accoms.
We took a short Uber ride to Banyan Tree where we had a drink at Vertigo & Moon Bar. There is dress-code to adhere to. We didn't make any reservation and about 10 mins wait, we managed to get a seat at the restaurant instead of the bar where we had to squeeze and stand around.
The view was something different from how we (the shopaholics with the purpose to overhaul our wardrobe) sees Bangkok. The staff were very friendly and seeing how we struggle to take a selfie in the dark, they offered to help us and used the table lamp as lighting. It was embarrassingly funny.
Day 4
Brunch was served at Karmakamet Diner! If you have been into hipster stuff, you would have seen the rainbow candy floss dessert making its rounds in Instagram/Facebook. Do note that there is only one diner (for now), the other Karmakamet outlets sell products and minimal food. This outlet sells products too.
Pictured: The Diner's Croque Madame and something with pancakes, duck leg confit and foie gras. (my memory failed me and I couldn't find it in the menu!)
This place is slightly out of the way and slightly pricier but it was really worth it. From Phrom Phong BTS, we go to ground level, exit nearest to Tiffany&Co, and walked towards Emporium Suites and continue down the road. Look out for the signboard on the left.
After the great meal, we walked over to EmQuartier for a walk which was just at the opposite side of the BTS. there were more food but we could only fit Roast Coffee into our exploding bellies. Well, we couldn't resist the french onion soup and it was great.
We took a train back to Amari (its quite troublesome to keep having to go back) for collection, went to eat the famous wanton mee at SabX2 Pratunam Wanton Noodles, went to the next street which has a whole row of massage parlor. We went to the one right at the end of the row with pink uniform. Clean one, no happy ending.
We walked over to Baiyoke Sky Hotel to get our Uber and also took the chance to walk the night market. The place was so jam. At times like this I was really thankful that we didn't stay at that area. We wanted to try Mangkorn Seafood, a THB399 seafood buffet, but the driver kept missing the turn and refused to follow the GPS.
So we decided to head straight to Talad Rod Fai Ratchadapisek Road (Rod Fai Train Market 2 or Ratchada Market). Not sure which is the correct name. As per information found online, Thailand Cultural Centre Exit 3. Behind Esplanade Cineplex/ Esplanade Shopping Mall. Walk into the soi on the left side of the Esplanade mall and follow the flags
This market was really interesting and have everything from food to shopping to bars to even barber. We walked the entire place but lack the guts to try a lot of things. Hunger got the better of us and we went for soup noodles, the safest choice. Nothing worth bragging about but it was located at the far end of the market. Many people at the shop was having a huge pork bone soup which we didn't try.
Day 5
We had breakfast at Not Just Another Cup, 5 minutes walk from our accoms and it was nothing great. We took the train to Phahon Yothin for Union Mall. Many people compared this place with Platinum Mall, with some saying its better and some saying the other. For myself, I have more things to buy at Platinum Mall.
We took the train for another two stops to Kamphaeng Phet MRT for Chatuchak, the weekend market. It was overwhelming, with the heat and everything.
Lucky for us, Artbox happened to be right opposite Chatuchak. We went over around evening time and managed to take lots of photos because it was still bright and with lesser people. We had expected it to be bigger but it was so much smaller. Many shops were empty as well. We tried a number of food too and managed to get a decent seats and the open area.
And, that's all for Bangkok!
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