A Tale of Two (Thai) Cities (Part 1): Shopping through Bangkok

Prologue:

- I wanted a little air during my short break before the summer semester starts; thanks to promo fares everywhere, I was able to book myself a one-week trip to Thailand. Just like my recent Malaysia trip (Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here, Part 4 here), my decision to go to Thailand was almost a spur-of-the-moment decision. I have been to Thailand in 2011 (click here), though only for roughly a day as a side trip from my India-Nepal trip. Since my little teaser of Thailand, I've always dreamed of going back to Thailand for a longer stay, so I would be able to fully appreciate the glory of this wonderful kingdom.

- I initially wanted to go alone, but my best bud Ken said that he wanted to tag along too. I thought it would be a good opportunity to spend some quality time with Ken since we're usually busy with our own things and so we don't get to hang out frequently. I also haven't traveled with Ken -- I rarely travel with friends to be exact, as I usually travel alone -- but it was good to know that he had some similar interests as I did when it comes to traveling. Because of that, it was easier to arrange our itinerary.

- Our one week trip to Thailand was a journey to two cities, Bangkok and Ayutthaya. Bangkok is the current capital city of Thailand, and it has been since Rama I (King Chakri) ascended to the throne in 1782. Ayutthaya on the other hand was a prominent former Siamese capital, and was founded by King U-Thong in 1350.

The trip:

- May 21-22, 2016, Saturday to Sunday.

- Ken and I had an early morning flight to Bangkok on the 21st. We arrived around 9AM and easily found our way to our hostel in Surasak. We were quite impressed with Bangkok's train system because it allowed easy transfers, and just like in Malaysia, New York, or South Korea, people were still able to ride on the trains within a short time even despite the peak of the rush hour.

Ken was definitely enjoying the flight.

I, on the other hand, was enjoying taking photos of sleeping Ken.

No, I didn't stick it in his mouth.

- After an hour or so, we arrived at Surasak Station, and walked a bit less than 3 minutes to our hostel, Saphaipae Hostel. Saphaipae Hostel was recommended to me by some friends, as well as the high reviews it had in TripAdvisor. Upon arriving at Saphaipae, I understood why it was highly recommended. The lobby itself was very cozy with a young atmosphere, and was manned with very capable staff (they also replied quickly to my e-mails even before going to Bangkok.) The hostel has 8 floors reachable by a fast elevator, with the dormitory-style rooms (with common bathrooms) at the lower floors, and the private rooms (with private bathrooms) at the higher floors; Ken and I got a superior private room (all private rooms have king-sized beds by the way; no twin beds.) The private rooms looked like hotel rooms in both appearance and size, with full amenities. There is a laundry room, a restaurant (for the free buffet breakfast in the morning or a la carte meals for the rest of the day.) The wifi in the hostel was fast too. The best part? The hostel was very affordable!! It is the best hostel I've stayed in to date.

From the outside.

You wouldn't wanna leave this hostel with this kind of room. The air-conditioning system was also superb, a perfect way to beat Bangkok's heat (and all the more you wouldn't wanna leave the room.)

- Ken and I quickly placed our bags in our nice room, and left to visit the nearest floating market in Bangkok - Taling Chan Floating Market. Taling Chan Market is located in Bangkok's Taling Chan District, on the Khlong Chak Phra canal. It is called a "floating market" because some of the vendors sell their products on boats. It is can be reached by taking the BTS (Bangkok Mass Transit System, aka "Skytrain") train to Bang Wa, and riding a cab to Taling Chan from the train station (remember to ask the driver to use the meter!!) The taxi fare would be around 80-100 Baht, depending on the traffic. (To go back to Bang Wa BTS Station, just do the opposite.) Most floating markets (if not all?) in and around Bangkok only open during the weekends, and it is advised that an early visit would be best, probably around 8:00 in the morning. Thankfully, Taling Chan Market opens until around 4-4:30 in the afternoon. By the way, speaking of the Skytrain, Ken and I decided to purchase single-journey tickets instead of the usual stored value card, since the BTS trains and the MRT trains (different sets of metro trains) still do not have a unified card (like South Korea's "T-Money Card," or Hong Kong's "Octopus Card") as of the trip, although the government would be releasing the "Spider Card (Mangmoom)" by August 2016.

- Taling Chan Floating Market is not the usually-featured floating market in travel shows or travel magazines. This is because it isn't as picturesque as the very colorful Damnoen Floating Market located around 2 hours from Bangkok. However, Taling Chan Floating Market has this feel of being a "real" floating market, as compared to Damnoen Floating Market, which is mostly an overcrowded floating market targeted mainly to tourists. Taling Chan Floating Market on the other hand has a good/balanced mix of both local and tourist crowds. The floating market has vendors both on land and on boats, and although some vendors sell souvenirs, the main experience in Taling Chan is the variety of food (from snacks, to entrees, to desserts) that the vendors have. Apart from the food, visitors can also enjoy traditional music by Thai musicians at the central area, or hop on a boat for a canal tour.

Entrance to the market.

One of the boats selling food.

For the canal tours.

They're selling somtam.

- We eventually had lunch in Taling Chan (which was the main reason why we went there.) It was Ken's first time to try Thai food ever. We had some somtam (sweet-sour-peanuty papaya salad), Thai fried rice, chicken satay (though this is mostly associated with Malay-Indonesian cuisine,) and our personal favorite, grilled snakehead fish. The vendors breed snakehead fish at the river canal, so visitors can be sure that the fish are extremely fresh. This river/freshwater fish is called as such because its head resembles a snake, and the skin resembles a python's skin.

A good meal to start the trip!!

Eating beside the river canal.

Grilled snakehead fish.

We enjoyed the food so much there was none of it left.

Vendor grilling some prawns.

Doesn't look too appealing but it the floating market has some great stuff!!

Musicians.

- After walking around the market for a few minutes, we took another cab to the train station, and rode our way to the Pratunam area. My mom and I stayed in this area during our short visit to Bangkok in 2011, so going back to Pratunam brought back some good memories. The closest train stations would be the Airport Rail Ratchaprarop Station (nearest but not as convenient due to multiple train transfers,) or the more convenient BTS Chit Lom Station (but you'd need a short 10-15 minute walk.)

- Pratunam is a shopper's heaven, especially for those who like clothes. There are several shopping centers like like Indra Square, Baiyoke Gallery, Platinum Mall, CentralWorld shopping complex, and the Pratunam Market for souvenirs, costumes, and clothes, while the streets would also have a battalion of  vendors that sell from morning until night. These stores surround some prominent hotels, like Indra Regent or Baiyoke Sky Hotel (Baiyoke Tower II, the tallest structure in Thailand, and one of the tallest hotels in the world).

- Before shopping, Ken and I visited the Erawan Shrine, an outdoor shrine dedicated to the Hindu god Brahma. It is located in front of Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel, across Gaysorn Shopping Centre, near the Chit Lom BTS Station. The shrine was built in the 1950s by the hotel to eliminate bad karma, as the area was said to be unlucky due to the wrong date of building the hotel's foundations. The shrine itself also suffered a bomb attack in 2015, though the main cause is still unknown. Despite this, the Erawan Shrine still serves as an important shrine for Thais and other worshippers alike.

Worshippers at the Erawan Shrine. 

Dancers who dance when someone makes a special kind of prayer.

Like this guy.

The shrine with the four-faced Brahma.

Nice shrine.

- Going back to the main shopping center of Pratunam, Ken and I went around the shopping places to buy souvenirs and clothes (well, it was mostly me buying stuff) and proceeded to the Baiyoke Tower II for the observatory. We bought the basic 400 Baht ticket, with free (non-alcoholic) drinks at the bar below the observatory; the other more expensive tickets may include a buffet dinner or other promotions. After paying for the tickets, we took the quick elevator to the observatory at the 84th floor. The observatory gives a breathtaking view of Bangkok, and the best time to go would be early evening/night as the city lights give more character to Bangkok.

Sawasdee!!

Enough said.

Waiting for the sunset.

Victory Monument before sunset.

The lights have started to shine.

"Such pretty lights."

Victory monument after sunset.

Bangkok in the evening.

We're on top of the world.

- After looking at the nice view, we went to the bar below the observatory for our non-alcoholic drinks. We toasted to a successful first day in Bangkok, with hopes that the remaining days will remain just as successful and exciting.

Ken fancies the candle centerpiece.

A toast!!

- Before we left, Ken and I had fun taking photos at the exhibits inside the small exhibit hall in Baiyoke. There was a hot air balloon, a tuktuk, a Thai house facade, among other things.

Up up and away!!

I see you!!

Face smash.

Follow that tuktuk!!

Probably one of my favorite photos of Ken from the trip. He's pretending to be the hotel.

If there's one thing you should know about Ken, it would be Ken's habit of making funny faces.

Like this.

Thai house facade.

Plenty of khon masks.

Goodbye Baiyoke!!

- We had a quick dinner at McDonald's since it was the closest decent place to eat on the way to the train station. We also decided to have a really quick dinner so we can go back to the hostel earlier to fix our things and rest earlier (after all, since we had an early morning flight, we barely had enough sleep the night before.)

- The next morning Ken and I visited the Chatujak Weekend Market (sometimes spelled as Chatuchak or Jatujak.) As the name suggests, this is a market that only opens during the weekends, from 9:00AM to around 6:00PM on Saturdays and Sundays, and from 6:00PM until midnight on Fridays. This enormous marketplace can be reached via Kamphaeng Phaet MRT Station (closest station to Chatujak Weekend Market; the MRT is part of the metro train system but different from the BTS with a different ticket,) or the Mochit BTS Station. Ken and I reserved a whole-day visit for this market because the market has around 8000 stalls selling various goods: plants, antiques, clothes, books, ceramics, arts, home decorations, pets, and used clothing. Of course, food is also sold within this enclosed market. The market is so huge that visitors would need a map to go around, especially when pressed for time.

The stores are about to open.

My student, Wendy, who was apparently on the same flight as we were the day before, and whom we saw roaming around Chatujak the day after. Dear student, please don't stalk me. (Just kidding!!)

Enjoying Thai coconut ice cream with toppings, and with a glass of the coconut's sweet juice. (Thai coconuts have a naturally sweeter juice compared to the usual bigger coconuts.)

Plenty of things to see and buy; I had to restrain myself from buying many things.

Clock tower in the middle of the market.

Cool Thai people singing and playing the banjo outside their native-American-Indian-themed store.

- We went back to our hostel at around 5:00PM, and rested our legs before having dinner. We decided to eat at Silom Village, which is around a 10-15 minute walk from our hostel, is the last remaining Thai village in the Silom area. The teak houses in the village were built as early as 1908 (during King Chulalongkorn's/Rama V/s reign). The village was converted to be a trade center in the 1970s to promote the Thai arts and sell higher-quality souvenirs. Some parts of the village were also converted to Thai restaurants, and with certain restaurants even having nightly shows presenting Thai traditional dances. The show usually starts at 7:30PM until around 9:00PM. The better traditional performances are shown in the Ruen Thep part of the village (it has a restaurant that serve multi-course meals, and is mostly visited by tour groups,) while Ken and I ate at the a la carte restaurant that show less (but still good) Thai dances. (After all, we'll be watching a more theatrical Thai cultural show after a few days.)

At the entrance.

Teakwood houses with history.

Just before dinner.

- We had pad thai (Thai-style fried noodles,) tom yum goong (shrimp sour soup,) clams, and Thai green curry with chicken. For dessert, we had tub tim grob, or chestnut rubies in coconut milk. The chestnut bits are coated with tapioca and will look like pomegranate seeds, hence the name "tub tim" (pomegranate seeds). We enjoyed dinner with a series of Thai-dance performances.

Dinnerrrrrr.

Musicians playing traditional drums and xylophones.

Northern Thai dance.

Southern Thai dance.

Tub tim grob.

Central Thailand dance.

Srivijaya-style dance. 

Another Central Thai dance.

Lopburi dance.

- At around 9PM, the Thai dances were finished, and so did the light evening rain. Ken and I walked back to our hostel and packed our things once again for our journey the day after to Thailand's old capital - Ayutthaya! (Please read Part 2 here and Part 3 here!!)