Short Impulse Trip to BKK

Starting off this post on a slightly heavier note; Be Strong BKK

I am glad to not have been caught in the midst of all the terror happening in the country right now; thank god for my four peaceful days spent (first time ever) in Bangkok.

My prayers goes out to all those involved in the horrible ruthless bombing incident. May the culprit be caught soon, justice served and the streets to become safe for everyone.




First up, the reason for deciding to make this trip. As per the title; it was an impulse trip. Being in the mode of slight depression over not seeing them for another two years paired with good internet connection enabling me to get decent seats for the concert and hence after confirming with Mummy if she wanted a short vacation, I was set for Bangkok 10th - 13th August 2015.

DAY 1

Arriving at the airport in the ungodly hours of the morning (Thank you Daddy for the ride!) with our matching luggage and luggage tags (Thanks Bestie for the loan!) - we were set for our mother-daughter bonding trip.

It was also my first time taking Tiger Air and I had my worries considering the horror stories I've heard particular around the delay of flights as well as lack of legroom. But lo and behold, short and lucky people have their advantages =) However, I did suffer a bit because we had to take the stairs up the plane and mini me had to hoist the luggage up the compartment myself but I am strong so all's cool haha. Anyway, the trip was too short for any discomfort to be felt with regards for the lack of serving onboard the plane. The plane landed shortly after I woke up from my short nap haha.

Hello Suvarnabhumi airport =) 

Upon landing, the first thing I did was find a spot for lunch. We were rather impatient and rushed and lazy so we settled for a random restaurant and had curry crab with rice =) I also set up my SIM card bought back at Changi and I was good to go equipped with Google Map =)

Being confident and ambitious, I relied solely on public transport this entire trip. BUT I will state here that the BTS is extremely elderly and disabled unfriendly with it's multitude of staircases and lack of escalators and elevators. So I will state that it wasn't easy at all for my mother and whenever we had to lug 2 luggage up flights of stairs; it was supergirl to the rescue. Not easy.

But anyway, the airport link was not hard to navigate and get to from the basement of the airport. If you have small change, go ahead and purchase a ticket at 45baht from the machine (and select the English language menu - I had to help an idiotic Malaysian couple in front of me - sorry I mean you guys already know I'm a bitch; the male was staring and struggling at the Thai menu and I just stretched my hand across him and pressed the "English" button before rolling my eyes and standing back in line behind him haha) But note the machine doesn't except big notes; which was all I had having just landed - fear not, just go the counter =)) You will receive a yellow token which you will use to tap in and slot into the hole upon alighting.

I took the train to the end of the line; Phaya Thai, along the way which a huge number of locals were using the train as well so it did get slightly crowded. Getting off, I had to switch to the BTS for another two stations to Siam where my hotel was located.

I was happy to be able to have an early check-in; thank you Novotel! So instead of rushing off to explore Bangkok straightaway, I was able to have a rest, clean up, and change of clothes! =)

I even manage to catch a glimpse of concert venue from my room =)

Before I go on, I must say that despite being trained for three decades under the scorching heat of Singapore, I was NOT prepared for the blazing sun of Bangkok. Not at all. So I was rather glad I managed to change into shorts before heading out.

First stop: The Emporium. 

Known for its shopping place with luxury brands, I was kinda glad I made it out without a purchase - only because the Morgan De Toi bag I had my eye on didn't come in a size I wanted hehe. BUT. We had lunch at the food hall to replenish energy and bought a favourite snack of ours (we had a taste of it at a Thailand food fair in Sngapore)

We then took a single train stop down and visited a friend-recommended massage place: HealthLand spa!

I must give two thumbs up for this place. Nice ambiance, good service, satisfying results and reasonable pricing.

Given it is indeed one of those corporate places which looked more like a hotel than anything else with extremely high turnover rate, I still enjoyed it very much. Also, there was a huge number of Korean tourists when I was there. It is advisable to make a pre-appointment but I walked in instead and had to wait 45minutes. 

I took the Thai Herbal compress with massage priced at 800baht. It was an amazing relaxing 2hours =) Save the few hisses I emitted at the heat haha.

Refreshed, we did our final round of shopping of the day at Terminal 21; located at the station and a mere 5minute walk from where we were.

I didn't buy anything as well but as per what my friend Gina suggested; it was a place good for photo-taking and so I did.

DAY 2

Day 2 started off early cause I wanted to visit Praya Chao where all the touristy places of attraction are located. (along the river itself) and we wanted to avoid the noon heat....not like the morning heat was that much more bearable but here we go!

Taking the train to Saphan Taksin, I got the tourist pass for me and my mum so that we had the freedom to get on and off anytime we wanted. Let me lay it down now though; we never got off the boat; too hot too lazy haha. So we took the boat all the way up to N30 and down back. I did manage a lot of photos though =)

Satisfied with the scenic view, we went back to the hotel and I actually had a change of clothes haha...this is the reason why I go overseas with an overloaded luggage always haha...my fashion show outfit no2 of the day:

Shopping time! This time round: Pratinum Mall, Central World, Siam Paragon.

But first things first, gotta make the stomach happy. Street food!

But before we successfully made it to the skywalk, we found....treasure! Omg this is just next to my hotel but I did not know about it. Super epic fail of a Hello Kitty fan sigh:

And opposite the road was dear Kyu HAHA

But anyway, we obviously spent a few hours at the Kitty place, food and shopping =)

After I had enough of Hello Kitty, I dumped my loot back at the hotel before heading off to Pratinum Mall.

It was a rather long walk and I was stupid enough to not know/realize that I could have taken a single stop of the train sigh.

But anyway; we had duck noodle and I bought a single piece of super cheap top =)

Next mall: Central World. I was sad to not find a Playboy boutique there but I bought some discounted clothes there from Fashion and Bebe. 

And finally, Siam Paragon for seafood dinner and I practically bought the whole Playboy segment down at the departmental store hehe. I was pouting when the salesgirl didn't have my size and she seriously laughed out badly.

Before we called it a night; I decided to visit the venue and mingled a bit with the staff =)

DAY 3

Concert day! 

If I haven't mentioned.... the four days was seriously full of nausea, vomit, diarrhoea, fever etc so it wasn't particularly a very enjoyable holiday for me. When you feel like crap there goes the loss of appetite and its such a pity. Yes, the Bangkok heat killed me.

Anyway I finally rolled out of bed at 9am after having suffered diarrhoea the whole night and headed over to Hyuk's CBB shop to check things out. The place was stuffy and the queue was pure madness so I headed to Siam Paragon instead to collect my tickets.

It's gorgeous!!! =)

The back color is according to your section so mine is GOLD =)

After which I met up with my favourite Thai ELF, Wawa!

And also the rest of the SG-Msia gang and had lunch at MBK

Feeling shitty, I decided to head back to the hotel and slept....all the way till 3pm!!!!

OMG ... sorry to all the girls I was supposed to meet and gosh when I woke up I started panicking because usually pre-concert I'd be all set and ready and getting dressed hours in advanced before heading to the venue early to mingle and get hyped up, soaking up the atmosphere etc.... but gosh...instead, I left my room in light make-up and uncombed hair because I seriously thought Eunhae wouldn't be able to see me.... which I was proven terribly wrong after....

For my concert account refer to this post instead: 

http://phoebefeehily.blogspot.sg/2015/08/d-present-tour-2015-last-concert-bkk.html

After concert, we had dinner with the gang and dear Alice brought me and Mummy to the night market and it was indeed an eye-opener  hehe.... but unfortunately it was too hot and stuffy so we left after a short while and rested back in our rooms after packing....and gorging on more street snacks =)

I need to take time off here to introduce the wonders of vacuum bags and expandable luggages ;-) We actually managed to fit all our shopping into our luggage =)

DAY 4

Last day in Bangkok...we decided to start our day off with hotel breakfast

Followed by...CBB visitation! The kind shop owner who rented the space was there and we had a really nice chat =) She sells Curry rice and other stuff on other days so do pay her a visit if you're out shopping in that area and wanna avoid the crowds in the upscale shopping malls =)

The shop opened early for me and I grabbed the stuff I wanted: the beautiful pearl bracelet and yet another ribbon =)

After I was done, we checked out of the hotel and slowly made our way towards the airport....yes the long torturous journey all over again....

Being early, we had time to have a Thai meal finally; screw the diarrhoea I was headed home in a few, bring on the spicy and lactose.

BUT....the Tom Yum wasn't even that spicy....and the milk tea was pretty much normal to me....

After which we got lucky with the check-in counter and proceeded to make our way through immigration, after I checked with one of the lady if there was still shopping inside haha...she was super cute! She patted my shoulder and went "don't worry, there's a lot of shopping for YOU" haha

OMG since we are near the end of my post, I need to tell you how much I love the Thai hospitality. All the people were so kind and polite and non-judgmental! Let's put aside the fact that most of them thought I was Thai, the male always gave up their seats on the train and boat to my mum and some even to me cause I was a female. People on the street were helpful and I love how they don't stare at you. I will be direct here; my outfit for the concert was pretty revealing and I kept a hoodie with me to put over but since I was in a rush, I basically walked over dressed that way and NO ONE gave a damn, neither the people on the street nor the fans within the hall. I wear mini shorts to a concert here and girls stare as if I'm sleeping with one of their oppas =S

Moving on, I was going through security and was unlucky enough to get pulled over for a luggage check =( I hated it cause I literally sat on my luggage to shut it so having the lady rummage through my bag... thank god I went in early. I wasn't happy because he pulled Hae-Baby out by his head and poked his tummy =( She not happy Hae-Baby fat arh =(

Anyway, the lady outside was right and inside was indeed a shopping paradise for me =) Basically, luxury goods at a great price. =) AND I actually bought a handbag =) After making sure I claimed my VAT (which thankfully was fuss-free)

Flight back was short and comfortable and I even managed a short nap as well. 

THANK YOU THAILAND FOR THE AMAZING HOSPITALITY =)

I had a great trip and an enjoyable concert.

Unconventional but here's my shopping spread:

To everyone who is going to Bangkok, (or anywhere else for that matter) always stay safe =)

Phoebe Feehily signing off now, ciao!