Our 2nd Vacation Together!!! ... Bangkok

*zHigUo + xiNhUi = kUkU & LaLa *

The excited two before the flight takes off to bkk!!!

Yesh!... I have returned from my extremely fruitful trip in Bangkok. There are just so much that I want to blog about, interesting feedbacks running through my mind. But first of all, how am I suppose to fit all those new clothes into my already over loaded closet.... Baby was like telling mommy that I bought a whole year worth of supply of clothes and accessories.

Hotel:

Alright, I shall first talk about our hotel. Grand Watergate Hotel in pratrunam bangkok. It was carefully picked by "eh herm" yours truly, over the last few months by checking out reviews and maps in bangkok to make sure that the hotel fits our basic requirements and location for accessibility. But of cause not to forget most importantly, our budget. The hotel was very new, and way cleaner then we expected. The room was spacious, and air con was strong, tv was fine, and fridge was cold enough. The friendly housekeeper cleaned our room, changed our sheets, and provided new sets of bath necessities everyday(just a small tips of 20bht gives the housekeeper more drive to work). The only loopholes were that they didn't have the mini electric kettle or hair dryer. But you can always call the reception everyday before 8pm to have hot water delivered to your room, or to go to their main lobby for hot water after 8pm. To certain guests they might find it inconvenient, but it was alright for Baby and I.

Simple but hot & fresh breakfast provided by our hotel!

Sleepy but contented me!

The location was fine, just have to walk for about 5-8mins to reach the main road, and you will find Pantip Plaza and Platinum Fashion Mall just across the road. You can easily take the overhead bridge to access both malls. You can also find street stalls along your way out, and you can conveniently find Burger King and The Pizza Shop just ideally located along the main street too. However, the actual alley that leads to the hotel will be very dark towards the night, and the best is that you travel with a partner. But Baby and I found a better route, which is the alley just next to the hotel. You can simply take that route instead as there are more street lights and there will always be a security guard there 24hrs a day because one side of the building leads to a high rise residential apartment, and the other side leads to a few cargo forwarding office that is open 24hrs a day too. Sometimes you may also find some thai office ladies working inside, so its more comforting to ladies like me.
On a whole, for just SGD$33 per night, we really got a real deal, and we will most definitely stay in this hotel again on our future trips to bangkok. (Find out more about this hotel in www.asiarooms.com)

Platinum Fashion Mall:
I was basically just THRILLED when I reach Platinum!!... There are 1500 over small shops there, selling was we call fashion street wear, similar to what you can find in Singapore's Far East Plaza, but better and more options~ You won't really find shops selling similar stuffs as they each had their individual character, style, and concept. The plus+++ point about Platinum is that you can do Retail and Wholesale shopping there. There isn't really a need to dry your throats over slashing of prices, or worry that they may heck your wallet because you are a tourist. This is because most of the products had prices clearly stated on their merchandise, which would be 2 prices, one is the Retail price, for the purchase of only 1 or 2 items within the same shop. And also the Wholesale price, which is much better, if you purchase 3 or more item with the same stall. Sometimes if you can only find 2 items within the stall, you can ask the sales person for the retail price with a big smile on your face, and they will just light up your day by saying yesh! Heez~ Don't forget to ask for a few more Baht of discount if you are purchasing more, they will just give it to you.

What a fine view of me & my favorite shopping mall!!

You can find lots and lots of clothes(levels 1 - 4), shoes(levels 3-5), bags and accessories(levels 4-5), there, with their Wholesale price ranging from 70bht - 350bht or more each. Baby and I basically went to Platinum everyday out of our 5 days trip, and there wasn't a day when we went back to our hotel empty handed.

If you feel tired after a few hours of shopping, you can also rest your legs and enjoy a nice mocha or latte from Black Canyon Coffee located on Basement 1, or eat your hearts out at their food court located on level 6. Basically you won't feel bored shopping all day there, and prices for every shop are comparative, so if you see something you like, don't hesitate about getting it as even if you find something similar at some other shops, they will offer similar prices too. If you give it a miss just to compare prices, you might find yourself going around in circles figuring out which was that shop selling that top that you really like.

Sometimes you might find similar or better prices at the Platinum compared to Chatuchuk Weekend Market.... surprising but true. I guess its because Platinum is opened everyday, and Chatuchuk on during Sat & Sun, thats why the sales people at platinum are more willing to go down on prices. I would say Platinum is truly a real deal, as even the students and office ladies living in Bangkok like to go Platinum for their daily after school or after work shopping.

But just a reminder, Platinum Fashion Mall opens 8.30am - 8pm daily (actually more accurately its 11am - 7 pm), so don't be surprised when you see shops opening only at around 11am+ and closing as early as 6pm in the evening. Most importantly, get ready your huge but cute recycled shopping bag (which can be purchased there, commonly used by everyone), and a good pair of shoes or slippers that will carry you for a long day :p

Pantip Plaza:
We didn't exactly shop at Pantip, because it was no different from Sim Lim square, we only went to get the adapter that can be used in Thailand for charging our camera, phone and PSP. But you really got to slash prices there, as they actually quote very high price to tourist. But we did found a "treasure" there, and that was our long lost A&W. So of cause we had to relive some good old memories of curly fries and floating root beer.

yummy root beer & curly fries...!!

I will continue on our trip to bangkok in my next post, I gotta go bathe and unpack my stuff first!......