Bangkok – Shop, Eat & Grow Fat (6 September 2022)

Our Youtube Channel

Got up early for the breakfast buffet. When we arrived, there was already quite a crowd enjoying their breakfast. They have a wide variety to choose from and they have a live cooking station to cook your eggs. Just order and pass them your table’s number tag and they’ll bring it to you once it’s ready.

Holiday Inn breakfast buffet

Don’t usually have an appetite in the morning, but decided to just have something light to start the day. Had their shrimp porridge and it’s delicious though I added too much soy sauce. It got a little salty for my taste buds, but overall it’s nice. It did open up my little appetite and I decided to get more food. The fried rice was good. The bitter gourd was too bitter for me. The bitterness covers the overall taste. The spicy morning glory was good though a little salty and spicy for me. We both agreed that the breakfast at Holiday Inn was better than what we expected.

Coffee at Phak Cafe & Crafts

We had black coffee at the hotel’s breakfast buffet, but it wasn’t to our liking. Dear said to bring me to a cafe for a nicer cup of coffee to start our day. Took BTS to Phak Cafe & Crafts, within walking distance from Phrom Phong station.

I ordered a cup of piccolo and Dear had her usual latte. The ambiance was good, perfect for relaxing and enjoying the coffee while wasting the morning. The coffee was definitely good. I like my piccolo, not too milky with a little taste of coffee bitterness. Dear’s latte was too milky for me, but she likes it. Yes, we both have our own preference for coffee.

After wasting our morning at the cafe, we head over to the opposite where a pet shop and veterinary clinic are located at. Wanted to see if there’s anything to get for the fur kids, but their retail section is a little small. Nothing much to get and so we left empty-handed.

Took BTS to Gateway Ekkaimai, and the nearest station is Ekkaimai. You don’t have to cross the road at all! After you exit the station, there’s a walkway that connects to the mall. Dear said it’s a surprise for me as the entire mall is Japanese theme. The restaurants are all Japanese cuisine too! Perfect for those that love all things Japanese.

Big Hero 6 mold

We headed up straight to the highest level and slowly make our way down level by level. Shopped at their Daiso and bought Big Hero 6 silicon mold as I wanted to make popsicles for the fur kids. We visited a stationary shop and chance upon some Sanrio toilet papers. Dear’s mother asked for Little Twin Stars while she bought herself a cinnamon roll. And yes, we carried two bags of toilet paper back to Singapore at the end of our trip.

Sukiya for lunch

After shopping, we walked around to see what was for lunch and I decided to try their Sukiya. I didn’t enjoy the one in Singapore as the taste wasn’t as wow as the one I had in Japan. And so, I decided to give the one in Bangkok a try. Amazingly, it’s much nicer. Wasn’t disappointed with their Sukiya. Ordered a set that comes with gyoza and a drink. I probably might have over-ordered as I was famished, and almost couldn’t finish my food.

Sweet Potato Bread

Saw a very interesting bread at the bakery and we bought one. It’s a sweet potato bread in the shape of a sweet potato! It looked exactly like one and it’s their bestselling bread in the store. We tried it once we got back to our hotel to rest. Even the interior of the bread looks like a potato! When eating it, the taste and texture were exactly the same as the sweet potato that I usually bought in Donki. We were amazed at the bread and thankfully we both decided to give it a try. They do have an outlet at Central World if you do not want to travel all the way to Ekkaimai.

Thong Smith Boat Noodle

Dinner was at Central World, Thong Smith Boat Noodle. One of the restaurants with good reviews and we decided to give it a try. Though it’s weird to have boat noodles in a shopping mall, but the one Dear wanted to bring me to closes early and dinner at the mall was inevitable since we left the hotel at around 7 pm.

The portion was a little small and definitely overpriced for boat noodles. But we both each had two bowls as one bowl doesn’t fill up our tummy. It’s delicious, but it wasn’t satisfying. Not worth the price. If you would want to try boat noodles, don’t visit this.

Cute Mochi

What’s dinner without dessert right? Bought two cute mochis from a store near Thong Smith Boat Noodle. And I truly regretted it. It’s cute but it wasn’t delicious. The mochi skin was too thick and not the kind of mochi texture we both like. The filling taste-wise was a little artificial. Yes, for the looks it’s cute but not worth buying. And Dear was thankful she stopped me from buying more at one go. Sometimes it’s good to have a partner to stop you from over buying or doing something stupid.

As we still had the energy, we decided to go grocery shopping. Took the BTS to On Nut station for their Big C. It’s another huge Big C supermarket but with a lesser crowd. So much more enjoyable to stroll in this Big C outlet without worrying about blocking anybody’s way due to the huge crowd of people.

We wanted to shop at Lotus, which is located next to On Nut station. The same area as the Big C that we went to first. According to Google, Lotus was open for 24hours. But when we arrived at around 9 pm, it was already closed. Apparently, since the pandemic started, their operating hours have changed and there wasn’t any update online. It was a wasted trip as Dear was looking forward to shopping at Lotus.

Since we couldn’t shop at Lotus, we decided to head back to our hotel since it was raining and there was nowhere else to explore. We decided to call it a night early.

Bangkok – The Holiday Begins (5 September 2022)

Our Youtube Channel

I have no idea where we’ll be staying on this trip or what time our flight is. I used to panic and kept checking on the details to make sure we didn’t leave out anything. Maybe it’s because we haven’t traveled for two years due to the pandemic, I am kind of lost on what to expect. Thankfully, Dear took care of most of it, and I just followed along.

Got up at 5 am as our flight was at 8:20 am. Prepared and check on what to bring before we leave home. I booked a grab car and am amazed at how smooth and fast the ride was. We arrived at the airport earlier than expected. Checking in our luggage was a breeze without any delay. It’s an automated self-service kiosk now for Scoot. Or at least that’s what I know.

Once we entered the immigration checkpoint, we headed to Killiney for coffee and breakfast. It had a long queue as the other stalls around it weren’t open yet. Dear was disappointed that her eggs were cold, her kopi c kosong was lukewarm. My kopi o kosong was hot so I didn’t have any issues with my coffee.

Luggage zip that looks like darts.

Head off to our boarding gate after breakfast. Toilet break and empty our bottles before entering. We had a small piece of luggage to carry with us. As we went through the security check, they asked if we brought darts. Clueless, we opened our luggage to check what item of ours that looks like darts on their screen. After scanning our luggage again, all of us realised it was the zips on the luggage. It was a funny moment for us and the security officers. Mystery solved.

Dear’s seat on the plane got exchanged as someone was already there. He explained that his seat was taken so he took the next empty seat he saw. And since my row got another empty seat, we took it. The air stewardess knows about it so we’re all good. Got me a window seat and managed to video take-off and landing for my travel video.

Arrived in Bangkok ahead of schedule according to the pilot. The airport’s aircon was cold and we didn’t bring a jacket. So we shiver and head out to the immigration checkpoint. Went up to level 4 in search of Klook’s counter to collect our Thailand sim card and off we go! But first, brunch at the airport’s Macdonald’s.

First meal in Bangkok, Thailand

I couldn’t decide what I want and asked Dear to surprise me. And yes, my pork samurai burger was good! Dear enjoyed her truffle burger but I didn’t. Not a fan of truffles, the smell and taste are too strong for me. It’s just like how some couldn’t stand the smell and taste of durian. We had youtiao dipped in condensed milk as dessert and it was surprisingly good! Recommended if you visit the land of smiles, go try the youtiao!

Token as MRT train ticket

In Bangkok, they have MRT and BTS. It is like our MRT and LRT, same same but different. Head off to their MRT station at the airport, used their ticket machine to purchase our tickets. Apparently, the amount we put in didn’t reflect on the screen and it cheated us some money. However, the staff that helped us didn’t understand English and we couldn’t really communicate so we decided to just let it go. The journey to the hotel required us to change from MRT to BTS. It’s quite convenient in my opinion and fast. I guess taking the train is much faster in Bangkok if you want to beat the horrendous traffic, especially when we arrived in the morning where most locals are heading off to work.

Holiday Inn Bangkok

We will be staying at Holiday Inn which is right next to Chit Lom BTS station. It is also within walking distance to Big C and Central World. It’s a very good location if you want a more central area for your shopping needs. We forgot to bring our credit cards, but thankfully they allowed us to put a 1000baht deposit in cash. When we arrived, our room wasn’t ready yet and so we left our luggage with them and head out for quick shopping.

Karun tea comes in a nice paper bag

We stopped by Gaysorn Village which is just next to Holiday Inn to buy us Thai tea that my sister-in-law recommended. It’s called Karun and it’s located at level 2. You get to choose how sweet you want your tea to be. It is already pre-brewed and bottled. But the option for sweetness is, 100%, less sweet and not sweet. We bought two bottles of less sweet, a milk tea and a red tea to try.

Visited Big C and of course, it’s filled with humans! Tourists are busy buying goodies in bulk to bring home, either for their own consumption or to distribute to colleagues and friends. They do prepare masking tapes and scissors to pack in carton boxes that were provided near the cashier. We did buy a few stuff for our own consumption while we were in the country. Queues were extremely long and it does really test your patience and endurance for the legs.

The tea comes in glass bottles.

At 3 pm, we started to make our way back and check into our room. Finally, get to rest after all the traveling and walking. Drank the tea we bought from Karun and we think it was nice. Personally prefers milk tea more than red tea. Sweetness-wise is just right for their less sweet version. But if you are someone that has a sweet tooth, you can try their 100% sweetness and let us know how they taste.

We decided to head towards Central World for dinner. It is within walking distance from Holiday Inn! The best way to get across without crossing their road is to head up to the BTS station and use their overhead bridge/walkway. It will take you directly to Central World. Crossing their road with heavy traffic requires courage. It can get scary!

Dinner at Somtamnua

Dear decided to have dinner at Somtamnua, located at Central World level 3. Ordered a few dishes that were highly recommended online after reading the reviews. I think the food is good but a bit on the high side for Thai food as it’s located in a mall. The staff doesn’t know English, so communication can be difficult for us.

While walking around Central World after dinner, we came across Uniqlo and decided to enter and have a look at their jackets. We didn’t bring our jackets as we planned to get ourselves new ones. I let Dear choose as I know I can only shop in the kids’ section. Somehow, the adult jackets were a little too big for Dear and we both ended up getting our jackets in the kids’ section instead. After trying out the different colours available, we both decided to get the same coloured jackets. Finally a better fitting jackets for us.

I’ve been having craving for mango sticky rice and Dear decided to bring me to another place for dessert. Mr. Mango Tango is located about 900m away from Central World. Although it’s a 900m walk, we were tired from all the walking. The path wasn’t even which makes walking a little tiring. We’re spoilt by the nice pathway that Singapore has. Thankful for what our government did to make life easier for us.

The dessert was amazingly delicious. We ordered a plate to share which consist of fresh mango, sticky rice, mango pudding, and mango ice cream. Basically, everything mango. It was good! The ambiance of the store makes it enjoyable to have our dessert. Craving is definitely satisfied. Mango sticky rice has always been my favourite Thai dessert and a must-have when we’re in Thailand.

After dessert, we head back to our hotel and called it a day. Although it was tiring from all the traveling since our flight, it was an enjoyable first day of the holiday since the pandemic. A long waited holiday that we both definitely needed to get recharged physically and mentally.

More blog entries about our trip will be coming soon. Still new to journaling down our travels and hopefully I’m doing good so far.