12 hr Bangkok transit and a whole lot of shopping

En route to Japan, we had to stop over in Thailand for a transit. We went for the 12 hour transit, so it was straight off to Bangkok city the minute we landed at the spanking new Bangkok International Suvarnabhumi Airport.

The King's just celebrated his 60th year at the throne. Everywhere in Bangkok they sell these yellow polo-tees with the King's emblem. Civil severants wear yellow for the whole year. So it's Long Live the King!

Bangkok is the Singaporean backyard i tell ya. Peiwen was telling me before the trip that we were bound to see plenty of people we know there. Coz everyone goes to Bangkok during the holidays. True enough, the minute we got off at Chatuchat, someone said "Hello!" and it was Sophia from our NUS days. We bumped into another acquaintance from TJ at MBK, which turned out to be great, coz we had his friend try out some men's shirts so we could test the sizes!

Given our limited time, we aimed for specialised tourism. No sight-seeing, visiting any temples or palaces. Just pure shopping. First place we visited was the Chatuchak Weekend Market. Yes, the market is HUGE. The kind of "if you see something, buy, coz chances is you won't be able to find your way back" kinda huge. They sell practically anything you need. From shoes to clothing to vegetables to food on the go. That is one market in which you need to allocate a full day to visit. So for a 12 hour transit. I personally wouldn't recommend making a trip there. Unless you've never been to the market and wanna go look-see look-see.

Amazingly, we all came out of the market empty-handed. Maybe coz we took the earliest flight out of Singapore which left us pretty much sleep deprived. Ah peng was practically walking half asleep! Then again, that girl can sleep anywhere.

Then it was off to Mah Boon Krong Center (MBK). This is the air-conditioned version of Chatuchak. Coz once again, they sell everything, from clothes to food to furniture to electronic goods. Given the sucky aeroplane food, we were all hungry and attacked the MBK food court upstairs.

We bought an array of food to share. Beef noodles soup, Pad Thai (fried noodles), Tom Yam soup and some other chicken with rice. But the highlight of the meal had to be the desserts (top left of picture). We had Fresh Mango and glutinous rice, Durian dessert topped with fresh durian, glutinous and drenched in coconut milk and Thai Chendol which is kinda like red ruby. We all know that Thai desserts are to die for... it was so yummy-licious i was touched to tears! The best thing about eating it in Thailand is not only you get it authentic, it's much cheaper than eating em in Singapore Thai restaurants which charge you crazy prices for a little bowl. Our 3 fantastic desserts only cost us ~<$4. Feeling recharged, we attacked the shops. Then began my jeans addiction. There are rows and rows of shops selling jeans. Jeans which come in all designs, brands, shades and cuts. Depending on how much you get to bargain, prices can be as low as $8 or for the more fancy ones, $20. And unlike Hong Kong, they have SIZES! Means me and my extra kilos can find nice jeans! Shortly after, before heading out of MBK, we had to have Milk tea. Touching moment number 2!!! Peiwen recommends Chester's Grill (sounds ang-moh, but it's just a Thai fast food chain). Coz she says they serve the best Milk Tea there. Thai version milk tea is similar to the Indian Teh-Tarik. It's very fragrant, orange and sweet! They also sell the instant mix version at the supermarkets. Best one, get Nestle's Tea Time. That's equally good and you get to bring it home!!

Cross over to the next building and it's Siam Square, where i further feed my jeans addiction. Alteration of jeans here is free, and only takes 10 minutes. But of course given that i'm fantastically tall, no alteration is needed for me =) Then it was off to neighbouring Discovery Centre before ending the shopping spree at Paragon where it was bras bras and more bras! There are lots of brands, styles and sizes to choose from. It's department style shopping here, so don't expect to get like 5 bras for $10. But rest assured, the prices you get here, you won't get back in Spore. You may pay $45 for a Triumph T-shirt bra, but back in Spore, it'd set you back a whopping $80!

After getting our bras, we were pretty much contented with our shopping. It was about time to get back to the airport, pack our hand-carry baggages and continue our 7 hr journey to the land of the rising sun.
Bangkok is a highly recommended location if you are looking for a "specialised" trip. Just eat and shop. Coz the food's great and there's plenty of places to shop. It's good coz they have a wide range of shopping areas. From the weekend markets to the air conditioned department store style shopping areas. Hard to beat prices compared to Singapore and best of all... GOT SIZES!!! (unlike in Hong Kong where some woman told me straight in my face that I wouldn't be able to fit in their L size... hmph, or in Japan where they only have size 00 to 10. double zero!??!?!??!?!??!). And not to mention, Thai shop keepers are very very friendly. So you can bargain all you want and know that you won't be scolded or chased out of the shop...

But when it comes to shopping, don't get too carried away with getting everything. Coz chances are you'd end up getting alot of useless cheap stuff. So go for things which you know you need and use, like jeans and bras. It's very reasonable but not cheap cheap cheap, and you can be sure that you won't get such prices back home.

So the final verdict for Thailand....
Food * * * * *
Service * * * *
Shopping * * * * *
Transport * * *
(with the exception of the airport which gets * *, will blog more about the major cock-up on the trip from BKK->SG.)