After checking out Ong Ang Canal and Mega Plaza, I walked up Yaowarat Road to the section that is widely showcased as Bangkok’s Chinatown. This being mid-January, Yaowarat Road was decorated to usher in the Chinese New Year vibes.
Bangkok’s Chinatown area is in the Samphanthawong district
Chinese have been migrating to Thailand for over 200 years. Initially for trade/business, then later waves of refugees fleeing the civil war era of the 1900s, and then the Mao era post 1950s. Mostly from southern China, first by way of border nations like Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia — and then making their way to more prosperous Bangkok.
Many businesses traditional Chinese goods
Even to this day, Chinese are trying to migrate to Thailand using various means. Mainland Chinese are the largest group of foreign buyers of real estate in Bangkok and Chiang Mai. Many come to study in the international schools, and use education visa as a foot through the door to stay long-term.
I was getting near
The crowds were already thronging road-side stalls
Cheongsams were available for purchase if you wanted to get the ‘Chinese’ look
Sunday, the concluding seventh day of my first week in Philippines. Today’s itinerary involved meeting my friend Aimee, and then letting her show me around Manila’s famous landmarks.
Aimee asked me to get down at U.N. Avenue MRT station (taken on my Nokia E72)
After meeting her at a nearby 7-11, we stocked up on fluids and Aimee told me why its named U.N. Avenue.
The World Health Organization has an office here
Aimee first took me to Rizal Park, one of Manila’s largest public parks.
It's also called Luneta ParkThis used to be filled with water. When viewed from higher ground, it's the geography of the Philippines
We just walked through the parkThe National Museum buildingThat's a statue honouring Lapu Lapu, considered to be Philippines' first national heroThe Orchidarium and Butterfly Pavilion
More national heroesThe Chinese Gardens. They have a Japanese garden too.This monument is in honour of Philippines' greatest patriot, Jose Rizal. It was on these grounds the revolutionary was executed by the Spanish, who colonized Philippines at the time.
Aimee checks where we are
It was time to leave Rizal ParkAimee took one of photo of me and we moved onThe clock structure you see on the left is called Kilometer Zero. It serves as a point from which every road is measured.They have horse cart rides around this area, in which they take you all the way to Intramuros and other tourist attractionsThe oldest hotel in Manila. Manila Hotel has seen everybody from The Beatles to John F. Kennedy among other famous guests. In other words, a very expensive place to people like you and me.We walked to Intramuros nextThere's a golf course just outside IntramurosIt was scorching hot by the way
There is no entrance fee for IntramurosPanorama comprised of 9 shots
Intramuros literally means “walled city” and was created during Spanish colonial rule. It’s the oldest district in Manila and one of the city’s biggest tourist attractions. It was built to keep invaders away, although, it eventually failed to do so as years progressed).
There are many colleges and other educational institutions in Intramuros
This building was formerly the Colegio De Santa Potenciana, the first girl's college in Manila. Now it's used as the office for the Philippines Red Cross.This is a really popular venue for weddings and eventsOffice of the National Commission for Culture and the ArtsA few people still call Intramuros their homeThere are two main attractions inside Intramuros. One, the Manila Cathedral and two, the above -- San Agustin Church, the oldest church in Manila.
Intramuros still retains many of the colonial architecture
Despite the modern offerings, the overall classic look is still retained
I wanted to check out San Agustin church, but unfortunately (for me) there was a wedding scheduled for today, being a Sunday that too.San Agustin church is a UNESCO World Heritage SiteHotel Intramuros inside
We walked towards the Manila Cathedral
We went inWhile Aimee prayed, I continued shootingI love gothic architecture. Heck, I like all good architecture.
Panorama comprised of 8 shotsPanorama comprised of 4 shots
Panorama comprised of 6 shotsI have always been enamored by glass art like thisA little bit of history about the very old pipe organThere's a section of the church dedicated to historical trivia and relics
More wonderful glass paintings
Panorama comprised of 5 shots
We decided to leaveCarvings on the heavy wooden doors of the cathedral
Attempted the fish-eye look
Walking out of the cathedral and past some of the ‘No to RH Bill’ banners around, I couldn’t help but turn the conversation about the controversial RH bill. Aimee told me how, even to this day, the Catholic church has such an influence over the people and policies in Philippines. The RH bill is basically aiming to promote the use of contraceptives and family planning in a bid to control population growth.
But what was even more shocking news to me was when Aimee told me divorce is yet to be legalized in Philippines! I mean, I considered a predominantly Christian country to be far more progressive in many regards, besides being educated. Clearly that wasn’t the case in Philippines. Now all the single pregnant women I saw across Philippines made sense. It’s like men abuse the law (or the lack of it) because they know there is little the woman can do.
Aimee took me next to Fort Santiago. Entrance fee was a steep PHP75.
The fort is of historical importance because it was where national hero Jose Rizal was imprisoned before his death
We walked along the wallsThe view from the FortChambers used to hold prisonersGot distracted by Pasig riverThere were children jumping into the river for a swim
Anyway, back to Fort Santiago.
People throw coins into these chambers now... I don't know whyWalked around to the side where you had these dungeons
The man himself, Jose Rizal
They re-trace Rizal's final steps before he was executed by the Spaniards
We left Fort Santiago
We walked past Manila Cathedral again
We walked back to San Agustin church hoping the wedding would have been over by now…
... but it wasn't. So I took a photo of the door and left.HQ of the Associated Marine Officers and Seamen's Union of the PhilippinesWe decided to have lunchStepped inside a small eatery and had some Filipino food. Totally came to PHP62 ($1.4/€1)We resumed our walk
We finally decided to leave IntramurosWe left via another exitManila Post Office buildingThe Manila Metropolitan Theater, renovated many times over but hardly in use nowadaysAimee and I now walked towards 'Chinatown,' known locally as BinondoWe walked across a bridge
The bridge was decorated with lights...and graffitiPasig riverNot a very glamorous entrance, but apparently Manila's Chinatown is the oldest in the worldThis is the most famous street in ChinatownOngpin is what it's calledA lot of jewelry stores hereBetting on horse races is a popular pass time for many (broke) locals
We (okay, okay... I) got distracted by the sweet smell of fresh hopias (mooncakes) being made at this bakery. Ended up buying a pack.Aimee, my wonderful 'guide' throughout Manila. She enjoys walking a lot just as much as I do.
Those photos make them look like wanted criminals. Oh wait, politicians, same thing.One shot of yours truly before leaving Chinatown
Chinatown gets cool looking purple fire trucks!Since a lot of affluent businessmen in Manila are Chinese, kidnappings are high. Aimee told me they have security cameras installed on this street.At the end of Ongpin street is Binondo church, also known as Minor Basilica of St. Lorenzo RuizToday was Easter SundayThe church was first erected in 1596, making it one of the oldest churches in Manila
Aimee decided it was enough of walking. She and I got into a jeepney and we thought of watching the sunset at Manila Bay.
We got down near Pedro Gil MRT and walked up the roadPassed by the Supreme CourtWe went inside one of Manila's most popular mallsPlus we felt like soaking up some a/cDespite being a few years old, Robinsons Place is still very popularWe stepped out of the mall and made our way towards the bayRoxas boulevard
We sat on the ledge and gave our feet a break.
The white building is the United States EmbassyA big thanks to this girl for making the most of my day. I don't think I could have seen everything that I saw today for less than 100 pesos if it weren't for her.That's Hotel H2O, part of Manila Ocean ParkThe sunset was wonderful, as always. Look how golden the water is.The whole experience is a nice one, even for dogs
Except for a tiny incident which abruptly disappointed me… but I promised Aimee I wouldn’t mention it in the blog. So anyway, time to leave.
We walked back to Malate.
Malate ChurchEaster Sunday prayers still going onWe went back to Robinsons Place because I now needed to look for something for my lens *cough*Aimee'sfault*cough*Scanned a lot of electronics stores but no luckBy the way, saw this at some store at Robinsons. I get everything mentioned here... except for the 'chicken' part. Could somebody tell me what it is?
We eventually left the mall as it was getting late for Aimee. We said our goodbyes and she told me which jeepney to get into to head back to Pasay, where I was staying at the Kabayan Hotel.
So that was my Sunday in Manila. Lots of photos, I know! Tomorrow, I begin the second leg of my journey across the Philippines and for the next seven days, it’s all islands. So here come the blue waters!
After a good night’s sleep, I went downstairs to have the buffet breakfast at the hotel. Then spent an hour browsing the internet on the guest computer at the lobby. After feeling quite relaxed, I checked out as the clock struck noon.
I took a moped taxi to the bus station (฿50) and bought a ticket for a bus heading to Ekamai bus terminal in Bangkok (ticket cost ฿113).
Since it was dark when I left Bangkok to come to Pattaya, I sat by the window to see what I missed
In the bus, I also wondered where to stay in Bangkok. I wanted to stay on Khao San Road, Bangkok’s popular backpacker hub. I really wanted to check it out as it’s a preferred joint for backpackers, but unfortunately located on the other side of Bangkok (some even call it Old Bangkok) — which isn’t connected via the skytrain service (BTS). Trouble is, tomorrow I am to meet up with a friend arriving from Bangalore and the day after, I had a ticket for the Jay Park Fan meet in Siam Paragon Mall. Commuting back and forth by taxi, that too with Bangkok’s mid-day traffic was the last thing I wanted to do in the last 3 days left in Thailand.
Traffic slowed down (a lot) from here on. It took half-an-hour more for the bus to reach Ekamai bus terminal. The terminal is on Sukhumvit road and is easy to get to because the BTS station (also named Ekamai) is right in front of the bus terminal. So if you are staying in the Sukhumvit or Silom area, and want to head to Pattaya, don’t go to Mo Chit bus terminal, head to Ekamai instead.
In the end, I decided to stay on the Sukhumvit side itself, which meant Thai House Inn again. I paid for two nights in advance and checked into the same room I stayed before. I probably should try and find another place to stay in since Thai House Inn isn’t the classiest of places, but at ฿700 a night, the proximity to Nana BTS station (a minute walk), for a single guy there’s no better deal like it anywhere else.
Absolut had set up a ice bar at Siam Center
Decided to go for a movie to pass some timeWatched ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1’ in IMAX
Post-movie (which I thought was a bit of a drag), I decided to go to MBK.
The Siam Ocean World aquarium is beneath the food courtThe mall was all decked up in preparation for ChristmasEven though less than 1% of Thailand’s population are Christians
There’s an exclusive ukelele store in BangkokBut as I tried to get to MBK via the pedestrian overbridge, none of us were allowed to… by the policeI looked down and I saw the roads all clear, which usually implies some VIP was passing through
I got back down to the street to see if I could cross the road but there were policemen there as well. I asked them who was passing by, and they said: “The King”.
Tidbit of valuable information when in Thailand. King Rama IX is the most ‘beloved’ man in Thailand. I put beloved in quotes because there is a law which makes it a criminal offense to say anything bad about him in public. So you have no choice but to praise him. His photos are everywhere in Thailand and his birthday is a national holiday. He is credited for developing Thailand, his influence has stopped many political coups and reportedly, he’s the richest royal in the world. (But my point is, if people truly love him, why have a rule criminalizing lèse majesté?)
Sadly for the Thai people, the King hasn’t been in the best of health lately and isn’t seen much in public because of that.
The King’s cavalcade zipped past us and in a matter of minutes, we were allowed to move again
I obviously didn’t get a glimpse of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, but then again, nobody would have. Nobody could identify in which car the King was. Maybe it was a security measure.
Anyway, I was hungry by this point and decided to go back to Siam Paragon because their food court has better options for fast food.
Tried MOSBurger’s rice burger (yes, that’s rice pressed together to make the ‘buns’)
In the evening, I decided to check out Bangkok’s Chinatown.
Took a taxi, cost ฿60 from Siam CenterTook around half and hour to get here
As with any Chinatown, plenty of food to go around
YumFrom all I could tell, there wasn’t much else to see besides the well-lit shop signsI kept walking down
When I was doing my research, I read there is even a small community where Indians reside. You could call it Bangkok’s ‘Little India’ as Singapore’s popular community is called, but don’t try asking for it here. I tried it with some Thai locals, and they looked at me with a smile… which implied they had no clue what I was talking about. I wanted to find the area mostly because there is a large gurdwara here in Bangkok (since the Indian community here are predominantly Punjabis). I knew asking for a ‘gurudwara’ would get me more puzzled stares but I did ask if anybody knew where the ‘Indian temple’ was. No luck with that either.
I kept walking in search of ‘Little India’ but no signs of anything remotely Indian
But just as I was about to give up and walk back, I saw a woman who looked kinda Indian (I’m guessing she was a second generation Indian resident of Thailand) and asked her where the gurudwara was. She told me I needed to get to Pahurat Road, which wasn’t very far from here. I thanked her and noted down the name of the road.
Figuring the gurudwara would be closed to the general public at this time, I decided to come back the day after. I hailed a taxi and headed to Patpong.
Patpong is famous for two things: one, it has a night market; two, it also houses Bangkok’s red light district.
The Night Market
There wasn’t anything seedy about the place (at first)
The usual offerings sold here, nothing special
But as I went to the side street to get a glimpse of what the other stalls were selling…
…you could see the other side of PatpongWhich made me wonder if the ‘night market’ was just a cover up There are a few good bars with live music though
Like on Pattaya’s Walking Street, here too you will find a few touts soliciting tourists (quite aggressively) to come watch a peep show. Most them say it’s free but having read people’s experiences on Tripadvisor, I knew these are just tactics to pull you in and then slap you with a huge bill as you leave.
One of the touts, even held my hand and dragged me into one such place. Figuring I wouldn’t be coming back to an area like this again, I followed him. He was rather in a hurry saying the ‘ping pong show‘ would start soon. He led me upstairs into a bar where the girls and the mamasan welcomed me in. There weren’t many others in and the setting wasn’t what I was expecting. While I was expecting a more quiet, dark and sensual setting, this joint was just another typical low end bar with dim red lights, and where every song plays at 2x speeds blurts out from the sound system.
As soon as I was seated, I was surrounded by 3 or 4 smiling girls all of whom tried to chat me up, and when it came to ordering drinks, there was no menu. I ordered a vodka drink and insisted on knowing much it cost. The waitress said ฿100. Fair enough. I also made it very clear I was told this show was free and that I wouldn’t have to pay anything to see it. The mamasan assured me with a “yeah yeah”.
When the performance did begin, it was the amusing act of seeing the two girls shoot objects like bananas, darts (at a balloon), and ping pong balls (of course) — all using her nether region. And that’s exactly what it was, amusing… it was the least bit erotic, surely not in the setting I was in The most amusing act was when one of the performers pulled a series of blades on a string out — and she cut a paper using the very same razor blades to prove they weren’t blunt. Now, only women know the true potential of their inner workings, but I’m sure even women in far more respectable professions would squeal if they saw this. As a guy, my face looked more like this: None the less, I had to praise these performers for their, erm, talents.
After 15 minutes and my drink nearly done, I had seen enough and wanted to leave. I could see the other patrons arguing with the mamasan over their bills and I knew what was coming my was as well. Besides the ฿100 for my drink, I wanted to tip a ฿100 each for the two performing women, so that was a total of ฿300. The bill they handed over?
฿3000.
I told the mamasan I wasn’t going to pay it and ฿300 is all she will get. She raised her voice (she had to, they wouldn’t turn down the crappy music) and threatened to call some men to rough me up if I wouldn’t pay. I replied: “Call them”. When she did, I knew things were only getting easy for me. She spoke in English to her Thai “baddie” saying there is an Indian who refuses to pay and that he better come. Now if there is one thing I’ve learned about Thais is that, you’ll never see one Thai speaking to another Thai in English. Very few in Thailand know how to speak English, that too fluently. So I knew this was just an act.
After she hung up, she said they’re coming. I replied: “Okay, I’ll wait”. I could see some of the working girls try and hide their smiles, so I knew I was going to win this one. After waiting around 2 minutes, the mamasan finally said: “Okay, give 1000!”. I said: “No, 300”. More standing still ensued. Finally she gave up and said: “Ok give!”. I handed her the ฿300 and told her ฿100 each were for the two performers. She didn’t say anything and I walked out.
And that was it
In hindsight, it made me wonder if I should have gone for all this in Pattaya’s Walking Street as the Tourist Police was right there and by now, I’m sure they heard countless such experiences from other visitors. But even if this happens to you, follow the same advice: just keep your foot down and refuse to pay. What’s the worst they’re going to do? Stab a tourist?
Walking out, I noticed there wasn’t even a name for this bar, so it surely was one of those clearly intended to scam people and only remain operational by paying off the right authorities.
This alley looked like it mostly catered to Japanese
What I just experienced didn’t change my opinion of this wonderful country. If your sole purpose of visiting Thailand is just to hang out at such venues, you will most likely leave with many such stories. Even if you don’t, as with any other country in the world, shit happens — you just have to be on your guard.
The so-called ping pong show is one of those “When-in-RomeThailand” things-to-do. Many tourists, men and women alike, are eager to see it. In fact it was a girl friend of mine who told me “not to miss it,” with a laugh. Now I know why — it’s more a laugh than sensual Trouble is, many use that eagerness tourists have to run scams like this.
Sala Daeng is the name of the BTS station if you want to get to Patpong
Patpong doesn’t seem as big a seedy place, not based on some people’s descriptions calling it Bangkok’s largest red light district. Maybe there’s more to it, who knows, I wasn’t bothered to explore anymore of it now.
If you plan to come to Patpong just for the night market, don’t. There’s nothing here you can’t find anywhere else in Bangkok for the same price (or maybe even cheaper).
I took the BTS back to Siam.
Absolut’s open-air concert event at Siam Center
Once back in my area, I decided to grab dinner first and then go back to my room.
Nana has a lot of Middle Eastern restaurants, which was great for me (given how much I miss this cuisine)You get really good foreign exchange rates here, far better than the rates the banks in the malls give. I exchanged a few dollars.Picked up a few shawarmas and a drink from 7-11 and called it a night
Date: 27th November 2010
Today, I met up with my friend Sawmteii and her friend, who had just arrived in Thailand. We met up at the Siam BTS and since it was their first time in Bangkok (and came with very clear intentions of shopping – a lot!), I showed them around the malls.
I couldn’t fathom the locals’ desperation to bag Krispy Kreme donuts. There were huge lines everyday at the Siam Paragon outlet.So much was the demand, there were street hawkers who sell them in ‘black’ outside after doing the tough job of waiting in line just to bag these boxes of doughnuts.
After Siam Discovery and Siam Paragon, we walked towards Petchburi Road.
On Petchburi road, the girls wanted to check out Platinum Mall, which claims to be Thailand’s largest fashion mall.
Boy, was it crowded inside
Eight floors of fashion goodness… well, mostly for women anyway. Hardly anything for men in here.
Despite advising the girls to keep all their shopping towards the end of their journey when they return to Bangkok, they couldn’t help but feel like kids let loose in a candy store
Who can blame them? Even as a guy, I could appreciate the stuff being sold here. Really good looking dresses and accessories at prices anybody can afford. Dresses which would easily cost upwards of Rs. 1000 in India could be had for Rs. 500 or less. You could buy one, two, three, ten or more — and prices vary accordingly.
A lot of bulk buyers too
We spent quite some time in here. And when I saw ‘we,’ I mean Sawmteii and her friend Mimi. I loitered around wondering if there was anything for guys. It wasn’t until we got up to the 4th floor that I found a store selling some pretty nifty t-shirts.
After walking past pretty much every floor, the girls decided to dedicate their last few days in Thailand in here and we went up to the 6th floor to have lunch at the food court.
Post-lunch, I took the girls to Chatuchak (disembark at Mo Chit BTS).
We sat at the park for a bit before embarking on more walking through hundreds of shops
Sorry, make that thousands of shops!
Jatujak weekend market is the largest flea market in Thailand and sees most shops open on Saturday and Sunday (It is open on weekdays too, just not every shop).
In case you buy more than you can carry… there’s always DHLPalm… fap?Plenty of food to energize you for all the walking you’ll be doing at JatujakThe famous bags salesman calling every foreigner “Michael” was still at it in 2010 The reason I like JJ market a lot is because they sell *everything* that can be placed inside a houseBought three kinds of lamp shades
After much walking around and being clueless as to where exactly we were (it will happen), eventually it was time for the puppies to come out. (Real puppies). You’ll only see them being sold once the sun sets — which means they’re probably doing it illegally.
Sawmteii couldn’t help but pick one up
And at the prices the puppies were being sold for (around ฿3000-฿5000 depending on the breed), she didn’t feel like putting them down either. We were seriously talking about how to bring dogs via airplanes.
Eventually we decided to call it a day.
Had one of this: cold banana on a stick dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with nutsMo Chit BTS station
We got down at Nana so that the girls could check out my area (they were staying a few BTS stations further down). Got some currency exchanged and had dinner at an Arabian restaurant before wishing each other goodnight and parting ways.
Tomorrow was going to be my last full day in Bangkok.
None the less, I had to praise these performers for their, erm, talents.
