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Thailand 2010: Back to Bangkok — Chinatown, Patpong, Platinum Mall and Chatuchak Market

By Mithun Divakaran
/
Jul 17, 2011
/
Bangkok, Thailand, Travel

Date: 26th November 2010

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).

Pattaya to Bangkok highway house Thailand — 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.

Yamaha factory outskirts Bangkok Thailand — Yamaha factory

Nissan factory Bangkok highway outskirts Thailand — Nissan’s factory

Metro Caterpillar factory Bangkok Thailand — Caterpillar’s factory

CPF factory Bangkok highway Thailand — Err…someone else’s factory

Central City mall Bangkok Thailand — One and half hours later, we were in Bangkok city

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 Iceberg lounge Siam mall Bangkok — Absolut had set up a ice bar at Siam Center

Siam Paragon mall levels lights — Decided to go for a movie to pass some time

Krungsri IMAX Siam Paragon Bangkok Thailand — Watched ‘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.

Siam Paragon food court aquarium Bangkok — The Siam Ocean World aquarium is beneath the food court

Siam Paragon Christmas mall decorations — The mall was all decked up in preparation for Christmas

Siam Center Christmas decorations Thais Bangkok — Even though less than 1% of Thailand’s population are Christians

Ribbee Botique ukelele paradise shop Bangkok Thailand — There’s an exclusive ukelele store in Bangkok

Siam pedestrian skywalk Thais Bangkok — But as I tried to get to MBK via the pedestrian overbridge, none of us were allowed to… by the police

Sukhumvit road Siam MBK junction Bangkok Thailand — I 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.

Thai king cavalcade Siam junction Bangkok Thailand — 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.

Mosburger rice burger Bangkok Thailand — 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.

Getting to Chinatown Bangkok by taxi — Took a taxi, cost ฿60 from Siam Center

Roasted Chicken Chinatown Bangkok Thailand — As with any Chinatown, plenty of food to go around

Chinatown spring rolls Bangkok Thailand — Yum

Chinatown signs Bangkok Thailand — From all I could tell, there wasn’t much else to see besides the well-lit shop signs

Chinatown shop signs neon Bangkok Thailand — I 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.

Chinatown alley night Bangkok — 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.

Patpong night market entrance Bangkok Thailand — The Night Market

There wasn’t anything seedy about the place (at first)

Patpong night market stores Bangkok — 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…

Patpong night market Kiss bar Bangkok — …you could see the other side of Patpong

Patpong night market tourists — Which made me wonder if the ‘night market’ was just a cover up 🙂

Patpong night market live bar Bangkok — 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.

Thaniya plaza Japanese clubs bars Patpong Bangkok — 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-~~Rome~~Thailand” 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 BTS station Patpong Bangkok — 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.

Siam Absolut ice bar concert Bangkok Thailand — 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 arab restaurants Bangkok Thailand — Nana has a lot of Middle Eastern restaurants, which was great for me (given how much I miss this cuisine)

Foreign exchange shops Gulliver's Nana Bangkok — You get really good foreign exchange rates here, far better than the rates the banks in the malls give. I exchanged a few dollars.

Sky Inn Nana Sukhumvit Bangkok Thailand — 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.

Krispy Kreme Siam Paragon Bangkok Thailand — I couldn’t fathom the locals’ desperation to bag Krispy Kreme donuts. There were huge lines everyday at the Siam Paragon outlet.

Krispy Kreme doughnuts sold Bangkok streets — 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.

Platinum Mall shoppers Bangkok Thailand — 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.

Platinum mall women fashion clothes Bangkok Thailand — 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).

Chatuchak park way to market Bangkok Thailand — 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).

Chatuchak market entrance 6 Bangkok Thailand — Took a deep breath and went in

I have already written a lot about JJ market in my first visit.

DHL courier shop Chatuchak market Bangkok — In case you buy more than you can carry… there’s always DHL

Palm fap chatuchak market Bangkok Thailand — Palm… fap?

Doner kabab Turkish ice cream Chatuchak weekend market Bangkok — Plenty of food to energize you for all the walking you’ll be doing at Jatujak

Bags shop owner Chatuchak weekend market Bangkok — The famous bags salesman calling every foreigner “Michael” was still at it in 2010 🙂

Chatuchak weekend market home furnishings Bangkok — The reason I like JJ market a lot is because they sell *everything* that can be placed inside a house

Chatuchak weekend market lights store Bangkok Thailand — Bought 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 puppy Chatuchak weekend market Bangkok — 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.

Choconana vendor Chatuchak market Bangkok — Had one of this: cold banana on a stick dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with nuts

Mo Chit BTS station at night Bangkok Thailand — Mo 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.

Next posts in this series:

Thailand 2010: Gurdwara Siri Guru Singh Sabha, Sampeng Market, JJ market (again)

Thailand 2010: Damnoen Saduak Floating Market tour, Cobra show… and leaving Bangkok

Previous posts in this series:

Thailand 2010: Pattaya — Beach road, Viewpoint, Jomtien Beach, Walking Street

Thailand 2010: Golden Triangle in Mae Sai; Chiang Rai’s White Temple (Wat Rong Khun)

Thailand 2010: Heading to Chiang Rai by bus, Wat Jedyod and Golden Clock Tower

Thailand 2010: Last day of Loi Krathong; Sunday Grand Parade (Day 4, Part 2)

Thailand 2010: Chiang Mai Zoo (Day 4, Part 1)

Thailand 2010: Chiang Mai Loi Krathong celebrations; first Grand Parade

Thailand 2010: Chiang Mai cooking class; Loi Krathong celebrations in Mae Jo, Sansai

Thailand 2010: First day in Chiang Mai for Loi Krathong; driving up Doi Suthep

Thailand 2010: Arriving in Bangkok and preparing for Loi Krathong in Chiang Mai

Sukhumvit road Bangkok traffic BTS Skytrain tracks

Thailand 2010: Arriving in Bangkok and preparing for Loi Krathong in Chiang Mai

By Mithun Divakaran
/
May 14, 2011
/
Bangkok, Thailand, Travel

Last November, I decided just a few weeks earlier to go back to Thailand. The main purpose of this trip was to witness the Loi Krathong (or Loy Krathong) festival, one of Thailand’s most beautiful festivals and one that I always wanted to cover. Although it’s a national festival, Thailand still doesn’t get a public holiday for it.

Usually falling in November, I first booked my flights in October via Cleartrip.com which had a really good offer: a return ticket from Thai Airways (direct flight) + 2,000 hotel voucher + 1,000 worth of credit for a Uniconnect Thailand SIM card + an entry to DreamWorld theme park… all for 16,742 ($375/€262). Awesome deal if you ask me!

But, one week prior departure, I won the chance to go see Linkin Park in Abu Dhabi! So I delayed my departure by a few days, and then again after I read Jay Park was going to be performing in Bangkok. I left for Dubai on a Friday early morning and returned to Bangalore late Sunday night. I then went to office on the following Monday and then left for the airport in the evening for my early morning flight on Tuesday!

Inside Thai Airways flight TG325 — The flight wasn’t full, so I had an entire row to myself

Thai Airways flight TG325 inflight chicken meal — The Thai chicken curry meal was yum

Unlike my first visit to Thailand, in which I tried to cover the entire country in 9 days (I did it, but I didn’t quite enjoy the experience), this time around I was only going to focus on North Thailand. Most of my time would be spent in Chiang Mai covering the Yi Ping Festival (as Loi Krathong is called in Chiang Mai), after which I planned to go to Chiang Rai & then a day in Pattaya before heading back to Bangkok.

Arriving Bangkok at dawn — Arrived in Bangkok at dawn

Inside Suvarnabhumi airport Thailand — Hello Suvarnabhumi!

Suvarnabhumi airport Thailand travelator — Sigh, the many travelators you have to cross…

Suvarnabhumi airport Thailand moving walkway — … to finally get to the visa-on-arrival section

Once I did get to the Visa-on-arrival counter, I submitted my form, showed them how much currency I was carrying and got my visa-on-arrival without having to pay the usual ฿1000. After that was customs and then collecting my bags. Last year, I took a taxi from the airport into Bangkok city which cost ฿320 but this time, I decided to take a shuttle bus.

Suvarnabhumi shuttle bus to Bangkok — The private bus going to Sukhumvit cost ฿150 (Rs. 222/$5/€3.5)

Suvarnabhumi airport from afar — That’s Suvarnabhumi airport

Sukhumvit from afar Bangkok Thailand — Getting near Sukhumvit took only 20 minutes

But then, Bangkok’s infamous traffic soon began. And my god did it last long! It took the bus nearly an hour just to get into Sukhumvit road.

I finally got dropped at Nana BTS station. I chose to stay at Thai House Inn, a place where I spent two nights at last year — because it’s 30 seconds walk from the metro station (literally) and its not far from all the malls. I needed to stay here because first on the list of things-to-do was to buy some camera equipment, so I had to have quick access to the shopping centers, especially MBK. Those whole followed my Singapore & Malaysia series must have read that I couldn’t pick up a good camera tripod while I was there. So this time, I just couldn’t go to Chiang Mai without it!

But first, I had to get some sleep! After a whirlwind trip to Dubai and then hopping on to another flight to get to Thailand, my body needed some proper rest.

I got up at lunch time, took the BTS SkyTrain and headed straight to MBK Center, one of my favourite malls in Bangkok.

MBK Center Mahboonkrong mall Bangkok — From Nana, the Siam station is only 3 stops away; costs ฿25

(Here is the map of the BTS service in Bangkok)

MBK houses Fotofile, the store from where I bought my Canon 7D and other accessories last year. Fotofile also manages the official Canon store and two other stores in MBK! List of things to buy included a 70-200 f2.8 lens, another 16GB card, an interval remote, and a good tripod. I went to all of Fotofile’s stores, a BIG Camera branch and jotted down the prices for all that I wanted.

MBK Bangkok food court — I had lunch from the food court which offers a lot of variety (though mostly Asian cuisine & fast food)

I left MBK and thought I’d check out some other stores.

Sukhumvit road Bangkok traffic — The traffic is like this from 8am to 8pm

Ratchaprasong skywalk Sukhumvit BTS bridge — The skywalk bridge connects to a lot of the malls along the Ratchaprasong area

Centralworld mall Bangkok Thailand — I didn’t even step into Centralworld last time

Ratchaprasong pavement Bangkok — I got down from the skywalk

I decided to head to the parallel Petchburi Road where Pantip Plaza is located.

Centralworld Bangkok mall — The side section of Centralworld Mall

Amari Watergate Hotel Bangkok Petchburi road Thailand — Amari Watergate Hotel is located on Petchburi Road

Platinum Fashion Mall shopping Petchburi road Bangkok — Right across Amari Watergate is Platinum Fashion Mall

Platinum Fashion mall Petchburi road Bangkok — Petchburi road is also famous for the Pratunam market area

Pantip Plaza is essentially Bangkok’s equivalent to Singapore’s Sim Lim Square and Kuala Lumpur’s Low Yat Plaza.

Pantip Plaza ground floor shop — Bangkok’s most famous IT mall

I came to Pantip Plaza because none of the camera stores in MBK (and the Siam malls) sold tripods from the brand Vanguard. I had a particular model in mind but even after stepping into pretty much every Pantip Plaza shop that sold camera equipment, none stocked products from Vanguard.

Pantip Plaza ground floor stores — I left Pantip Plaza disappointed

I wanted to try and buy everything I wanted from one store, so that I didn’t have to swipe my card three or four times and incur additional charges for each transactions.

Ratchathewi station empty land Bangkok — I decided to head back to Sukhumvit road

Ratchathewi station graffiti walls Petchburi Bangkok — It was nearing sunset and my body was telling me 4 hours of sleep wasn’t enough

Ratchathewi station platform BTS Bangkok — Ratchathewi station is at the far end of Petchburi road

Sukhumvit traditional Thai dance night — By the time I stepped out of the train, it was already dark. The sun sets rather quickly out here.

Sukhumvit Ratchaprasong skywalk lights Bangkok — I decided to check one last mall before heading back

Centralworld mall interior decor Bangkok Thailand — Centralworld is actually one of the biggest malls in Thailand

Unfortunately, Centralworld was quite badly damaged during last year’s ‘Red t-shirts’ protests and an entire section of the building was off limits because they were renovating it.

I looked up the store directory and saw that BIG Camera had a bigger branch here but unfortunately, it was in the part of the building which was under renovation.

After checking which ever stores were open, I left CentralWorld.

The one good thing I liked about the area I was in is that it’s actually full of Arab visitors, and therefore plenty of businesses exist catering to tourists from the Middle East and Africa.

Bangkok Nana Sukhumvit Arab restaurants — Which meant, plenty of Middle Eastern cuisine for me to eat!

Nana Sukhumvit Dubai center Bangkok Thailand — Yeah, it’s *that* Gulf-y!

I picked up a beef shawarma (฿50) and a drink from a 7-11 and made my way back to my room. I had kept the air conditioner on for a while to ventilate the room and rid it of the Bangkok ‘stench,’ which takes a little getting used to. (The ‘smell’ of Bangkok city is essentially the smell of fish sauce emanating in the air.)

I needed more sleep and I had to wake up early the next day. I assessed all the camera products and all the prices I made a note of. I had to pick up everything tomorrow itself and then leave early enough to get to Mo Chit bus terminal.

Next day

After waking up and breakfast at Au Bon Pain in MBK, I waited for the Fotofile stores to open.

MBK mall bags clothes small stores section Bangkok — Walked around the ‘street market’ stores on the 6th floor to pass time

Fotofile camera equipment store MBK Bangkok Thailand — I picked up an additional 16GB card, the interval remote and an extra battery for the Canon 7D from the Foto Thailand store on the 3rd floor

Fotofile MBK used lenses store Bangkok — Lots of second hand lenses for sale

The telephoto lens I was keen on picking up was the Canon 70-200 f2.8 IS Mark 1. Unfortunately, that model was recently replaced by the newer Mark 2, which was obscenely expensive and thus made finding the Mark 1 a challenge.

So I ended up picking up a brand new Canon 70-200 f2.8 non-IS lens and using the substantial savings to purchase a good tripod instead. I needed one anyway.

Official Canon store MBK collection display Bangkok — I picked up the lens from the official Canon store managed by Fotofile

Canon camera store MBK collection display Bangkok — None of these are for sale, just on display

The Canon store had a few Manfrotto tripods on sale and I considered the Manfrotto 055x Pro B but it was too pricey. I went down to the BIG Camera store and picked up a Sirui tripod for around 7k baht. The model was very good value for money and complimented my newly acquired 70-200 lens well.

With all my shopping done, I went to one of the two main food courts in MBK.

Fifth Food Avenue food court MBK mall Bangkok — Fifth Food Avenue is the name of this food court

Nasi Goreng MBK mall food court Bangkok — I was still on my Malaysia high, so I had Nasi Goreng (although they went overboard with the soy sauce) ฿160

After lunch, I still had some time to kill, so I went to Siam Paragon to find out where the Jay Park concert was going to be held.

Siam Discovery mall interior decor Bangkok — Siam Discovery, which is the older and slightly more wallet friendly mall

Strip Ministry of Waxing Siam Discovery mall Bangkok — Clever ad 🙂

Siam Paragon mall open area Bangkok — Siam Paragon mall is the more posh offering

Krungsri IMAX theatre Siam Paragon Bangkok Thailand — The Royal Paragon Hall was on the top most floor, near the cinemas

Cool gel attack Thai film cinema poster — Hmm, interesting

After finding out where Royal Paragon Hall was, I made my way out.

Audi showroom Siam Paragon Bangkok Thailand — Walked past the luxury car showrooms on the second floor

Lamborghini showroom Siam Paragon Bangkok Thailand — Last year, they had a ‘No Photographs’ sign on the glass

So this time, I went in and got up close to the Lamborghinis. You don’t realize just how big these sexy machines are until you stand next to them. I spoke to the sales girl and I asked her how much the import duties for these cars are and she told me it’s over 100-150%, including the many taxes on these luxuries… making them super-expensive in Thailand. She wouldn’t disclose how many they sell a year but at such prices, I’m guessing not many. I hardly ever saw one on the road in the two trips I’ve made to Thailand.

Once back in my room, I re-packed my bags and checked out. The lady who runs Thai House Inn asked me why I was leaving so early and assured me there would be plenty of buses, but I didn’t want to risk not getting a seat. Going to Chiang Mai early is what I essentially came for.

I took the BTS all the way to till last stop, Mo Chit station, and from there I took a moped taxi (to Mo Chit bus terminal, which caters to North Thailand).

But when I got to the terminal, a lot of the buses to Chiang Mai leaving that night were already full! Especially the luxury buses, and I had to go from one transport company to another to find available seats. Fortunately, I got a ticket in a regular push-back seat bus — it was their last for the night!

Last year I got a seat in a luxury bus which cost me ฿700, for which I just showed up at the station and got my ticket. Of course, the sold-out seats today were due to the Loi Krathong weekend rush. So word of advice, if you want the luxury buses during Loy Krathong weekend, buy the tickets in advance.

Not that the bus I got was bad or anything, it was just one of those regular buses used on overnight long distance journeys, in my case an 8-hour journey.

Bangkok to Chiang Mai bus night journey — A seat costs ฿403 (Rs. 597/$13/€9)

The bus made a rest stop for toilet break and for picking up dinner/snacks. In a few hours, I would arrive at Thailand’s second biggest city, and my second trip to Thailand officially begins!

Next few posts in this series:

Thailand 2010: First day in Chiang Mai for Loi Krathong; driving up Doi Suthep

Thailand 2010: Chiang Mai cooking class; Loi Krathong celebrations in Mae Jo, Sansai

Thailand 2010: Chiang Mai Loi Krathong celebrations; first Grand Parade

Thailand 2010: Chiang Mai Zoo (Day 4, Part 1)

Thailand 2010: Last day of Loi Krathong; Sunday Grand Parade (Day 4, Part 2)

Thailand 2010: Heading to Chiang Rai by bus, Wat Jedyod and Golden Clock Tower

Thailand 2010: Golden Triangle in Mae Sai; Chiang Rai’s White Temple (Wat Rong Khun)

Thailand 2010: Pattaya — Beach road, Viewpoint, Jomtien Beach, Walking Street

Thailand 2010: Back to Bangkok — Chinatown, Patpong, Platinum Mall and Chatuchak Market

Thailand 2010: Gurdwara Siri Guru Singh Sabha, Sampeng Market, JJ market (again)

Thailand 2010: Damnoen Saduak Floating Market tour, Cobra show… and leaving Bangkok

Singapore 2010: Day 2 – Orchard Road, mall-hopping… and already shopping

By Mithun Divakaran
/
Oct 31, 2010
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Singapore, Travel

Date: 26th September 2010

We woke up late.

Thought I’d get that out of the way first. After a tiring first day (with barely any sleep), we made up for it by only getting up around 10:30am. And by the time we were out, it was already noon.

But today, the skies were clear and sunny.

Singapore Kampong Glam Muscat street — We were ready for brunch

But despite the plethora of eateries and cafes, ‘the vegetarian’ (my friend Ramesh) found nothing to his taste. So we decided to go to Little India.

Singapore Rochor Centre colourful apartments — Rochor Centre

Singapore Rochor Centre apartment hanging clothes dry — This is how apartment households in Singapore hang clothes out to dry

While the guys headed to Little India, I instead went to Sim Lim Square – Singapore’s famous IT mall.

Being a Sunday, few stores were closed but you still had plenty open.

I was looking for a good tripod and the Canon 70-200 f2.8 IS USM I lens. Most stores didn’t have the latter in stock anymore but I did get a chance to try out the non-IS variant.

Singapore Sim Lim square tripod store — Taken on the 70-200 f2.8; these are unprocessed & only cropped — very impressed with the image quality!

Several shops I entered asked me why I needed the IS version and suggested that I simply go in for the non-IS version and buy a good tripod instead. Something I did give deep consideration later.

Singapore Sim Lim square floors — SIm Lim Square isn’t as big as Funan Digital Life mall — but still offers quite a lot

A few smaller shops did say they had the lens and it “could be arranged,” but I decided not to deal with them. After all, Sim Lim is equivalent to Bangkok’s Pantip Plaza — you have tread carefully when shopping here. You can get ripped off, at the same while scoring some really good deals.

Singapore Sim Lim Square SNSD Gee Samsung laptop — SNSD and other K-pop shown on laptops and TV screens was such a common sight

I had only made it to the second floor before my friends called and told me they were done with lunch. Since I had to catch up with them, I had to leave Sim Lim. Just like yesterday, I left disappointed knowing I couldn’t explore the mall in its entirety.

I grabbed a quick bite and made my way out.

As I stepped out and crossed the road in front of Sim Lim Square, I noticed crowds and street shops ahead of me.

Singapore Bugis Street shopping centre snake charmer — … and street ‘performers’ like this guy

Singapore Bugis Street Shopping centre Rochor — Turns out I was now inside the Bugis Street Shopping centre

Bugis Street Shopping is the largest street shopping market in Singapore.

For me, it wasn’t really impressive. Not after you have visited Bangkok’s Chatuchak Weekend Market (or JJ Market). In fact, a lot of the merchandise sold here was from Thailand — which obviously meant it was slightly more pricier here.

Singapore Bugis street shopping main front entrance — The main entrance to Bugis Street

Singapore Bugis Street shopping Iluma mall — We were really curious as to what this Iluma building was

Singapore Bugis iluma mall exterior — I thought it was some boutique hotel

I had to get to Suntec City to meet up with my friends, but instead of taking of the MRT, I just walked.

I passed through another mall, this time — Bugis Junction.

Singapore Bugis Square G.NA autograph session fan meet — K-pop star G.NA was going to be here in two days

Singapore Bugis Square Porsche sports car — Spotted at Bugis Square. It was F1 weekend after all.

Singapore city traffic diverted F1 — Singapore’s roads aren’t this empty, just that traffic was diverted because of the race

After catching up with my friends, Ramesh made his way to the F1 tracks to begin his evening. While myself & Loi pondered what to do next. I had plans of going to Marina Bay Sand Casino to go up to the sky deck. When I had called them up earlier in the day, I was informed it was only open to visitors until 4pm, after which it would be off limits to non-guests.

We were inside CityLink Mall (yes, another mall in the area) when we decided to check out the HMV store.

Singapore Jay Park HMV store — Damn, Jay Park was in Singapore yesterday! (Jay Park is an K-pop star who’s going to be big worldwide… trust me)

By the time we stepped out of the HMV store, we already spent SGD150 (around Rs. 5,100) on official band t-shirts — and it was past 4pm. So I pushed Marina Bay Sands for tomorrow and headed to Suntec City mall instead.

Singapore Suntec City stores — This is just one section to Suntec City mall

After shopping some more at Suntec, we made our way back to Victoria Street where I had plans to show Loi the Bugis Street shopping centre.

But lay before us was Iluma — the alluding building which I assumed was a boutique hotel.

Singapore iluma mall Victoria street — But upon closer inspection…

Singapore Iluma Mall entrance — … guess what…

Singapore Iluma mall interior design — … it’s just another mall

But a funky one at that. Iluma is a pretty cool mall mostly targeting a younger crowd. Despite its appearance, we didn’t find the usual selection of high-end designer brands. Instead, we came across stores like this:

The merchandise on display was good enough to draw me & Loi in. Nearly half-an-hour later, we step out after having spent some dime on anime merchandise.

Singapore iluma mall floor design — We window-shopped a bit more…

Singapore iluma Otaku House shop — …. before stepping into another nerd’s toy haven

Inside the Otaku House was more anime merchandise; more necklaces and keychains (like the ones we bought from Comics Connection), to cosplay outfits and other props for rent or purchase.

But we sighed… and quietly walked out, reminding ourselves that we had already spent enough and would soon run of Singapore currency at this rate.

It didn’t stop us from exploring the mall still.

Singapore iluma mall inside design — Pretty cool looking mall

The top-most floor houses what they claim to be Singapore’s largest arcade. And then there is the open roof top.

Singapore sunset skyline iluma rooftop — You get a nice view of the Bugis surroundings from up here

Singapore Raffes hospital Bugis Victoria street — Victoria Street and Raffles Hospital in the distance

Singapore iluma rooftop restaurants — There are a few rooftop restaurants up here

As we made our way down, I realized iluma was one of the more unique malls in Singapore. Not only does it look cool, it really manages to cater to a young crowd with more affordable options compared to the rest of Singapore’s malls.

After we stepped out of iluma, I took Loi to the Bugis Street Chopping centre.

And by the time we were done with that, we were hungry. So we popped into the near by Burger King for a good ol’ beef burger

(Note: Beef burgers are a rarity in India due to religious sentiments so even McDs are too ‘chicken’ to serve beef burgers here).

Anime jewelry necklace keychain Singapore purchase — Some of the anime merchandise we bought

Singapore iluma building lights night — iluma mall lights up at night

After this, we took the MRT to Orchard Road, our next destination.

I actually wanted to go back to Sim Lim Square, but Loi needed to meet his cousin — and since he didn’t have a local SIM, I had to tag along with him.

When we got to Orchard Road, we stepped right out to Ion Orchard mall.

Singapore Orchard road Ion Orchard dance contest — And this fat dude was getting a lot of fake screams from the women… so he kept dancing

Orchard Road is Singapore’s famous shopping stretch (as if the rest of the city didn’t offer enough already), home to many star hotels and a very popular stop for tourists.

And boy, does this one-way road live up to its reputation!

Singapore Lucky Plaza Orchard road — Opposite ION Orchard, Lucky Plaza is very popular among Filipinos working in Singapore

Singapore Ngee Ann city mall orchard road — Ngee Ann City mall, the largest mall on Orchard Road

Singapore Takashimaya shopping center Orchard road — Popular for housing Japanese department store Takashimaya

Inside Ngee Ann city mall Singapore — You can get into Ngee Ann city to get to the underpass which comes out the other side of Orchard Road

Singapore Paragon Tod's Prada Miu Miu Orchard road — Paragon, a high-end mall housing luxury brands like miu miu, Prada and more

Once Loi met up with his cousin, I was on my own to explore the rest of Orchard Road for some time.

I got back to the other side to continue from where I left off.

Singapore Emporio Armani store Orchard road — Next up, Mandarin Gallery

Singapore Orchard road street performer gold — You’ll find a few street performers on Orchard Road… and for the love of god, do not taunt them like a few tourists did. They don’t like it.

Singapore Orchard Road female bikini sculpture — This can be found in front of the Mandarin Gallery

Singapore Tourism Visitors center Orchard road — This is the Singapore Tourism office where you can get info, maps, make reservations and such

Singapore Courts electronics store Orchard road — Courts is a large multi-storey electronics store

Singapore bus stop bed ad Orchard road — Pretty innovative ad

Singapore Orchard Central mall Orchard road — This was a pretty cool looking mall

After this point, the malls slowly disappeared.

Singapore Orchard road Orchard Central signal — Crossed to the other side and made my way back

Singapore Orchard road Tangs store — Tangs is a local department store

Singapore Orchard road Wisma Atria mall — The Orchard Road MRT station is connected to Wisma Atria mall

Singapore Orchard road Ion Orchard Paterson road junction — Ion Orchard, from across the road

After catching up with my friend Loi, we decided to see off his cousin at the bus stop and take one ourselves as we hadn’t done so yet.

Singapore Orchard road Ion Loiyumba cousin — My friend Loi with his cousin sister who studies in Singapore

Singapore sbs transit bus inside — The buses use the same MRT cards

Since we didn’t really know where to get down, we just got off at the end of Orchard Road.

Singapore Orchard road Plaza Singapura Carrefour — There were still more malls this side

As I looked at the map, we realized that Victoria Street wasn’t very far from where we were currently, so I asked Loi if we could just keep walking.

Singapore School of the Arts campus building — The School of the Arts Singapore campus

Singapore YMCA hostel building — We passed by quite a lot of landmarks

It was nearing 11pm, so we stepped into a food court to have dinner and to quench our thirst with some beer.

Singapore Kopitiam food court 24 hours — Open 24 hours, Kopitiam has mostly Chinese and Pan-Asian fare

Singapore Kopitiam roast honey duck pork — We weren’t really hungry so we just had roast duck and pork with our beer

After ‘dinner,’ we resumed our walk towards our hostel.

Singapore Arts Museum night sculptures — This was the Singapore Arts Museum

I couldn’t help but remind ourselves how good a location we chose to be stay in, given how close we were to a lot of what Singapore has to offer (especially if you a re shopaholic!).

Singapore Management University building — Singapore Management University campus

Singapore Bugis street shopping closed night — The Bugis Street Shopping centre… closed

Singapore Kampong Glam at night Sultan Mosque — Sultan Mosque down the street

Singapore Old Street cafe & bar hotel — Santa Grand Hotel Bugis is in front of ABC Hostel

We were finally back in our room…. oh wait, we ran out of drinking water.

(Steps out again)

Once back from the nearby 7-Eleven I was finally done with day 2! As we checked out out our merchandise, we also counted how much we had already spent and soon realized we were running out of Singapore dollars.

We just had one more day left in Singapore, so it was either going to be Sentosa or the Singapore Zoo. I also wanted to hit the sky deck at Marina Bay Sands Hotel and Casino.

Would I be able to do it all?

Well…

Other posts in this series:

Singapore & Malaysia 2010: Planning and preparing for the trip

Singapore 2010: Day 1 – Little India, CBD, Clarke Quay, China Town… and a lot of walking

Singapore 2010: Day 3 – Singapore Zoo, Marina Bay Sands; leaving Singapore for Penang

Malaysia 2010: Day 4 — One day in Penang (Around Georgetown, Gurney Drive, Penang Hill)

Malaysia 2010: Day 5 — Langkawi (Ferry ride from Penang, Cable car & Sky Bridge)

Malaysia 2010: Day 6 — Langkawi (Island hopping tour, Pantai Tengah beach, Night market)

Malaysia 2010: Day 7 — Kuala Lumpur (Low Yat Plaza, Petronas Towers, Jalan Alor)

Malaysia 2010: Day 8 — Kuala Lumpur (Batu Caves, Petaling Street/China Town)

Malaysia 2010: Day 9 — Kuala Lumpur (KLCC Aquaria, Merdeka Square, KL Tower observation deck)