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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

Dubai creek abra boat passengers afternoon ride

UAE 2010 (once again) Day 1: Flying to Dubai, shopping, Burj Khalifa at night

Date: 12th November 2010

On Monday the 8th of November, 2010, I got a bunch of missed calls as I was preparing to head to office. When I finally did speak to the person, it turned out it was someone from VH1 India informing me that I had been shortlisted as finalist in their Linkin Park Ticket to Ride Contest!

But before that, she had a bunch of questions to ask: “Do you have a valid passport?,” “Can you fly at short notice?” and then asked around 9 questions about the band itself. After answering most of the questions, said she had to speak to the others and that she would call back in some time.

After the call, the only thought that came to my mind was: “HO-LY SHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitttttttttttttttttttttt!!!!!!!!!!!!! All the 60-plus times I took part in the contest on Vh1 India’s Facebook page paid off!” I eagerly awaited the return call and 5 minutes later, it came.

She told me I was selected as the final winner because I answered the most questions!

Jeff Gerstmann Woohoo fistpump — “Woo-hoooooooooo!”

She told me I could take a guest too and so I chose my elder brother Nithin, who had never been to UAE. She also told me she would send me details on tickets, where we would be staying and how we would be going to the venue. First, we weren’t going to staying in Abu Dhabi, where the Yas Marina Circuit is located. Instead, we would be in Dubai.

Hey, I wasn’t going to complain. From there, on the day of the race, we would get picked and dropped via taxi. Cool, works for us!

After we hung up, I couldn’t hold my excitement and fist-pumped “Yes!”. This was the first time in life I actually won something big! Anyway, I headed to office and also prepared to get our visa arranged (we still had to do that ourselves).

For our Dubai visa, we approached DVPC by VFS Global, the exclusive service for all Emirates flights. We rushed all our documents to their office on Cunningham road on Tuesday afternoon and hoped we could get our visas by Thursday, since our flight was on Friday early morning.

Long story short, we managed to get our 96-hour/4 day visit visa (costs Rs. 3000 per person) processed by then.

On the dawn of Friday 12th, December 2010, we were in our Emirates flight from Bangalore to Dubai.

Star lit sky night from Emirates plane — It was a very star-lit night sky

Emirates breakfast India to Dubai flight — Early breakfast was pretty decent

We landed in Dubai at 7am.

Dubai airport tarmac terminal 4 construction — As if three terminals weren’t enough

Dubai airport Emirates planes arriving in morning — We rode on the tarmac for nearly 5 minutes before finally stopping

We descended into one of those airport buses to get to the terminal. That ride took another 5 minutes — and my god was it cold inside that bus! It was mobile freezing chamber!

We finally got into Terminal 3 and made our way to immigration.

I was a bit worried about visa because we didn’t get any official copy prior to our departure since everything was so ‘last minute’. But it was in our ticket and we faced no issues at immigration.

Once out, we hailed a taxi and headed to Deira where our hotel was located.

We were put up at Fortune Hotel. We had breakfast and checked into one of our rooms (we got two individual rooms). First thing I did after stepping out was call up my parents and then inform my friends in Dubai that I had arrived. We didn’t rest for much because we only had one day to roam around Dubai.

We briefly caught up with my good friend Azhad, walked around Deira a bit and then made our way to the creek.

Dubai creek trading ship — Though not the main port anymore, trade still goes through these waters daily

The abra ride costs just AED1 is one of the must-dos when in Dubai, be it in daytime or at night.

Once in Bur Dubai, I showed my brother the souq.

I’ve covered the souq a lot more in my trip from April. We went around a bit, bought some chocolates and made our way towards the Bur Dubai bus station.

Plaza cinema theater Bur Dubai — One of the oldest theaters in Dubai

We were in Bur Dubai to meet my friend Jassim, who had invited me and my brother over to his house for lunch.

He picked us up in his Mitsubishi Pajero.

Dubai inside Mitsubishi Pajero dashboard interiors — With a mileage like that, it’s a good thing petrol is cheap in UAE

Once at home, we were treated some fantastic mutton biriyani Jassim’s mother-in-law prepared. It was brilliant! Oh, there was chicken too. Equally delicious.

Dubai Jassim family — Our gracious hosts (the adults i.e., the kids didn’t care much for our presence)

After an extremely satisfying (and heavy) lunch, Jassim offered to drive us to our next destination.

Dubai Raffles pyramid hotel — Raffles Dubai hotel, attached to Wafi Mall

Dubai skyscrapers buildings skyline shadow — Never tire of this sight

Dubai festival city building — We were on our way to Festival City

Festival City was the only major mall I didn’t visit the first time I came to Dubai, back in April. Also, the mall houses Dubai’s IKEA store.

Dubai Festival City parking Pajero vs Hummer — The Pajero faces off with the soon-to-be-extinct Hummer

Dubai Festival City Jamie Oliver Italian restaurant — Popular British chef Jamie Oliver is opening a restaurant here

Festival City is another mixed-use development, comprising of a mall (of course), residential apartments, offices and even a marina.

Dubai Festival City marina panorama — (Panorama comprised of 6 shots)

Dubai Festival City Intercontinental Hotel — There’s an Intercontinental Hotel here

Dubai Festival City water canal — A water canal offering boat rides as well

Dubai Festival City water boat rides — Plenty of eateries by the water canal too

Once inside, the store offerings weren’t that different from any other major mall in Dubai.

Dubai Festival City mall water wires panorama — This was pretty cool though

Dubai Festival City water wires long — Water trickles down these wires and makes a sound when it touches the ground

Dubai Festival City Ikea store — Why we came to Festival City mall–IKEA (There is no IKEA store in India, yet)

Dubai Festival City lit up trees — After nearly an hour inside, we were done with our shopping

Jassim quickly took us around to show us some more unique ‘water fountains’ inside Festival City.

Dubai Festival City water fountain structure — But this big one takes the cake

Dubai Festival City unique water fountain closeup — That’s a thin stream of water flowing all the way down

We were running late and Jassim had to head back home. So after quick stop at an electronics store, we headed back to the car parking.

Dubai roads driving night — Next stop, Dubai Mall

Dubai clock tower roundabout at night — Dubai’s old landmark

Driving on Sheikh Zayed road at night — Sheikh Zayed road, where all of Dubai’s new landmarks are

Dubai Pajero sky roof open — Sky roof open…

Dubai Jassim driving Pajero night — … volume up!

Jassim dropped us off at Dubai Mall and we said our goodbyes.

We had booked our entry to Burj Khalifa’s At The Top for 8pm. But we quickly went around the mall before that.

Dubai Mall aquarium world record — First we passed by Dubai Aquarium

Dubai Aquarium Guinness world record plaque — The Guinness Record for the World’s Largest Acrylic Panel

My brother wasn’t really interested in going inside the aquarium. So we continued up.

Dubai Mall Denon LG showrooms — My brother instead wanted to check out home theater systems

He was tempted to pick a unit which cost half of what it costs back in India. But given the size of the entire package (and fearing customs,) he dropped the idea.

Dubai Mall digital runway screens — Funky runways huh?

When it was time, we made our way to the At The Top counter in the basement.

My brother isn’t staring at a white screen, watch this video for what you really see.

Dubai Mall At The Top observation deck which floor — I didn’t get it the right the last time but this time I vowed to point to where exactly the observation deck on Burj Khalifa is

Once we reached the top via the fastest elevator in the world, I switched to video:

This is the view at night in photos.

Dubai Mall from top at night — Dubai Mall’s roof goes green at night

The Address hotel Dubai at night — The Address hotel

Burj Khalifa At The Top view financial centre at night Dubai — Dubai’s Financial Centre

Sheikh Zayed road offices at night — Drive up further you reach Dubai Marina

Burj Khalifa At The Top observation telescopes — You can use these to get a simulation of how the same view looks in daylight

After 30 minutes on top, we made our way back down.

Once down, we walked past the other displays as you make your exit.

This was the second time for me ‘At the Top,’ a more detailed description of the experience can be viewed here.

Once out, the Dubai fountains were on show.

Dubai Mall fountain show at night — The shows are every half an hour

Dubai Mall Christmas tree decorations — Islamic country, but they still deck a heck lot of lights for Christmas

Burj Khalifa in the dark Dubai — The tallest X’mas ‘tree’ in the world

We took the shuttle bus from Dubai Mall to the metro station. Even though we were tired and sleepy, we still decided to quickly check out Mall of the Emirates — four stops from Dubai Mall.

We were here mostly to check out the Virgin Megastore. Last time I was here, I spent quite a bit on video games. This time, we just picked up some blu-rays, a music CD… and then some more video games.

By the time we were done with everything, it was 10:30pm. We had to get back, have dinner and then figure out how we were going to pack all our IKEA goods.

Dinner was shawarmas, which though better than the stuff you get in India, wasn’t as good as the ones I grew up eating in Bahrain. The Egyptian joint we picked it up stuffed it with french fries and wrapped it in kuboos instead of Lebanese bread. These were the kind of shawarmas pretty much everywhere. I don’t know, they were inferior in my opinion.

After dinner, I roamed around a bit in search of empty carton boxes big enough to hold our IKEA purchases but despite asking just about every cold store in our vicinity, the best I got were water bottle boxes. I came back with one but realized it was grossly insufficient.

Next morning, I had to call up my friend Azhad for help.

Next post in this series:

UAE 2010 (once again) Day 2 – Ferrari World, Abu Dhabi F1 and Linkin Park concert

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

By Mithun Divakaran
/
Oct 31, 2010
/
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)