Bangkok D4 - Chatuchak Weekend Market, Asiatique Ferris Wheel, and delicious local food to try!!!

Chatuchak Weekend Market in Bangkok, Thailand - Must visit place!!!

Bangkok is well known as a shopping heaven especially for Singaporean. When they go to Bangkok, they will arrange to be there during weekend so that they can visit the famous Chatuchak weekend market and shop until they drop!!! Despite hot and humid weather, they will prepare themselves by wearing short-sleeves shirt, short pants, slipper, carrying big backpack on front part of their body, holding the battery operated portable fan at one hand and bottled of mineral water at another hand,  and sometimes wearing glasses and hat too. For me, umbrella is a must!!! :P

Chatuchak map (Pic source: Bangkok.com)

Chatuchak is such a big place (grouped into 27 sections) and has over 8,000 stores. When you reach there, you are advised to download the Apps into your phone so that you won't get lost or if you do not have the internet connection, free map is also available. It is reachable by both BTS (Mo Chit Stn) and MRT (Chatuchak Park Stn). You can find more information here.

Thai snacks and beverages - shopping break at Chatuchak weekend market

If you are hungry and thirsty, worry not!!! There are plenty of food and beverage stalls available down there. They sell many fancy and traditional food and keep your stomach filled and happy :)

Rung Rueng Pork Noodle near Phrom Phong BTS Station - Bangkok, Thailand (Pic source: Google map)

Before going there, my local Thai friend brought us somewhere to have breakfast. That's why I only had snacks and beverages in Chatuchak market while they also have many stalls to eat proper meals. He introduced us a local Thai Chinese shops selling typical Chinese breakfast dishes - noodles!!! My favorite!!! We went down to the shop together by BTS and stopped at Phrom Phong Stn. Check the map above to find the shop's location.

Rung Rueng Pork Noodles - Bangkok, Thailand - For Chinese noodle lovers :)

I am glad that I could find the location through the Google map based on my memory while walking down through small alleys to reach the place as the shop's signage was in Thai language and I did not even know what the shop name was. I included this shop here so that you can try it too next time (especially for Chinese pork noodle lovers :D). My friend said this shop was very crowded, so it's better to come early and avoid lunch time. We even had to wait for more than half an hour before our food arrived.

Try their crispy fish skin too!!! Rung Rueng Pork Noodle - Bangkok, Thailand

He ordered and ate three bowls for himself as he just attended triathlon days before and he needed to regain some good nutrients back for his body, and also because the noodle was very delicious!!! At first two of us ordered three bowls of noodles and crispy fish skin. But after finishing one bowl of noodle, I just felt it was so delicious and one bowl was definitely not enough, therefore I decided to order another one. Hahahahahaha.... So I finished two bowls of noodles (one soup and one dried) on my own :P I had no idea how much it cost as my friend treated us, but from the Google review, many said that it was inexpensive, so if you pork noodle lover, seriously, you have to try it for yourself!!! :)

Khao Tom Pla Kimpo - Rice Soup with fresh fish and seafood in Bangkok, Thailand (Pic source: Google map)

After having enough shopping, I was sweaty and tired. The weather was so hot and humid. I decided to go back to hotel to drop the shopping bags, take a little rest, and take a bath before going out again for dinner. My local Thai friend wanted to introduce us to another restaurant. We met up at BTS Saphan Taksin. From there we took a short bus journey. If walked, it might take us 20-25 mins to reach.

Khao Tom Pla Kimpo menu :)

This time the shop was selling rice soup with fish and/or seafood of your choice. It wasn't ordinary fish though, but including a choice of huge size fresh fish that they hung daily in front of their shop. The variety of fish they offered were butter fish, red grouper, grouper, and sea bass, while the seafood were squid, prawn and oyster.

Khao Tom Pla Kimpo - Rice soup fish and seafood in Bangkok, Thailand (Pic source: Google map)

Apart from the rice soup, there was also stall selling crisp fried mussel pancakes. You could choose mussels, oyster, fish, prawn, and cuttlefish or mixture of your choices. It tasted delicious too!!!

Crisp fried seafood pancake at Khao Tom Pla Kimpo in Bangkok, Thailand

The seafood that they put into the rice soup was amazingly fresh and great!!! Seafood lover, you should come to this place and try it for yourself. The cuttlefish and prawns were equally big and fresh!!! Omg!!! It was really high quality of seafood that they served, that was why it was a bit pricey, but I guess, it was all worth it!!! Mostly local went to eat here and usually from the older generation.

Asiatique Ferris Wheel - Bangkok, Thailand (Pic source: Google map)

Oh my... the meal was satisfying. I ate so much in a day!!! It was time to walk. My friend suggested us to walk all the way to the Asiatique Ferris Wheel. It was about the same distance that we took earlier. Good to digest the food that we just had, at the same time, had a romantic walk under the starry night sky.

Asiatique Ferris Wheel in Bangkok, Thailand

Other than riding the Ferris wheel, you could shop, dine, chill, relax, watch the Calypso ladyboy cabaret, Muay Thai Live, and classic Thai puppet performance. I had good time shopping there. There were few shops selling clothes for ladies at one price. There was local accessories shop and many other stuffs as well. Rows of restaurant and bars along the riverfront would be the perfect place to dine and chit chat, but we were too full to eat anything else.

A long and happy day in Bangkok, Thailand :)

At night, the free boat back to BTS Saphan Taksin was available until 11 pm so you did not have to worry on how to go back to where you stay. That was how you could spend another day in Bangkok. Well, Bangkok is such a big city with many places for you to choose to go. There are still many other places you can go if you have enough time to spare. Let's see if I can manage to come up with more post and suggest you where to go and what to eat :) 'Til then....

My First Audio Book - "Friend Request" by Laura Marshall

Friend Request by Laura Marshall

Well, I found out about this book title from somewhere (I forgot where I saw it before). Had been searching it tremendously from the NLB (National Library Board) Apps - from e-book, audiobook, to the physical book from different libraries across Singapore, and it was ALL unfortunately, unavailable. I even thought of buying it, so that after finished reading it, I could pass it on to someone else. However, it was even not available at the bookstore! It was all sold out!!! Oh my... how could that be???

Sigh... I had no choice but to click the "Reserve" button on the NLB Apps. I had to pay S$1.55 for reservation fee as I could no longer wait and let my mind lingering around, made me feeling really uneasy of not getting it on hand. I didn't know what made me craving for it though until I had to reserve it (which I tried to avoid in any case). Perhaps, I was tired of living my own life and wanted to escape from it and live into someone else world for a little while.

Reading quote (Pic source: Google.com)

One day after I successfully reserved the book online, I clicked the book title under the search area again, just for fun. And guess what??? One audiobook for this title was available!!! 

Oh my!!! But... audiobook??? I was hesitating for a while. I had never tried the audiobook in my life before. I was wondering if I should borrow it.

"There is always a first time, never try, never know!!!" 

That was kind of my principle in life so I decided to borrow and try it once.

"Let me experience how to read the audio book," I said it to myself.

Without waiting any longer, I clicked the "Borrow" button, and download it to the OverDrive Apps on my phone.

Immediately, I put the earpiece on both ears and started listening it.

First Audio Book Experience - Friend Request by Laura Marshall :)

Well, it felt like someone was reading a bedtime story for me. A woman read the content of this book. Sometimes she had to mimic the man's voice or kid's voice to let the reader know who was saying what (conversation by different persons). The reader read according to the punctuation marks the writer put, and with emotions. You could feel it with the different high and low tones, fast and slow speed, and with some pause or breath in between.

The story was started with the Facebook's friend request by Maria Weston - a schoolmate who had been missing over twenty-five years ago - to Louise Williams, who had kept a terrible secret related to her missing. Maria was last seen the night of a school leavers' party and people believed her to be dead. With the school reunion arranged, Louise was forced to discover the truth about what really happened.

Despite the story supposed to be heart-stopping and thrilling, all the reader's efforts to make the story interesting, was kinda fail as I was still easily feeling sleepy when listening to it. Hahahaha... And I fell asleep for many many times!!! Lol!!! Perhaps this would be the best remedy if one day I could not fall asleep! Hahahahaha...... Kidding :P 

Sleepy face zzz... (Pic source: Google.com)

Well, I think that was also because I was having my period. It usually made me exhausted and tired without any reason though. It was in fact, it was good to listen the audiobook in such situation, as what I needed to do was to lie down on bed and to close my eyes. I did not have to hold onto the book, fold my arms, and flip the page. I did not have to tire my eyes from the glare lighting behind me too or from the phone (in case of reading e-book).

Overall, I enjoyed it so much!!! Such a great experience!!! And by the time I had finished reading it, I received an email from NLB stating that the book that I reserved was available for collection :D I had no choice but to go down to the library I chose, paid the money, and collected the book that I had finished reading ^^"

Bangkok D3 - Take the boat to Chinatown, Wat Pho, and Kao Shan Rd

Breakfast for the day :)

Since I liked taking the breakfast away and having it in hotel, we had the above for the day :) This time we had ham omelette breakfast set, ham and cheese sandwich, mix of fried chicken and pork, plus guava and pineapple. Oh, not forgetting the fresh orange juice!!! You could get the fresh pressed orange juice in Bangkok easily!!! Sometimes it tasted so sweet until I doubted if they did not add any sugar in it :D

The map for the boat ride - from Sathorn Pier in Bangkok, Thailand

For today we are going to explore Bangkok city through the water, which means we are taking boat as our transport to various places. From Saphan Taksin BTS the Sathorn Pier (Central) is within five minutes walking distance. Once comes out, just follow the signage towards the pier. The "Hop On Hop Off Boat" map above is posted for your info only so that you know at which pier you should stop for the places that you intend to go. But I don't take that tourist boat and pay as mentioned there. Instead, I took the boat that local usually took in their everyday's life. Each ride cost your around THB 15-20 per pax depending on your destination.

Boat ride through Chao Phraya River in Bangkok, Thailand

Here let me bring you to Chinatown. It cost THB 20 per ride from Sathorn Pier and stop at Ratchawongse (no. 5). When purchasing your ticket, tell them you want to ride the local boat, not the one for tourist. The ticket should be sold just next to it by different seller.

Our first stop - Ratchawongse - No. 5

When you want to take the boat, just show your ticket to the staff and they will let you know if the upcoming boat is for you to take or not because there are few different boats available. And hold into your ticket (it is small so easy to fly away accidentally) until the staff who works on the boat checking for it.

Chinatown map - Bangkok, Thailand (Pic source: Google.com)

The hustle and bustle Chinatown in Bangkok, Thailand

From the pier, just walk straight along Ratchawong Rd. towards the Chinatown area. You will see lots of wholesale shops there. Usually you have to buy at least 3 pcs to get the better price, and also you can find lots of stuffs sold in your country coming from this place :D Upon reaching towards Yaowarat Rd. you will find many gold shops and it is usually crowded with buyers. So if you want to buy some gold, you can find it here :)

Chinatown in Bangkok - Lots of food and snacks :)

There are many local snack and food seller there. Chinese almanac or calendar, Qi Bao (Chinese traditional dress) for both men and women can also be found there. As for Singaporean, many travel to this area to have Chinese delicacies like shark fin and fish maw soup, abalone soup, etc.

Tried Chinese food at Tang Jai Yoo - Chinatown in Bangkok, Thailand

Before going there, I read reviews from internet on which Chinese restaurant I should visit and try. And I decided to go to Tang Jai Yoo where they sell a nice oyster omelette, prawn roll (with big chunk of prawn in it), and prawn tang hoon (vermicelli). We did not order shark fin and all as we felt that this was good enough and we really found that the food was fresh and delicious, worth the money. We spent THB 920 for the dishes we ordered above. Not forgetting the delicious appetizer - sweet and sour veg pickles - given before our order came :)

The Grand Palace and Wat Pho map from Tha Chang Pier stop no 9 (Pic source: Google.com)

After lunch we continued our journey. We went back to the Ratchawongse pier and took the boat again, this time was to visit Wat Pho (the Temple of the Reclining Buddha).

Visited the Grand Palace 10 years ago :D

Ten years ago I visited the Grand Palace in Bangkok. So this time I did not visit the place anymore. The entry cost THB 500 per pax. If this is your first time to Bangkok, it is a must visit place for you!!! To reach there you can take the boat and stop at Tha Chang Pier (no. 9).

The Reclining Buddha at Wat Pho - Bangkok, Thailand

To reach Wat Pho, you also drop at the same pier. But you need to walk to your right for about 1 km to reach the temple. The ticket cost THB 100 including free a bottle of water. Wat Pho is one of the oldest Buddhist temples in Bangkok.

The majestic reclining Buddha statue - Wat Pho - Bangkok, Thailand

The reclining Buddha is 46 m length. Surrounding this, there are many chedis (stupas), including 4 great ones (see the photo below - right bottom).

Wat Pho (the Temple of the Reclining Buddha) - Bangkok, Thailand

"Inside the Ubosot is a gold and crystal three-tiered pedestal topped with a gilded Buddha made of a gold-copper alloy, and over the statue is a nine-tiered umbrella representing the authority of Thailand. The Buddha image, known as Phra Buddha Theva Patimakorn and thought to be from the Ayutthaya period, was moved here by Rama I from Wat Sala Si Na (now called Wat Khuhasawan) in Thonburi. Rama IV later placed some ashes of Rama I under the pedestal of the Buddha image so that the public may pay homage to both Rama I and the Buddha at the same time."  - Source: Wikipedia.org

Phra Ubosot is the main ordination hall used for performing Buddhist rituals and the most sacred building in the complex (the above photo on top left is the Buddha statue inside this hall). Overall, it was such a beautiful place to visit and I was glad that I made it. I wanted to visit this place too ten years ago, but we were cheated by the Tuk Tuk driver after coming out from the Grand Palace and we ended up not having chance to visit. Thank you SB for the good karma :) Thank you, thank you, and thank you!!! :)

Khao San Rd map (Pic source: Google map)

Next I take you to Khao San Rd. It is the center of backpacking in Bangkok, so you can find lots of budget hotel or hostel to stay, western food restaurant to cater the angmoh or farang, roadside sellers selling food, beverage or stuffs, massage place, and so on. To reach the place, take the boat and stop at Phra Arthit (no. 13). You have to walk towards the Rambuttri Alley to find the center area of Khao San Rd.

Khao San Rd - Bangkok, Thailand

I remembered visiting this place 10 years ago just to have a good and cheap Thai massage and facial there. Although the price was not that cheap anymore, they did have quality and experienced masseuse though. If you have enough time, after having such a long day, you can take another massage in this Shewa Spa (again, I read the review before going in and found the massage was good).

Varieties of food from Kao Shan Rd night market - Bangkok, Thailand

By the time massage has over, the sky would have turned dark and the roadside food sellers would have started operating. It's time to eat!!! :) Just the street outside Swensen's you can find lots of food stalls with table and chairs for you to sit. We had Pad Thai, papaya salad, spicy Mama, and tried the glutinous rice sausage. After that I bought my favorite Banana Roti as a dessert plus Thai milk tea to quench our thirst.

Ram Buttri alley at night - Bangkok, Thailand

After having your stomach full, walk along the Ram Buttri alley. There are many stalls selling things and restaurants on both sides of the road. You can have a good walk there before going back to hotel. Fyi, the Phra Arthit pier only opened until 7 pm. It is good to visit this area at night. So you can take taxi back to your hotel or get Grab or Uber instead.

Selfie with Tuk Tuk or three wheel taxi in Bangkok, Thailand :)

So, that will be the itinerary for day 3 of your visit. This way, you can taste another type of Bangkok main transport and visited few places in one day. In next post I will suggest you what other places you can visit during your stay there. Stay tune!!! :)

Bangkok D2 - Pratunam area and Talad Neon Night Market

Still in my sleeping clothes, buying the Thai Ice Tea for breakfast :D - Soi Silom 5, Bangkok

One thing why I love staying at the Heritage Hotel at Silom is because there are local market, food and beverage stalls, and 7-eleven convenient store at nearby area. Since it is located at CBD area, they sell lots of breakfast items in the morning.

The Heritage Bangkok Hotel location (Pic source: Google map)

It was just few minutes walk and you could reach a small alley where you could buy your variety of breakfast items.

Our breakfast for the day :)

Omelette with minced pork and rice was one of my favorites plus the mixture of fried chicken and pork cutlet / skin. They fried it freshly every morning. Cut fruits were cheap and they had lots of varieties. It was good vitamin booster for the day!!! They also had many shops selling hot and cold beverages. In any case, you were really pampered with so many choices and the best thing was the stalls were different every day. They seemed like moving from one place to another everyday (not all stalls though).

SuperRich (green color one) near Chit Lom BTS - Bangkok, Thailand

When you have filled your tummy with food, you are ready to leave the hotel and explore!!! If you don't bring enough Thai Baht with you, worry not!!! There is a place that I can recommend you to go to exchange your currency.

SuperRich (green building) Thailand best rate at Pratunam area - Bangkok, Thailand

Stop at Chit Lom BTS, walk through the connection bridge towards Big C Supercenter. You can go down the bridge after passing the green Big C building. As shown at the map above, follow the road and find the SuperRich money changer. There are two SuperRich though - the orange and green color one. I checked both places and found that the green one offered the best rate. You can also check the rate online here to decide if the rate is good enough or not. So far I found it better to change there than in Singapore or other money changer in Bangkok.

Go Ang Kaomunkai chicken rice (pink color) at Pratunam - Bangkok, Thailand

Once done, you can try famous Hainanese chicken rice from the nearby area. There are two well-known shops selling chicken rice - Go Ang Kaomunkai (pink color one) and Kuang Heng (green color one). If you read the review, the pink color one is more famous and have longer queue.

Kuang Heng chicken rice (green color) - Bangkok, Thailand

I tried both places. Both places sell the rice with steamed chicken. However, at Kuang Heng, they also sell the deep fried chicken cutlet and you can order both at one plate. The taste was similar with what we had in Singapore except that they came with additional sauce that made the overall taste different (if you added them in). Although many would prefer eat at Go Ang Kaomunkai, I personally preferred eating at Kuang Heng. It's subjective though. Can't make up your mind??? Try both places lah!!! :)

Chit Lom BTS surrounding area (Pic source: Google map)

So, change money done, lunch done. Next, time to exercise and shopping!!! :D If you see the map above, you can see many places to go around that area. If you like to shop clothing, you have to visit the Platinum Fashion Mall. It is within walking distance from where you have the chicken rice.

Platinum Fashion Mall - Bangkok, Thailand

Platinum Fashion Mall specializes in wholesale fashion clothing and accessories. It is a six-storey building with over thousand shops inside. When you buy more, you can ask for a much better price!!! (at least try to ask how much if you want to buy 2 or 3 pcs so that roughly you know how much it should cost). You can find lots of things there including goods imported from other countries like China, Korea, Japan, etc. Personally, I prefer to shop here compare with at MBK (Ma Boon Khrong) Center. You won't have any difficulty in communicating with Thai there when bargaining as most know basic English.

Yum Saap at Platinum Fashion Mall Level 6 :)

Btw, there are 3 different zones inside the mall and connected to each other. One with lower level (Zone 3), another one with higher level (Zone 1 and 2) where you can find the food court and my favorite Moshi Moshi shop. Don't just browse around 1 building whole day as you can find many more shops at the building next to it. You can find varieties of local and International food at the Platinum Food Center or food court style  (you need to use card when purchasing food/ beverage and get the refund for the unused amount of money), and if not satisfied, they also have few restaurants there. I tried Yum Saap - Thai restaurant - after tired shopping and walking around. We chose light food (som tum zua - papaya salad with crispy pork skin, Mama noodle spicy salad, and delicious crispy morning glory spicy salad). Hmmm... yummyyy!!!!

Big C Supercenter - Bangkok, Thailand

Well, some people can browse this mall for a whole day. But if you still have time and energy, you can continue shopping, but this time, shop for local snack (Pocky exotic flavor coated stick biscuit), Koala's March mango/ banana biscuits - exclusively sold in Thailand, various Tao Kae Noi flavor seaweed, Mama instant noodles, Koh Kae flavor nuts, Thai tea instant or canned, and so on) and you can get it all at the Big C Supercenter!!!

Colorful rows of tent at Talad Neon Night Market - Bangkok, Thailand

Or otherwise, you can continue your walk and experience Talad Neon night market!!! Please take note that it opens only from Thursday to Sunday from 5 pm to 12 am. I was lucky that it opened on the day I visited the place because I did not pay attention to the opening day's and time's information. This place is famous because of its colorful rows of tents (it is very beautiful if you see it from far above the area).

Container alfresco dining - not for rainy day :D Talad Neon - Bangkok, Thailand

You can browse the place row by row. There are many young hipster and entrepreneur selling their trendy design clothes, apparels, even food and beverage over here. Accompanied with music, you can chill yourself with few glasses of beer and some snack at one of the container alfresco dining style restaurant, feel the night breeze, smoke your cigarette, or even have Thai massage. You can even have a nice haircut over there (especially for men) at THB 250 per head.

Enjoyed the local Thai food at Talad Neon Night Market - Bangkok, Thailand

As for me, after such a long day, I just wanted to have a good local Thai food accompanied with Thai local beer. If you go to Thailand for the first time, you may want to try the charcoal grilled fish coated with salt, which is served with chili dip/ sauce. Two of us ordered that with a big pot of Tom Yum soup and medium size of Pad Thai (stir fried Thai rice noodle with vegetable and prawn/ chicken/ tofu) plus a big bottle of Singha beer and paid THB 700 (SGD $29). Oh man!!! We were simply full and satisfied!!! :)

The Erawan Shrine - four face of Brahma God with night parade - Bangkok, Thailand

Since my stomach was full, I decided to walk back all the way to Chit Lom BTS station. I had to take the Skytrain back to hotel anyway. On the way there, we passed by the Erawan Shrine - the four face of Brahma God. There was parade was going on that night, which I could enjoy from the connecting bridge nearby that area.

The crowd in Erawan Shrine during afternoon - Bangkok, Thailand

Actually in the morning, on your way to the SuperRich, you can also stop there to offer flowers, light the candles, and pray using the incensed sticks. Each face of the Brahma God represents different meaning. Front face - career; left face - romance; back face - money, and right face - health. Well, actually each face signifies different virtues, which are kindness, mercy, sympathy, and impartiality. Many believe that whatever wish that you pray to the shrine there will come true. Many Singaporean go there and pray so that they can win 4D or TOTO back home hahaha... :D

Drink more and eat more fruits :)

Well, that is what you can do on your day 2 visit in Bangkok. Since the weather is tropical (only hot and rain), make sure you drink enough water to avoid dehydration, plus buy and eat some fruits from the road side to make sure you have enough vitamin and do not fall sick. Most importantly, have enough rest or sleep at night. 'Til next post!!! :)