Recently I went to Bangkok with my beloved bbg.
(i.e. baby girl, also my best friend and also like a sister to me, Hazel).
So the both of us, with a group of guy friends, we booked our tickets and our hotel rooms and off we went!
I have been to Bangkok quite a few times (4-6 times) in the past with my mom and have fond memories there. So going back to Bangkok for the first time with no parental guidance and with friends that haven't gone back in at least 5 years, I was nervous but excited to see what has changed.
Plus it was my first trip so far with no adult help.. made things a'lil bit more adventurous :D
Flew by : Scoot Airlines
They sell ones with the travel packages and has 3G with them so you can contact your friends and family on the go~ super convenient! Plus it was only 299 bhat ( < SGD$8) has unlimited data and 100 bhat available in your hi-card to make calls and text messages.
Also when you arrive you might wan to get a taxi from the airport taxi stand.. cos its a'lil cheaper.
The stand is a level below the store where you get your hi-card from.
Get a receipt from the lady at the stand there and there will be a cab driver ready to drive you to your destination at the stated price. It's about 400 - 550 bhat (around SGD$16 - SGD$25-30 )from the airport to the city.
In my case we had 5 people, so we took a big cab and paid 700 baht for the 5 of us, pretty affordable! ^^
Stayed at : First House Hotel
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| That's how the front of the hotel looked like. |
If you haven't heard of First House Hotel before, its actually located next to Pratunam market. Like literally next door!
Plus if you are intending to spend most of your time at Platinum Fashion Mall, which is only a 3-5 min walk away! It'll be ideal if your buying in bulk and don't want to stay too far b'cos it''ll be heavy for you to carry your shopping around.
To be honest, when girls go to Bangkok it only basically means one thing... SHOPPING..
So, the hotel room would be a nice place to rest and be a safe location to put or luggage and shopping. Also it has to look pretty and comfy also CLEAN. (well.. at least for me I know I would like that) Plus it's cheap.. well cheap considering a 4 day 4 night stay there.
The hotel provides two bottles of water everyday, so every day they will replace two glass bottles of water in the room. (It's considering tap water is advised NOT to be drank)
And 7-11 is just across the road 1-3 mins away! Super convenient to get late night snacks and buy back big bottles of water.
Oh plus there is this really good wanton noodle store/restaurant down the road where the hotel is and it opens from 9 am-4 pm so get your breakfast or lunch or early dinner there. Portions are small but really yummy. If you don't speak Thai not to worry as well. The staff is really nice, friendly and one of them speaks Chinese! which.. does wonders to language barriers.
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| Sorry for the mess, but we just came back from 7-11 and have not unpacked yet. |
But with Pros, there are also Cons.. and yes this hotel has its cons too.
1. Inconvenient
If you are looking to spend a lot of time at MBK or at Siam.
Well basically the city area its no way near there at all. Its actually 20-30 mins walk away from the Ratchadawi BTS station, which is far.
(Well far if you are considering how tired you will be after shopping for hours at some place and only have to walk 30 more mins just to get back to your hotel room. Plus its hot.. *like hey~ sun is shining and its humid and all you wanna do is hide in a air-con room* kinda hot. )
Than you'll most likely end up having to spend money on tuk-tuks or cab just to get back to the hotel.
2. Only one card key
I think if you're only travelling in pairs there isn't actually a need for another key card.
But if you travel in a group and especially if you end up splitting up into different groups from your room-mate, den you will need that extra key card which they do not provide.
Also say if you or your roomy is feeling down and wanna stay in, that key card will be in that slot that activates the electricity and the lights in the room. So whoever is out shopping or walking, will have no key to open the door also the one inside has to wait for the roomy to come back so that they can open the door for them.
3. No safe in the room
We all need a safe.. for your valuables that you don't wanna bring around with you. So yeah. But they do have safes at the front desk. so you can use those.
4. Tiny lift
They have a small and med sized lift. so if u have huge luggages, it'll be hard to fit more that 3 into one lift :/
5. No flask to cook hot water and no hair dryer
If you need your morning hot coffee or tea there is NO hot water.. but you can actually get it from room service so its alright~
Plus if you are like me, you need to blow your hair after you shower or use it to style your hair.. Than.. u have got to bring your own.
6. THE WALLS ARE THIN!
Okay! Listen up rowdy people! hahaha!
My dear roomy and I love talking out loud! Laughing is a form of happiness for us and so is chattering, gossiping, singing and shouting.
We did a tiny experiment and well.. she could hear me laughing from the outside of the room.. so like wise we could also hear when people walking and chattering outside. But luckily we couldn't hear what was going on in the rooms beside us.. so well.. 3 out of 4 walls are definitely sound proof. :D
Overall... the hotel was not bad~ hahaha it was good if you are on a budget. And I kinda enjoyed my stay there too no complains about that.(:
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| I really like my corner of the room~ the light makes it so cozy! |
Next!
SHOPPING AND PLACES TO SHOP!
Our first day there a Sunday, we went to Chaktuchak.
Chaktuchak is a well known location for both locals and tourist to get cheap deals and do tons and tons of shopping! With endless rows and rows of shops that goes on and on!
But one thing about Chaktuchak is that its a weekend market. So its only opened on Saturdays and Sundays! So make sure to have your holiday booked over the weekends so that you can enjoy the full experience!
Tips: Go there early! the later it gets the hotter its gets. Plus the afternoon crowds are crazy! so make sure you start early!
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| Escaping from the mid afternoon sun and crowd! |
On our second day~
We went to Siam.(Didn't have the mood of strength to take photos so.. yeah)
Places you HAVE to visit is Siam Square and Siam Paragon!
So don't miss out!
We had dinner at MBK, one of my absolute favourite places and a must go every time I'm at Bangkok.
Mt Fuji.
They serve really yummy and reasonable prices for good Japanese food.
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| Mt Fuji Dinner at MBK! |
Day Three~
We spend most of the day at Platinum malls on the third day so, naturally we had lunch at the food court!
One thing I love about these shopping malls is that the food court have really nice food, super convenient and clean! Plus it's CHEAP! our meal only cost us about 70 bhat each! (around SGD $2 < $3)
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| Our Lunch at Platinum Mall! - char siew rice (top) - Tom yam soup (middle) -Pork trotter rice with egg (below) -Thai ice tea (cup) and oishi green tea (bottle) |
This time we had a feel for curry so... hehehehe
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| Curry dinner at MBK! |
So to sum it up.
I had fun shopping and eating on this trip.
Although this 4 days and 4 nights is really way too short for hazel and I, but we enjoyed ourselves and came back home with tons of shopping.
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| All my fav food! 1. Phad Thai 2. Bananaooyoo's banana milk & Matcha green tea 3. Mister doughnut and banana strawberry smoothie 4. Tea Story's strawberry smoothie and milk tea 5. Banana Nutella crepe 6. Coconut Ice cream! |
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| Hi Hazel~ Follow me on Instagram @ cherishurself |
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| My loots!! Shop till you drop! |
So~
I hope I was able to help out a'lil.. well at least on hotel and some shopping areas.
If you are going to BKK soon I hope this help and hope that you will have as much of a good time as I did.
That's it for my trip to Bangkok~
Till the next post.
Cheers~
-Cheris:)
