The breakfast voucher at Lemontea Hotel was finally utilised and shortly after the okay meal (honestly, why bother with hotel food when there's so much more outside), we excitedly departed for the highlight of any Bangkok trip!
Proximity of the iconic Baiyoke Tower as seen when we stepped right out of the hotel. I had been to its observation deck twice and have been waiting to dine at the restaurant on the 76th and 78th floor; hope it would materialise on my next trip.
No prize for guessing correctly which route we took to Phaya Thai BTS station; as mentioned before, this unofficial pathway isn't recommended at night. Those with great imagination would mistake the tweety bird plushie as a dead body under the moonlight!
Feeding the rabbits in the hutch - note, they might not be kept as pets. Back when i was living in the village, our family had a humongous hutch for rabbits and the reason for their existence was simple; they were kept as food and made for an extremely delicious rabbit stew when the "need" arose.
Walking along the railway tracks did seem cool and there were ample opportunities for photo taking; however, there were risks involved despite the fact that the tracks didn't seem that well maintained!
Safer to use the dirt path!
Some BTS stations were not equipped with ticket machines that accepted notes. Although it was frustrating having to queue up to change for coins at the control station, nothing beats having to queue up at the coins-only ticket machines and buying only one ticket at a time! Get a Rabbit Card that worked like our EZ-Link!
Incredible crowd that disembarked once the train reached Mo Chit BTS station! Guess you don't need any further hint on where we were. Okay, one more; it was the weekend.
Obvious right?! The popular, die-die-must-visit Chatuchak (Jatujak) Weekend Market! For a photo entry of my recent visit to the market, click here.
Bargained to about 150 baht for a tuk tuk to send us back to Lemontea Hotel where we could relieve our haul and continue our shopping on the last full day of the trip.
The sight of the above reminded me of our Bangkok visit in 2014 where five of us managed to squeeze into one tuk tuk! That's awesome memory by the way.
Spacious legroom for us this time. Oh! Remember my posting on the purpose for the netting that's the norm for all tuk tuks? Check out the information here!
Guess the fishnet had an additional purpose; it did seem to prevent the goods from dropping out in the above photo. She looked like a street vendor who was on her way to setup her stall.
Rambutans were in season!
Driving past a hotel known as "The Period" and i am guessing that there should be a heavy usage for camomile tea and evening primrose oil. Humour aside, it has a rather good rating of above 8.0 on bookings.com!
Crossing the always-busy two-way petchburi road after unloading our stuff at the hotel.
We were actually on our way to meet up with a few of our travel mates for reasons i couldn't remember as i had already brought them to Centralworld the day before.
Those seeking real insects-snack should check out one of the green-topped stalls in front of Pantip Plaza; i would have loved to take some pictures but i was rejected outright by the vendor. :(
A supposedly easier way to drink the coconut juice at first glance; until you realise the lack of a substantial opening would deter you from eating the coconut flesh! You could of course tear it apart with your bare fingers and using your fingers to dig out the meat.
Open air shopping along the pavement with irresistible great deals sometimes.
I was supposed to take photos of "Building B" of Platinum Shopping Mall so that i can supplement the "Building A" posting last year. Turned out i was too hot, too sticky and too thirsty to venture beyond the first floor of the Platinum's extension.
After getting ourselves a drink to quench our thirst and meeting up with our friends at McDonald's on the ground floor Platinum Shopping Mall, it's time to bypass Big C for our next shopping destination.
Before then, let me get some tees for Jovyn and Jerald! I made a promise on day two to return to the affable stall owner and i had to honour it!
Centralworld again.
Travel mates making their final purchase at Naraya while Alex and i made way for the top floor for our final meal, in Bangkok that is.
Tea time at Honmono Sushi! Frankly, it was a little bit more than tea as we didn't have lunch! Overall satisfied with what we had; to read more, click here.
Big C Supercentre right opposite. As i shared before, there was a supermarket inside said to be a must go for local produce, snacks and even instant noodles!
The formidable traffic police officers who worked very hard to ensure pedestrians like myself can safely cross the road that leads to Centralworld carpark.
As it was close to dinner time, the food stall businesses operating by the roadside were already in action mode! I was so craving for the salt-grilled fish!
Managed to take a photo of the menu! Compared to what we had at Srinakarin Train Market (Talat Rot Fai), dishes at this tourist spot were priced at least 30% higher.
River taxi that appeared to be overloaded with passengers! Seriously, you would not want to fall into the dark, murky water.
Strolling past Platinum Shopping Mall again so that we can cross the overhead bridge back to Lemontea Hotel; reason being we were supposed to have a group dinner later that evening. Yes, food again just mere hours after Honmono Sushi!
Shibuya Glow Hotel - which was popular with Singaporeans, especially the ladies!
Random photo taken from the bridge - the magic wallet had been around for so long and it's kinda surprising that it can survive over the years!
A game of checkers using disposed bottle caps that can be found in Singapore too!
Following an unhappy incident with one of the staff at Lemontea Hotel, we took the BTS to "National Stadium" station where our dinner venue was.
A Thai performance was ongoing.
MBK Centre used to be a must visit in the past but i can see that many of the newer shopping centres in Bangkok have taken a toll on MBK's business. To put it bluntly, the last time i entered was at least 4-5 visits ago.
Interior of the building which didn't differ much from memory.
Dinner was at Yana Restaurant, a Halal outfit serving a mix of Thai and Western cuisine! For my very short review, click here.
We departed from the group as many were comfortable to stay in MBK for last minute shopping while i am gunning for another shopping expedition on our last night in Bangkok!
The notorious traffic jams - in the past, i would only take cabs but an incident that left me stranded in standstill traffic for more than 30 minutes was, in all honesty, unforgettable.
An interesting fact about Bangkok is that night markets would sprout anywhere you go, so long there's a sizable crowd! This one was right across the road from MBK Centre and Siam Square.
Having to carry two large bags of goodies (purchased at MBK) for friends and family means i faced difficulties in shooting pictures. Nevertheless, we came upon this card stall that sold amazingly pretty and good quality handmade card with 3D pop up images.
Want to contact the seller? Check out his namecard!
Last photo of the night market as i can feel the exhaustion in Alex! Poor boy is bad in navigation and i had resorted to bluffing him that the only way to get to the nearest BTS station was to cut across the night market....
Waiting for the train to arrive at Siam Square BTS.
Though tired, we were still keen to have a massage at the one-day old Foot Haven that was only about a few minutes' walk from Lemontea Hotel!
Being new (yes, it was opened for business only the day before), everything was in mint condition but there was a lack of masseurs who had to be called from related massage parlours nearby.
In conclusion, it was good; determined by the fact that i almost slept halfway through the massage! So shiok to have that sweet tea right after a massage; i happily drank for Alex who generally prefer cold drinks.
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For the summarised itinerary of the four days, three nights' trip to Bangkok, click here for the details.
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