Warning: Lengthy but interesting post ahead
As mentioned in the
previous post on pre-visit impression for Bangkok, I actually went to Bangkok for a hiatus despite the negative rumors.
My mum, younger brother, girlfriend and I were boarding for AK880 scheduled at 8.25am of 7th Apr. Luckily there wasn't any flight delay. Must be attributed to the free AirAsia flight tickets, the airbus was full of passengers.
Suvarnabhumi Airport
The flight only took 2 hours and 5 minutes to reach
Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport from
Sepang LCCT. At 9.30am of Bangkok time zone, we were already stepping at Survanabhumi Airport.
In comparison to KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport), the Suvarnabhumi Airport assembles a much simpler architectural design. Though a practical design, but nothing really special to shout about in terms of building architecture.
Right after claiming our luggage at baggage claim belt, we headed to
level 1, the bus lobby, to grab a taxi. At level 2, the arrival hall, limo services are easily spotted in sight, but I'm not ready to be conned with expensive limousine hehe.
The taxi terminal at level 1 is a managed service, and passenger has to pay additional 50 THB (5.1 MYR) on top of the taxi service rate. I thought taxis at the taxi terminal of Suvarnabhumi Airport are charged according to meter rate, but
they didn't.
I shown the address of my destination (
HI Bangkok Centre, Sukhumvit soi 25) to the taxi terminal counter and we were quoted
400 THB (40.8 MYR), inclusive of the taxi terminal service charge.
Though I thought the journey shouldn't cost as much as 400 THB, but we agreed with it, as the cost is quite comfortably handled, with division of 4 (we have 4 of us). Moreover, I don't want to spend the hustle of looking for alternative meter taxis, as it was my first time at Suvarnabhumi Airport.
About 35 minutes later, we have finally reached Sukhumvit 25, the place where we will be lodging for 2 nights. There wasn't any significant jam, and thus the journey was relatively fast.
HI Bangkok CentreI must agree that my vacation at Bangkok was somehow influenced by
Che-Cheh to a certain degree. Prior to the trip, I was searching the blogsphere for genuine travelogues to assist my planning, and I stumbled upon
Che-Cheh's Bangkok travelogue, which is in fact one of my highly preferred ones.
At first, I plan to book my accommodation at
Asia Hotel Bangkok, situated right in front of the Ratchathewi
SkyTrain station. However, after reading Che-Cheh's travelogue, I decided to just save on the accommodation, and go for the
HI Bangkok Centre Sukhumvit 25 instead.
After reading Che-Cheh's travelogue, I was convinced not to mind at the category "hostel" tagged to HI Bangkok Centre Sukhumvit 25. Photos published in her blog shown that this hostel is really a clean and sufficiently equipped facility.
On top of Che-Cheh's recommendation, my confidence with HI Bangkok Centre Sukhumvit 25 is also further boosted with the fact that it is
the first hostel in Asia and Pacific to received Hi Quality Assurance Certificate from IYHF head office in London.
HI Bangkok Centre Sukhumvit 25 is offering bed capacity of 1, 2, 3 and 6. Since we have 4 of us, I booked the triple sharing room, which costs only
1,296 THB (132.19 MYR) per night. This is undeniably an exciting rate to be found at Bangkok city, for a decent lodging facility.
At HI Bangkok Centre Sukhumvit 25, we were greeted with a friendly receptionist who can communicate quite well in English. With him, I also learned how to speak "thank you" in Thai language hehe.
In Thai language, the word "thank you" is slightly differing according to the gender of your intended recipient.
Thanking to male, speak as "
kop khun khrap". On the other hand, thanking to female, use "
kop khun kah".
Stepping into the room, I knew I've made the right choice to commit 2-night stay at this hostel. It's is relatively spacious, and equipped with sufficient amenities like TV, fridge, closet, air-conditioner, and private bathroom. Everyday, each resident is also given with a 600ml bottled water, and a complementary breakfast.
Activated carbons are found in the bathroom, serving as air purifier.
While traveling, I'm not too particular about the star rating of a hotel, but rather its satisfaction rating by visitors, and most importantly, the cleanliness. Even if the hotel is fitted with luxury facilities like swimming pool and sauna room, chances are I'll only have little time to utilize them.
If you share the same principal as I do, placing your importance only on the necessary amenities, facility cleanliness and strategic location, you will not go wrong with HI Bangkok Centre Sukhumvit 25. It's such a gem!
Have I mentioned that the HI Bangkok Centre Sukhumvit 25 is
located within 10 minutes walking distance from Asoke BTS station and Sukhumvit MRT station? What a convenient way to travel.
BTS is Convenient, but Not Cheap
In Bangkok, there are 2 systems of light rail networks -
BTS SkyTrain and
MRT. A lot of tourist attractions in Bangkok city are accessible by BTS network.
Buying tickets at BTS station is easy. Though the self-service ticketing kiosk only accepts coins, but no worry, each BTS station is furnished with change counters to serve your needs. Just tell the counter operator the amount of coins you need, hand him/her money note, and he/she will responsively return you with the exact change. This convenience is something
lacking in all the train systems in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. That's why, even though Putra LRT stations are furnished with a lot ticketing kiosk, but I rarely see them being utilized. Often than not, I always see foreigners pulling back and resort to the manual ticketing counter, after trying their hand on the automated ticketing kiosk.
Besides, BTS trains are also equipped with smarter sliding doors. I realized that the doors are actually fitted with sensors, which help in effectively managing the door opening time. If there are passengers going in and coming out, the door will not closed; similarly, it will only open for a very short duration, if no passenger movement is sensed.
Frankly, I must admit that the overall experience I had with BTS train system, is much better than any of the 4 light rail and commuter train systems (Putra LRT, Star Light Rail, Monorail, KTM Komuter) in Malaysia. As a visitor, I felt being valued when using BTS.
Though BTS is undeniably a convenient approach to travel in Bangkok city, but the rate is relatively expensive though. From Asoke (the BTS station nearest to HI Bangkok Centre) to Siam (the place where modern shopping complexes are centered), it costs 25 THB (2.55 MYR) per passenger, for the distance of 4 stations.
Rules of thumb,
if you're traveling in more than 2 persons, go for meter taxi. You will be surprised of how much cheaper you get, by traveling with taxi. However, the light rail train can save you from potentially chaotic traffic jam though.
Modern Shopping Complexes at Centered AreaAfter getting down from the Siam BTS station, we were practically spoilt with the city jungle of shopping complexes. The nearest ones to Siam BTS station are
Siam Center and
Siam Paragon.
Siam Center and Siam Paragon are both high budget shopping places, which assembles the class of shopping standard at Suria KLCC and Starhill in Kuala Lumpur. In fact, some of the international fashion brands available at Siam Paragon are not even found in Suria KLCC.
At Siam Center, modernly dressed Thai teenagers are everywhere. Pretty and young Thai ladies are also easily spotted here hehe.
The top-most floor of Siam Center is a food court. Upon entry, you will be given a credit card, which is to be swiped for recording transactions, everytime you purchased something in the food court. Then, after your meal, you shall pay the accumulated bills recorded in the card, before leaving the food court.
My girlfriend and I were not hungry, but simply itchy tongue ;) So we ordered a small plate of pork satay and a piece of puff called Chicken Triangle.
Siam Paragon is situated next to Siam Center. The whole building is enclosed with transparent glasses. Mind you, there are Ferrari and Lamborghini show rooms in Siam Paragon.
Not far from Siam Center, is another popular shopping complex
called MBK. MBK is the equivalent of Sungai Wang in Kuala Lumpur, in terms of shopping style. If the shopping budget at Siam Center and Siam Paragon doesn't appeal to you, MBK is definitely a better option. MBK is huge, and amazingly featured with a large number of shops of varying product and service types.
Due to its mass appeal, MBK is relatively crowded.
A food court is found at the 7th floor of MBK. Yes, we went there, again for food. We had seafood tomyam, which tasted so "ooooohhhhm"! Simply a satisfying indulgence. I'm now drooling while looking at the following picture :p
Bangkok ChinatownAfter coming out from MBK, it was already 7.30pm (Bangkok time zone), time for dinner. Instead of eating at the city, we decided to visit Bangkok Chinatown.
On the way to Chinatown, we were passing by Hua Lamphong railway terminal. I must admit that the Hua Lamphong railway terminal was really a picturesque place at night. I was very tempted to ask the taxi driver to offer a stop for me to take picture, but I didn't.
The moment the taxi is approaching Chinatown, the feel of Chinese environment can be instantly sensed. Finally, we came to a place surrounded by Chinese words. I have no idea if Thai Chinese in general could read the words, but generally most if not all of the shops at Chinatown are having Chinese names and wording on their signage.
Wherever there is Chinese, there is food. Bangkok Chinatown has no exception. One of the uniqueness of Bangkok Chinatown, is that almost the whole street is surrounded by stalls and restaurants offering
bird's nest and shark fin. There were so many of them serving these two featured foods. In average, a bowl of shark fin was priced at 300 THB.
Besides bird's nest and shark fin, seafood was also easily found at Bangkok Chinatown. Most of them were road-side stalls.
This is one of the famous (a lot people were eating at this stall) stall serving fried mee and kuey teow. There were a lot of newspaper cuttings for the review of this stall.
Personally, based on my experience, the foods crowded by Thai locals are generally tasted
too sweet for my liking. Worse still, the locals still like topping their meals with sugar!! OMG, why they have such a high tolerance towards sweetness.
To be continue, stay tuned for the next post ;)
