Day Three: Bargain and the Best

After the cruise, a lengthy shower capped off our day. As we were in a relaxed mode for most of the day, it was easy to cool down to sleep.

Our alarm sounded at 5am and we were able to leave our room dressed up by 615am for breakfast. By 645am we took a cab and headed to the infamous Chatuchak Weekend Market.

The ride going here (140 baht) from our hotel is the most expensive we’ve spent on to reach a destination. Hence, taxi riding to navigate Bangkok is fine for those who are not so very good on train rides and walking distances. (Although most malls are directly linked to train stations).

We told ourselves to just limit our shopping to one small plastic bag of pasalubong since we felt we have already committed shopping gluttony just on our first day at Bangkok. Although, since we were at our last day and I had still not accomplished my goal (to find a crisp dressy tops, a cocktail dress with an umph and at least three pairs of stunning cheap shoes), I bargained with my friend and pleaded to be allowed to have more shopping bags to bring home from the market.

The Bargain:

For only two thousand baht, I was able to accomplish my goal with extra bonus buys such as socks for my badminton club pals and cutesy Thailand pens for my friends at work. I was also able to buy three girly skirts and handcrafted statement shirts. I also brought home some cheap-priced rosemary herb and Pad Thai spices for mom’s cooking. Had there not been a baggage limit, I would have also bought lots of the very affordable home pieces especially the brass electric fans. Had quarantine not been an issue and had I been ready to enter into another relationship with a pup, I would have brought home the cheap-priced cutesy puppies with papers. My friend and I lost sight of each other and I was not able to locate our agreed upon meeting place so we ended up meeting at the hotel instead.

In the next few days, you’ll be seeing me donning my Bangkok buys. (Watch out for my blog posts!) Let’s put it this way… my Bangkok clothing purchases can last me a month of non-duplicating get-up.

I used to think that Florida outlet store shopping… Marshall bargain-shopping… and TJ Maxx shopping were overwhelming. Chatuchak shopping is crazily overwhelming. Although, I was never able to find authentic Kenneth Cole, Coach, Liz Claiborne or MAC Cosmetics at Chatuchak while in the US Bargain Centers, I did.

The Best:

Siam Paragon is the best mall I’ve ever seen (Top # 1 on my list… Central World being Top # 2 and Gaysorn being Top # 3). It’s definitely better than anything we have in the Philippines, and no match to the huge US Malls I’ve been to. It’s lie the very elegant high-ceiling Serendra shops we have at Fort Bonifacio are placed inside a very spacious mall.

It has a collection of fine brands like Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Swarovski, even as it has fast food outlets at the ground floor. The stores have outstanding window displays, the department store has brilliant and creative center ceiling display and there is an extensive selection of cafes and restaurants where one can hang-out. The one which caught our eye because it displayed an affordable menu even if its interiors and offerings were at par (or even better) with our local Bizu Patiserrie, is Lenotre Paris. The tiramisu is very heavenly for something a little above 100 baht (not more than 150 pesos).

Siam Center is something like a teen fashion hub with concept and mall interiors attuned to the teen market. The mall is small and not high-ceiling compared to the very grandiose Siam Paragon, but it is very interestingly creative and unique with its lighted ad boxes with witty fashion statements and escalators with wacky graphic designs. This wins the prize for most creative and most interesting mall for me.

Siam Square is the oldest and the most dilapidated amongst the three Siam sister malls. It has a variety of very cheap start-up retail shops though. This would remind you of Greenhills Theatre Mall.

The best part: Siam Discovery Center which is comparable to Hong Kong’s Ocean Park water tunnel. It’s found under the Siam Paragon.

The best buys: The Triumph and Wacoal sale underwear inside the Siam Paragon department store.

The bummer part: The long taxi line we had to endure on our way back to the hotel.

Anyway, since we already checked out before we even left for the Siam malls (we just left our bags at the hotel lobby), our taxi going back to the hotel was also the taxi which brought us to the airport.

We had our dinner at the airport at the Sex and the City-inspired Tate Café. I tried their best seller, Breaded Chicken in curry sauce. Very unique and tasty, yet the serving was not too generous. It was filling though. My friend’s dish is mediocre though (Roast Pork Strips). I’d have to disagree with my friend – this café serves the Best Pad Thai.

Our flight was delayed as usual (Cebu Pacific) so we ended up sleeping at the cold steel chairs of Bangkok’s airport (no couches or padded seats like those in California or JFK).

The best part: We had a peaceful, good-smelling seatmate on our flight back to Manila.

The bummer part: The new NAIA Terminal Three operations suck. The Duty Free shop still not opened… Announcements were on tarpaulin… Signage billboards were handwritten… No banks or functional ATMs. The supposedly billion-peso airport had dysfunctional baggage rollers, not so sparkly tiles and small mediocre restrooms (the restrooms at this SLEX Gas Station are way better).

With God’s blessings, I am up to travel Hollywood, Europe, Singapore and Malaysia within the next 24 months. Stay tuned.

Bangkok: A Mall-rat’s Guide (An Anti-cultural Travel Guide)

I am very cultural. I love museums, architecture, cultural shows, safaris, plays, libraries and the like. Yet, given three days with my boss and friend who is a self-proclaimed anti-cultural, I was forced to make an itinerary which was shopping and relaxing based.

Our flight was delayed. We arrived at Bangkok at around 12:30am, despite the fact that we were supposed to be there at 11:30pm. Thankfully, after a long “No Air” flight (No, we do not mean that we listened to Jordin Sparks’ single the entire flight. We were seated behind, in front of and beside three or four families whose curry-eating fascination were converted to a very pungent body odor), our pick-up service was on time and was not difficult to find.

We arrived very hungry at the hotel because our last meal was at 6pm. Hence, with our US dollars not exchanged (airport rate was low) and with about 300 baht to spend (courtesy of my friend who just came from Bangkok), we went to the nearby 711 (a walk away from our hotel – Citi Chic Boutique Hotel) and bought ourselves some hotdog sandwich, some chips, chocolate and soda for some energy.

With carbohydrates and sugar overload after our midnight snack cum dinner, we slept at around 3am already. We were present for a very appealing and equally appetizing breakfast, come 9am. By 930am, we hit the streets.

Day One: Warm-Up Shopping Day

From our hotel at Sukhumvit Soi 13, for around 60 baht, our cab dropped us off at Central World along Ratchadamri Road. Since malls open at 1030 am, we arrived there and took pictures first as we still cannot come in. We walked instead, crossed the road via an overpass, and hit Big C Super Center. According to my friend, this is where the best Pad Thai is. Yet since most stores were closed yet when we entered, we did not find the mall appealing (for us, it was just sort of an SM Hypermart with grocery and a few shops). After few minutes of touring the mall, we decided to walk to the nearby side streets to find a money exchange. “Rich Money Exchange” along this side street near Big C offered us the best dollar-exchange rate (this is in comparison with the airport, banks and other mall money-exchange we went to on the other days).

With money to spend, we crossed the road once more and toured the very beautiful Central World. With its wide alleys, spotless clean tiles and escalators, huge stores with very creative window displays, I rank Central World as my Top 2 Best Upscale Mall in Bangkok. What should not be missed here are B2S (the multiple floored-bookstore like our Fully Booked or the US’ Borders and Barnes and Noble) and this trinket/home essentials shop (the name I’m still trying to recall) which is like a fusion of our Regalong Pambahay, Simple Joys and the US’ Crate and Barrel, beside 5cm (sort of like Topman or Abercrombie and Fitch). It can be seen near B2S. Their Zen Department Store and Jim Thompson are must-see spots as well. With our minds set on cheap wholesale buys, we ended up window-shopping only, though.

After marveling at the very spacious and very breathable Central World which for me is a bigger and better Shangri-La Mandaluyong Mall, we headed to Gaysorn which is an overpass walk away from Central World. This mall is not too big but is very clean, upscale and peaceful. This reminds me of Powerplant Makati. If you’re up for a quiet luxe brand shopping, minus the chaos and long-walking, this is the perfect mall for you. Not for us though. We ended up window-shopping again.

We used the overpass again and headed to Amarin Mall and Erawan Mall which sits side by side each other. Amarin has a good food court (where we ate our lunch using prepaid cards which you purchase by a counter at the food court’s entrance, before you go to the individual food stalls) but the mall is not very appealing to me because it is very dimly lit and is not too spacious. Claustrophobics may have a hard time in this mall. But for those up for cultural finds or yoga, this is the mall. Erawan Mall has a ground floor of food shops to brag about but their shops are very limited which is a turn-off for any shopper. This is a very small mall with shops which sell very expensive stuff. Cyber and Fashion Mall at Eastwood (Quezon City) has more retail offerings than this mall.

We rode a taxi to Platinum Mall - heaven and hell combined.

Why heaven: Good quality bargain finds are here.
Why hell: There are so much tempting buys. We ended up spending three-fourths of our money allowance budgeted for three days.
Why heaven: Items are really cheap (cheaper than 168 Mall at Binondo) but of really good quality.
Why hell: Anybody would be driven to buy a lot, he or she would end up carrying a bag-full of bargains with weight as heavy as a sack of rice.
Why heaven: It’s air-conditioned and not too cramped as Divisoria or Megamall during sale.
Why hell: Platinum is seven floors of temptation.
Why heaven: This is where we discovered that their ATMs can dispense money from our local Union Bank payroll ATM. Had we not known, we’ll end up missing opportunities to eat in great restaurants at China Town and Kao Shan. Had we not known, we have no money to spend for Chatuchak.
Why hell: Upon returning home, we realized, we withdrew all our money from our payroll, even money supposed to sustain us for the next fifteen days (before next payday).

Tip: Buy from the unique retailers with nice-looking stores and not just from those who offer bargain. Even the nice stores offer good bargain, so opt to buy from them. If you simply buy from any store, you’ll end up getting items you also see in Greenhills or Tiendesitas. Bad….

We later rode a tuk-tuk to MBK Mall.

Tip in tuk-tuk riding: Know the distance of where you’re going and have in your mind an estimate of a price of an air-con metered taxi ride going to your destination. Platinum and MBK are not too far but our bags were very heavy to carry while walking. We were initially offered 150 baht for our ride. Knowing a cab rate, we haggled at 50 baht.

The mall is also a bargain place but it had a confusing lay-out of stalls hence we were not enticed to buy. We had a "700-baht only" good dinner at Fuji Japanese Restaurant though (the said inspiration of Sumo Sam… Also, one of Chef Florabel Co’s favorite restaurants). Fuji is found in most “high-traffic areas.” They have in some ground floor of office buildings at business districts. They also have in Siam Paragon. A long waiting-list is expected though, when eating at Fuji.

Another thing that shouldn’t be missed at MBK is the Giordano store which offers best discounted prices compared to those stores they have in upscale malls.

For about a 100 baht, we rode a taxi back to our hotel to rest and deposit our shopped items, before we headed to another bargain capital – The Suan Lum Night Market.

For less than a 100 baht for a taxi ride, at 8pm, we headed to our next shopping destination – Suan Lum. If we said that Platinum and MBK sold cheap stuff, this place sold cheaper stuff. We saw magnets at MBK and Big C being sold at 40-80 baht each. Here, we bought four magnets for a 100baht. My friend bought most of her pasalubong here. I would have bought my dad and my brother their shirts here had I not shopped for them at MBK. I bought a nice and decent cocktail dress here at 400 baht. Perfectly imitated Havaianas were also sold here at 300/pair. We bought some stylish tops here (for my mom), some cheap but nice Thai-inspired classy home accents like placemat and coaster sets, pewter, etc. The place is not too jam-packed as Platinum even if there were lots of good finds. They actually have a section of home pieces there with lamps, furniture and accessories for the home. Had I possessed money for extra baggage or extra shipping, I would have bought a number of items here.

The best part we enjoyed about Suan Lum though is the very cheap 250-baht, one-hour foot and leg massage (back and head included as bonus) we had after a long day of walking. The pressing of the pressure points and aching parts was so precise and masterfully done, that it enabled better circulation of our blood. Proof? We slept soundly and undisturbed (no in-between sleep waking-up moments) from 11pm to 11am the next day. We unintentionally missed breakfast because we slept that restfully. Another proof, after weeks of delay, my friend finally got her monthly period.

This was just Day One.