bangkok, thailand – day 1

Ayala Avenue lang ang peg.

When we landed in Thailand, we headed straight to the taxicabs lined up at the side of the airport. They have a good system for the airport taxis – a woman writes down the address and the drivers themselves queue up to wait for passengers – and the prices were reasonable. Payment is meter price plus 50 Baht (THB) surcharge. The woman manning the desk said fare to Sunflower Place is usually 350 THB by meter. We ended up paying only 340 THB, surcharge and other fees included.

Sunflower Place is tucked in a quiet street fronted by massage parlors, so print out a map as the driver might not know the way.

We looked at the streets from inside the taxi, and Bangkok’s Silom Road really looks like Makati CBD, only with stalls and stalls of food. It’s not as humid as in Hanoi.

Sunflower Place is charming. I highly recommend it. The staff when we were there were helpful, and there was free water (hot and cold) and coffee in the lobby any time of the day. Security is also topnotch, with CCTVs and a swipe card for the door, to make sure that only guests can enter the hotel. And it’s cheap! Saan ka pa? We paid 45 USD each for two triple beds for our entire stay there.

I know there are money changers in Bangkok, but we had to pay the hotel in Baht before we could check in, so we had no choice but to go to Bangkok Bank. Their exchange rate is  2 PHP for 1 THB, or around 30 THB for 1 USD. Lugi ang mga lola. We were expecting a 1.4 peso to Baht rate. Oh well. The budget goes flying out the window.

(Protip: Ask for coins. You’ll use those in the train.)

We had some squid balls before going back to the hotel to pay, just to tide us over.

McDonald’s for lunch. Their default size for fries and drink is Large. (In the PHL, you need to pay more to get a large anything.) I couldn’t finish mine.

The nearest BTS station is Saladaeng. We got off at Siam to get to Siam Paragon. I am envious of their train and their train system. Walang MRT level na siksikan. Inggit.

Nice mall.

Madame Tussaud’s.

As expected, we didn’t bother with the interactive displays and informative signs inside.

We just –

You know –

– enjoyed ourselves.

We walked from Siam Paragon to Platinum Mall. It’s a long-ass walk. We made the mistake of not using the walkway, so we walked on the sidewalk under the hot sun. Walk walk walk. I was so bone-tired I didn’t even want to think about that walk again. Wear something comfortable. Ghia and I were talking that we should have just brought our dependable Crocs.

Platinum Mall is actually two buildings, so don’t forget to visit the more diverse, and cheaper, Zone 2.

It started raining, so we ate in a Carl’s Jr. before going back to the hotel.

I haven’t seen a Carl’s Jr in a long long while. I raised my feet up. I could feel the pain of the walk around my hips. Outside, there were prostitutes walking in heels on the wet sidewalk, hawking their wares.