It feels great to be back again to Bangkok. This is one of my rituals when it comes to the start of the November school holidays. A short decompression trip is always good for re-charging especially so to break away from the hectic worklife.
It helps to refresh not only your mental but physical health being at the same time. As I have a $400 travel voucher from Scoot, I decided to use it for this trip of mine.
Upon landing at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport, I made my way to the airport basement to catch the airport rail to my all time favourite hotel, Pullman Bangkok Grand Sukhumvit which is just right opposite Terminal 21 building at Sukhumvit MRT station.
It is the most convenient and economical way to travel from the airport to the city without the hassle and stress of being caught in the traffic jam. Moreover, it only cost 35 THB for the single trip ticket to get to Makkasan station.
Thereafter, I will need to make a transfer from Makkasan station to the Phetchburi MRT station to get to the hotel.
Both stations are well connected by the covered sky bridge. Sukhumvit station is just one stop away and cost 16 THB per single trip ticket. Total cost to get from the airport to hotel is 51 THB compared to taking a taxi which can easily set me back by 400 to 500 THB. 😰
Tada….. I arrived at my destination in just under 45 mins.
As usual, check-in was at the Club Floor of the hotel. While waiting for the room to be ready, I was relaxing at the lounge and pampering myself with nice hot meal for breakfast.
Three Egg Omelette
Khao Tom Gai, Goong, Moo (Boiled rice with chicken, prawn and pork)
Raisin Brioche French Toast
Belgian Waffle
Topping it off with a cup of Hot Chocolate
Awesomely satisfying 😋😋. This is the reason why it is always my preferred choice of stay whenever I am in Bangkok.
Room is ready after my breakfast. Upon settling in, headed straight off to Siam Paragon for some retail therapy. Siam Paragon is 4 stations away via BTS from Asok station. Perfectly convenient.
I love the H&M outlet in Siam Paragon as the store carries a wide variety of clothing options for the ladies, mens and kids section. A place not to be missed!
Head off to the ground level for street snacks if you feel like munching.
The grilled pork is one of my favourite local street snack. Never fail to disappoint me. It goes extremely well with a portion of glutinous rice and that can easily form up a proper meal especially for the locals.
Next food trail is none other than Pablo. I find Pablo baked cheese tart way better than Hokkaido baked cheese tart.
The original & matcha versions are my personal favourites. They do offer seasonal flavours too. This time round they had the cineapple flavour and it tastes uniquely good.
While passing by After You, I decided to have a grab since there were hardly any queue though I was not particularly craving for it. It’s a case of 宁可杀错也不可放过 kind of mentality.
Banana nutella mille crepe
Strawberry crumble
Both desserts are simply heavenly. No wonder it’s touted as…. there is always room for desserts….
After a satisfying sugar rush, continue to burn off calories by more retail therapy at the next building, Siam Centre.
There are lots of eateries outlet in this building too. Food Republic is one of those who offers a wider dining options at affordable prices. You get to choose what you like.
Tom yum noodle with river prawn and shrimp paste. This is one dish not to be missed. Big succulent river prawn with mama noodle in tom yum soup.
Egg noodle soup with fish ball is one of my all time favourite must eat whenever I am in Bangkok. Just love the simplicity of this dish especially the springy egg noodle texture and the clear tasty soup base. In short, cheap and good! 👍👍👍
Chicken wings lovers, you will need to visit Som Tam for their signature fried chicken wings.
Garlickilious is all I can say… yum yum.
The crispy fried fish is great too.
Fried thai sausage is a good option for finger food snacking.
The hotel serves evening cocktails from 6pm to 8pm every night for club floor guests. Food quality guaranteed. With that, it marks the end of Day 1.
Woke up to a bright and sunny Day 2. Look at the beautiful view from my hotel room.
Started off my morning with the adrenaline rush at the hotel’s gym before proceeding for a well deserved breakfast.
A sumptious spread awaits.
After a hearty meal, proceeded out to Chatuchak weekend market, the largest market in Thailand.
This place is always jam-packed with tourists and locals. You can find almost everything you need there from clothing, plants, home decor, furniture, books, drinks and fresh & dry food, etc…
Interesting ice popsicles which is one of those rare find here.
Coconut ice cream is another highly sought after cooling item on a hot sunny day.
How to get to Chatuchak weekend market?
You can choose to travel via BTS to Mo Chit station or via MRT to Kamphaeng Phet station. It takes about half an hour from city centre.
Word of caution: Be prepared to sweat it out and brave through human traffic when visiting Chatuchak weekend market! Happy shopping!
Thereafter, I proceeded to The Esplanade, a shopping & entertainment complex at Ratchadapisek Road which can be easily accessible as it is located right beside National Cultural Centre MRT station.
Couldn’t help to to stop and took a picture of this push cart stall selling figurines steam buns which I thought it was adorable.
Since this is along the MRT route on the way back from Chatuchak weekend market, I do not mind stopping over to check out this place. Else, I would not recommend paying a special visit just for this place.
Dinner was at Hawker Chan on Level 5 of Terminal 21. Personally, I felt that the original stall back home is still more superior than here. The noodle texture is much more springy-er back home. You know what I mean if you are a noodle person.
Making a pit stop at Pier 21 is a must to settle my dessert craving.
Mango sticky rice
Durian sticky rice
You can only find small servings of both types of sticky rice here in Pier 21. This is especially important if you need to have the best of both worlds on your own. 😜
Thereafter, continued the balance shopping spree at Terminal 21 for the rest of the night to conclude Day 2.
Sawadeeka. Day 3 started by waking up with the natural alarm clock. As usual, did my morning routine by hitting out to the gym before pampering myself with a good breakfast.
Love their egg noodle soup with meat ball and cauliflower. The soup base is super tasty coupled with my own chilli condiment which I concocted.
Red cut chilli with chopped coriander and thai fish sauce. Simply mouth watering.
Nice fluffy pancake with generous serving of maple syrup
Butter croissant comes straight and fresh from the oven. It was so good that you could even taste it on its own.
After breakfast, I went to do my rounding at Emporium and EM Quartier for the afternoon.
EM Quartier is conveniently located right beside BTS Phrom Phong station which is just one stop away from Terminal 21 Asok station.
Lunch was at Man Fu Yuan Kitchen on the 8th floor of the Helix Quartier. I will try to make it a point to dine there when I happened to be in Bangkok.
Sichuan hot & sour soup
Seafood with beancurd in think soup
They are really generous with the ingredients. You can literally get chunks of diced prawns and squids in every mouthful.
Teochew dumpling with peanuts
Salted egg yolk custard buns
Fried radish cake with XO sauce
Pan fried minced meat with salted fish
Stir fried beef with vegetables & mushrooms in oyster sauce
Seafood XO fried rice
After charging up, continue exploring the area.
Every retail mall in Bangkok is a food haven. You will be spoilt for choice when you are at the Ground Level of EM Quartier where food comes alive! Every stall that I come across, I can sense that they are calling out my name.
Came across Hokkaido baked cheese tart and without much hesistation, bought a piece and executed on the spot.
Even though there is nothing much to shout about, still can’t leave certain things alone. Need to action on it.
There are way too much local snacks waiting for me but considering how much my tummy can withstand, I need to prioritize based on my cravings index to decide the sequence of execution.
Next up is none other than Croissant Taiyaki, a fish like pastry snack which I have a soft spot for as well.
The green tea custard filling is my personal recommendation should you want to try. Oishi!
After completing my rounding session, I went over to Big C Supermarket opposite Central World for my grocery shopping. I took a BTS from Phrom Phong to Chit Lom station.
From Chit Lom station, it is about 10 mins walk through the Ratchaprasong district sky walkways and connect up to the Gaysorn Walk to reach Big C.
The crowd never fails to disappoint me whenever I am there. Tourists and locals combed through this place with loads of loots piled up on their trollies. You will be overwhelmed when you see it for the first time which I encountered previously as well.
You get to see many happy faces after checking out of the cashier counter and needless to say, I am one of those happy faces. 😊
These are some of my prized loots for the day. 😍
After helping to generate the Thai economy, proceeded back to the hotel to relax & enjoy the rest of the night.
Chilling out at the club lounge and enjoying sweet sensations.
A relax and peaceful way to end another great day.
Started Day 4 with a wet morning. Weather was gloomy and cooling. I started the day early as I have to cover a few places today as this would be the only day left to do so. As usual, I hit the gym prior to going for my breakfast.
Immediately after breakfast, started my day with MBK being the first stop.
It has been a while since my last visit to MBK. I used to frequent one of the tailor shop in MBK in the past before I switch tailoring to Ho Chi Minh City. You can find Muay Thai related items as well as mobile accessories items on the 4th and 5th level.
The food hall in MBK is one of the must visit place to satisfy some of my fixes.
Fried mama noodle with chicken and herb spice. Some stalls have it in dark soy sauce version. Both versions are equally good and delicious.
Fish maw soup – one of those cheap and good food option. Generous serving of fish maw and chicken at affordable prices.
After settling my quick fix, I continued to the next stopover at Siam Discovery.
Paying a visit to Loft is a must for me at Siam Discovery. Else, only time I can get to visit Loft is when I am in Japan. I just love the stuff at the shop. It is similar to Butter in Seoul.
From Siam Discovery, I moved over to Siam Centre to have a quick bite at Greyhound Cafe.
The star of the meal is none other than their signature Greyhound fried chicken wings. The wings are super champion. I always make it a point to order 2 servings of it per visit.
Oceanic Gang – Stir fried gang of seafood (mussel, shrimp, squid and clam) with olive oil, white wine, dried chilies, lemon and rosemary. Serves with garlic toasted brioche. The toasted brioche is so soft and compliments extremely well with the white wine sauce.
Immediately after Greyhound Cafe, I went up one floor to Food Republic Food Mall for my dessert craving.
Dumpling with coconut milk is damn solid and sinfully good. The chewiness of the dumpling balls coupled with the sweet and salty flavouring of the coconut milk makes it a deadly concoction. Sweet tooth lovers, this is one of those to die for stuff.
4 decently sized scoops of ice cream with thai tea, charcoal, mango and coconut flavours top with nata de coco and red rubies sprinkled with peanut at only 45 THB. What else can I ask for!
After happy belly, went over to Siam Paragon Gourmet Market for some last minute groceries pick up. I like the varieties much better than our Cold Storage, NTUC Fairprice, etc and are more upmarket in presentation. I must really give credit to the Thais in this aspect as they really take pride in showcasing their presentation especially when it comes to F&B.
Chanced upon this Potato Corner near the food hall and ordered the BBQ flavoured fries for munching on the go. The potatoes are tasty though it would be more perfect if it could be more crunchy in texture. 🤔
Thereafter, I went over to Siam Square (directly opposite Siam Paragon) for another dessert fix at White Flower Factory.
Thai tea mille crepe
Thai tea fudge cake
Oh mine, the cakes are awesome and highly recommended if you are an avid cake lover.
Dinner was at Kalpapruek (Central World). This restaurant serves authentic Thai flavours comfort food. Simplicity and delicious is the key to their popularity amongst the locals.
Deep fried Pork Larb Wonton
Deep fried curry fish cake with cucumber salsa
Deep fried egg noodle with chicken and shitake mushroom in thickened sauce
Rice with stir fried basil chicken served with soft boiled egg
Quick-fried water morning glory in chilli and soy sauce
Food quality is simple and good. Try it and let me know what you think.
We were totally tired out after the entire day out with an early start and late finish. It was certainly a fruitful day and a great way to end an eventful Day 4.
Day 5 was home coming day. Did my routine morning workout before enjoying my one for the road breakfast. Thereafter, prepare to pack up and get ready for checkout at noon to catch my flight back at 14:55 hrs.
As there is still some time before going to the airport, I took a leisure walk within the vincinity to make full productive use of my balance time.
Well, it’s time to bid farewell to the hotel and make my way to the airport.
Going back via public transport is hassle free and economical as always.
Time really flies when you are having good time. 5 days 4 nights decompression break just ended with a blink of an eye. Anyway, it was a great trip as usual.
Now I will be looking forward to my upcoming year end trip to Busan and Seoul which will happen in a month’s time. Bye for now!
One thought on “Decompressing in Bangkok from 17 Nov to 21 Nov 2017”