Some Thailand Firsts
April 13th, 2008Just had some friends come visit Bangkok and although it has been a tiring past 2 weeks, I must say having them around has definitely been a blast. Was able to do some stuff in Thailand for the first time since I moved here almost 7 months ago (has it been 7 months now??).
Some of the stuff I got to do for the first time:
1. Hang out in Oriental hotel – Got to check out the Oriental Hotel by the Chao Phya River with Corrie and Cesar. This place is supposedly one of the best hotels in the world. In fact, it was even listed in the book 1,000 places to see before you die. So glad I was able to visit it and take some pictures in the famed Author’s Lounge.
2. Relaxing in the massage chairs in Central Mall after a long day of shopping – After a long day of walking and shopping with my friends, we decided to try out the massage chairs displayed in the mall. Ended up staying there for about 30 minutes! Will definitely do this again 😛
3. River Cruise by the Chao Phya & antique shopping in River City Mall – Decided to try out the River cruise along Chao Phya. It was really relaxing and got to see a different side of Bangkok. It’s so amazing how that part of town is actually part of the bustling city. It all looked so peaceful and provincial with all the houses along the river having small docks and mini rowboats docked along their sides. After the river cruise, my friends decided to do some antique shopping in the River City mall. I’m sure you guys wouldn’t be surprised that I didn’t enjoy this part much. Ended up striking a conversation with a 3 year old kid while we waited for our ‘mommies’ to finish their antique shopping.
House along the river
4. Eat in Erawan Tea House – Got to try some real good Thai food in a restaurant that’s real near my place. Yum!
5. Hang out in Vertigo – Read about this bar located in the 60th floor of Banyan Tree Hotel. It’s on the rooftop of the hotel with a great view of Bangkok. Despite the steep prices, the view and the ambiance made it all worth it.
6. Kanchanaburi – Another chance to go out of Bangkok. My friends and I hired one of the Unilever drivers to take us to Kanchanburi province about 2 hours from Bangkok. Highlights of the trip were the feeding the elephants, taking a ride on them and of course the pictures with the tigers and their cubs. Actually got to pet them (of course the grown up tigers were asleep) and squeeze the paw of a tiger cub!
7. Eat in Blue Elephant – after our Kanchanaburi trip and a good hot bath, we all decided to eat in Blue Elephant, a popular Thai restaurant and cooking school. It was a very quaint place with a bar on top and served very good authentic Thai dishes. Definitely planning to go back.
8. Doing the BTS end to end – Planned to do some Chatuchak shopping the next day followed by a trip to the Jim Thompson outlet store. This meant having to go end to end of the BTS Sukhumvit line. We decided to buy a day pass for this and it was actually my first time to go to the On Nut station.
Some paintings in Chatuchak that my friend and I wanted to buy. Will definitely go back to buy.
All in all, despite having a very packed itinerary and very little rest in between, it was a great week! Had so much fun exploring Bangkok and Kanchanaburi and discovering new places and sights. And of course, best part was having my friends come over and spending time with them and catching up. Missing them all…
Friends for life…