Day 3 in Bangkok is all about shopping and eating, drinking and some enlightening experiences. We once again all met up in the morning and today the plan is first to head to Jaktujak weekend market. If you have not been to Bangkok before then Jaktujak is basically a huge market comprising of about 9000 stalls arrange is sort of a semi circle or triangle format.
You can seriously get lost in this area because there are 2 "rings" which are of course called outer "ring"and inner "ring". Now the "ring" can be a bit confusing because since it is a ring you expect that when you walk one full circle you will get back to the place you started. However it only appears like a ring when you walk in there but it is more like a semi circle. Hence it is very easy to get lost but the entire area is divided into sectors and as long as you follow the sectors it is easy to navigate.
We got there and it was really hot so the first thing Ee Von suggested was a nice and cooling drink....
After we had our fill of nice cooling coconut water then we started to walk around and discover the area. There were so many thing on sale and the good thing is there are not 1000 stalls selling the same thing. Every stall was selling different stuff and my eyes couldn't take it all in. One of the first stalls we walked in was a hat shop...
After a while we decided that the interest for the girls were very different from the guys. So we split up and walked our separate ways and we will gather back at a certain time at the clock tower. As Chong and I were talking around we saw an army surplus shop and just as we were about to go in, we saw a guy coming out dressed in army boots, camo pants and an army t-shirt. What took our attention was the fact he was wearing what seems to be like a helicopter helmet complete with the sun visor and also the communication units. Chong decided to ask him where he got it from and he said from the army. He was actually an actual army officer and was wearing his actual helicopter helmet as a motorcycle helmet and sun glasses. Now that is cool.
We walked around for about an hour or so and it started raining. Chong and I scouted a place for lunch and drinks and when it started to rained we chilled out there and were joined later by the girls. Nothing like having a nice cool alcoholic cocktail while it rained outside...
After the rained slowed and we had some lunch, we resume the walk and this time around the art section where we just had lunch. The art section was selling all kinds of art stuff for your house and it was fantastic. They even have places you can ship your art back to where ever in the world.
Just before leaving Jaktujak market we went to JJ mall and while the girls continue to shop (oh yea you better believe it ok Jaktujak is a shoppers heaven for ladies), Chong and I decided to cool down with some....
This is something very surprising, in Thailand Swensen is superbly popular. So far most of the Swensen we passed at almost anytime of the day is packed. In Malaysia it is hardly packed and I only know of 2 Swensen outlet. In Bangkok there is at least one in each mall and they are packed right to the brim. They even have to put tables outside of the outlet and it is still packed. Shows the different culture and taste at different parts of the world.
Anyway after the refreshing Swensen Sundae, we walked back to the BTS station and went to Heartland Health Spa for a good ole Thai Massage. This place is dem popular because the day before we also wanted a massage but when we got there it was totally packed to the rafters and we couldn't get an appointment. So we had to make a booking for today. This place is not like normal Thai massage places in KL where they can maybe accommodate 10 at the most 20 people at one time. This place I think can easily accommodate 100-150 at any one time and Ee Von told me that this is a smaller outlet. The place she goes is even bigger.
After 2 hours of good Thai Massage, we again adjourned back to Banyan Tree to refresh ourselves while waiting for dinner time. Before heading out for dinner we had to go to the building beside Banyan Tree to meet up with Chong's friend. They were there with a bunch of friends playing badminton and guess what they made me do.....
Oh yea had to borrow Chong's belt and someone's racket because they persuaded me to play a game of badminton with them. How many people can say they went to Bangkok got "honeymoon" and ended up playing badminton. Haha.
After the game of badminton we went to the Silom area to look for some good old street food. The ladies were like just came out of jail type people. Everything also want to makan and we ended up with...
The pork rice was absolutely good and the noodles were not too bad as well. We also had a plate of pad thai which was ok ok only and another bowl of pork soup which was pretty good stuff. After dinner we were feeling a bit hot and decided to head for a drink. We ended at Telephone bar which is actually a gay bar. It was an enlightening experience and the crazy thing was there were actually alot of super handsome guys there. Even I couldn't stop staring at the guys there. Just to give you a taste....
Can you imagine that Amy didn't want to take pictures with these 2 hot specimen of guys in the first place? I had to actually convince her to go and take it then only she went. Madness!! If there were 2 hot chicks there and there are no one crowding to take pictures of them confirm I will be in between them. Haha.
Anyway Chong and Ee Von left around 11 something and since Amy and I had 2 drinks coupon for Vertigo we decided to check it out. Lucky we did because it was an AMAZING sight....
Basically what Vertigo is, it that it is a bar and restaurant at the roof of the Banyan Tree Bangkok hotel. From that vantage point you can see the entire Bangkok city. It was a sight to behold but unfortunately it start to rain and we couldn't have a drink up there. The staff was gracious enough to provide us with a umbrella so we can walk around a bit and take pictures.
Since it was raining and Vertigo was closed, we went to Latitude bar which is slightly lower but still with spectacular views. We ordered.....
We decided to try something very Thailand and we ordered 2 drinks which was a Bangkok Express and one more I cannot remember. Mine had Chilli, lemongrass and kaffirlime leaves in it. It was quite interesting and the initial hit of chilli was a bit weird. However as I drank more it was tasting better. Amy's cocktail was quite interesting as it was milk base and had cinnamon in it. Quite good as well. We also got hungry so we ordered....
We did have a 30% discount on all F&B ordered at the hotel so we took advantage of it. After all the alcohol (3-4 glasses of Singha at Telephone bar and cocktail) we were getting a little tipsy and decided to call it a day.
Unfortunately it would be the last day we have in Bangkok tomorrow. Stayed tuned.
