Day 7: My many stops in Bangkok for a day (Oct 2014)

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Friday, 24th October 2014

Determined to fully utilised my 1-Day BTS Pass, I decided to make as many stops as possible today to make my 130 Baht go a long way.

From my hotel at Wong Wian Yai Station, I took the BTS to National Stadium Station where the Jim Thompson House was another 5 minutes walk away. This was hidden beneath a walkway in a rather secluded location. Next, I continued my skytrain journey to Siam Square where I had breakfast at McDonalds at the bottom of Amarin Plaza.

After breakfast, I continued to the JCB lounge within the same building for some refreshments while making use of the complimentary wifi facilities. The staffs were pleasant even though I was not a Japanese National, they made me feel really welcome.

No visit to Bangkok would be complete without some temple hopping and massage. Within downtown Bangkok, the Erawan Shrine immediately came to mind. Very popular among locals and tourists, the four-faced Buddha is considered to be divine. A general belief was that if one's prayers got answered, he or she needs to return to the shrine to thank the gods for their blessings.

For my massage, I decided to try out the Healthland Spa Sukhumvit branch after checking out the nearby Terminal 21 Shopping Mall. A two-hour traditional massage set me back for 500 baht in a no-nonsense setting. This was probably one of the cheap thrills of the day for me.

From Healthland Spa, I decided to walk a couple of blocks north to Café Little Spoon for my dessert treat. The strawberry ice-cream waffle was yum yum at 180 baht.

From the café, I took the BTS to the futuristic Central Embassy Shopping Mall for some picture taking opportunities. Even if you could not afford to shell out thousands of baht for the major brand names, it was certainly worthwhile to check out the beautiful restrooms. The same sky train brought me straight to the Bangkok Fashion Outlet where I landed myself a red jersey from Umbro.

In the evening, I took a train to the Saphan Taksin BTS Station where I boarded a complimentary ferry to the Asiatique Riverfront. I probably spent less than 15 minutes at Asiatique taking pictures of the massive ferris wheel and the beautiful waterfront. Instead, for the rest of the evening, I spent my time shopping at Robinsons before ending my day with a dinner at Black Canyon Coffee.

This was a day where I covered some of the old favourites while visiting the new places that had sprung up in the city. It helped to inject some surprises along the way during my 4 years of absence from the city.

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