Advertisement
Published: August 19th 2015
My love for travel started when I went to Bangkok in March 2015 to attend an expo, BIFF and BIL(Bangkok Internation Fashion Fair and Bangkok International Leather Fair. It is an annual event in Bangkok where buyers, manufacturers and suppliers come to boost their business or to establish connections for future expansions. Some attendees are startups, like me, who wanted to find better options or other opportunites. Me and a friend wanted to start a business on bags so it interests me to attend.
It was supposed to be a solo flight but on the day before my flight I was chatting with a friend and mentioned about my trip. Out of nowhere I asked her if she wanted to come along so I won't be alone. Told her I've already booked the hotel so she just have to buy her ticket. After a long chat, she bought her ticket and quickly packed.
We arrived in Bangkok before ten in the morning. The train system is like in Singapore, it's connected to the airport, so convenient! It was a 45-minute MRT ride and another 10 minutes walk to our hotel. We were allowed to check
Ease Cafe at Impact Muang Thong Thani
I am adoring the looks of this cafe! I find it worth sharing.in early at no cost, and since the room that I booked is not yet available the hotel upgraded our room to Suite! After we settled our bags and changed, we head straight to the event. The hotel is one of the affiliated accommodations for the Expo event, there was an arranged shuttle bus to the Exhibition Centre. No hassle.
When we reached the event, it was overwhelming. I'm loving every inch of it. The view, leathers, fabrics, friendly people around, and bags! We've taken a few photos of the event and just feeling proud to be there and meet wonderful people. Most of the exhibitors are from Asia and Europe.
There's alot of interesting designs and patterns. Being there challenges you to be creative while being amazed.
The smell of leather is ecstatic.
Met some amazing artist, taken some notes, and bought few souvenirs (shoes, bags! Haha). We were hooked we didn't notice it was already 5pm.
Our goal for the evening: Tom Yum and the Ultimate Thai Massage!
We walk down the street of Ratchaprarop passed the night market and
My Favorite Stall at the Exhibit
She is Shinta, owner of Shinta Batik in Indonesia. I love her bags, combination of batiks and leather. finally we found a small restaurant that serves authentic "Tom Yum" soup! It was superb. We finished 'til the last drop.
Once we fill our stomach, it's time to shop! The street market sells cheap trendy clothes for as low as SGD5!
And last but not least, Massage! Near our hotel are a few spa parlor where they offer almost the same services. And you have to queue. All is full. I was shocked! It seemed that all tourist have to have their massage when they go Bangkok! Well, I'm a tourist and yes I want a massage, probably the rest thought the same. After waiting for almost half an hour, finally it's our turn. We picked foot and back massage. It started with foot soak and scrub and ends with hot thai tea. It was relaxing and soothing.
We woke up early the following day! We planned to eat breakfast outside. I love street foods so much and I wanted to try some on this trip. Their Iced Thai Coffee is refreshing! A must try. They are everywhere, almost every corner of the street in the morning. We went to
try some noodles and sausages on a stick. The noodles is a little bland, maybe because I love salty foods (yay!), but the sausages are yummy, there's an explosion of flavor because of the herbs in it.
We were slowly walking down few more blocks from the hotel sipping our iced coffee when we saw McDonalds! I was so amused, it's a must to have a photo of me with that on the background.
After a few shots, we noticed a Tuktuk parked next to us and thought of a good idea. Ride a Tuktuk to go around the area.
The Tuktuk driver is very nice, we were just asking him to drive us around the area and see the view, his reply is a thailand map and pen encircling places he wants to take us. The most surprising part is, the tour will only cost us 100 baht (SGD5). That was about 8am, so we have 3 hours of tour.
First stop, the Marble Temple or also known as Wat Benchamabophit Dusitwanaram Ratchaworawiharn. The Admission fee is 20 baht for foreigners. We were able to see different
images of Buddha found from various historic place in Thailand. Over a dozen of these Buddha Images were lined up beside the temple. This was my first visit to a Buddhist Temple and I fell in love with the scenery. It totally denotes history. I suddenly wanted to become a historian or anthropologist. The monks can be heard praying inside the temple and a small barrier was blocking the entrance but people can be seen going in. I have to see what's in there, so I sneaked in and found stunning view of the temple. The deep red ceiling was meticuously crafted with gold patterns, it's flabbergasting.
Second stop, the King Rama V Equestrian Monument at the Royal Plaza in Dusit, Bangkok. It is known as the first monument ever built for a Thai King and it stands there for over a century now. I felt honored to be there. It have a euphoric appeal, maybe because of its historic background or because of the love of its people that has been passed on to generations. It was still early, about half past nine in the morning and you can see people dropping by to pay respect
to their beloved king, pray, offer flowers (we saw lotus and roses) and lit a candle.
Third stop, at Gems Gallery International. This means one thing, time to spend! The moment you enter the gallery, a warm greeting from their staff welcomes you (1st sign that you have to spend, how can you resist such lovely smiles). You'll feel like a VIP, someone will be your personal tour guide (at no cost! 2nd sign that you have to purchase). Reminders, photo taking is not allowed inside the gallery for privacy reasons. You'll be guided to enter the dungeon of jewelry making. From conscientious cutting of a gemstone to melting of silver and crafting of gold. You are free to ask them anything about the whole process. We got a free lecture of the differences of gems. Most of it are mined in Thailand and few are imported from various countries such as Australia. We were assured of the quality of every jewelry on display. Well, they are ISO certified for a reason.
Yes, we end up spending but it was worth it.
Fourth stop, back to the hotel. We have to be on
time for checkout.
Throughout the tour, the Tuktuk driver was filling us with information about their country. He is one of the reason why I will forever cherish my first trip in Thailand.
After checkout at 12pm, we still have few hours to shop for souvenirs as our flight back to Singapore is at 4pm. We left our luggage at the conceirge and make a swift shopping. There's a nearby mall selling various souvenirs so we didn't have to hop to different places just to get all we need. What's fulfilling is, we found a shop selling wide ranges of shawls. I love shawls so much. I end up spending more for my shawls than the jewelry at Gems Gallery. That completes my lovely stay in Bangkok. A Kingdom in my Heart.
I told my self, I have to see more on my next visit.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.062s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 8; qc: 48; dbt: 0.0385s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
