"Holla! City of squalor!"

Day #37 - Day in Bangkok

In case people don't understand my title reference, go watch "the Hangover 2". ;)

Although Turkey has now become my favourite country, Bangkok remains my favourite asian city. I liked it three years ago when i went to the markets and the temples, but i liked it even more this time.



We had to get up at FOUR OCLOCK in the morning to catch our flight to bangkok. The flight is only an hour long so obviously we just napped the whole way. Upon arrival, we made our way through the airport to send a package. Over the last month, i have accumulated a few items that no longer fit in my pack. Most items were stuffable, but the key items i needed to send were my beloved starbucks mugs.


I am obsessed with starbucks mugs. I was super upset when i couldnt get one from istanbul (i went to three starbucks and none had it!!). Probably a bad item to collect since they are big, bulky and heavy. I blame you, devin, for fostering my addiction. Anyway, along with these two, i also shipped the mykonos one. If anyone needs future bday present ideas for me, this is it :) but holy crap, shipping four kilos back home costed me $70 :( future note to self, leave room for mugs.


When in Asia, I generally try and avoid street food because I dont want to get sick. But coleman on the other hand will eat anything. We came to a compromise and found a very busy and popular street food shop that sold chicken and noodles or chicken and rice.


It's been one day since that bowl of noodles and i havent gotte sick yet. I think im safe.



After that light lunch, we headed towards chaktuchak market, aka. JJ market. This weekend market is absolutely massive, with more than ten thousand shops and stands, it sells everything from pots and pans to clothes to food to even pets.


First mission was to find the delicious coconut ice creami had three years ago. We walked the whole perimeter of the market. Before finding the icecream, we found this tea maker...essentially the same delicous flavour of hk style milk tea but with a show.


All in the different sections of the market had food available...things like grilled squid, kebaps, thai stir fries, etc. The food stalls varied in size...from tiny small karts to large "restaurants" with a lot of table space.


After walking for a really long time, i finally found coconut ice cream served in a coconut shell with the coconut meat carved out. Deliciooous.



I loved it so much, i had two. Only after walking for a bit after the second one did i realize...i went to the wrong one!



THIS was the place i was looking for from three years back. Coleman thought i was nuts, but...i got my third coconut ice cream :)



The remaining of the time was spent shopping around, buying clothes and buying my new bruno mars hat.


Five hours later, we found a street vendor for grilled chicken. Last bit of snack before our massive meal tonight!


Taxi drivers are kind of annoying here. Sometimes when you get in the car, instead of turning on the meter, they give you an inflated price. This is in fact illegal, but since no one really checks..i doubt there are real repercussions...sigh. This happened to us a lot. Luckily, taxis qre quite cheap here.


After getting back to the hostel, and cleaning up, we went to the main shopping area of Bangkok. The Siam Paragon is a masssssive high end mall that has every expensive brand name imaginable. Hermes, mulberry, chanel, porsche, Lamborghini, bentley, etc. We took a quick look around...feeling that the area was too rich for our blood, so we went to the nearby second mall.

After a nice stroll through the nice malls, we went to the Shangri-La hotel for dinner. The Next2 restaurant is supposedly considered one of the best high end buffets in Bangkok.


My first course consisted of octopus and salmon sashimi, cali rolls, norwegien smoked salmon, and new zealand shucked oysters. There was also seaweed salad and some sort of crappy lobster.





There was a very large variety of food from thai to italian, indian to chinese, and a whole bunch of yummy desserts.





My second course cosisted of...
Spare ribs in bbq sauce, black squid ink pasta in garlic cream sauce, sea bass in cream sauce, grilled eggplant, fingerling potatoes and roasted leg of lamb with balsamic gravy. Yummmmy. Oh and salmon in orange juice sauce but that was gross.


Next course, more lamb.


Next course, more oysters and smoked salmon


Next up, every dessert on the table.











Ok so what i got was...
Tapico with coconut milk and melon, layered cake (of lichee, chocolate and vanilla), white brownie, green tea chocolate tart, creme brulee, pear crumble...


And green tea and thai tea ice cream with chocolate soufle.


Considering the amount of dessert i had, im pretty sure it could have been a meal in itself.


Fyi though, service was pretty terrible. Our plates were not cleared very often and our water wasnt filled until we hunted a waiter down. Considering it was $63cad a head, we expected a bit more. The food was nice, but i still dont think it was worth the price.


The view from the shangrila was quite nice...

















On average our taxi rides (around 20 to thirty minutes) costed us around 60 thai baht, which is about $2cad. Cheapnesssss


Even though we were super tired, we needed to make one stop to Khao San Road- the backpackers haven of Bangkok.


It kind of reminded me of Mykonos except more asian. The whole entire street is full of bars, clubs, shops, fast food places, street food karts, street performers, massage shops and TONS OF PEOPLE.








I didnt visit this street last time i was here since i was with my mom, and this time, our time was too short here. The next time i visit bangkok (which i definitely will), i am going to come back and see whay Khao San has to offer :)


Annnnd so, finally, after getting up at four in the morning, survivng a hectic 24 hrs in bangkok of running around, we head back to our-one-night hostel for some rest before we head to Cambodia the next day


Bangkok has lived up to my expectations once again. An amazing place to visit to have fun, to see and experience culture, and to eat delicious food. I will be back again for sure!


Next stop? Siem Reap, Cambodia.
Its widely known that border crossing from Thailand to Cambodia is sketch. Its one thing to read about it, its another to see it for yourself. Lol.

Location:Bangkok, Thailand