Leading the wild into the ways of the man…
This is Hard Rock Cafe in Bangkok.
We went to the Hard Rock Café Retail Store…
…and got matching Hard Rock Café Bangkok 2006 Limited Edition t-shirts as a souvenir.
Update:
This is the matching tees that we got. It says 1991-2006 “15 Years of Rock” Hard Rock Café Bangkok.
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BTS or the Bangkok Transit System is the fastest and cheapest way to get around Bangkok. BTS is a train much like the LRT and they offer airport services via the BTS Skytrain network too.
The BTS trains are operated using a coupon system – the tickets are bought at the respective train stations…
…and used in the turnstiles to exit or enter the station.
The train station closest to Siam City Hotel Bangkok is Phaya Thai station (3 minutes walk) and the BTS network connects this station to stations which are in Pat Pong, Siam Square, Siam Paragon etc. Basically, you can get to anywhere you want to go in Bangkok city using the BTS.
This is what a BTS ticket looks like – it’s a coin operated vendor machine dispensed magnetic strip card that has a preloaded value onto it. Two train stops costs just 15 baht (about RM 1.50) so it’s the most affordable method to get around Thailand.
BTS trains are long and relatively new, much like its counterpart in Melbourne, Australia except that it runs on suspended rails instead of on the ground.
Here is a peek inside a BTS train. It’s usually packed with people at all times of the hour but the same thing can be said of Bangkok.
Sure, the BTS connects you to strange stations like On Nut and Mo Chit but get around the initial chuckle with the names and you’ll be fine. 🙂
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Koko is an eating establishment in the busy Siam Square district of Bangkok, Thailand. I went in with MDC coz she was really hungry and it’s the nearest restaurant.
Koko seems to be popular with the locals as a lot of Thai natives were in there when we walked in and only one person speaks English.
I take that as a good sign for authentic Thai food. The interior of Koko is nicely decorated with interesting pieces like this plant in a test tube.
I had Thai iced coffee (which tastes like the iced coffee over here) and MDC had mineral water since we both had the runs after eating street food the night before. The interesting thing about Thai tube ice is that it’s much smaller in diameter than ours.
Lunch was ordered a la carte with rice and this is the appetizer which we didn’t order. It’s raw prawns in chilli paste. Koko messed up our order something awful and they don’t speak English (except for one person, and he wasn’t that good) so it was certainly an interesting experience.
Macaroni cooked in Thai sauce was served up (which we didn’t order) and the waiter took it away and gave it to the guy behind us (who ordered it). Koko really needs to get their orders right.
This is curry pork which we DID order for once. 😉 It’s really good – the pork makes all the difference in the curry – and that’s the verdict from MDC and me.
We also ordered a dish of morning glory stalks which was really sweet and has an interesting texture.
The other dish we ordered is deep fried chicken which was alright. Koko serves good food but I cannot recommend it based on the mixed up orders which happened at an appalling rate.
The lunch set us back about 600 baht or so (RM 60) so it’s not cheap either…
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McDonald’s in Thailand has one important menu item that Malaysia doesn’t – pork. The Thai sure love their pork (and mangos) over here. I make it a point to go to McDonald’s in every country I visit (and managed to drag MDC with me despite her new found reluctance for all things McDonalds).
The McDonald’s at Siam Paragon (the newest shopping center in Bangkok) has a nice interior – there is ample seating and iPod stations for listening to music. I checked out the Thai McDonald’s menu and couldn’t read it so I got passed and English menu. I found four different menu items – McSalad Shaker, Samurai Pork Burger, McPork Burger and Pepper Chicken Burger and ordered them all.
Samurai Pork Burger (66 baht)
The Samurai Pork Burger was ordered as a large value meal so it came with fries and Coke. The Samurai Pork Burger is wrapped in an appropriately aggressive red wrapper.
Samurai Pork Burger consists of a pork patty topped with mayonnaise and lettuce. I don’t know what’s so Samurai about this concoction but it tastes great eating pork. Malaysia doesn’t server pork due to religious considerations.
McPork Burger (19 baht)
McPork Burger! I just love the name. McPork! McPork! McPork!
The McPork Burger is the lower end offering (equivalent to a no frills cheeseburger) priced at 19 baht (about RM 1.90) and it comes in a purple wrapper and has pork in it. Mmm…(Mc)Pork.
Pepper Chicken Burger (23 baht)
MDC ordered this one coz I ordered all the pork. The pepper chicken burger comes in a blue wrapper and tastes like chicken. 😉
Pepper Chicken Burger in Thailand is not slathered with pepper sauce but rather grounded pepper on a deep fried crumbly chicken patty. It’s alright, but it’s not pork.
McSalad Shaker (32 baht)
McSalad Shaker is the current promotion in Thailand and it’s salad in a plastic container with a choice of “Salad Cream” (mayo) or 1000 Island Dressing.
The McSalad Shaker in Thailand has REAL HAM as in ham made out of pork like God intended it to. MDC says it makes all the difference in the salad. It certainly made it very savory.
I put the Salad Cream into the McSalad Shaker…
…and shook it as per the instructions. It was quite fun actually, or perhaps I’m just retarded.
This is what the McSalad Shaker looks like after it’s been…er, shaken.
MDC and I agreed that it tasted great. They have cherry tomatoes, lettuce, carrots and most importantly – ham!
McDonald’s in Thailand is great if you have a hankering for pork since we don’t get pork in Malaysia.
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Mango Tango is a dessert specialty shop in Siam Square, Bangkok that found it’s niche in mango desserts. Thailand is famous for its mangos and they certainly like their mangos over here. Mango Tango offers a variety of mango desserts and is a franchise with chains all over the world.
Jia Chui had came here the previous night and she brought me and MDC here coz the Mango Tango outlet was supposedly very delicious – we were not disappointed. The front of Mango Tango has a nice display of fresh mangos and replicas of their mango desserts outside the counter.
The interior of Mango Tango is divided into two floors with seating arrangements for two and four. Mango Tango is very clean by Bangkok standards and the walls are adorned with phrases proclaiming the benefits of mangos. It has a really nice and cozy ambience.
Mango Tango (130 baht)
Mango Tango is their signature dessert and consists of a halved and partially diced mango served with a side of mango pudding topped with whipped cream and a ball of mango sorbet. It tasted really good – it’s THE must try flagship dish.
Mango Delight (120 baht)
Mango Delight is a selection of tropical and imported fruits served with huge mango chunks. It’s a great dessert for people who like fruit.
Mango Sticky Rice (100 baht)
Mango Sticky Rice consists of a scoop of mango sorbet, sliced fresh mangos and mangos with glutinous rice (sticky rice). It tastes surprisingly good – especially the mango mixed with sticky rice…it’s out of this world!
Mango Iceberg (74 baht)
Mango Iceberg is a dish with mango ice cream, milk sago and mixed fruits. It tastes a lot like cold bubur cha cha except it’s full of mangos.
The Thai sure like their mangos (and pork) and mangos are practically a national dish over here. Check out Mango Tango if you’re in Siam Square – it’s worth every single baht to eat the famed Thai mango desserts.
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Patpong is the red light district of Bangkok offering live topless and nude shows in the many alleys that has pimps (promoters?) offering live shows and girls. I went to Patpong just now with MDC to check out the place at night.
Patpong is a lot like Petaling Street and Jalan Alor combined together – it is full of narrow and crowded alleys with the sides lined with street vendors selling everything from t-shirts to BB guns. There are also bars and the relentless glow of neon lights advertising “Hot Go Go Girls Live Show” as well as massage centers (which don’t just give you a massage if you catch my drift).
Patpong is not just a red light district but also a shopping haven. There are goods ranging from bags…
…to attire…
…and shoes. It’s possible to get cheap stuff from here but you need to have strong bargaining skillz. I usually try and get discounts for bulk purchases and walk away if the price wasn’t right. It usually works – the vendor will beckon you back with a “OK, just for you, special price” and the deal is sealed. 😉
Patpong has a really lively nightlife that constitutes mostly of live shows of women in various states of undress. There are also pimps that would approach you to offer women or lap dances in addition to the various self-promoting girls standing outside their topless bars.
I was walking with MDC and got accosted many times by promoters despite the fact that I seem attached. I did want to go in and check out the live shows but MDC gave me THE LOOK when I casually brought it up. One promoter who saw that blurted “Girls can also see!” which I found rather funny and kept on bugging MDC about it.
She didn’t let me go so I’m sorry guys, the best I can do is show the outside of the clubs and strip dance places and the girls standing there:
Download: Patpong red light district video [sixthseal.com]
Patpong is a great place to go if you want to shop for cheap goods and catch a live sex show while you’re at it but I highly recommend that you leave your girlfriend or wife back at the hotel.
Trust me, you’re gonna thank me for it. 😉
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I woke up this morning and walked around during peak office hours to get some food. I wanted to check out the street food by the roadside (it’s kinda like a moving hawker stall) so I ended up going to this noodle place that a lot of Thai people were at so I assume it must be good.
The friendly girl manning the noodle stall didn’t speak much English but I managed to point at a dish that most of the people there are eating. It’s a noodle dish soup with a choice of original, round or green noodles and I chose the original one.
The tables are arranged around the hawker stall and plastic stools are available for patrons to sit on. I was a bit puzzled when a little boy handed me a tin cup filled with ice until he motioned to the water containers on the table (complimentary). Iced water! Sweet.
This is what the noodle dish (40 baht – around RM 4) looks like – it had more ingredients than noodles. There are pork slices, pork balls, pork dumplings (they sure love their pork over here) and another kind of smaller pork dumplings at the bottom covered by wiggly noodles and vegetables in soup. It tastes surprisingly good, it’s different from the noodle offerings back home.
I went to get some drinks after that and noticed a street hawker doing brisk business selling fresh, chilled local mandarin orange juice (20 baht – around RM 2). I saw a lot of people patronizing the stall so I deduced it must be good if local Thai office people were ordering it. The man at the stall is real friendly too and showed me how it’s done.
The local mandarin juice is really good – cold and refreshing after the hot soup meal. Check out the street food when you’re in Bangkok, it’s interesting.
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The tuk-tuk experience is a must have for first time Thailand visitors. Tuk Tuks are practically an icon of Bangkok – small motorized rickshaws that can seat up to three people at the back and it’s really fun to ride during breezy Bangkok nights.
The tuk-tuk consists of a driver (who usually drives in a manner that would make most professional F1 drivers green with envy with their daredevil weaving through traffic and general disregard for safety) who takes you on a comfortable seat at the back, which is partially sealed. I went with MDC (My Dining Companion) and Jia Chui (read previous post) for the tuk-tuk experience.
It is advisable to negotiate the fare before going coz we got charged 300 baht (RM 30) for a trip from Siam City Hotel to Siam Square (for a comparison, a metered taxi would cost 45 baht – RM 4.50) but it was worth it coz of the photo op and the experience. I bargained for 150 baht for the return trip. This shows me with the driver and Jia Chui at the back. MDC took the photo.
Download: Tuk tuk video [sixthseal.com]
Get a virtual tuk-tuk ride! The video shows the tuk tuk going through
Bangkok streets and also Jia Chui (but not MDC who must not be named,
or seen for that matter).
Tuk tuk drivers will also not-so-subtly encourage you to patronize certain outlets, e.g. we got asked many times if we wanted to go to a particular seafood restaurant by the return tuk-tuk but the first tuk tuk didn’t do that so YMMV.
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This is a public service announcement – The Platinum Fashion Mall in Bangkok is evil. It’s a wholesale emporium of attire, a shopper’s paradise and it will drain all your baht away. I think I spent 3,000 baht just on clothes just now.
The Platinum Fashion Mall has a lot of floors dedicated to all sorts of attire you can think of – I spent a lot of baht in one shop alone.
It’s called Marijuana. How can you not buy stuff from this place? I got a lot of t-shirts for myself and also – Cherie, Irene, Joanne, David, Jimmy and Robyn, I got you all stuff from this place, you’ll love it!
I ended up looking like this…and I’m not even much of a shopper! I just couldn’t resist the counter-culture, drug and sex reference t-shirts. The place is really cheap too, if you bargain, you can get probably 5 t-shirts for 500 baht (RM 50).
The Platinum Fashion Mall is a baht drainer coz it has its own food court as well so you can spend the entire day there if you’re so inclined (and you probably would if you visit every shop in this huge mall).
The food court at The Platinum Fashion Mall uses a coupon system for purchasing food. There were three of us, and we each got 100 baht credit coupon cards and shared the food.
I ordered Somtam (the famous Thai mango salad) with blue crabs and chicken feet (55 baht) and the mango salad was pounded into a dish that looked like this:
It tastes REALLY GOOD. I can’t describe how good it tastes, it was just so good that I nearly came while eating it. My dining companion (MDC from this post onwards to protect her privacy) and Jia Chui (a pharmacist from KL that I met at the hotel) both agreed somtam is THE SHIT.
Please do try Somtam if you’re ever in Thailand, it’s orgasmic!
Other highlights is this dish with really hot sauce (don’t know what it’s called) that was really good as well.
There’s also a local home made grilled bread that we ordered.
This is the chilli paste and pork floss version (15 baht). It’s great!
This is the Thailand tea custard version (12 baht) which MDC ordered. It tastes like tea custard.
Just be careful when you walk down the many aisles of The Platinum Fashion Mall…it’s temptation personified in a large concrete building. You’re going to spend a lot of baht here coz everything seems cheap.
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Sawadee ka! Greetings from Bangkok, Thailand. I just arrived yesterday and spent most of the night walking around. I’m staying at Siam City Hotel in Bangkok.
The flight from Kuching to KL to Bangkok was timed perfectly and Bangkok is one hour behind Malaysia (GMT +7) so I’m going to pre-date all the posts I make in Bangkok by one hour coz that is the time over here.
There is a Thailand immigration card that you need to fill in (both the arrival and departure details) so you can clear customs real fast (took me all of one minute). The immigration in BKK airport has one of those new Logitech webcams that swivel to your direction.
I arrived at Bangkok International Airport at 4:30 pm local time (that means the time in Thailand, not Malaysia) which would be 5:30 pm back home.
The people in Thailand are decidedly more polite and accommodating and friendly than the Malaysian counterparts (sorry, it just had to be said). Which part of it is due to the tourism industry is debatable but I haven’t had a bad experience so far.
I breezed through BKK customs via the green lane (who said Bangkok was strict?) and took a taxi to Siam City Hotel from the airport for 650 baht (about RM 65 or US $30) coz I wanted to do the tourist thing at night.
Download: Bangkok video [sixthseal.com]
Check out the video, I took it in the airport limousine service and the driver was kind enough to teach me some Thai phases (khopun kap – that’s Thank You in Thai) and even took the liberty of passing me a catalogue for a massage center close to my hotel. 😉
This is Siam City Hotel, Bangkok where I’m staying. I’m staying at this place coz it’s clean (just got a new tattoo and gotta take care of it remember?). I’m more of a traveler than a tourist, but then there’s also this event I wanted to gatecrash (more about that later ;))
I tipped the driver 50 baht coz he was being real nice and told me where to catch some real muay thai (Thai kickboxing) action and taught me some Thai phrases which I used immediately upon arrival at the hotel. I think the receptionist was quite impressed but she told me that it’s gender specific, khopun kap as a gender neutral but decidedly masculine tone and khopun ka (without the p sound) for a more feminine address.
I’m rambling a bit over here…there’s so much to share with all of you, I’m having fun over here in Bangkok. I’m going to make more posts today okay? In sequence, as a travelogue, did so much in a single day over here and net access costs 640 baht for a day (that’s a whopping RM 64) so I might as well make good use of it right?
Till then, la got!
That’s Thai for goodbye. =D
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