Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Bangkok, Thailand.

Bangkok is a paradise for ladies, only without the beautiful beach and fishes. Mind you, Bangkok is truly a shopping paradise! You can find morning and night market selling various type of fashionable clothes, shoes, bags at price you couldn't resist (if you are not brand conscious). Well, if you are, Siam or Kuala Lumpur is a much recommended place.

I stayed at Centre Point, Pratunam which is highly recommended. Upon arrival, we got a free upgrade to a family deluxe suite which has a mini kitchen as the room that we booked is fully occupied. Hence, a mini kitchen with microwave which became our superior tool to heat up our breakfast every morning when we were there.

Our upgraded room.
The beautiful sunrise from our balcony. (shines in every morning)
An almost 24/7 free drinks counter. We kept refreshing from their Chrysanthemum tea.
Basically the hotel that I'm staying has a very strategic location where BTS is 10-15 minutes walking distance to Ratchatewi Station and we are very, very near to Pratunam Market. (It can be bad for you, especially ladies!) Basically, its a common scene where people drags luggages and big-roller plastic bags all around - You can't really blame them as clothes and shoes starts from 60baht(~RM7) and bags starts from 100baht(~RM11). Yes, that's how cheap it is.



Pratunam Market(opposite Platinum Mall) - Morning starts as early as 5am while evening market starts around 12pm - 5pm (depending on shops). This is the market we went daily and despite saying we will not buy as much this round, we always fail to resist the cheap bargains. Some shops rotates approaching night time (till 9pm -10pm) and you will have a whole new shopping experience.

At night, you will find night market right in front of Platinum Mall which sells customize gifts, bags and various souvenirs items. Also, at a bargain price. Still, for fashionable clothes, Pratunam Market is still the best. It's way cheaper compared to Platinum Mall.


Food at night is mostly seafood. There are "restaurants" along the pathway, so fear not for hunger. Also, I highly recommend a food street beside Central World, slightly opposite to the right of Big C supermarket where you will have various people fighting for you to sit their tables. I personally manage to find a shop which sells good Tom Yum Seafood Soup there (I prefer creamy ones). Note: Clear Soup Tom Yam is much, much spicier. Don't get cheated by its look. Overall, food weren't too bad. If you manage to pass by bakery on your way to BTS, try looking for Taro waffles! The bakery near my hotel sells really good Taro Belgium Waffles for only 20 baht! Fruits lover should definitely try their ever-sweet pineapples and Thailand coconut(round and white). The cheapest I got was 20 baht and 30 baht respectively for an average size.

Nearby, you may be interested in Baiyoke Sky Hotel, Rooftop Bar which is the tallest hotel in Bangkok. The bar is at 84th floor which I believes gives an amazing view which I did not manage to go this time around as shopping blocked the way. On the way to the place, you will pass by the Baiyoke Night Market.


If you are interested in some sight-seeing and visiting but you are not interested to go so far till the riverside, you can drop by Wat Traimit (BTS Hua Lamphong) and look for Talat Kao which you can look for dry goods like cashew nuts and dried longan at a bargain price. Hua Lamphong is famous for China Town which opens mostly in the evening, so if you'll like to experience some chinese culture, head on there in the evening where the streets gets busier. If you are there in the evening(opens at 6pm), try spotting T&K Seafood which is highly recommend by locals. There are some chinese traditional clothes shop which sells Cheongsam at only 380 baht. Our lunch was chinese wantan mee but it's not comparable to the ones I have in KL.


Thailand is really famous for its sweet mangoes. If you love them, head on to Mango Tango at Siam Square (BTS Siam). This place is just 2 cabins and it's really packed but well, it's worth a try.

The park near Chatuchak where many people rent mats to do mini picnics here.

Chatuchak Weekend Market (BTS Mo Chit) is only open on Saturday and Sunday. It is usually crowded and stuffy in the noon so it is recommended to go in the morning if you are an early riser. This market is a combination of food and shopping where the food stalls are mostly around the centre of the market and choices of shopping are really wide here, where they are divided into categories! It is impossible to finish Chatuchak in a day so just focus on your goals. They even sell pets here!




Asiatique, The Riverfront (BTS Saphan Taksik) - Best place to be photoholic. Shopping and food here are not as cheap but it is a wonderful place to visit and drink. After all, they provide free shuttle ferry so what's there not to try. We went there at the right time where we can see the sun sets and the queue for ferry was short. Upon leaving, around 8pm, the queue for the ferry near the pier is insanely long! We manage to grasp both the sunset view and night view, yet skipped the long queue so that's really nice. Hence, the best time of visit will be 4pm-5pm where you can stay there till 7pm-8pm and take the ferry back. Last ferry commences at 11.30pm.



Yes, that's the end product of 3 girls. Our check-in luggages are 50kg combined and that's because we were trying so hard to restrict ourselves from buying as we are lacking in cash. If you are the kind of shopaholic which couldn't resist cheap bargains, come with empty luggage and buy extra check in (most importantly, bring more cash!!) We bought local snacks  such as preserved mangoes, durian chips, seaweeds and Lays (really cheap there) at Big C Supermarket (which is opposite Central World)

Overall, Bangkok is a city of shop-till-you-drop-or-you-will-regret-when-you-are-back! (I have some T.T)

You may have the same hair colour but you might not have the same heart. Tolerate.

Monday, January 19, 2015

Bentong, Pahang.

This happened awhile ago but I did not update as I was in the midst of finals. Anyway, here it goes, BENTONG!

The weather was pretty nice when I was there, no rain. It can get quite sunny in the noon and being in a village where people rises as early as 5 am, you'll actually feel the relief from city's hustle and bustle. There's nothing much there, merely some mountains, some waterfall(which is quite deep in and bumpy roads if you are interested), some orchards stay(which my boyfriend's mum went) and mostly, FOOD.
When you see this sign, you know you are on the right way.
SHL, a famous restaurant at Bentong.
'Yin Yong' and Braised Pork with Yam.
It's famous and mind you, I went there at 3pm and it's still fully packed although it's way over lunch time but to me, the taste is just ordinary. I can find better ones in KL.

Homemade Ice-Cream.

Homemade Ice-cream in Bentong is really famous, especially the one slightly to the right-opposite the big local market (red building). For me, this really tastes homemade. I pretty enjoyed it especially during the heat in the noon.



At night, there's really nothing much for you to eat. The choices are really limited as people there close as early as 6pm. There's this one night rows of shop you can find in the town near the morning market (trust me, you'll be able to find it as it's a small town) where they sells tong sui, fried food and some noodles. There are also bak kut teh and other varieties of finger food.


In the morning, you should rise as early as you can (9am is considered late) and head to the morning market! (Yes, the big red building) The morning market has many local food, the famous ginger, sek kek ma (a chinese chewy biscuit), pineapple / kaya puffs and many more. You may ask stalls nearby and they'll direct you there as the town is so small that everyone knows everyone's business. Of course, do not approach stalls that are selling similar food. If you are interested in buying the famous sek kek ma, ask someone from the fruits stall by saying "famous sek kek ma".

Yam Cake + Chee Cheong Fun wrapped with ingredient of your choice (There was ham, sausage, seaweed, and plain)

This is something I find in the morning market which I find it quite good. You should try this and many other varieties such as the famous roti canai stall where you'll see people queuing up for it.

Overall, small town and life revolves around a big, red market which is the local and tourist attraction. You can shop around for some cheap goods near the market where shower cap only equals to RM 1 (I know because I bought it :P) Better escape plans for outskirts experience will definitely be the orchards stay somewhere near Bentong. There are a few which you can look up online.

I just came back from Bangkok so that's next! Girls especially, be excited!!! :)

Regrets in life are created because you let them.