Bangkok, Thailand (2012) Day 3: Grand Palace

Date Visited: 19th October 2012

Besides purely for shopping, at least both my friend and I did spare few of our days for sightseeing around Bangkok. On the third day during my maiden visit to this City of Angels, we decided to visit the spectacular Grand Palace, undeniable one of the city's most visited famous landmark and symbol. Once we done with the breakfast, we walked roughly around 10 minutes from our hotel, The Period Pratunam Hotel of Bangkok to the nearest BTS Skytrain Station, Ratchathewi Station and from there, we travelled to BTS Saphan Taksin Station.

#1: Explore the city of Bangkok with BTS Skytrain and MRT is pretty convenient and inexpensive.

Of course, there are few options in order to get to Grand Palace; either you could directly take taxi, tuk-tuk or even the public bus but then, we opted for the most enjoyable and fascinating route which was to take BTS Skytrain to Saphan Taksin and from there, take the Chao Phraya Tourist Boat to Maharaj Pier.

Initially, we planned to buy the One Day River Pass which cost 150 baht but somehow, they refused gave us that fare and requested us to buy a single trip ticket instead. Got no choice but to pay 40 baht for the single trip fare at the end. By at the end of the trip, we only being notified that every boat and ferry stop operated after 11 am for some maintenance.

#2: Chao Phraya Tourist Boat

Chao Phraya River, which known as River of Kings by the local, plays many important roles in Thai life. It is a major transportation artery for a wide network of river buses, cross-river ferries and water taxis, also known as the longtails. Due to increasing number of tourists and travellers, the Chao Phraya Express Boat or Chao Phraya Tourist Boat was established to provide tourists and travellers with the opportunity to see Bangkok from a whole new perspective. The Chao Phraya Tourist Boat services eight piers, which in turn give access to Bangkok's most famous tourist attractions such as the Grand Palace, temple of Dawn (Wat Arun), the great Reclining Buddha at Wat Pho, Asiatique and many more.

#3: Few temples or known as wat can be seen from the river. One of them is Wat Kalayanmit.

#4: Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn) from across Chao Phraya River

In order to get to Grand Palace, we hopped off from Maharaj Pier and it requires at least short walking distance to get to the Grand Palace public entrance from the pier. Although we got lost upon arrived the pier but with the direction given by the friendly local and helpful monks, we managed to find our way there. The weather in Bangkok was extremely scorching hot throughout the year. 

#5: Grand Palace view from the public entrance.

#6: The entrance fee we paid on that particular date was 400 baht, which besides the Grand Palace, it also inclusive access to The Temple of Emerald Buddha, The Royal Thai Decorations & Coins Pavilion and Queen Sirikit Museum of Textile, which are located within the Grand Palace compound, and to Vimanmek Mansion Museum on Ratchawithi Road.

Grand Palace consists of not only the royal residence and throne halls, but also a number of government offices as well as the renowned Temple of the Emerald Buddha. In shape wise, the palace complex is roughly rectangular and has a combined area of 218,400 square metres surrounded by four walls, 1900 metres in length. Rather than being a single structure, the Grand Palace is made up of numerous buildings, halls, pavilions set around open lawns, gardens and courtyards. The Grand Palace is currently partially open to the public as a museum, but it remains a working palace and used for official events. Several royal ceremonies and state functions are held within the walls of the palace every year. Today, the complex remains the spiritual heart of the Thai Kingdom with its beautiful architecture and intricate detail.

#7: Phra Siratana Chendi on the left and Phra Mondop in the middle

#8

#9: This Westerner tourist wasn't my friend but she took photo with me cause she thought I was Thai. #facepalm

#10

#11

#12: Lucky us cause managed to take photo with a soldier of the Royal Guard

#13: Phra Thinang Chakri Maha Prasat is a blend of Thai traditional architecture and a combination of 19th-century European styles.

An entrance fee of 400 baht seems to be pretty pricey as I could buy two skirts with that particular amount of money. This place getting more crowded as hour goes by and if you are thinking to get a perfect photo without being photobombed by other visitors, you might finding difficulty for doing so. 

Important Note Before Entering Grand Palace

Visitors are required to dress appropriately before being allowed entry to the temple as the Grand Palace with the Temple of the Emerald Buddha is Thailand's most sacred site. These following clothes are strictly not allowed as outer garments for both ladies and gentlemen:

• Shorts, mini-skirts, short skirts, tight fitting trousers, and tights
• See-through shirts and blouses, as well as culottes or quarter length trousers
• Sleeveless shirts, vests or tank tops
• Sandals or flip-flops (without ankle or heel straps)
• Rolled-up-sleeved shirts
• Sweatshirts and sweatpants, wind-cheaters, pajamas and fisherman trousers

However, in case you show up at the front gate with improper clothes, don't worry as there is a booth near the public entrance that can provide clothes to cover you up properly. A deposit is required and will be refunded when return the clothes.

Opening hours: Open daily from 8:30am to 3:30pm except during special royal ceremonies.

Another thing you have to take note is the well-known Bangkok scam where the local will approach you and inform you that the palace is closed and approach to bring you to another nearby attractions. In case you really being approached with this scam, just ignored them with a sweet smile anyway.

[Credit To: Wikipedia, Bangkok.com, Tourism Thailand] 

Read more »

Around The World in Terminal 21

Date Visited: 18th October 2012

13th February 2013

As it was my maiden trip to Bangkok back in year 2012, I always did a research beforehand to see which attractions and tourist spots should I go and visit. This is where I came across Terminal 21 from one of my favourite food and travel bloggers, Kampung Boy City Gal's blog.

Terminal 21 is a mixed-use complex which consists of two parts - shopping mall and hotel & residence. But what attract most travellers and tourists to visit Terminal 21 was for its uniqueness and mesmerising interior design, even for the restrooms as well. So, when I visited for the very first time, I instantly fall in love with this place and went back again for the second time with my family a year later.

#1

#2

#3

Before start your adventures around the world in Terminal 21, head on the information counter to grab a mall directory and also don't forget to get free WiFi password from the lovely and beautiful counter service assistant who dress as a flight stewardess.

Terminal 21 is divided into 9 floors with 9 different interesting travel concepts and themes decorated based on well-known and popular streets in cities under one roof such as London, Paris, Rome, Tokyo, Istabul, etc. This mall even has the longest escalators in Thailand, up to 36 metres.

LG Floor - Caribbean

This floor theme is based on Caribbean Beach Town, decorated with a beach, a sea anchor and a lighthouse. It houses a supermarket, quick service restaurants, banks, bookshops and convenience shops.

G Floor - Rome
This floor is specially reserved for the luxury and high-end boutiques with the theme of "Heaven of Rome". The whole floor is decorated with sculptures Roman mythological figures, paintings and marble

#4: Sculptures of Roman mythological figures in the middle of the hall

M Floor - Paris
Decorated with sculptures such as Arc de Triomphe and Eiffel Tower, this floor houses the local Thai designer's boutiques and beauty shops. 

#5

#6

1st Floor - Tokyo

This floor is inspired by Harajuku Town where the unique fashion street comes alive here. It houses for ladies boutique and the floor is decorated with numbers of Japan famous icons and symbols such as Tori, Sumo and Maneki Neko (known as Fortune Cat).

#7: Tori, Sumo and Maneki Neko (known as Fortune Cat).

#8: Lanterns 

2nd Floor - London

Inspired by Oxford Street of London, this floor is decorated with famous iconic such as red telephone boxes, London's double decker buses, the Tower Bridge as well as Union Jack Flag. This floor is particularly suits for the gentlemen as it houses for men's wear, jeans and sporting goods. Among all the floors I went, I can claimed that this floor was my favourite one.  

#9: London's stamps and red postbox

#10: Even Underground sign is so similar to the one in London

#11: Double-decker bus and Royal Guard of London

3rd Floor - Istanbul

This floor is an Istanbul Market Town theme, decorated with Istanbul style colourful lamps. It is mainly houses for shoes, bags, jewellery, gifts and decoration products.

#12: I'm fascinated with these beautiful and colourful Turkish lamps

#13: Istanbul theme restroom. Even we can't help ourselves but paid visit at each floor restroom.

4th Floor - San Francisco (City)

Inspired by Chinatown of San Francisco, this floor is decorated with the two famous sculptures of the San Francisco Trams and Golden Gate Bridge. Most of the shops here is basically serving for Thailand's famous restaurants and surprisingly, I spotted our own lifestyle cafe chain - Secret Recipe here.

#14: Golden Gate Bridge

#15: San Francisco Trams

5th Floor - San Francisco (Pier)

This floor is specially reserved for international restaurants and the food court Pier 21 is available here. It is decorated with seaports and fisherman village's, themed after Fisherman's Wharf.

 

#16: And the best restroom theme goes to... San Francisco (Pier) - My own personal opinion obviously but I would really love to decorate my bathroom this way in future.

#17: Foods we ordered from Food Court Pier 21

Like I mentioned in one of my posts that most of Thai's food court required patrons to purchase a value card from the cash desk first before you can order any meals. It's very simple process basically but then somehow you will feel annoying especially when your card ran out of value and just when you want to top up for more, the queue starts to get longer and longer, particularly during the lunch break. Foods wise, there are plenty of choices to choose from, from Thai local foods to international foods and based on my observation, I was so surprised that most of the foods were pretty reasonable and cheap - ranging from from 25 baht and above.

6th Floor - Hollywood

Based on the Hollywood Studio theme, this floor is decorated with sculptures of the huge and long Hollywood Sign and a tall golden Oscar Statuette. It houses cinema, fitness club, spa and also IT & mobile products zone.

#18: Golden Oscar Statuette standing tall in the middle of the escalator

#19: Hollywood Sign

Besides shopping, Terminal 21 is obviously a perfect place for photoshooting. If you are planning to Bangkok, you should consider to include this in your itinerary.

Tip
In case your main intention to Terminal 21 is for photoshooting purposes, try go as early as 10:00 am (that's their opening hours) cause it will get overcrowded in the latter hours. 

How To Get To Terminal 21

BTS Station: Asoke (Exit 1)

MRT Station: Sukhumvit (Exit 3)

[Credit To: Wikipedia]

Read more »

Hotel Review: The Period Pratunam Hotel of Bangkok, Thailand

When talking about Bangkok's accommodation, you can easily find abundant range of accommodation, from the cheapest one to the most splurge type, and yet it doesn't burn a huge hole for one's wallet. It's just the matter of location that most tourists would be concerned of. For backpackers, most of they prefer to stay in Khao San Road whereas for those whose main intention to Bangkok solely for shopping just like me, the recommendation would be in Siam Square, Silom or even Pratunam area. My friend and I decided to stay in Pratunam area as it is consists of large garment market with hundreds of fashion stores selling both retail and wholesale and we chosen The Period Pratunam Hotel.

#1: Overview of The Period Pratunam Hotel

The Period Pratunam is situated right at the center of Pratunam district amidst the shopping centers, food outlets and many other tourist spots within walking distance. Besides that, there are few massage parlours nearby with a surprisingly dirt cheap massage rate. Basically, it is a relatively small boutique hotel namely for those who are looking for a nice and clean bed and nothing else.

#2: Reception area on the left side whereas the right side is where we had our breakfast.

The check-in process was fast and convenient. Just that we need to pay deposit of 100 baht and it is refundable upon checking-out. In order to access up to our room, the elevator only can be accessed with a card for security purposes. Before we went up, we also noticed there is a luggage scale on lobby. It's pretty convenient especially in case worry that might be overweight due to overshopping.

#3: Our Endless Superior Double Bed Roo

Comes with free WiFi connection in each room and also in the public area, the room is decorated in nature wooden tone gave us such a cozy atmosphere and home feeling after a long day of shopping and sightseeing. Eventhough the room seems to be pretty small in size, but at least we can placed our luggage bags and still easily move around the room. 

#4: 40" LED Internet TV with satellite channels and also a small table and chair is provided 

[Kindly please ignore the mess]

#5: Amazingly, the bathroom seems to be pretty big and the best part, it has hot shower

#6: Basic amenities were provided along with hand and body tower as well as hairdryer.

#7: The room also consists of coffee and tea maker, small refrigerator and safety deposit box

#8: The breakfast provided every morning was simple and almost the same throughout our stay. It consist of eggs, ham and sausages with free flow of cornflakes, bread, fruit juices, milk, tea and coffee. 

Location wise, it is located near to most of shopping malls such as Pratunam Market, Platinum Mall, Shibuya 109, Central World, Big C but to the nearest BTS Station (Ratchathewi Station), one need at least 10 minutes of walking. But then in Bangkok, I found it was pretty safe to wander around even at night. The staffs were friendly and helpful especially on our last day when we requested for taxi to the airport, one of the staff helped us to book the taxi without any extra surcharges. 

Overall, I think this budget-friendly hotel is perfect for couple and those travel along with a small group of people as the room is perfectly fit for two people. The room is worth every dollar we paid and everything come within a budget charges. Both my friend and I had a great stay in this hotel. The down side of this hotel was it's located in an small alleyway which can be dark and quite especially late at night, hence it is not suitable for the single female traveller to stay here. Secondly, those with big size may find difficulty in moving around within the room seeing that the size of the room is pretty small.

Tip

Get a name card from the reception of the hotel as this hotel is relatively new and located slightly into a small alley. The namecard comes in handy when the taxi driver is not sure of the location of this hotel.  

Date Stayed: 17 October - 21 October 2012 (4 nights)

Rate We Paid :  RM139 per night, including breakfast (Booked via Agoda.com)

Read more »

North of Thailand 2014 (Sneak Peek)

"Located among green hills and mountains, Chiang Mai is a favourite Northern Thailand destination for travellers. The “Rose of the North” is well-known for extraordinary handicraft, delicious food and rich history. It is home to more than 300 temples in Lanna and Burmese styles, some of them are just as old as the city. It’s no surprise that expats from all over the world flock to Chiang Mai for that ideal blend of rustic appeal and modern amenities." Travel 3Sixty - AirAsia In-flight Magazine

Straightly we landed in Chiang Mai International Airport, my friend and I immediately booked bus ticket to a small town by the name of Pai, which located 3-4 hours from Chiang Mai. 

 

#1: Never underestimate this tiny and small little town of Pai. The fresh air, countryside sceneries and a hot spot for many tourists, no wonder that this artsy and hippie inspired town is popular for a few days’ getaway. I instantly fall in love with this town.

#2: We woke up early just to catch sunrise in Pai Canyon where there was no one there, except my friend and I.

#3: The most colourful and creative #postbox I ever bumped into and it's only in Pai town.

After spending 3 days 2 nights in Pai Town, we went back to Chiang Mai.

#4: It's splashing here and there in Chiang Mai cause it's Songkran festival. This is how the Thai celebrated their New Year!

#5: I took a day tour to Chiang Rai and one of the most anticipated for this trip was this Wat Rong Khun, the most magnificent and enchanting White Temple.

#6: We also did a crossover to Laos! From Sawadee kap to Sabaidee! Just for 30 minutes

#7: We almost did another crossover to Myanmar but the local tour guide refused to do so cause worry we unable to get back to Thailand. [Note: Malaysian require visa to enter into Myanmar]

#8: With this, another of my travel checklist has been accomplished. Now considering where should be my next destination. 

P/S: Might not able to blog my North of Thailand travelogue at this moment cause catching up to blog my outdated and overdue travelogues. However, if you have any enquiry regarding my North of Thailand trip, you are welcome to leave me a message at dianateodt@gmail.com

Read more »