Sawasdeekaa from Bangkok!

Dateline: Bangkok

WE arrived in the wee hours of the morning, touching down at the new and fabulous Suvarnabhumi airport. All I can say, for lack of words at this time of the day, is that this is how an airport should be. Wide, spacious, clear walkways and large, printed instructions; facilities for quicker access (aka automated walkway) and manned immigration booths and airport officers ready to give assistance when you need it. Imagine, the Philippines had the one of the first airports in SEA, and now a country that was once considered "left behind" beat us to the new technology and design of an efficient airport.

We ran into snags getting to the hotel. For one thing, we did not see our sundo. We walked up and down the receiving area for an hour, called the hotel, but no one seemed aware of our arrival. An hour later we all decided to take a cab to the FIRST Hotel Bangkok. (which cost 600 Baht).

Once there, confusion on check in procedures, names and arrival times prevented us from going to the room to the rest. The front desk forced us to pay for the extra day (technically we were checking in too early so it counted as a day). Our poor coordinator, Bobby, acceeded to the girls' insistence that we "pay now! pay now!" just so we could all rest. Hay! They could've put two and two togethter and figured out we were with a group staying at the hotel, and that the organizer could be spoken to in the morning anyway. Besides, the names were in their list already, so they should've been expecting us to arrive. But no, they wouldn't admit us without payment. Tsk. Filipinos are still the most hospitable Asians in my book.

Oh, and they were still clueless about the pick-up service.

So we finally retreated to the rooms around 2.45 am. We had breakfast at around 8 then the delegates were off to their meeting. Meanwhile, I was left to explore the city on my own. I made my way to Platinum Plaza, as per Joy's recommendation (Joy, aka Diva #1, was calling the hotel all morning. The front desk told her we still hadn't checked in that day! Talk about efficiency. She was worried sick, thinking we spent the night at the airport, til she spoke to me on my cellphone!)

Platinum Plaza is Tutuban Mall and Divisoria rolled into one and packaged with a nice building, airconditioning and 6 glorious floors of fashion items: shoes, sirts, dresses, pants, accessories. EVERYTHING! Plus, if you buy three items of the same kind, sellers will give you the wholesale price. Not bad huh? If you're not the kind who wants to fight it out in Chatuchak Market, Platinum Mall is worth checking out. (by the way, other photos here are of the street vendors and yummy food I passed on the way to the mall.)

I spent all afternoon observing, taking photos and eventually purchasing a few items, just to try then made my way back to the hotel to meet up with everyone else. We went to Panthip Mall, this time a gadgets haven for all tech geeks: everything from adaptors to Macs is here. We didn't buy anything...yet. But when we do, I'll be sure to blog about it.

We met up with Joy for dinner at Siam Square. We had a feast at a popular restaurant in the area (whose name I cannot remember). We had chicken, pork (a must-try: their pork neck, their version of our lechon), papaya salad and noodles. Yummmmy! All that for only 390 Baht. Not bad, huh?


After that we joined the frey taking place on the streets: the night vendors. Clothes, toys, shoes, trinkets...you can get them all here at lower prices: about 10 to 15 Baht lower. Then the food vendors started setting up. Man, it was like a fiesta. I actually felt that Thais shop for a living. Then shop again for leisure! Most of the sellers looked like they were students...maybe fresh graduates exercising their entrepreneurial spirit. It was quite a sight. I'll probably join the party again tomorrow night! hehehe

We took the train back to First Hotel to get my stuff --- I would be staying at Joy's gorgeous condo for the rest of my trip, and Benc will join me shortly. It is amazing! I will post photos tomorrow. The place is really posh, the surroundings very tranquil but you realize, with the view from the balcony that the bustling city lies just beyond the next Soi (street). *Sigh* This is the life.

Enjoy the photos here. I will report more about my adventures tomorrow. Til then!