After our first day in Chatuchak Market and Siam Paragon, it was time for some cultural tour!
On our second day in BKK, we went to Ayutthaya for a day tour. A friend recommended a driver with van whom we contacted for the day tour, we paid him 3000 Baht for 8 hours (If you have better deals please drop a comment as I may visit again with other relatives/friends). We met with the driver at around 8AM and arrived in Ayutthaya in an hour or so. The weather was great until we finished the tour!
First Stop: Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon (20 Baht entrance fee)
"Wat yai chai mongkhon is a Buddhist temple in Ayutthaya, Thailand.The monastery was constructed by King U-Thong to accommodate the monks that were ordained by Phra Wanratana Mahathera Burean. This monastery was named "Wat Pakaew" "-Wikipedia
What I remember most in this temple is the reclining Buddha, the beautiful Buddha gallery and the way people paste gold paper in the Buddha statue (we also did for 20 Baht) as a way of making merit or making a wish. This place was nice to take pictures of.
2nd Stop: Wat Phanan Choeng Worawihan
"Built in 1324, some 26 years before the city of Ayutthaya was officially founded, the temple must have been partly connected to early settlements in the area. These notably allegedly included a 200-strong refugee community from Song Dynasty China. The large wihan, the highest building within the temple complex, houses an immense gilded 19 meter high seated Buddha from 1334 CE. This highly revered Buddha statue is called Luang Pho Tho (Thai: หลวงพ่อโต) by Thais, andSam Pao Kong (Thai: ซำเปากง) by Thai-Chinese. The statue is regarded as a guardian for mariners. Allegedly, prior to the destruction of Ayutthaya by the Burmese in 1767 CE, "tears flowed from the sacred eyes to the sacred navel". The statue has been restored several times in history. King Mongkut named the statue Phra Puttha Thrai Ratana Nayok after its restoration in 1854 CE."-Wikipedia
Indeed most notable here is the large golden Buddha. So big!
3rd Stop: Wat Maha That (50 Baht entrance fee)
"Wat Mahathat Yuwarajarangsarit Rajaworamahavihara is a Buddhist temple in Bangkok, Thailand. It is one of the 10 royal temples of the highest class in Bangkok." - Wikipedia
The highlight of this temple is the Buddha head surrounded by a tree. So cool! While taking pictures with the Buddha head, we were told by our driver to make sure our head is not higher than the Buddha head to show respect.
4th Stop: Lunch at local hostel
After visiting Wat Maha That, the driver gave us some free Thai Milk Teas and we stopped for lunch at a local hostel just because it has aircon, the foods there were local Thai dishes with very simple presentation but tasted fine.
ahh..I feel hungry just by seeing these foods..
5th Stop: Thanon Si Sanphet
6th Stop: Elephant Palace
We did not try the elephant ride anymore because it costs 400 Baht/person for 20 minutes, we just took picture with the 7 year old elephant for 40 Baht each and fed it for 50 Baht per basket. We had a great experience here although some of us were very scared of the elephants haha!
7th Stop (Last Stop) : Ayothaya Floating Market
I added this to our day tour because we didn't have enough time to go to the "real" floating markets. We did not ride the boat anymore as the place was not really big and there were not much people when we went there. We just walked around the shops and restaurants in the area. Mom was able to buy some frozen oyster mushrooms which could be eaten directly from the pack in one of the food stalls there.
We finished the tour at around 4PM and went to Platinum Mall after. On our way back from Ayutthaya the driver bought us some of these sweet dessert below which he said is a must buy when you go to Ayutthaya. It tasted just like cotton candy wrapped in lumpia wrapper.
Upon arriving at Platinum Mall, we found some food stalls selling vegetarian foods again so we bought some foods there before shopping.
This is what the food stalls looked like.
We bought some strawberry yogurt shake, it tasted like the strawberry taho in Baguio.
Mom bought the yummy tomyum biscuit in this stall!
Platinum Mall closes at 7PM so we went to Siam Center after (Siam Center is just beside Siam Paragon), there we saw many local designer brands with steep prices so we weren't really able to buy anything there. They do have some cool chairs for you to sit on and very nice comfort room to have selfies on hehe.
Still reminiscing about our Bangkok trip even though it's been a while..I want to go back for more shopping and to go to more tourist spots I did not get to visit on our last trip! Anyway, I wanted to share my experience here while I still remember it and hope to get some tips from you for my next visit! :)
I went there with my family last September and I was the one assigned to plan the itinerary because I have a friend who lives there. I spend a few evening working on it..look for travel blogs, tourist spots, means of transportation..and came up with what I thought was a good enough itinerary for a first timer in Bangkok (though we did not get go to some of the places I listed there because of lack of time and unexpected weather conditions).
We departed from NAIA 3 at 6:35AM and arrived at Suvarnabhumi International Airport at 8:55 AM (There is one hour time difference between Bangkok and Manila).
Playing Around at the Airport! :P
To get to our hotel we opted to ride the Airport Rail Link to Phaya Thai (45 Baht/person) even though we were 6 in the group and had luggage because I was scared that we wouldn't find a taxi who will let us ride in metered fare. The Airport Rail Link ride operates from 6AM-12:00MN everyday and arrives every 15 minutes. The ride was very convenient and we arrived in Phaya Thai at around 12nn (The ride was approximately 25 mins. only but we stayed a little longer in the airport as we have companions who were Chinese citizens and needed to apply for visa on arrival at the airport. Note: Visa fees for Chinese tourists are waived from Aug 1 to Oct 31 to boost tourism)
Token to enter Airport Link Station
Airport Link Route..sorry for the dark and blurred shot..
Us inside Airport Link Train. It's very spacious and fast!
Upon arriving in Phaya Thai, we transferred to a BTS Train to Ratchathewi station (where our hotel is 10-15 mins. away from). I regretted the decision to ride the BTS because there was no escalator/elevator going down from the platform and we had to carry all our luggage all the way down then walk to our hotel which was so tiring especially on that hot Sunday morning. It would be better to hail a taxi from Phaya Thai since Ratchathewi is only one station away and the flag down rate is just 35 Baht, maybe it would be even better to just get a cab straight from the airport. Lesson learned.
Get a Bangkok Map at the airport or print this for your own reference
For our accommodation, we stayed at Bangkok City Hotel because it had good reviews based on Agoda and was well within our budget. I would also give it good review as the room is clean though very dark at night, plus the breakfast buffet is good, you can also walk to Pratunam and platinum mall from the hotel for about 15 mins. but taking taxi would be way better as the fare is just 40 Baht (the hotel staffs can help you hail taxi from the hotel), there are also several massage parlors beside the hotel, but next time I would choose a hotel with free hotel transfers and nearer to Pratunam market where I plan to shop just for convenience. Direction to Bangkok City Hotel from BTS Ratchathewi: Take Exit 3 then walk for about 5 minutes until you reach an intersection, turn left at the intersection. Don’t cross the road, just turn left. Walk for another 5 to 8 minutes and you’ll reach Bangkok City Hotel which is on your left.
Our room looked exactly like this (Photo Credit: tripadvisor.com)
Some of the foods in the breakfast buffet I was able to try
As it was Sunday when we arrived, we went to Chatuchak Weekend Market (also known as JJ Market or Jatujak Market) and stayed there until 6PM. From BTS Ratchathewi we only have to ride the BTS until Mo Chit station then follow the crowd to JJ Market. Not surprisingly, all the people seem to be going to that one direction only so you will not get lost at all. JJ Market is very big and it would be hard to go through the entire place in one day only. We had lunch first at Dinphow Cuisine Restaurant inside JJ Market (Jatujak Section 4 Soi1) which was very affordable, then it rained so hard so it was kinda hard to walk in the market. Thankfully it stopped after an hour or so.
Some Pages of the Menu in Dinphow Cuisine
According to my Thai friend one section in the market is dedicated to local Thai designers so that part of the market was quite interesting but also more expensive compared to the stalls in the other sections. There are also wholesalers in the area but the price is not as cheap as the ones you will see in Pratunam market. While you are in the area you may want to try the different kinds of coconut ice creams the street vendors sell as they are yummy! Overall I think JJ Market has some unique finds and I would definitely come back next time as I didn't have time to explore the whole place that day.
Coconut Ice Cream!! They even have thai milk tea flavor! <3
After JJ Market we went to Siam Paragon (BTS Siam Station) to eat dinner and look around in the supermarket. I always liked going to the supermarkets of the countries I visit to see which foods are different from ours. Siam Paragon's supermarket is complete with different international foods, we bought several spices and MAMA noodles there among other things.
Obligatory Shot with Ronald McDonald :P
For our dinner, my mom, who is a lacto-ovo vegetarian, did not have a hard time looking for food to eat as we were lucky that Thailand was celebrating its Vegetarian Festival from September 23 to October 3, 2014! According to a website I saw just now, the origins of the Vegetarian Festival are Chinese, a celebration to the nine Emperor Gods, and the festival happens during the ninth Chinese lunar month every year. Although it is called the vegetarian festival, the diet is strictly vegan, as the requirements include giving up all fish, dairy, meat and poultry for nine days as a way to cleanse your body. We did not know about this festival beforehand! Mom is so lucky!
Some of the vegetarian foods we bought in Siam Paragon food stalls
Us w/ Whand. Thanks again for accompanying us on our 1st day in BKK!
We celebrated Mom's and Achi's birthday at Earth Kitchen, located in White Plains, Katipunan Ave., Q.C. I first heard of this organic restaurant on instagram and after seeing positive reviews I have been wanting to try this place out to compare with the foods from Green Pastures (Located in Shangrila Mall). The place wasn't difficult to find with the help of GPS (we are not familiar with Katipunan area) and we were able to park immediately despite the full parking as luckily there was a couple driving out (Yey for that). Upon arrival at the restaurant we were immediately fascinated by its unique wooden door, inside, the ambiance was of an old country vibe and there are drawings on the wall drawn by Yolanda kid survivors available for sale. These are what we ordered: Curried Squash Soup-perfect for those who like creamed soup; Watermelon and Rocket Salad-this was refreshing but the dressing tasted so much like my mom's homemade salad, we liked Green Pasture's salad better; Mushroom Spring Roll-the vegetables tasted fresh and it was stuffed with yummy mushrooms, I personally loved this dish; Mushroom Ravioli-this dish was the BOMB! we loved it! The light cream sauce and kesong puti blended together so well I would visit this resto again just for this dish; Mushroom Soft Taco-Mom liked this dish best, I think it's easy to make at home, but it's yummy nevertheless; Chicken Kebab (ordered with organic Ifugao rice pillaf)-not outstanding but ok; Goat's Cheese-Frozen Cheese Cake (made with goat's cheese ice cream, wild honey, dried figs, cashew nuts)-this was very delicious! No wonder every table seems to order this; Flavor of the Day (Caramel Banana Ice Cream)-tasted like the name, good for those who likes banana ice cream:) All in all, the foods were good and I would love to come back to try those other pasta dishes.
