My Bangkok Trip - Summary (2018)
It was our 3rd year heading to Bangkok. To do some shopping, eating and of course getting my boo’s tailored clothes done up. Every year since 2016, we would go to Bangkok and spend at least 5 days. In order to get his tailored clothes done during that period and pack it back home.
This year’s trip was combination of unexpected events that unfold as we begin our stay there. Everything was rather smooth during our journey out to the airport even though I was early by an hour to meet my partner but I occupied my time texting my friends who were also leaving the airport on the same day to Bali. Then my partner came and we made our way to have some breakfast before checking in our luggage. It was smooth sailing even to the point of boarding the flight, it was on time and left on time. As we landed, we got to the counter to get my SIM card so I am able to use data throughout my stay. Didn’t felt hungry so we made our way to grab a car to our hotel. Thankfully it was cheaper than last year - our grab ride.
So checking in was smooth and we got free breakfast throughout our stay which I think I momentarily forgot that I had purchased the accommodation with breakfast included or not. Regardless, we had free breakfast that we do not have to pay addtional. Deposit is paid by card instead of cash this type round which gave us more money to spend with. Had late lunch at Burger King which was just at the corner of the hotel lobby. Then off we go to the tailors to get my partner’s shirts sorted out. I promised to pay for his suit as his birthday present and since it was below the budget that I had allocated for him, he requested for a pair of pants to add on to his birthday gift of which I agreed to. Silly man!
Since that was done in an hour or more, we decided to head down to the Talad Neon Night Market which was a walk away of which we get to check out how improved the market was, cause it seems like they did so. The place still looks sparse but it was nicely organised, there were seats randomly placed, food stalls were placed at the entrance of the night market. There wasn’t anything much that I fancy, except maybe a pair of footwear and some random nick-nacks. Got myself a mango-coconut smoothie while he had a coconut smoothie and we also took away a large packet of mango sticky rice to eat back at the hotel. Since we were not that hungry still have our late lunch, we roamed around the area that we know. Then got some street food - Chicken Doners from the food carts along the way back to the hotel.
Towards the end of our first night, I was worried about how I was going to sleep in the room as the back of my throat feeling dry and I know that if it remains that way, I was going to fall sick. So I wore my mask as I went to bed, it was not secured throughout the night but what do you expect right? I sleep like a kungfu panda. Then the next day is when I told him, I wanted to shop at KTP where most plus size clothes are and it is only opened from 9am too 6pm. My throat was feeling a little wonky of which I feel that it was just dryness due to the night before. So he stayed at the hotel till a certain time of which we would meet up for late lunch together since we had a filling breakfast.
Towards the afternoon, my throat was definitely acting up but I was still cool about it, I think we met up to go to the tailors for some fitting and he wanted to head back to the night market that we went to last night for dinner. I knew I was falling sick and tried to get medication from their local pharmacy but it didn’t work. My throat was feeling like shit and phlegm was building up fast. But it was a vacation and I didn’t want this to ruin the trip. So once we got all we need sorted out. We head back to the hotel, I was feeling all right but crappy. He was sweet enough to get me ginger honey tea for me to sooth my throat but it only warmed up my chest more than anything. I woke up in the middle of the night and felt that my throat hurts really bad.
Like it was so difficult to even clear my throat without feeling like someone took a knife stabbing it. I felt like I was having a pounded headache every time I tried to cough. I still tried to remain positive about it, thinking that the medication would take some time to take effect. But my partner was not having any of that, he was already researching on the most recommended local hospital to take me the very next morning of which I was not aware of. Trying to cough was rather painful and I just wanted to sleep it off but no can do. He dragged me out for breakfast and after that, he told me that we had to go to a hospital to get me checked out.
I couldn’t protest much cause obviously I wasn’t in a great state and since he put in the effort to do the research plus it would put his mind at ease to get it sorted out. Since he knows that the more stubborn I get, the worse my condition would get. It seems to happen that way most of the time. So we took a Grab down to the hospital. It was rather grand and everything ran quite quickly compared to our local hospital which would have taken more than 4 - 6 hours to get treatment where as I spend less than 2 hours there. The doctor was rather atttractive too! So that was sorted out and the bill came out. BOY! The total amount was rather expensive for 2 types of medication (Antibiotics & Phelgm Dissolvent) and a disinfectant throat gargle, 2 rounds of the nebulizer, even my local hospital would not charge me that price!
Oh well! The price to pay when you didn’t buy travel insurance and thankfully I brought along a credit card cause normally I wouldn’t in order to curb my expenditures overseas. Then we head back to the hotel of which I slept in the ride throughout cause that’s what sick people do. They need to sleep all the time. As we returned to the hotel, he insisted that i shouldn’t head out for the rest of the day and should stay in the hotel of which I protested. I am not going to let this throat infection (I was diagnosed with Viral Throat Infection) ruin my chances of shopping and enjoying my vacation. So I told him to go on ahead with his visit to the tailors for fitting while I would catch up with him when he is about done at the mall next to our hotel.
Since I needed to get snacks there which was by far the cheapest we could among the other shops that we have came across over the past 2 years of shopping. So he went to do his thing while I rolled around in bed, not like there was anything much to do cause in the next 30 mins, I was out of the hotel meeting him at the mall. So we got some thing to eat since the last meal we had was breakfast and that was 4 to 5 hours ago. We opted for Western food. It was not as great but it was edible enough and got down to business of shopping for our snacks for home.
I bought quite a bit but I still had other things to get from the pharmacy below our hotel. So I told him, let’s go there and get my things as well before heading back to the hotel. So we go about doing so, grabbed some things from the super mart as well and headed back to the hotel. It was quite insane cause we had a lot of bags. From my shopping the day before and plus the shopping that we did, I was rather worried on how I am suppose to pack it all into my luggage. Oh! Thankfully! I was smart enough to pack a small luggage into my medium luggage so I could have one hand-carried and the other check-in. The only issue is that the luggage scale that I borrowed from my colleague did not work.
So I had to pack as much as I could for the night and see if I could get it weigh the next day at the hotel lobby and pray that my luggage is still within the limit for me to add on some more shopping! So the fourth day in Bangkok has arrived and we wanted to head to Siam Paragon to have our Crab & Claw for late lunch. We got our lunch and he told me no more Crab & Claw for next year. Then we went for a massage of which we were both not really satisfied with after which I suggested if he wanted to go to the Roi Fa Ratacha Night Market that we have never been before.
Of course he was agreeable to it and it was convenient to Grab a car down to wherever in Bangkok. Only issue would be communication with the drivers. So we made our way to the night market and roamed it like a true-noob since we have never been there before. I got a few things and so did he. Got his order wrong for the dessert roti of which we usually would have once during our trips to Bangkok. The usual tantrum would follow through and then it was resolved soon as well.
We didn’t eat much at the night market so we went back to the mall that was infront of the night market. Ended up eating Chicken Bon Bon for dinner, nothing fancy, I had some fish fillet that was shared with him and he had rice with chicken. When we were done with that, we roamed a bit more in the mall to see if there is anything else to buy since we were there already and would not be heading back there. I told him to rest a bit since his ankles were acting up again
I got myself some pens and portable fan/light for the next day since we were going to Chatuchak Weekend market in the morning. Then as we were about to leave, he pointed out to a stall that sold nice looking earrings, the kind that I normally love to buy and wear. He told me that while I was doing that, he would head out to smoke. So we went ahead and did that, as I was about to be done, I also went to book our ride back to our hotel. Little did I know. The mall shuts at 10pm and closes their main entrance even with if customers are still in the building.
I got my ride and I was done with my earrings shopping, when I looked for the entrance it was closed and was directed to use the back end, the kind that if you were to watch a midnight movie and leave the mall using the cargo exit type of route. I panicked a little since our ride is coming soon and I was far from getting from the back end to the front of the mall. I ran all the way to where I assume he would be. Thank god! He was just standing there waiting for me. He looked at me and asked why did I ran when I wasn’t well.
I told him that I worry that I was not able to find him plus his mobile was running on like 2% battery life and on TOP of that our ride was arriving in the next 2 mins thus the urgency to locate him. Especially when you are in a foreign land, you don’t want to lose your companion and lose your ride. Then the next issue is that the driver was not able to speak English and I tried to call him. He said follow GPS of which I heard as BTS. It was seriously funny. Somehow I understood him finally and located him. It was a pick-up truck of which was a first for me as you can never get such ride in Singapore.
Then the driver took us to a condo that was a stone away and we were rather confused like that was not the address that I keyed in, that was when Google Translate was heaven sent. Just for me to communicate with the driver to let him know where we wanted to go. Then off we go again. Cause it took us almost 20 mins to get to the night market so it should also take about the same time to head back or longer depending on the jam. It was rather hilarious for us though.
Then back to the hotel and I had to figure out how the hell was I suppose to pack most of my things into my 2 luggages without busting the weight limit for check-in and carry-on. That took me about a good 1 hour before I was able to feel comfortable with the things packed before I hit the showers since we needed to wake up for breakfast slightly earlier than usual then head down to the Chatuchak Weekend market that we have never visited the past 2 times we were there.
It was another heaven for shopping it seems. The weather is the only troublesome part as it seems like the heat was really concentrated in that area. Not only was the place huge like crazy, there were so many things to look at. We didn’t even managed to cover the whole market in the 4 hours that we spent there. I bought a few more things. He also managed to get what he wanted from the market. The downside of my shopping spree was that the earrings that I bought the night before was also available at the weekend market for a fraction of the price of which he pointed out as well. I was pissed off as fu*k!!! He could only laughed at me. Asshole!
We reached there about 10am and left about 2pm since our flight was at 8pm, we had to head back to hotel to pack the last bits and I need to get my luggages weighed. So we got back to the hotel via normal cab since it would take almost 20mins for a GrabCar to come and pick us. We were on a tight schedule as we needed to check out by 5pm (extended our check-out by 5 hours) and then head straight to the airport to check-in and all.
So I requested for the hotel to arrange for the transfer from the hotel to the airport. As long as we were able to reach the airport by 6pm, we are safe. So that was going accordingly to plan. Everything was great, then as we did our check-in, the counter told us that our flight has been delayed by 1.5 hours. So instead of flying off at 8pm, it would be flying off at 930pm which gave us 3 hours to do nothing. Since we were not that hungry yet and he wanted to get some coffee, we did just that.
So after locating a cafe to get him some coffee, we also went for a smoke, turn by turn since we had carry on and was not allowed to bring the trolley with us to the lower floors where the smoking rooms were located in the airport. After that was done, I wanted to check where our flight gate was located. GUESS WHAT! The flight was delayed for another 1 hour! I was annoyed maxed by then. While he was rather chilled about cause he was just too tired to be bothered. So since we have much more time on our hands, I told him if we wanted to go for another massage to waste our time away.
The massage was 4 times costly than the ones we normally get outside the mall and that is understandable but still. Wow! So once that was over, it was roughly the time to check to see if the gate was allocated for our flight. FU*KING HELL! It was delayed again! 11.30pm to fly! That was a total of 3.5 hours of delay and I was fuming and demanding to speak to the crew! This is the part where I was boiling my head off. Here I am tired as hell and on TOP of that, I was not feeling well, SCOOT had delayed my flight not only once, twice but thrice!
Looked for the crew and received lousy ass service reply, we were only compensated with 50 bucks travel voucher each and 250 bhat each dinner meal voucher. That amount was not enough to even purchase a single decent meal without TOP up. I was fuming then, cursing and swearing. While he was rather chilled - surprisingly for me. So as I fumed, we got something to eat with those pathetic vouchers. Then went for another smoke or so, then assemble ourselves nearest to the gate that was FINALLY appearing on the screens.
It was his turn to make a fuss, as the time ticks nearer to 11.30pm, there was no sight of the plane nor was there any updates of the flights. He was making a fuss, asking me tons of questions as to where and why is the plane not here yet. It is similarly to dealing with a child that is has not has his nap and wants to head home to sleep. I had to ask the crew once more and their reply was that the plane is about to land but we had to wait for the onboard passengers to clear before we can board the plane.
So it was about 12.30am that we finally managed to board the plane. That is a total of 4.5 hours delay from the time we were supposed to board our original plane. We were tired, grumpy and I was sick. Very bad combination if you were to ask me. Remember that I bought him a tailored suit of which he had to carry on, it was placed nicely into the cabin space but a Stewardess had to mess around with the arrangement that pissed him off big time. Cause he hates to have his suit being messed up. It took a while before he calm down.
After all that commotion we were off in the air and back home. My poor mum waited for me for over an hour cause the last update to her was my arrival was going to be 3.30am but we arrive an hour later. She insisted on picking me up since I was sick and she was worried about it. We arrive Singapore in the wee morning of like 4.15am and was totally drained. BUT we still had the appetite to have some breakfast before we had home to knock out.
So all in all, it was a good trip with many lessons to learn from. Always buy travel insurance whenever you travel, always bring medicines that you least liking think that you would need to use, go to Chatuchak market before anything else and buy a luggage scale for the next trip. Maybe I should also buy a bigger luggage as well. Hahaha....
