[DIARIES] 20150112 Day 2 Bangkok - Pratunam, Victory Monument, Siam

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Day 1: [DIARIES] 20150111 Day 1 Bangkok - Chatuchak, Nana



Day 2 - 12 Jan 2015



Early in the morning and we are heading to Pratunam morning market nearby our hotel. Walking through the quiet alley instead of the busy roads brought us closer to the local culture, which is also another reason why we should visit the local markets for every trip if possible.


The locals start vending at the market as early as 4am. Pratunam market is one of the main clothing and apparel distribution hub. However, other vendors are also seen around selling other merchandise such as handicraft, basic necessity and not forgetting food for breakfast.


The Pratunam market is located under the Baiyoke tower, with stalls selling different kinds of clothings. Generally the clothings here are cheap and affordable but I find that the design are slightly dated and quality for some items are also mediocre. However, the cotton material is comfortable.

Read more about Pratunam Market via the separate post below:


If not mistaken, the Pratunam morning market operates in shifts, even for morning. The first shifts starts around 4am and ends about 8am where you get to see vendors started to move their carts and move on to the next destination. Kinda reminds me of my gaming days where merchants will pull their carts and starts vending at the side of the road.


Heck even little girl is being carted away. Just kidding. She seemed to enjoy being carted around by her mum.


The walk ways are very narrow and basically we need to squeeze our way through to get around. Not a very comfortable way of shopping and need to take care of our belongings.


When a vendors is pushing his cart around, everyone has to give way because it is really narrow.


After some disappointed shopping at the market, we proceed to look for food instead. The food street is located slightly further away from the clothings and there are a variety of food selection. Here, we are able to see what the locals usually had for breakfast. Rice being Thailand's number one staple food is commonly seen and sold like our mixed rice.


I think it's a bit too early for BBQ fish and too heavy for breakfast.


This packet rice looks more pricing with stir fried mince pork in basil leave. Comes in option of boiled egg or fried egg and it only cost 30 Baht.


I took the fried chicken rice instead and taste quite decent except being slight cold.


There's only one stall which provides a place to sit and this explains why it is packed with people especially tourists who is looking for a place to sit, including ourselves. Of course we also ordered a bowl of noodle from them, not knowing the name but it looks like a mix of fish ball, minch pork and char siew. The rice vermicelli is very springy and the broth taste bit sweet. Not too bad for a breakfast, at least we have a place to sit.


While waiting for the noodle previously, I went to the stalls nearby and saw these fried pork.


This packet worth 20 Baht, quite a handful. It's a bit too oily for my liking and too much lard. I also noticed that they tend to use glutinous rice flour batter to fry instead of wheat flour, which gives the meat a harder crust.


Thirsty? Just grab a bottle of fresh pressed pomegranate or lime juice from the road side stalls.


After breakfast, we head to Platinum Fashion Mall to do our first round of survey and shopping. Along the road there were many road side stalls, mostly selling street food and food stuff. It gives me an impression that the Thais are very hardworking and creative to make ends meet.


I dunno what is she selling but it looks like lottery ticket to me.


Even macho man also wears cute aprons at the road side stall. Almost every food sold looks delicious and there's only little space to spare for my stomach to sample each and every one of them.

Did not took any pictures when was in the shopping mall as we were busy shopping and look see. After some time and the stomach starts to remind us to go for lunch. We had to walk all the way to the BTS to take a ride to Victory Monument.


While exiting the station, we spotted a waffle shop that sells a variety of waffles. I remember reading somewhere that these waffles are must try in Bangkok.


The waffles are prepared on the spot after placing our orders as the flavours are sold out. Instead of batter, the waffles were baked from pastry instead. Honestly I do not really like this kind of waffle after tasting it and there's really nothing special about it.


The Victory Monument is similar to our Tugu Negara or National Monument which commemorates the fighting spirits of the forefathers, except that Thai remains one of the country that was never being conquered, but that doesn't mean they never involved in war. 


A typical scene in Bangkok with busy streets and colourful vehicles, not forgetting the messy grid and cables along the way. This is on the way towards our lunch place. There are a few smaller shopping malls around.


I had a hard time looking for this boat noodle shop as there's no clear directions by online reviews and there's also no signboard in English. After some hunting around the canals and water way, finally I found it by the side of a small bridge. I recognised it via the exterior from the pictures I saw previously.

Read more about Pa Yak Boat Noodles via separate post below:


The kitchen is located outside of the restaurant with the staff busy preparing bowls and bowls of boat noodles. There are a few boat noodle shop on the same row of shop lots but the one in orange uniform is the one to be visited, which is also confirmed by the full house of local patrons. Other shops have much lesser patrons in contrast.


Full house in the restaurant, with open air on the right (picture above is taken facing out), facing the water canal and air-conditioned on the left. We were seated at the very far end of the restaurants as all tables were already occupied.


The staff doesn't speak English but he passed a printed menu to me, looks like they are used to having foreign tourists here. The orders were done in a very awkward way of pointing and numbering with fingers. Nevertheless, the boat noodle served is very good with flavourful broth and noodles. The portion is not too small where you can finish in a gulp nor too big where you will feel stuffy. If not enough, you can just order a few more bowls.


The Thais can't go a day without fish sauce, just like our own soy sauce. Besides this, there are other condiments to go along such as chilli flakes, chilli and sugar if you need a few kick in your bowl of boat noodles.


The thinner vermicelli offers a different texture compare to the previous bowl and soaks up more soup as well, making it more flavourful. Also to note that the vermicelli taste very different from our local vermicelli, with very good texture and rich flavour as well.


Six bowls are the max for us this round because we need to reserve valuable tummy resource for next station.

We head back to hotel after lunch for some rest but end up somewhere at the road side massage parlour for a good foot massage. There are so many massage parlours in Bangkok and we really don't know which one to choose. We end up at one massage centre which looks decent, big, bright and clean and with air condition.

After a good one hour massage that cost us 200 Baht, we went back to hotel for rest and prepare for our night activities.


The sky turns dark around 6pm+ and we head out to look for dinner. We end up at this Honggi BBQ stall on the way towards Platinum Fashion Mall and decided to give it a try.

Read more about Honggi BBQ Seafood via a separate post:


Honggi basically serves typical Thai dishes with additional BBQ service for selected seafood. Personally I think the price is on the higher end due to tourist area, which most of the patrons are also foreigners while taste wise is acceptable. Would rather try something else next time.


Took a short walk towards Siam after dinner for digestion and also sight seeing. The busy streets of Bangkok really lightens up the city a lot and the roadside stalls selling different kinds of food really makes me feel like sitting down and have another meal.


While on the way from Central World towards Siam BTS station, spotted the big astronaut Snoopy. We missed out the smaller snoopy exhibition the other day and looks like the big Snoopy is still awaiting to be removed.


We took the BTS from Siam station towards Saphan Taksin Station, which is the central pier for the waterway network of Chao Phraya River, the longest river in Thailand that fuels the social and economy needs of Thailand for centuries. It was a bit of hassle looking for the free shuttle ferry towards Asiatique as there was no clear signboard.


At the end we took the tourist boat which cost us some money, small amount anyway to get to Asiatique. It was a short ride and it's a unique way to get to a shopping/commercial area.


Asiatique is a huge area with lots of restaurants, bars and retail lots. They also have a big Ferris wheel here and some other entertainment facilities. While it is a very good place to hangout and visit, there's nothing much to buy in my opinion and the prices of the items here are slightly more expensive than other areas like Chatuchak. Nevertheless, it was a very cozy place, probably thanks to the cold breeze.


The big Ferris wheel towards the end of the Asiatique. Didn't bother about the ticket price as it was never my interest to come here for this.


After walking for some time and window shopping, we settle down at a Jelato shop as the ice creams are too hard to resist. The staff are kind enough to let me sample a few flavours before choosing my preferred one. It is slightly pricier but the taste is really good.


My cup of mixed berry gelato, with taste more like sorbet. We chilled out for awhile before calling it a day here.


It was getting late and the queue is building up for the shuttle ferry to get back to Saphan Taksin. The Saphan Taksin BTS is sharing the bridge with the motorways next to it, not a combination seen in KL.


After the long ride back to Siam, we head back to our hotel to rest. We stop by the 7-11 next to our hotel to restock some supplies for the next day. It may not seem a very eventful day but it was indeed a tiring day as we walked a lot in the shopping malls. :P


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Day 1: [DIARIES] 20150111 Day 1 Bangkok - Chatuchak, Nana

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