Thailand Jan 2012 ☼

Day 1

Gifford, Mingtai and I were drinking at Summer Breeze on a cold December night and decided to go on a 5D4N Bangkok trip in January 2012. We did not discuss much details, merely fixed the dates and just went ahead to book the air tickets + hotel accommodation. Our plan was to stay in Bangkok for the first three nights, and move over to Pattaya for the last night. Mingtai was in charge of booking air tickets, I booked hotels in Bangkok and Gifford did nothing much as usual. The guys said we do not need to book hotels in Pattaya and just needed to walk-in. Since they had more experience there, I heeded their advice.

We took a cab together to budget terminal and had McDonald's breakfast before going into departure hall. Morning flights are never delightful.

dozing off


After 2.5 hours of flight, we arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport. We headed straight to the airport express and looked at the train map, only to realise that I forgot to check the nearest BTS station to our hotel. -_-'' - this is what happens when you do not have an itinerary. We made a guess based on our memory and ended up at the wrong station. Frustrated and tired, we flagged a taxi. The worst thing about Bangkok apart from their flooding will be the traffic jam. We were caught in the jam and took one hour to reach the hotel.


saw this cool Beetle in the jam. *wink wink*


 
Bangkok Boutique Hotel

Lobby/Reception


 Computers for guests use

 
 our cozy room

After unpacking our luggage, we walked along Sukhumvit and discovered this new shopping mall located just beside Asok BTS and Sukhumvit MRT.


The guys bought some shirts and I was empty handed. :/ We then headed back to the hotel to wash up and get ready for partying! 


  
 lol.

 Before partying, we had to fill our stomachs. Mingtai brought us to a building where there were lots of Korean restaurants. It was pretty late by the time we got ready for dinner, so we ended up at the only restaurant which was still open. 

Frontage of the Korean Restaurant

beauty of korean cuisine - unlimited supply of appetizers


Looking for a space to put the next dish was kinda challenging


 For some reasons, he decided to try the green chilli. Obviously a bad choice lol.

result of over-ordering

After a heavy dinner, our next stop was drinking at Club Insomnia. It happened that Sam's sister, Rachel, was also in town with her friends. We met up with her and went clubbing together.

a group shot before we got drunk


our johnnie walker

Unlike Singapore, mixers in Thailand are not free flow. :/

dance floor


this waiter kept coming back to our table


ah gua kept pestering us to buy popcorn from him. 
Gifford did and that was what happened.


 group shot after drinking

☼ Day 2

 I woke up pretty early that day. Feeling bored as the rest were still asleep, I went for a walk and chanced upon this food stall just outside the hotel. They only sold one item, fried omelette with rice.

I ordered without the rice.
Rating? 9/10
Damage? 20 baht

The boys finally woke up and we planned to visit Platinum Mall. Along the way, we saw a 'boat-stop' under the bridge. We went to check it out and realised the boat actually goes to Platinum Mall! Excited, we waited around 10 mins for the boat. It costs 12 baht per pax.




Mingtai with our 12 baht boat ticket


It was a 5-7 minutes boat ride to Platinum. No traffic jam and no crowded trains but the river didn't smell too good either :p

Next was shopping and more shopping. We popped by Black Canyon Coffee which was all over Platinum Mall (at least 5 outlets all over the mall) for some refreshments.



Again, we headed back to hotel to wash up and got ready for clubbing.

   
 with our new shades ;)

 We headed to RCA and the place was so packed that we hardly have space to stand. Frustrated, we went to meet Rachel at Scratch Dog, another popular Thai Club raved by Singaporeans.

   
happy people! :D
  
 ☼ Day 3

 Day 3 was relaxed. Mingtai and I went back to Platinum to do some last minute shopping while Gifford was still sleeping in the hotel. Then, we went to a hypermarket called 'Big C' to buy some Thai groceries back to Singapore.

 
 we forgot to take a shot of our over-flowing trolley.

Dinner was at Central World's Coca Steamboat Restaurant. It is half the price of Singapore's and has a more extensive selection of ingredients. Something special on our dining table was this Fried Oyster dish.

Rating: 9/10
very different but very nice!

After dinner, we were supposed to head back to hotel to get ready for clubbing. But, the first two nights was too taxing and we ended up having an early night rest.



 ☼ Day 4


We checked out and took a taxi to a bus terminal. The guys said that there are coach services which brings you to Pattaya at an afforable price. However, we chose a wrong provider and ended paying more. Worse still, the bus kept stopping to pick up passengers on the way when it was supposed to go straight to Pattaya. When we finally reached Pattaya after 3-4 hours, they dropped us at a bus stop which was some distance away from the beach area. In the end, we had to take a 'song-tiao' to Pattaya Beach and it was almost dinner time by the time we arrived. 




We checked out a few hotels and finally decided on 'Inn House' which was relatively near to Pattaya's famous Walking Street.




our so-so bedroom


 in their new loots. lol

The guys kept raving about a chinese restaurant in Pattaya. After renting a bike, we headed straight to Leng Kee.






 
 Mingtai had a great time savouring the oysters as Gifford and I are not oysters fan.
Rating? 8/10
Damage: approx 1,200 baht


After dinner, it was time to hit Walking Street. The street was filled with uncountable a-go-go bars and pubs. The guys gave me a brief tour of the place, walking from one end to the other end of the street.

Walking Street


  
 paid 100 baht to take photos with this cute creature

After which, we hopped from one a-go-go bar to another. It was a real eye-opener for me, and a pity that they did not allow cameras in the bar. For the first time in my life, I watched countless women stripped and danced in front of me. After hopping around several a-go-gos, Mingtai finally hooked up with what we called, a 'Siam Bu'.

LOL. 

The girl joined us after her work in bar hopping. We finally ended up at a pub which has the sea just beneath it. It should be one of the few relaxing pubs along Walking Street. After all the drinking, we ate some super spicy kebab along the streets and headed back to hotel. 

 ☼ Day 5


It was our last day in Pattaya. Mingtai took a final photo with his cool bike (or is that a scooter?) before returning to the rental place. Then, we headed to Central Festival Pattaya Mall for lunch at Sizzler.









After the heavy lunch, we headed off to the airport. 

Goodbye, land of smiles!








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