Travel: Trip to Bangkok, 21-24 Oct 2015 (Day 2)

Day 1 didn't seem all too exciting, eh? Day 2 was surely more exciting & rewarding after we got to know our area a little better. On this day, we explored a little further, popping by the unique themed Terminal 21 Shopping Mall & visiting 2 more night markets for some food & good bargains.

Initial plan for Day 2
Terminal 21
Soi Cowboy
Phallus Shrine
Massage
Asiatique

Summary for Actual Day 2
Terminal 21 Shopping Mall
Massage at Junsawang Massage Center, just next to our hotel
Pratunam Night Market
Train Night Market Ratchada

We had our breakfast on the main road opposite Romeo & Juliet tailor as it was on the way to the Ratchaprarop station, the nearest station to our hotel i.e. 300-400m away. It was an "ini-mini-mynee-mo" as we weren't familiar with which stall serves tastier food. It's all about "what do you feel like having this morning?", so we decided to have our breakfast at a chicken noodles stall.

Chicken noodles (THB50/bowl)

So far, the street food that we've been eating has nothing to shout about. To the very least, it's adequately flavored & it's not costly, plus it satisfied our tummies. A freshly served, warm bowl of noodles is always welcoming to begin the day :) Oh, you can add your own Thai basil, as much as you want! *yay! love Thai basil!*

Once done, we headed off to our 1st destination i.e. the Terminal 21 Shopping Mall. The return train ride from Ratchaprarop to Asok (via Phaya Thai) costs us THB98/person.

Do you see what I see? :D

Terminal 21 is unlike the many shopping malls in Bangkok. Every floor has a different 'city theme' with shops/stalls plus the washroom according to the theme as well. We were there on a weekday, so there wasn't much of a crowd. It was only during lunch hour where we saw masses of office workers dining at the foodcourt.

Lingerie fair on the ground floor!

Seriously, buying lingerie in BKK is much cheaper than buying it here. Having said that, I've splurged THB800+ just at the fair, an 'unexpected' & 'unplanned' expense that ate up my budget on other areas of shopping...hahaha...gosh, why are such necessity so costly??

San Francisco-themed floor

You'll find everything American on this floor...

Overall, Terminal 21 has an airport theme :)

I think this was the France-themed floor

All the shops/brands on this floor are from France/Paris, of course!

The England-themed floor

The Tokyo-themed floor

After completing each floor, we had to decide on what to have for lunch. It was raining cats & dogs at that time, so we had no choice but to eat inside Terminal 21 itself; it was a choice of a fast food joint, a restaurant, or the foodcourt. We decided to check out the foodcourt since we couldn't decide on what cuisine we really wanted to have & I think we made the best decision!

The food at Terminal 21's foodcourt was actually tasty (at least for the items that we ordered) & the price is actually similar or even cheaper than what you get at the street-side stalls! *gasps* Seriously....no kidding. We only spent THB70/person for food & drinks!

Fried oysters with egg/"or-chien"

Medium-sized oysters with egg omelette. I've no complaints :)

Photo credit: KMX

Tom yam fried rice with prawns

This was actually very tasty, but it was also quite spicy. Ada "kick"!

Photo credit: KMX

Enjoying the lunch spread

As you can see, we actually ordered more than just the 2 items above. We had 1 more stir-fried chicken with cashew nuts & dried chili with rice & a platter of grilled sausages, plus 3 types of fresh juices (only THB20-30/cup compared to THB30-40 at the street stalls) for 4 persons. We didn't want to over-eat as we'll be eating along the way the entire day, but we didn't want to under-eat as well as we were hungry! Hahaha...

Photo credit: KMX

We had to get back to Romeo & Juliet for AP's suit fitting, so once we're done with lunch, we left for our hotel again. It was time for a good full body Thai massage!

This was our airport rail train

Hello again, Pratunam

This reminded me of Jakarta. People live under the bridge, beside railway tracks!

We had our 1st full body Thai massage just downstairs at Junsawang Massage Center. All hotel guests are actually entitled to their Mondays - Thursdays happy hour promotion of THB189 for a full body Thai massage (1 hour) or THB169 for an hour of foot massage! SO CHEAP & SO NEAR to where we stay! We didn't need to go to the famous Soi Phetchaburi 15 area for good & cheap massage as the masseuse at Junsawang were actually good & well trained as well.

Photo credit: uf.cari.com.my's forum

I think I'm the most unhealthy & unfit among the 4 of us as my whole body was stiff & the masseuse kept saying that my muscles were very stiff & hard. When she pulled & twisted my body, I was cracking so loudly that my buddies were giggling away *sigh* Life of an IT person, I guess.

The massage was really good & helped to loosen my body a bit more. I was all ready to shop again! Hahahaha. Ended up at the Pratunam night market once again to get our dinner, but spent THB300 on some clothes while making our way to the food stalls :P

We bought some really aromatic, home-made soya bean drinks from this stall; APJ & I had the multi-grain soya milk while J+MX had the black sesame soya milk. It was delicious & all for THB10/packet only!

More pork satay (THB10/skewer)

This stall's pork satay was juicy, meaty & flavorful. Not every stall does it well, you know.

More fried chicken

As if eating fried chicken on the 1st day wasn't enough, we had fried chicken on Day 2 & subsequently Day 3 & 4 as well! Good grief...I've never had so much fried chicken on a continuous basis in my whole life! But this stall's fried chicken isn't as crispy & tasty as the one in front of Pantip Plaza on Petchaburi Road, Ratchathewi.

We tried this too thinking it's only half the price!

Half the price = half the size as well :( Somehow, just pay the usual THB10 & get the full-size pork satay. It's juicier & more fulfilling as well.

Our dinner - makes us look like we're small eaters

We packed it back to the hotel & enjoyed the meal in front of the tv, in an air-conditioned space :)

The night was actually still quite young as the sunsets rather early in Bangkok. We decided to explore Bangkok a little more with the recommendation from our new-found friend, Alex, from Junsawang Massage Center i.e. to head to the Train Night Market at Ratchada, right behind the Esplanade. It's not too far from our hotel. We paid a return taxi fee of THB100/person.

It was a great recommendation as the night market was alive with loads of stalls selling all sorts of food, clothes & knick-knacks, plus there was a fantastic live band at the nearby bar!

These candies were really cute, but I didn't buy it since I'm not a fan of candies

So colorful! T-shirts in various colors!

We left the night market satisfied with the exploration of the day. Tired, no doubt, but satisfied :)


I love markets that sell a variety of unique goods,