Let's Play Songkran Without Getting Drenched: Happy Thai New Year!

For the uninitiated, Songkran is the Thai New Year. It's a long holiday, so most the cityfolk take advantage of this time to travel outside Bangkok while tourists on the the other hand join in on the festivities by participating in 'water fights'.

A Little Bit of Everything BKK: Asiatique The Riverfront

Assuming you have a very short lay over, you'd probably want to go to a place that will let you experience a little bit of everything a city has to offer. Asiatique, The Riverfront is just that. To sum it up it's  Thai Food x Chao Phraya River x Night Market x City Scape (via ferris wheel) x Entertainment = Shutter Bug Heaven. (picture here, picture there, picture everywhere!)

for more photos checkout my tumblr photo dump!

Aside from indulging your inner photog you can...

Get a meal at Baan Khanitha - Good thai food with a very nice ambiance. It's by the river and is over looking the river. (pricey but worth it). 

Tip: Go alfresco but if you can’t stand the heat, eat indoors (aircon) and get a table on the second floor. 

The place gets pretty crowded, it’s best to come early (6pm-ish). Better yet call to reserve a table. http://www.baan-khanitha.com/venues.php?branch=asiatique There are other restos you can dine in but if you want good food and ambiance, you can’t go wrong with Baan Khanitha.


Shop till you drop. Best things to buy here are souvenirs although there are tons of other stuff such as clothes, bags, shoes, houseware/decor, home accesories etc (you get the picture). 

There’s word that vendors of the closed Suan Lum Night Bazaar have relocated here. If you have been Suan Lum before - think chic/hipper suan lum by the river. 

Ride the Asiatique Sky - the highest ferris wheel in Bangkok. 

Watch a cabaret show at Calypso (warehouse 4). (That's not me)

Asiatique is open from 6pm till midnight. It is accessible by BTS till SaphanTaksin station, then take Asiatique’s service boat. 

Lost in Siriraj: Medical Museum Adventure!

The truth is, I was looking for an inexpensive way to spend a day in Thailand. I read somewhere that the entrance to Siriraj Medical Museum was only 40 baht! That's a steal! To think that going to Madam Tussauds or going to the Grand Palace will set you back a couple hundred baht. The thing is, on the day that I decided to visit the museum, I noticed that the entrance fee listed on their website is 200baht! Oh well, gone is the cheap thrill. I still went though, and I got lost, but I found it anyway. Finding the museum is a fun adventure. It would be easier to look for the hospital first, then ask them where the museum is. I can't speak or understand Thai but I kept saying "museum". The friendly guards pointed to this structure...  

I already had a feeling that this wasn't the museum I was looking for, but I still proceeded. Then I was pleasantly distracted by this... It was really amazing! (no wonder it's "amazing thailand")

Modern Art x Retail Space: Siam Center

Before Siam Center was renovated and relaunched as "The Ideapolis", it was already a "Legend". This mall, sandwiched in between Siam Discovery and Siam Paragon was where the young, hip, stylish and trendsetting Bangkokian would shop. When I came to Bangkok a few years ago, it was hard for me to believe that this was the "it-crowd's" shopping haven. Yes, it had famous foreign brand name stores which weren't found in Paragon or Central Words but it's interiors were bleh.

On its "rebirth" in early 2013, it really was - wait for it... legendary! It easily became my new favorite mall. If a modern art museum and a mall would have a child, this would be it. It's a feast for the eyes but also a feast for the senses. Everything is artsy fartsy, in a good way. From the entrance... 

City Hopping at Terminal 21: San Francisco and Los Angeles

Time to walk off all those calories from eating at the food court. Take a picture with this metal guy pulling at something...

City Hopping at Terminal 21: Food Tripping at Pier 21

(Previous Post City Hopping at Terminal 21: Rome and Tokyo)

Out of all the floors in Terminal 21, 5F has got to be the floor where I have spent most of my time in. It houses "Pier 21", the food court. As I have mentioned on a previous post, I think this food court best or one of the best in Bangkok. 

Try to get a table near the big glass wall/window. That area has a nice view of the buildings along Asok.

City Hopping at Terminal 21: Rome and Tokyo

(Previous post: City Hopping at Terminal 21: Caribbean and TaoKaeNoi Land)

When in Rome do as the Romans do and in this "little Rome" they take pictures with this lady. I think it's supposed to be Aphrodite. I'm not sure though. She's the fountain's center piece. 

City Hopping at Terminal 21: TaoKaeNoi Land and the Carribean

I'll be honest. I used to go to Terminal 21 only to food trip. I think they have one of the best food courts in Bangkok, in terms of choice, taste and price. Based on my food court "expeditions" the prices at Pier 21 (that's how they call their food court) is the same as prices of the food stalls on the streets. When I got into digital toy cameras, I started to realize that Terminal 21 is a photo-enthusiast's quick fix for a photo walk.

This mall has 9 floors and has a different city as a motiff per floor, except for the 4th and 5th floor which both has San Francisco for its theme. It isn't surprising that Terminal 21 looks like an airport. It has one really long escalator that skips other floors and takes you directly to one of the upper floors.

Discover Siam Discovery

I discovered Siam Discovery due to boredom... (wait don't leave this page just yet) I was looking for a new hangout place in the BTS Siam Area. So while I was walking from Paragon or Digital Gateway then to Siam Center then through Siam Center's Food court...

I 

I saw this uber chic tunnel...

That structure on BTS Chong Nonsi

I wonder if it has an official name. I always see it on TV but I don't what it's called or if it has an official name. I just I'll just call it "That Iconic Structure on BTS Chong Nonsi. I always see people taking pictures under here...