THierry's Diary: Bangkok Trip: Day 3 (Meeting the Locals)

Woke up at roughly the same time as the previous day for breakfast. But this time the gals wanna skipped breakfast. So StupidGenius and I went down for breakfast ourselves. The menu looks the same as the one yesterday, with only the main dish that was different.

Went out at around 11+ to Pratunam area for more shopping today. Again spent 2 hours walking through the alleys of shops. Everyone got something here. I bought 3 more shirts, taking my total tally now to 7. Then we went to a newly opened shopping mall nearby called Platinum Mall (opened in November 2005). Most of the stuff they sell here are similar to those that you could find from the shops outside, but the price here is a bit more expensive. Bought some snacks from the food court here just before leaving.

Our next stop was Sathorn area, the place where SG used to work here in BKK. SG wanted to bring us here to try the wanton noodle, which he says is very nice (at that time when he tried). However by the time we reached the street where the stall was (think was very near Evergreen Laurel Hotel), they had already closed shop. So we had no choice but to find another place to lunch. Then we went to a Mac outlet, which also sells those souvenirs or promotional items that comes with a set meal. S went in to see if she could get something. I had remember coming to this Mac outlet on my last trip to BKK.

Walk a bit further down the road before coming to a restaurant called Shangarila Kitchen, and decided to have our lunch there.

We ordered ice green tea, which was free flow. Then S, XY and I ordered a set meal that comes with a main course (fried rice or noodle), soup and dessert while SG ordered one with cabbage rice and a side dish. Overall, I think the food here was quite good, especially like the dessert, which was yam roll or something like that.

Took the skytrain back to from Chong Nonsi (S3) station to Siam (CS) station. Went to another newly opened shopping mall, the Siam Paragon (opened in Dec 2005). This is the place where all the branded high end products could be found. Maybe this mall is specifically catered to tourists. But I wonder how this could appeal to the locals, considering the price of the items on sold here. We spent little time here as we were not thinking of buying anything from here. Then we cut through to Siam Center and Siam Discovery Center before going to MBK.

Bought some local food products at MBK. Bought quite a lot in fact and XY gotta had her items all sealed up in a box. Went back to hotel to put away all the stuff that we have bought for the day meeting SG's friends later for dinner. Rested for a while at the hotel as well.

We were supposed to meet his friends at 730pm but as there were quite a heavy traffic jam on our way there, we were late. His friends Ball and Yong, which he got to know while he was working in BKK, are really very friendly people. They drove us to the place where we were going to have dinner. Thought we should have meet them directly there instead, so that we wouldn't have wasted so much time on the road.

We arrived at this place called Baan Klang Nam (loosely translated as house in center of the sea). They ordered a lot of food. We chatted while having dinner, where they were asked what we had done and would be doing on our trip.

As host, they settled the bills for the dinner and even drove us back to our hotel. SG gave them a box of biscuits each as a returning gesture.

After parting with Ball and Yong at our hotel, we went to E's apartment on a tuk-tuk. The journey wasn't long, but with 4 people squeezing into one vehicle, I doubt it was very comfortable, especially for S who was not on the seat. Nonetheless we did arrive safely at E's apartment. The main objective of our visit was to pass her some MP3s that she had requested. Meanwhile we stayed to chat and managed to finish watching a movie on TV.