Bangkok Trip - Day 2 (April 29th 2008)

Woke up at 6...it was still dark outside but it was rapidly growing brighter. Dressed and got ready for breakfast.

The American style breakfast buffet was good

Since it was still early, we decided to lounge around the (rooftop) pool while enjoying the cool morning breeze.

The pool...pretty cosy

Buildings surrounding the hotel


Skyline of Bangkok...looks pretty much like KL doesn't it?

Since the malls only open around 10-ish (we assumed) we decided to return to our rooms for some rest before heading out again. I took advantage of the free time to drop by the hotel's massage centre to reinvigorate my muscles with a (free) oil massage. Which was great really. I meant the massage of course.

Having gathered our strength we headed off. First stop, Mahboonkrong (MBK) Centre which is really close to the National Stadium BTS station.

Entrance to MBK via Tokyu Department Store

Having experienced the size of Suan Lum the night before, the size of MBK didn't really surprise us. Still it was a huge place, easily 2 - 3 times the size of our local Sungaiwang Plaza. The concept is basically the same, one huge building with one anchor tenant (Tokyu in this case) and a lot of small stalls selling basically everything. Apparently there are 2500 stalls here so you can imagine the size of the place. There's also a cineplex, karaoke rooms and a bowling alley.

I shall not elaborate on the shopping but we did not buy much here. I did manage to find myself an (original) PC game which wasn't in sale anymore back in Malaysia. And for half the price too! Yes it's a localised version which means the printing on the box and the manual are in Thai, but the game itself is in English. So no complaints there really.

The Terminator makes an appearance in MBK

Yet another robot sculpted out of scrap...very nicely done!

Of course all that walking around naturally works up a good appetite so we headed to Sizzler for lunch. I used to remember way back when I was in college (97) there was a Sizzler located at Centrepoint...ah the memories. But I digress, on to the food pictures...

Salad for starters

Thick creamy mushroom soup

Crispy cheesy buttery bread

Grilled pork chop with baked potato (mine)

Grilled chicken with pork sausage (Tracy's)

Note: Calvin had a half rack of ribs. Pork of course.

Once again the food was outstanding. Loads of variety at the salad bar (including bacon bits!) and they had a couple of choices of soup too. The mushroom soup that I had was creamy, not like the watered down stuff you would find at our local Pizza Hut. In fact I would say it was a wee bit too creamy but it just goes to show they don't skimp on ingredients over here.

As for the main courses, all of them got our collective thumbs up. Who wouldn't give the thumbs up to well marinated succulent meat which was grilled to perfection? Darn, somebody should bring back the Sizzler franchise to Malaysia!

Of course such good food doesn't come cheap. Expect to pay around THB300 - 400 for the mains we had (steaks are priced on par with The Ship or Victoria Station). The salad bar and soups are basically 'free' (buffet style) but you'll have to order a main course. In my opinion it's pretty much worth the price.

Once we had filled our tummies we did a final round of scouting. This time around I scored myself a nice die cast car model (1:18 scale Camaro Concept a.k.a Bumblebee) for half the price it was selling in Malaysia! Sweet deal indeed!

Satisfied with our shopping session in MBK, we headed back to Siam BTS and proceeded to Siam Square. Despite it's mall-sounding name it's basically a congregation of small sois (lanes) filled with shops and restaurants. Another place, another shopping spree. And the lady really had a good time, leaving us two guys desperately trying to massage life back into our tired muscles and gulping down bottles of drinks (I love their green tea) to stave off dehydration. I can't imagine how it would be like if I brought my girlfriend (in the future) along, we guys would probably collapse.

Classy? You bet!

After a whirlwind tour of Siam Square our muscles (us guys) practically gave out and we headed to Siam Paragon nearby to rest. We settled for McCafe (which is basically Macdonalds done cafe style, more classy I guess) and slumped gratefully into our seats. The whole place was practically taken over by students and they were all studying. In a noisy cafe. They must really be used to it. Still I managed to catch a glimpse of some pretty Thai girls and let me tell you this, some of them can practically be models. Girl watching, good for the soul. Yes, (discrete) girl watching, not girl ogling with mouth open wide and drool flowing out. =D

Siam Paragon is basically an upscale shopping mall so no shopping spree here. Not enough THB see? We did think of having dinner here at MK Steamboat (Coca's competitor) but a look at the prices convinced us that we should just head back to the hotel for dinner.

Various salads from the buffet table

The hotel was kind enough to upgrade our set dinner vouchers (ala carte) to a full buffet. Dinner was pretty good, consisting of a mixture of Western and Thai favourites and a separate grill section. Nothing too special, but good enough.

After dinner the couple decided that yesterday's jaunt to Suan Lum Night Bazaar was not enough so they went off there again. Me? I decided on another massage session and slept early. Yes I was really, really tired. I wonder where do girls acquire so much energy?

Day 2 comes to an end...day 3 begins...