Good morning, it's day 2 of our bkk trip. And while waiting for the bf to be ready, I did a little photoshoot. Heh, can't seem to leave my baby alone. And oh dear, looking at the instagram entry makes me realise that this post is 1 month backdated :S
We headed down to enjoy our complimentary breakfast by Centara Watergate.
(Read the room review here)
A little of everything
My favourite has to be garlic fried rice! Don't belittle how non-eye catching they appear, I'm totally in love with the fragrance of the garlic <3 And it's a pity they only serve it on certain days. Lucky me got to have it on a Wednesday morning (:
Had the chance to meet with the gorgeous PR manager, Ben after breakfast. Thank you for upgrading our room to the deluxe, and making our stay so wonderful
And this, was what attracted me during my online search for accomodation. The pool side bed! Think wine/booze by the pool (: *swoons* But a pity the weather was too swealtering hot for us to stay outside, considering this is just right outside the lobby, that is filled with cool seductive air con.
Maybe this will be a good idea when the temperature is considerably lower in January(;
There are actually pool side massage beds, which you can choose to enjoy the services from the hotel lobby
The boy had some fun shooting around at the pool(:
And we continued with our trudge to our next destiation. Spotted my secondary school CCA headquarters on the way and couldn't resist snapping a shot. What's your CCA in the past?
Finally at the destination! We cabbed to Victorian monument station and asked around for directions to this bus station. It was a pretty far walk from where we alighted but the locals were really helpful in guiding us towards the correct place. Most of them can understand if you ask them where to take bus to the Maekong station. Else, just show them the below photo(:
Tickets are at 70 baht for a one way trip.
After purchasing the ticket, you can just hang around the waiting area as the buses usually wait until they have a full capacity before setting of.
We wandered around outside, and got ourselves some deep fried pork. Nothing really fanciful about this. This 20 baht set actually comes with sticky rice but we just had breakfast so we told the vendor that we'll pass for the rice. And he added more pieces of pork for us. How nice(:
And some wine cooler from 7-11 just around the corner to chill the heat.
Whew
Even Mr Happy is happy with this chill
Here's how the ticket will look like, and the van number is written at the bottom left corner, with the timing on the top left.
We were slow at gearing towards the van, and landed ourselves the backside, which was so squeezy and stuffy, as the aircon vent was only in the front row ): So do remember to stay alert and make a beeline for the van if you have to! It's an approx 1.5hours trip and make it as comfy as you can
And we are finally there! We were just randomly dropped off at the roadside so we navigated towards the station with the help of the map
Salted fish, squid, crabs, dried shrimps etc. Along the way, it was just replicas and replicas of similar stores selling the above.
Spot the below railway tracks, and you know that you are heading towards the right direction
Thank you for holding my hand all this while(:
And yes, we have finally reached the interchange!
*pull the poppers*
Finally after so much heat, and sweat
And a shot with the yellow train, a must have shot that every tourist has to have.
Though hot and sticky
And of course, let us take a selfie first
After we know where the train chugs from, the next task on the list is to get return tickets back to Victorian Monument. I think the train master must be sick of repeating the directions to all the tourist. hehe. Thank you for your help!
Directions obtained, and the captain points out the direction to head to
We first turned left from the exit of the interchange, and at the first junction we turned right.
After that, head all the way straight down
If you don't fancy the smell of the salted fish, you can also get an odourless one as a souvenir
Look out for a tuk tuk fleet and you will not be far from the bus station
Don't miss this gold structure ahead.
Because at the right junction, you can spot a red signboard, which subsequently will zoom in to show the Victorian monument van station
We got our return tickets from the small store at the side. The timing and price for the return tickets seemed to be the same, so there's no difference which side you get it from.
And next we walked back to the train interchange, to witness the moment of the passing train and reversing stalls, based on the train schedule timing published online. Please read on as we realised that the online schedule didn't seem to be accurate
Food, oh glorious food. I was so hungry I ate 2 sticks. They are oh-so-really-really-good.
Marinated and barbequed to the perfection ( right opp the interchange).
That was instant comfort for the grumpy yours-truly under the burning heat.
It felt so much hotter in Maeklong than Bangkok probably due to the lack of trees. And it didn't help that I felt like a giant (I'm 1.7m) while walking under the shelter sheets admist the stalls that form an inverted V.
And YES, coconut drink to cool down the body heat <3
Heavenlicious
While sipping our coconut juice halfway, we heard a bell ring, and the train master heading towards the gantry.
Before we can finish up our drink, the gantry was set up and the train started chugging
And it was then that we realised that the departure time was published at the counter (14.30) and not the 3.30PM timing which we took reference to online ): However, we didn't want to wait for the next train departure to witness the stalls packing up, and decided that filling up our tummies were more important.
And it's amazing how used to the heat the locals are. Check out the lady in green.
Can you see she is all covered up?
Kudos to her. I was already in sleeveless, backless and shorts, and nearly melted. But she was fully covered.
I guess that's the power of vanity, fear of suntan lines and dreadfulness of freckles
Just very normal wanton noodles, which seems to be a very common dish in Maeklong.
Deep fried fish cake, yes! We are back at Victorian Monument. As usual, they dropped us at the side of the road and we had to cross a junction to reach the food stalls. It was about 5plus when we alighted and decided to head back towards the hotel to check out the rooftop bar later on.
Continue your shopping spree here if you can't get your fix. They also have handmade leather bags which I bought one and received many praises during my previous trip.
For us, it's always about food
hehe
We wandered around Baiyoke sky night market. which had a plethora of food, and we settled for this,
a Thailand must-eat:
TOM YAM.
There were no tables for dining so we packed it back to the hotel for dinner.
Do not miss this stall if you ever pass by. This is really good stuff!
And I couldn't resist these BBQ sotong. Spot the enthusiast local flipping the food herself. Guess it's pretty common to do that. And the tourist , like me, will just wait for the food to be ready :p
If you are in the mood, enjoy some local band music with the vintage pop up vans with some booze along the roadside. One awesome experience. It's a pity the weather was too humid and we couldn't go for this.
Back at the hotel, the tummies are growling and it's time to tuck in
The Tom Yam, is mind blowing, imo! I'm a fussy eater, very.
I believe in non-wastage of calories and not settling for anything substandard. I don't give very generous comments of food, but this is different.
This totally made me crave for just more!
I usually only take the ingredients and noodles with the soup, and will not drink the soup on its own.
But this,
I finished every single mouthful of it
*blushes*
Even I surprised myself, as this was the first time I had done so, for Tom Yam.
Idk why, but the concoction just appealed to me so much, that I went back for it the 2nd time before heading back to Singapore <3
After dinner and showering, I realised that I had some store stuff to attend to, and the best part, is that Centara Hotel loans out laptops!((:
For a deposit of course. And you can also bring it back to your room. Since I only needed it for a short while and didn't want it to hijack our holiday, I just used it for a short while at the lobby, and have it returned to discharge the deposit.
We then headed to the roof top for some chilling at their roof top bar.
Taking some mandatory selfies at the rooftop(: And how can we miss out Mr Happy?
Thanks my love for entertaining my nonsense :p
They had some inconsistencies with the #centara promotion they flashed in the hotel displays and TV, and also on the menu.
Apparently they have a Wednesday instagram hashtag promotion where you get a complimentary drink if you upload a photo on instagram (per table) and tag #centara. But it seemed that the hashtag has been misused judging from the #centara posts on instagram and the staff wanted me to hashtag #centarawatergatepavillon.
I had this feedback to Ben, but I'm not sure whether it has been resolved. So just take note you might be needing a different hashtag if you would like to enjoy the promotion(:
And that sums up our Day2!
xx
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Bangkok Day 1: Centara Watergate Hotel review 1, JJmall. Chatuchak
Bangkok Day 2: Centara Watergate Hotel review 2, Maeklong Railway Market, Baiyoke Sky Night Market
Bangkok Day 3: Chinatown, Berkeley room review 1, Genshiyaki Restaurant
Bangkok Day 4: Berkeley room review 2, Charbuton, After you, Pla Thong Mookata
Bangkok Day 5-6: Chatuchak, Rod Fai Night market