BANGKOK 2014 Day 2 - Healthland Asoke, CHU chocolate cafe & bar, Asiatique, Central World roadside dinner

Day 2 at Bangkok saw us waking up slightly later than usual. My usual timing for overseas trip is like 6am so sleeping till 8am is quite an achievement unlocked. HAHA! Boyfriend just have to live with it but it also means I get to dilly dally around the room while I get ready before waking him up.

We ditched the orginal plan to go cafehopping and hopped on the BTS to Chit Lom, just one stop, and walked to Pratunum Market with the intention to have this super yummy oyster omelette recommended by friends and to get flipflops and passport covers done. We also went for one round at Platinum Mall but we are really not crazy shopaholic so we were out of there in an hour. Got all our things and went back to hotel to chill because it was one of the hottest afternoon ever and we were just melting... ...

Made a reservation at Healthland Asoke for massage in the afternoon - 1 hour of body massage and 1 hour of foot reflexology. The masseur got all the knobs right and it hurts like hell for sometimes. I gave up and ask for her to be slightly gentle in her touch and guess what? I fell asleep almost straight after that. I guess with all the knobs loosen, my body just went into total relax mode.

The place was massive and really presentable unlike many massage joint in Bangkok and that explains the slightly higher pricing. But comparing this to Singapore, it is way too cheap! We just wish that they can be slightly closer to BTS stations so that we wouldn't have to suffer in the heat walking to and fro. 

Healthland Asoke
55/5 Sukhumvit 21 Rd. (Asoke), Bangkok 10110
Telephone: 66-2-261-1110

two happy relaxed souls

 
Since we skipped the cafes in the morning, I decided to bring boyfriend to one before heading to Asiatique. Just a few minutes walk from Asoke BTS (connected by the linkway) is CHU chocolate bar & cafe.

CHU chocolate bar & cafe
Exchange Tower 388 Sukhumvit Road,
Unit 204-206 2nd Floor, Bangkok 10110, Thailand

Telephone: +66 2 663 4554

They have a range of hot chocolate and me being that chocolate lover decided to try 70% cocoa and it just didn't please our tastebuds. I guess it is too bitter for an entire cup of drink. Boyfriend's 58% dark chocolate was awesome though and I couldn't help but keep sipping his drink. Hee...

love the decor there too. woody feel

in love with the floral cap I got from Platinum. Finally one with pretty flowers and no funny words

Unfortunately their food and beverages aren't very photogenic so we decided to just sip and enjoy. The churros aren't really nice either so just go for that 58% dark chocolate drink!

After our very relaxing afternoon, we took the BTS to Saphan Thaskin station to take the free shuttle boat to Asiatique. Upon exit from the gantry, walk towards left to EXIT 2 to board free shuttle boat service at Sathorn Pier or what some of them call it Pier 1. It is available from 4pm - 11.15pm

The queue gets really long but everybody just pile onto one boat and off we went. I guess we exceeded the safety limit of 100 pax by way too much (but I only notice that on the way back so ya..)

that iconic ferris wheel that gets everyone excited.

we got there during sunset time and it was rather pretty. not something we expected to see in Bangkok

There were alot of interesting restaurants at Asiatique, some facing this beautiful sunset. But we had plans to visit the zichar stalls outside Central World (and didn't want to spend too much money on restaurant food) so we just went exploring the place. It was rows and rows of shops with some interesting stuffs but mostly repetitive.

nope, we didn't bother to buy one

I LOVE THIS SHOP!!! I wish I bought more back.

Bye Asiatique!

Took the BTS back to Siam and walk to the roadside stalls, outside Central World and opposite the Big C. We randomly sit down at a stall and were all ready to feast.

filled with tourist and locals enjoying their food

The thing about travelling as a couple is that we tend to over-order because we really want to try more food but thank goodness for his enormous appetite. HAHA! I think the tom yum soup can be abit more spicy but they probably want to cater to us, tourist. A very affordable meal considering that the fish was quite big.

We ended the night by combing the Big C and filled our room with tidbits and more food. Had to have a early night because we are starting our day early on Day 3

BANGKOK 2014 Day 1 - cafe bicycle, Union Mall, Mr Jones Orhanage, Som Tam, After You cafe

We arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport at 8 plus BKK time and made purchase for the 7 days HAPPY INSTANT SIM card with unlimited data usage for 299baht. We got it at the dtac booth located beside arrival hall gate 7 and they helped to change into the new SIM card so I had data plan immediately :) Boyfriend tap on my SIM card when he wants to. Thrifty people we are.

The previous trip saw us taking taxi all the time and that involved a lot of haggling, asking to go by meter and even being dropped in the middle of nowhere. This time, I decided to make use of their BTS and MRT and we started by taking the Phaya Thai Express Train. So it goes like this for us: Airport Link Phaya Thai Station > BTS Phaya Thai > BTS Phloen Chit. It costed about 150baht altogether for both of us to get to Phloen Chit but it involved alot of steps and dragging of luggage. Lucky us because our combined luggage weight was only... ... 8kg!!! The air crew who checked us in wanted to laugh when she saw the weigh. HAHA!

After our early check in to Legacy Express (see previous post) and a short rest, we walked to cafe bicycle which was just beside Phloen Chit BTS. It was filled with expats when we were there on a Wednesday morning and some working lunch crowd came when we were about to go. We ordered a coffee each and a sandwich to share cos the boyfriend wasn't satisfied from the food we had at Changi Airport in the morning. Anyway, that's the best decision that morning because the sandwich was really good and filling. Not to mention, affordable at 170baht.

We found ourselves a space a the 2nd level and started wishing that we had something like this in Singapore. I like loft concept and the white brick wall feature :)

nobody sitting outdoor cos it just toooooo hot

heres a little map

 

Sad to say, the coffees weren't as good as expected but the latte art and the sandwich totally made up for it. The coffee were a little too diluted in our opinion.

yes, the sandwich comes with a packet of Lays chips!

After a short recharge session, we went to Union Mall via BTS and MRT (BTS Phloen Chit >> BTS Asoke >> MRT Sukhumvit >> MRT Phahon Yothin. The train system in Bangkok is rather good and well placed signage help alot. We reach Union Mall in no time and was excited to shop!

 

Here is the one and only photo I thought of the shops at Union Mall. I'm no serial shopaholic or that mindful about cheap deals. I just buy whatever I like and not sweep everything off the shelf just because they are cheap. We both managed to get a couple of clothing here before venturing upstairs for food.

Lunch was at this boatnoodle style eatery. We went in because it was all locals there and so we got the idea that it should be cheap and good. Each bowl of noodle is really really small so we started seeing people stacking their bowls while we enjoyed our 2 bowls of noodle. We are such jokers sometimes. If you don't want to have too filling a meal and get to try something interesting, why not?

After Union Mall, we took the BTS back to Siam area. Combed the entire basement of Siam Paragon to be greeted by a very dull notice that After You is closed for renovation :( I decided to go try Mr Jones Orphanage cos... how bad can a cute shopfront be. WRONG! Worst meal of our trip and doesn't come cheap either.



No point wasting money and time on mediocre food, cramped space and not-so-friendly staff. We walked off the unhealthy food by heading to Siam Square but we didn't really walk that much until we found Som Tam!!!

This is definitely one of our favourite meal in Bangkok. The fried chicken wings are so yummy!!! We polished everything :)) Having filled our tummies with yummy food, we continued walking in Siam Square (boyfriend's nightmare) but completed it in no time. The thought of the Shibuya Toast from After You haven't left my mind so, off we went.

We did a quick google search and went to the one at Central World. HOORAY!!!! It was a weekday night but nothing stopping everyone from having some after dinner sweet treats. We had to take a number but didn't wait too long before it was our turn.

 

salivates...

We ordered the Original Shibuya Honey Toast and it was so sinfully good. Can't stop thinking about it. I strongly recommended them to my brother and you know what! They had it 3 times in 4 days. Crazy one.

With that, we ended our first day of too much food. Be back for more!