Today is the last of our 4-day stay in Bangkok. After a night of packing, we all slept at around 3am. One of our friends took the second flight out of Bangkok back home. After she had left, we lazed around till around noon. As our flight is late in the evening, we still have some time to kill before heading for the airport. We decided to hang around the area, not too far from our hotel so that we would have sufficient time to make it for checking in at the airport. Our first stop today is to the 4-faced buddha at Erawan Shrine. One of my friends want to pay his respects before heading back home. The shrine is crowded by the time we arrived at the shrine. Little did we realised that today is the birthday of the 4-faced buddha. Other than well-wishers, there is also a group of locals performing local dance and human totem for devotees to express there gratitude for the buddha. One can hire lion dancers or the staffs for some acrobatic stunt (limited to 4 humans stacking on top of each other's shoulders). There was a long queue for people who wished to hire dancers to dance for the buddha. Despite the heat, these dancers, cladded in traditional Thai costumes, went on dancing for hours. We spent around 2 hours here (mainly due to the waiting for the dance) before heading towards Siam Square.
While at Siam Square, we decided to dine at the Hello Kitty restaurant to see what the hype is all about. We read that dinning at this restaurant entails one to queue up for hours on weekends. We did not wait for long for our turn in the restaurant. I would say the food there is so-so. They are not that fantastic and all the hype soon turned into another let down in the food. We ordered some cakes and Phad Thai here. I would say the Phad Thai is actually very nice. Wrapped in rice skin (like those of Vietnamese Spring rolls), the bite-size Phad Thai is ideal for sharing amongst a group of friends. We also ordered some pastries, which turns out to be very sweet. After food, we walked around Siam Square. There is a weekend bazaar at Siam Square (on top of the regular shops), where one can find some really good bargains.
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| Waiting outside the Hello Kitty House |
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| Waiting outside the Hello Kitty House |
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| Waiting outside the Hello Kitty House |
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| Waiting outside the Hello Kitty House |
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| Ordering food inside the cafe |
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| Hello Kitty house is packed |
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| Chatting while eating |
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| We cleaned up one plate of Phad Thai |
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| Wefie inside Hello Kitty House |
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| Phad Thai |
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| Our drinks |
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| Pastries |
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| Hello Kitty House Cafe |
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| Shopping around Siam Square |
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| Siam Square |
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| Shopping around Siam Square |
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| Shopping around Siam Square |
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| Shopping around Siam Square |
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| Bazaar at Siam Square |
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| Shopping around Siam Square |
Time passes so quickly when one is enjoying, we have missed our time to get to the airport. We hurried ourselves back to the hotel and collected our luggages and headed to the airport. As a rule, one would have to cater at least 1.5 hours for the trip to the airport, catering sufficient time for the traffic jam. As we were cutting a little too fine for our checking in, I decided to check in online whist on our way to the airport, which would give us sufficient time for boarding. We made it to the airport and line queue for online check in (luggage drop off) is significantly shorter than the usual queues. We were glad that we did the online check in. As there are some time to kill before our flight. My friends and I roamed around the airport terminal before heading to the gate for boarding.
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| At the immigration area in Bangkok Airport |
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| At the immigration area in Bangkok Airport |
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| At the immigration area in Bangkok Airport |
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| At the immigration area in Bangkok Airport |
Reflecting on this trip, though Bangkok is not an unfamiliar place and I have actually blogged about it before, this trip is unique as I have experienced some things for the first time. It was my first time celebrating Loy Krathong in Bangkok, my first time squeezing into the BTS like packed sardines, my first time shopping in Chatuchak market and my first time visiting Erawan Shrine during the birthday of the 4-faced Buddha. This goes to show that although one may have been to a place umpteen times, every trip can be different if planned properly. We have enjoyed our trip this time round as there are several firsts even for some of my friends who have been to Bangkok before.
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