blackmamba

Thanks, Mag!

ksm06

Awesome work on the trip report, hope you feel better soon!

fieldeng

Much like an eightblack TR, i'm crying over here. I hate to laugh so hard but the fart incident was a riot.

Keep it up. I'm enjoying this.

blackmamba

Singapore Airlines
SIN-BKK
Class: J
SQ 970

Amazing service is pretty much what you get whenever you’re onboard Singapore Airlines. I’m pretty much “seat-ridden” (is that a word?) for the entire flight. Once I get on-board, my head is spinning and I basically just collapse into my chair.

Breakfast was compromised of choices ranging from coconut pancakes with orange mascarpone cream, pad thai or bacon leek frittata, pork sausage, baked beans and mushrooms. I went for the pad thai but wasn’t really in the mood for anything.

My throat is basically closing up so I ask for some Strepsils, again. The FAs were more than happy to oblige and gave me what could be the entire pack of Strepsils from the first aid kit. My pad thai comes and it’s spicy as heck. I take a bite and my throat basically refuses to take it down. I love spicy food but this time there was no fighting my body’s reflexes. I leave the dish untouched and just chug water down. I had wanted to try the Singapore Sling (SQ’s signature cocktail) but couldn’t even bring about the energy to order one.

This is when I have to say that Singapore Airline’s service just puts them above and beyond. Without asking for anything at all, one of the FAs approached me with a smile and offered to brew for me a special honey and lemon tea remedy that she makes for herself whenever she gets sick. I politely nod “yes” and within minutes, she has made this incredible sore-throat reliever that instantly made me feel better. Right before we landed, she served me another luke-warm refill (no more hot beverages as the seat-belt sign was on) and she offered me another pack of Strepsils to take with me.

Mustering whatever energy I had left, I decided to approach her at the end of the flight so I could write a commendation for her. She was incredibly humble and convinced me that the whole operation was a team-effort so she would only accept the commendation if it was written on the behalf of the entire crew.

While the Bangkok Airport Cleaning Crew was rummaging through the plane like maniacs for the quick turn-around flight, I write a commendation on behalf of the crew of SQ 970. I will never forget the amazing service that the cabin crew provided throughout the entire flight. Thank you, SQ 970!

blackmamba

Hotel and Nap Time - A Look at the Ramada Hotel and Suites

Hobbling through the airport, I get through immigration and get my bags fairly quickly. I walk out of Bangkok and I don’t get greeted with the “smack on the face” humidity so many FlyerTalkers complain about. Perhaps I’m used to as I’ve lived in some pretty places in my life or maybe, just maybe, it’s because my actual body temperature is hotter than Bangkok.

I pretty much just follow the advice of a posting on TripAdvisor and mossy my way to the taxi area. I hop on the taxi and the driver has an annoying habit of picking his nose right in front of me. He does it constantly but I’m really too tired to be bothered by something like that nor do I have the energy to beg him to stop flicking some of the mined nose treasures he’s gutting out.

After a couple minutes of sitting in traffic and getting lost, we finally get to the hotel. The Ramada is a lovely little hotel nestled in a quite street in Asoke. Relatively close to the BTS station, the hotel provides a free, round-the-clock tuk-tuk service that takes you out to the main road. The hotel also offers a nice, picturesque swimming pool and some lounging chairs to see the stars at night.

Once again, this hotel asks me for my passport for a quick scan. With what I’ve gone through in Dubai, I was pretty cautious about how the hotel dealt with my passport. Luckily, they just scanned right in front my eyes and returned when they handed over my room key. The rooms are spacious with a great cabinet filled with bathrobes, slippers, wooden hangers and even an umbrella for those Bangkok drizzles. The bed was also really comfortable and I managed to squeeze out a good nap after arriving in a daze.


Next - Soi Cowboy Red Light District with a Fever High and Dinner at "Cabbages and Condoms"

WC_EEND

I was thinking the exact same thing actually.

Jimgotkp

Is that really a Ramada? Impressive...

blackmamba

Yes, indeed! The Ramadas in Bangkok (except for D'Ama) are practically new. The Ramada Encore just opened up a few months ago and they serve you ice cream once you walk in the door. Now that's a great way to beat the heat!

blackmamba

Couchsurfing seems to offer a great way to see the city from a local’s perspective so I decide to give it a try again. I meet up with O in the Asoke BTS station and we head over to Chinatown for some site seeing. Bangkok’s Chinatown is the typical Chinatown scene pretty much seen everywhere. You have your hawker stands on selling roasted mystery meat on the the sidewalk, an old woman selling some unknown fruits by the bundle, and an old Chinese guy hacking out an emphatic loogie in front of the couple eating a nice dinner of stir-fried rice noodles and fish ball soup. It’s good to be back home.

After soaking in the sites, sounds and saliva of Chinatown, we head over for dinner in a place called Cabbages and Condoms. Yes, you read that correctly, the place is actually called Cabbages and Condoms. It’s near the hotel and is without a doubt the oddest place I’ve ever heard of. What on Earth would compel a restaurateur to find a mixture of cabbages and condoms appealing?

So it turns out that Cabbage and Condoms is a restaurant and hotel chain in Bangkok that has an amazing mission. It dedicates itself by serving and financing the rural poor of Thailand with vegetable banks and free vasectomies. Hence, the aptly named Cabbages and Condoms. It’s largely a gimmicky and touristy restaurant with a lot of condoms on everything. The food was pretty nice but the fish was a little rubbery. We part ways as O has work in the morning so I’ve got the whole night to myself.

You know you’re in Bangkok when five sketch-balls in one street ask you if you want to see a girl fire a ping-pong ball out of her hoo-ha. It’s about 12 AM and I decide to take in the infamous Soi Cowboy. Still feeling the effects of my subsiding fever, I find myself in a brightly colored pinball machine. A decadent mirage of sex-appeal, the place is largely frequented by the farangs (foreigners as Thais would say) and is a surreal fantasy land for people to escape their problems. I come to this place with a mission - to take as many pictures for the FT community as possible.

A beer would set you back a couple Baht but apparently the shows are worth a peek. The bars close at around 1AM – 2AM and you see the farangs leak out with their newly rented girlfriends for the night. For a passing moment, Bangkok finally turns silent and I head back to the hotel for a well-deserved rest.

blackmamba

Also, could someone teach me how to create a little "Context" section for my first post so people could just click on a specific part of the trip report and be taken there by a link?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

fieldeng

Click on the post # then cut and paste that link into a hyperlink. If need be, I can PM you the URL code.

Day 4: Cabbage and Condoms

Sent you an PM with the details just in case.

blackmamba

Thanks for the tip!

blackmamba

Bangkok Sunsets

There is more to Bangkok than a one-night stand. I’m off in the afternoon to take in the sights of Bangkok. I time my trip so that I could make it to the Chao Phraya River by sunset. I start my journey with a quick street Pad Thai (delicious as usual) and head over to Victory Monument.

As the only nation in Southeast Asia never to be colonized in its history, I was wondering what the Victory Monument was actually celebrating. It turns out it celebrated the victory of the little known Franco-Thai War of 1941. The huge monument is dedicated to commemorate the brave Thai soldiers who lost their lives in one of Thailand’s bloodiest battles. In all, 59 Thai soldiers were killed…I am underwhelmed.

Next, I walk to King Power Complex to browse around the shops and take a look at a Buddha exhibit they have in the ground floor. The Buddha Exhibit (oddly free for that day and unknown by many tourist as it is tucked in a secret location within the complex) features an extensive collection of Buddhist art and statues. Sadly, no pictures were allowed and I couldn’t sneak one out because I was being waited-on hand and foot by two guys who had nothing better to do. Their masterpiece is a humongous Buddha carved out of one rock (very much like the centerpiece of the nearest neighborhood Buddha Bar).

I decide to take a walk around the Duty Free shop and eventually take a pit stop at an unmanned Apple store. I play around with the iPad 2 for a while and suddenly a Chinese couple comes up to me. I apparently look Thai and they think I’m the one in charge of the store. I didn’t have the heart to tell them that I wasn’t a worker so I actually answered all their questions about the iPad and told them that they could get a 10% discount at King Power if they show their passports downstairs. We ended up doing some conversions from Thai Baht to Ren Min Bi (RMB or Yuan) and I eventually convince them that it was cheaper here than in China. Next thing I know, they actually want to buy one! It’s good to know that if this law school thing doesn’t work out, I’ve got a bright future in sales.

(Side Note – the iPads are locked so I eventually told the couple that I couldn’t get the iPads out because I didn’t work there. Whoever is manning that store, stop getting diarrhea and taking super long bathroom breaks because you’re losing customers!)

Next, I head over to Siam Paragon shopping center for a quick snack. I go down to the immaculate food courts in the bottom floor. The place reminds me so much of Singapore’s food courts and they offer an amazing environment to dine on local cuisine. I decide to get adventurous and ask the cook if he could wip me up a special order of Tom Yum Kung with prawns and fish fillets and a handful of vermicelli. The dish was simple yet divine. What made it even better was that I was eating this fish soup in front of a giant aquarium filled with fish.

I’ve timed everything perfectly and the sun was about to set. I head over to the Chao Phraya BTS station known as Saphan Thaksin and hop on board a random river boat to witness the amazing sunset on the Chao Phraya. The small trip did not dissapoint and the sunset is absolutely beautiful. Because I can’t understand Thai, I end up getting off at the wrong stop and end up in some odd, deserted marketplace with extremely dark roads and alleyways. I take a brisk walk down the alleyway and I suddenly get greeted by the magnificent sights of glistening golden towers that reach to the heavens.

Welcome to Wat Phra Kaew, the home of the Emerald Buddha and the famed Nine Towers. Each tower represents the nine planets (of which Pluto isn’t one anymore so there are only eight) and aparentely has glazed tiles that make it seem as if it is coated in gold. There seems to be a special celebration going on and I decide to take in a traditional Thai show likely depicting the story of Rama I. I take some photos and decide to climb one of the towers. I end up perched in the middle of one of them and just decide to sit there for a while to soak in the magnificence of this complex.

It’s getting pretty late and I have an early flight to catch the next day. I decide to walk around the river one more time to take a snap shot of Wat Arun. As I walk to the river boat station, I am told by the tuk-tuk drivers that the river boats stop running at 7 PM. So now, I’m actually stuck without a way to get back to the BTS station.

Luckily, I meet two Hong Kong tourist who are in the same dilemma. We all feel adventurous and decide to take the local bus back to the city center. Interestingly enough, the dingy buses that look like tin-can death traps are surprisingly spacious, have ample air-conditioning and are driven quite efficiently. In no time, I’m at Nana and trekking down the street back to the hotel.

darkom

If the hotel actually lost your passport and it took you two weeks to retrieve new identification, is it up to the hotel to lodge you during that time for free (and also pay any flight changes you maybe have been subject to)? Also wondering if they comped that one night stay in the room for the issue?

broms

I'm loving your style of trip reports! A great read, definitely a report I'll come back to many times. Good luck with your travels and school in the future!

Also, great find on the EY boarding music. Fond memories and good background music.