Songkran for the Holidays

Of all weekends we picked to go for a holiday in Bangkok, we chose the Songkran weekend. In case you didn’t know what Songkran is, it is THE wettest festival of the year as it is also the HOTTEST three days of the Thailand calendar! It was definitely not deliberate and completely unintentional and we only realised a few days before departing! Reading online about how some areas would be a splishy splashy mess of water-crazed revellers didn’t help much. Getting all wet (drenched, soaked!) wasn’t exactly my idea of fun. Especially not with my parents-in-law in tow, looking to shop till they dropped (more for my Mum-in-Law… Dad-in-Law asked if we were visiting any places of attraction, does Platinum Mall count?)

So we worked out a strategy in this “Water Games” – keep as inconspicuous as possible, never bringing attention to ourselves in any way, keep calm and keep away from groups of people armed with water guns bigger than any I have seen before, stay indoors in malls as much as possible, tightly seal up all our possessions, take cabs to all our destinations,…. Well, I guess our battle plan worked!

We survived unscathed with only a minor squirt of water to our tummies from a by-passer who wanted to share the joy. We were peaceably making our way to Central World and I just thought to myself when would my first experience of getting Songkran-ed occur and splish, my t-shirt was wet at the belly area. What you think is what you get?! Hah! Thankfully I kept thoughts of getting wet completely off my mind and I didn’t get wet anytime anywhere the next two days! Yay!

All in all, I would rate this maiden holiday trip with the in-laws a relative success! It would have been much better shopping without half the shops closed for the festivities but it was good and simple quality time spent together :)

Sorry no pictures, we kept our camera securely in a ziplock bag the whole time and it was a real hassle to take out. And I swear the moment we train our camera lens on any colourful party animals, we would be attacked front and centre!

Bangkok Buys [Bangkok]

My hubby keeps lamenting that some of the T-shirts he got from Bangkok have shrunk! Oh well, I guess you pay for the quality you get. But I am quite happy with my haul and want to share with you some of my good buys!

1. Beige blouse $12.50

2. Turquoise blouse $12.50

3. White buttoned blouse $8.30

4. Pink buttoned blouse $9.15

5. Lilac skirt $10.40

6. White blouse with purple frill $9.15

7. Blue bag $22.90

8. Blue leopard print dress $9.20

9. Rings (Ranging from $6.20 - $8.30 each)

10. Accessories (Ranging from $4.20 - $10 each)

11. Turquoise sandals $10

12. Turquoise frills blouse $8.30

13. Orange polka dot blouse $8.30

14. Brown Leopard Print Skirt $6.25

How many of you think we are paying too much in Singapore for clothes?!!!

Chatuchak Market [Bangkok]

I really like Chatuchak Market and I think it’s a must-visit if you are in Bangkok over the weekend! It’s a huge huge market with a total of 27 sections with each section having numerous alleyways. We were only keen on clothing so we focused on those sections selling clothes but you can also get home décor items, art, plants, collectibles, even pets! I find the items here much more unique than Platinum and of course slightly pricier. There is more effort in doing up the stores to look attractive too. A lot more men’s clothing and shoes are being sold here so my hubby was reasonably pleased :)

Also called “JJ Market”

Prettily done up shops

Wide range of choices for guys

Soak in the atmosphere!

Food outlets – try them if you dare!

Random performances

Tips for shopping at Chatuchak:

• The stores here are more flexible about trying but there are no changing rooms. So I advise ladies to wear dresses so you can easily try on bottoms. For guys, they will provide a sarong or elastic-banded “skirt” for you to try out bottoms.
• Guys should wear singlets so you can easily remove to try out tops.
• There are covered zinc-roof areas and open-air areas so it can get hot and stuffy! Wear something loose, airy and comfy.
• If you like something, do take note of which section and which “soi” it is at or it’s gonna be very difficult to find the store again!
• Do bargain but I realize they are not so flexible in cutting prices but at least try. There is no cheaper price for more than 1 piece though.
• If you are planning to shop for long, bring water and snacks unless you intend to try out their street stalls. We did try a donut like cake (pic above) which tasted quite nice.

A great place to spend the weekend!

More info on Chatuchak:

Jatujak Market Shopping Directory
Chatuchak Weekend Market
Tongue in Chic article on Where to Shop in Chatuchak

The Platinum Fashion Mall [Bangkok]

The biggest tourist attraction (for us at least) was Platinum! We were there particularly every day!

Over 6 floors of clothes, accessories, shoes and bags, let loose a woman (or a man) there and you may have to intercom her to find her!

The clothes were reasonably cheap, starting from $5 upwards and we saw lots of people pulling trolleys, presumably filled with their exploits! Lots of blogshop owners come here to source for designs and buy in bulk to sell back in Singapore. I will now think twice about buying anything in Singapore!

Some tips for shopping here:

• The official opening hours of the mall is 9am-7pm but it's better to come around 10 plus since not all the stores open at 9. They do close by 7pm though
  
• No trying of clothes allowed so it would be good that you have a discerning eye to know what would fit you or not. Otherwise you can bring a T-shirt that fits you well as a reference (more for guys)
  
• Do check the items that you have bought especially zips, buttons, etc
• It’s usually cheaper if you buy more than 1 piece from each shop so bring a fren or if you are daring enough, ask if a fellow shopper is willing to join their purchases together with you
• Some shops do allow you to change so if you are a bit worried an item doesn’t fit, try it at the toilets located on every floor and do an immediate exchange if you need to (tip from my hubby who's obsessive about getting the right fit!)
  
• Bring a huge tote bag to carry your loots so that your hands can be kept free for easier browsing
• Bring a water bottle or snacks if you dun intend to stop for lunch

Have fun shopping!

Amari Watergate [Bangkok]

I totally recommend this hotel if you are visiting Bangkok for shopping! It’s strategically located just across the road from The Platinum Fashion Mall! Thanks once again to Jared for helping us get a good deal at this 5-star hotel! It’s also walking distance from Central World where you have a wide selection of restaurants (especially those with buffets!) and a huge Naraya branch.

The very spacious lobby

On the 3rd floor, there are several tailor shops you can check out. The one we patronized (Alex’s Fashion) was recommended by our fren Ronald whose namecard was proudly displayed there as well.

The extremely comfy bed that greeted us!

Awesome lounging sofa!

There’s also an award-winning Clark Hatch gym, swimming pool and jacuzzi for the fitness buffs.

More pics of Amari here at Jerb's blog! :)

More on THE PLATINUM in the next post!

Activities at Phuket [Phuket]

Frankly, we din do much at Phuket. It was more of a chill-out time before we hit Bangkok. Some of the few activities we did were:

1) Visit the tailor

2) Go on a Buggy Adventure

3) Roam the streets

4) Played mini golf!

5) Did massage

My travel companion, Jerb, did some thorough posts of our activities at her blog. Do support her by clicking on the following links!

Sights & Shopping in Phuket

Things to do in Phuket: Buggy Adventure

Things to do in Phuket: Mini-Golf at Dino Park

Delicious Food in Phuket