After some irritatingly interminable immigration queues because of the masses of arriving tourists, Bangkok greeted us with a gleaming airport, efficient transport, and impressive express travel on its highly modernized road infrastructure.
If you have about a week of leisure to spare, where would be a great place to spend what you hope to be easy and relaxing days of memorable happiness, especially if you’re celebrating an anniversary or a birthday?
First off, ideally it should be in the company of friends with common interests and, if you’re lucky, even better with a loved one.
You then of course consider the cost and time you have available to make it a short but memorable experience. That means the US and Europe would not be practical. They would eat up about two days of travel time going and coming and airfare that would entail several thousands of dollars that could be better spent on shopping and great eats.
Here is a possible destination for you to consider.
A local destination is obviously an option but perhaps for the same amount of money, you can fly off to another country and experience some interesting local culture that’s within about two to three hours flying time. After ticking off some usual popular Pinoy destinations like Japan, Korea and Hong Kong which we visited recently, my travelmate and I opted this time for Bangkok, a foodie and shopping mecca.
After some irritatingly interminable immigration queues because of the masses of arriving tourists, Bangkok greeted us with a gleaming airport, efficient transport, and impressive express travel on its highly modernized road infrastructure that allowed us to reach our home for the week in no time at all at the centrally located Amari Hotel Bangkok right across from Platinum Fashion Mall, a Greenhills-like shopping destination for bargain hunters of an endless variety of merchandise from fashionable clothes, branded footwear, gadgets to oriental herbs and ointments for all kinds of aches and pains.
The newly renovated Thai-owned Amari Hotel was a great find and is reasonably priced at a notch lower than the usual international hotel chains. Aside from its great location, our room was very spacious and for a few thousand more baht, you have free access away from the madding hotel crowd to an exclusive lounge with free flowing drinks and food at all times of the day. The order of the first few days for us was literally just a few steps away and a hop, skip and jump right across from Amari on a busy Pratunam road to Platinum while adroitly trying to avoid zigzagging tuktuks, buses and cabs. The multi-storied air-conditioned bargain shopping mall proved to be a boon for seniors with aching knees. Escalators were conveniently situated amid long rows of back to back stalls with a few stall owners thoughtfully providing stools and chairs, a respite for tired shoppers busily bargaining and haggling for additional discounts while endlessly rummaging through the merchandise.
After a full day of shopping, next was a sumptuous meal of Thai food in the popular Somboon Seafood Restaurant famed for its signature fried curry crab, phad tai and tomyang soup. The resto is located in CentralWorld Mall about 4,000 steps away from Platinum within easy walking distance on the Ratchaprasong Skywalk. The night cap of the first day of our amazing Bangkok experience would not be complete without a relaxing Thai massage that soothed away our aching muscles at especially discounted rates offered by Amari for its hotel guests.
Bright and early the next day we decided to take in some local culture and trooped to the centuries-old ruins of Ayutthaya, once the capital of Siam, which gives a glimpse of how the people 300 years ago paid homage to their gods.
Next on our to-do list was an evening dinner cruise on the Chao Phaya River, Thailand’s most important river stretching roughly 370 kilometers from the central plains down to the Gulf of Thailand. For over 1,000 years the river was the country’s main trade route connecting inland communities to the sea. It is said that the Chao Praya serves as the cultural and economic heart of the nation.
The bright lights of several hotels and structures on its river bank was an impressive finale of our amazing Bangkok experience.
Until next week… OBF!
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