48 Hours in Bangkok - Part 2

25 - 48 Hours

0900, Sunday: We rose up a bit late to this windier morning, and we decided to check out early and head straight for some shopping action after a light(er) breakfast. There are no lack of shops in the Siam/Chit Lom area with several mega malls sprawling in the area with the major ones being Siam Paragon and Central World (near BTS-Siam Centre station). While most Hong Kong tourists flocked to the fashion boutiques, designer-label shops and the lingerie section of department stores, we had the best time wandering in the basement supermarket at Siam Paragon, and picked up quite a bit of Thai spices there - the likes of lemongrass or kaffir lime powders, for example. I figure they will come handy for the occasional cooking of hearty tom yam goong or Thai curry at home in one of the cooler nights, or when I want to try out exotic-flavored ice cream.

1300, Sunday: We had our quick late lunch at one of the many restaurants inside Siam Paragon, Manna Thai Restaurant. This casual restaurant serves "classic" Thai cuisine, at least compared to the un-classic Sra Bua that we had the evening before. We ordered some familiar dishes and mixed with some un-familiar ones - I particularly like the crispy tumeric flour wrap with dried shrimps and coconut as appetizer. Other dishes such as stir-fried morning glory, grilled pork neck and tom kha kai soup are delicious, better than what we expected for normal shopping mall food.

1615, Sunday: Having just 2 carry-on luggages, we decided to give the new Airport Rail Link a try for our return trip back to the airport. It's only a 30-minute journey between Phaya Thai (reachable via BTS/skytrain) and Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport on City Line which made 8 stops along the way, or twice as fast (and 3 times more expensive) if you chose the Express Line service instead. Either options will get you straight to the airport terminal building without much hassle. And for only 45 Baht per person (less than HK$12/US$1.50), this is easily the cheapest and fastest way to the airport, and I highly recommend that especially for those who happened to carry little luggage and live close to a skytrain or underground station.

0000, Monday: Home. Without much fanfare on the return flight we were home by midnight, just in time to catch up with some football on TV before bed. It's depressing realising the trip's too short (it always is!) and we have to go straight to work the next day morning, but at least our next journey's just round the corner - that gave us something to look forward to in these 2 tough weeks leading to Chinese New Year. Hasta la vista, baby!