Random Thoughts on our BKK-Cambodia Trip

As with all my other travel entries, this one will contain random thoughts with no semblance of structure whatsoever.  I know I know. You're thinking I'm just too lazy to compose a well-structured entry and you probably are correct.  But since I have no immediate plans of making a career out of blogging, please allow me to adapt this format for now.  You have to admit though - bullet points are much easier and more enjoyable to read right?  ;-)

We stayed at the Shanghai Mansion Hotel during our first few days in Bangkok.  And I must say, the location and entrance to this boutique hotel belies the grandeur inside.  Everything was picture perfect and we couldn't help but click away.  Shanghai Mansion, proclaimed the Best Value Hotel in Asia and Australia by the 2010 Sunday Times Travel Magazine, is located in Yaowaraj Road, Chinatown.  For a 3-night stay, we spent about $185 or roughly P7,800.  That's about P2,600 per night.  Not bad huh? There are also plenty of 7-Elevens and street food stalls near the hotel so you don't have to worry about getting hungry in the middle of the night.  In fact, the first meal we had was on a street corner just outside the hotel.  

Food stall outside the hotel and where we had our first meal (see photo below).

It's funny but we only got to find out during our last day that there was even a fairly large supermarket in the hotel basement.  So convenient.  

Shanghai Mansion is a luxury boutique hotel located in the heart of Yaowarat in Bangkok's Chinatown.  Our room was amazing and littered with lots of oriental decor.  The shower room even had a birdcage (with a fake bird of course) hung near the entrance.  I do have one minor gripe though. Since the bathroom floor is almost at level with the main room, water overflows every time we use the shower, drenching the carpet which in turn, gives out an unpleasant smell. For the sheer beauty of the room though, we’ll let this one pass. 

Gorgeous lobby

View from the hotel lobby

Love the colors!

Since Bangkok was under the threat of flooding during the time we had our vacation (Oct. 21-29, 2011), most establishments had sand bags ready at their doors just in case.  We are just so grateful because the whole time we were there, no flood and hardly a drop of rain came.  It was just a bit disconcerting to see meter-high stacks of sandbags surrounding the perimeters of malls like Platinum Plaza and other establishments in the city.  
  

Wat Pho is just beside the Grand Palace so a visit here should also be in one's itinerary when traveling to Bangkok but since this was already our 2^nd time here, we skipped visiting the latter.  
  

Main attraction at Wat Pho - the Reclining Buddha.  Measuring 46 meters long and 15 meters high, its feet are inlaid with Mother of Pearl in various segments.

Must do: Drop coins in the 108 vessels infront of the statue.  Makes a cool sound.  ;-)

Located in Soi Kasemsan in the center of Bangkok, the Jim Thompson House is a museum with various Asian artifacts collected by the owner as well as his personal belongings on display. There's also a souvenir shop at the entrance where you can buy silk products and other items. Somewhat interesting but a bit on the pricey side.  For serious shoppers only.  ;-)  Must do:  Take a tour of the house for a minimal fee.  

 

We spent about an hour taking in the sights at the Floating Market.  Nothing to see here except old ladies selling fruits, freshly cooked food and other stuff.  Since we really had no plans of buying anything from this place, I just took advantage of the photo opportunity.  It was nice to shoot here because of all the colors and the reflections on the water - it's almost guaranteed you'll come up with at least one postcard quality shot. (BTW, except for the G-Shocks, the photos in this blog entry were taken using Nina's Sony W330 and my Nikon D90.) 

The Crocodile Show was so fun (in a scary kind of way) to watch, Nina had her eyes closed half of the time.  Even though the reptiles seemed to be on the "petite" side, the sound of their bite can be still heard in the rafters.  The handlers did some crazy stuff like putting their hands and heads inside the reptiles' mouths.  Those guys were amazing!   Steve Irwin would've been proud (?).  At the end of every show, you can hand them tips so please be generous.  They're literally putting their limbs on the line just to "entertain" us.  Watching the Croc show really makes you wonder if those animals are really trained even though they have brains the size of peanuts.  

Be generous with the tip!

 
If your idea of fun is watching gigantic animals playing soccer and doing headstands, then the Elephant show is for you.  We were reduced to little kids clapping like crazy watching the pachiderms perform their tricks.   

The Cobra show was a bit expensive - about 200 Baht I think.  Nothing here but a bunch of guys eyeing poisonous snakes while doing the macarena.  Just outside the stadium, they sell stuff made from - you guessed it - snakes.  Lotions, perfumes, accessories - they're all here at very tourist-y prices.  

Forget those fancy restaurants.  You can get your fill of authentic Thai food at the malls here.  I love the food courts in Bangkok!   The food can get moderately expensive (like the one at MBK) but you get your money's worth as everything seems to be freshly cooked.  The one at the Siam Paragon ground floor is great for those who want to sample local delicacies whilst people watching (fashionable Thais seem to converge in this mall).  It's definitely not the most appetizing when it comes to ambiance but I did love the food at the Platinum Plaza food court.  I even had two servings of their boiled pork knuckles there.  ;-)   Below are pictures of some of the amazing food we had during our stay in BKK.      

MBK Foodcourt

Siam Paragon

Food court at Pantip Plaza where my most favorite braised knuckles can be found

There's art in every meal

A bit too spicy for my taste

Another spicy dish

The braised knuckles I was telling you about.  My favorite!

Nina found it too sweet but I can't seem to get enough of Thai Iced Tea!  I could drink that orange stuff everyday.  ;-)  If I'm not mistaken, I think it's made from black chai tea leaves, evaporated and condensed milk.  Yummy!  If you haven't tried Thai Iced Tea yet, head on over to Som's at Rockwell and see what I'm talking about.  It's probably the closest we'll ever get to the real thing here in Manila.  I'll try to find a good recipe for this delicious drink and share with you soon.  

My most favorite refreshment

 
MBK is probably one of the best malls in Bangkok to spend your Baht on.  Think of it as Chatuchak with aircon.  Nina, in a moment of retail insanity, bought about 10 bags in one of the shops there as everything was priced at 199 Baht (about P274).  Everything you never knew you needed is here and is definitely one of our favorite places to shop in Bangkok. 

Pantip Plaza is a tech place similar to our V Mall in Greenhills.  It was there where I bought a 1TB external hard drive (WD Elements) at almost half the Manila price.  I regret not buying more as I could've made a small fortune reselling it here.  ;-)  Haha.  This place is just beside Platinum Mall.

I love Casio G-Shocks especially their Cockpit and Aviator series and I do have a small collection of them (the ones with the metal wristbands and not the type you see being "pirated" in Greenhills with the plasticky straps).  Since G-Shocks are cased in Thailand, I assumed they were much cheaper there and so I always kept an eye open for them whenever we did our "mall tours" around Bangkok.  Luckily, we found two models in Siam Paragon currently not yet available (as of writing) here in the Philippines.  Needless to say (...but I'm saying it anyway), I now have two new additions to my mini G-Shock collection.  ;-)  The prices?  I'm sure I can find better deals elsewhere in BKK but since Siam Paragon is a high-end mall, the watches ended up costing the same as in Manila or gasp...maybe even higher.  Oh well.  The pink one set me back 5,012 BHT while the black and orange one was 6,375 BHT.  Here's another shopping tip.  If you're planning to buy a G-Shock in BKK, look around at the Duty Free area in the airport instead.  To my horror, I saw my pink G-Shock priced way way lower than what I paid for at Paragon. Aaaaargh!  

Gateaux House is officially our go to bread place in Thailand.  We were so deliciously impressed the first time we visited in '07 that we promised to come back to this bakery to sample more of their pastries.  I'm not sure if they have other branches in the city but the one at the ground floor of MBK is where we always go to.  The bread pictured below is our favorite.  

Butter and sugar overload. 

To complete the Thailand experience, we decided to watch a local movie at Siam Paragon.  Of course, we had to make sure that there were subtitles first.  There were more interesting movies being shown like "In Time" and "The Help" but since we could watch those back home, we decided to go Thai and went for "30+ On Sale", a romantic comedy.  It was okay although we had a blast marvelling at how the lead actor looked so much like Smokey Manaloto. ;-) The Cinemas at Siam Paragon were nice.  The area was clean, the seats comfy, but there was about a 15-minute power disruption towards the end of the movie.  Nothing really serious. I wouldn't mind watching another movie there if and when we do go back to Thailand.   Tickets cost 160 BHT each (about P220) if I remember correctly. 

Upon our return to BKK from Siem Reap, we stayed at Asia Hotel in the Ratchathewi area.  We really loved the location of this hotel because it's connected to the BTS Sky Train.  (Travel tip:  Always try to get a hotel near the major train stations)  Our room was very nice too and I definitely wouldn't mind staying here again.  (Update: we found an internet entry that lists Asia Hotel as one of the most haunted hotels in Asia.  ;-)  Personally, I didn't feel anything strange during our stay.)  

Room was very clean and "5-star" like.

We also made sure to catch the Calypso Ladyboy show which was very conveniently held at the hotel we were staying at - Asia Hotel.  The show lasted for about 45 minutes with transsexuals or kathoeys in lavish and colorful costumes lipsynching and dancing to popular tunes.   My favorite number had to be where pretty boys danced to "Nobody But You" by the Wondergirls.  The entrance fee of 1,200 BHT (about P1,600) already includes one drink.   On the day we watched, the audience was a bit reserved and appeared in "awe" of how pretty the katoeys were.  I had my picture taken with a delicate looking lad for posterity (did I just use the word "delicate" to describe a guy?).  It was a bit unnerving to hear him speak in a deep voice though.  ;-)  When I handed him a tip, I thought it was Barry White who thanked me.  Haha.  

Me with "Barry White"

Thai Massage - two words the mere mention of which gets me all excited.  Aside from sampling local cuisine, one of the traveling must-do's Nina and I agreed upon is to get a massage at least once during a trip.  Hey, no complaints here.  ;-)  

IMPORTANT:  Traveling to Cambodia from BKK consists of a 4 hour-bus ride from Mo Chit bus terminal to the border.  After the usual immigration stuff, we boarded a taxi and endured another 2-hour non-stop ride going to our hotel.   For all of you planning to take this route going to Siem Reap – please read this carefully.  There will be many tuktuks at the bus terminal waiting to take you the border.  As of writing, the rate is fixed at 80 baht (about P110).  These tuktuk drivers will drop you off at a small white building just a few meters away from the actual immigration office.  I guess this is their M.O.  Upon getting off your tuktuk, characters (complete with IDs hanging from their necks) will ask you to fill up your immigration documents there.  DO NOT mind them and just keep walking towards the real immigration office farther down the road.  They will be harrassing you, shouting at you, telling you it's free, but don't even think about it.  Just keep moving.  I don't know why the Cambodian government is tolerating this. This is definitely  not the way to welcome tourists particularly those coming from BKK.  

I know this is bad but some of the security personnel at the Cambodian immigration looked straight out of a Rambo movie.  You know the caricature - beady eyes, mustache, bulging bellies, toothpick in mouth (okay I just made that one up).  Hmmm, I wonder if foreigners also think the same way of us when they visit our own immigration offices.  

In Siem Reap, we stayed at the Golden Villa Hotel.  We heard that the service in this hotel was good and we were not disappointed.  The staff seemed cheerful and eager to assist us.  The rooms were okay, definitely not five-star or even three-star class.  But as long as there's aircon and we have our own bathroom, we're happy campers.  They also have a small room at the ground floor with about four or five PCs where you can access the internet for free.  Oh and we also got to try authentic Khmer massage here. ;-)

Entrance to the hotel

 

Room was okay, nothing fancy.

As long as there's aircon and we have our own bathroom, we're happy campers.

Our welcome drinks came in very beautiful containers.

Restaurant connected to the hotel

Of course we had to visit the very popular Pub Street and famed Night Market here.  The area truly comes alive at night with so many people eating and drinking in the various bars and restos lining the place.  
 

Different flavored teas and spices

Lots of kind people here. 

The temples of Cambodia are a photographer's dream. Everthing seemed picture perfect.  It rarely happens - but when I was browsing through the hundreds of shots we took, I was surprised to see so many that even I liked!  (FYI, I usually don't like my photos).  At first I was a bit concerned that my pictures wouldn't come out nice because the temples were mostly stone gray and without color, but the place is filled with so much character and so alive, every photo seems to come out in 3D.    
 

View from the road

Temple lake

Entrance to the temple

Jump shot!  ;-)

Again!

Is that a cigarette in your hand sir?

I found staying in Cambodia to be a little expensive as everything is quoted in US dollars.  They do have their own currency (Riel) but I guess it has been the norm to transact in dollars there and they only use their Riel for small change.

Shopping in Siem Reap meant walking to the old Market and haggling with Chinese-looking vendors selling stuff we can also find in Divisoria.  Except for shirts that bear the Cambodian flag or those with Khmer characters, everything looked the same to me.   Here's a shopping tip - when buying shirts, always look at the neckline and make sure it has a snug fit.  This is usually the first to become loose and frayed.  

One of our "priority" activities in Siem Reap was to try the national dish of Cambodia called Amok.  As mentioned in Lonely Planet guide books, one of the best places to sample this dish is in a restaurant called what else – Amok Restaurant.  My verdict?    I think Amok tastes a bit like our kare-kare but "meatier", less soupier, with a hint of curry and ginger.  It was okay but something I don't think I will look for here in Manila.    
Aside from Amok, here are some of the food we had in Cambodia.  

The national dish of Cambodia

Prices are quoted in US Dollars

Ton Le Sap Floating Village – The tour of this place consisted of a boat ride which took more than an hour.  Since the place is a bit far, and there's really nothing much to see, I would reluctantly urge tourists to skip this one.  Houses on stilts, women doing laundry, children playing in the water, these are just some of the scenes you will get to see here.  A bit boring really.  Sorry Cambodia but I have to consider this a tourist trap.  

 

To end our day, we availed of the buffet dinner at the Angkor Mondial Restaurant and as a bonus, also got to enjoy an authentic Khmer classical dance show.  And we loved it!  I’ve seen many native dances before but Cambodia’s Apsara appears to be my favorite.  In Apsara, dancers perform slow, ballet-like movements meant to entrance the viewers and from the looks on our faces, it would be safe to say we were enthralled for sure.  There’s something enchanting, magical even sensual in the way the dancers moved about in their heavily-embroidered costumes.  An amazing performance and truly a privilege to watch.   

I think Cambodia is a good example of a country being kept afloat by its tourism industry. Not surprisingly, virtually everything revolves around their storied temples and for good reason.  Tuktuk drivers earn (a lot) by ferrying tourists to and from the temples, taking them to restaurants within the area.  Vendors and souvenir shops are practically everywhere. The whole area is a financial hub and everyone seems to be making a good living with the temples as the heart of their business.    

If you're planning a trip to Cambodia, we strongly suggest you get in touch with our tour guide.  His name is Kim Soryar and he was referred to us by a cousin who worked at ADB before (I guess he takes care of the ADB people whenever they visit Cambodia so he must be good).  A big reason why our Cambodia trip was so hassle-free was because of all the arrangements Kim made for us.  He arranged to have us picked up when we arrived, organized all our tours, and took us back to the border to go back to Bangkok.  Unfortunately during our day tour, he wasn't available but he assigned to us a very nice young man who shared so many stories (lengthily at times) about life in Cambodia.  He gave us so many details and insights during the temple tour that we couldn't help but be amazed at how much Cambodians value this historical site.  If you get to read this Mr. Soryar, thank you very much!  Just send me a message if you want his contact details.

 

To sum it up, this has been one of the most exhausting trips we've done.  2 countries, 3 hotels, 10-hour bus rides, miles and miles of walking, not to mention the stress caused by the constant  threat of flooding in Bangkok.   But for the sheer love of traveling, I'm sure we'd be more than willing to go through these all over again.  Next stop - Singapore, Malacca and Indonesia.