Street-seeing and Terminal 21 Shopping Mall

This is probably my fourth time landing in Bangkok, and it is finally the one that I get to experience Bangkok a little more than the other times when I just stopover for a night, only taking in the night scenery of the bustling metropolis which stands as the capital of Thailand. Being the capital, it is no wonder that most of the flights to the many attractions in Thailand are to fly in to the Suvarnabhumi International Airport before heading to the other destinations in the country.
While Thailand is famous for the many beautiful beaches and vacation getaways, the capital city of Bangkok was not overshadowed; not in the least, as the city was famed for the sprawling streets and many shopping malls which made this city known to many as the shopping capital. Choices vary from affordable to luxurious, and quality for the affordable range will not fail your expectation.
Besides shopping, the city plays up to its name as the capital with the many temples and even the royal palace which wooed many tourists from all over the globe with its striking and stunning magnificence. (I will be sharing on this shortly in my upcoming post)

I was just excited to be able to finally tour the city although this was more of a relaxation trip rather than a itinerary-busted one. Still, it did not dampen my spirit as I was just keen to explore the streets on foot in my first few hours upon arrival; as we arrived in the late afternoon.



At the BTS station






Food stalls can be found everywhere on the streets; around the corner and even below a pedestrian bridge. The Thais do love their street food, and the food selection varies from every stall. While there may be two or more stalls selling the same thing, but in general, there are many options available and it is really interesting to check out what each stall has to offer.







Grilled food on skewers like these are quite popular; and they look amazing though we didn't stop to try.
Prices were quite affordable too, but I am never one who can take street food well. I blame it on my sensitive tummy.




We headed to one of the latest and most trendy shopping mall; Terminal 21 which was famed for its unique design and creativity.
Each level in the mall was modeled after the theme of a famous city, with the decorations emulating the atmosphere/landmarks of those major cities.
Furthermore, the escalators leading to the next level are also designed in a way where they resembled the departure gates in the airport; taking off to another country theme on the next level. I find this concept rather fresh and amusing; and cool too, after hearing and reading so much about this famous mall.





Hollywood level was logically, for the cinemas and entertainment, which just makes perfect sense!




The escalators span for four storeys high~


The iconic landmark of San Francisco; the Golden Gate Bridge!
(It's interesting how I always see things from my most recent travel; I was only in San Francisco a couple of months before this Bangkok trip)






The San Francisco trolley train


The Royal Palace Guards on the level themed after London










Japan






We walked around and enjoyed many unique sights on each level; while taking photos along the way and window shopped for a short while before our dinner.







Dinner was at one of the famous chain of restaurants; MK Restaurant . Well, typically I post about food in my food blog, but this time, I will just briefly share some of the photos from our dinner here.















Dessert at the food court



Wrapped up the day and the night with the famous Mango Sticky Rice which my friends were swooning about (not me as I am not a fan, yeah, sadly)

In City Plaza and Walmart: First Shopping spree

Traveling during winter season is never favored by most people; due to the cold climate and the heavy weight of the thick clothing, not to mention the bundles of layers one have to put on.
I am not exactly a fan, but I am not particularly against the idea of traveling during winter either. In fact, I find it quite fun to be able to layer and stuff my hands into the pockets of a nice and warm coat.
Call me crazy, but I think it's something fun considering that I wear the same type of clothing throughout the whole year here at home as we have only summer all year long:p (I know most people would kill to stay in a place like my home country :)

Anyway, after dinner on our first night, we went out to the nearest shopping mall by cab to do a bit of shopping, and to get some groceries for home.

In City Plaza is the nearest and also one of the most popular malls in the Suzhou Industrial Park area.

If you think that Suzhou is a rural and tourist area surrounded only by canals and village folk, then think again, because Suzhou is as developed as most of the major cities in China/Asia and they offer facilities to the expatriates staying there.
Of course, I can't compare the number of shopping malls to that of Shanghai or New York, but the malls here are still decent and even offers lots of international brands!
(You will see more of In City as I made a few trips there during my stay :)


Posing with the kids:)
They never seem to have a problem going out in the cold!

In City offers fashion, food, home stuffs all under one roof with Walmart as their anchor tenant, and international fashion labels like H&M, Zara, Uniqlo, Mango, Next, Promod, DKNY Jeans, Guess, Calvin Klein, and many more!
The best part is, most of them were on sale at that time! *winks*

Anyway, we didn't shop much on the first night, as we only needed to get the essentials; which for me, is something to keep me really warm as I can get cold easily.

My long john or thermal wear!

Value buy from my first shopping trip, and kept me warm throughout my trip.
Definitely recommended for anyone traveling to a cold country; don't leave without at least a pair of long john in your luggage!

Perth 2010: Lunch and shopping @ Karrinyup Mall

Before departing to the airport, we drove to the nearest shopping mall to our hotel; Karrinyup for lunch and some shopping since we had a few hours before our scheduled time at the airport.



Spotted a few familiar brands which we have in Malaysia too~



We had our lunch at the in-house food court which was already packed with working people and also busy shoppers



After traversing from stall to stall, we settled on this Chinese Canton for some much needed Chinese/local food =)




Chinese food; or this economy style lunch was not that cheap either as they offer two packages; AUD$9.90(small) or AUD$10.90(large)

You can take as much as you want from the variety; or whatever you can fit on your plate.







Mind you, the small plate was not that big and it was a challenge putting stuffs on it.

We weren't that greedy, and we just put whatever we could finish between us as we did not want that heavy of a lunch before our flight


After lunch, we walked around and then this California smoothies which promoted healthy juices and smoothies attracted me






They even have ice-cream


My strawberry smoothie was a little too sweet for my liking though..


We left Karrinyup to proceed to the airport soon after a short round of shopping...

To be continued to last post for Perth...