Bangkok Valentine's Weekend: Day 2

It's our 2nd day in Bangkok and we haven't been to any historical place. But then again, we'll never go wrong with shopping. So we headed to the Chatuchak weekend market. The place was extremely huge, just like Divisoria. Everything's sold in really low prices. When I say, everything, I meant it! From food, to clothes, to kitchenware, to pets! Name it and it's definitely there.

cute!!!

I really wanted to take one home...

Street food are cheap but are good, plus the Thai iced tea is to die for. Pad Thai is just a street food there, and it's really yummy. Got to taste all of those for less than 200 baht. Then we're back to shopping. We bought tops for just 100 baht, souvenirs that cost around 40-70 baht, and dresses for 200 baht. I don't wanna recall how much I've spent there, but I was so happy. What I brought home as pasalubong for my friends were accessories, tops, and spicy tamarind! Oh, I can't get enough of spicy tamarind haha!

time for lunch!

Thai iced tea :)

street food

Anyway, after Chatuchak, we headed to Siam Square to shop at H&M. I got a nice aztec dress for just 500 baht. We had a light dinner at the food court of Siam Paragon, then we headed back to the hotel.

so we're back!

Thai crepe ;)

Oh, that Beckham TVC! :))

At the ground floor of our hotel is a massage service. We experienced 1 hour of real Thai massage! Oh my God, it's really good. I felt relaxed and energized at the same time.  

Anyway, after the massage, we fixed up and headed out. We're supposed to meet a friend somewhere, but she kinda ditched us. The worst part was, we've spent around 300 baht for 3 different cabs just to get us where we had to go. The first one was a really rude driver. He dropped us at the red light district when it's actually not where we're headed. The second one was really nice but we we're on our way to a different place with the same name, so we had to go back. When we finally arrived to the club where we're supposed to meet my friend, the place was kinda dumpy and it looked like nothing's happening there, so we just left and headed to Sukhumvit 11, where the nice clubs were at. I used the Guidepal Bangkok app to choose which club to go. So we went to Levels. It's on the 6th floor of ALoft Hotel. There were a lot of tourists, locals, and expats there; and it looked kinda upscale. No door charge, yey! But an average drink would cost around 250 baht. The drinks might be a bit pricey but they're quite strong. I was able to make my Long Island last for 2 hours but managed to be a bit tipsy LOL! So there's a reason why it's called Levels. There were different rooms in the place playing different music genres. Outside was a sky lounge with lounge music. Inside, there were a couple of tables on the sides, there's a bar and a dance floor at the center. Hiphop/RnB and Pop were being played. Then in another room, house and techno music were being played. Upstairs were the restrooms and VIP rooms.

classy

perfect!

Aztec dress, Snake-skin Clutch all by H&M

what a crazy photo bomber! LOL

our dinner/breakfast haha

After a few hours at the club, we headed to Angel Diner, just beside ALoft. It's quite pricey though, but we liked the food. Our second day was definitely a cosmo day! Shopping, food tripping, and clubbing/drinking were a must every time I travel. Well, that's how a city girl like me does it! :)

Ok, here's our estimated expense for the day, considering all the misfortunes that we encountered that bloated our transportation expense (shopping not included):

1. Food (lunch, snacks, dinner) - ThB 1,000

2. Transportation - ThB 700

3. Massage for 2pax - ThB 300 

3. Drinks/Party - ThB 600

TOTAL: ThB 2,600 = PhP 3,625 (Php 1,813 each)

xoxo,

city girl :)

Hey SEOUL Sisters! (Day 3)

It's our Day 3 (Nov. 17) in Seoul and there's still so much to do. This day, we're off to Petite France and Nami Island, which were both far from downtown. If you were wondering how we manage to navigate around Seoul, we just did some research and we downloaded the "Subway Korea" application for iOS and Android. It's a very useful app as it calculates the fastest routes and the train fares. It even includes the time table of the train trips so you won't miss the train.

From Hongik University Station, it took us about 2 hrs to get to Cheongpyong Station of the ITX line. Well that already included walking through multiple train transfers. Outside the Cheongpyong Station, we took the City Tour Bus, worth 5,000 won each. That would go through several attractions but we only chose the Petite France and the Nami Island. At Petite France, we paid 8,000 won each for entry. Actually, there's nothing much to do inside. We just saw a France-like community, which we were able to appreciate since we couldn't afford yet to go to the real France haha! There's this cool rock band who performed their own version of Oppa Gangnam Style and I liked it! After 20 minutes of going around, we had lunch at a restaurant there. The average rate per plate was around 9,000 won, which was quite pricey.

at the train station

Petite France

it's cold! brrr...

vanity attacked! lol

make a wish!

my most favorite spot

band performing their own version of Oppa Gangnam Style

watch their performance :)

We missed the bus going to Nami Island. We were just a few minutes late because we were not able to note the time of arrival of the bus written at the brochures given to us. The next bus would arrive after an hour and a half, so we just decided to take a cab. The Nami Island was quite far from Petite France that it cost us around 28,000 won. Yikes! Anyway, Nami Island's entrance starts from the port where the ferry is. That ferry takes the guests to the Nami Island itself, which for marketing purposes they called, Nami Republic. There were lots of tourists of different nationalities there; thus, the long queue at the ticket booth. Admission Fee (5,000 won) and ferry ride (3,000 won) amounted to 8,000 won each. It was just a quick 15-minute ride to get to the island from the mainland. Nami Island has become popular because it was the shooting place of Winter Sonata, one of the most popular Korean dramas. Other than biking and taking photos, there's nothing else to do there. So after 30 minutes, we went back to the mainland.

the ferry to Nami Island

just like a Korean haha

my shot via Instagram

First Kiss Bridge (Winter Sonata)

this was where the First Kiss in the Korean drama, Winter Sonata was shot

Seoul sisters in Nami Island :)

what a relaxing view :)

We waited for the bus to Gapyeong Station of the ITX line and we headed back downtown. We had dinner at a mall in Dongdaemun. I tried their Jjampong and I liked it. Plus we ordered crepes for dessert haha. We shopped a little at the night markets there, then we headed home. But since Dianne and I were a bit bored, we went out for a walk around Hongdae. We discovered a lot of coffee shops, bars/clubs, streetfood stalls, and clothing and accessories shops. We had some spicy chicken skewers and something like a tempura for our streetfood trip. We're not much of risk-takers when it comes to food so we didn't try weird-looking streetfood haha.

Jjampong

i forgot its name :))

Starbucks tumblers

heaven!!! LOL!

it actually tasted good :)

After more than an hour of walking around, we went back to the hotel room and met new housemates who were Filipinos too. They were staying inside the room in front of our room. There are three rooms in Pastel's Guesthouse in Prugio Apartment in Hongdae (the building where Nolita is) and the place is really nice. There are a lot of freebies too -- toiletries, hot/cold water, coffee/tea. Plus, our host, Jimmy (owner of the apartment) is also nice for assisting us with directions and other travel concerns. Check out this link to see how awesome the place is!:)

Total spending for the day for 4 pax:
Transportation - 47,000 won (subway and cab for 4pax)
Gapyeong Tour Bus - 20,000 won (5,000 won each)
Lunch - 40,000 won (in Petite France)
Dinner - 36,000 won (plus crepes for dessert)
TOTAL: 143,000 won = Php 5,470 (or approx. Php 1,368/pax)

Day 4 coming up next!:)