#AmazingThailand: Bangkok 🇹🇭

Second leg of my Thailand trip was Bangkok and this time I was flying solo.
Darwin and Isabel went back to Manila while I fly domestic to Bangkok.

November 20th

My flight to BKK was at 8:40 AM, Isabel's flight to Manila was at 8:00 AM and Darwin's was later than us so he was left at the hotel. Isabel and I left the hotel around 5 in the morning and got to the airport at an hour after. I got major sepanx while waiting for boarding, I swear.

Since we didn't get a chance to grab breakfast, I decided to buy a sandwich at Subway.. it wasn't that good. Idk why. My flight was a bit delayed... since when did flights become on time anyway right lol

I arrived at BKK around 11, booked a Grab car from the airport to my hotel, Royal View Resort. I was too early for my check in but they were so accommodating and their lobby sofas were so comfy.

Refreshments... that I regret drinking cause I'm not a fan of ginger-ish juice lol

Part of their lobby. You can grab a book and read while waiting.. but I didn’t cause I was too tired lol

After an hour or so, they already checked me in. First impression of the hotel is that it was nice. Staff was very approachable. Elevator was a bit small though. Walls were a bit thin but manageable. Room was clean. Room service was good which I loved cause Room service is life.

Yup. My room has a balcony and a sofa 

These bottles were so cute

Yes, I always book hotel rooms with a bath tub because why not??? Bath robe was a random gift from my boyfriend btw. Thanks, baby

Aren’t these the cutest? I wanted to bring one with me but they'll probably notice lol

I didn't really do anything productive on my first night in BKK because I wanted to just rest and be ready for the next day's whole day tour. I went out to go to 711 and buy Thai Yakult (that I can't find the picture I took). I don't know why we don't have that here in the Philippines!! Ordered room service because room service is life. FaceTimed with my boyfriend the whole day and took a relaxing hot bath.

November 21st
Tour day!
I booked a tour package at While Elephant Travel Asia. It's a Bangkok Temples and City Tour in the morning then The Grand Temple in the afternoon kind of tour for THB 2, 090.
I woke up extra early cause pick up time was 7 freaking AM.

First stop: Wat Traimitr or the Temple of the Golden Buddha

Leaflet given by the tour guide

Temple of the Golden Buddha

Note to self: Don't ask an old person to take your picture. lol

Bronze Bells outside the temple

I don't know why but this fascinates me

Second stop: Wat Pho or The Temple of the Reclining Buddha
This one left me in awe. I just couldn’t believe that it is that big. It is 15 meters high and 46 meters long and I was just stunned by its beauty.

Entrance ticket & yes, you get a free bottled water

You will see several Chinese guardian statues and, according to our tour guide, these were given or traded by China 

Upon entering the temple, you will be asked to remove your footwear and put it in a plastic bag.

And this left me speechless... it was huge!! And so beautiful!!

At the end, you'll have this area to see the full reclining buddha

The details. This is the wall at the hallway. My camera doesn't do justice on how nice the details are.

Thanks to the fellow Filipina that took this picture. Finally a somewhat decent picture lol

Outside the temple

Decided to wear a black t-shirt with this wide pajama pants and black flats. Perfect for this tour, I swear.

Third stop: Wat Benhamabophit or The Marble Temple
This is the last stop for the morning tour.

Marble Temple

Thailand's Tuktuk

Gold really fascinates me

What I learn is that no one really know the Buddha's face. That's why when you go to these temples, the Buddha has different faces.

After the temple tour, I was transferred to a different tour guide together with two other tourists.
I got to experience eating BKK Streetfood. Well, somewhat.

The best noodles I had in Thailand. Very authentic and it costs only THB 40

Authentic Thai Milktea for THB 20

I was hesitant with that Thai Milktea because... uhh it's orange and I bought it from the streets.. for THB 20.. more or less PHP 40.. but DAMN. Looking at the picture and remembering how it tasted makes me wanna fly back to BKK and buy one or ten of this.

After lunch, we continued our tour to the Grand Palace.
It was so jam-packed.. mostly with Chinese people. Regardless, the new tour guide was so nice and he made it a point to really make us embrace the history of each temple or symbolism that I wish retained in my head but I swear I'll try to recall lol

This is the Buddhism symbolism

What you do with this is you dip it in the holy(?) water and put it on your head

This was before we leave and I just had to take a selfie lol

After that, the van dropped me off the hotel and I decided to just have a relaxing evening with a hot bath, I also went for a quick run to this nearby restaurant to buy some pasta and a whole pizza.. all to myself. lol

If you haven’t noticed by now, I took a lot of hot/bubble baths cause why not right?
That was pretty much it for this day. I was hesitant to go out at nights cause I don't wanna roam around by myself.

November 22nd
Day at the Zoo!!
I previously mentioned that one of the reasons I decided to go to Thailand was because I wanted to see an elephant, feed it and all that. I did my research and there were like sanctuaries all over Thailand but since it was just me, I just decided to find a zoo and I stumbled upon Dusit Zoo.

I didn't really had the change to feed, touch or interact with an elephant because it was already too late that I knew you can do that on that zoo. Bummmmmer. I know.
Overall, my day at the zoo was okay. It was liberating to explore a foreign place on your own.
Self timer is your friend lol and, sometimes, co-tourists who understand your struggle.

How unfocus can this photo get?

Thai kids

I wanted to try this but I didn't get a chance. Sad. 

I find it amusing that they have the same haircut

Oh how I wish these were real 

Flamingos!! Fun fact: I just realized that there's no flamingo emoji

Bambi! 

It made me sad how the penguins look so sad. There were like 3 to 4 penguins there

I believe I was a Koala in my past life

At first, I thought 'what the hell. they just put there break exposed like that' and then I realized that the bread is for the fishes lol

Guinea pigs!

I wanna be chill as this tiger

The tigers and lions look so bored in their cages

I swear, she is huge

Hippo creeping

Hippo butt

I just had to take pictures of myself lol

I'm so awkward lol

Before my zoo tour ended, I just had to see this cutie 

Apparently what she's doing here is that she's putting all the grass on her head. lol what a cutie

Elephant selfie!!

Dusit Zoo was a nice zoo but I just wish they maintain the place more.
The animals look so sad. I swear there were more like birds and fishes but I wasn't really a fan of those so I didn't take pictures.

After the zoo, I booked a Grab car to go to Siam Square. I didn't really have a plan after the zoo, I just want to roam around the city more since I finished early. I walked around, bought some pasalubong to the family. I wanted to go to Café Reverie but it was too far from me and my hotel so I just settled for the Hello Kitty House. It was so pink and cute. I was tired and my phone was dying so I didn't really take a lot of pictures. Plus I was still full from my street food escapade lunch lol

Hello Kitty Menu!

I actually want those chairs for real 

I had the Matcha Green Tea Latte of course. Matcha is life

I only had fries since I wasn't that hungry

How cute is that chair bow!

After the Hello Kitty House, I decided to get lost... lol
My phone was dying so I didn't really have a way to know the directions to Pratunam Mall so I did what a tourist will do, read the signs and asked people. I swear I walked so much that I didn't now anymore. It was fun getting lost though and the funny part was people were actually pointing me to "Platinum Mall" instead of the "Pratunam Mall" - which I later knew that it wasn't really a mall but just a street. So since I was already in Platinum Mall, I just made the most out of it. It was like a giant 168 of Divisoria. You can find anything under the sun there. There were lots of choices and bargains as well.

It was a fun day, inspite of getting lost. lol
I experienced Bangkok traffic as well. Manila traffic is the worst but BKK traffic was bad.

After that long day, I just called it a night since I had to wake up early to go to the airport and go back to Manila.

November 23rd
Going back to Manila.
Flying from Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur to Manila.
I must say that Don Mueang International Airport was such a nice airport. Everything is just organized and there's free working WiFi.

My Thailand trip was the break I needed from work.
Phuket was such a nice place to just chill by the beach and talk to other people.
Spending a couple days at Bangkok on my own was just the seal to my "Strong, Independent woman" claim. But I seriously enjoy time on my own lol

I used to dislike history when I was in school because I was more focused on Math haha
And as I grew older, I get more and more interested into other cultures. Bangkok gave me a glimpse of Thailand's culture and religion. Thais are very nice and accommodating. I encountered a bit of a language barrier since some of the Thais don't really speak English at all but best believe that they will try to help you.

I would love to go back to Thailand and explore the other parts of it in the future.

Finally, I found the perf pug shirt!!!!