Booked a tour to visit The Grand Palace and The Emerald Buddha at 890bht/person with Sara at Sight Seeing Thailand!
Pick up was supposed to be at 8am BUT the van only arrived at 8.40am because they got stuck in traffic =.= (I got up early for nothing and didn't even get to eat breakfast). The hotel provides 2 complimentary mineral water I suggest that you bring that along.
Proper dress code:
1. Make sure your top/dress has sleeves, if you're wearing sleeveles and decided to use a scarf to cover that is not allowed. It has to be something with actual sleeves. Luckily for me I brought my jacket along in case the scarf didn't work.
2. Flip flops are allowed despite a lot of blog saying no.
3. Long pants only.
Let's just say if you did not come in proper dress code, not to worry there are plenty of stalls outside that will be more than happy to loan you some for a fee.
Operation hours: Daily from 830am to 330pm.
Entry ticket.
Big bags are checked/searched upon entry so bring a small bag.
Guide to the Grand Palace in different languages.
The Upper Terrace.
The Galleries.
The walls are painted with scenes from the Ramakien.
It was closed so we only took pictures from the outside.
Before sending us to Siam Centre we got dragged to view some Emeralds.
I was super thrilled to be going shopping unfortunately I had to leave one of my bags in the van. We immediately called the tour agent Sara to ask her to get the man to turn around. Thank God for the local simcard that we purchased. Problem was the van is an independent driver hired by the Emerald house and does not work for Sara. They have a note in the van that says please check your belongings before leaving because chances are you won't be able to locate the same van that you sat in.
After much hassle of calling here and there, they manage to locate the van and agreed to sent it back to the hotel for us. BIG RELIEVE! I was panicking! I know my fault.
Ooooo so many clothes.
Was hungry so we checked out the food court.
Have to buy food using card.
Tom Yum Noodles ~ Oklaa but not spicy enough.
Kua Chap Noodles ~ Tasty but not as nice as the one we had in Johor.
We hired a tuk tuk to take us to Siam Centre (just for the fun of it cause we've never tried), we managed to negotiate from 100bht/tuk tuk to 80bht BUT we had to take a detour to a tailor shop first. Tuk Tuk usually have an arrangement with shops if they bring tourist they get commission. So just pretend to be viewing and act like you're interested to make a suit then gracefully exit.
Decided to be funny and ended with a hair slapping my face.
Woohoo arrived.
Too bad we didn't manage to visit this cafe.
We took BTS Skytrain from Siam Centre (Station Siam) to Chong Nonsi Station which is near our hotel.
Station 25.
You may get change from the counter.
25bht/person.
We walked a little from Nonsi station back to the hotel, about 10mins walk. Time to rest and get ready for tonight's buffet dinner on a river. WOOHOO!
Remember to change more bht before you come because the cash finish like water, there's just too many things to buy. If you're taking cab make sure you use credit card so you conserve cash.
We didn't expect that our money would run out so fast so we had no choice but to withdraw. Withdraw from Bangkok Bank ATM because the rate is the best.
Exchange rate 8.44 >> RM1 while other banks are 7.44 / 8.17.
Also you'll get charged from your local bank, I only have Alliance card (RM8 + 6%) and Maybank (RM12 + 6%), so Alliance it is.
We took Uber from the hotel to River City Pier 1 which cost 70bht.
River Cruise on Chao Phraya River.
Got tickets from Thai Tourism Guide!
It's 835bht/person without transfer
I asked for Upper Deck
Behind the concierge counter.
Yay got our tickets.
Sticker entry.
Waiting for our cruise.
Ours. Everyone will rush to board the boat. A guy (the one who registered us) will be yelling which color sticker gets to board first.
Welcome drink.
Welcome snack.
Rushing for food. I'll wait for the queue to disperse.
Long Island Tea (190bht)
Watermelon Juice (90bht)
Tom Yum soup is okay.
Mushroom soup is slightly bland.
Spaghetti is good.
It's late night but I can see clouds.
Food choice is not bad, taste wise some okay some so so. There's a live band; I'm not a fan of live band because I don't like how they spoil the original song. The only time I do enjoy is when they sing really really well. In this case it's sort off a mixture of Filipino English so it's not that great. It's still a great experience having dinner on a cruise with so much to see so it's a must try.
We walk from River City to the main road and flagged a metered cab to Cloud 47, Silom. Cab fare started at 35bht, after 1km it added 2bht and then another 0.4km another 2bht and suddenly at 1.4km it jump to 41bht. So total 43bht when we stopped but while I was counting cash to pay, the meter then jump to 45bht =.= so i had to pay him 45bht instead of 43bht. And they wonder why we prefer Uber/Grab.
Gorgeous view.
Chang Tower (1170bht) comes with 1 free jug.
Crispy Chicken Wings (76.54bht) ~ Yummy.
Time to head back to hotel to rest and get ready for our next adventure tomorrow.
