Street Food in Chinatown, Bangkok

some nice, some weird and some really gross…

The Cinema in Chinatown, Bangkok

Gosh! A little cinema hiding in between the row of old shop houses. It reminds me of the good old days and I wonder if there is an usher holding a torch-lights bring the patrons to their seats inside the cinema…

Airing here is the latest movie – Jackie Chan’s The Karate Kid!

Another unmemorable trip – Bangkok

After an unpleasant family trip to Bangkok in 2008, dad raised his interest in going to Bangkok again, and perhaps this time is probably because many of his void deck ‘kakis’ were talking about the Tiger Airway’s cheap airfares and he wanted to be ‘in’. So there I was, though a little worried and almost reluctant but trying to be the best filial daughter as ever, immediately took the tickets for the family.

To please my folks and make the trip as enjoyable as possible, I painstakingly planned and have actually booked the hotel in Chinatown area in order for them to experience Chinatown and try out the food that they saw in one of the Taiwan variety show and liked it very much.

Chinatown

Goose Meat – That’s what my folks want

How wrong I was to think that my effort would be appreciated this time but no, mum was still her usual self, sulking and moody with all kinds of real and imaginary excuses and ‘sickness’ all the way.  Once she has bought stuffs for my two sisters and my little niece, she was reluctant to go anywhere else and dad, was also the time, turning moody and pulling on a long face for no particular reason.

Grande Ville Hotel

The hotel was another big disappointment. It was said to be the highest building/hotel in the Chinatown district and its website boosts a fine and romantic roof-top dining, free wifi access and easy access with 5-10mins distance to many attractions. However, what we have got were a simple restaurant on the second floor, paid internet connection, dim corridors and inaccessibility. It takes at least 20 minutes to walk to Chinatown itself and a short distance trip to Siam area would turn into an hour jam inside the taxi. And transportation was the worst issue, apart from wasting endless hours being struck in the traffic to and fro the hotel, we have to deal with clueless drivers whom not unfamiliar with the routes and taking us on merry-go-round rides, dishonest drivers whom refused to go by meter and charged us 200 bahts to take us from King Power Complex to MBK and the worst driver was the one who drove us to the airport. The traffic was bad but obviously the taxi-driver didn’t mind the jam at all. In fact he was happily calling one friend after another to chat over the phone while driving and despite my several pleas that we were rushing for our flights, it took us 2hours 45minutes to reach the airport from the hotel. I wonder if he was doing it on purpose to earn more meter charges but he nearly caused us to miss our flight.

Needless to say, the bulk of our expenses went to paying taxi-fares, which I think it will be more worthwhile to use on food, shopping or visiting attractions.

That summed up my yet another unpleasant experience in Bangkok, but if you ask me would I be back again, my answer is Yes, definitely but this time without my folks so that I could really enjoy the beat of Bangkok.

Anyway the bads aside, we do enjoyed some great buffets and good massage though…up next!