BANGKOK

Of Tom Yam Kung and Mango Sticky Rice

Sunday, February 11, 2018


I love Thai dishes. Out of countless Thai dishes available in my home country, tom yam is my favourite and mango sticky rice holds a special place in my heart. In my attempt to have a taste of the authentic sticky rice, I flew to Bangkok last November to find the famous sticky rice in town.

Ok, no I was kidding it was not for sticky rice. I was in dire need of vacation and since I was short in fund, we decided to go to our neighbouring country. That’s all.

This time around we flew with Malaysia Airlines after finding a pair of return tickets through Traveloka at only RM400++.

Day 1
We landed in Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Bangkok exactly at 5 pm. Right after collecting our luggage, we bought a local sim card from DTAC booth located just outside the exit of the arrival gate.
The cheapest airport transfer in Bangkok will always be the Airport Link at only 35 Baht per person to go to our Airbnb Apartment in Petchaburi Road. From Petchaburi station, we walked for around 30 minutes before finally reached the RCA I-House.

Day 2
Besides searching for authentic Thai food, the star attraction of our visit was the sunflower farms in Lop Buri. Early in the morning when local people are rushing to go to work, we joined the hectic by rushing to Hua Lamphong train station. We took the MRT from Petchaburi station to Hua Lamphong to catch the train at 9.25am. The train was not really punctual but the delay wasn’t too long either. Upon arriving at Lop Buri station, we were approached by a man informing us that he could bring us to sunflower farms at only 200 Baht per person. Since my research through Fie's blog told me that was the standard rate hence we jumped in to his minivan in no time. 

The journey to the sunflower farms took us about 15 – 20 minutes. Our first sunflower farm was errrr well I certainly did not know its name, to be honest. When I ponder back what we’ve done that day, it was silly of us to just trust the man to chauffer us around. The farm has got two separate fields and the flowers are definitely taller than anyone of us. It got a wooden swing and a few visitors were taking turn to get their picture taken.

Then we moved on to the second location which was of course sunflower farm again. The scenery around us was pleasant to view. It was miles of never ending sunflower farms on our left and right side.

On our second stop, we were charged with 10 Baht per person for entrance fee and the farm owner/employee allowed us to walk into the farm between flowers.


There was a stall selling sunflower seeds we call it kuaci (ku-ah-cee) and some drinks. The woman there gave us a few bananas for free. I bought some kuaci to bring home before headed back to the town.

*Our guide, Mr Pancha was a very nice and friendly man. If you want to have him as your guide in Lop Buri, you can contact him via phone/whatsapp. I personally think his minivan was the most comfortable drive in Lop Buri. It was air-conditioned and you don't have to get at the back of a truck. 



Day 3
The third day was miserable. Really. Prior flying to Bangkok, I have to admit, I didn’t have time to sit down and the trip was planned one month before. I was very busy at work and even weekends didn’t allow me much free time due to handling the department alone. In my original 6 days in Bangkok itinerary, the plan was getting to Thonburi train station and ride the train to Kanchanaburi. Simple as that. I know train to Kanchanaburi was available twice a day. But due to the exhaustion the day before, we woke up late. Funny, we arrived at Thonburi exactly 10 minutes after the morning train after hitting some traffic. SO LUCKY.

Oh by the way, I have to mention here that the easiest and most convenient mode of transport to reach Thon Buri is by taxi. Thon Buri is located at the other side of Bangkok and other mode of transport available will have you taking the BTS Skytrain and express boat.

We were so lost and didn’t know what to do so we just sat around, eating our packed meals while googling the nearest attraction: to the Wat Arun we go.

After Wat Arun, we spent our afternoon strolling Chatuchak Market and bought some souvenirs.



I will continue my Bangkok story for Day 4, 5 and 6 in my next post. Stay tuned.




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