Birthday in Bangkok (Part 2 of 3)

Sawadeeka! Ok I tak nak waste any more time so I'll just continue on from my first entry ok - listing down the places we visited, the stuff we did and the food we ate whilst in Bangkok in this entry.

Platinum Mall / Pratunam Market

Can I very loudly and very obnoxiously declare that I loooveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Platinum Mall now?!?!?!!! 

When we were in Bangkok in 2009, I had limited choices even though I was a UK12 (UK10 on days when I'm delusional and/or eat less cake hahaha) back then. Didn't expect to do much shopping this time round because of that - thought I'll just pick up some accessories for work and raya, a casual sling bag and maybe a couple of shoes.

I WAS SO PLEASANTLY SURPRISED TO BE SO WRONG!

Turns out a couple of plus-sized shops have sprung up in Platinum Mall and around Pratunam market area over the years so I scored quite a decent bundle of new tops, dresses and pants for work and play. If you're hoping to do the same, check out level 3 of Platinum Mall (I went to the other levels but didn't see any plus-sized fashion shops) and a couple of shops in Pratunam market area (I scored 3 pieces of stylish patterned black work pants at S$4.00 each at one of the stalls thank you GOD!) Some snaps from my IG stories:

  

Actually kan, I Googled for plus size shopping before we went for our trip tau and read about this mall called the Krung Thong Plaza but I wasn't sure of the fashion styles it offered and couldn't be bothered to find reviews online so I didn't seriously consider it. REGRETS! While I was there, someone very kindly left a comment on my IG stories, telling me there is a "shopping mall next to Platinum Mall" that offers plus size fashion! Then Saliheen's colleague also told him there is such a shopping mall so I assume she's talking about the same mall haizzzzz... Guess I have a new place to check out when we return to Bangkok next time (And there will be a next time)

There are 2 halal food stalls in Platinum Mall's food court so don't worry ok you won't kebulur kat situ. We also ate dinner mostly at Pratunam area, there are a couple of halal stalls selling authentic Thai food! Waited so long to have some good authentic Thai food and they're all sooooooooooooooooo good!!!!! Air liur jatuh berderai boi. 

Too lazy to list down all the halal makan places (relaxing trip terbawak bawak ke blog entry hahahaha) but there are so many resources online that you can Google for - here are some of the articles/lists I read before our trip: Bangkok Halal Food Guide by Aroimakmak, 10 Must Try Thai Street Eats by Have Halal Will Travel, 10 Must Visit Restaurants in Bangkok by Tripzilla, and Guide to Halal Restaurants in Thailand by Halal Living Thailand. 

Oh, tapi nasib macam kentang sebab the highly raved Tomyam Paa Nga was closed the whole freaking week we were there! I will come back for you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Number One Massage

I did a quick search online and found that there was a row of massage parlours about 10 minutes walk from our hotel - chose to patronize Number One Massage since it has positive reviews. They were having "happy hour" (9.00am to 7.00pm, lama betul dorang nya happy "hour" haha) when we arrived so we paid about 200 baht for 1 hour traditional Thai massage. The massages we got weren't bad bad but it wasn't the best massage we've gotten either la so we'll probably try another massage parlour next time for funsies and hope to get better masseuses.

 

Side note: I usually looooove going for those long 3 to 4-hours scrub, wrap, head and body massage packages but ever since I was diagnosed with psoriasis a year and a half ago, I've been feeling a little conscious/wary of going for anything that might aggravate existing patches / trigger new patches. And so malas to explain to staff what the condition is, especially if they don't understand English well. I guess I'll just go for those big chain massage parlours with English speaking staff + explain it to them via email beforehand, if I really want to get back into extensive spa packages. Also, I've been wanting to blog about living with psoriasis but macam tak pernah ada kesempatan! Next time I cerita ok.

A&W at Pantip Plaza

One of the places that I knew I had to return to when we go back to Bangkok was the A&W at Pantip Plaza!!!!!!!!!!!!! We had their piping hot buttery waffles, a cold and refreshing glass of root beer with their glorious vanilla ice cream and yummy curly fries. To this HOUR, I still regret not going back for a second round ok!!!!!

I'm still bitter A&W is no longer in Singapore by the way, dulu when I was still a child, my mum would always bring me to the A&W outlet in Bedok during weekdays for breakfast, just me and her (eventually with my sister when she peskily came along). My love for A&W runs long and deep ok! 😭

Central World

Central World is a mega shopping mall which is less than 10 minutes walk away from Amari Watergate Hotel but we ended up taking an Uber over because it was raining heavily when we wanted to go hahahaha the ride cost us 40 baht wtf. We ended up buying souveniers for our family and friends here because there's a huge Central Food Hall selling nicely packaged durian chips and thai milk tea powder tins on the 7th floor. Also got soaps with loofahs!

Thought of checking out After You dessert cafe next to the food hall but there was a constant long queue during our time in Central World so ain't nobody got time for that. Jalan jalan for awhile, bought some stuff then we walked back to our hotel (since dah tak hujan) before going for dinner. 

We initially wanted to buy souveniers from the much raved Big C Supermarket opposite Central World tau but it turned out to be the biggest MISTAKE EVER! It was like a bloodbath in there siak. Everyone was pushing everything everywhere, people were grabbing stuff and throwing stuff and shouting across aisles etc etc we got so annoyed and so overwhelmed that we immediately abandoned niat nak beli barang kat situ and walked back to Central Food Hall to have a much more peaceful time selecting stuff to bring home. Lesson learned!

Ok I think this entry is long enough already so I'm putting a stop to it di sini! Next and final entry will be about the markets that we went to during our Bangkok trip pulak. Orang lain sebok bercerita pasal bazaar Ramadhan kat Singapore bulan ni, aku pulak busy nak story pasal markets kat Bangkok.