Bangkok Part III

 Wasn’t I just there?  Yes.  October was my last international work-holiday for 2015 – yay!  This event gave me many headaches so I was going to do whatever I needed to make it enjoyable, and I think I accomplished that.  By the last 2 days, the number I brought to the cheap foot massage spa was growing… but more on that later.

Day 1:  Arrival

I was travelling by myself this time so no Qantas First Class Lounge, only the Qantas Lounge.  As I was still recovering from my salmonella, I had nothing too rich; just champagne and crumpets for breakfast, as you do.

On arrival, off to the Shangri-La Krunthep Wing this time!  I was excited to try a different hotel and what life was like staying city-side.

Some goodies welcoming me to the hotel

View from the balcony

I had several hours before my colleague arrived so I did a bit of work then wandered around the hotel, exploring my options. This hotel is huge – a bit too big for my liking.  Unfortunately I missed the boat to the nearby entertainment area so I decided to check out the street life.  I found a market, department store and then a local outdoor food hall.  I know what you are thinking, “you just got over salmonella and now you are eating street food”?!  My travel food policy is as long as it’s deep-fried, it’s okay.  It helped me through India (kinda).  I picked a 30 THB pad thai from a stall that seemed very popular.  There was a month-long vegetarian festival so it was meat and egg-free; even better to save my stomach.  For record, my Pad Thai was .80 cents USD or $1.10 AUD.

Since I was in the splurging mood and still had 1-2 hours I re-visited the foot massage place from my August trip.  It is conveniently 500m from the hotel lobby.  Oh my wallet was hurting!  Just kidding, the foot massage was 250 THB which is equivalent to $6.97 USD or $9.88 AUD.

Feeling relaxed, it was time for drinks!

Day 2: Set-up

This morning was leisurely.  We didn’t have access to the lab until 3:30pm to set-up so I started the day with a swim, an epic breakfast at Next2 Café (one of the largest breakfast buffets that I have ever seen and it was delicious) and then a couple of hours exploring Bangkok which included lunch at Hello Kitty House. 

This was only 1/3 of the breakfast buffet

Hello Kitty House Bangkok

This was the Signature DIY Strawberry Tiramisu
(FYI: strawberries and tiramisu are not a good combination.  Yuck)

Rainbow cake

Had to get our Hello Kitty selfie on!
(my selfie game needs improvement)

After set-up, it was dinner time.  I finally made it to Cabbages & Condoms!  It’s been on the Bangkok Travel List for a while but the restaurant is a bit out of the way (read: set back from the street located near some questionable establishments).

They are already getting into the Holiday spirit with this Santa Condom

After dinner, we took public transportation to The New Rot Fai Market Ratchada.  What a fun find!  I always miss out on the Weekend Market so this was a good replacement and even better, it wasn’t overrun with tourist.  This market had such a fun, hip vibe – there were food stalls (next time I won’t eat beforehand), intermixed with vintage cars converted into bars, funky clothing stores and market stalls, lined by antiques.

Too cute to eat!

Some antiques

One of the many very cool barber shops

Day 3: Event #1

This evening we had a faculty dinner at Salathip followed by foot massages.  I got massacred under the table by the mosquitos so I splurged with an extra 50 THB for one with Deep Heat.

Day 4: Event #2

This morning, I bon voyaged our attendees for the morning and checked out a few of the other hotels on the Riverside.  I re-joined the event after lunchtime.

My lunch at Starbucks - you can't see it too well but my sandwich was blue???

In the evening, I went exploring again since it was my last night in Bangkok.    We ventured to Patpong night markets and had dinner at the well-known Mango Tree.

The famous Patpong (I had another photo here but censored!)

Pre-dinner snack of Tom Yum Wings at KFC
(they were delicious after my lips stopped burning)

We got back to join the rest of the group for foot massages (yes, again).

Day 5: Event #3 and Last Day!

After a full day, it was time to head back to Sydney.  I was able to go into the Emirates lounge before the flight – yay!  Unfortunately I was in a middle seat and the young girl next me kicked me the entire flight so I was a wreck when I stepped off the plane.  It took me a few days to recover; I’m getting too old for these overnight flights!

Bangkok, see you in 2016!