Saturday, March 16, 2013

Terminal 21, Bangkok - Unique Shopping Experience


Terminal 21, Bangkok, Thailand
Photo was taken through Iphone
BANGKOK, Thailand - Terminal 21 is one of the newest with coolest concept malls in Thailand. It opened in October 2011. It was only in June 2012 when I first came to the mall.

The mall is near the corner of Sukhumvit road and Asoke road and can be reached through Asoke MRT and BTS interchange.

Terminal 21 is a one-floor one-concept shopping mall. To me, it is one of the collest concept for a mall. This concept is market streets of the world. It decorated a well-known city streets; such as Rome, Paris, Tokyo, London, Istanbul etc. This mall has the longest escalators in Thailand, up to 36 metres.

Lower Ground Floor - Caribbean. This floor concept is Caribbean Beach Town, decorated with beach, sea anchor and lighthouse. It reserved for supermarket of Gourmet Market, quick service restaurants, banks, bookshops and convenient service shops.

Scalator that connects 2 levels
Terminal 21 - Bangkok, Thailand
Photo was taken through Iphone
Ground Floor - Rome. This reserved for luxury brands and brand name boutiques, concept is Heaven of Rome. It decorated sculptures with marble mythic of Roman statues and well-known paintings.

Mezannine Floor - Paris. It's Champs-Élysées Boulevard and Parisian Boutiques Streets concept, served for Thai designer's boutiques and beauty shops. It decorated sculptures with Arc de Triomphe and Eiffel Tower.

First Floor - Tokyo. This floor is concept of Nakamise-Dōri Market and Harajuku Town. It reserved for ladies' boutiques, decorated sculptures with Sumo, Torii and Maneki Neko.

Second Floor - London. This decorated sculptures with iconic red telephone boxes, London's double-decker busses, Tower Bridge and Union Jack Flag. It concept is Oxford Street of London, served for mini-shops of men's wears, jeans and sporting goods.

Third Floor - Istanbul. This floor is Istanbul Market Town concept, decorated with Istanbul's lamps. It reserved for mini-shops of shoes, bags, jewellery, gifts and decoration products.

Academy Award Statue
Terminal 21 - Bangkok, Thailand
Photo was taken through Iphone
Fourth Floor - San Francisco City. This concept is Chinatown of San Francisco. It decorated sculptures with San Francisco Trams and Golden Gate Bridge, served for Thailand's famous restaurants.

Fourth Floor - San Francisco Pier. This floor reserved for international restaurants and food court of Pier21. It decorated with seaports and fisherman village, concept is Fisherman Village of San Francisco.

Sixth Floor - Hollywood. Concept is Hollywood Studio Town, decorated sculptures with Hollywood Sign and Oscar Statuette. It reserved for 8 screens of SF Cinema City, health club of Fitness First, spa and IT & Mobile products zone of IT Terminal.


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Sunday, March 10, 2013

Bangkok Transit System - BTS Skytrain


BANGKOK, Thailand - The easiest way to explore Bangkok is through the BTS Skytrain. It connects you to major streets, shops and malls.

BTS Sky Train
Bangkok, Thailand
Photo was taken through Iphone
The system consists of 32 stations along two lines: the Sukhumvit Line running northwards and eastwards, terminating at Mo Chit and Bearing respectively, and the Silom Line which plies Silom and Sathon Roads, the Central Business District of Bangkok, terminating at the National Stadium and Wongwian Yai. 

Besides the BTS, Bangkok's metro system also comprises the underground railway line MRT, and the elevated Suvarnabhumi Airport Link (SARL), serving several stations in the city before reaching the airport.

Keep on following my travel blogs. Also, for all your travel needs (airfare, hotel, cruise package, holiday packages, car rental and more), please visit wow amazing holiday website.

Bangkok, Thailand - Truly a Shopping Paradise

Panorama view of Central World Bangkok
one of Thailand's biggest shopping mall
Photo was taken through Iphone
BANGKOK, Thailand - Whether you want to shop for branded items inside the mall or want to shop from the market, Bangkok, Thailand is one of the best place to go.

Bangkok is home of the third biggest shopping mall in the world according to wikipedia.org. Centralworld is a shopping plaza and complex in Bangkok, Thailand. It is the third largest shopping complex in the world. The complex, which includes a hotel and office tower, is owned by Central Pattana.

X-ACT Shop at Big C in Pratunam
Bangkok, Thailand
Photo was taken through Iphone
 I always visit Big C Supermarket (www.bigc.co.th) in Pratunam everytime I come to Bangkok.  I went there today to visit one of my favorite clothes' shop in Bangkok - X-ACT (www.xact.co.th). I am happy that everytime I come to Bangkok, this clothes' shop has promotional sale. Currently, clothes are on sale from 30-70% off.

I was able to buy 3 men's long sleeves at 70% off and 1 ladies' long sleeves at 60%. Truly a value for money whenever this shop is on promotional sale. The men's long sleeve was originally at THB 1,315 (USD 45) but I bought it at THB 395 (USD 14).

I like the brand, because the clothes that they sell has smaller sizes and fit me well like G2000.

Ladies Blazer sold at 90% off
Between Gaysorn and Big C Supermarket
Pratunam, Bangkok, Thailand
On my way to the hotel, I saw another shop on sale between Gaysorn and Big C Supermarket in Pratunam.

I was really surprised that items are on sale up to 90%.

Ladies blazers that are originally at THB 1,995 (USD 69) are now only THB 200 (USD 7).

To my excitement, I bought 5 for my wife which only cost me THB 997.50 (USD 35). Where in the world can you buy 5 nice blazers at only that price? Only in Bangkok.

Keep on following my travel blogs. Also, for all your travel needs (airfare, hotel, cruise package, holiday packages, car rental and more), please visit wow amazing holiday website.

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Events in Thailand - March 2013


Thai Airways International - TG 402
BANGKOK, Thailand - Onboard Thai Airways flight TG 402 from Singapore to Bangkok, I was browsing their magazine Sawasdee to look for events to expect in March while I am there.

The following events will be take place in March:

1. March 8-10: FIM Motocross World Championship Grand Prix of Thailand (www.thaimxgp.com). This will be held at Pinthong 3 Industrial Estate in Sriracha. This is the only Asian leg of the international off-road competition

2. March 13: National Elephant Day. This is held annually throughout the kingdom since 1998. It pays homage to the gentle giant, of which only about 5,000 are left in Thailand.

3. March 15-17: Pattaya International Music Festival. This music event is held every year and attracts fans from around the world. It is held along the Pattaya Beach Road in Chon Buri. Visit www.tourismthailand.org for more details.

4. March 25-30: World Teak Conference. This event, supported by Thai Airways International, is the result of works started by Thailand on the vast planting of teak throughout the country. For details, visit www.worldteak2013.org.

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Monday, March 4, 2013

Business trip to Amazing Thailand - March 2013

 
Siam Mini Park
Pattaya, Thailand
BANGKOK, Thailand - Today is the start of my 3-week business trip to Amazing, Thailand. Onboard Thai Airways International TG 402 that left Singapore at 8:15 am (GMT +8), we arrived in Bangkok at 9:30 am (GMT +7).

While reading on Thai's Sawasdee magazine, I learn some interesting information about the country.

Population 
The total population of Thailand is 64,076,033, of which 31,529,148 are male and 32,546,885 are female. The Total population of Bangkok is 6,574,843 of which 2,692,954 are male and 2,981,889 are female. 

Manufacturing and Exporting Industries
Food and beverages, tobacco and textiles are the top manufacturing industries while automobiles, computers and spare parts, gems and jewellery are the top exporting industries. 

Suvarnabhumi International Airport
Bangkok, Thailand
Photo was taken through Iphone
 Religion
The majority of Thais (93.3% of th entire population) are Buddhists. A fair percentage consider Islam (5.1%), Christianity (0.1%), Hinduism (0.08%), Sikhism (0.02%) and Confucianism (0.01%) their main religion.

Currency  
Thai banknotes are issued in denominations of 20, 50, 100, 500, and 1,000 baht, as well as 25 and 50 centavos.

Climate
There are three seasons in Thailand. The summer months are usually from mid-February to mid-May. The rainy season normally occurs from mid-May to mid-October and the cool season typically lasts from mid-October to mid-February.

Bangkok City with
Baiyoke Sky Tower - one of the tallest building in Thailand
 Top 5 Labour Force Industries
1. Agriculture, forestry and fisheries
2. Mining and quarrying
3. Manufacturing
4. Electricity, gas, steam and air-conditioning supplies
5. Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation services

Area
The land area is approximately 514,000 square kilometers. The maritime economic zone covers 72,200 square kilometers in the Andaman Sea and 140,000 square kilometers in the Gulf of Thailand, totalling 212,200 square kilometers

GDP, Inflation and Export Value
The GDP as of Q3 2012 was 3.0%, the inflation rate is 2.9% and the export value is US$59.280 billion.

(source: Sawasdee Magazine, March 2013 - Thai Airways International's official inflight magazine)

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Grand President Hotel, Bangkok - Value for Money Hotel


Grand President Hotel chains
BANGKOK, Thailand - My colleague and I are staying at Grand President Hotel this time as the other hotel that our company has corporate rate is fully booked.

The hotel is located at Sukhumvit Soi 11 (Street 11) and the nearest BTS station is Nana station.

I would recommend this hotel because:

1. The rooms are spacious. There is a living room, kitchen, and bedroom. There are 2 television sets, one in the living room and the other in the bedroom. Because of the space, I would say, it can accommodate up to 4 persons, 2 can stay in the living room and 2 can stay in the bedroom.

2. Prices are very reasonable. Rates start at THB 2,200 (USD 75) per night.

Living Room - Grand President Hotel Tower 1, Bangkok
3. Interrnational calling rates are cheap. Calling abroad is usually expensive for most of the hotels that I stayed. But international calling rates are also very reasonable. Overseas calls to Southeast Asia starts at THB 14.00 (USD 0.50)

4. Convenience of a service apartment.  Amenities in the kitchen includes microwave cooker, bread toaster, refrigerator, thermos, and a complete set of plates and cookeries.

5. Complete hotel amenities. The hotel has gym, sauna, steam room, swimming pools, that you can after office hours and weekends.

Bedroom - Grand President Hotel - Tower 1, Bangkok
6. Best location. Everything is accessible as soon as you go out of the hotel. There are a lot of restaurants around, bars, street vendors, 24-hour stores like 7 eleven, money changers, tailor shops, spas, night market and more. Nana BTS station is just few hundred meters away and can connect you to the whole of Bangkok.

7. Hotel restaurant and room service prices are reasonable and good. I would say "tom yum goong" (spicy prawn soup) in this hotel is one of the best I tried so far. It is also very reasonable compared to the other hotels I stayed before.

8. Complimentary laundry services. I am not sure if it is offered to all customers, but because we are long staying guests, we are given complimentary laundry services for 3 clothes. This saves a lot of our laundry expenses.

9. And a lot more. You have to try it to believe it.

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Changi International Airport - Singapore, Truly World-Class


CHANGI AIRPORT, Singapore - When I came to Changi Airport Terminal 1 today to take my flight to Bangkok, Thailand, I came across the new attraction, the hanging decorations that move in synchonize direction which they called "Kinetic Rain". Changi airport keeps the title as one of world's top airport by worldairportawards and always wows travelers.

Terminal 1 used to be the oldest among the now-3-terminals at Changi International Airport (the Budget Terminal was closed to give way for the Terminal 4 construction). But with the renovation Terminal 1 underwent it is now comparable to the newer Terminals 2 & 3.

Panorama view of shopping area at Changi Airport Terminal 1, Singapore
Photo was taken by Iphone
 Keep on following my travel blogs. Also, for all your travel needs (airfare, hotel, cruise package, holiday packages, car rental and more), please visit wow amazing holiday website.