6D5N Chiangmai Countown - Day 1

6D5N Chiangmai Countdown

Day 1
Totally a new destination, I embarked to Chiangmai via Thai Airways in the afternoon and transferred from BKK to Chiangmai, aka Rose of The North.
We reached our accommodation; Roseate Resort by hotel transfer (100baht per pax / trip) at dusk.

A tip for everyone.... when you want to call the local number, omit +country code and area code, replace them by 0 follow by the rest of the digits.

After checking in, we walked to the Sunday Night Market. It was a long stretch with crowds and there were many stalls selling all sorts of things that one can find on earth.

The rooms are not sound-proof. We will be awakened by the smacking doors and loud voices of those who depart the hotel in the early morning.

We visited the Sunday Night Market Walking Street - The Pae Gate where we had local dinner food and walked the bustling shopping streets. The operation hours is from 4pm till midnight and is only open on Sundays. If I ever go back again, I will start shopping at 4pm because the area is too big and there are many fancy stuff to look at and one will walk past the temples and will be tempted to enter to pray for good health and trip.

We reached back our hotel close to midnight.

8D7N Bangkok, Thailand Shopping Spree Day 1 & 2

8D7N BANGKOK, THAILAND

Day 1 ~ Singapore to Bangkok 

   

With a 9kg luggage, a passport and airtix, my sister and I went for 'sawadee-ka' land for shopping spree & shop till drop 8D7N trip! We embarked on the journey with FlyScoot at 18:05 (SG time) and reached Don Mueang International Airport at 19:25 (BKK time). Upon reaching Don Mueang, we went to queue up for taxi at the end of the hallway. Those taxis are run by meter so it is wise not to engage any service from the Pick-Up counter as they will charge you twice or thrice the meter price. When we reached PakDee Bed & Breakfast @ Soi 5, Petchburi Rd. It is a newly-refurbished B&B hotel & is located right in front of the main Petchburi Rd where Platinum Mall and Pratunam Centre are within walk-able distance.

We had a twin room with free wifi provided and breakfast included. One of the receptionists is from Cambodia and he speaks English so you don't have to worry that there will be language barrier. As you have guessed it, because of its accessible location, we could hear the passer-bys talking loudly, tuk-tuk and taxi honks. As a result, we did not had a good sleep on our first night at bangkok.

     Hotel Lobby

  The decor is quite nice but the deluxe twin room is quite small...

     


     Day 2 ~ Bangkok to Amphawa Floating Market

The next morning, we woke up sleepily and despite that, we were still very excited as I haven't been to bangkok for the 4 years! With our breakfast coupons, we went for breakfast at one of their levels... As shown from the photo above, there were only 3 tables within the air-conditioned area and as they were all taken, we took the outside tables. It almost hit 30 Degrees Celsius during Sept in Bangkok and that wasn't the worst. After a sleepless night, we were greeted by a super duper salty breakfast!! It was the most SALTY breakfast that I have even tasted in my life. The hams, vegetables and noodles were filled with lots of oil and salt. I took a mouthful and my lips turned greasy... OMG! I am definitely not a person who is picky about food but the level of salt & oil is beyond what I can take.. FYI... My sis also had the same comments as me and we went off to Ankpawa Floating Market. On our way out to take the one and only lift, there were plenty of food leftovers on the tables in the air-conditioned space...

Directions: PakDee B&B
                   Phayathai Rd, Ratchathewi, Bangkok 10400, Thailand
                   Total number of rooms: 14 (7 storeys)
                   Room rate per night: SGD 68 -130

Map of Bangkok BTS

Tuk Tuk

Ensure that you have sufficient coins to take BTS, otherwise, you can change notes to coins at the ticketing counter

Reminds me of Singpapore's bus/ mrt card decade ago

 

Day 16 in Taiwan, LAST DAY IN TAIPEI, Taiwan ~ Home Sweet Home

                       Day 16 in Taiwan, Day 7 in Taipei

The day to return to home sweet home has arrived... I made my way to Bus Terminal to buy ticket for Taoyuan International Airport. It was a rainy day when I left Taiwan... I am starting to miss Taiwan.. the food... the friendly people...
FYI ~ it is on first-come-first serve basis and they have one bus after 5-15 min of waiting, depending on the crowd. You need to queue up at the bus lane after purchasing the ticket while waiting for the bus. Although my flight was at 3 in the afternoon, I went to take the coach approx. 11am as the journey would take around 1-1.5 hrs depending on the traffic. I also planned to go airport to shop around and I don't like to be rushed. I bought a sandwich and fruit juice from the 7-eleven at the bus terminal as my breakfast.


        

Luckily I increased my luggage to 25kg for the return trip. My luggage only weighed 9kg in Singapore!!

  

          I had my lunch before boarding at 3 in the afternoon....

MY FAVOURITES!! MUST BUY HOME! THE ONE WITH MOCHI IS SOOO DAMNN GOOD!!

                 

~ HOME SWEET HOME~

Day 15 in Taiwan, Day 6 in Taipei ~ Sogo ~ Chia Te Bakery 佳德糕餅

Day 15 in Taiwan, Day 6 in Taipei ~ Sogo ~ Chia Te Bakery 佳德糕餅

  If you are in Taipei, you sshouldn'tmiss the famous Ding Tai Fung Restaurant! There was a huge crowd standing around the restaurant, waiting to be seated and I took a number then I went around the shopping mall too shop around while waiting for my number. I reached there around 12 and was only seated close to 2 in the afternoon.



       

YES! I ordered too much as I was starving but I didn't manage to finish up the rice though I ate all the prawns! lol! XD It was 1/3 cheaper compared to Singapore and their appetizer veg used those thick seaweed which adds a new taste to the dish but I still prefer Singapore's version of appetizer. After eating, I went to Chia Te to purchase my pineapple tarts.

Chia Te is an award winning bakery and it was highly recommended by my cousin. Judging by the number of awards it had won, I guess they should be pretty good and pineapple tarts is their specialty.
    


Alight at Nanjing East Road MRT station and transfer to bus 46, 279, 306, 711.  Alight at Nanjing San Ming Road Station and walk 2mins to Nanjing East Road Sect 5, No.88

Opening Hours: 07:30-21:30 daily

Address:

105台北市南京東路5段88號
Tel: (02) 8787-8186
http://www.chiate88.com/

The shop was packed with tourists buying large quantity back to their countries as souvenirs. Do keep a look out of the dates before purchasing as they can only last approx. 1 week unless you are getting other flavors besides pineapple tarts.

With two gigantic bags, I went back to my hostel to place my bulky pineapple tarts and made a second trip down to Wufenpu as I haven't finish shopping previously. I had my dinner at Beard Zhang Lu Rou Fan across Wufenpu street. The service and quality of food are good and price is reasonable as well so if you have not tried their famous lu rou fan, why not make a trip down to taste it? It is different from the usual lu rou fan as their lu rou is not minced meat. I ordered a bowl of soup and the lu rou fan for my dinner.

     

FYI: If you are thinking of going to Shi Da Night Market but you don't have the luxury time unlike me, you can as well skip that as it is no longer bustling as compared to years ago as the residents complained of the noise pollution caused by the stalls and so many shop owners either moved to other places  or closed down. I was disappointed to find it so quiet as compared to the time when I was came 4 years ago.

Alternatively, you can go to Taipei City Hall station for shopping! Proceed to exit 3 (Xin Yi shopping district) where you can find Shin Kong Mitsukoshi, eslite bookstore and LINE store (level 3) of breeze shopping mall.