Best Things to Do in Bangkok

Best things to do in Bangkok Let’s be honest here, any of you love travelling overseas but worry about the high money expenditure? And to add salt into the wound, we’re not working, many of us are still relying on our parents’ pocket for money. However, don’t be disappointed because our country’s neighbor up north is a cheap alternative for a fun, memorable travel destination. Thailand is a land where people speak in high notes and tom yam is a word synonymous with the term, everyday food. Before, Bangkok started out as a small trading centre and a port some 200 years ago. Today, with the influx of modern technology mixed with the beauty of its illustrious past, there are a mass variety of things to do In Bangkok. Be it eating in neon lighted side restaurant, visiting dazzling temple, artfully sculpted palaces to floating market, and shopping in fancy shopping malls, each has an intriguing story to tell. If you love the distinctive flavor of coconut, chilli, lemon grass, lime and spices, eat all you can while in Bangkok. From mango rice, tom yam noodles to Thai Hakka noodles and sharks fin soup, it caters to any taste buds. Mango rice is basically glutinous rice mixed with condensed milk and sweet mango. While it may seem simple to prepare, the Thais take it to another level. Next, Thai tom yam has always been very tasty with a good balance of sourness and saltiness with a pinch of sweet taste but if you can’t take spicy things, this will not appeal to you as it is also mightily spicy. Just eating a bowl of tom yam noodles sent tears spewing from my eyes but it kept me wanting more. Bangkok is also famous for fried creepy crawlies. Cockroaches, grasshoppers, crickets and worms are fried in boiling hot oil and mixed with black pepper plus a bit of MSG for extra taste. Many find them to taste like normal snacks but I didn’t have the guts to try it. Just looking at it was scary. Now that you know food is a must try in Bangkok, let’s look into the sight-seeing part. If you’ve a taste for historic temples, Wat Arun situated at the side of the Chao Phraya River is one of the many temples present and preserved in Bangkok is one you should not miss. What sets this apart from the rest is that King Taksin found shelter in this particular temple during a fight with the Burmese army. During his reign, he later renamed it Wat Cheang which means Temple of Dawn and was one of the chief temples that enshrined rare Buddha sculptures. Taking pictures with the beautiful architecture and craftsmanship is one moment that will leave a lasting memory about Bangkok. Tip, during your short trip there, side stalls renting historic clothes of the beautiful Siam servants can be worn to spice up your time there. No visit to Bangkok would be complete without an introduction to the floating market. Everything is done on boats like selling, buying and eating. The market gets up early so must you If you want to share in this uniquely Thai experience. While it may seem like a shock to some, there is also a condom restaurant called Cabbage amp; Condoms. The name may bring a lot of controversy but this particular restaurant was actually opened by the ministry of Thailand to increase awareness about family planning and safe sex. Though this restaurant carries a good cause, the unique atmosphere and good food makes the place a must go when one visits Bangkok. Well, that’s all for interesting places to visit. And here comes my favourite part, shopping. Bangkok can also be classified as a shopping haven and it has more than enough shopping malls to suit every lifestyle. For students like you and I, places like Platinum Mall, MBK and Chatuchak Market are enough to make you literally shop till you drop. MBK is a mega mall that houses about 2,000 shops and sells things that range from clothing, accessories, bags to furniture, electronic products and stationery items. Naraya, a famous fashion line for women created in-house in Thailand has their shop open in MBK. If money isn’t a primary concern, do drop by at Naraya for a visit as you would not be disappointed. I wasn’t. Platinum Mall should appeal to many as it is a mall that has thousands of wholesalers operating inside. Like MBK, Platinum Mall sells almost everything and most importantly has clothes that is priced half as much as you see in Malaysia. Chatuchak Market is alike Platinum Mall except for the fact that it is open air. Here is a fun fact about this market that would make you go wow. Can you imagine a sum of 40 football fields is actually equal to a Chatuchak Market? That’s why finding a particular shop in the market is like finding needle in a haystack. Young businessmen always try their luck to sell their own manufactured items, Thai snacks can be found abundant and special shaved coconut drink with coconut ice-cream are sold in Chatuchak Market. Trust me, it is mouth-watering. As shopping takes up a lot of leg strength, one can unwind through Thai massages. Bangkok’s spas are your inner-city gateways to seventh heaven. But before you go finding one, be sure to find reputable and pay a little extra because you don’t know what happens behind the scenes. Quality filled spas offer serene atmospheres and highly trained masseuse that will definitely take the tiredness away from you. If you’re on a budget and would like to travel, I highly recommend Bangkok. Especially if you’re game for an adventure, Bangkok offers an exotic culture with the hustle and bustle of the city and it is definitely one city that offers countless amounts of activities. Just listening to the guide will not justify the fun these activities bring when experienced in real life. As quoted by Isadora Duncan, â€Å"What one has not experienced, one will not understand in print. †, so experience all these first hand as you won’t regret. Kap pun kahp.