Hi Everyone,
I just came back from Bangkok yesterday. Bangkok is a nice city with the Bangkok Transit System (BTS), highways and good roads. The taxis are all Toyota Corolla Altis from the 1st generation Altis to the latest model. Compared to Jakarta, the traffic is more peaceful although there are traffic jams. There are no motorcycles going to the pedestrian pavements like Jakarta. There are a lot of high rise buildings and several good hotels there. It include the Grand Mercure Hotel, Shangri-La Hotel and the Le Meridien Hotel. It is a peaceful city when there is no protests on the streets or roads. The people there are friendly too.
During my trip there, I stayed in Centre Point Exclusive Service Apartments near Shangri La hotel. The ambience of the hotel is very nice and soothing with a floral theme in place. The rooms are equipped with a washing machine, a microwave oven, stove, a refrigerator, pots and pans, an electric kettle, a TV with several channels such as BBC, CNN, Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel, Star Movies, HBO, Cartoon Network and 5 local Thailand channels, wireless Internet and a Hi-fi system. Both the TV and Hi-fi are Sony brands. In some rooms, there is a Sony DVD Player too. The rooms also have a nice shower with shower door / bathtub with a bottle of a aromatherapy shower gel, a body location and a shampoo / conditioner. The hotel also provides 2 pairs of slippers, towels, soap and laundry bags and services. We can also request for an iron to be placed in the room. Other facilities in the service apartment include a mini library, swimming pool and a gym. The stay at the hotel comes with complimentary breakfasts as well at the restaurant. Food during breakfast include bacon rashers, hams, sausages, paus, pancakes, eggs (omelette or sunny side up), vegetables, yoghurt, milk with cereals (Honey Star, Koko Crunch), fruit juices, porridge, macaroni, chicken, fish, rice and yakinori soba. Centre Point is located next to the Robinsons shopping centre. It is connected together just like the connection between 1-Utama and One World Hotel in Bandar Utama. There is also a 24 hours McDonalds branch. Besides, a BTS station (Saphan Taksin) is also located within walking distance from Centre Point. Remember that in Malaysia we used to have Tops Supermarket (now Giant)? There is a Tops Supermarket at Centre Point, part of the Robinsons shopping centre.
I tried the McDonalds in Bangkok, Thailand too. The McD menu has some items which are different than Malaysia's. There is a Samurai Pork Burger served in Thailand. I tried that with my friends and it's quite tasty. It costs 99 Baht (RM9.90). It is part of a set meal which include a soft drink and fries. Please note that for the soft drink and fries, their Regular size is Malaysia's Large size. Thailand McD does not have the Banana and Apple Pies on the menu but it has Pineapple, Spinach and Corn Pies. There is also a Double Cheeseburger which has four pieces of beef patties in between the cheese. It's huge!. I tried the Spinach pie and it's good. It is a nice one. It costs 29 Baht which is about RM2.90 for the pie. The price in Bangkok is similar to the price in KL. The McD branch that we went to was quite big. There are screens everywhere promoting McD items. The screens are like the ones we have seen in KL where it goes up and down every few seconds showing what it has to offer. At the counters, the menu is displayed on screens flashing out different sets and promotions every 5 seconds or so. It's like a flat screen panel installed there. Quite advanced there.
McD is the only restaurant that has bigger portions. Other than that, most restaurants and stalls have smaller portions than in Malaysia. I need to order double portion for certain meals because it was too little. Not full enough for me. If you are a small eater than it may suit you.
The Bangkok Airport (Suvarnabhumi International Airport) is quite new. The interior design of the airport in similar to that of KLIA. There are a lot of restaurants and duty free shops at the airport. You can even try a sample of some of the food sold there. The boarding room / waiting area is spacious as well. There is a Burger King at the airport but not McD. For Air Asia passengers, please note that the check in counters are located at Rows E. It is near to the domestic flights check in counters. We thought that it was at the international counters but we need to walk back to Rows E near the domestic counters. All Air Asia flights check in counters are located there.
One similarity in Bangkok and Jakarta is that the taxis will take you anywhere regardless of your destination. You just tell them where to go and they will agree to take you there, unlike here in Malaysia where certain taxi drivers will refuse to take you there. Their reasons can be too far or traffic jams. They may even charge a higher fare too. Malaysian taxi drivers should take us anywhere regardless of our destination. They should be honest too.
