Bangkok: 04 - 06 Sep ~ Siam Niramit Show

10 Sep 2012 (Mon):

Siam Niramit Show. The show is at 8pm daily. We booked our tickets online & paid 7400baht = SGD$297. It includes dinner & show. But remember what i said about the dinner in my previous post? Just book for the show will do.

We proceed to the attraction on our own. After arriving at Thailand Cultural Centre Station, we followed the direction for Thailand Cultural Centre & came up on another busy roadside.

We were stuck; not knowing where to go. I asked the security guard & he told us to stay put to wait for the shuttle bus. Hoping i got it correct, we waited quite some time. Finally it came. You wont miss the van cos it has the wordings " SIAM NIRAMIT " written on it.

Upon arriving, I went to the ticketing counter with my email print out to exchange for the tickets. There were some pre show events going on but what fascinated the kids were defintely the elephants. They requested to ride on the elephant at 100baht each. Daddy heard wrongly & thought the ride cost 1000baht instead.

The elephant mahout carried the 2 kids onto the elephant & invited me to sit in between them. Huh? I did not purchased any tickets but it was okay, the mahout told the staff. We went around the grounds & the mahout stopped to take photos for us here & there. In my mind, i cant help but wonder what if the elephant goes crazy since the mahour was not on the elephant itself but walking some distance away, calling out to the elephant to follow.

We went for dinner & therefter for the show. Again, no cameras were allowed & they have a deposit counter for you to deposit your cameras & collect them after the show. I did not want to deposit my camera & hide them in one corner of my bag. Boy! The staff did a tough search on everyone & I prayed my camera will not be found. Haha! My camera stays warm in my bag.

But though the camera is in my bag, it stayed in there thruout the show. I did not take it out at all.

Bangkok: 04 - 06 Sep ~ Siam Ocean World

10 Sep 2012 (Mon):

Just one attraction & I've got so many photos to share. We bought the kids to Siam Ocean World, located at Siam Paragon. It was a 15 mins walk from our hotel.

The park itself has many different admisssion packages to choose from. But their pricing's a great difference as compared to their website.

At the place itself:

900baht/adult & 700baht/child for a normal admission.

1100baht/adult & 900baht/child for a super package which includes the 5D theatre, glass bottom boat, happy fish happy feet, back of house tour, pepsi & popcorn.

3500baht for a family package of 2 adults & 2 children which includes all of the above mentioned.

Website:

1360baht/adult & 1040baht/child for a silver package which includes admission to Siam Ocean World & Madame Tussauds. 

810baht/adult & 630baht/child for a normal admission.

3150baht for the family package.

630baht/adult & 490baht/child for a Happy Tuesday Promotion.

We were there on a Tuesday but no such package available. And the family package pricing was also different by 350baht. Nonetheless, we bought the Family Package @ 3500baht = SGD$140.

There were many different areas to explore. In our opinion, its even bigger than the Underwater World @ Ocean Park in HongKong.  At Bangkok here, they even have Back of the House Tour, Glass Bottom Boat Ride & Happy Fish Happy Feet ( fish spa).

The kids were on a shark encounter mission; the Glass Bottom Boat Ride. Surrounding us below the waters are all sharks. Daddy bought a bowl of shrimps @ 100baht for the kids to feed those to the sharks.

We went onto a " Back of the House Tour " where we saw how they do water filtration, how the sick marine creatures were cared for, the food preparation corner, the preparation for the birth of the baby sharks, etc. No photo taking allowed. :(

Touch Pool for the kids to feel the different creatures. This one staff stationed at the touch pool went around telling everyone to be gentle. " ... soft, soft ".... till at one point, i told him " .... ya ya soft soft, very soft soft already... " Haha... i know he's doing his job; who would handle the fragile creatures roughly, we wouldnt for sure. But i cant say the same for the local kids there.

** There were many students all over the park; some field trip they were having; damn noisy & loud & rowdy.

Happy Fish Happy Feet. We were doing fish spa. It lasted only 10mins but it was good while it lasted.

At the exit of the park, we got some close encounter with the mascots.

Bangkok: 04 - 06 Sep ~ Food

09 Sep 2012 (Sun):

This is a post on food. Nope, not a chef recommending the most delightful meals available but what we had on our trip.

Our 1st lunch @ Siam Paragon. Pictures were always so deceiving & yet, I can never take my eyes off them. Cripsy shrimp omelette rice, how does this name sounds? Normal? Mouth watering? Okay, so i thought its does sound nice. I got a shock when my order came. A few pieces of tiny shrimp cut into bits; note: not even a whole prawn or two. And the mentioned crispyness? Boo hoo hoo, its actually fried eggs. You know, the kind you get inside some fish soup. And yes, i paid 55baht for that. Well, what the heck? Its only SGD$2.20....

Daddy & the kids ate pineapple fried rice instead & it cost 60baht per order. I tried one mouth & I almost puked. Horrible! The rice were soaked in pineapple juice & it was sooooooooooo.... SOUR!!!!

We booked our show with dinner via the internet. Okay, so there were many reviews on the food. Yes, negative ones. But, I thought i should ignore those reviews & hopefully, the food gets a 2nd chance. Nay, who am i kidding? Congrats to all those who wrote the negative reviews on the forums & websites. I am defintely on your side.

This was the seafood dinner we had on the 2nd evening. We ordered Coconut Cream Paste Seafood Soup, Asparagus with Mushroom, Grilled Tiger Prawns & Sweet & Sour Fish. All for.... ready... 3378baht ~ SGD$135. Gulp!

Okay la, to give some credits, the ambience was great & the service provided was good .

Lunch on our last day was at ( opps, I've forgotten to jot down the name of the restaurant). However, the place was great & the scenary was so blissful. Food was not too bad either. And, i apologise, i cant remember the price at all..

And this was our dinner at the airport prior to our departure back to Singapore. See the words on the collage? Yup, you get it. There were defintely other restaurants, cafes, diners to settle your dinner. Forget about this one. 635baht for some roasted pork & veggie dinner? That's SGD25, my friend!

Bangkok: 04 - 06 Sep ~ Transportation

09 Sep 2012 (Sun):

Bangkok has many different forms of transportation to get you to different areas. public buses, BTS, MRT, railway, river cruises, tuks tuks, taxis, etc..

With a map in our hands, we tried the BTS from Siam Station to Asok Station, and from there, we interchange from the BTS to their MRT, heading towards Bang Sue Station. Where were we going? We were heading towards Thailand Cultural Centre where we would be watching the Siam Niramit Show.

From Siam Station, the fare is 25baht per person to Asok Station. We alighted & went down on their escalator. Following the directions to Sukhumvit, we bought ticktets for Thailand Cultural Centre @ 20baht per adut & 10baht per child. You have to buy the ticket for the child at the Passenger Service Counter. The ticket machine do not dispense child tickets.

Tuks tuks are a common sight in Bangkok but you have to bargain ( agreed) on a price before boarding. They do not run on meter, unlike the taxis. We took a tuk tuk from Platinum Shopping Mall to Somboondee Seafood Market on the 2nd night. As it was drizzling & the mall was closing, Daddy decided to have seafood dinner. Just so happened, a tuk tuk driver approached us & asked where we liked to go. We hopped onto his vehicle & paid 30baht for the trip. Cheap? We realised this fellow may have earned commission from the seafood restaurant as no tuk tuk or taxi would take us back to Pratunam for the same price we paid. Since it was starting to rain heavily again, we had no choice but to take a taxi back @ 100baht. ( the driver refused to switch on his meter)

Other mode of transportation we tried was their Airport Link. But that is for another post.

Bangkok: 04 - 06 Sep 2012 ~ Hotel

09 Sep 2012 (Sun):

Unlike all my previous post, I will blog about our trip part by part instead of the usual day by day. This 1st part will be about our hotel.

We stayed at Grand Diamond Plaza Suites Hotel. Address:  888 Petchburi Road, Rajthevi, Pratunam, Bangkok, Thailand.

We had a room on the 20th story, overlooking the city. All rooms in the hotel comes with mini kitchenette, living area & bedroom

The kids were excited to see such a big bed & they immediately jumped onto it with glee. Even the bathroom were huge with a standing shower & a bathtub on either sides. We wasted no time in exploring the city after checking in. But we made a stop at a travel agency located right next to the lobby on the tours available.

English Review

01 Sep 2012 (Sat):

Following Lionel's Math Test results, this is his English recap of what he has done so far on the Stellar Worksheets.

Topic: Lazy Duck.

Maths Test

01 Sep 2012 (Sat):

Lionel showed us his test results for Maths. Daddy told him before if he doesnt score full marks for his test, no Bangkok holiday. ( Haha... we are not such mean parents by the way. All Daddy wanted was Lionel to do well. This is just a boost for Lionel's morale.The air tickets & hotel accomodation were already booked anyway)

Topic tested: Number 1 ~ 40.
Inclusions: Additions & Subtractions, Number Pattern, Written Numbers & Words, More Than / Less Than & Problem Solving.

Way to go my little prince! Good Job!!!