Bangkok Day 1

I was in Bangkok from last Sunday until Friday, ie, 15 Feb 2009 till 20 Feb 2009. I stayed near the Pratunam Area, Grand Diamond Hotel. Pretty decent hotel.

The flight I took was AirAsia and fortunately, it was the Airbus and despite the flight duration being announced as 2 hours 5 minutes, we reached Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport in a little more than 1.5 hours. I guessed that the pilot must have sped through some traffic lights. Urgent nature calls probably. Anyway, I am thankful that I didn't turn stiff for the lack of space for breathing even!!

Anyway, we got there about 9.30 a.m local time and after meeting the organiser of the conference that I was attending, a cab / limousine was assigned to us and off we went to the conference hall for registration etc. I got there about 10.30 a.m and after going through the registration, payment and collection of some documents, both my staff and I went to our hotel. We did not register to stay in the hotel arranged by the organiser, which is annexed to the conference hall due to the extremely high costs. They were asking USD 180.00/night for the hotel whereas we got another hotel about 5 minutes walk away for USD 60.00/night. I would rather use the money for food and massage, after all, we won't be spending that much time in the rooms except to sleep only.

After freshen up, we went to Maboonkrong (MBK in short) which is like the biggest mall in Bangkok in terms of number of shops. I ordered tailored made clothes there, costing me about THB 10,000.00 for six shirts and 3 pants. A bit more expensive than my last trip to that shop but what the heck, I was in the mood to spend some money and contribute to their economy anyway, hahaha.

After that done, we went hunting for food and had some local fare at their 6th floor, nothing great, just something to fill our stomach. I also had Swensen's, something I always try to take if I am in Bangkok as apparently, theirs would be slightly cheaper than Malaysia's.

Right after ice cream, I went for my favourite thing to do in Bangkok, massage. I went to the same shop I went last year. Had a two hour aroma therapy and it is blissful. I really enjoyed the session, all the stress being kneaded away.

Got back to hotel after the session and after a quick shower and change of clothes, went back to the conference hall for some cocktail party. Boring as ever because everyone seemed to be cliquish and being newer members, there was no clique except for a few acquaintance made last year. Food was better than last year though.

After some small talks with a few people, I made a move and went back to hotel to rest. It had been a long day and it would be a longer day the next.