4D4N Bangkok

Flights:
24 October 2012 1725 - 1845 / TZ302 on ScootBiz / $156 per pax
28 October 2012 2115 - 0040 / 3K514 on Jetstar / THB 6173

Accomodation:
S Sukhumvit Suites Hotel / 4 nights / S$343.02 on Agoda

Featuring:

Quick breakdown of itinerary because Bangkok just does not need additional explaining. This was a shot at a quick long weekend getaway when Scoot made history with whooping cheap ScootBiz fares. The reason why we needed the Jetstar was cos the travel peiod did not cover 28th Oct (boo). This was booked earlier than the family trip to Bangkok in July as well so please do not complain that we are travelling too much (it is never too much).

On hindsight, Tobs lamented that we should have gone Japan, considering this would be the height of autumn season - the only season that we have not been in Japan. Oh well. Next year perhaps!

24th Wed
ScootBiz was comfortable. The meal was also welcoming but do not expect full service meals complete with appetiser and dessert. You get a microwaved meal of your choice. And 1 Evian bottle water, 1 hot drink and 1 cold drink. That's it. No more than that. The extra leg space was good to have but silly on a short flight to Bangkok. Save it for the longer haul trips!

After check-in, we headed to Terminal 21 to redeem the deal for Hokkaido Milk and settled down at Mos burger.

25th Thur
Paul's Fashion for measurements followed by a quick sweep at Platinum's new wing before we went to Square at Novotel for buffet lunch. The spread was good. Dq had a good time with the crayfish. I loved the dory fillet. The standard was pretty good and they're still having a 1-for-1 promo so do check them out.

Finished off the day with spa at 7.30pm. Tobs found a good foot massage therapist (Tom) whom he shall stick to from now onwards.

26th Fri
Started off with storming the Uniqlo opening at Siam Paragon. It was a timely visit because they were giving away ceramic mugs for the first few hundred customers. And there were many daily specials. It was like a warzone inside and people were grabbing the 100THB items like they were free. We chalked up quite a bit of spending and qualified for VAT refund.

Hit the special Santouka temporary stall at the food fair in Isetan Central World and had Toroniku Ramen. It was heavenly, pork cheek slices much thicker than the ones here. I find the ones here unimaginably salty also. Dinner at Via Vai where the pizzas were authentically baked in the stone oven and the pasta was quite good. Too bad we were too stuffed for dessert.

27th Sat
Dental in the morning followed by some me time spent storming Uniqlo Siam Paragon again for the daily special. Some communication screw up on Hanako's side so we did not manage to do our nails at the same time. Wandered about Siam Square a bit before heading back for our 4.30pm massage.

Dinner at a Pizza Company that was closest to Asoke. It functions primarily as a delivery centre but has some seats for dine-in customers. The food was fresh and good - I don't think it gets fresher than this! Overall, quite reliable and we may come back. Perhaps also for the sunrise tacos right outside as well.

28th Sun
Lunch at Spaghetti Factory Central World. I loved the Shrimp Scampi salad. Last ditch to relive the wonderful Toroniku Ramen at Isetan before we had to split up cos our nail appointments were at 12, 1 and 2pm respectively. Tobs and I paid another visit to After You for nutella toast and settled for the chocolate macademia chou at Bake a Wish (which turned out surprisingly good!). Too full for a decent meal so we just made do with pad thai and papaya salad at the Terminal 21 food court before we headed for the airport.

Enroute our 1st driver's cab became a little wonky and would not start. Poor fella. Then we got onto 2nd driver's cab. 2nd driver seems to think he's racing in F1 or something and makes dangerous moves that shows flagrant disregard for the sanctity of life. I have NEVER been so afraid of my dear life before whilst in a cab. No tip for crazy 2nd driver - I'd rather he drive safely and we get to the airport a little later. Need to quickly buy that life insurance; one never knows what is going to happen next.

Why did you not visit --- ?

There are other well known establishments that we did not visit in Sydney. Shall list them here for the benefit of other travellers who may very well decide to go:

1. Pancakes on the rocks - we did take a peek at the one located at The Rocks but decided that the serving size did not justify the price. There're other branches around so perhaps you may want to check eatability to see which is more recommended.

2. Max Brenner - there's one at Westfield level 6, corner of Pitt Street Mall and Market Street and another at 273 George Street. We popped by the one at George Street and I was very very tempted to get the waffle set after reading reviews but decided against it cos I felt my throat was acting up (probably bcos of all the hot choc we have been having).

3. Beaches - we went in winter, period.

4. The Rocks imfree tour - this begins at 6pm everyday and starts in front of Cadman's Cottage. It lasts 1.5 hours and delves deeper into the history of The Rocks.

Day 7 - 20 August 2012 (Mon)

Last day (actually less than a day) in Sydney. We woke up to have breakfast at the famous Bourke Street Bakery, 46a McCleay Street, which was a short walk from our accommodation.

Very plain and nondescript place with Sydney-siders reading the papers and having their favourite cuppa. I had a ham and cheese croissant while Tobs got some pie. Added another ginger brulee tart cos Tobs was feeling adventurous but the best was the carrot cake. I heart heart heart it so much when I took my first mouthful, my eyes widened and I immediately notified the husband that we need to take away another slice. Haha!

Got a tad bit worried when the pick up was late but thank God it did arrive and we got to the airport on time. There're plenty of food options at the airport - Tobs had oporto and I had sumo salad. Plus I had my takeaway carrot cake to keep me very happy. So long Sydney!

Day 6 - 19 August 2012 (Sun)

It's a bright and sunny Sunday morning! We headed to another one of Tobs' discovery, Cherubini Espresso Bar at 85 Boundary Street, Darlinghurst for breakfast.It's tucked away in the middle of a neighbourhood area and really cosy.

Tobs had the eggs benedict set (which rocked) while my scrambled eggs set paled in contrast (but was still okay, to be fair).

There was also another couple dining in and their handsome little boy. Ooooh massive cuteness!

Then we gave up trying to walk to Central Station to catch the shuttle to Hillsongs at 188 Young Street, Waterloo and took a cab instead to reach our destination in good time for the 9.45am service.

Alas they sang really new songs and not the ones I was used to. Still, a good experience, nevertheless.When we were waiting after service for the shuttle service to take us to Central Station, I chanced upon this:

It should read Deco Rug but I wasn't able to capture the "D". Even after getting to Central Station and enroute to get lunch, there were still more ads by the very skilled pilot. This one seemed more like a proposal:

The sad thing for weibin is that he should have paid for 2 planes to do his love message cos by the time the girl's name was out, his was almost all gone. haha!

Lunch was at Mohr Fish at 202 Devonshire Street. Quite an old establishment but I love that rustic feel to the place. However, eat in prices are crazy expensive compared to take out. Like AUD22 v.s AUD9.50 for fish and chips. So being very price conscious (and also having the benefit of my research that there's a nearby park), we decided to take out their fish and chips and calamari rings.

The volume was reasonably large but the food very fried. But this is expected from fish and chips, no? After polishing up the mains and leaving behind a lot of chips, we headed for gelato at Messina.

I can't give you the exact location but do google for it. They're becoming quite well known in Sydney. I heart their salted caramel white chocolate flavour. Do try golden gaytime as well. And prices are darn reasonable! AUD5 for 2 scoops in a cone.

Then it was a quick stopover at Chinatown to take a look. Went to take a look at Paddy's Market but didn't see anything that interests me. But check out Market City, there are quite a few outlets in there. We stopped at the Vitamin Store and got some supplements (evening primrose oil AUD41.50 for 400 capsules, omega3 AUD14.95 for 400 capsules).

Decided to head down to Circular Quay to catch a cruise to the Biennale, which was on Cockatoo Island. Enroute, we caught another rainbow!

• TIP: Find out the route for the Free Bus 555 that loops from Circular Quay to Central Station and goes around the CBT - very useful for budget conscious travellers!

The good thing about the free shuttle cruise is that I get more photo opportunities on a great day!

Actually we weren't too keen on visiting all the Biennale exhibits. It was more to have a free ride
and then see the island for ourselves.

Dinner was at Yokozuna, 189 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst. I suspect it's family run really cos I saw an old couple busying about in the kitchen and a young lady serving customers. We had the tofu and seaweed salad (yums!), grilled scallops and salmon roll (too much rice and not very nice). The scallops were really nice and fresh. The damage only came up to AUD38 so it wasn't too bad.

Day 5 - 18 August 2012 (Sat)

Today, we did the Blue Mountains tour with Sydney Tours R Us (which Tobs heard as Toys R Us and wondered what on earth did I sign up for -___-"). Pick up was at 7.30am in the morning so we didn't wander far for breakfast. Just settled for the random cafes at the Kings Cross Centre.

Vince was our guide and driver - a very easy going and chatty person. We made a few other pickups before heading off on the tour. Tour costs AUD99 per pax but they offered us a AUD10 discount per pax if we agreed to take the tour on a Saturday instead of Thursday (as originally planned). A brief itinerary of the tour (this represents what we actually did on the tour even though the website may promise other things):

• Sydney 2000 Olympic Site

• Leura village 

• Leura and Katoomba Townships

• Stop at Scenicworld to ride the Scenic Railway, Skyway and SceniSender. This was an additional AUD30 each. I would highly recommend.

•  Ride the Worlds' steepest incline railway (really scary. preferably done downwards but we did upwards cos of Vince's instructions) down to the elevated timber boardwalk which meanders through the picturesque rainforest. This was where we spotted the bird (supposed to be the father in the Three Sisters story digging around for his magic stick):

• Walk past the coal mines, smell the Eucalyptus trees and return up the mountain on the Flyway cable car (we took the cable car downwards instead)

• See Wentworth Falls area (nothing much, really)

• Megalong & Jamison Valleys 

• Lunch - AUD10 for Chinese at a  Katoomba restaurant. Opted for Chinese cos it allowed you to pile one single plate with as much food as you wanted from their cai fan display (heh)

• Echo Point – see the world famous ‘Three Sisters’ and view Australia's "GRAND CANYON". Best views here. And also because the clouds cleared up, making for a very beautiful picture.

And rainbow, again!

• Aboriginal Culture  - Learn about the Boomerang and Didgeridoo. 

• Our homeward journey is entertaining with our legendary Aussie Folk music 

• Tea at Featherdale Wildlife Park – Get up close and personal with all our native animals, pat and cuddle Koalas, Feed and pat kangaroos and emu's ; also Wombats, Tassie Devils, Dingo's and many more. Good for kids because of all the patting you can do. Adults can finish it in less than 2 hours. The place ain't that huge really. And the "tea" was really just either oj or a hot drink served by their cafe.

• Cruise back to the city along the Parramatta River and under the Sydney Harbour Bridge to Sydney Harbou. This was nice cos it coincided with sunset and allowed us to capture beautiful night views.

• TIP: Photos like these can only be captured on board a cruise so please try to take at least one! Timing your cruise nicely is also important for the desired lighting and effect.

After we alighted, I was caught up with my phototaking cos the skies were just so cooperative.We ended up spending a good half an hour or so experimenting with different settings and positions to capture more night shots.

Dinner was another gem of a find thanks to eatability and Tobs great research. We went to Boot Leg Bar at 175 Victoria Street, Potts Point. They serve good Italian food at similar standards as Jamie's. Had the calamari (best I've ever had in my life), lasagne (also the best I've ever had) but my squid ink pasta was a bit salty so I didn't like it that much. Ambience is great for a cosy date, unlike Jamie's. Total damage came up to AUD71.

Day 4 - 17 August 2012 (Fri)

We settled for a wrap for breakfast some place in Martin Place. Should have held on a bit longer cos when we got to The Rocks, their Foodies Market was on! Open on Fridays, it was a beautiful morning for the outdoor market.

We cannot resist this exotic looking prata-like dish with spinach and beef in it! Totally yummy for AUD10, the portion was quite big.

There is also a famous La Renaissance Patisserie at 47 Argle Street with a nice outdoor seating area good for a beautiful day. But I realised that dine in prices are significantly higher than take out prices so being the very thifty people we are, we decided to take out and sit near the benches at Cadmans Cottage to enjoy the view and cake.

• TIP: Feel free to just take out and eat at a park if that saves you money. Places that have different prices for eat in/take out have space constraint so they would rather you go elsewhere. Just make sure you bring napkins and wet towels along if your meal is going to be messy.

Walked about until it was about time to proceed to Campells Cove for our 1pm Convicts, Castles and Champagne tour by the Convicts Tour. I had earlier purchased the deal for AUD98 for 2 pax. It takes you on a cruise to Goat Island, followed by a tour of the island that previously housed convicts, before ending off with a BBQ buffet lunch.

Our guide was John, but Nathan (or was it Nelson) took the other group. I would recommend to go with Nathan/Nelson if you can help it cos I found him more entertaining.

Since it was free flow drinks, we started drinking once on board. Thank God for the perfect weather cos the photos turned out wonderful.

Some prisoner was chained to this rock for many many years. (and that's John, our guide)

To all our horror, the weather suddenly took a bad turn and it rained! But thank God it didn't last long. It ended shortly before lunch was actually served. And the good thing about rain is, you get rainbows after that:) Pretty!

Walked about in town before heading down to Surry Hills for the Burlesque show at DOME Bar & Lounge at 589 Crown Street. Made a quick stop at the Crown Street Grocer again for the hot choc cos it was such a cold day. I've never had so much hot choc and skinny caps in such a short span of time.

It was AUD19 each for the Burlesque show deal I bought from Groupon that was supposed to include pre-show canapes and a drink. When we got there, it was starting to get crowded already so we decided to chope seats. We only got to eat 1 round of canapes (oysters) and they never came again. The drink was also a white, but I would have preferred a red.

We waited a good 1.5hours before something finally happened close to 8pm. But it proved too risque for prudish Singaporeans like us. So we promptly exited after the 1st show was over. It wasn't so bad for me cos they're girls anyway but I think they made Tobs very uncomfortable - he didn't know how to respond; hooting is totally not like him but not reciprocating may make the performers feel hurt or insulted.

Well at least we tried. Now we know what Burlesque is like. DOME also offers Jazz night on Thurs, in case you want to visit.