Last Day in Bangkok

Day 5 (Tuesday, 10 May 2016)

Today was my last day in Bangkok. It was time to leave. My camera bag that has served me so well for the last few years had failed. The clip holding the strap had broken. Farewell!

My plan was to take the Skytrain to BTS Mo Chit station, and from there, to take DMK Airport A1 shuttle bus to the airport. I have no idea at the time where to catch the bus once I arrived at BTS Mo Chit. Was the bus-stop far away from BTS Mo Chit or close by? In order to compensate for the time needed to search for the bus-stop, I would leave for BTS Mo Chit station early.

The most convenient place for breakfast from my hostel was the coffee shop at Pranee Building. I went for Pad Thai again, before taking the Skytrain at BTS National station to CEN Siam Interchange and moving to the Sukhumvit Line to take the Skytrain to BTS Mo Chit station.

I thought that if the A1/ A2 shuttle buses dropped off passengers at Chatuchak Park side of the road, then picking up the passengers to the airport would be on the other side of the road. However, at BTS Mo Chit station, no staircase led to the other side. There was a very large car park there and no buses. All the staircases led to the Chatuchak Park side of the road.

While walking down the staircase, I noticed several people with baggage and I thought that they were probably going to the airport too. Like me, they looked unsure of the location of A1 bus stop as they walked slowly forward and kept glancing at every bus that came into view. Finally, a bus came, slowed down and discharged the passengers. I noticed that it was an A1 bus and a few Westerners with baggage were crowded at the bus door. It was driven by a young pretty thing.

DMK Airport was a busy place. There were many passengers. Like Sibu Airport, passengers were expected to screen their baggage before they could check in or drop their baggage. I went looking for the VAT Refund office but instead of refunding me the money, only my refund form was stamped. The money would only be refunded to me inside the departure hall.

After exploring the ground level, I went up the first floor. There was a restaurant there. The food price was expensive, more expensive than at Changi Airport. Since I still have a lot of THB left, I decided to splurge on myself.

After a very satisfactory meal, it was time to go to the departure gate to get my VAT refund and to exchange all the THB that I have left over.

Finally, it was time to leave for my Airasia flight back to Kuala Lumpur. We took the shuttle bus to the plane.

MBK, Bangkok

Day 4 (Monday, 9 May 2016), Afternoon and Evening

I have given up hope of purchasing my office wear at Bangkok shopping malls. Now, I have only this afternoon and tonight to purchase Ging's sneakers and mine. I tried searching for them at Siam Centre but could not locate the shops selling Adidas sneakers that I saw on the first day in Bangkok.

After letting my legs rest back at the hostel, I was off to MBK by 1:20 p.m. I would be taking my late lunch at MBK today since street stalls are closed on Monday. MBK would also be my last hope buying the sneakers at reasonable prices.

I had seen lavender-coloured Adidas at a reasonable price at MBK a day or two earlier. I would search for the outlet. However, I failed to locate the store. Instead, I found one small outlet selling Adidas on the ground floor but the choices were limited and they looked out-dated.

I also found Adidas shoes at Tokyu while shopping for some curry paste. I noticed the display shelf on one wall. I took photos of three pairs of lavender-coloured sneakers, including one from Nike to send to Ging later.

 When I returned to the hostel, I Wechat Ging the photos and asked her to pick her choice. She picked one and when I asked her for the second and third choices in case her first choice did not come in the size she wanted, she replied that there was no need to buy them if the first choice was not available.

I went back to Tokyu and it did not have size 7 of the sneakers she chose. I took photos of the available sizes to show her later. I also took a photo of the sneakers displayed on the shelf to show her the available designs.

Since there was no size 7, I asked the sales girl where I could find another outlet selling Adidas shoes and was told to go to Level 5 of MBK. I found GSF Outlet Store but it too did not have size 7 for the two lavender-coloured designs that it has.

On returning to my hostel, I sent her the latest photos from both Tokyu and GSF Outlet Store to let her know that these shops did not have size 7 sneakers. She replied asking me to check the orange sneakers in one of the photos I sent her.

Again, I went back to MBK to check the orange-coloured shoes she wanted and again, there was no size 7. I returned to the hostel and informed her. I guessed we both gave up by this time. It was either Thais have small feet or Ging's feet are too big :-)

 

As for myself, I bought a pair of Puma. Since the amount exceeded THB2,000, I was told that I could have the VAT refunded at the airport.

Shops were starting to close and I decided to leave. I was still very full but the pork burger was displayed so prominently at McDonald. After having ditched pork burgers for local food during my other overseas travels, I could not helped thinking what friends were saying about delicious McDonald pork burgers. This time, I succumbed to temptations and takeaway one back to my hostel to try.