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.

 

Big C Supercenter and CentralWorld, Bangkok

Day 4 (Monday, 9 May 2016), Morning

Today would be my last day shopping at the malls as I would be leaving for DMK Airport early tomorrow. I still haven't bought myself anything significant. I wanted to buy some shirts and pants for my office wear, and maybe a pair of short pants and sneakers at reasonable prices. I also wanted to buy Shoe Goo to repair the sole of a pair of good shoes. I have not found the shirts and pants that I like at the shopping malls. Prices of leather products which I liked such as crocodile skin belt have shot over the roof and were beyond my budget. I also haven't found a reasonably priced pair of lavender-coloured Adidas sneakers that Ging had asked me to buy.

I have not been able to find what I wanted at Platinum Fashion Mall yesterday. I hope to find something at CentralWorld today. After an early breakfast, I arrived at BTS Chit Lom station just before 7 a.m. I was of course way too early and decided to walk from BTS Chit Lom station to BTS CEN Siam station on the elevated walkway called Skywalk.

I walked back to CentralWorld from BTS CEN Siam station which took about 10 minutes walking slowly. It was only 7:43 a.m. when I reached CentralWorld and I was still too early. I did not know what to do and after loitering around for 10 minutes, I decided to go to Erawan Shrine again to take a closer look this time. I was done with Erawan Shrine in no time and I still had too much time to spare.

It dawned on me that Big C Supercenter might open earlier since it was a supermarket rather than a fashion mall and I walked over to check it out. It was only 8:10 a.m. and it had indeed opened. There was no Shoe Goo. I checked out all the floors, including having two rounds of brunch there. Big C cash cards needed to be purchased first before patrons could order food from its food stalls. Smaller food stands operated by individuals accepted cash only.

By the time I was done with Big C, it was already 10:20 a.m. I crossed over the road using the overhead bridge linking Big C and Isetan and walked to CentralWorld. CentralWorld was high-end and though there was an Adidas shop, the sneakers were more expensive than what I saw at Siam Center. I left after 20 minutes there and took the Skytrain back to the hostel.