Bangkok Bound: Our First Day Adventure

September 29, 2024

September 21, 2024 (Saturday) – Day 1 in Bangkok, Thailand

This will be the first part of my travel story as I want to document everything that happened during our stay, and it might get too long for one post. For this entry, I’ll be sharing the events of our first day.

Last weekend, Asis and I went on our first trip abroad together. While it wasn’t the first country I’ve ever visited (my earlier trips were when I was seven, and I can barely remember them), I like to officially think of this as my first real trip abroad. I had wanted to visit Hanoi, Vietnam, but I couldn’t find an affordable fare for October or November. I was working with a budget since my friend, Jhaey, generously gifted us the money for an international flight within Asia as a wedding gift.

Anyway, I remembered that Asis wanted to visit Thailand for its food, and it just so happened that Cebu Pacific had a seat sale at the time. So, voilà, Bangkok, Thailand, it was!

We stayed in Bangkok for five days, and during that time, I found myself wanting to go back again soon. I even wanted to live there. I was amazed by how similar it felt to the Philippines, yet it was so much more modern, clean, and well-organised, except for the traffic. I also wasn’t aware that Bangkok was one hour behind.

Our flight was around 7 AM, and we arrived at the airport by 3 AM, giving us ample time for check-in and immigration. This was definitely not my favourite part of traveling; red-eye flights are a pain for someone who is usually in bed by 9 PM! I was also nervous during immigration, as I’d heard and read stories about the process. Since this was our first trip abroad, it was nerve-wracking for me.

Upon arriving at Suvarnabhumi Airport, which was huge, we headed to immigration and then searched for the Klook stall to pick up our 50GB SIM card valid for 10 days. After that, we looked for the Super Rich currency exchange, as I had read that it offered good rates. We then made our way to the Airport Rail Link (ARL), which was conveniently located nearby (base level of the airport). To our surprise, instead of card tickets, we received tokens for our train passes! Bangkok’s train system was amazing, so convenient and affordable. From the airport, we took the train to Ratchaprarop Station, the closest stop to our hotel.

I booked us at Hotel Ordinary Bangkok, which was decent and close to the ARL, highways, bus stops, and shops like 7/11. Since we arrived too early for check-in, we dropped off our bags and headed out for our first stop. We didn’t want to waste any time, so we booked a Grab to Khlong Lat Mayom Floating Market, which was only open on weekends. We arrived around 1 PM and were starving! There were so many food choices, but I decided to go with Pad Thai as my first meal in Thailand. Everything we tried was delicious, and we even picked up some snacks for the hotel. After wandering around, we skipped the one-hour canal tour and headed back to check in, freshen up, and take a nap. We decided to skip the café I had planned since we were so tired and didn’t want caffeine in our systems.

Later that night, we went to Big C supermarket for some necessities and to pick up most of our pasalubong. After that, we checked out The One Ratchada Night Market. The weather wasn’t great, but thankfully, it didn’t rain too much while we were out. All in all, three stops for the first day. Not bad for such a long day!