Boarding Gate 101

My  first foreign trip in 2015 was during the Holy Week, to Thailand. This was my fourth visit to Siam and the City of Angels, but this trip was primarily for my mom. I often exhort people through this blog and social media to travel more, and I think the best way to do the talk is to include my mom in my travels, right? While I'm at it, my aunt also joined us for her first trip abroad. I'd be tour guide for this trip, and I will be basically revisiting the places I've been to in Bangkok.  One of the Buddhist temples in Bangkok Traveling with my mom (this is our third foreign trip together) is a different beast compared to my usual trips. I put more effort in planning and logistics of the trip, which means booking the hotels in advance, no chicken buses, and the itineraries are often set way ahead of time. It also means no hostels, as I want her to be more comfortable throughout. Excursions to tourist spots also need to be spread throughout the day to account...

Nestled below the posh Siam Paragon mall in Sukhumvit, Bangkok is the Siam Ocean World oceanarium. It is  one of the largest in Southeast Asia, j ust a tad bigger than the Manila Ocean Park , at 10,000 square meters. I visited the oceanarium on my third visit to Bangkok, during the food tour .  Inside the 270-degree tunnel The aquariums were grouped into zones, seven in all: Weird and Wonderful,  Rain Forest,    Deep Reef, Rocky Shore, Living Ocean, Open Ocean, and Jellies. The Weird and Wonderful section contain several cylindrical aquariums housing weird creatures, such as the giant spider crabs, sea horses of all shapes, and mollusks that somehow resembled Admiral Ackbar of Star Wars. The Rain Forest also has its share of strange animals, not just fishes. I was particularly fascinated with the lung fishes, some albino-colored cave fishes with two hind legs, some rodents that swim, and a chameleon, staring at the onlookers with its multi-color...

Another city, another supertall to climb up. On my  visit to Bangkok, I had the chance to go up Baiyoke Tower II, the tallest building in Thailand. Located in the Ratchathewi district, the building, which contains the Baiyoke Sky Hotel (the tallest hotel in Southeast Asia) is 304 meters tall. In itself, the design of the building is quite bland, but the view from the top is great.  The revolving observation deck, which gives a 360 degree view of downtown Bangkok, is in the 84th floor. There is also a public viewing area at the 77th floor. A bar, called Rooftop, is located a floor below the revolving deck and is perfect for chilling out with a cocktail while admiring the Bangkok skyline. How to Get there: Taking the BTS train, you may get off at Siam or Ratchathewi station and walk to the direction of the building. The supertall is not easy to miss. There is a 250 baht entrance fee to get to the observation deck, but it comes with a free drink at the Ro...

Wat Pho, also known as the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, is one of Bangkok's well-known attractions. The temple complex, a restoration of an old one originally built on the site, is one of the oldest and largest in Thailand, covering an area of about 80,000 square meters, having been built in 1788. The complex is composed of a monastery where monks reside, a school, several shrines, and 91 stupas,  mounds that contain Buddhist relics. The smaller ones contain the ashes of the Royal family, while the large ones contain the ashes of Buddha. There is also a cloister that contain a large number of images of Buddha. The main centerpiece of the temple, of course, is the Reclining Buddha. The statue is 43 meters long and 15 meters high. The feet - four and a half meters long - are inlaid with mother of pearl and decorated with symbols. Along the hall where the statue is are 108 bronze bowls , representing the auspicious characters of the Buddha. People drop coins on ...

Usually I stay in hostels when I visit Bangkok. During the food tour I deviated from that and stayed in a hotel this time (included in the tour). The hotel where we stayed is Glow Trinity Silom by Zinc, located in downtown Bangkok, in Silom area. It is right in the middle of all the action, but the hotel is located in one of the side streets of Silom, so you'd be far from the noise of the Bangkok traffic. Glow Trinity is a small boutique hotel just a stone's throw from the Chong Nonsi station of the BTS Skytrain. It has about 200 rooms, divided into 4 types: Superior, Deluxe, Premier and Executive Suite. We stayed in a deluxe room with 2 twin beds. Amenities The room has a tasteful contemporary decor. It has an LCD television and a DVD/CD player, as well as an iPod/iPhone docking station. You may borrow DVDs from the concierge if there's nothing on cable that catches your fancy. WiFi connectivity is also available and for free.  There is a mini-re...

Our last trip to Bangkok was a special one. It was my first time to join a group tour, and it was a special tour. Organized by a Thai chef currently based in Manila (he owns Thai Dara restaurant ), the tour, composed of around 20 people, was about experiencing food in Bangkok (and Ayutthaya) the way the locals enjoy them.  The choices of places that we went to for three days range from popular and high-end restaurants to a small street food stalls that locals flock too and no tourists normally go to, because the menus are in Thai and there aren't even pictures on the menu.    One of two of them are even so obscure that I couldn't find them on Foursquare to be able to check in (by the way, that's how I remember the names of the restaurants we went to, by checking in on Foursquare).  Here are the places we went to, chronologically and according to my Foursquare history. I recommend them to travelers who want to experience authentic Thai food in restau...

Wat Arun, the Temple of Dawn, is a Buddhist temple located along the bank of the river, in the Thonburi district of Bangkok, Thailand. The temple, named after the Indian god of dawn  Aruna , sits adjacent to the  Chao Phraya river , and is one of the well known temples of Thailand. Built in 1809, the wat has a central Khmer-style tower called phrang, and is surrounded by four smaller phrangs. All towers were decorated with seashells and bits of porcelain that reflect light during sunrise. Steep climb to the phrang The temple was built by King Rama II, whose ashes were buried in the base of a Buddha statue presiding over the temple. We stopped over at the Wat Arun during our second day in Bangkok, a trip that took us to several temples around the city. Close-up on the mosaics How to Get There: Wat Arun is located at the Thonburi district of Bangkok. It is accessible through the boats that ply along the Chao Praya river.  The...

Cruising along the Chao Phraya river, one of Bangkok's main rivers, is one of the most enjoyable and least stressful activity to do while in Bangkok. While the main reason for taking the tourist river boat was to get to the temples located in the north of the city, the trip itself is an adventure. The river, which empties into the Gulf of Thailand, is about 372 kilometers long. It figured prominently in the history of the country.

As a popular tourist destination, Bangkok has its share of touts and scam artists working hard to bilk unsuspecting tourists of their money (and dignity). On my visit last year we encountered three instances of these scams. The first one is fairly common - tuktuk drivers who will quote exorbitant rates to ferry passengers to destinations that aren't that far. The best way to deal with them is to just walk away (by which they will immediately lower their price by half). Another variation for the tuktuk drivers is the opposite - quoting you an outrageously low fare (30 baht for a 30 minute trip? really now). The scam here is that the driver would bring the passenger someplace (like a gem store) that would give them commission for every unsuspecting farang that they bring in. The passengers would them be subjected to high-pressure selling tactics to buy a product, like overpriced gems (which is a scam themselves). Touts hanging around the temples and touristy ...

The concourse and boarding gates of Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport. by Kin Enriquez

The 8-story tall pagoda along the bank of Chao Phraya river in Bangkok, Thailand.  Pagodas originated in Nepal, and its forerunners were called a stupa , a place where sacred relics were kept. Today pagodas refer to a tiered tower with multiple eaves, common in mainland Asia [ 1 ]. by Kin Enriquez

A South Asian woman nurses her baby in a quiet corner in one of the temples in Grand Palace, Bangkok

The 108 bronze bowls inside the Temple of Reclining Buddha (Wat Pho), representing the 108 auspicious traits of Buddha. People drop coins into the bowls for good luck . 

The prang ,  or spire, of Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn) in Bangkok is decorated with mosaic made using pieces of porcelain and sea shells. 

Fried crickets on sale at a street food stall in Chatuchak, Bangkok.