Bangkok Loving

I have declared my love for 2 of my favourite cities - Taipei (read: Taipei, Im In Love With You) & Manila (Manila.. Ooh La La!). Even Shanghai has a post dedicated to it (read: I'll Miss You, Shanghai).

And with that, it's only appropriate that I also write a love letter to this wonderful city of angels.. my top 3 favourite cities, if not most loved.. non other than Bangkok!

Now, where do I start? I've been to Bangkok numerous times now (more like a semi resident than a tourist, I'd say). But still.. everytime I'm back, there's so much things to see and experience.. and of course, to like. And love.

Yes, love.. how appropriate is the flowers here to represent this post. And these flowers? They can be bought just at the roadside street market. How convenient, yet... a beautiful sight. 

Yeah, I love the street shopping at Bangkok. It's everywhere.. and one can find nearly anything. Or everything!!! (magic water balls, anyone?). And the good part is... though these stalls do make the walk paths more cram (especially during peak hours), but it adds so much more atmosphere to the city. And of course the convenience of shopping while on the way to your destination!

And one of the things I like buying from these stalls are the wickedly funny tees. They are decently priced and quality is decent (well, the ones I got, anyway) :). And they do update their stocks with new tees every time &  again... making a t-shirt fan pretty happy!

Talking bout designs, I do like how they go into details. Everything must be like near perfect when they do it.. it's like a good habit that they have. And their designs are creative, especially when compared to their oh-so-conservative & kinda-boring neighbours... So for a design lover, Bangkok sure breathes fresh air :)

Everywhere is like a piece of art of its own... bursting with creativity. Okay this maybe an overstatement.. but hey, where else do u see chairs like the above on the streets? 

Or ducks at open air spaces - for no campaign in particular? 

Oh, I have to add on.. or cool signages for shops in the malls! For an outlet to put in effort to make a presence, that just awed me!

Oh look at this drink stall... selling non other than just coffee & a lil bit more. This stall may seem rather ordinary to a Thai folk, but to me, there's so much effort put in - just to make this stall look good and attract customers. Even the logo has some creative thought into it! What a big difference! :)

And if that's like not good enough, we then have the open minded-ness that comes along with it. Well I'd say Kay El and Singapore can be open minded too but way too hush bout things. But here in Bangkok, it's just a lil like Taiwan... have it, flaunt it.. and no need shy shy kap! That to me is the true essence of living lah :)

Oh and I think one reason why I keep going back to Bangkok - it has got to be on how well their tourism industry is. No other city that I've visited has such wonderful tourist service... making any tourists, big or small.. feel like a King/ Queen! They first introduced the VAT refund, additional discount for tourists when shopping in malls & here - free drinks for tourists at the MBK mall!

Another thing I love bout Bangkok - the many shrines they have. It feels peaceful here in Bangkok.. maybe more so, as I'm a tourist & a Buddhist. Despite the media giving some bad light to Bangkok in recent years, but I always feel the opposite. I don't get the local media cos really, it feels peaceful here.

Food & fruits. Somehow they taste sweeter here. Yeah, I'm biased - I know that. But hey, try the mango sticky rice in Bangkok, and then you be the judge! Haha! The mix is just right - sweet mango with just nice sauce to go with it.

And though Thai food may not be as wide variety as Truly Asia's... but there's such a wide range of flavours in just 1 type of food! And that's more than enough, really (more of that in the next post).

Talking bout food & fruits, I must highlight, the 1 drink that I drink oh-so-much here is the lemongrass drink. I first had this a few years back, and never looked back whenever I visit Bangkok/ Thailand. The drink is neither too light nor too heavy, but usually a good mix that somehow only the Thais know how to make this drink so well - as far as I know!

Oh another big thing I love bout this city - the MRT & the skytrains!!! I don't care if the trains are newer or older than other ASEAN cities trains. They are nice - and the rest can learn a thing or 2 from them. The trains are wide, and clean. The TVs in the trains work well - long before Singapore got theirs right. And their network is well connected. 

The best part - I don't hear them boasting bout it. No, they don't. And I believe that is what makes Thailand.. or for this matter, Bangkok so lovable. They just do their thing - in the most perfect way possible. So much so that they exceed my expectations.

To Bangkok, you are really the best city I've visited. And I'll definitely be returning for many more visits to come. And... who knows, for some long stays too... or migrating to your city for that matter! :)

*I forgot to mention 1 big pull factor to love Bangkok - the Thais themselves. If you've not been to Bangkok, you may not get what I mean.. But if you have, I can bet, you are already nodding your head in agreement! :)))