Shop Til You Drop - Our Bangkok Adventure Day 1

What can I say about Bangkok? Definitely a shopaholic's paradise. Make sure you wear sturdy and comfortable walking shoes. I bought a pair of walking shoes from Naturalizer before I left but my feet still hurt. I ended up buying a pair of New Balance rubber shoes at Siam and they're definitely more comfortable.

Anyway, to start off with the travelogue:

Our Thai flight was scheduled to leave on Friday, Dec. 28 at 820PM. Papa dropped off me and Leo at NAIA at around 430PM. The check in counter opened at 6PM (Yes, we waited for an hour and a half). After checking in our luggage, going through immigration and customs, we ate at one of the restaurants inside the airport. Not expecting much food at the flight, Leo and I had beef and noodle soup.

Leo tried surfing for awhile and I kept myself busy playing with my Nintendo DS. We walked towards the airline gate at 730PM. Unfortunately, our flight was delayed. Boarding was supposed to be at 750PM but the plane hasn't arrived yet.

Finally, the plane arrived at 9PM and our flight left at 930PM.

Being a first time flyer (international flight) in almost 20 years, I did not know what to expect. The flight was pleasant and it was a good experience. I initially expected that we'd be flying PAL but we ended up with Thai. Good thing though. I loved the rice crackers that they served. They even served a full meal which I readily gobbled up.

The flight was not that full so it was not much crowded. I entertained myself with my DS while Leo got some shut eye.

We arrived at the Suvarnabhumi airport at Bangkok 3 hours later. It was 1130PM local time time but 1230AM Manila time so I was VERY sleepy already. I love their airport. It helped that it's relatively new (around less than 2 years old). Immigration takes your picture while they stamp your passport.

According to our travel document, we're supposed to meet our tour coordinator at Gate 9. I was very cranky already and I wanted to sleep! I left it to Leo to look for our ride while I just tailed him. Fortunately, Ping Pong (yes, that's his name) was patiently waiting for us at the gate and he hurriedly ushered us to the waiting van.

Even if I was very sleepy, I loved their highways. We were going FAST! I'm not familiar with speeds but it was very fast compared to our highway. Probably more than 100 (kph? mph?). Their highways are also new and I had to get used to the right-hand drive thing. We were driving on the left side of the big highway.

We were reserved at the Arnoma Hotel (part of the package). Location was absolutely awesome. In the heart of Bangkok--Ratchaprasong. Our hotel is right across CentralWorld and beside Gaysorn. Very convenient. Ping Pong dropped us off telling us that he'll pick us up at 8AM (but he'll be 10-15 minutes late).

We hurriedly checked in and upon getting to our room. I showered, changed into my nightclothes and fell onto the bed. I think I fell asleep before Leo did (he knows I'm cranky unless I get my sleep).

That was our first day in Bangkok.