Bangkok

We find that Bangkok's public transport system isn't very stroller-friendly. We took the BTS trains a few times and the stations that we boarded & alighted didn't have any elevators or ramps for strollers. We had to carry it up/down the stairs. But they do have a special 'gate' for strollers at the entry/exit gates! Go figure. The streets of Bangkok are also crowded with people & peddlers selling all sorts of stuff on the sidewalks, so it can be a task to navigate your way through this traffic. Fortunately, the Thais are very considerate people who will give way to you when they see a stroller coming!

Seafood for dinner

We wanted to have a good seafood dinner so we asked Mr Udon where is the best place to find cheap & good seafood. He suggested a place called KoSaweng. It's a 40min drive from the hotel to the outskirts near the coast. After exiting the highway, we entered a dirt road for about 15mins before arriving at the restaurant. There are a few other restaurants along this road too. There were only 2-3 cars there and the restaurant was virtually deserted. I was told that during the weekends, the place is filled to the maximum. If the tables numbers are an indication of how many tables available, we sat at table #428! We ordered a steamed fish, vegetables, crabs, prawn & of course the Tom Yam Khung. The food arrived in 10mins and in healthy servings. Everything was so fresh & delicious. It was a great meal and the bill came to about US$45 for everything. If only my stomach had more room for more bbq-ed prawns!

Long-tailed boat ride

Bangkok is famous for the Chao Phraya river that meanders in and out of the city area. Many canals continue to be used for transport to this day. We decided that we should take a boat ride on these canals & see it for ourselves. Mr Udon took us to a pier that was next to the Rama 8 bridge to board the long-tailed boat. The price was 1500Bht for the whole boat for 1hr. The route took us on the main Chao Phraya river, into smaller canals where many Thai people continue to live their lives next to the rivers. We saw many houses built on stilts next to the canals.


There was an area where our daughter could feed some catfish too. The boatman stopped here for about 15mins and we bought bread to feed the fish. There are so many of them, well fed too I might add. The water in the smaller canals were calm whereas on the main river, it was a bit choppy. It was a good experience to see a different part of Bangkok that is rarely thought of when visiting a cosmopolitan city like Bangkok.

Siam Ocean World

Another activity we did was to visit the Siam Ocean World aquarium. It's located at Siam Paragon shopping center basement. The entry fee was 750Bht/adult but I can't remember how much was for kids. Anyway, they were giving away freebies like free drinks, glass-bottomed boat ride & merchandise for every ticket bought. The aquarium is pretty impressive with many different types of fish. The feeding sessions are a highlight, especially the shark feeding, giant grouper feeding and arapaima feeding times. The staff there are helpful in explaining the fishes' diet & habitat but their English is not that great. There is also a touch pool where starfishes, hermit crabs & other sea life are placed so that you can have a feel of them. A padded playground with obstacle course, slides, ball pit & play area is available just after the penguin exhibit. Too bad there is no place where kids can feed some fish.

Bangkok Again!

We decided to go to Bangkok again because we needed our fix of good food, shopping & massages! This time we arrived at the new Suvarnabhumi airport. This airport is big & there's a lot of walking to be done before you reach Immigration. Luckily for us, we asked an officer if we could go to a counter with a shorter queue. He was kind enough to direct us to one that was free. We got our usual cab driver, Mr Udon to pick us up at the airport. The drive to our hotel, Amari Watergate took about 40mins in usual traffic conditions. We chose Amari Watergate because I had a special deal on the rooms as well as we're familiar with the area.