Oyen had been here in Bangkok many times and this year alone this is her 3rd trip. Last year she came here at least once or twice. She knows the shopping areas fairly well. She told me she chose the Okura Hotel because of it’s proximity to the high-end mall Central Embassy. She is thinking that while she is in the gym, I can just cross the street and walk to this mall. Good thinking.
After an hour rest in the room, we started our Bangkok exploration.
There’s an old woman on the stairs leading to the walkway that sells fresh flowers for offering.
There’s a very nice and clean elevated walkway that conveniently connects the hotel to Central Embassy without walking along the busy street with fast-moving vehicles.
Bangkok is generally clean and green.
We entered the very nice and new-looking Central Embassy mall.
The major luxury brands are there except Louis Vuitton which is in the next building, Central.
This mall is Central Embassy and Hermes is at the main entrance.
Oyen—–“Mom are you going inside?”
A——–“No, it’s our first day, baka maubos agad baon natin”.
One thing I’ve learned in the past several years is that you have to establish a friendly relationship with one specific Hermes boutique so that when there’s a bag that you like you will be in their priority list. Or if the likes of Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez, or a princess or a billionaire passed up on the bag, your name could be considered as a back-up customer. That’s just my theory. I may be wrong. Your name has to appear in their computer file that you’ve made several purchases in the past from that particular store. That you are their loyal customer. But of course if you are traveling and find something that you like from store to store, city to city, there’s nothing wrong with buying from Hermes boutiques in different cities or countries. But if you want to buy a Birkin, it pays to establish your loyalty to a particular store. But, there have been instances where first-time buyers get lucky. They get to buy that most-sought-after-bag at first try.
Going-up the escalator, I spotted the big chandelier at the center display area.
It’s so pretty. Gustung-gusto ko ito. I know exactly where to hang it. I think it would look good in the living room ceiling of our small farmhouse.
A—“Hi, how much is this?”
Sales guy—- “aht 65,800+”.
That’s equivalent to P106,000 minus 6.1% tax refund. Parang ang mahal. Babahayan lang yan ng mga gagamba at iitim lang yan sa alikabok. Wag na.
Pictyuran ko na lang.
This is nice too and cheaper but I like the bigger one better.
I like this chair too but how will I bring this home?
The consolidator has beautiful items. I also like this blue and white ceramic wares but the prices are beyond my price point. How come I find the merchandise around here expensive? Self-evaluation. Is it because I don’t have money or I am trying to be frugal or I am trying to be practical or our house is already full of stuff and no need to add to the clutter?
Hmmm. All of the above.
I was impressed at how the other stores are styled. Beautiful facade and interiors.
A—-“Anak we need a month to be able to eat in all the nice restaurants in this mall. Tataba tayo”.
We saw a food poster at the escalator landing.
Oyen wanted to eat in Samboon Seafood restaurant. She was craving for a particular dish she tried here last year. Not in this particular branch, but in a more down-to-earth place. There’s a photo of a crab dish. Syempre ako pa eh ang hilig ko sa crab, so let’s go sago.
This is the dish she’s craving for, crab meat with chili sauce. It’s okay but not great.
This crispy fried river prawn is good also.
Aside from the crab meat and river prawns we also ordered crab fried rice. Oyen paid Baht 1,138 or P1,833.
We went back to the hotel and rested for maybe half-hour, then I walked my daughter to the place where she would attend Zumba classes. It’s about 800 meters away from Okura. I was hoping to find a money exchange but they looked for my passport which I kept in the vault.
I walked back to the hotel and fell asleep while watching CNN. I was so tired. I only had three hours of sleep and all that waiting at the airport, flying even for three hours, walking and walking, made me exhausted.
I suddenly woke up when I heard the loud tv. I was surprised that the tv was on Al Jazeera station. My daughter was back in the room.
A—-“Anak inilipat mo ba yung channel?”
O—-“No, I didn’t touch it”.
I must have dozed off while I was transferring channels.
My daughter wanted to go out to look for a foreign exchange dealer. Although I was very sleepy I dragged myself out of of bed to accompany her.
She also wanted to grab dinner. We just ate and now we’re eating again?
I am 130 pounds pag gutom and 131.5 pag busog. That’s 8 lbs. over my desired weight. Kain tulog kain ako dito sa Bangkok. Baka pag-uwi ko 135 lbs. na ako. Bad and sad.
We went out and walked a couple of blocks looking for money changers.
Edmund’s
Freshly squuezed pomegranate juice?
A—–“Anak bibili ako”.
O—–“Ma no, sasakit tyan mo”.
A—–“Hindi”.
It was ice cold but didn’t taste like pomegranate juice. It’s too dilluted with water.
We missed the money changers by a few minutes. They closed at 8 pm. I kept stopping kasi while walking.
