Hua Hin (Day 3+4)

Day 3 and 4

As we were staying very near the mini-van station (which is just beside the Victory Monument BTS Station and the Century Plaza Mall, you wont missed it as vans will be parked all along the road/alley), we took a van which can fit up to 14 people. It is only 180 baht per person and large luggages ( larger than cabin size luggage) may need to purchase one ticket by itself as they will have to sacrifice a seat for the bags. Be prepared to wait for probably about 30 minutes or till the van is more or less full before they start moving. Another option is to travel by bus however, as the bus terminal is nowhere near us, it was not a good option. Taxis would be the most comfortable way but be prepared to pay anyway near 1500-2000 baht. 

Journey took about 2-3 hours. Upon reaching, we had lunch at a old-looking coffee shop directly opposite where the mini-van stops. Again, you wont missed it as throngs of people (mostly tourists and even some locals) will be there. Overall, food was good considering the price which was quite cheap. Loved their Thai milk tea! We ate here twice as they have quite a good variety. (we felt that there aren't too many shops for lunch and those available are either just not tempting, no ones eating or felt they were just too tourist-sy.

Pork rice ~40 baht (good, cheap and small portion)

Pork Satay 30 baht/stick (nyum!)

Thai Milk Tea (super-addictive!)

Spicy Seafood Tom Yum 80 baht (super good with lots of fresh seafood and fish)

Seafood noodle 40 baht (delicious with lots of seafood as well but really small portion)

Rest Detail Hotel, Hua Hin

The highlight of our trip was Rest Detail (which was why we were in Hua Hin in the first place:O). This resort/hotel has a unique, modern but not too exaggerative design which gives you a touch of luxury, modernism yet it come with a special feeling (indescribable!). The photos below tells all !

Beachfront

Hotel lobby

Rest Horizon's private jacuzzi-infinity tub!

Room and bed facing facing Gulf of Siam!

Bath salt

A small souvenir upon check-in :) Sweett

Rest Scene : Dinner by the hotel's infinity pool

Appetizer : Crab meat soup

Oglio Olio with bacon - not spicy enough but tastewise is good

Seafood curry rice - super spicy and delicious !

Sticky rice was a bit uncooked. Prefered the one in Mandarin Oriental :p

Room was tidied and presented with this after dinner :) 

Night view-Jacuzzi under the stars :O 

Good selection of Western and Asian cuisines for breakfast!

Delicious chicken kuay chap...yes..its chicken and Freshly brewed Thai Milk Tea

We had a super awesome time in Rest Detail. We didn't really explore the tourist places in Hua Hin as our aim was to have an intimate, relaxing time in the resort. Totally well-spent! More attractions of Hua Hin can be found at their tourism website. The hotel also provides scheduled shuttles to and from to the town.

We took the mini-van back to Bangkok the next day to board a night flight. My advice would be either leave early from Hua Hin or stay overnight in Bangkok before flying home. The after-work traffic jam in Bangkok is undoubtedly terrible ! We nearly missed our flight eventhough we gave a 6 hours time space between Hua Hin to Bangkok ! Also, the mini-vans pit stops at many places along the way to pick up passengers if the van from Hua Hin is not full; so make sure you have enough time allocation for that !

Bangkok (Day 1+2)

Day 1

Arrived in Bkk in the afternoon. We forgot that the airport has a 'normal' cab stand outside the airport. Hired the proper airport cab cum Mercedes and paid 800 baht for it ! Normal cab outside might only be about 200+ baht ! Early check-in into Royal View Resort (www.royalviewresort.com) was allowed. 

Later at night, we took a cab to Mandarin Oriental. Made a reservation with Terrace Rim Naam for a riverside dinner. Most reviews online mentioned Sala Rim Naam, which is a performance cum dinner package (2300++ baht/adult). Since its not our first time to Thailand, we weren't really interested with the performance. Instead, we reserved the romantic riverside terrace dinner which is directly outside the hall (Sala Rim Naan). It was sooo beautiful and romantically lit and best of all, we get to choose our dishes ala-carte. 

When we arrived at Mandarin Oriental, we were ushered to their Riverside Terrace (another of their restaurant). The hotel provides a barge service to go across the river where Terrace Rim Naam and Sala Rim Naam were. Since we felt that the normal Thai dishes can be found at other places for cheaper prices, we decided to take the Grilled Seafood Basket (for two). Mind you, it was so huge that we felt it was enough for 4 people; that not including the rice that comes together with it which we skipped!

Complimentary barge service that ferries customers from Mandarin Oriental hotel to Terrace Rim Naan across the river

In the barge

Complimentary fried yam

Starters: Herbed fried noodles with minced chicken and shrimp (300 baht)

Lebua Tower : Sirocco Sky Bar, highest sky bar in the world

Grilled Seafood Basket (for two) 2900 baht

A passing dinner cruise

Our favourite Thai dessert: Coconut sticky rice and mango (280 baht)

We paid almost 5000 baht for the dinner but from the start till the end, it was totally worth it !

Restaurant : Terrace Rim Naam (outside by the river) is open daily from 5.00pm to 10.30pm serving an A La Carte menu or set menu by their Executive Chef.

Sala Rim Naam (Inside) is open from 7.00pm to 10.00pm, serving set menu only including a Thai dance performance from 8.15pm to 9.30pm. Set menu is priced at 2300++ baht (adults and 1800++ baht (children) excluding 10% government tax

Directions : Sala Rim Naam restaurant is located on the other side of the river by the Oriental Spa opposite from Mandarin Oriental. Access via hotel main entrance through the Riverside Terrace to the private pier and take a short boat ride to Sala Rim Naam. Alternatively, you can drive and park your vehicle in the private parking by driving through Charoen Nakhon road between street 7 and 9 

Day 2

Shopping day at Siam Square !

Siam BTS Station is directly in between Siam Paragon, Siam Discovery and the Soi 1-7 (street shopping). First stop, the highly reviewed and much talked-about Som Tam Nua on Soi 5, a casual and trendy air-conditioned restaurant which is usually packed with people (according to others!) but luckily, since it was a weekday, there was no queue and we got a table almost immediately.

Fried noodle with pork skin and floss. Not to our liking

Spicy pork ribs soup. Super good! (If you like tom yum going)

Deep fried chicken wings. Almost every table ordered this!

Som Tam with salted egg. Small amount and not enough spicy! But its freshly made !

Overall, food was pretty good. Som Tam was good but I would have preferred it to be spicier. The chicken wings are pretty good and addictive. The spicy porks ribs soup was really good and spicy though. Loved it ! We paid about 510 baht in total ; quite decent for the food and ambience.

Restaurant : Som Tam Nua

Opening Hours: 10:45 a.m.-21.30 p.m. 

Address: 392/14 Siam Square Soi 5, Rama 1 Road, Bangkok T

It was then whole day of walking and shopping along the streets and boutiques. Sweaty, humid and tired, we then decided to hang out in Siam Paragon and catch a movie. Dinner was a simple affair at the Siam Paragon Food Court. Since it was raining, we skipped the night market along Siam Square and had heavenly dessert at Swensen's after movie :)

Special Fried Egg with Shrimp. Simple and good ! ~70 baht

Kuay Chap (too much offals...:(( ) 57 baht

Swensen's Chocolate Lover Sundae 

More : Hua Hin (Day 3+4)

Bangkok + Hua Hin June 2013 (4D 3N)

As I only had 2 weeks of summer break in Malaysia, Panda and I arranged for a short trip to Thailand. Our first choice was to Krabi but as it is the rainy season ( low season means everything is cheaper though! ) , we decided to go Bangkok and Hua Hin instead. We have both been to Bangkok several times but never together so we thought why not !

The fun began once flight tickets were booked. Plenty of surfing, reading reviews and looking for good deals online! We stayed 2 nights in Bangkok ( Royal View Resort www.royalviewresort.com ). We had a good deal from Agoda and since it was centrally located we decided to give it a try. It is NOT a resort, but a nice little hotel located in at a super tight one-way road in Rangnam. Some cabs may have difficulty in finding the place so make sure you have the address both in English and Thai ! Location is really good as it is closely located to Victory Monument BTS Station ( 600m), and also the famous duty-free complex King Power ( 200m) where we see throngs of tourists and tour buses day and night! Another good reason to choose this hotel is that it is near the mini-van station where we boarded a van to Hua Hin on the 3rd day.

Continue with : Bangkok (Day 1+2)