As the title may suggest, today we had a BIG day out and about in Bangkok! We started by catching the hotel's tuk tuk to the Grand Palace complex where we checked out the Palace as well as the temple of the Emerald Buddha. It was really cool to see some important historical sites in Bangkok and Solomon really enjoyed checking out the temple. He was quite astounded at how beautifully they are decorated and with so much gold! It was HOT though.. like other falang (foreigner) passing out on the sidewalk, hot. It was also really really crowded. I don't mind a crowd and I don't mind heat, but when those were combined.. it made for an unpleasant experience. I'm glad we saw the complex.. there were a lot of cool temples I would have loved to have had a good look at, but it was just too darn hot! I also would have loved to have been able to photograph inside the temple itself, but it is strictly forbidden. I may be a tad juvenile, but the highlight of my time at the complex was probably when the guard rolled up the thick wad of papers in his hand and whacked some poor Japanese woman in the head without warning, as she was trying to take a nice family portrait inside the temple!
After we left the complex we decided that it was too hot to do anything other than swim or be inside aircon buildings. We decided it was a good time to check out The Mall, Bang Kae. I had read about this place on Bangkok.com and it sounded really great. It is a 'locals' mall, unlike Siam Paragon or MBK shopping centre which are full of American chain stores, foreigners and prices to match. We had already visited 2 shopping centres like that and weren't too fussed as they were soo crowded and pricey! The Mall, Bang Kae was probably just as big, but we didn't see a single foreigner the entire time, it wasn't crowded at all and had some cool shops with decent prices.
The shopping was good, but we didn't do much of it because we were really there for the 4th floor entertainment. Avalon was in piggy heaven on the 4th floor! There is a small amusement park section with a beautiful roof painted with a fake blue, cloudy sky, lots of little kids pay as you go type rides, plaster painting (we didn't have enough time, but Ava would have loved it), playground areas for soft play, even a Pirate Ship gondola ride, suspended from the ceiling!
Avalon had a go on some coin operated rides (30c! so cheap!), Sol and I bought some noodles from a vendor, Avalon got some popcorn and then we headed outside to the main reason for our visit to the mall: Fantasia Lagoon. It's a small water park aimed at families rather than thrill seekers. There is a lazy river you can rent tubes for, shallow pools for little kids, long slides that have awesome views and plenty of other pool areas with different themes like pirate ships, Aztecs etc. All the pools are quite shallow (I think the deepest I saw was a metre deep), but then most of the Thai people there didn't seem to be able to swim well, so makes sense. It was very reassuring for me, seeing as I was there with 2 people who can't swim! You have to hire (or you can buy your own) swimming cap but you just pay a deposit for them.. the money is refunded after you hand them back. Not that it matters, the whole place is so darn cheap! Entry for the 3 of us, plus locker hire and cap hire set us back less than $10! We could have spent all day there.. well Avalon could have, she had to be dragged out of there at 6pm!
Then to top off a perfect day for a 2 year old, we took Avalon in to the Toys R Us opposite Fantasia Lagoon and let her choose a small toy. She picked a pretty princess wand (her beloved wand my cousin Carlie made her had to stay at home) and once she got the cashier to cut the package open for her, she did a little dance and sang a happy song in the middle of the mall. bless!
Avalon patting the 'puppy'! haha
After we left the complex we decided that it was too hot to do anything other than swim or be inside aircon buildings. We decided it was a good time to check out The Mall, Bang Kae. I had read about this place on Bangkok.com and it sounded really great. It is a 'locals' mall, unlike Siam Paragon or MBK shopping centre which are full of American chain stores, foreigners and prices to match. We had already visited 2 shopping centres like that and weren't too fussed as they were soo crowded and pricey! The Mall, Bang Kae was probably just as big, but we didn't see a single foreigner the entire time, it wasn't crowded at all and had some cool shops with decent prices.
Inside The Mall, Bang kae
The shopping was good, but we didn't do much of it because we were really there for the 4th floor entertainment. Avalon was in piggy heaven on the 4th floor! There is a small amusement park section with a beautiful roof painted with a fake blue, cloudy sky, lots of little kids pay as you go type rides, plaster painting (we didn't have enough time, but Ava would have loved it), playground areas for soft play, even a Pirate Ship gondola ride, suspended from the ceiling!
Avalon had a go on some coin operated rides (30c! so cheap!), Sol and I bought some noodles from a vendor, Avalon got some popcorn and then we headed outside to the main reason for our visit to the mall: Fantasia Lagoon. It's a small water park aimed at families rather than thrill seekers. There is a lazy river you can rent tubes for, shallow pools for little kids, long slides that have awesome views and plenty of other pool areas with different themes like pirate ships, Aztecs etc. All the pools are quite shallow (I think the deepest I saw was a metre deep), but then most of the Thai people there didn't seem to be able to swim well, so makes sense. It was very reassuring for me, seeing as I was there with 2 people who can't swim! You have to hire (or you can buy your own) swimming cap but you just pay a deposit for them.. the money is refunded after you hand them back. Not that it matters, the whole place is so darn cheap! Entry for the 3 of us, plus locker hire and cap hire set us back less than $10! We could have spent all day there.. well Avalon could have, she had to be dragged out of there at 6pm!
Then to top off a perfect day for a 2 year old, we took Avalon in to the Toys R Us opposite Fantasia Lagoon and let her choose a small toy. She picked a pretty princess wand (her beloved wand my cousin Carlie made her had to stay at home) and once she got the cashier to cut the package open for her, she did a little dance and sang a happy song in the middle of the mall. bless!
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