End of the Month Roundup - May 2013

I promised at the start of May that I will feature some shopping places in Bangkok. Well, I’m glad to say that I managed to post about the three shopping places that I visited during my 6-month stay in Thailand.

So many things had happened during this month. I felt that it passed very quickly and now the second half of the year is almost upon us. Time flies very very fast indeed!

There is a big challenge for my country in the month of May. We, the Filipino people, were challenged to elect government leaders who are worthy to serve the nation. I know that many people will be offended but I believe that we failed in this challenge. The electorate still chose politicians who have dubious reputations.

It is frustrating but whining and complaining will not solve any problem. The result of the current elections just showed that there is more work to be done to educate the electorate. I do hope that those who are complaining about the past election start doing what they could to solve the country’s problems

May was also an exciting month for me and my Beloved. We already selected the church and date of our wedding. We know that it is just the first step and that we have a lot of things to do. This makes me jittery. May I request a prayer from you, my friends, for the sake of our wedding preparations?

I said earlier that I talked about some shopping places for this month. Actually, I only talked about three shopping places because these are the only places where I shopped in Bangkok. These shopping places are:

Chatuchak Weekend Market

Chatuchak Weekend Market is my favorite shopping center in Bangkok. It is the shopping mecca for Thai souvenirs and thousands of tourists visit the place. I think that I visited Chatuchak more than 3 times in search for souvenirs that I will bring back to the Philippines for my friends and love ones.

Siam Center

Siam Center is my least favorite shopping center in Bangkok. I know that this place is upscale, elegant and features high-end products from popular brands. I am not attracted to this mall because the products being sold here can also be found in the big malls in the Philippines.

Mahboonkrong Center

Mahboonkrong is my second favorite shopping place in Bangkok. This shopping place is also popular with tourists because of the many Thai souvenirs being sold here. The positive thing with Mahboonkrong is that it strikes a balance between Chatuchak and Siam Center. This place is less chaotic (unlike Chatuchak) but not upscale enough to drive away bargain hunters.

I know that these three shopping centers are not the only shopping places in Bangkok. There are scores of them scattered all throughout the city. Maybe you know of the other shopping centers, so please share them to us.

The month of May is already done. I do hope that all of you had beautiful experiences during this month. Let us look forward for a blessed month of June.

End of the Month Roundup is the monthly segment of this blog that summarizes all the adventures that I featured for the month.

Hunting Elephants in Mahboonkrong

Just a month before I go home from Thailand, I noticed that I need to buy more pasalubong. I already visited Chatuchak Weekend Market but I failed to find some items in my list. The critical item would be the elephant stuffed toys for my godchildren.

A Myanmese friend told me that Mahboonkrong (MBK) has everything. Because of his recommendation and the fact that MBK is Bangkok's most popular shopping destinatination, I decided to go there to find the other items in my pasalubong list.

Mahboonkrong

How to Go to Mahboonkrong

Mahboonkrong is located on the land owned by the nearby Chulalongkorn University. It is just a short walk from the National Stadium and Siam Center Stations of the BTS (Skytrain). So, the fastest and easiest way to reach Mahboongkron is by riding the BTS trains.

You can also choose to ride taxi if your hotel is far away from any BTS station. Buses can also take you to this shopping mall but you have to know what bus can take you there.

What to See in Mahboonkrong

Mahboonkrong is really big. It has 8 floors and around 2,000 shops plus restaurants and other service outlets.* Many tourists visit this mall to buy souvenirs that they can take back to their countries. I was one of those tourists and I'm glad to say that I was not disappointed with MBK.

Inside Mahboonkrong, and yes the King is also honored here.

I consider Mahboonkrong as a better organized and air conditioned version of Chatuchak Weekend Market. The items that I saw in the weekend market were also present in MBK at almost the same price.

I was busy looking for the elephant stuffed toys that I took very few photos of the shops inside MBK. Another reason for the few photos is that I didn't want to get reprimanded by vendors from taking photos of their wares.

Of the many souvenir items that I found in Mahboonkrong, the most weird would be from this shop:

This shop sells ghostly-version of your face inside a piece of glass cube. The souvenir item is creepy because it made me think that the camera captures souls and imprison them inside the glass.

The first item that I bought in Mahboonkrong were the baseball caps that I will give to my father and future father-in-law. The vendor gave me a better price as compared to that vendor of a shop near the Grand Palace.

I kept on walking and searching for the toy elephants but it proved to be so hard to find. I saw clothes, toys, plastic fruits, fake flowers, gadgets, key chains, ref magnets ad all other things that I didn't need.

I almost gave up the search until I saw a small stall selling elephant stuffed toys that, as the vendor said, are made of silk. It would not be the kind of stuffed toys for little children but I think it would be OK because it is a unique item from Thailand.

The original price of the elephant is 399 Baht but the vendor agreed to lower it to 350 Baht. So, I shelled out 700 Baht for these elephants.

I walked a little more to a shop that sells real stuffed toys. I finally saw a small green elephant, which would be perfect for my godson who is still a baby.

I got the three elephants that I wanted so I was contented when I left Mahboonkrong.

All in all, I say that my hunt in Mahboonkrong is a good experience. I was a little tired though because I searched every floor to find the elephant that I wanted.

Mahboonkrong is the best mall in Bangkok when it comes to bargain items. Tourists who don't want hot and crowded places should go to this mall instead of the Chatuchak Weekend Market. Both places have the same selection of items but shopping is more comfortable in Mahboonkrong.

---

*Information from Mahboonkrong page of Wikipedia.

Siam Center in Bangkok

Popular shopping destinations in Bangok are the bargain malls and markets where souvenirs can be bought. MBK and Chatuchak Weekend Market is just two of these bargain shopping centers. Tourists who want to see an upscale shopping center have nothing to fret, however, because Bangkok also has the Siam Center.

Siam Center is not just one mall but a mall complex that have a lot of buildings. Unlike MBK and Chatuchak Weekend Market, Siam Center has shops that sell high-end products from popular brands.

How to Go to Siam Center

Siam Center is at the "center" of Bangkok at the corner of Phaya Thai Road and Rama I Road. Taxis and buses can reach this shopping complex but the fastest way is by riding the skytrain (BTS). You should go down the BTS - Siam Station to reach this shopping complex.

Siam Center Attractions

Aside from shops, Siam Center also has various attractions like Madame Tussauds Wax Museum and the Siam Ocean World.

Siam Ocean World looks cool but I didn't go in. I already visited the Manila Ocean Park, which I think also offers similar attractions (i.e. fishes inside the tanks, animal shows, etc). I rather spend my money on Thai historical sites and other attractions that can't be found in the Philippines.

I just ogled at some of the designs at the entrance to Siam Ocean World like these penguins:

Siam Center is not the mall for me because I don't buy expensive stuffs. I'm also not keen on window shopping so I didn't went to the shops of Siam Center. What caught my attention in this mall are the designs that gave this mall an artistic aura.

Siam Center has giant horses guarding its doors.

Too bad that they're just wooden horses. I wonder if there is a secret room inside these horses like the Trojan Horse.

Siam Center's wooden horse

I don't know who made these wooden horses. What I know is that I saw one of them being sold at a shop during my travels in the northern part of Thailand.

There's a sort of mini-museum of modern art when I visited Siam Center. Can anyone guess the modern artist connected to this can of Campbell's Tomato Soup?

The mini-museum is not orderly. Things are scattered on the floor and everything is a mess. I think the chaotic style of modern art mirrors the chaotic “modern era”.

Queen Margrethe of Denmark

There are paintings on the second floor of the mini-museum. Taking photos is prohibited but I managed to take a snap of this painting of Queen Margrethe of Denmark by Andy Warhol. The mini-museum featured Andy Warhol because he's an icon of the modern art. Here's a trivia for you concerning Andy Warhol: do you know that Andy is a Catholic? You can read about this art tidbit here.

There are other interesting things that can be seen in Siam Center, like the fountains on the open air walkway, but I didn't spend time to look at all of them. What I saw inside this mall is already enough for me.