This morning we planned on sleeping in a bit, but neither of us could sleep because it’s our last day here! Last night we got our two backpacks together so we could enjoy our last day here (today) and just be ready to go tomorrow morning. We woke up and walked around some of the most amazing architectural malls we have ever seen. The Siam mall group (Discovery, Center, and Paragon) is some of the coolest connected public spaces, as well as the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, which is just west.
They sit along the north side of Rama I Road (not far from Lumphini Park or anywhere else in Bangkok) and are linked to the MBK Center by a beautiful pedestrian “Skybridge.” This walkway’s architecture was impressive, but because of is proximity to the city’s Art and Culture Centre, the art we encountered blew us away…we ended up spending our morning hours just hunting for the next work of art!
The first mall we went to was the Siam Paragon for a little breakfast. We found a Krispy Kreme in Bangkok, so we decided to treat ourselves to some delicious fresh doughnuts hot off the conveyor belt (yes, the red sign was on).
We walked around Siam Paragon and followed signs for “Sea Life Ocean World,” just interested about what we would find. It turns out this mall houses the largest aquarium in Southeast Asia! Its tanks hold over one million gallons of water! We decided not to go because it was our last day (and we just snorkeled the beautiful waters of Koh Tao…see Day 24), so we headed back to the Skybridge to see the MBK Center’s featured artist, Lolay.
After spending some time with Lolay and Makrub we walk across the street to Wat Pathumwanaram Ratchaworawihan. This temple complex is incredibly unique because it sits between two massive shopping malls, Siam Paragon and Central World. At the time of its construction in 1857 (by King Rama IV), there were only rice fields surrounding it, but since then the busy metropolis that we see here today has formed around it as a center piece.
The next mall on our list, Central World Mall, is actually the 3rd largest mall in the entire world and the largest in Southeast Asia, as the first two are in China. This mall is enormous and has multiple sections and levels, including executive offices and even a hotel! We walked around for a bit and did some more shopping at a satellite Jim Thompson store and none other than Uniqlo!
We then saw a stage set up with elaborately dressed performers rehearsing for some sort of performance. We were intrigued, as each performer was carrying a flag of a Southeast Asian nation, one of which was the Philippines! We hung around for the performance, and we were glad we did because it was recognizing and celebrating 50 years of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), which includes Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam.
After the performance, the two hosts were speaking in Thai (and very quickly), but Joey noticed that the individuals coming up and onto the stage were saying a country’s name and were receiving applause and a gift bag. He quickly and repeatedly encouraged me to go up on stage (I definitely needed the repeated encouragement) and before I knew it, I was on stage and shouting out, “The Philippines!”
Once the performance ended and we got some backstage pictures, it was lunchtime. We heard about a place that the younger local crowd goes to called Som Tam Nua (@ Siam Square Soi 5), which is just across the Skybridge. This place dishes out some of the best chicken wings we’ve ever had! The sauce they use is sweet with a little spice and a ton of garlicky goodness. We also ordered some som tam (papaya salad) because, as the name suggests, it’s the restaurant’s specialty (it was incredibly spicy, but a must try here).
After a great lunch, we headed back across the Skybridge towards the Groove at Central World for a really awesome art exhibit called “The People” by Jean Jullien. This exhibit was focused around illustrations that represent the current populations’ expressions and obsessions.
After snapping some pictures, it was back to the Skybridge and off to the Pratunam Market, which is one of the biggest clothing markets in all of Bangkok! On our way to the market we passed the Erawan Shine, which has Phra Phrom on display on a busy corner of Bangkok. Phra Phrom is a Thai representation of the Hindu god of creation, Lord Brahma.
As we walked past the shine, we noticed a group of bronze elephants outside the eastern side of Central World. And just after admiring these works of art, we spotted a more colorful elephant closer to the mall itself. This elephant was called the 999 Elephant and represents 9 national artists collaborating on a large fiberglass elephant to pay tribute to the late king and honor the strong relationship between Thailand and Italy.
Before Pratunam Market, we made one more detour to a small food market across the street. We got an amazing mango passion fruit ice pop from a funky tuk-tuk turned ice cream truck called Annette Ice Pop!
Once we finally made it to the Pratunam Market, we shopped around and got a gift for my sister and a pair of really awesome pants for Joey. We walked over 7 miles today, so we decided to treat ourselves to a traditional Thai massage (plus it’s our last day)! We heard great things about the Watergate Spa, which is conveniently located just west of the Pratunam Market, so you can do all your shopping and have a nice massage right after, and for only 300 baht (about $9 USD) for an hour!
We headed back to the Skywalk and Siam Paragon for dinner, which was a crazy busy experience. We ordered from a few different stands, one of which was dishing out barbecued chicken breast with some of the best sauce either of us tasted on this entire trip. Another was crispy egg noodles with seafood and thick gravy, and the last was a pretty unique French fry place that tosses their fries with a choice seasoning!
We made our rounds for desserts…we got a combination tapioca and rice dessert, and also made a stop back to Krispy Kreme for two specialty doughnuts, and lychee honey jelly drink. We also grabbed some pastries for tomorrow morning, as we wont have much time to grab breakfast before our early flight home. Joey got a cinnamon roll and green tea roll. I got a sweet cheese bun and a chocolate croissant.
On our walk home, Bangkok gave us an amazing farewell sunset so we made sure to reflect on our time here in Southeast Asia and spent some time reminiscing on our favorite moments over the past 5 weeks.
After we stocked up on goodies and enjoyed the magnificent sunset, we slowly and reluctantly headed back to our hotel for one final night in Southeast Asia!