biz n buzz

I love watching concerts in the past. The Free Style and Side A band were among my top favorite performers. I normally save my two months allowance to get the priority seats right beside the VIPs.  You know why? When the crowd starts to dance with tune already, the marshals can’t control the people from coming closer to the stage or could hamper them from jamming with the band members. So I got a huge discount on that case.

Now things have changed. As an avid fan of tennis, my interest have shifted to this type of sports.  All I want is to watch live matches on the covered court or sports arena. Often times I purchase the tickets ahead to time so as not to get affected by hoarders. Proper timing is necessary in reserving for a good location to view game. It must not be too low or you’ll suffer from stiff neck nor too high as you can’t see the important details of the game anymore.

Online ticket reservations are often hassle free. For NFR enthusiasts Wrangler National Finals Rodeo tickets are reserved few months ahead of the main event. For me the best seats are always on the Center Plaza, Rows A-L, Sections 105-107, 116-118. Thousands of Americans and tourists enjoys watching courageous men on Bareback Riding, Steer Wrestling, Team Roping (Headers), Team Roping (Heelers), Saddle Bronc Riding, Tie-Down Roping, Steer Roping, Barrel Racing, and Bull Riding of course as the highlight of the event.

A friend of mine is coming over for a couple of nights stay in Bangkok to avail her free mileage. We had exchanged personal messages to find out where could they possibly stay on their short vacation. So I listed out four choices for her to stay. The easiest and most accessible hotels within the heart of the city.
1. Arnoma Hotel is 3-4 star I guess
2. Centara Grand at Central World
3. InterContinental Hotel
4. Erawan Hotel -5 star

It is convenient to book Bangkok Hotels online or anywhere else in US like New York Hotels or in Europe like Brussels Hotel.  Regarding transportation, the four hotels here that I have mentioned are either connected to the BTS Skytrain or only 5 minutes walking distance.

Here’s the tentative itinerary that I made for them.

• 1st day: (Friday)

Early morning arrival- ride a taxi going to the hotel. From Suvarnabhumi (su-wa-na-phum) Airport you can take a metered taxi on the departure area (top floor of airport). Metered taxi will cost you 400-600 Baht to Chidlom. If you take airport limousine it costs around 1,500 - 1,800 Baht.

RoE (rate of exchange) - as of  July 2008 is 1.00 USD= 33.7331THB /Thai baht

7:00 am- 8:00 Buffet breakfast
8:00 am -9:00 Prepare for Shopping walk from Arnoma to Central Chidlom using skywalk
9:00 am- 09:30 Roam around Gaysorn Plaza (there Bar Italia in the groundfloor has yummy green tea cake and more)
9:30 am- 10:30 Shopping at Central Chidlom (tea break at Angelina, 3rd floor)
detour using skywalk (take pictures of Erawan Shrine), walk straight going to Central World
10:30 am- 11:30 shopping at Central World Plaza (there’s Naraya and Jim Thompson on the 1st floor for pasalubong of Thai handmade products and Thai Silk)
11:30 am- 12:00 lunch at Central World Plaza
1:00 pm- 3:00 Siam Paragon shop or go to Ocean World on the ground floor
3:00 pm- 3:30 go back to Hotel
4:00 pm- 4:30 take picture of unique church in Holy Redeemer Church (Ruamrudee street, soi 5, Ploenchit station)
4:30 pm- 5:30 adventure in red light district in Silom Road also known as Patpong (or go straight to Baiyoke Tower 2)
5:30 pm- 5:45 travel by skytrain from Silom to Siam interchange (traffic time, better take skytrain than taxi)
5:45 pm- 9:00 sight seeing of the whole Bangkok in revolving tower of Baiyoke, 67th? floor then dinner at 66th? floor overlooking the beautiful cityscape and night sky.
9:00 pm-9:10 walk back to hotel (street vendors are all around this area) tell me if you want to buy electronic gadgets, it is around this area too but closes at 9:00. The name is Panthip Mall.

• 2nd day (Saturday)- 9:00 am- 4:00pm;

City Tour -you can approach the hotel counter for this. They might have 2-3 package to choose from. Or you can go to Chatuchak Weekend market (located in Mo Chit Station) in the morning and visit the Grand Palace in the afternoon then go back to the hotel.

4:00 pm- 5:00 pm -buy grocery/Thai foods at Big C
5:00 pm-6:00 pm; Dinner- within Chidlom area or side street in front Arnoma Hotel beside the small bridge. (depending on the weather)
6:00 pm- 6:45 pm- travel by skytrain,Chidlom to Asoke Station. Interchange in Asoke subway train going to Thailand Cultural Centre MRT station.
7:00 pm- 8:30 pm- watch Thailand Cultural show in Siam Niramit
8:30 pm-9:00 pm- back to hotel for packing of luggage
10:30pm- 11:30 Airport (check in 2 hrs before departure)

Mothers use to tell their kids to sleep early and don’t let the bed bugs bite. Does bed bugs bites only at night time? Probably not. Thank heavens, never in my whole life have I encountered that one.

During adolescence I was pretty adventurous at my age. I normally visit friends who stays in a populated environment. My fellow dormmates use to warn me not to go there often as I might bring in some bed bugs on our room instead of goodies. That pun was intended as a joke. But of course I keep that in mind. So often I take a bath 2 to 3 times a day during college.