Shop, don’t drop !

When I first travelled to Bangkok seventeen years ago I was advised to travel to the country with an empty bag for Bangkok is known for a great bargain. This time though I did not find any deals that I thought were worth it and came back with ‘everything spice’ for my kitchen. For those who still don’t get the name PottyPadre and who have never placed the cursor above the ‘about me ‘ section, I am a chef by profession.

We stayed at the Cirtus Sukhumvit, a very nice hotel in the Sukhumvit area of the city. The area is very touristy, mostly western tourist and also a number of Middle Eastern tourists; the area has several restaurants catering to the cuisine from the Middle East. Sukhumvit is within three metro stops from Siam ( pronounced as see- arm) and depending where you stay in Sukhumvit  it could be a pleasant half hour walk either via the streets level or the pedestrian walk that runs along the ‘mall district’ around Siam.

While Bangkok is strewn with malls I will limit myself to the Siam and Ploen Chit area of Bangkok. Bangkok’s malls can clearly be categorised into affordable, mid-level and luxury. Take for example the Central Embassy a six story retail podium which is home to the biggest international and local names in fashion, beauty, design, dining and tech with its fancy restaurants and sky terraces that overlook the sights and lights of downtown Bangkok. Situated on the former gardens of the British Embassy, the mall located in Ploen Chit and is accessible by the metro, perhaps the best bet to travel quickly considering that this traffic route is notorious for traffic snarls.