Sometimes even at the most familiar cities, you have to venture out to the unknown to discover hidden gems. After a long, leisurely morning at the hotel of Proseco-fueled breakfast and a brief dip at the gorgeous infinity pool, it’s time to let our feet do the talking and explore Sukhumvit.
First pit stop: An unknown road side “stall” (for the lack of a better word) of which its large sign caught my attention more than anything else. Im Chang was simple stall with the simple tagline “Thai food Very Good and Very Cheap“. At the right place and at the right time, I couldn’t have agreed more. It was a great discovery – we ordered a variety of stuff to try and none was disappointing, although we were careful not to overstuff ourselves in anticipation of great street snacks in the area.
The starting point was Sukhumvit Soi 55, and it was our plan to walk back all the way towards Sukhumvit Soi 39 and explore every nooks and corners along the way. To our surprise, the place was large residential, certainly an up-and-coming area with shops that were obviously catered to an expatriate community. However those shops were few and far in between, so we were very delighted to come across a beautiful mall called “Rain Hill”. It was a piece of beautiful architecture clustered with high-end shops and interesting restaurants which were, surprisingly, mostly empty although it was lunch time when we were there. Probably the place will be heaving with activities as residents in the area returned from work – it’s just that kind of place you just want to chill out at after a long day.
After an hour or so meandering up and down the street, we had an odd hour to kill before our spa appointment, so I treated TTM to a spot of express manicure. A first for him, and it was so relaxing to be pampered at The White Salon after the scorching heat outside. Truth to be told I think the manicure could have been done better, but it was a good enough experience for the first timers. Especially ones whom were seeking shelter from the relentless sun.
Soon our appointment time arrived, and we quickly made our way to the pick-up spot of Leyana Spa, our spa choice of the day. The actual spa itself was located deep into the residential area, so the spa has thoughtfully arranged for transport to pick us up from the main street.
And thank God they did. Even though the spa itself wasn’t that far in from the main street, it was hidden amongst many small roads, countless Japanese restaurants and many junctions and corners. It took us a better part of half an hour to reach the spa because of the incessant jam one would encounter everywhere in Bangkok.
Walking into the beautiful spa gave us hope of the pleasure within those beautiful green walls which await us. We booked ourselves for a spot of detoxifying facial and a foot massage, and the Leyana booking system took pain to remind us to confirm our appointments no less than three times before our arrival. I thought they were just being meticulous… and nice too, as they offered us 20% right on the spot.
To put it mildly, I was a tad disappointed with the session that follows. The treatment rooms were way too hot, and no spa worth its salt would do their foot reflexology session with their patrons sleeping flat on the bed. Alright, to be fair the facial went alright (if my prolonged snoring were of any indication), but the foot session were at the very least very uncomfortable, if not downright horrid.
So imagine the pair of us being asked to complete a survey at the end of our session, while being served refreshments. We looked at each other and wondered… do we, or do we not, compare this to Banyan Tree? At last, TTM went for being polite, and I went for the offensive, in the hope that it will balance themselves out. I hope the spa took it as a sure sign that the lack of a tip meant we will never return again.
Slightly dispirited, and once again stuck in the endless traffic jam, we hopped off the spa-provided car one street early and went exploring. Little did we know that it was then still too early for dinner, and hence most of the restaurants along Sukhumvit 55 were practically empty. We ended up having a rather nice Korean dinner at Genpukan 2 – a combination of bimbimbap, stir fried kimchi with pork and seafood pancakes. Nothing to blog home about, but hey it helped with the itch.
Soon we were back in the hotel and after a quick shower, we hit the street again, this time determined to explore the many nooks and corners of Silom and Patpong, despite the slight drizzle. Let’s just say that we did good for the night, as we hopped from bar to club, browsed at endless stalls of knickknacks, and had a pretty interesting late night supper of Hainanese chicken rice in full view of a few rather large rodents.
I was rather reluctant to call an end to the night, but age is catching up and I was equally desperate for a sleep in. Our sore feet won the day and soon we succumbed ourselves to the mounds of pillows… again.
See more of my Brilliantly Bangkok posts:
[catlist tags=bangkok-2013 numberposts=-1 orderby=id order=asc excludeposts=this]
Eating Out & Restaurants
Im Chang
Sukhumvit Soi 55Genpukan 2
4/16 Sukhumvit soi 22
+62 2663 4296Exploring Around & Attractions
Rain Hill Plaza
Sukhumvit 47, Wattana, BangkokThe White Salon
943 Sukhumvit Road, Klongton Nua,
Wattana, Bangkok 10110
+62 2662 4871Leyana Spa
33 Thonglor 13, Soi Torsak
Sukhumvit, Klongtonneur
Wattana, Bangkok 10110
+66 2 391 7694