Stumbling upon Ari is a happy accident and a cute manifestation of what was a cancelled happening is a redirection for somewhere else.

It was a Tuesday and the original plan was to go to Wat Sai floating market and have breakfast there. Nothing much happens at Bangkok before 8AM so I decided to take their bus; It's cheaper and it takes time-18 stops to be exact. This whole bus ride only cost me 13 Baht-around 20 pesos. Non-Aircon but it's clean and I was with the locals. Turns out, this day was a holiday so I did not experience the morning rush and I was just enjoying my bus experience with some elders.

I was heavily relying on Google Maps to take me to Wat Sai and the map has instructed me to stop at this fly over. For the most of Bangkok actually looks like a cleaner and safer version of MNL and this bus stop really looks like I was just at Manda and everywhere is very unfamiliar. I started to get anxious because I can't see any directions or signage leading to Wat Sai. Turns out, I have to walk for more than a kilometer for a train ride. Google map made me walk into residential streets so narrow that a car can't pass through and I was semi-praying that no one would try to pick pocket me

 

 

Again, it was a holiday and there were pictures of their royalty with gold and food outside so I'm deducing that no one would make a move on me. Maps has directed me to this stop in the middle of the market. As you can see, it's a place that tourists might not want to stay into but luckily, I look Asian. It was hot and the next train will arrive in 20 minutes-which gave me plenty of time to wait.

 

 

 I was hungry and though there were street food available at the train stop, I was looking forward to eating at Wat Sai so I just bought a milk tea and waited there for the next train station. 

 

 

It was a happy time for me because I did not feel like a tourist. I felt like I belonged. The heat was tolerable and I got on the bus, the train ticket guy was very very kind. He knew I can't speak Thai so we basically did google translate and he told me that he will let me know when it's my stop. 

 

 

The train ride took around 15 minutes and I felt like I was in the heavy residential and undeveloped part of Bangkok and it cost me 4Baht. I KNOW! 

 There was a sari-sari store when I got down from the train and I asked the local for the directions at Wat Sai floating market and she told me that IT'S ALREADY CLOSED and they are only open from Friday-Sunday. I did not bring a power bank, I only have less than 50 BAHT with me during this time and I'm hungry and have to wait for additional 30 minutes for the next train to stop by. It was uncomfortable for the most part because my plans did not push through and I did not have an alternative plan. Luckily the woman who owns the sari sari store asked me to sit in her area while waiting for the next train stop and I got back from the marketplace less than an hour but during this time, I really had nowhere else to go to. It was around 10ish, and my time is vacant until 4PM. I considered going back to my hostel since I really needed to charge my phone but when I walked towards the exit of the market place, I saw their Skytrain. Truth be told, this was my third day in Bangkok and I mostly got around by walking, cruise, or tuktuk, the bus just this morning-train too but I did not consider riding the Skytrain. I don't have anything against it just that-there's no Skytrain presence near KHAO-SAN area. Just like any MRT-Skytrain stops, there's a convenience store nearby so I was able to buy a power bank (guys sakit kai ni sa akong buot because it cost me 700 Baht), after charging my card, I bought a rabbit card in the ticketing area and impulsively decided that I will go down at a stop in a place that has the least number of letters.. for no reason at all so actually. I was thinking that my itinerary has been cancelled anyway so what more harm it can do. 

So Ari it is.

As soon as I got down Ari it was only during this time that I decided to check what's there to try, and what appeared at the topmost was their Dog Cafe, which is only 200 meters away from the Skytrain station. There were many instagrammable stops, places to eat and cute cafes to try but I decided on Dog Cafe since I'm a dog person and I plan to spend some time there since I'm also going to have my brunch.

Ari is not exactly a tourist destination more so when a tourist only has a limited time to spare but I spent my late mornings and early afternoons at Ari. To be honest, it wasn't exactly more of my age bracket because you can see Gen Zs posing at almost every corner there despite the scorching heat. 

Dog Cafe has just opened by the time I arrived and they are charging 350Baht with one free drink/cake for every experience. Do I think it's overpriced? Yes it is. But the upkeep for those dogs is also expensive. They are kept in an air conditioned room and also groomed well. The food that they are being fed is also of top-tier quality for them to have a built like that. I bet each dogs have different needs too as they are of different breed.

Taken last December 2022

Bangkok banks on it's tourism and since well, tourists are there for only a limited amount of time, they came up with using these river boats for the tourists so that they can minimize the amount of their travel time while also enjoying the sights that Bangkok has to offer at their port side.

 

I made that one up by the way but it makes so much sense because my trip from Wat Arun to Icon Siam was only less than 30 minutes including three stops but I have enjoyed every minute of it. It was sunny as I rode this big boat around 3PM and I am very much proud how I've followed my Day 01 itinerary down to the tee-but I've decided to choose the outdoor seats on the second floor of this boat

Prior to going to Bangkok, I've already planned on getting ahircut and the reason why I've held off for a couple of months is because I dressed up as the iconic Britney Spears for her video "Hit me Baby One More Time" during our Christmas Party-which is a day prior to my Bangkok Trip. I didn't know anyone from my network who has tried getting a haircut in Bangkok so I have decided to try it.

I googled "getting a haircut at BKK" and no clear/preferrable entries came up so I googled Salon at Bkk and "Chalacol" or "Hair Chalacol" appeared which is coincidentally at Icon Siam.

I also feel very proud that I found their salon without instructions (considering that Icon Siam is VERY massive) I ambled since I was also enjoying the coolness inside the mall. Upon entry, I checked their rates and the haircut (with blow dry and shampoo) is at 900 Baht. I refuse to compute that in pesos because if you know me in real life, I don't spend that much on hair cuts. 

Thank you HXP

But then again, Bangkok is known as a shopping district here in Southeast Asia but I honestly had no plans to shop and I went there to sight see, experience new things and eat good food. So I justified that exorbitant amount for a haircut by convincing myself that it's an experience and even if they do a botch-job I can always grow my hair back.

Thais in general are helpful by nature despite tha language barrier. I know I look like a local and ater briefly explaining that I'm not, I informed them that I would like to get a haircut. They showed me pictures and asked me samples of a hairstyle but I told them to surprise me.

Segue- For most of my life, I've had a long black hair. When I say most I meant maybe for the first 14 years of my life-then onwards to 16-30 years of age. The 2 year gap was when I was 14 my dad took me to a barber shop and asked the guy there to give ma a boy-cut which gave me a traumatic experience. I think I only had less than 10 pictures on that 2 year gap that I tried to grow my hair back.

Fast forward to 2019, I partnered with HXP hair studio and literally left my hair ont he hands of a very competent stylist. To date, my hairstyle has always been "surprise me" I've used to always held on to my long black hair because I've equated my beauty to it, that I might go back to my "ugly mushroom shaped face" if I experiment and you know what? I would like ot thank HxP Hair Studio for healing me with my trauma one hairstyle and color at a time. They initially approached me because-wait at this point,  I just realized that I didn't ask them this question)but as of today, I have yet to know the answer but I've been told that  around Chrsitmas Season 2 years ago-sales blew up because of my rainbow colored hair. They approached me for a hair collab-and their sales and exposure somehow grew but they didn't know that they also healed a part of me that used to believe that I only look beautiful when I have a long black hair. I was just talking to a friend this morning about how I look forward to going to HxP beacause the stylist and all the people there will not try to sell you anything and they will only offer ahir suggestions or products only when asked. You can relax knowing that you will know exactly how much you are paying for even before your actual appointment because their Facebook Page is highly responsive to client queries. If you want to get the accurate price of the hairstyle that you prfer, all you have to do is take a picture of your hair, inquire by sending them a message and they will reply swiftly.

This entry is supposedly about my haircut experience with Hair Chalacol but I got distracted. Haha

I guess Hair Chalacol people are not used to having customers giving them freehand as to what to do and it's understandable. After thoroughly shampooing my hair, the stylist cut-off around 3 inches of my hair ever so slowly, gave me a side fringe ever so conservatively, asked me if I was okay with it and I aggressively nodded my head wanting them to actually do more and surprise me but I guess they can't risk a Thailand-Philippines war because that's all they did, they blow dried and curled my hair and now it looks like this

 

 

Before I start with my Wat Arun entry, I think one of the things I regret is not drinking enough coffee there. I usually go through cycles of having 1-2 cups of coffee a day then having a bad migraine or a heartburn-promising myself not to drink coffee again, legit taking a break for 2 weeks and then going back to drinking coffee slowly again. During the time I was here, I was on a very slow transition of not drinking to only drinking one cup a day. Sayang, but it's all the more reason I should go back to Thailand.

Okay, this is the reel I made for Wat Arun

Since Wat Arun is just a river away from where I'm at, I asked the owners of the restaurant I ate as to how I can cross by this river to get there , turns out, it's only two blocks away from their place. I went out when everyone was having lunch and the weather is hot but bearable. Honestly, since it's Thailand, I was ready for the Phuket kind of heat-the kind that scalds your skin but it wasn't that bad, maybe it's also because I am from a tropical country too.

I saw a small ticket area exactly two blocks away from Jin Chieng and as I was walking towards it I asked a local if that was the ticket booth to Wat Arun, it's not. He made me walk these planks and on the way to their Khlong (cross-ferry) boats, they made you pay B4 (Around Php10), I fumbled for a little while here since I have to look for coins and since I was also with tourists, they were extra patient with me. 

 

It was a no-frills boat and I sat where I can have an uninterrupted view of Wat Arun, I want to roam around a lot but I have no sea legs at all, in fact this less than 5 minutes ride got me woozy

This Khlong boat only took less than 5 mins too to be full regardless of the heat

Wat Arun from the small boat

 

 

We arrived a few mins at the Wat Arun Port and you can't miss the entrance. I paid B100 (around Php150) and was given some brochures as guide and a bottle of water which I really appreciate. It is still my first day out and I already feel like everything here is truly a value for money.

As with all temples, Wat Arun Wat Ratchawararam Ratchawaramahawihan follows a strict dress code even for tourists. It was a special holiday the day I was here so there were locals and tourists alike. I had no plans to enter the temple as to not intrude on the people who go there to worship and was only able to take pictures and videos from the outside.

 

 

I went around the whole area and I also went up the multiple floors. The stairs were steep and I got nervous as I descended because even though I am physically fit, my ankles are really weak because of a football injury a few years ago. 

From https://viajonarios.com/en/wat-arun/  :

Wat Arun Ratchawararam Ratchawaramahawihan, better known as Wat Arun, is a Buddhist temple on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River, opposite the Grand Palace & the Temple of the Emerald Buddha it's the Wat Pho, the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. The temple's name is a tribute to the Hindu god Arun, personified as the radiations of the rising sun, is the Indian God of Dawn. Despite its name, the most spectacular view of the gleaming monument can be seen from the east side of the river at sunset, when the spiers of Wat Arun form an impressive silhouette on the horizon.

 

Here are some of the unedited videos I took of Wat Arun with all the people. What I mentioned on my previous entry, I am not going to crop people out because I know that like me, when people plan to go to a specific place, we tend to google it up and see beautiful (no question) photos but also, like me, a lot tend to get very disappointed when they see crowds

 

 

The last leg of my temple run which is not much of a run but more of a trudge, Wat Phra Mahathat  or known otherwise as the “Temple of the Great Relic” was one of the most significant temples in the Ayutthaya Kingdom. Set on the historical island, it houses Buddha relics and was once the residence of the Supreme Patriarch of Buddhism.

Thus, it was the center of Buddhism during the glory days of the former Ayutthaya Kingdom. Wat Mahathat was also a Royal monastery located close to the palace where past Ayutthaya kings performed important royal ceremonies here. 

Wat Mahathat was constructed in 1374 by King Boromma Rachathirat I. A large Khmer-style pagoda was built to enshrine Buddha relics. When the Burmese invaded and largely destroyed Ayutthaya in 1767, Wat Mahathat was unfortunately sacked and set on fire. 

 

Thankfully, a large number of assembly halls and pagodas have been added during the reign of later Kings. The central pagoda collapsed again in the early 20th century and has not yet been restored.

The highlight of Wat Mahathat is the giant Khmer-style pagoda housing the Lord Buddha’s relic. The said structure which collapsed after the Thai-Burmese war was also believed to contain the former Ayutthaya kingdom’s treasures such as gold, precious stones, and other valuables. 

 

Some believe they were taken by the Burmese. Others think the looting occurred after the Burmese had left. A crypt holding Buddha’s relics and mural paintings were also found inside the stupa.

Wat Mahathat is also often known around the world for the head of a sandstone Buddha image that is entangled in the roots of a holy Bodhi tree. There are several stories behind this Buddha image’s head and how it came to be. 

One story was that it was left by thieves who simply had too much to carry, so they placed the Buddha head at the base of the Bodhi tree with the intention of retrieving it. In time, the head was completely covered over by the roots, encasing the head of the Buddha image in the process.  

More of my Wat Phra Mahathat videos are here

I copy pasted this one from https://www.takemetour.com because that’s what happens when you don’t listen to your guided tour.