A Week in Bangkok

SHOPPING, SHOPPING, SHOPPING - if you're there on a weekend you must visit the Chatchuchak (spelling?) or Weekend Markets - absolutely huge, and selling everything you could imagine. You will probably only see a quarter of it in one day.

Also check out the shopping centres around Bangkok as most are buildings with lots of market-style stalls inside them. Goods bargains are shoes (providing you're one of the smaller sizes), clothes and of course, all the fake stuff! I bought two fake Louis Vuitton handbags which came with the real handbag protector bags and are absolutely identical to the real thing.

Quick Tips:

Best Way To Get Around:

Without a doubt the best way to get around Bangkok is the skytrain - it goes to most of the places you'd want to visit and it cheap and very easy to use. Make sure you keep your ticket though so you can get out at your destination, otherwise you will have to pay the full fare again (not a big deal but just adds to your expenses).

This hotel was in an unbeatable location, near a Skytrain station and lots of shopping centers and restaurants.

The rooms are fantastic and the staff was very nice (especially when you lock your key in the room!).

A trip to Bangkok would not be complete without a night at Cabbages and Condoms!

No--its not some weird, kinky sex restaurant--the owner is a champion of AIDS prevention in Thailand and proceeds of the restaurant go towards the cause.

The restaurant is not that cheap but is worth it for the experience--the entire restaurant is filled with condoms and condom paraphernalia and is actually quite interesting once you get past the table tops which are topped with glass, under which are hundreds of colored condoms!

The nicest place to sit is outside in the garden area which has vines falling from high above which are covered in tiny fairy lights.

The food is excellent and the menu includes a Spicy Condom Salad. There is also a gift shop which has heaps of unique gifts to bring back for your friends and family.

The sign at the exit sums up the atmosphere at the restaurant:

'Sorry, we have no mints. Please take a condom instead' (condoms are provided in 2 sizes--German and Brazilian. I'll leave it up to you to work out the difference!)

MK Restaurants are located in several different areas of Bangkok (and all over Asia I think) and are a fun night out. The main attraction is the Chinese Hotpot where you have a boiling pot of water in front of you and you order lots of different things to cook at your table--meat, fish, vegetables--whatever you want. And while the food is not the best in Thailand, the prices are reasonable as you can order as much or as little as you want.

If you have to wait for a table, go and check out the stalls on the lower levels of the shopping center. I bought several pairs of great shoes for A$10 (US$5) each!

No this is not the same as HOME Nightclub in Sydney, but it is actually owned by some young guys who were educated in Australia and they are really friendly.

To get there, just ask a taxi driver to take you to Silom Soi 4 (pronounced ''si'') and then ask someone again when you get there to make sure the driver has taken you to the right place.

The bar is in a closed-off street lined with clubs, but HOME was the nicest one (as recommeded by some Thai friends). Although it''s tiny, it would be as nice (or nicer!) than many bars in Sydney or any developed country. The music is all Western, up-to-date, and tends more towards R&B, but it''s got a great atmosphere, is reasonably priced, and although there isn''t a lot of room to dance, it was always packed when we went there.