Our Fast Start for 2019 takes our Spark Amber qualifiers to the beautiful land of Bangkok. This year’s qualifiers were Unit Manager Mark Anthony Santos, Rosalie Buban, Margarita Uy, Janne Martinez, Louie Literal, Willison Yu and Zarina Gaba. After some delays with our flight, we finally arrived in Thailand with a decked-out bus exclusively waiting for us to take us to our hotel.
Our first taste of dinner and Thai food is at the Cabbages and Condoms restaurant which is a short walk away from our hotel. Established more than three decades ago, C&C is Thailand’s largest and most diversified non-profit organization founded by Mechai Viravaidya.
After dinner, we decided to try out one of Thailand’s rooftop bars Hi-So which had a fantastic view of the city skyline.
The next day, we pre-booked our tour of the city and visited the Grand Palace and the Reclining Buddha. Despite the intense Bangkok heat, we enjoyed walking around drenched in sweat and taking pictures of the various sights and sounds of this cultural masterpiece. Check out our photo sessions below.
Late lunch was at the Pe Aor Restaurant, dubbed to have the best Tom Yum Kung Noodle in Bangkok. Despite having to line up for an hour or so, this small family run restaurant did not disappoint. As usual, we over-ordered. We likewise bought some Thai delicacies made by the owner for our friends and family back home. After dropping our items back at the hotel, we headed to a number of the Bangkok Malls (MBK, Central and Siam Paragon) for some needed shopping and walking exercise.
In Bangkok, you eat and shop. Dinner was at the famous Somboon Restaurant, requested by hubby Willison Yu for its famous curry crab.
Full from yesterday’s whole day of eating and walking, we decided to experience Bangkok in an entirely different light on this 3rd day. I booked a cooking experience for all of us at Silom Cooking School. This was a great bonding experience with everyone as we learned how to cook a variety of Thai’s famous dishes – Tom Yum Kung, Catfish Salad, Chicken Curry, Beef Rendang and Mango Sticky Rice.
After this experience, some decided to have a full body massage at Ruen Nuad while others decided to go shopping where we met them afterwards at Siam Paragon. We capped the night with some drinks at this cool speak easy bar.
Our last day in Bangkok took us to the ancient city of Ayutthaya where we visited the Ayutthaya National Park, Wat Mahathat, and Wat Phra Si Sanphet among others. With a little lost in translation viber with our driver, we got to see this ancient city in a day, with lots of pictures to boot and made it to the airport in time for our flight back to Manila.
Spark Amber Fast Start is a branch incentive sponsored by the branch manager (Me!) and the unit managers of the qualifiers. It is one of those trips that I look forward to every year as we get to bond with our very own early national achievers.
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