Thailand - Terminal 21, Bangkok City

Terminal 21 opened in October 2011. If you haven't visited this place you might assume that it is one of the generic shopping malls in Bangkok City. However, once you have set foot on this mall you will surely realize that this mall is indeed unique in its own way. You will be amazed by its different floor concept and architectural design.

Terminal 21 shopping mall has 9 floors with individual concept, namely:

LG Floor: Caribbean

G Floor: Rome

M Floor: Paris

1st Floor: Tokyo

2nd Floor: London

3rd Floor: Istanbul

4th Floor: San Francisco (City)

5th Floor: San Francisco (Pier)

6th Floor: Hollywood

Actually, there is nothing impressive on the brands and items being sold here since we have identified several shops which can be found also at Platinum Mall. Moreover, the luxury brands at G Floor are also locators in SIAM Malls in Bangkok City.

Most of the people or tourists who have visited this place came here due to the unique design of each floor. The fact is, we also paid a visit to this mall during our recent business trip in Bangkok City to satisfy our curiosity.

The toilets also follow the concept of each floor. Actually, I am planning to make a dedicated post regarding the ladies toilets inside Terminal 21; my daughter took some shots inside out of curiosity.

Some shots inside:

Caribbean

Istanbul

Paris

London

Tokyo

Rome

San Francisco

Hollywood

It is fortunate that most shops and boutiques here sell mainstream and local brands though LG Floor (Rome) caters mainly to luxury brands clients. The wife and daughter bought several pull-over at an affordable price compared in some shops in Manila.

Coming from Wat Po Temple, we took a taxi meter and paid 100 THB. However, if you have the luxury of time you can come here by BTS Skytrain (Asok Station) and Bangkok Metro (Sukhumvit Station).

Though Terminal 21 will attract first timers in Bangkok City I believe returning tourists are not that eager anymore to spend time here on their following visits. Like in our case, after seeing the place we won't bother returning here on our future business trips since we believe that the attractions inside the shopping mall are obviously superficial compared to Thailand's numerous historical temples, places and eco-tours.

Tulong Na, Tabang Na, Tayo Na - An All-Star Benefit Concert

A week back, a concert was organized by ABS-CBN network for the benefit of typhoon Yolanda's (Haiyan) victims in Visayas. I saw the advertisement about this concert last Thursday night only; I urged my wife to watch the concert with our daughter. The following day I drove to SM North Ticketnet to purchase 3 Upper Box A tickets. Patron and Upper Box tickets are sold out already.

Since we wanted to have the best seat at Upper Box A we fell in line at Green Gate as early as 3:30 PM even though the gate would open at 6 PM. The wife and I were excited because it was our first time to watch a concert at Smart Araneta in Cubao. Our daughter would follow later due to earlier commitments. We took our snack cum dinner while in queue and sitting on the floor.



The gate opened at almost 6 PM; everybody raced to their respective entrances and collected the complimentary free-size Tabang Na T-Shirt. We were asked to wear the T-Shirt before entering the venue.

The concert started at 8 PM. DJ's Papi Charlz and Eva Ronda from Radio Station 101.9 MOR enlivened the crowd for 30 minutes. At exactly 8:30 PM, the crowd roared upon seeing some of their favorite stars like Gary V, Piolo Pascual, Sam Milby, Toni Gonzaga to name a few entered the stage.

Great vocalists such as Roel manlangit, Jovit Baldivino, Renz Verano and Rico J gave their usual impressive high-pitched numbers as well while Pinoy international stars such as Charice and Leah Salonga also performed to the delight of the crowd. A lively dance presentation by G-Force which includes Rayver Cruz and John Prats left the audience in awe.

Among all the performers, it was the 6 Cycle Mind that wowed the crowd with their adrenaline packed rendition of Sandalan. Everybody stood-up and endless cheers from the crowd pushed the group to perform up to their limit. It was my first time to see also my daughter and her mom dancing and waiving their arms up in the air.

before the show

a blissful feeling of unity and support

The rendition of Hawak Kamay was truly euphoric especially when they asked the audience to turn on the backlight of their cellphone. It seemed the heavenly stars were one with us in showing support to the victims of typhoon Yolanda.

Other groups also participated such as UP Singing Ambassadors, Mandaluyong Children's Choir, El Gamma Penumbra and inspirational singer Jamie Rivera.

One of the performers that received great feedback from the crowd if I may say so was Mitoy, the recent winner of The Voice of the Philippine. He sang Don't Stop Believing by The Journey that made the Big Bosses of ABS-CBN to stand-up and dance. Actually I stood-up too and clapped my hands unmindful of curious eyes of my daughter and wife, lol. I love that song; it was another perfect performance by Mitoy.

Martin Nievera and Gary V performed before the show's finale.

The benefit concert was indeed successful. The sold-out and jampacked Smart Araneta continuously reverberated with cheers while the atmosphere was filled with emotion and feeling of unity and support for our "kabayans" in Visayas.

I can proudly say that this event is truly unforgettable not only for me but also for my wife and daughter since it was our first time to watch a concert at that place while helping our calamity stricken fellow Filipinos in our own little way at the same time.

Make no mistake about it, this all-star benefit concert would never be forgotten by all of us who have watched it.

The show ended at 11:30 PM.

Spotted - Bidet Remote Controller at Terminal 21

During our recent business trip, my daughter spotted this electronic remote controller for Bidet inside the ladies toilet at Terminal 21 shopping mall in Bangkok City.

Her mother was with her when they notice this "thing" inside Terminal 21 ladies toilet. Ironically, the flush button is not included on this remote control.

I am a technical person but it took me some time to understand the function of each button by merely looking at this picture.

Dad's Review - Sony Xperia TX from Kimstore

After my eldest son was robbed of his Nokia X6 mobile phone recently, I told my wife to give him her Lenovo A800 smartphone. As replacement for her previous Lenovo I asked her to choose a smartphone from Kimstore, a famous online shop in Philippines.

After a few days of deliberation with our youngest "techie" kid she chose Sony Xperia TX. Since I was about to go home for my vacation she asked me to check at Dubai Duty Free (DDF) the price of Xperia TX, that was about a month ago. I was expecting it to be cheaper at least at DDF but surprisingly the Xperia TX price was higher at DDF. It costs 429 USD or more than 16k Pesos whereas at Kimstore the price of the unit was 13,480 Pesos.

Upon arriving home, I brought my family for our routine family day at SM North EDSA. We took the opportunity to check the price of Xperia TX at 2 gadget shops at The Annex. The first shop's price for the TX was around 26,000 pesos while the second shop was a thousand pesos lower. Both of them has offered 0% interest for 12 months installment. All of us were aghast since both shops' prices were almost double the price of Xperia TX at Kimstore. When I told the sales guy that I knew an online shop that was selling the same unit at almost 14 k pesos he asked me the name of the online shop because he couldn't believe that the same model can be bought at much lower price.

I checked another known on-line shop in Philippines for Xperia TX and found its price more than 16,000 pesos as well; almost the same price with DDF.

Since Kimstore offered the lowest price for Sony Xperia TX we decided to purchase the unit from them. I sent a FB message and followed up with text message; that was Friday evening. Saturday morning I received a confirmation text from Kimstore and we arranged a meet-up at Eton Centris Mall at Quezon Avenue on the same day. Everything was confirmed and arranged through text messages only. The term was cash-on-delivery.

I arrived at 4:30 pm at the agreed place inside Eton Centris. To my surprise, I was actually expecting that Kimstore representative would be waiting for me, there were plenty of clients inspecting and testing their newly bought gadgets from Kimstore too.

My youngest kid tested our unit thoroughly and after he gave his thumb up I paid the entire amount to the 2 guys from Kimstore. In short, in less than 24 hours I was able to arrange a meet-up and close a deal with an online shop. In addition, aside from selling brand new and sealed units, they also provide manufacturer warranty to their clients.

Initially, after receiving our unit, I was a bit apprehensive since its keyboard was set in Chinese. However, my kid simply changed its setting and informed me that all its functions were working fine. Having confidence on my kid when it comes to gadgets my apprehension disappeared. I vividly remember too that my eldest son's mobile phone which I bought in Singapore was set in Russian language.

Some indoor shots taken inside Terminal 21 shopping mall at Bangkok City

Outdoor shots at Wat Po Temple, Bangkok City

Shots above were color enhanced and reduced to 800 X 450 pixels. 

Currently, my wife's Xperia TX is working perfectly. We even upgraded its Android operating system. She enjoyed its music function while on flight mode and finished her 5 Candy Crush lives during our 3 hours flight to Bangkok a few days back. There were some glitches but they were caused by improper installation of apps. A re-installation solved these glitches. Moreover, she loves it being light weight compared with her previous Lenovo smartphone. But for me, I prefer Lenovo's rubberized textured rear cover. The Xperia TX's camera has higher pixels than my Samsung S3 but mine has a faster auto-focus function. One thing I always appreciate in any Sony product is the high quality of its audio function. I drooled when I compared the audio of my wife's TX to my S3. Anyway, I have my Sony MP4 Walkman with noise canceling function whenever I want to sound trip.

To sum it all, it was great to have a credible online (gadgets) shop in Philippines that provides a very competitive and affordable gadgets with manufacturers' warranty. My youngest kid is looking forward for his gadget this coming Christmas and I hope I will close another deal with Kimstore.

This is the official FB page of Kimstore


Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post and Dad's review maybe different from trendy kids' expectations.