Michi Photostory

I was so excited when I learned that there would be IKEA in the Philippines but when the store finally opened its doors last November 25, 2021, hindi naman ko pumunta agad and I told myself, next time na lang kapag lumipat na kami ng house. But the construction of our house was delayed hanggang sa tinamad na ko. 

Time swiftly passed by and today is our first year anniversary since Community Quarantine has started. I can still count on my fingers how many times I went out of the house and so far I’m not yet crazy, thanks to Netflix, Shopee, Lazada, and crafting. 

One of my happy places is IKEA, I love visiting their stores if I have a chance so when we went to Bangkok, Thailand. I really added IKEA to our itinerary and it is non-negotiable. Hehehe! IKEA is located outside Bangkok so it is quite far. If you remember my old post, my husband went to IKEA Bangna two years ago and after his first visit, hindi na naulit.  


But since I was with him last summer, the day before our flight we went to IKEA Bangna. You can take a taxi or BTS Skytrain then ride the complimentary IKEA shuttle. We’re supposed to take a taxi on our way to IKEA but we’re waiting at the hotel lobby for 30 minutes and walang taxi na gusto maghatid dun. Then the hotel staff gave us a map and instructed us how we can reach IKEA via train. 

How to get to IKEA Bangna 

1. Taxi (THB300) 
2. Ride BTS Skytrain and alight at Udomsuk Station. Take a taxi to IKEA. 
3. Ride BTS Skytrain and alight at Udomsuk Station, go to Exit 5 and wait for IKEA Shuttle Bus. Service hours; 9AM from Udomsuk BTS station to 22:30 from IKEA Bangna 


According to their site, the bus leaves every 30 minutes but based on our experience, we waited for more than 30 minutes. We are just standing while waiting for the bus and we can inhale all the pollution. When the bus arrives, they only have limited seats so nakatayo ulit. After several minutes, the bus dropped us off at the unloading area then we entered the mall till we reach IKEA Bangna. We just asked for directions because we can’t see the entrance of the IKEA store. 

IKEA Restaurant & Cafe 

I was glad when I finally saw the IKEA store. Of course, before shopping, we ate dinner first so we have the energy to explore the store. The restaurant was not crowded so looking for a table is not a problem. IKEA Restaurant & Cafe is a self-service restaurant so you will get your food and drinks, then pay at the cashier. 





The menu is a little bit different here in Thailand. If I remember it right, there were no Swedish Meatballs at that time so my son ordered the Chicken Meatballs THB50 then he added French Toast THB15 and Almond Cake THB65. I ordered Salmon THB200 and added Blueberry Cheesecake THB85. My husband ordered Chicken (spicy), Sausage and Almond Cake THB65. Refillable Drink is THB25. 

IKEA Store 

After our hearty meal, we started shopping. I think this is the biggest IKEA that I have visited. We’re really tired after checking the store. It is big compared to IKEA that we have visited in Japan and Singapore. Kaya pala ayaw na balikan ni hubby, napapagod siya. Hehehe! 

Read: IKEA Tachikawa in Japan
IKEA Alexandra in Singapore 







We have 90 + 10 kilos(bonus) check-in baggage allowance so I can even buy a shoe cabinet if I wanted but the problem is we don’t have enough space in the car or maski sa taxi na maghahatid sa amin sa airport hindi magakakasya gamit namin. So I just buy the things that will fit our luggage. I’m really hoping na matapos na yung IKEA Philippines so I can buy the things that I like. 

After paying and packing our stuff, we were surprised when we went out, it was raining so it is a challenge for us to get a taxi. So even there was a line at the taxi stand, naiiwan kami because the taxi will choose other passengers. 


We waited for more than 30 minutes and finally may pumayag na rin. Sa sobrang tagal namin, maski yung nagtatawag ng taxi natuwa na rin na may pumayag. It was raining so traffic is also bad, the taxi meter is THB180+ only but the taxi driver asked for THB300. Yes, same sa Pinas, they don’t follow meter. We just let it go, mas importante sa amin is makabalik ng hotel. 

Read: 6 Days in Bangkok with Kids 
Four Points by Sheraton Bangkok 

IKEA Bangna 
38 Moo 6 Bangna-Trad km. 
8 Bangkaew Sub-District Bangplee District, 
Samutprakarn 10540 
Hours: 10AM–10PM 
Phone: +66 2 708 7999 

IKEA Restaurant & Café 
Open 9:30 - 21:30 hrs

Bangkok Thailand is one of my most visited countries or should I say, the most visited airport because, for the past decades, I’ve been here several times because of stopovers. At last, after so many years of waiting, I can finally say that I’ve been to Bangkok. We went to Thailand last summer, we’re supposed to stay for 9 days but my husband has a seminar in Baguio so we cannot extend our trip. 

This post might be helpful in planning your future travels,  don’t forget to pin it to Pinterest.

Bangkok Thailand is popular for shopping and temples so it is a bit challenging for me to make an itinerary because my son doesn’t like to go to temples. But when I started to search, I realized that Bangkok is also a family-friendly destination and there are a lot of fun things to do for kids. I listed down the different activities and I chose those attractions that are accessible by BTS Skytrain.

Here is our itinerary for 6 Days. 

Day 1 Manila to Bangkok 
          Terminal 21 + Chao Phraya Princess Dinner River Cruise 
Day 2 Sea Life Bangkok Ocean World 
Day 3 Kidzania Bangkok 
Day 4 Jim Thompsons House Museum + MBK Center 
Day 5 Temples + IKEA Bangna 
Day 6 Bangkok to Baguio 

Prior to our trip, I purchased a 4G sim card and vouchers from Klook website and I was able to save almost PHP5000. If you haven’t tried Klook, use this link to get a discount for your first booking. 

Read: Where to Buy Discounted Tickets For Your Next Travel Adventures 

DAY 1 MANILA TO BANGKOK

My son and I were excited because we’re flying again, we thought #teambahay lang kami last summer vacation. Hehehe! We used to leave our car at the Park N Fly but this time, my husband parked the car at NAIA 2. After check-in, we ate our breakfast at Mabuhay Lounge at NAIA 2. We’re glad that our flight was on time and little did we know that our Manila to Bangkok flight will be a memorable one. We only booked Economy Class tickets using our miles but before the takeoff, we were advised to transfer. Voila, we were ushered to Business Class seats. 

Read: Economy Class VS Business Class of Philippine Airlines: International Flight
Watch the video here 

After more than three hours we landed at Suvarnabhumi Airport, I went to Klook counter to pick up my 4G Sim Card then we proceeded to Gate 5 for our hotel service pick-up. We stayed at Four Points by Sheraton which is located in the Sukhumvit area near BTS Skytrain Asok, MRT, shopping malls, and different restaurants. We had a great time at this hotel so if you are looking for a family-friendly hotel in Bangkok, you can add this to your options. 

BUY YOUR 4G SIM CARD HERE

Read: Four Points by Sheraton Bangkok  
Watch the video here  
Where to Stay in Bangkok Thailand 

Chao Phraya Princess Dinner River Cruise

As I’ve said, Four Points by Sheraton is near shopping malls so we went to Terminal 21 to check the travel-themed shopping mall. We ate at A&W before going to River City Pier for our Chao Phraya Princess Dinner River Cruise. 

RESERVE YOUR SLOT HERE
Read: Chao Praya Princess Dinner River Cruise
Watch the video

DAY 2 SEA LIFE BANGKOK OCEAN WORLD 

I chose four attractions for our Bangkok Trip such as Sea Life Bangkok Ocean World, Kidzania Bangkok, Madame Tussauds, and Dinosaur Planet. Unfortunately, the Dinosaur Planet was already closed during our trip and I crossed out the Madame Tussauds because I feel that it is not worth it, magpapicture lang naman kami sa wax figures. 

My son likes visiting zoos and ocean parks so I added this to our itinerary. I thought that we will spend our half-day here but we only stayed for more than two hours, nakailang ikot na kami nun. We were exhausted already so we decided to go home early and we did not watch the other scheduled shows. 

BOOK YOUR TICKET HERE
Read: Sea Life Bangkok Ocean World

DAY 3 KIDZANIA BANGKOK

We’ve been to Kidzania Manila three times prior to this trip but my son loves Kidzania so no more questions asked, I bought a voucher for this. We’re lucky that we have Kidzania here in the Philippines kasi ang mahal sa ibang branch, good thing I bought a voucher at Klook so I was able to save money. It is also nice to visit other Kidzania branches because there are activities that are not available in Manila. If I remember it right, my son was able to do 19 activities here, so we’re really tired.

BOOK YOUR TICKET HERE
Read: Kidzania Bangkok

DAY 4 JIM THOMPSON HOUSE MUSEUM + MBK CENTER 

After two days, it is payback time now. No more kids’ attractions so we went to Jim Thompson House & Museum and MBK Center. I'm not fond of shopping but after our trip to Jim Thompsons House, I saw MBK Center so we paid a visit.  

Read: Jim Thompson House & Museum
Shopping at MBK Center

DAY 5 TEMPLE RUN + IKEA BANGNA

My son doesn’t like to visit temples but he has no choice but to go with me. Hehehe! We only visited two temples, Wat Pho and Wat Arun. We did not visit the Grand Palace anymore because the entrance fee is expensive, my son was complaining and I don’t have the energy to walk anymore too. #signsofaging 

We went back to the hotel and rested for a while and off we went to IKEA Bangna. This is the reason why I did not explore MBK Center because I prefer to shop at IKEA, gamit sa bahay ang gusto bilhin. 

Read: Temple Run in Bangkok
Shopping at IKEA Bangna

DAY 6 BANGKOK TO BAGUIO

Our flight is past 1PM so, after breakfast, we went straight to Bangkok Airport, good thing we left early because it started to rain on our way to the airport. Despite the traffic, we arrived before the opening of the check-in counter. Long day ahead because we're going straight to Baguio. 

Read: 2 Days Trip in Baguio

FOOD TRIP IN BANGKOK

For food trips, I don’t have a list of must-try restaurants in Bangkok. Most of the time we ate at fastfood like A&W, McDonalds, and KFC but we were able to try these restaurants which you can add to your list. I will blog about these restaurants in a separate post 

1. The Eatery  | Watch the video here
2. The Terrace Restaurant
3. MK Restaurants
4. Pala Pizza Romana and Bistrot 
5. IKEA Restaurant & Cafe

SHOPPING MALLS IN THAILAND

I’ve been living in the province for more than a decade so I’m no longer used to big shopping malls. I’m okay with one or two-story malls so every time I go to Metro Manila malls, I always feel tired, I don’t have the patience to explore them and I just go straight to a specific store or restaurant.

So when we went to Bangkok Thailand, I was really surprised at how big their mall is, I think it will take me a day just to explore each floor and corner of it. During our trip, we were able to visit the following

Terminal 21 
Siam Paragon 
MBK Center 
Robinson 
IKEA Bangna

If you want to save money, book tickets at Klook. Use this link to get a discount for your first booking.

Read: Pasalubong from Thailand

* This post contains affiliate link/s. If you decide to make a purchase, I will earn a commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support

I’ve been meaning to replace my son’s cabinet but I’m choosing between built-in cabinet or ready-made one. My son’s cabinet is more than 8 years old and I bought it when he was still a baby. It is already old, sira na rin yung ibang part so it really needs a replacement.

A few weeks ago, I told my husband that I will just buy a clothes rack so he can disassemble the old cabinet. We went to the department store and I was surprised when I saw the price of the clothes rack. It ranges from P2000 - P4000. Eight years ago, my son’s cabinet was only P2900 so ngayon, pang clothes rack na lang pala ang presyo. (yes, nakadikit pa price sa cabinet) hehehe! I did not buy the rack kasi namamahalan ako.


Last Friday, I was browsing my newsfeeds then I saw an IKEA Mulig clothes rack for P1200 only. I decided to buy this clothes rack because it is cheaper compared sa nakita ko sa department store. Then all of a sudden, I checked the price of that clothes rack in IKEA and I was surprised na wala pa P300 yung rack na yun.

So I immediately searched if there is IKEA in Kuala Lumpur and I was so happy when I learned that there is IKEA Cheras. I browsed their online catalog and screenshot all the pictures that I want to buy and sent it to my husband. I asked him if he can drop by in IKEA before he went to the airport the following day.

After few hours, my husband messaged me that he is on its way to IKEA. Yey! Ang dali kausap, good thing that he read my message before going back to the hotel. He bought 1 Rigga clothes rack, 2 Skubb Storage with Compartment and 1 Skubb Organizer.


Rigga RM59
Skubb Storage with 6 compartments RM39.90
2 Skubb Box with compartments RM59.80 (RM29.90)
Total RM158.70 

Last Sunday, my husband disassembled the old cabinet and assembled the closet rack. Then I put all the Skubb organizer and box. The Skubb boxes are from IKEA Alexandra, 3 pcs in one pack kaso two boxes lang kasya. The Maximum load of the closet rack is 35kg which is just enough for my son’s clothes.

Skubb Box (3pcs) SGD19.60


At first, my son doesn’t like the idea of the open closet, gusto daw niya may door. I told him that he will have a closed cabinet in the future but for now, he will have an open closet because I’m still saving for the built-in cabinet. I know that there are disadvantages of open closet, una na diyan is dust. But I prefer this than using the old cabinet because I was able to maximize the space. It has more shelves and compartment so mas marami ko nailagay na clothes niya compared sa old cabinet.


After I finished his open closet, he liked it na. Yey! If I will compute everything, I only spent more or less P2500 which is a big saving compared to the P2-4k price of one clothes rack. If ever magawa na yung built-in cabinet,  I can also reuse the Skubb storage and the Rigga clothes rack, pwedeng sampayan. :)

Read: Decluttering Our Home 

IKEA Cheras
No.2A, Jalan Cochrane Taman Maluri
55100, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Update: February 2018

As promised, I will have a built-in cabinet in my son's room. Finally, natapos na rin. It took them six days to build this floor to ceiling cabinet. And I was able to use the IKEA storage boxes that I bought before, pinasukat ko talaga para kasya lahat.

I took this after they built it, so hindi ko pa napunasan. hehehe!

My husband always stays in Sheraton Towers if he has a business trip in Singapore but last week, he stayed at Oasia Hotel Novena because Sheraton Towers Singapore was fully booked during his trip. Oasia Hotel Novena is near the CBD or Central Business District, shopping belts and Novena MRT Station. 



Read: Sheraton Towers Singapore

He was advised that the hotel offers FREE arrival transfer so my husband wasted two hours in waiting and riding the free airport shuttle. The shuttle is not exclusive to Oasia Hotel Novena guests so the airport shuttle will pick up guests in different terminals of Changi Airport then drop each guest in their respective hotel. Unfortunately, he was the last passenger na hinatid sa hotel. 



Free arrival transfer is good but if you want to save time and effort, just take a taxi because the hotel is just 20km or 20 minutes drive from Changi Airport. 



The room is not that big, he requested for king sized bed but he was given a twin bed room. The following day, they already fixed the bed, pinagdikit na rin nila which is just fine. 





The bathroom has no bathtub. 



The room package includes free breakfast which starts at 6:30AM. 








The hotel offers living room, 20 meters lap pool, jacuzzi and gym. My husband loves to swim so he likes the swimming pool of Oasia. 




Aside from the free airport transfer of this hotel, he was advised that he can reimburse one taxi receipt every day. So it is either one way from the hotel or one way to the hotel, the amount is up to 20SGD. Just surrender the taxi receipt and they will give you cash. I'm not sure if it is just a hotel promo or included in the room package. 

Side story:

When my husband told me that he will go to SG, I asked him to buy the 2x2 kallax shelves that I was not able to buy last January. And because he loves me, he did not bring any checked-in bag, pinagkasya niya lahat sa hand-carry niya yung damit niya for one week. Bawal ang excess baggage e. Hehehe!

He went to IKEA Alexandra to buy my 2x2 kallax shelves. On his way back to his hotel room, one foreigner approached him at the elevator.

Foreigner: Oh, you went shopping. 
Hubby: Yes, this is my key to enter my house. 
Foreigner: (laugh) Whenever I travel, I also have empty bags that I need to fill for my wife and daughter.



I asked my husband to wrap the box para hindi masira, good thing that the hotel has luggage services and luggage storage too. So before check-out, pinawrap niya yung box for 10SGD. On his way to the airport, he went back to the hotel to get his luggage. 

Officemate: Where’s your luggage so I can put it in the trunk?
Hubby: I have one furniture. 
Officemate: Oh, I see, you bought a key to enter your house. 

Waah! Key na ba tawag sa pasalubong. Hehehe! 

Read: Things to do in Singapore

Oasia Hotel Novena 
8 Sinaran Drive Singapore 307470 
info.ohs@fareast.com.sg 
Hotel: +65 6664 0333 
Reservations: +65 6881 8888