In Bangkok twice a year and I lost count of how often I step in the posh malls.
The scenes are ever changing. The Big Mango’s posh malls are quick to dress up its interior perhaps trying to outdo its next-door neighbor.
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| Meet Dd. The star of the November art installation at EmQuartier. |
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| Meet TidiBer. The star at the atrium garden installation of Central Embassy. |
Art installation, exhibitions, pop-up stores, and events are perennially present within the confines of the architectural masterpiece that has risen in the different districts of the city. The malls never run out of visually exciting ideas to keep everyone curious, returning and eventually become regular and willing patrons ready to shell out the cash to shop and dine.
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| Meet the 12 sheep. Dd's co-stars in the art installation. |
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| That's the Big Bad Wolf taking one of the sheep. |
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| No tea party. Smirk (ala Pia Moran). |
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| Yes, everything is real in this set-up…and I'm not supposed to touch the display. |
The two malls along Sukhumvit Road, Central Embassy and the EmQuartier, are the current hotspots today. Both are luxury lifestyle malls that house an impressive collection of high-end designer boutiques, fancy restaurants and state-of-the-art cinemas. The direct access from BTS Stations—Ploenchit or Chid Lom for Central Embassy and Phrom Phong for EmQuartier—is a plus for these establishments.
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| Black in white 1. @Central Embassy. |
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| Black in white 2. @Central Embassy. |
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| Black in white 3. @Central Embassy. |
Central Embassy is ultra-modern, sleek and minimalist, with its interior entirely washed in white to make the boutiques stand out. The recently opened EmQuartier is described as futuristic but sport patches of green areas, including an atrium garden and a 40-foot waterfall at its “Waterfall Quartier” zone. “The Helix Quartier” is where dozens of restaurants flank a three-level spiral walkway.
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| Hounding Greyhound 1. @EmQuartier. |
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| Hounding Greyhound 2. @EmQuartier. |
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| Getting Roast-ed. @EmQuartier. |
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| Looking at Another Story. @EmQuartier. |
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| Unicorn tales 1. @Emquartier |
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| Unicorn tales 2. @Emquartier |
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| Coca-cola body. @Emquartier |
What made the recent “mall tour” more exciting? I was with a Dabawenya and no ordinary girl at that. Ayie Hernandez-Miscov is a photographer whose signature look is “bright” portraiture. She packed up her lenses and relocated to Bangkok. Who can stop a woman from following her heart?
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| Pop up store. @Central Embassy. |
Luck has it that I touched base with her on my recent Bangkok adventure. In the company of “a local”, she was tour and restaurant guide. Plus I had a willing photographer who gladly made me her subject. Call it a welcome break from the “signature” selfies. “It’s the perks of hanging out with a photographer,” she said.
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| Great shots of me in the malls. "Perks of being with a photographer," Ayie said. |
Ayie is now in the process of restarting her photography career in Bangkok. She has picked up a few clients, who fell in love with her style.
“My style of Photography is more leaning on the contemporary style. Mostly I go for bright and fresh photographs. Bright photos are refreshing to the eyes. They look timeless at the same time,” she shared.
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| Ayie's photography career in Bangkok is looking up. Her style: Bright. |
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| "Please don't sit on display" . Now, which to sit on? @Central Embassy |
What is it she wants to capture? “Photographs specially portraiture is nothing without emotions. Capturing raw emotions from a subject is very fulfilling as a photographer.”
She surely did capture my emotions, the emotion of a tourist and a shopper.
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| Art appreciation. @Central Embassy |
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| The Mamu shopper (mamu = mamungkag). @Central Embassy |
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| The currency converter. @Central Embassy |
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| Instagrammer. @Central Embassy. |
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| Verticalgarden emotion. @Central Embassy |
All photos by Ayie Miskov. Need a portrait photographer in Bangkok? Pre-nup shoot in the Big Mango? Message Ayie Miskov on Facebook.
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Email me at jinggoysalvador@yahoo.com. For more photos about this story & other travel & lifestyle stories, visit http://jeepneyjinggoy.blogspot.com/ and http://apples-and-lemons.blogspot.com/
Published in the SunStar Davao newspaper on December 17, 2015.
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