Vertigo offers a Bangkok’s ultimate rooftop dining experience. Sixty one floors above the city, people dine on premium steaks while feasting eyes on the skyline. When I visited this rooftop terrace, it was neither windy nor noisy, a perfect place to enjoy dish under the completely dark black sky.
However, food they served had very little flavor to me. It surprised me because Thai is one of my favorite cuisines. At first, I suspected that I over-enjoyed the street food that had been heavily seasoned with basil, garlic, ginger, and red chili. Alternatively, the level of spiciness and flavor might have been calibrated for cautious people.
However, I also thought food might taste different at high altitude as in-flight meals are dull and unpleasant. Katia Moskvitch wrote an article about why food tastes different on planes.
… as the plane gets higher, the air pressure drops while humidity levels in the cabin plummet. At about 30,000 feet, humidity is less than 12% – drier than most deserts. The combination of dryness and low pressure reduces the sensitivity of your taste buds to sweet and salty foods by around 30%…
Thai designers make interesting experimentation. At a department store in Bangkok, I found several stationary items and kitchen utensils designed by Qualy, seems to be a local Thai design company. Although this company introduced a series of interesting products including owl-shaped salt and pepper shaker or bear-shaped one, the most interesting one is mushroom-shaped magnetic.
Shiitake is a mushroom native to East Asia and consumed in many Asian countries. It is considered a medicinal mushroom in some forms of traditional medicine. Qualy website says,
Shiitake magnet Make sure you don’t put these in your soup. They are actually mushroom shaped magnets. And not just any mushroom, they are shiitake mushrooms, to remind you to seize opportunity. Just place them on any metal surface to secure your notes. It’s like picking mushrooms from a field each time you remove a magnet.
Although I do not know why shiitake mushroom is related with seizing an opportunity, the form is certainly eye-catching and attractive enough to open wallet.
[dt_gap height=”10″ /]Using taxi is tough where its fare has been traditionally determined by negotiation (e.g., Tuk tuk in Thailand). Even when the taxi driver turns on the meter, foreigners sometimes arrive at a wrong destination because they cannot speak local language. In order to relieve these concerns from the international travelers, some Bangkok hotels provide an interesting concierge service.
When a traveler asks a hotel employee for taxi, the concierge asks where the traveler wants to go. Then he checks the destination on the list or writes it down in the bottom in English as well as in Thai. When a taxi arrives, he writes down the taxi plate number, speaks loudly to the driver the destination, and then passes the card to the traveler. Although the card plays nothing, many foreign travelers mentioned that simply keeping it with them while sitting in the taxi helps them feel safe and secure.
Alternatively, Uber now eliminates all these hassles. 🙂
OOH (Out-Of-Home) advertising is any type of advertising that reaches the consumer while he or she is outside the home. Since this medium is in contrast with broadcast, print, and Internet advertising, it is focused on marketing to consumers when they are “on the go” in public places, in transit, waiting (such as in a medical office), and/or in specific commercial locations (such as in a retail venue) (see more in Wikipedia).
While staying in Bangkok, I met a creative OOH advertising made by AIA (Chinese: 友邦保險), a Hong Kong-based insurance company who has offices in many Asia-Pacific countries. I found many helmet-shaped booths standing on the street: some are used for bikers or cyclists to take some breaks and others are used for simple demonstration. Although the booths may not enhance the real security of the street, I felt safe when I saw them, which is similar to when I saw Starbucks or Tim Hortons on the street. More importantly, I inferred my psychological security from the real security; I considered AIA as a company who can protect me from a dangerous financial market. Nicely done! 🙂
Bangkok is well-known for Kao San Road, Pad Thai, and foot massage. Like other Asian cities, however, it has an upscale design center. Thailand Creative & Design Center (TCDC) is located on the top floor in the Emporium shopping complex, a luxurious shopping mall in Bangkok. As this center is located at the heart of the city (Phrom Phong BTS station) and provides a wide variety of learning resources, it was crowded with young Thailand students who read books, discussed group projects, and participated in exhibitions about, for instance, 3D printing.
Interestingly, a huge red board stands in front of the TCDC and it contains many business cards. This board might play a role as a market; people who look for their partners or who need help, they can contact with other experts such as manufacturers, suppliers, traders, investors, consultants, etc.
Jaewoo Joo | design thinking, behavioral economics, field experiment, customer experience
