After our friends from the Philippine Airlines, Tourism Authority of Thailand and fellow travel bloggers / vloggers departed for Manila, us three: myself, Karla and Coleen extended our stay for a few more days. Doing so, we got to experience more of the city including seeing it above the roof of a 35-story building. How we did it without breaking and entering? Let me take you to a little flashback.
Meeting a Rooftop Photographer
Prior to our familiarization trip to Bangkok with PAL and TAT, Coleen already connected through Instagram with a rooftop photographer who goes by the handle @whoismaggs. On our second day post-famtrip, we met up with her in a nice garden café in the city.
“We’re going to shoot at a rooftop today, want to join”, @whoismaggs casually asked us to which both Karla and Coleen replied with an affirmative without missing a beat. “What building?”, someone asks. “Hmm, we’ll know when we get there”.
I thought Mags was just being coy about the skyscraper rooftop we’re about to climb but that wasn’t the case.
An hour later, we found ourselves in one of Bangkok’s commercial districts where towering hotels and condominiums line up in between spacious parks and food markets. “I think that one is tall enough”, pointed out Mags.
“So, we will just pick one in random?”, butted in Karla. “Yes, c’mon let’s check it out”, Mags said.
(Breaking, Not) and Entering a High-Rise Condominium
Unlike in the Philippines, lobby receptionists and security guards of condominiums here aren’t strict enough that they don’t ask for your ID nor the name of the person you’re visiting. “Just walk like you live here”, Mags advises us.
We walked straight to the elevator as if we live there. Before we entered the elevator, we waited for an actual resident to come in. Inside, the condo unit owner punched her card and pressed 15th floor. It became obvious to me that despite the looseness of the security in the lobby, one cannot use the elevator without a key card—but thanks to the resident who was in the elevator with us, we can go as high as the 15th floor.
Getting off the 15th floor, Mags led us to the staircase door which turned out to be unlocked and directed us to climb 20 more floors to the top. Climbing 20 more storeys by foot is no easy task factoring the added thrill of doing it against the building’s policy of not allowing any outsiders.
Woof,
Roof, Roofer Culture
With my legs almost numbed from the mad rush to the top, Mags finally opened a door that exposed us to the afternoon sun. Climbing another 20 feet to another platform introduced us to a stunning 360-degree view of the Bangkok skyline.
Resting a bit to appreciate the scenery, I got a glimpse of the thrilling world of what is now described as a subculture consisted of “roofers”, who achieves a natural high standing on top of towering skyscrapers.
The rooftop of the condominium has a spacious floor and several horizontal thick columns where one can walk confidently without losing balance — that is, if you take your mind from the steep drop below your feet.
What to do on top of a building other than regaling at the scenery? Take pictures, what else? Mags took out a mask from her small bag to put on her face. She then walked to the edge of one of the horizontal columns and positioned herself in a kneeling position. She looked like a masked avenger looking down on the city of Bangkok searching for an ongoing crime to thwart.
Moving gingerly, I also walked over the columns mindful of any sudden burst of wind that could topple me over. After a few minutes, I realized it wasn’t that much of a daredevil act as long as I don’t go too close to the edge.
As someone with semi fear of the heights, our random skyscraper rooking adventure helped me ease some of my dread of verticality. Would I do it again? Definitely, yes. But only to stand on the safer parts of a rooftop. No hanging, no hand-standing on a ledge, and most absolutely no parkour acts. That’s for YouTube roofers to do and risk their lives for views.
