Sawatdee Ka Siam! - Bangkok special

Honestly, I couldn't remember much of Bangkok before the trip. Not much photos were about the city in my photo album. So, when I first stepped out of Don Muang, the immediate memory struck me...the expressways. Lol....
Ya, I wonder how they build their expressways, it's messy to me. Kinda spoilt the city landscape. Their expressways were very high up, dont know how many storeys high though. U have to pay a toll free whenever u use the expressways. Not like our ERP, only at certain time hor.
Also, they have to make big u-turns in the city. No kidding man, it can be as long as 30mins leh!
Yellow shirts...all over the city & on the tv too. This is how they loved their King. Really impressive. Their yellow shirts are not very cheap also..haha!
I think Thai students have to wear uniforms even in Universities (not sure about private ones). Anyway, alot of their uniforms are in black colour..very hot leh! Many i saw outside Bangkok were like wearing heels and formal (blouse & tight skirt) to school lor. Some others even wore those with blazzers and tie! Like office ladies...and black colour blazzers of course.
Generally, if u think our SR gals' skirts are long, see the thai gals. U will know how long are their skirts. Hah! Thank goodness, i really must pei fu them. It was really bloddy hot there.
Taxis ... basically they are safe transport. However, it gotta depend on your luck sometimes. It's cheap to travel in taxis la, but it's a different situation when u are stuck in a traffic jam. Hahaha! Their meter jumped very slowly, not like ours...aiyo! Sometimes i also wonder how they can earn money like that. Lousy drivers, i met them in mins time. It was raining that day and we were queuing @ the taxi stand. Some drivers either dont know the destination or refused to switch on the meter. Kns! We finally met one cabby after two failures. He requested for tips, good enough. He told us they can fetch many people on rainy day, so many wld switched off their meter. Very unprofessional...sianz!
Ha...Thai Dramas. From monday to sunday, at least 3-4 stations showing dramas at their prime slot, 8 pm plus ba. Saw some familiar faces..hehe (I had watched some thai series on TV2 la..) Handsome guys and gals all on tv ah...lol! Their drama plots quite similar la, but their filming techniques were kinda "outdated". Also, they jumped many scenes, no connections in between and suddenly the scene jumped back...diaoz~ Well, hardly any other entertainment besides the world cup matches, Thai dramas are still ok to watch la, despite the language barrier.
I believe that in 10 yrs time or even lesser, things in Bkk wont be as cheap as now. Their std of living are getting higher lah. Just look at their downtown. We have a Taka & a Paragon..they can have a few "paragons" just down a street. Also, 3 Robinson buildings which are quite near each other. Hahaha! Many rich ppl sia.
Nice trip overall, though some unhappiness struck me in between. Dont know when I will step into Bangkok again. Till then...

Sawatdee Ka Siam! - Day 7

[Bobae Wholesale mkt] My hotel's first to 6th floor were the "shopping centre" for the mkt la. Selling clothes, jeans etc. U can find other stalls by the roadside surrounding my hotel area. The prices here were cheaper than those found in night mkts la. However, some shops only sell things in bulk hor. Met one unfriendly shopkeeper who practically bo chap us as he knew we were nt buying in bulk. Sianz.. Also, they dont have fitting rooms, so if u wanna try the shirts on, bao zhong la. Haha! Their t-shirt sizes were quite small la, dont know why leh. So skinny gals, u all are lucky la. Hahaha!
[Prince Palace] We went back to the hotel from another entrance, and found ourselves in another wing! Hahaha! Lucky didnt lost inside la. The ballroom was so posh lor..and this wing was really nicer than that one we were staying at. Even the toilet also nice...lol!
[Lunch] Checked out out hotel, the guy picked us up and we reached Dong Muang. Lunch @ KFC, and the price was nt cheap leh. Surprised! We took the jumbo set @ 16 sgd. A normal 2 pc chicken meal cost about 8 sgd leh. Wah seh...
[Departure] Walked quite far to the airport gate. Sianz... Think i really got used to queuing up lah. Check-in luggage & check-in for gate departure...all must queue for quite sometime. Hahaha!
[Finnair AY97] Looked new to me, on both outside and interior of the plane. Hahaha! The cabin crew were "older" than the previous ba? Lolz...Left Don Muang @ 2.40pm sharp. (sg time 3.40pm) Suay things happened very soon. Air-con leaking...sianz! That Thai air stewardress was nice enough to give me a blanket, though she couldnt do anything with it. Lucky the leaking stopped once we were stable in the sky la. Phew~~~
Lunch again..Chicken noodle. It's definitely better than the rice they served the other time. However, my only conclusion was...dont expect too much. Lolz!
[Home] Landed on 5.53pm. Actually I think we could reached changi earlier, but heavy air traffic ba, so the pilot had to "dou quan zi". Haha! Home sweet home~~~ The queue was so long again...sianz...

Sawatdee Ka Siam! - Day 6

Still a shopping day...Hohoho!
[Chatuchak wk mkt] I am back!!! Let's see my shopping list now. 4 pairs of socks & a bamboo made bag. Mum also bought a bag too.. hehe!
[Grand Palace & Wat Po] Decided not to pay my 200 baht for it. Wanna go Wat Po instead, just pay 50 baht will do. However, the taxi driver stopped us at the wrong place. Wat Po was rather far down. Then, a guy working at the palace told us Wat Po only opened at 2pm on sunday. We were like sianz...coz we came all the way here from Chatuchak..not near leh. In the end, I didnt visit lah...a little disappointed.
[Chinatown] I hate jams...and i met a long one while traveling to our destination. We actually didnt know where the driver would stop us at, coz we only said "Chinatown", no exact location. In the end, he stopped us at their wet market. Bought some food stuffs there lah, but think we were at the wrong place lah. Haiz...Anyway, you can see chinese temples and many very "chinese" stuffs here. Hoho!
[Downtown] Taxi again! Wanna go to central world, but that friendly taxi driver drove us to Central instead. (another shopping mall) Goodness me. Lucky the malls were in walking distance. Saw central world, under renovation though. I think their Isetan was still opening as normal. Gaysorn was a very classy mall like our Paragon, hardly any souls inside. Can skipped it lah.
[Lunch] Fuji Restaurant @ Siam Paragon! Raining heavily, lucky got bring brolly. Hahaha!
I had katsu curry rice while tuan had ebi curry rice. We also ordered gyoza & makimono moriawase (5 types of sushi). Their curry was kinda too wet la, preferred the one @ Ni jyuu maru. Hehe!
[Downtown] Walked through Siam Center & Siam Discovery to reach MBK. These malls were like ours lah, nothing special and nothing cheap (though there are discounts la). Hahaha!
MBK was still the hotspot for people la, see the human traffic can liao. Shopped around but Tuan failed to find another bag.

Sawatdee Ka Siam! - Day 5

Shopping Day? U can say that la. The most taxing day of my trip, causing my legs and arm muscles to ache. Damn it! Hahahaha! Ok...blame myself for that.
Thailand's VAT, or GST known in SG is 7%. Not including service charge hor.
[Chatuchak Wkend Market] Took taxi to the market, it was located rather far north of Bangkok. (will write more about their taxis later in BKK special) We were there in the morning la, hoping to siam the place by mid-afternoon(very hot). Alot of things to buy, whatever u can imagine. There are alot of petshops there too...hoho! Bought many stuffs there...Stronly advise u all to walk around first before buying, coz' many shops selling the same stuffs but with different prices.
My personal shopping list: A scarf,a knee-length pants & souvenirs. Mum & sis also bought lots of stuffs. We bought something for mr mao mao, while aunt jo bought most of her stuffs for her 3 dogs.
Think only some sections are open in weekdays. So better dont go there during wkdays lah.
[MBK] A 7 storey shopping mall, selling rather cheap stuffs & fake stuffs as well. The 7th floor is their cinema complex plus restaurants. Had our dinner at Fuji Restaurant, queued for about 20 over mins. While, it's worth it. The food was just CHEAP!!! Tuan had her sashimi set meal for 6.27sgd. I had a full sashimi bento set+chawan mushi @ 8.78sgd. What's inside the bento? Egg, yakitori,sashimi,cooked salmon,fried prawn & vege, pork, rice rolls & some others. What's more? the sets come with Miso soup, fruits and coffee!! Wah their ice coffee was so nice! On par with starbucks. What else i ate? I ordered watermelon juice, sotong, sanma fish & mussels. Altogether it costed about 46sgd..less than 50 leh! Shiok!
Btw, Fuji restaurant can be found in many malls in bangkok, as well as Phuket & other major cities in Thailand.
Bought another bag in MBK...got sales there la.
[Other malls] Walked through Siam Square & Siam Center before reaching the newly opened Siam Paragon. Hahaha! Can just go walk walk lah, the stuffs are not for kids. (Branded gds mah) Bangkok's ocean world is located at the basement of the mall, but the tickets are not cheap la. So i didnt went in.
[BTS Skytrain] Took at Siam station. Was confused by their ticketing there. Coz they allocate the stations by zones, so kinda blur la. However, it should be easy once u know what's going on. Took the train to Sala Daeng station. You can glimpse the city view from the train.
[Lumphini Park] A very big one park ne! Can see the Thai's way of life there, actually same as us la.
[Suan Lum Night Bazaar] After a long walk through Lumphini park, i reached the night bazaar. It can be reached by MRT Lumphini station too. Surprisingly, I didnt see many tourists here. The shops were in much order compared to those in Chatuchak. However, soon we realised that the things were quite expensive lor. After some walking, only bought something for my cousin. There was a big ferris wheel too, but looked like nobody went up leh. Hahaha!
[Mrt] Basically, their mrt is underground train, while skytrain is above ground. Haha! Had to buy our tickets too, this time round it was in token shape. Then we scan and went in. They had something like ezlink too but, but cant be used for Skytrain, coz skytrain's using those cards we used before ezlink la. Sian right? Took all the way to their last station at Hua Lampong. Not bad too. Clean and nice.
[Tired] Very tired ah, took taxi back to our hotel at Thailand train station. Hahaha! Poor mum, so hard to find vegetarian food for her. Surprised right? We actually managed to find one at Hua lampong, but it closed down! Damn it! Other restaurants were at some ulu area, then mum dont want to go. The same thing happened at Robinsons Sala Daeng branch. We went to the food court, but realised that only some stalls were opened. Hardly any souls there...sianzzz

Sawatdee Ka Siam! - Day 4

[Wat Phra Srisanpetch] Three ancient pagodas...with many medium sized buddhas around one of them. Tuan climbed all the way up to view what's inside of the pagoda. (Me lazy to climb lah, it was much higher than the pagoda i climbed @ ayutthaya city ruins.) Saw one magnificant sleeping buddha too, though it was relatively new compared to other buddha statues i had seen.
[Bang Pa In Summer Palace] Very westernised, with one of the buildings in Chinese style architecture. We actually only visited the outer palace area, what's inside I cant see lah. It was very hot at the palace...not suitable to siam summer liao lor. Hahaha! There's one building still in use by the royal family. Compared to the summer palace in Cheng De, China, this one was average la. The most impt factor is the chinese summer palace was very cooling.
[Bangkok] I will do a Bangkok special after Day 7 entry.
Supposed to have our free time here. However, we have to meet again for dinner and check in hotel @ Prince Palace. So Simon decided to plan something for us. First stop was the snake farm, of coz actually the main purpose there was to make us buy those medicine made from snake body parts. Nobody in our group bought anything, though the "professor" was really funny when he intro his stuffs.
Next, to a company selling honey & other related products. On our way there, there was a massive traffic jam. It's horrible to stuck there in a bus..i started to feel unwell la. Sianzz..
Anyway, that guy who brief us was from HK, his mandarin was very "accurate" ah. Hahaha! All of us cleared up the honey drink they served us, and we tried their products. Many people bought stuffs from them. Mum only bought a bottle of honey for us lah. Hehe!
[Erawan Shrine] Commonly known as "four-faced buddha". Just to clear up, it is not a buddhist god or what ah. It is a Hindu god. Hehehe! Many people praying there as usual. Traffic around it was terrible..lol! After snapping pics we went to the McDonald's near by...while waiting for our coach to make a big u-turn. Saying about their Mac, it was slightly cheaper than SG la. However, their chili & ketchup thing was like those in Cafe Cartel, self-service hor. I think many Thais cant understand english well, so had some difficulties talking to them. I had to use "sign language" to ask for a plastic bag. Lol!
[Bird nest] Forgot the name again. It was a small eating house cum store selling packet food, bird nest, sharks fins etc. Ate a bowl of bird nest while Tuan tried the same thing in the coconut.
The guy in the shop was a Hong Konger too...mum said he wasnt "happy" to take our orders ah..(coz we order so little ah? Lolz...)
[Prince Palace] I am back again. New room at 18th floor. Some lucky ones got rooms @ 22th floor. It was a big surprise for mum & aunt jo, coz their room was BIG. Yeah..deluxe room or something? It's a big 凹-shaped room. If u draw the curtains, the view was just WOW! My room was bigger than the previous one @ 15th floor. Think another family also excited about their room too..big mah. Mum's room has a queen size bed, whole set dining table, sofa, a long corridor. Even the toilet is different! Haiz...i should have picked that room!
Bascially we had some world cup actions again la. Not like sg tv so giam...kns!
The view from our rooms were terrific. Can see many monuments from afar..like Golden Mount Temple, Democracy Monument etc. Hehe!

Sawatdee Ka Siam! - Day 3

[Floating Nun] Went to a buddhist temple to see the performance. She meditated in the water with various formations of the Buddha Image..no need to kick her legs to remain on water wor...However, mum wasnt really happy that she offered some massage service using a unique medical oil. Well, may be Thailand nuns are not as strict like those in Da Cheng Buddhism.
[Jeath War Museum] It was not a big museum as I thought, looked like some long hut. Hahaha! Anyway, it showed weapons used during WW2 and pictures of war prisoners with Japanese soldiers. Also, there were paintings showing pics in Thailand and our Changi prison area. There were stalls selling stuffs again, testing your bargaining skills..hahaha!
[War Cemetary] Located near my hotel. It was the biggest among the few cemetaries found in Kanchanaburi. Around 6000 over Commonwealth and Netherlands soldiers were being buried/remembered here. (I dont think all were buried down there la) Many were young soldiers at the age of 21,22 etc. Salute!
[River Kwai Bridge] See entry on Day 2. Paiseh wrote wrongly. Haha!
[Suphanburi rice research centre] On our way to the ancient city of Ayutthaya, we stopped by this place, though not in our initerary. Walked for quite a distance to see the jasmine rice fields..and many people bought 1 or 2 kg of rice back. Super cheap! hahaha! 1kg of brown rice costed about 1.45sgd...hoho!
[Great Buddha] Didnt take note the name of the temple. The buddha was located at the main hall, very tall & magnificant.
[Ayutthaya city ruins] Many pagoda-style buildings, though many were destroyed during ancient war with Myanmar. Basically, u could see such ruins in any part of the city. I remembered i climbed all the way up to the pagoda to take pics. very magnificant. Hoho...
[Dinner] At a restaurant by the riverside, could see the Mae Krong river with boat restaurants passing by. (ppl singing karaoke lor..so loud)
[U-Thong Inn] Back to the town area, the lobby was posh, but the wing(tower) we stayed in was like average la. Another wing has better rooms lor..hehe!
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[Photos] Just saw the developed photos of my Pulau Ubin & Thailand trip. My good buddy Mr Pentax did a goob job, the pics were very rich in colours, though a few photos were kinda "blurred" because of water vapour ba.Hehe!
[HP] Mr Chean changed a new Hp yday. We are still a Samsung family..haha! His new X-650 cost 0 bucks, and the functions are "too good" for him. Lol! Anyway, he is the 3rd person to use a black colour HP le..so Empress Wang kenna outcast liao..hahahaha!

Sawatdee Ka Siam! - Day 2 [edited version]

Wake up call at 6.30am (SG time 7.30am). Had buffet breakfast...food was average. Took a 2 hours bus ride to Daemnernsaduak Floating Market. Before reaching the market, we had to take a boat to the market lah. The journey was about 10-15 mins long. On our way, saw many houses beside the small river. Every house has their own boat, so that they can travel to buy stuffs.
[Floating mkt] The place was full of tourists, especially those from Japan. We stopped at a souvenir shop and started to walk around. Basically the most common stuffs there were tropical fruits and bags (got fake LV bags wor..even Ang Moh also buying!) Another way to do your shopping is to hire a boat and stop beside those boats selling things.
[Phra Pathom Chedi] Located at Nakhon Pathorn, the pagoda is the tallest and largest in the world! (really big man!) The present chedi was started by King Rama IV and completed under King Rama V. Simon, our tour guide re-arranged our itinerary. So I will be going to the death railway first.

[Lunch] The only thing I could remember was the Tom Yam Soup, very QIANG! shiok!

[River Kwai Bridge @ Day 3] Located in Kanchanaburi province. The bridge was assembled by world war 2 prisoners. But what we saw wasnt the original bridge, that's a pity though. Beside the bridge were stalls selling lots of stuffs. However, didnt buy much la...except coconut. Hahaha! If I am not wrong the temperature was about 36 degrees. Buay tahan!
[Train ride @ death railway] The feeling was contradicting. So many lives were lost because of this railway, but now tourists were happily snapping pictures of it. While waiting for the train to arrive, saw many youngsters riding motorbikes! Think they dont need licence ah. Must ask them to teach me how to ride ah. Anyway, many village kids travel via train everyday to school. Their homes were very ulu lor. I am really fortunate lah..still complaining 1 hr bus ride to sch is like hell. hahahaha!
[River Kwai Hotel] One of the best in the town. Room service was super efficient...lol! Watched world cup match also. Saw some scenes of Dae Jang Geum in Thai! hohoho!
[Dinner] At a Thai Chinese coffeeshop ba, surprisingly the food was nice. We were walking to a small scale night mkt when another family told us it was not opened. Wah lao wasted my energy! So nearly all the families we met went to shop at the 24hr "shopping mall"..7-eleven. Hahaha!

Sawatdee Ka Siam! - Day 1/ Day 2 [edited version]

[changi airport] Left home at about 6.30pm. Reached Changi at about 7pm or so. Had a little snack before checking in our luggage. Our group was a big one, with 34 people. Long time didnt see so many kids in a group, I felt so old leh. Hahahaha!
Used the internet too, not very fast as I thought. Managed to chat a little with my pals, but sadly the blogger site was too slow for me. Bought some Sakae Sushi before going to our gate.
Boarded Finnair AY98 at about 9pm plus..took off at 9.50pm. The plane looked a little old on the outside. The seat was not spacious, but lucky I didnt feel very crampy.
[Finnair] The flight lasted for 1 hr 55min. This was my first flight experience with a european airline. Think they didnt set an age limit for their crew members. Most air stewardress are quite old, and they are in all "sizes". (compared to Asian airlines with stringent criterias)
Not much in-flight entertainment, lucky I can still enjoy some music lah. Everything was alright except their food. No choices! I ate fried chicken plus rice...haiz...! (how i wish i was with SQ). hahaha! Landing was perfect!!! So smooth that I didnt realised that I had landed. Hahahaha!
They have Thai crew too who made chinese annoucements. Not very accurate in pronounciation lah, but better than nothing.
[Don Muang Int'l airport] Still the same as before. Had to queue for quite sometime before i can get my luggage. Walked for quite a distance to board our coach. Our tour guide Simon is an ethic Thai who can speak quite fluent mandarin. A not-so- short journey to my hotel, with expressways towering the roads and trains...hoho...
12.30am (SG time 1.30am!)...met a traffic jam on our way to hotel..what the heck?! Could still see some street decorations for their king's 60th anniversary to throne. Thailand flag and king's flag all along the roadsides and on buildings.
[Prince Palace Hotel] Located at the old town (Rattakosin), very near the palace the royal family is staying. Also, it is near Chinatown and the Grand Palace area. A new 4 stars hotel, located directly in the Bobae wholesale market (will talk about it more in my last entry).
My room was at the 15th floor, could see nice city view of the old town.
2.30am...settled everything and went to bed..could only sleep for 4 hours.

--Overseas Trip--

Location: Bangkok & Central Thailand
Date: 13/6/2006-19/6/2006
Flight details: Night flight to BKK & Afternoon flight back to SIN via Finnair
Type: Grouped Tour / Free & easy
Agency: Newly Tour

My second trip to Thailand after 1995. This time round my trip would focus on the historical sites of Thailand as well as the shopping heaven, Bangkok. (though shopping wasnt the purpose of my trip..haha!)
I will be visiting Kanchanaburi, River Kwai and the ancient capital Ayutthaya. After this, I will be touring round Bangkok F&E lah.
Hopefully, by then I would be able to plan trips to Thailand with my pals.Shall update more till i return lah.

P.S: Pray hard nothing happens to my plane. It is Boeing MD-11! You can check on Google how the plane looks like. It is not very common now but Finnair still using it ah...alamak...why using such old planes...faints >.<|||