Thursday, April 21, 2011

Backpacking in SEA for 15 days: 26th Dec 2008

"Ring Ring!!!' my alarm went off at 6am... after disconnecting the alarm, i went back to sleep for another 15min.... hahaha.... coz keiko & me wanted to go for a morning swim at the top of our service apartment! (brilliant isn't it?? hahaha... coz the service apartment got swimming pool, gym... hahaha... juz like a normal hotel... but only sooooo much cheaper than the hotel!!)
sun rise in bangkok

anyway, toshiko also woke up becoz she had stomachache... she claimed tat becoz the room was too cold as we set the air-con temp to too low... tat's y it trigger her stomachache... hahaha... i laughed over this manz.... anyway the 3 of us changed into our bathing suits and head to the roof top for our morning swim and also to view the sun-rise over the city of Bangkok!!!

wah... the water is cold... but not as cold as the waters at the waterfall in Luang Prabang! hahaha... and the pool is small and not deep... anyway the 3 of us juz have a lazy swim. we stayed there for about 30-45min before being interrupted by an ang moh and his Thai companion.
guesthouse pool

so we head back down to our room to wake up the rest and bathe before heading out! we went to the Grand Palace 1st! wah... the entry fees for the Grand Palace is super expensive lor... the entry fee was 250 Baht per person and that is S$10.92 lor.... so expensive...but we still paid up and went in... hahaha.... in fact the 1st thing tat greeted us when we enter the main gates of the Grand Palace and the temples around it is the security checks by the staff of the Royal Palace. and u kno wat? me and Toshiko did not clear the checks coz the both of us were wearing bermudas bought in Laos. and to enter the Grand Palace, everyone must cover their legs and also their shoulders... Hmmm...so no choice lor... we had to wear the Thai wrap skirts tat they gave us... yeah... and tat's y i'm in skirt and not pants... hahaha... coz i never bring skirts with me on such type of trips... coz they are a hinderence rather than a help.

grand palace

anyway... the Grand Palace is really a magnificent place!! wah lao... all the buildings are either clad in gold or in those sort of glass afrescos lor... similar to those afrescos on temples in Laos. only that the temples here are larger and taller than those Lao temples... and i wonder how long it took the Thai people to stick all those afrescos onto the walls...amazing!!! grand palace2
and this also tell u how much the Thai people will go to for their Buddha & the King... hmmm.... very different from S'poreans... huh.... =P


grand palace3

anyway we took quite a number of pictures... and one of the majestic temples in the grounds of the Grand Palace is a temple that the King built for the Emerald Buddha!!! yeah... this Buddha is carved from Emerald stone.. and it was clad with a gold robe and placed in a very huge and high altar made of gold.... wah... really amazing and rich lor... the 5 of us entered the temple and sat there and looked around... (coz we're not allowed to stand in there... we're to sit down and look around.. hmm... a form of respect for the Buddha i think (Thai culture)). and it was later when we went to a museum tat we understood tat the Emerald Buddha has a change of robe for every season... and the robe for each season is of different design and made of gold lor... wah.... its machiam like everything in the palace and buddha are gold... hahaha.... =P


grand palace5
grand palace4
after touring the grounds and took pictures with some of the guards tat was looking after the security of the Grand Palace, grand palace6

we left the grounds and walked to another temple 'Wat Po'.



hmm...something tat i don't really like about Bangkok is at tourist places, there will be Thai people who dressed very nicely (sort of like tour guides but not really tour guides) coming up to u and talk to u and asked if u need help, tuk tuk, taxi etc...and this was wat happened when we were walking along a street market where we bought food along the way and see some of the antique wares tat the people selling. and this guy asked if we're heading to Wat Po and told us tat it was closed for lunch (when it was 11.30am then) and recommended us to go and visit another temple to see the 'Lucky Buddha' (ai yo... they have 'lucky' buddhas all over the city lor). hmmm...i was telling the rest tat i don't really believe him... coz high chance tat he was telling us lies... anyway we happen to come to a tourist information booth... and asked where was Wat Po and whether was it closed for lunch. and u kno wat? the lady told me tat its open for the whole day until evening!!! so tis tells u very much abt the Thai pple huh.... =(


so we went there.... and y did we want to visit Wat Po??? coz its one of the temples tat the guid book recommended... as inside this temple, there is a super super huge Shakyamuni Buddha statue lor... and wat's so special abt this Buddha statue tat attract so many tourists each day? is because, this Huge Buddha statue is reclining and its casted in gold and the feet has hundreds of Buddhas tat are made of shells.

wat po reclining buddha

feet of sleeping buddha
when we reached there, we saw a door tat was for Thai people and another door tat was for foreigners..hmmm... u kno y got such special doors?? coz for Thai people, they need not pay to enter the temple, but for foreigners, they are to pay for an entrance fee.... sickening right??? we wanted to enter the Thai door... hahaha... coz if u act well, we can be mistaken as Thai instead of foreigners... (coz we are asians mah... muhahahaha) anyway we're good gals... we paid for the tickets and enter it.
wat po

lined along the side of the temple were dark bowls made of bamboo.....these are bowls tat the people (believers and tourisits) put coins into them as a form of offering. and u've got to purchase for the coins.

giving alms

after the visiting of temples, we head down to another famous place and tat was Pratunum Market!!! yup!!! more shopping!! hahahaha...yeah...tat's wat we did.... anyway we walked around the market and keiko bought 1kg of tamarind... hahaha... its a sort of bean-liked fruit... taste like 'asam'. anyway she bought was becoz i told her i've got a shopping list tat my family gave me... (hiaz... very sick right?go for holiday and u're given a shopping list by ur family members coz they want u to get things for them) hahaha... anyway this tamarind is my mum asked me to buy one... hahaha... coz my mum love the fruit! i bought it in my last trip to Thailand (tat was like 4yrs ago). anyway keiko said she wanted to buy for my mum coz want to thank my mum as she'll be staying in my house for a few days after we come back from trip before heading for Taipei for a few days (holiday) then head home to Shizuoka, Japan!


after walking round the market (u cannot finish walking round the market for 1/2day coz its toooo big and too many things to see liaoz), we went to a super big supermarket to get our supplies as we'll be heading to Aranya Prathet the next day. and we also bought our dinner at the supermarket and i bought a set dinner leh!!! and the dinner was only 29 baht!!! imagine tat dinner was only S$1.30!!! hahaha... so i bought it! when we purchase our stuffs, toshiko realised tat the banana muffins we purchase was missing... hmmm... seems like cashier scanned already... but apparently she gave it to the wrong customer... and there was some commotion and the cashier called 2 of her seniors to come over and solve the problem... and both supervisors were very pretty gals in their late 20s... and u kno wat? the prettier supervisor when she (he) explained to us, i was surprised momentarily... then later when i asked the rest they were also shocked momentarily... hahaha.. coz tat supervisor was a guy dressed as a lady... hahaha... and looking at her (him) u cannot imagine tat she's a guy. but her low barritone gave her away as a guy lor... =P


anyway after the supermarket, we went searching fomr something tat the 5 of us have been looking forward to for the whole day! and tat's massage!!! hahaha... yeah... we went for Thai massage. both Keiko & I chose the foot massage whilst nobuko, toshiko & harumi chose the Thai Body massage... coz the both of us wanted to try something different!! and wah... i can tell u manz... the Thai foot massage is really amazing! and it was an hour long of massage!!! not only did they massage our feet, they also massage our shoulders and head!!! really very very good, pity that i did not try the body massage... perhaps the next time i'm in bangkok i'll try tat... hee hee.... =P
thai massage

the both of us took picture with our masseurs... hahaha... keiko got a guy masseur while mine was a lady... hee hee...

then we went back to our service apartment to take our dinner and also to pack our bags... hiaz... by then we have a super super tough time packing our bags! coz we bought so many things in bangkok and also the accumulated things tat we've bought along our way from Hanoi till Bangkok.. hahaha... but we still managed to squeeze our 'treasures' into our bags... by now, all of us have additional bags liaoz... hahaha... =P

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