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!!)


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.


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.



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!!!
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



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




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

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.




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.


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.


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


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

Backpacking in SEA for 15 days: 25th Dec 2008

'crecok-crecok!'. this sound of the railways juz keep coming to my ears and its all the night!! yeah! we're still on the train bound for Bangkok from Nong Khai! throughout the night i woke up every now and then...but still managed to sleep.. hahaha... seems like i can sleep everywhere and anytime now... hahaha...coz i'm a light sleeper... so by right any slight noise i'll not be able to sleep. but so far, this trip has proven otherwise. =P

anyway i woke up ard 4.30am.... hahaha... a unique way of waking up on christmas morning!
then i read the guidebook... and sometime around 5.30am, the train started to have frequent stops... and i saw the elderly couple sleeping below us cleaning up and keeping their stuffs...then i knew... we're in Bangkok already... Yes!! we've finally reached another town on our agenda... hahaha.... by now, we're in the 4th country!!!

anyway, by right the train should reach hualamphong train station by 6.30am. this is the main train raliway station in Bangkok.....hmmm...but it was not so... i guess perhaps was the freaquent stops it had to make along the way. anyway the old couple got off at Don Muang station, tat's where they were staying... we said our goodbyes... pity we did not take photo with them.

anyway we reached Hualamphong station at 8am. and along the way, the train passed thru some roads and we saw tat the roads are starting to get congested!! and in my mind was "shit! how the hell are we going to get to our accomodation? coz taking the taxi or public bus, we'll definitely be caught in the morning rush hour.' then some more bangkok is super famous for their traffic congestions... so taxi and public bus is a no no....

hmmm...anyway when we reached Hualamphong station, we met the Swiss lady again...and she was armed with the Bangkok city map! tat's really wonderful...coz now, we can have a slightly clear idea how to get to our accomodation.... and surprising she was also staying in Sukhumvit but different street from us. so we asked around again...and we asked how do we get to sukhivmit. the person told us tat its faster by the subway... and subway was juz outside the train station! hahaha..so we need not walk tat far... and the 6 of us (including the swiss lady) went down and take the subway to the Sukhumvit station. so when we reached there, we asked for directions again (coz Sukhumvit is a huge area...and this is also the central biz district area in bangkok) and the person at the control station told us tat we were able to walk there... but for the Swiss lady we had to bade farewell... coz she was going in a different direction fr us... and tat's wat we did... so we went up to the 'upper world' and walked to our accomodation...



wah... the walk was super super tiring and far lor... coz we were also carrying our super heavy bags... and along the way we had to keep asking pple...coz i did not bring a gd guide book on bangkok as initially i thought we were only going to stay there for 1 day.... anyway we finally found our service apartment and check in!


wah when we saw our apartment it was HEAVEN!!! hahaha.. coz for the past few days we've been staying in budget areas and u kno lah... budget means the beds, toilets and everything are not very nice one lah.... especially when our last accomodation in Vientiane was like a prison cell... so when we saw our rooms in bangkok...everyone was loudly exclaiming how gd and how nice and clean it was!! =P


anyway all of us were super dirty and tired, so we washed up and wash our clothes before heading out. and we also had to make a decision as to whether we shld visit the kaikan in bangkok or juz go shopping and sight seeing for the 2 days in bangkok. but before we can do tat, the 1st thing we've got to do is to head to the Moh Chit bus station to purchase our bus tickets to Aranya Prathet on 27th Dec. Coz we were planning to stay at the border town for 1 night before heading to Siem reap the following day.


so we decided tat we wanted to do sight-seeing in bangkok. and after resting for a while, we head out... and head for Moh Chit. pity it was not a weekend... else we can go to cha tuk chat and do some shopping... hiaz... anyway... when we reached there, the bus station was pretty far away and we've got to either take a taxi or public bus there... we asked for the bus no... but the bus did not come! by then we've waited for like 1/2h for the bus... so keiko and i decided to go there and purchase the tics while harumi, toshiko & nobuko stay at the train station and wait for us.


as the bus din come, keiko and me decided to take a taxi to Moh Chit bus-station. and the taxi was costly manz... hiaz..no choice... so take lor... when we reached Moh Chit, we managed to purchase our tickets for the 7am bus.
after getting our tickets, we went back to the train station... and the both of us decide to take the public bus as tat will be cheaper. yeah... and its really cheap...coz the bus was 8 thai Baht per person while the taxi was 65 thai baht lor.



anyway after meeting the rest at the train station, we head down to Maboonkong shopping center... yeah! this is a super big shopping center tat 1 muz not miss when they come to bangkok for holiday... hahaha... u can get almost anything and everything there! we had our lunch there and really bought a lot of things.... can u imagine, we shopped from early afternoon until evening leh... tat's wat we did tat day....


after our shopping spree, some of us had to change for more Thai Baht.

hahaha.... then after our shopping spree, we head back to our accomodation.


and this night, we bought 3 bottles of beer. they were Chang Beer and Singha Beer. hahaha... these are Thai beer... so must try...



and becoz our service apartment was not equiped with bottle opener, we had to ask the security guard to help us open it! hahhaa... and he has a very interesting way of opening the bottles...he use the key chain to open them! interesting isn't it?? =D