7 posts tagged “bangkok”

I fell for a lie today. I was off the ferry and was walking towards Wat Pho when this man approached me. He said he is a local Chinese and is waiting for his wife to finish her marketing. Though later he mentioned his son and daughter nare doing the marketing.

He sounded like he is so helpful, asked me about my stay here and that Wat Pho is closed till 2pm which was a good time away from mid noon. I was cautious coz guide books blatantly pointed out not to believe anyone who said the temple is closed. I thought it meant closed for the whole day. He asked me for my map and started to write on other places to visit in the meanwhile. Though I wanted to leave and said I could walk on my own, he kept on talking and wouldn't let me leave. He then said he is able to get local price for the Tuk tuks for me and escorted me to one. He even mentioned that I shouldn't speak at all, in case the driver would charge me tourist price. But he did ask me some questions and told the driver in English that I am his friend. He is quite slick in doing this and I fell for it! :\

I did get to the temple "recommended" by the cheater in one piece. TG. Why? If you have heard of kidnapping story in Bangkok. Though the temple is beautiful, I covered the small temple within a short while. I had the luck of meeting the architect of the temple who was there to inspect the condition of the fixtures and we had a nice chat. He showed me how to get to Wat Pho and told me not to believe anyone who said the temple is closed. On my way there, I met another guy who said the temple is closed till 2:30pm! Good grief!

By now I was sure that I had been duped and didn't have much heart to enjoy the sights within Wat Pho. :\ I was also fed up that the entry price of the temple had raised to 50 Baht. All these left a bad taste of Bangkok. That's it man... the image of Bangkok in my mind is going down the drain.

On my way back to the pier, I deliberately walked behind where the first guy was standing/waiting. True enough, he is still there. The feeling of being cheated is lousy. The only good thing is that this lesson only cost me 10 Baht... not a lot of money, but still...

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BTW, I am sun burnt now for walking the whole day outdoors! It's starting to hurt! :O

I am at Central World Plaza right now. Bangkok. Thailand. Been here for 2 days and will be around at least until Friday

My last day with the uni was on Tuesday. Monday and Tuesday were emotional taxing. I had been away from the uni resting at home, returning only to debate over the issue of my last day. The negotiations with the uni turned out to be futile. Even right now as I recall my last days, my heart sinks. Though I must say that I have moved on. Most of my colleagues/friends are still there and I can't imagine how they are able to go through the works till their last day. Hang in there, to you who are reading this.

As I touched down in this foreign land, I couldn't help but to think that it is all so surreal. Part of my mind was jogging through the happenings and my senses were taking in the unfamiliar surroundings. It was surreal. Here I am in Bangkok, one of my favourite city and the people I left behind back home. But Bangkok is doing me well. I had breakfast with my hubb every morning. Hubb left for work. Then I would go back to the apartment to watch some TV and read a while. I went for a swim today too. Lunch hour here is always crowded, so I visit the mall later and do some urban exploration. Before the sun sets, I return to the apartment and wait for hubb to return from work and we would go out for dinner. And massage. I am still practical and realistic about my massage quota. :)

From this experience, I know better now who are the ones who really care about me. So hello there, friends. <3

Day 1

We had a blast in Bangkok, before the actual blastings... Thanks to friends who smsed and called to check on our safety. We are fine. We had returned to the hotel around evening time for a quick rest and then hubb switched the TV on and found out about the bombings. We weren't near the places where the bombs struck, thought we had gone near some of the places the day before. So there goes my countdown plan and anyway the police cancelled all countdowns. We went for massage at my favourite massage parlour, Chang massage, for our last massage this trip. I asked the masseur whether she knows about the bombings. No she don't coz she is working. She didn't seem concern, and things were fine on the road the next morning. There weren't any tight security or barricades when we went past one of the bomb sites. So it's either the Thai's take-it-easy nature or they are used to demonstration of violence?!

Our trip ended with some disturbance news and it wasn't so smooth when we touched down either. The travel agency did not pick us up. I had to call back to my agent and she was clueless. So after an hour's wait, we finally hopped on a cab. I will never ever again take Tiger airlines. I know I said it the last time I took it, but I didn't have any much choices for flights. The location is convenient and their service is just dissatisfactory. The plane landed in Changi Airport T2 and took about another 20 mins to taxi to the budget terminal. We took 15 mins to walk down the plane and went throught the custom. The luggages conveyor belt took another 20mins to start and were slow! All in all, we spent 1.5 hours there. Such ineffiency is unheard in Changi airport. >:<

I am a wee bit touched with the Thai's love of their King. A lot of people wear the royall yellow wrist band or the yellow polo tees with the King's crest on it, and posters/billboards with the King on it... Long live the king! I also found out that prices had generally went up and the service weren't as good during this trip... I actually spent less this time round, so hurray for us. :) Other things that happened in Bangkok... the abbot of a temple was gun-shot and killed. Oooo the scandal! Bo-bae market was burnt down.

Hubb always wonder what I like about Bangkok and now since he had experienced it, it was him who brought up that we should visit again next year. :) We shopped and ate till we dropped, and we always end the day with a relaxing massage. Here's what we did...

28 Dec
Lunch at food loft @ Central, Chitlom
Tea at Greyhound cafe, Emporium
Dinner at Bann Khanitha
Walk along Soi Cowboy
Massage

29 Dec
Riverboat cruise along Chao Praya
Lunch at MK steamboat, MBK
Dinner at beer garden, Suam Lum night bazzar
Massage

30 Dec
Chatuchak weekend market
Lunch at food court, Central World Plaza
Dinner at Zen Japanese restaurant, MBK
Massage

31 Dec
Lunch at 9th cafe, Siam Paragon
Dinner at Coca steamboat
Massage
Watching new year fire works off the reflection of a hotel nearby :)

1 Jan
Home sweet home

Location: bkk. moblogging fr bkk!

We are leaving for Bangkok in two days' time. With help from a friend/travel agent, we managed to book the package at a decent price. We will be taking Tiger Airway despite my annoyance when I took its flight the last time (almost 4 hrs delay).

This time is gonna be a leisure trip. Hubb the auditor will be going thru' another peak (or maybe not, coz he's likely to have a change in job portfolio). He likes his holidays to be slow paced whereas I like to plan my schedule to the max, and right down to the minutes where I will stop for meals. I am doing the planning though. Ha. ;)

Besides setting aside a day for some sight seeing, I will like to to visit these places:

• Pratunam market (never been there)
• Suan Lum Night Bazaar (before they are close down next year)
• China town/Yaowarat (for birdnest and food stuff)
• Chatuchak market (read that this place might close down sometime next year too)
• Sirroco at State Tower (Le bua)
• The usual malls (Siam Paragon, Siam discovery, MBK, Central... etc) and Boots Pharmacy
  
• Patpong (since our hotel is in Silom area and near this place)
  

Of course, my staples like I just can't missed having my daily massages and I am quite fond of the coffee in the Black canyon Coffee chain. I hope to get a painting for our bedroom. I have been looking for one suitable one for the past year!

If you have recommendations, do let me know too!