曼谷的第四天

曼谷的第四天

Forth day. Today we were going to visit Kancanaburi, a small province outside Bangkok, abt 2 1/2 hr journey to reach the place. The focus of the day is Tiger Temple, but we were told that the tour included a visit to River Kwai, Elephant riding, waterfall n bamboo riffing n lunch, and is only RM90 including transport. That's one of the reason i highly recommend Mama tour if u r visiting Bangkok.

So another day to wake up at 5.45am, felt a bit moody during the day. Maybe of the constipation problem and the tiredness accumulated these few days.

Again, we took our rush breakfast at Suk 11 reception area, actually, we were only supposed to take breakfast at 7am, luckily they allowed us to pack some food.

Along the journey to kancanaburi, after some reallocation of seating arrangement, we 6 person were put together with 3 friendly angmoh. They r actually exchange student to Shanghai studying Chinese, and now b4 gg back to their home country, they head down to south east Asia. According to them, they have been visiting Malaysia, Bali, Singapore n now Bangkok.

Our first station was Elephant Riding, which at first i thought was not that interesting but end up elephant riding could be the most exciting destination for this tour. The elephant that Shirlin n i took ride on was called Pham Phong, 30yrs old, male. From the trip too, i learnt that elephant ve a pregnancy period of 2 yrs 8 month, izit true? so long!.. Human 9 mths ald bui tahan, not to say 2 yrs. The weather was not hot too, it's quite enjoying to ride on elephant.

(on the left, the small monkey called Toto at elephant riding place)

After elephant riding, we went to Bamboo riffing, an additional item for the tour. So it is basically just sitting on the bamboo looking out at the scenery and walking across the hanging bridge as well. Then, our tour guide+ driver brought us to a small food stall for lunch, that was the first meal we had without Tomyam n curry, simple dishes with most made up of vegetables, it's actually tasted vy good. and that's the first meal i think the guys can eat without considering the portion of rice cox can add more if not enuf.. Hehe. To the end of the trip , we have come with a conclusion that Thai ppl eat less rice, their meal portion is vy small.

( our 3 angmoh friends)


great lunch=)

So after lunch, we went to a small Waterfall along the journey, nothing much to mention cox we had only half n hour there n the waterfall, emm... Kota Tinggi one is much better, bigger.

Next is the focus of the day, Tiger Temple, here the tigers are keeping wild, not only tiger, the temple was some how like a natural conserve zoo. Wild boars, horse, peacock, goat n so on, all without fences blocking them , u can even go near them, just that u dare or not. That was the first time i was near tigers at less than 0.001mm... n touched them with my hands, take photos with them =)

The last place is River Kwai and the Death Railway, maybe we did not know abt the history behind this railway bridge, i think somehow related to 2nd world war where many ppl had died during the war while building this bridge. something like that... so, apparently we went there just to ve a look, but end up we were attracted by a jade selling stall opposite the bridge.. Haha.

We back Bangkok Khao san road at around 7pm plus, after settled next day Pattaya trip, we decided to have our dinner tonite at the hawker stalls along Khao San road, hey, the popiah, patai goreng, n something like roti canai tasted really nice le... wat's make the dinner more interesting was we were sitting besides the road , with no chairs n tables. Photos proved everything, just look down =)





And that is, day four ended with a nice memories, I look forward to the next trip bringing my family here, revisit this tiger temple n Pham Phong..

Tomorrow, argh, another 5.45am... =(

曼谷的第三天

曼谷的第三天

5.45am ， 完全不想起身，已经有很久没有那么早起床了。 今天的计划是， after Floating market half day tour, plan to go Grand Palace & Wat Arun, then after that Chinatown for dinner. =)

Right at 6.30am, Mama tour's ppl came n fetched us to Khaosan road. Our driver is a bit like 浪子， so cute and funny.

After nearly 2 hr journey, we reached Damuan Saduak Floating Market with the driver extreme driving speed. They provided us a padding boat with around 10 ppl in each boat. Before entering the main river n market juction, we passed by a small village, watching young boys swimming or naked bathing in the river, ladies washing utensils using the river water... emm, back to the old kampung's life.

-> B4 entering the main trading junction

You ll know when u r reaching the main trading area, our boat stucked at the middle of river road entering the market. Imagine, with 6 boats at 1 row, normally 3 boats entering. Always heard of traffic car jam, but never see boat jam. More funny stuff, if you looked keen to buy their things, they ll use a hook to pull ur boat to their stall, this type of trading style was my first time. We took a RM30 (300baht) tour trip including 1 hr padding boat n half n hour at board shopping, a cheap tour i must say, normally is RM50 lo. Just 1 thing difference, RM50 punya is boarding a speed boat ( engine + shelter), we, the cheap package is ( padding sampan boat + no shelter), but i dun mind, saving 1 penny of $$ to buy more t-shirt appearing more attractive to me.

So, after the floating market trip, we were heading back to Khao San road to book for tomorrow Kancanaburi, River kwai n tiger temple tour. The lady boss recommended us to take the elephant riding as well, n the whole package is around RM90 ( river kwai+elephant+tiger). After lunch at one of the restaurant around khaosan road, we proceeded to our next destination, the Grand Palace.

So, when u r at Thailand, u must try one of the transport means, Tuk-Tuk. But this try is 1 time in the life enuf, cox at the end, u ll feel taxi is much better than tuk-tuk, bigger, safer, cheaper n nicer. It is irritating to bargain with those tuk-tuk uncles.We managed to find 2 who r willing to send us to Grand Palace provided we visited the Jewellery shop ( who sponsored them gasoline to fetch customers to their shop). Anyway , they bring us a big big round b4 bringing us to Grand Palace. And, becox of that, we ve only 45 mins to visit Grand Palace ( i did not realise Grand Palace closed at 4.30pm).. Argh, careless me.



Arriving at Grand Palace, another careless mistake to not check out the outfits to wear if visiting Grand Palace, so end up 6 of us have to borrow long sarong n trouser b4 entering. Luckily gals punya looked nicer. Shit, Bangkok weather is damn damn hot, it's a type of burning , scorching weather that makes u feel like heat-stroke. The architectures r vy nice but walking under this type of blazing weather ll never let ppl enjoy seeing all these.

( At Grand Palace)

After Grand palace, we planned to rush to Wat Arun ( the known temple of the dawn) but becox of some incidents which i do not like to recall ( being tricked by tuk-tuk n an uncle, dunno whether he's trying to help us or watever), we end up taking a RM10 tuk-tuk to chinatown. Somemore is not chinatown, is 2 streets b4 that.

Tiring, sweating , angry n sticky., we decided to give ourselves a nice dinner feast at Chinatown. Seafood+ shark fin soap+ bird nest , wahahha. Dun envy us, reasonable price, fabulous taste, n great service, u never get such price in Msia , never to mention Sg. The seafood tomyam pot, emm.. maybe we had been taking Tomyam for the past few days, so i dun really find any special with it. The shark fin, yes yes, Rm50 for a big pot like wat we usually had during wedding dinner, i found the taste is really nice, thick n yummy. And the bird nest dessert, every spoon is fulled with bird nest lo, 真才实料. Total up, we called about 5-6 dishes, is only RM20+ per person, see, including shark fin n bird nest.... so cheap!
-> Full bowl of Bird Nest

After dinner, we decided to split into 2 groups, I, cp, wg gg to Siam paragon whereas, JJ, Wk n Shirlin gg to MBK. From Chinatown, we walked to Hua Lamphong Mrt station, taking mrt to Sala Daeng n changed to sky train to Siam. Lucky us, we found the small stall selling ' you tiao, longcake'. but 'you tiao' in Thailand is not long, is vy short n much more crispy. Eat together with kaya made in Thai, really taste good!.

And so, we 3 reaching Siam Paragon, the largest n most modern shopping area in Thailand. But this is not the palce for us, as those shops r selling branded goods n ve closed down by the time we went there. Weird, they closed at 7.30pm, after analyzing, we think the most reasonable answer for them to close down so early was all the rich ppl in Bkk shop during the day, n these branded shop just need to close one deal per day that's enuf to mae profit. Anyway, we encountered McD there, n tasted pork Burger that could never found in MSia n Sg, it tastes a bit like 'Ramli Burger' except it is made up of prok n not chicken or beef.
-> Only found in Thai McD Uncle

For supper, we tasted the homemade mee soup, they dun call it mee, i think they call it patai or pratai,.. something like that.... hey, it's wonderful, esp when u can add as much of spices, peanut on ur own..... Great!

So, gonna back to bed for another day of 5.45am wake up tmr. =)
And today my gaining =)
-- a wood crafted frog--> RM10
-- a massage wood craft tool -> for papa, RM5
-- souvenir for SBS gang --> RM5
-- n that's all i think =)

Another good fine day.

曼谷第二天

曼谷第二天

在曼谷的第一个早上，第二天， 我们决定今天的行程由一系列的‘血拼’计划开始，然后到Erawan Shrine 看四面佛， 在去看Ladyboy Carbaret Show. 一切皆由Skytrain 代替， 所以我们买了One day pass 120baht 的票来用到爽。=）

一早醒来就到suk 11 楼下享用早餐，简单的american早餐，却让大家吃得津津有味。自己泡的咖啡，烘的面包， 随你喜爱搽的jam n butter， 很随性。
--> at suk 11 reception & dining area, having breakfast

听了昨天banana house 的阿姨介绍的pratunum shopping area, 我们决定先去那看看。 果然没错， 200baht 一件牛仔裤， 50baht 的t-shirt, 很美的包包， 逛到超爽，连四位男士们也逛到乱，只是曼谷闷热的天气真的令人走不下去. 一路上可以看到曼谷的国标之一，那边的taxi 都是五颜六色的，有红色，蓝色，橙色， 紫色，青色，粉红色等等，很特别，而且都是toyota altis or vios列。 不像这里的那么平凡。
--> pratunam 的街道。

-> 满载而归

逛pratinum 到下午一点多， 我，cp, jj, n wg 就先回酒店放东西，因为买了太多， 就决定我们四个先回去， 顺便休息一会。 过后在Chatuchak Market回合， 这个传说中是东南亚最大的跳蚤市场。到了Mo chit， 从天桥一望， walao， 人潮汹涌， 简直可以用变态来形容。 我们到那时已经是下午4点。 但没有在chatuchak 逛很久， 可能太大，太热，太累，今早的精力都用在pratunam 了。

(卖炸蚱蜢等昆虫的摊位）

回到siam centre 吃晚餐，依旧是tomyam & curry. 过后我们就依照计划到erawan shrine 看四面佛，本身没有祈求什么，因为听说如果你的愿望达成，就必须回来这里还愿， 所以还是不要随便许愿的好。有很多泰国人， 旅客都来到这里，相信四面佛一定有它的魅力，也许这也是他的精神寄托。

依照计划，看四面佛后，我们就到rat****** ( 很难spell) 站的asia hotel 看人妖show。 谁知道，到asia hotel de information counter 问，才知道票价是1200baht ( RM120)., 由于超出预算，最后在大家商量后，我们决定闯一闯到各nana 两站的 mambo carbarat show to try. 坚信万苦来到mambo carbarat show, 在我们万苦的哀求下， 加上我们六个累得半命的表情，很友善的售票小姐就让我们已600 baht （原价800baht）的价格看 VIP seat。 （其实vip n normal seat difference is only the distance & a free small cup of drink provided & also a small table lamp =)


看完人妖show， 我觉得人妖姐姐们都很厉害，他们真的很认真的表演。心中很佩服他们的勇气。

回到suk 11已经是11 点多了， 明早需要6点就起身，因为要join floating market 的tour.

总结今天的收获：
--t-shirt ( 6 pieces => RM37.50 )
--black n white carry bag --> RM25 i'm lurvve it !
--slipper --> RM4.50
--for zuan formal shirt -> RM15
--for cs shirt ->RM20 why man punya shirt much more exp than us?... gals one good quality, nice color only RM5.
--jean -〉RM20

曼谷前夕与第一晚

曼谷前夕与第一晚

我的曼谷之旅很好玩 =）就让我一一道说这六天五夜的旅程。

话说在去曼谷的前一天， 因为交通问题， 我们四个从senai出发的决定留宿在keyeng 舅舅家一夜。 而在去keyeng家之前，当然要有一些节目，先是去redbox 唱k， 然后去看电影 the dark knight (highly recommended to watch, but some scenes i dun quite understand)，打保林球等，hehe， 还没去曼谷， 已经开始我们的疯狂旅途。

25-7-08， friday. 我们的班机是2.45pm， 四人当中，只有我还没搭过飞机，所以上机前，心里还是有点紧张。飞机没有我想象中那么好坐， 时不时还会有头晕，耳鸣得现象， 可是当看到屋子，车子慢慢变成玩具时，还有我爸千交待我看的蓝天白云交替的情景， 那种惊奇。是无比形容的。

从senai去曼谷的飞机要2hr plus， 而曼谷比msia & sg 慢一个小时， 差不多曼谷时间4.45， 我们到达曼谷国际机场， 大家也忙着调整时间和出境手续， 之后就要和wgeng & wkuan 回合。 我们在机场买了两个prepaid配套， 方便联络等， 然后就要出机场到我盼望已久的suk 11 check in.

怎么知道， 之前准备十足的我还是被骗了， 有个uncle， 上前说以1000baht的价格载我们6个到suk 11， 还说给我们big car to sit, 最后在努力讨价还价后，总与巴价格降成800baht， 原以为我们赚到了， 谁知道他所谓的big car 只是比taxi大那么一点点的车， 我们6个当场傻眼， 没办法， 只有乖乖上贼车。 那一次过后，我们决定从此以后都叫两辆taxi。 路上还遇到赛车，sien dao。。。心想难道我们的曼谷之旅的开始就一塌糊涂？？

六点多到suk 11, 疲累的身心在到达suk 11 后就一切消除了。 suk 11 果然是我想象中的有趣，乱中有律， backpacker 但不失酒店的服务素质。 suk 11 一共有四楼，我们的房间就在四楼门口一进去的42 & 43triple room. 一进到房间， 我就更肯定wgeng 之前提出的hotel三大要求：舒服，安全， 便宜。 suk 11 完全符合=）房间干净， 床没有bed bug （这是我最在意的）， 没有蚊子， 冷气没问题！ 总算遇到一些顺心的事。

安顿好后， 我们就朝sale daeng ; 计划中的Patpong night market 去。 suk 11 很靠近Nana station, 交通方便， 这也是我大力推荐他的原因。曼谷的skytrain 感觉上比msia 好多，座位大， 有荧幕闲时到那个站， 可以和新加坡比， 但只有3cubicle， 可能没那么多人搭吧。

来到sala daeng， 感觉有点怪， 走了两条街还没遇到patpong night market， 问了人后才知道警察刚好今天扫荡， 所以今天没有摊主营业。 突然间很扫兴， 第一天的曼谷之旅怎么遇到呢么多问题叻。。 大家商量后，决定先医肚子， 就道当地人介绍的banana house 吃晚餐。 banana house 的食物不错，但份量满少， 到后来的几餐， 我们才觉得， 泰国人可能吃的分量小。 Banana house 的老板娘很好， 告诉我们很多曼谷的资料， 后来觉得她说的 plus shirlin search de pratunam wholesale shopping area 是最好的逛街地带。Krupkun ka...

吃饱后，我们决定在去那条patpong night market 碰碰运气， 顺便到Naraya 看包包。走到所谓的‘夜街‘后，开始有很多人问我们要看 tiger show 之类的东西。 街旁的pub & disco 更让我们打开眼界。 pub 门仿佛开完， 里面一群女子穿这bratop 跳钢管舞的情景简直一览无遗。

走道巷尾， 终于看到Naraya 曼谷包店，疯狂的我飞进去想要看看这曼谷包有什么吸引力。 结论， Naraya 包满有特色， 可是可能不适合我， 但在那我选了一个紫色的包包给妈咪。 看到很多日本，香港人在买， 曼谷包果然有他的魅力。

就在选购的当儿， 突然间， 听到很多吵架声， 很多人往街尾跑去， 有些还跑进店里。 乍听之下， 才知道是警察和小贩暴动， 有没有搞错， 才第一晚， 就给我们遇到这个事情。 吨在店里一会，我们决定离开Naraya， 往后巷走去sala daengskytrain，。 还好有惊无险。

回到suk 11，解决了$$ 分配的问题后，我们决定成立一个 common fund 方便之后旅途付钱。 而在 briefing of next day shopping plan 后， 结束这一晚的曼谷之夜。

23-7-08

waited for 2 months.. my bangkok trip finally gg to arrive in 2 days time, but the mixed feeling is weird, i'm not really excited as before. Not sure wat's the feeling also, anyway, wish us ve a happy journey and everything safe and sound. =)

Ok, i ve a to-watch list movies...
a) the dark knight
b) journey to the centre of the earth
c) red cliff
d)hellboy II
e) drama-- forensic heroes II

not sure wat else. Even though i'm vy free at home, but i didn't update these movies as frequent as i'm in sg, maybe in sg no one control me whether wanna watch or not, and there is so much easier to get free movies thro sharescan and tudou. So, i ve a list of activities after this. Kinda think of getting part time job.. no$$ =(

This week is a busy week... Sat accompany my dad back to muar, 1 great thing is i didn't get bite by mosquitoes and all those bed bugs... 谢天谢地. i dunno wat's wrong, maybe a bad impression on someone ll really make me feel dull of this place, my dad's hometown. I dunwan to face that gambler uncle, dunwan to face those cousins that i think.. emm.. hypocrite? dunno, too many family arguments from my father's side. hope they just dun bother us enuf.

and monday out sg to meet cs and his family. carried around 10 kg of rambutan and duku langsat out.. shit, it's really really vy heavy and my shoulder, body aching until now. a good lesson not to act so strong next time.

Free

I'm so free... so free until i ran throught my whole study room, dig out my long time collection... AND THEN.. i found my long lost stamp book!! =).. Actually, it is always there, is just i didn't bother to look for it...

I was so surprise that actually i got a great collection of stamps... I mean, not only Msia punya, wonder where i got those China, Australia, Japan, Magyar posta? and many more.. somemore vy beautiful... maybe one of these is a rare stamp that only a tiny bit of ppl in the world ve.. and I'm one of these?.... (just dreaming)

Wonder anyone still collect stamp nowadays. act this is a vy good hobby, and is a memoir for a certain significant event.

a snapshot of part of my collection!

Last time, Msia punya stamp vy nice, unique n beautiful leh.. wonder wat happen today.. political in chaos, economic in chaos, social in chaos, even stamp development.. sien dao!!