BangKok Trip - 15th Dec to 21st Dec

a new blogskin to welcome the new year. haha... very blueeeee~.... never tried this color b4.. hence decided to give it a try. lol ...

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been 2 wks since im back. a good time to blog on the Bangkok trip. it's gonna be a super long post since im going to write all in one post. many pics too. took me a long time to get them all uploaded. ok.. here goes..

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i started planning the trip back in sep or oct. then was waiting and waiting for jetstar to come up with promotions. went to travel agencies as well.. but the packages were really ex. it's sooo much cheaper travelling on budget air and booking accomodation myself. and the booking of the tix was a long process too. we actually book a few times but after the grace period of 2 days, we forgo the bookings. i think we booked 3 times but in the end gave up.. i wonder if we were being blacklisted by Jetstar. i kept having the feeling tt there will be a dip in price soon and hence continued waiting until in nov, i finally decided to go ahead and book and not wait anymore. in the end, the price we got is slightly higher than the ones we forgone. so much for waiting ya? and there were other prob as well la.. like unable to take leaves on the days i want etc. all those cause the booking procedures to be super tedious. every day have to monitor the various budget airlines to see if there r promotions.. i actually wanted to give up.. but tot it's a gd time to travel. so went ahead lor. and... i actually wanted to go taipei again de, but then the tix were really ex.. and tt's y chose bangkok instead.

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on the day of travel - 15th dec 2007.. it was soo terrible. we were supposed to meet at 2.30pm but in between, there were so many hiccups tt we only managed to meet at abt 4pm. the flight was like 5.45pm and at 4pm, the boy juz reached my hse in cab. wad the... there was a super big rain and stuff.. and everything got delayed. the next bad news was, when we chk in, we were told tt we were the last few to chk in and tt there were no more seats tt r together, which means we will have to sit separately! i was damnnnn pissed with tt boy!!! all cause of him being late !! then i started throwing tantrum and stuff and tt was when i felt tt the whole trip's an omen and a big flop!

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lucky for us, the guy who was supposed to sit beside hubb wanted to change place with me, cause im sitting with 2 of his frens and in the end, the guy ended up with his frens and i ended up with hubb. i was still rather upset... but after a while.. i got ok. but i kept having a v bad feeling as if all those hiccups were warning us to avoid this trip. weird huh.

~on the airplane, after i cooled down~

~no hot meals for flights < 3hrs. but this sandwich is yummy too~

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finally reached the Bangkok's international airport - Suvarnabhumi Airport. it's a new airport and v nice.. comparable to our Changi Airport.

and there, after a few steps, i saw this v big signboard..

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hiak hiak hiak..i must say..im quite proud abt it.. as told by my head, one can expect to see quite a number of UOB branches in BK and tt's true enuff. was wondering if i should go in and exchange money and request for better staff rate, but decided not to.
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by the time we reached, it's alr dark. though BK's one hr behind us, the sky's still the same. by 6+ it's already dark..took a cabby to our little cosy hotel. taxis in BK are really cheap. starting fare is abt $1.50 sing dollar. but must request to run on meter. but then again, we had bad experiences. though it's stated on the cab tt they r metered-taxis.. but the drivers refused to take us when we asked them if they r running on meter. can u imagine? a few of them in fact. all wanted to state price and not wanting to run on meter. how ironic. is there no law at all??
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pics of the hotel. it's a small little building at the end of an alley. think the location is quite ulu cuz a number of cab drivers werent too sure where the location is. hehe.. budget small hotel... cant expect too much. intially was really worried.. don know if the room comes with private bathrm or not. though sis and i called personally to ask b4 and they sd bathrm are attached, but im still worried. but my worries prove to be unduly. it's a gd place. cheap and good :) only thing tt i dont like is tt there are no windows in the room. dont even know if it's day or night or how the weather was..

~ me blogging~

~ our breakfast everyday. can choose the way the eggs are cooked with bacon or ham or sausages. then 2 toasts, coffee or tea an jam and butter. yum yum~
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train facilities r almost the same as singapore's juz tt their trains are much shorter. the train station tt was nearest to us was Thong Lor. abt 10 mins walk. Thong Lor is one of the last few stations on the line le. abt 5-6 stations away frm the central stations.

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but actually, the cost of travelling by cab is almost the same as travelling by mrt. as i said, cab there is really cheap. but the jam... it's really terrible. hence, maybe mrt is still better. don have to waste so much time waiting for the jam.

~weather was super sunny everyday. lucky no rain at all~

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for food, we ate mostly at the foodcourts, restaurants or the eateries. did not try much of the roadside stalls cuz tt boy is soooo afraid. he's got a weak stomach and dont really dare to eat the roadside stalls. actually i don mind eating but it cannot be denied tt the hygiene level is a question mark. the air is v polluted and the food are all exposed to the air. the raw meat and seafood are placed on top-up of crushed ice and if u want to eat, they'll cook frm there. vehicles are juz running beside the stalls.... so actually, im quite scared also. haha..

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one of the most yummy food we ate...

it's crepes !!.. but the skin is not the crispy kind. the skin is soft and chewy and v yummy. rite in the middle there's a piece of choco cake. then got banana and cream and fudge. many other varieties also..but we did not have the chance to try out le.

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also went to watch the ladies boy show. ... don be surprised by wad u see...

~kao.. even smaller size than me! maybe tt's y wanna be a gal.. abit too small size for a guy... ~

~me and the one 1 tot is most beatiful. tot she looks abit like jacelyn tay and abit like fiona xie. but on pic she's not as pretty lei.. ~

~tt boy and the one he tot is most pretty.. win liao lorr..even put up the same hand sign lorr... ~

~the most comical performer~

~this one is a guy.... but dont know isit pure guy or something else.... ~

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beautiful, arent they? i wonder if they willingly wanna become ladies or they r forced by circumstances. once read in the papers abt a china lady boy. he said frm young, he had always wanted to be a woman.... hmm.. actually they do look like women... juz tt they r of bigger sizes.. and... provided they do not let their voices to be heard. their voices will give them off st. away. i wonder how come the voice cannot be changed. they can remove wad they originally have and implant wad they dont possess, so y cant the voice be changed then? and... frm a man, they can become beautiful ladies through sugeries and stuff. so for a woman to become a even more beautiful woman. tt should be v easy ya? money can really do all wonders.

tt's a tuk-tuk.. the driver will state a price.. no running on meter. eh... actually it's quite dangerous to travel on a tuk-tuk. the drivers will go on real high speed and will try to meander their way thru the heavy traffic. and the gas they give off is really alot..

we only tried the tuk-tuk once.. witnessed a tuk-tuk accident and we dared not try again. somemore, not convenient to take a tuk-tuk when wearing skirt...

~chatuchak wkend market~

the markets and bazzares are somewat like our pasar malam juz of a much bigger scale. esp the chatuchak wkend market. so many things r being sold. generally the things at the mkt are cheap but gotta slash their prices la. i don exactly like tt cuz bargaining is not my forte.. had a number of bad experiences b4.. the vendors got really unhappy with the prices i suggested.. haii... another interesting market we went to was the Pratunam market. something like Bugis...

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now compare the shopping centres...

~the xmas decorations... made frm choco and candy~

~super biggggggggggg bear!~

~kenna trapped by octopus!!!!!!! help!!!!!~

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there's this underwater world inside the shopping centre. can even try out diving. but v ex la. we only watched a 4-d movie, tt's all.

their shopping centres are as good as ours or perhaps even more posh and bigger than ours. they can even afford a big space to juz showroom a sports car. each car is enclosed in one showroom. they really have alot of spaces to spare. but things at shopping centres are juz ex la. mostly the branded shops and whichever country u go to, branded r branded and the prices are all the same. so ... dont waste time shopping in shopping centres.

haha... something which i 不舍得 eat in singapore. always wanted to eat but tot it's too ex.. finally got to try it in BK. tot will be cheaper, but then, like wad i say.. branded r branded... it's juz as ex in BK~ (-_-") .. and actually, also not all tt delicious la.

~super big doggie... looks like those balloon dogs~

~the boy... with his superrrrr sianz face whenever he cannot take my shopping power~


~we and our new tee shirts~

~an outfit tt i super like. the skirt is 100bhat which is = $4.35 sgd. wahhaaha... the top cant rem how much liao, but also super cheap de la~

~shopping centres at nite~

next up is the safari world. something like our zoo but with elephants, dolphins shows etc. highly recommended by brother. he told us to look for tour agencies there to buy the tour package as the place's v far away. lucky for us, there was a tour desk inside our hotel. so we booked our tix for the safari world as well as the ladies boy show frm there. and yeah, it's a super far away place. not in Bangkok.. the journey took so long and when we rtn, there was a heavy jam (as usual!)... wasted quite abit of time on the journey..

~little souvniers we won playing the games. hubb won me the money with his gun shooting and i won him the red rhino with my flying darts. din know im soo good with darts.. i really do have a flair! ahhahaha... ~
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sitting on the bus and watching the wild life..... lucky we were in the bus.. bet it must stink like hell outside with soo many animals... opps... sorry..im never an animal person...

~the lioness.. look at their eyes.. ~

~tiger feeding~

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fierce and majestic as they looked...but i believed these animals have already lost their abilities to hunt. afterall, they are well-fed and well taken care of... no need to fend for themselves at all. i bet they cannot survive if they r put back to the really wild-life. so wad r human beings doing? on the surface, we r protecting these endangered species but in actual fact, we r depriving them of their innate abilities. even for human beings, i don believe in giving total protection. too protected will slowly eat our abilities to protect ourselves and hence, v hard to survive in this practical world.

~this bull... v camera sensitive.. got potential to be actor.. lol~

~my zodiac sign... is he looking at me?? or rather... staring at me? looks v fierce..~


~big bear taking a dip in the cool water.. the hot weather's unbearable huh~

~gorilla... it gave off a super bad breath when it yawned.. o man~

~cant rem wad this animal is called... tt stupid boy trying to tease the animal~

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the birds are allowed to fly high up in the sky. they are not enclosed in the cage or anything. was wondering how come they dont fly out of the safari. but then... 好吃好住... y would they want to fly away? isnt that the same as human beings? even though we know there mite be better places out there, but y risk? it's so comfy in the comfort zone.. y want to leave? hai.. again.. when things r too good and too protected, one will simply lost the 冒险精神 tt one should possess...

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ok.. some really interesting pics...

~v cute, ya?~

~observing the birds?~

~posing with the birds~

~and when they try to fly away~
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suprised y the birds will land on our hands? hahaa... actually gotta pay abit of money for the bird feed... then with the feed, of cuz the birds will come la.. lol ~ smart way to do business ya.

~placed some feed on my hat trying to attract the birds to my head but to no avail. boo~

~ look at that boy's expression.. he was really scare, wasnt he? the smile was like soo mian qiang la. he later explained tt his bro was hurt by a parrot b4 and hence he was soo scare... hmmm.... ~



~we and our pre-decessors~

~the red ah meng is really naughty and active. in comparison, the blue ah meng like sian sian like tt... and poor hubb's upper arm.. kenna stepped on by the ah meng!!! hahahahah... i had such a gd luff looking at the pics..~

~my new bf?~

~his new gf?~

~a real cub. hubb said he was actually v scare... tt boy... don know wad to say.... everything also scare... it's juz a cub lorr.. a real tame one lorr.. but then... it's really heavy. the person left the paw overlapping my hand and i can feel the strength of the cub. really heavy... ~


~give us some food~

~feeding the giraffes.. never knew tt their tongues are sooooo long... actually quite digusting cuz the saliva's very slimy and when u feed them, their tongues can happen to touch u. but fun la.. so close contact... never tried b4... ~


so much for the safari. the part i enjoyed most is the photo-takings. need to pay to take pics with the parrots, monkeys, and cub. but v cheap la, abt $2 sgd each pax ba. then the yellow birds and giraffes gotta buy feed, tt's all. v good and memorable experience.

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o... and besides the real animals.. there are fake animals too.. but look real too~
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~super big parrot??~

~eaten by a hippo~

doing some last min shopping. forgot to bring the v large pink bag tt i got frm HK.. in the end gotta spend money to buy another big bag to carry all the stuff back to s'pore. and of cuz.....

FINALLY BACK IN SINGAPORE!
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this Bangkok trip... really many hiccups. again, many disagreements and quarrels with tt boy. things r generally cheap there, but the air pollution and the heavy traffic is a real turnoff. during peak hours, traffic officers will come out and use whistles to direct traffic... mmm.... how come the dont wanna utilise traffic lights ne? and the markets and malls... closed quited early. abt 7pm they'll start to close le. i will recommend Platinum Mall.. it's a real nice place to shop. cheap stuff and no need to bargain at all cux no bargaining is allow. went there 2x and got lotsa stuff frm there.

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a small incident.. went to the chinatown in Bangkok. as wad hubb said, must visit the chinatowns in all countries. but tt place... really sickening. they sell many things there. was looking for shoes. went into many shops and the prices they quoted are like bloody low lorrr.. later when i finally settled on a pair, they said they do not sell 1 pair. minimum have to get 6 pairs cuz they r doing wholesale biz. was abit stunned at 1st but i don mind buying 6 pairs if there r good ones afterall they r really cheap. for me, sis, mum and soh-soh, 6 pairs? y not? and so i started choosing again. when i asked for the size, they said sizes 36-40 are available. then i asked for size 37... and then they told me, have to buy all the sizes for one design! diaoo... hubb doesnt believe lorr.. even bet with me tt it's not the case. after clarification with the tenant, it's really like tt lor!! they really mean wholesale lorr. if u want one design, u have to get all the sizes for tt design lorrr... how stunning rite? really wasted my time shopping there! felt so dumb!

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and.. not sure abt their funeral procession.. but saw a coffin laying rite in the middle of a shop.... think the family is staying upstairs....a few pple standing outside and a monk as well.. erm.. seeing the coffin in the shop gave me shivers...
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o.. and the thai massage.. tried 2 times. one time was foot massage and the 2nd time was oil massage. eh... nothing v impressive lei. not as comfy and shiok as i expected. and the oil massage... have to remove all clothings... arhh.. lucky the lady who did it for me was an old auntie.. for hubb, he got a lady as well.. hahha... cant imagine the embarassment. actually a bit scary la.. each of us went into a small room each.. then got mattress and pillow inside. but the mattress and pillow.. don know how many pple slept on them. so abit scare.. mmm..

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ok.. so much abt the trip and my experiences in BK. i will say, i still prefer HK and Taipei. ok.. now tt BK is off my list.. hopefully the next time i can travel to Japan or Korea. time to save money again!!!!! jiayou!!