10 Things I Learn About Thailand

01. It's the land of the colourful toyotas.
02. Tuk-tuk rides are similar to our old mini bus that were demolished.
03. Their love and respect for their King puts us all to shame. Wear yellow every Monday to declare their loyalty and actually stand still when the national anthem is played.
04. Just like Malaysians, Pan-Asian look is their ultimate goddess look.
05. They are sugar freaks. Everything is meant to be sweet.
06. Not everyone will greet you Sawadeeka.
07. They are very religious. Majority will pray before they begin work.
08. Their traffic jam is 10 times worse than KL.
09. It's a shopping heaven for tourists unless you're super kiamsiap like me.
10. If you've not tried Thai massage, you're missing out a lot. hehe

More shopping!

I met Jun at MBK after the tour while koala bear headed back to the hotel to rest. MBK is big, basically reminded me of Sg Wang. Not sure whether it was me or that my sis' size of judgement is very out, it's probably slightly bigger than Mid Valley. According to my sis, she said it's 4 times of Mid Valley. Ya right..

I got a bag for 200 bath, the same one from Chatuchak which I decided not to get because they didn't have a mirror. I bought a white one actually. Thought to match my white sun dress I got from the market. Jun and I decided to have a break. I think we were super worned out by all the walking. She needed her bean fix and I so needed a drink. Was dehydrating fast.



After the break we basically walked round and round. I nearly bought a watch but the girl was so rude I decided not to get anything. And then Jun nearly gotten an immitation Samsonite luggage bag but because he didn't give us a good price we decided to go. Ha! We're really kiamsiap. haha! I bought one small lighter for koala bear. Would have gotten him something else but he already have basically everything. Oh well.. it was just a thought and thoughts are suppose to count!

Grand Tour with Koala Bear

After brekkie Jun headed off to meet her Thai colleague while koala bear brought me to see the Grand Palace that was basically a wee bit far off from the hotel. We took a cab which cost us around 70 baht. During the ride, we passed by buildings that reminded me of Ipoh old town. Except every sign board is in Thai. I wondered how they read their language. It looked so complicated. Am glad koala bear was with me. At least he spoke Thai. He told me that in certain countries, a man has to enter a car before a woman. I asked why. He said so to protect the woman from being driven off immediately. So each time we enter the cab, he enters first. Not sure whether it was a koala bear trick. haha!

The journey to the palace took about 40 minutes. Mostly due to the jam, which is another factor I realized about Thailand. The jam is horrible. I rather walk. Even a tuk tuk is not worth it. I did find out that they have motorbike taxi available. Apparently you just flag one down and pay them a sum to bring you to your destination. Usually a short one that requires them to drive you down the street or something. I didn't dare try though I saw one gwailo riding on one. Pretty cool but can be pretty scary for a girl.

So here I am at the entrance of the Grand Palace and the Temple of The Emerald Buddha. You pay 20 baht to enter and the place was swamped with tourists and locals as well. I wondered what was the fascination until I realized the locals were there to pray at the temple itself.

Some of the pictures I captured at the place. The area from outside looked big but we only covered a small area since majority of the place was closed up.


Here is the Grand Palace. Guarded by a skinny guard. A car actually came out of the gates. We were not allowed in but as you can see from the picture it really looked like it has british influences on its architecture doesn't it? The compound surrounding was huge and am wondering whether the guard can actually protect the king if anything were to happen.


Koala bear needed his ciggie break. Took this picture while he overlooked the musuem. We didn't go in though. Not very interested in articles such as that and we were both tired. Then some tourists passed us and I took one picture of a couple. I wonder whether he realize the statue outside the musuem was more chinese influenced than thai. Ahh... gwailos.

Nation of the sweet tooth

I think I was born in the wrong country. I grew up pratically soaked in sweets and sugar. I should have been born in Thailand. Everything here is sweet. I think they over produced sugar. I suspect bah. Jun and I woke up early to eat an american breakfast koala bear told us about the night before. He said it was nearby around our hotel. Jun needed her bean fix while I thought a good scramble eggs and sausages would do me good.

We found the sidewalk cafe. Surrounded by a morning market, situated just opposite a 2 storey shopping mall. Outside the cafe, we could find locals selling fruits, food and coffee. I went over to have a look at the small mall while Jun waited for our breakfast to come. Nothing much to see. Chatuchak was much better. The fashion at the mall was pretty much repeatition.

Anyhow, back to my brekkie. Jun's plate wasn't enough for her so she went out to get the sugar toast we saw when we were looking for the cafe. It's basically a loaf of bread but toasted with sugar. Then my brekkie came. The tea was normal. The sausages were good. The ham was OK. The eggs... aiseh... like eating a lump of yellow sugar. Blek! Should have taken a picture.

You know how in KL when you order food, they will automatically give you chili? As in KK, they will automatically give you ketchup and you have to ask for chilli. In Thailand, you automatically get a jar of sugar accompanying your every meal. Weird especially when you didn't order drinks. ha!

Thai Jagung!

Yes yes. I must satisfy my corn fetish. XP Jun helped me capture this moment while the locals stared on. They must be thinking we're nuts. But seriously... their jagung was huge! They don't put butter nor salt though. Guess how much they cost? RM1! I love Thailand! HAHA The whole street was basically packed with people waitng for the bus and stalls were lined along selling food. We saw a lot of satay, corn, peanuts and most of all fruits which was darn cheap! Really really cheap food. You definitely won't go hungry in Thailand.

Massage... here please... yes, there also.

Thai massage!!!!
The best thing about staying near these massage places is that you can go there and have a great time and then go back to the hotel to sleep immediately. This is my first experience with Thai massage and it was both ticklish, weird and soothing all at the same time. Some parts hurt though. Probably because my legs were super sore. Here you can see my koala bear, myself and Jun sitting in a row being pampered.

Jun burst into giggles or shouted practically every 5 minutes. OK.. maybe more HAHA It was so funny to see her reaction. I think anyone wants to torture her can pretty much tickle her to death. She's an easy prey.
My massuere wasn't that great but the shoulder and back massage was pretty good. So who cares. It was just timely after a long tiring walk at Chatuchak and a great way for koala bear to relax since he didn't have a good night's sleep the night before.

After a few minutes, I heard a soft snore. I signalled for Jun to hear it but she couldn't. Actually the massueres were already laughing. It was only after a while when the snores got louder that Jun and I laughed. Koala bear was practically snoring away! HAHA! It was so funny to hear him.

Cha cha Chatuchak!

Weekend market! This is the highlight of my trip. Practically! It's a shopping haven but be prepared to be soaked in sweat and expect your feet to wobble by the time you're done. Jun and I took the skytrain straight to Mochit station where we're greeted by throngs after throngs of tourists looking for a bargain and locals selling things. It's nothing but shopping and selling all round.

It's very similar to Petaling Street except it's bigger, longer, packed to the brim and basically cheaper. My sis prep me earlier on, saying that the entire market is separated into four main section: food, clothes, army and pets. We headed straight to the clothes section. Initially walking in, it actually looks like the Philipino Market in KK but as we went in deeper, I realized I was in a maze. I saw many things I liked but decided not to buy too many so to check out other things. Big mistake. I never saw some of the things I like anywhere else and by the time it was time to go, the market was closing and Jun and I practially couldn't feel our legs. So sad!

But I did get great bargains there! I love my new yellow bag. And my belts! Love them too much! haha!


Jun is a fierce bargainer. She's basically the bad cop and I'm the good one. I suck at bargaining. My sis is great. When it comes to her, she's the one that chops off their heads instead of the other way around. Darn I should learn that skill. It makes me feel bad when they say they won't be able to eat! haha!


Then as we were walking back to BTS, we kinda got lost so we stopped to ask a guard that was standing nearby. After getting directions, we turned around to head towards the skytrain. That's when we noticed something odd. Everyone was standing... very very still. Jun and I looked at each other and laugh wondering what was happening because it looked so weird... scary even. We managed to attract enough annoyed stares to keep quiet. After a while we realized why. Their national anthem was playing softly from one speaker nearby. My gawd... they are darn patriotic! It was funny yet heart warming to actually see them stand up. Reminded me when I was in school where we were made to stand when our national anthem played. I even got wicked school teachers that took a player to the canteen, played the anthem to see whether we stood or ignored it. Yes... wicked people. But that is Thailand. They love their country and they love their king even more. His picture is plastered bascially everywhere. Long live the king!

A place to lay our heads...

Grand Watergate Hotel is not bad. It's new which makes it clean. You can practically smell the furniture everytime you enter the room. We booked our place over the internet which is basically RM55 per night whether it be single or double. Amazing treat since we really got it cheap, clean and nearby shopping area. It's about 20 minutes walk to BTS but just probably 5 minutes walk to food, stalls, markets and Platinum Fashion Mall. Just outside, there are a few massage salons. Bliss. What more can you ask for after a tired day of shopping? hehe

Tuk-Tuk virgin no more!

I had my first ride on their famous tuk-tuk!
It was hillarious, not to mention smelly, bumpy and simply one hell of a ride. Not sure whether it's the normal way of driving but it was certainly an experience. The roof was basically slanting down which made it difficult to see the surrounding. Unless we turn around which is what I did. I waved to everyone at the back and I'm guessing that it's obvious that I'm a tourist. haha! So most of the time, I only get to see two faces, Jun's and my koala bear guide. Ok in this picture it's a partial koala bear.

Sawadeeka!

Over the past week, I heard Bangkok calling my name and I wandered into freedom.

That is what Thailand means. Land of the Free.
I found out from my koala bear guide that it's because Thailand was never occupied by a foreign ruler.

Overly excited and armed with two co-wanderers, I basically discovered Bangkok for the first time over the weekend. Ya I know... it's about time! The week before at work was crazy and this is a golden opportunity to simply have a blast.