Sunday, February 27, 2011

Day 2: Shopping, Eating & Clubbing ~

Weekend is for what? Weekend is for Chatuchak!!! 

We woke up really early in the morning cause we know we wont be able to withstand the BKK sun for a very long time.. But little did we expect it to start raining.. The first time I experienced rain in BKK.. Was quite worried the rain would spoil our shopping session...  

On the cab to shopping heaven Chatuchak.. 

It took us only 15 mins max to reach & cost 65 baht.. The rain has subsided when we reached Chatuchak but the floor is really wet.. Had to brave through puddles & puddles of water while looking for a place for our brekkie.. We decide to settle @ this small shop near the train station selling pork bee hoon & cai peng.. 

Total cost for 2 bowls & 2 iced tea = 100 baht!! ( The portion is just nice for me.. )

Whoohoo.. By the time, we finished our food.. The sun is out.. I quite like the weather cause it was really windy.. What a superb condition to shop @ Chatuchuk.. (If the floor is dry, it will be PERFECT!!)

On the way to get a map.. Can see quite a no of ppl around even though its only 10am BKK time.. 

One of the few entrance where you can get the map of the Chatuchak.. 

One of the small alleyway inside the huge shopping heaven.. 

We chanced upon this small eatery among all the shops selling clothes.. It seems a little out of place but who cares cause the Thai-style wanton mee looks really good.. We head inside without thinking twice.. It is one of the best decision we make that day... 
Dont be bluff & intimidated by the exterior of this shop.. 

We tried both the dry & soup version.. Both taste differently but equally good.. 


We move on to shop again but stop in front of another small shop selling dessert... Can you guess what we did? YES~~ we went in & started ordering.. haha.. 
Thai-style Chendol.. With only the green jelly & super sweet ( I told em to put less sugar already.)
Excited with his black jelly aka grass jelly ice with brown sugar.. 


Continued our shopping after this but I dun we wont be staying for long cause it's getting warmer & warmer.. 
Still feeling energetic after those shopping but.... someone is feeling otherwise....
Ok dear, another half an hour & we shall go back k??


I fulfilled my promise & left Chatuchuk after getting my last pair of shoes for my mum.. By the time, it is around 230pm BKK time.. We took a cab &  I got a chance to experience the BKK jam.. But this is all BECAUSE~~~~~
We were a little worried the moment we saw this.. But luckily nothing happened... 


Had a short rest @ our hotel before heading to the famous Erawan Temple.. On our way there, we saw alot of roadside store opening for business &  we were looking at the food others are eating.. hee.. We saw something interesting & just sat down..
The store that causes us to stop.. 
This is the reason why we sat down & order the food.. Or Jian that looks like Cai Tow Kuay.. 


We went to Platinum to exchange my dress & bought my contact lens.. Den we take a short evening walk along Central World to Erawan Temple.. Along the way, we saw alot of interesting things.. 
One of the Zi Char store along the way.. Looks yummy isnt it?

The section of Central World that got burnt during the protest last year.. 
The famous Erawan Temple..
It looks even nicer @ night.. 


It was my first time to give thanks to the god.. I totally do not know what to do except I want to employ dancers to dance for the god.. Luckily I met this really helpful Singaporean who was there to give thanks too.. He asked me to follow him & told me what should I do... 


We took a tuk-tuk back to our hotel.. Wanted to experience how it was like.. But i think its still cheaper to get a cab & easier too.. Cause u no need to haggle & such, more clear cut.. 
Our driver that claims the distance is really far & wanted to charge us more.. :P


We went for a massage in one of the parlour along the street towards our hotel.. Felt more refreshed after that.. Am glad we went for one cause we still have a long night ahead.. 
Well-prepared for the night out.. 


We took a cab to the Somboon seafood restaurant in Patpong.. Pls specify the place of the seafood restaurant cause normally the cab-driver will drive you to another Somboon (Somboon Dee) restaurant where the food is more expensive & according to my frenz, they receive comm from the restaurant when they bring ppl there to dine.. Our cab driver also took us to the wrong one..  
The food we had @ Somboon seafood.. Famous curry crab.. Apart from the curry crab, the other dishes were not as good as before.. 


We went to RCA after the meal.. I was abit skeptical cause it is a Sunday night.. I wonder will there be alot of ppl there.. But it turned out to be pretty good.. The crowd, the music & even the drks... I really enjoyed myself, esp after the super bad experience yesterday night.. :P
The party is starting..
Super cool photo.. 
Where is mine?? :(
Yeah!!
Finally, we stopped playing with the light.. :P
@ the outdoor area.. 
taking a break.. 


We went back around 130am.. Felt totally cheated by the cab driver yesterday cause he told us RCA closes at 1am.. What a lie.. Cause the place is super alive even on a Sunday night after 1am.. No signs of it closing at all!! Next time I will stay with my usual plan & not be swayed by cab driver anymore.. 



Monday, February 21, 2011

Land of thousand smiles

After 5 months of waiting after I first booked my ticket, the time has finally come!! Land of thousand smiles, how I miss you ever since a year ago.. 


Only manage to catch 2 hours of slp before waking up to go to the airport.. Was @ liyuan's place the previous night until 4am playing poker.. Shack!!


Though with just 2 hours of slp, we were happy to wake up early the next morning!! We reached the airport before 9am, wanted to have our brekkie there & shop inside the check-in area.. 


The usual on the taxi-to-the-airport shots & the huge indoor plants display inside T1.. 



After our sumptuous BK brekkie @ T2, ( i always dun rem there is a BK in T1), we took the sky train back to check-in.. By then, I can feel the Zzz monster attacking me.. :p




Shop around the DFS area & came across this shop selling watch.. I wanted to get a watch for my birthday, so we went there to take a look & I saw this really gorgeous watch.. I am a super troublesome woman, who is damn fickle-minded & duno what I want.. But when i saw this watch, I know I wanted it..  

Isn't it gorgeous?? 


We board the plane @ 11am.. Were the last few who board the plane even though the flight is @ 1130am.. Another usual on the plane photo shot..........


Was trying out my camera vivid function & was quite happy with what I had taken after the take-off.....
Nice color.. 


2 hours later, after taking a short POWER nap.. We reached the land of shopping!! I told myself prior to the trip that, unlike the other trips I had when I kept taking pictures, this will be one which I will just enjoy the moment..


The immigration was flooded with ppl from all over the world.. It was quite chaotic cause we did not know where to queue & such.. I guess at that point of time there were at least 2k tourists queuing @ the check-out area... Took almost 1 hours plus to get clearance & this is considered fast cause we manage to find a short queue @ the corner.... 


We took the City Rail to our hotel this time round to avoid the renowned BKK traffic..

Was quite happy with the new railway system... The coin-like thing on the top right is the token for the railway where you can get at the self-ticketing machine for 1x usage... As you can see on the bottom left, we are trying to locate our hotel @ the very last minute.. hehe.. 


Seems like last minute navigation is not our forte, cause we alight at the wrong station.. ( Or should I say I assume the hotel is near the last station of the City Rail line..Cause I heard from Micho its near the train station.. ) Well, it's near the train station but its @ the last 2nd stop instead!!


We lug our lugguage through the busy streets of Pratunam, trying to find the exact location of the hotel by asking the locals, trying to make em understand us etc.. It was really an adventure... haha.. I quite enjoyed it......... Did I mention, I was being mistaken as a local when I was trying to ask for the directions?!?


Finally, after walking one BIG round, we manage to find our hotel!! Felt really elated cause the lugguage is starting to weigh on me.... We stayed @ Tango Vibrant.. Quite a small but really nice hotel.. I totally love the location, just 10 mins walk away from the famous (among the gals) & infamous (among the guys) Platinum shopping Mall.. Along the way, there are alot of Thai massage parlour where you can relax after 1 full day of shopping.. 


We went to Platinum Mall after bathing & resting for half an hour.. I need to get some clothes for the night cause I only brought 2 set of clothes for the trip.. 1 for slping & the other for Chatukchap shopping spree!! hehe.. 


Me & benny decide to meet in the main lobby of the mall an hour later.. Guess its easier & more comfortable for each other this way.. But I din realise there are 2 main lobby!! Luckily, he came to look for me after 10 min past the agreed time @ the other lobby.. :P


We went back to the hotel & prepared for the night out.. Went to the famous chicken rice store across the street of Platinum Mall.. It was featured on the Channel 8 show.. 



First time I see chicken rice with pig's blood.. How I miss it.. 
We ordered half chicken & realised that it is too much for 2 pax.. In the end, both of us din finished our rice.. ( Personally, I still prefer the texture of the chicken & the fragrance of the Chicken rice in S'pore.. :P) 


After dinner, we took a cab to Pleonchit BTS station where Benny went last year to custom-made his shirt.. Well, we got the place name mixed up.. Its more of near to NaNa BTS station.. We took a slow walk over to the actual place.. By the time we reached, most of the shops are preparing to close.. In the end, we went back to the one he made @ last year.. ( which turns out to be a wrong decision..) 


We took a cab to Ekamai.. Both Seb & Mau told me it is a superb clubbing street with lotsa fantastic clubs around.. But when we were driving along the street, it was no where near what they described... I din see any interesting clubs @ all.. Wanted to go to RCA but was told by the cab driver that it closed @ 1am.. (WHICH IS A LIE!!) 


He recommended us to go to this club called BOSSY which closed at 6am & according to him, quite hip among the university students (ANOTHER LIE!!) So we went there & was totally turned off by it... It is nothing like any clubs along RCA.. Words cannot described how CUI the place is..... I finished my bottle of beer in the fastest time ever & left the place within 10-15 mins... Thinking back now, it was like another adventure of the trip.. 


We decide to go back to the hotel & turn in early for the night to make up for the previous night & in preparation for the Chatukchap mission the next day.. :) 

Sunday, February 20, 2011

I love my weekend..

Had a new haircut yesterday.. In fact we did quite a no of things yesterday, probably because of the early night in the previous night..



Went for dinner on Fri @ Les Bouchons for a mini celebration cause my of work review.. 




The decor for the restaurant.. 

The alfresco area was fully booked when we reached.. Only manage to get the seats inside.. :( 

Some camwhoring shots before our food arrived.. :P

Us wearing our loots from the BKK trip.. 

Some bread to start while waiting for our entree & main course.. 

Garlic Escargot.. Different from those we had before cause this is without the shell.. Much easier to eat & more flavourful.. Goes well with the bread earlier on.. 


 Garden Salad, need something refreshing before having the hearty main course.. 


 Condiments that goes well with the steak.. I love the wasabi mustard & the horse radish.. 

The ribeye is really huge.. This photo is not doing justice to it.. 


Took a short walk around robertson quay after our dinner before heading back to his place & retire for the night.. 




Woke up around 10 the next day & went to West Coast plaza to buy some skin product from Niks.. It's been more den 2 months since I last went there.. Just went there to get my medicine & din go for the consultation.. Had a casual lunch there before heading back to my place to get my passport.. 



The main purpose to JB is to get our car car polished & waxed.. I cant rem when is the last time we went for a car wash.. Wanted to try the one below city square but the rates is really high.. Since i had to wait 2 hours for my hairstylist, we decide to go to the street along New York Hotel where Benny read from a forum, has all the car wash shops...





It was raining very heavily when we were making our way there.. Went to a well renovated shop only to find out it is even more expensive than the on at City Square.. I think the both of us look like a carrot to them.. :( We decide to try our luck & went to another 'shop'.. Technically, it is not a shop cause they only have this tin sheets covering the empty space next to a soft drinks manufacturing company.. After negotiating the price, we decide to just stay there.. 




We stayed there throughout the 'makeover' session  for our car cause it was raining.. I mus say that they were really meticulous in their service.. I dun think its because we were there cause there was another car with the owner no where to be seen & the treatment given was the same as ours... ( For those who want to go, the place is just diagonally across New York Hotel entrance and opposite this disco lookalike building.. )




We were super happy after seeing the transformation of our car car.. The feeling is the same as when we first collected our car car.. hehe.. 




Went back to City Square for my haircut.. Decide to cut my fringe & try out the bangs once again.. Benny said I look like a doggie when I am done with my haircut.. ( Is this a compliment?!?)