Day 1 - monday, 10th dec
woke up at an unearthly hour of 4 in the morning. i had slept at about 12 plus that very same morning, thus i was rather sleepy. my parents did the last minute packing and then we went down to board the taxi which my father had booked. when we reached the airport, we checked and then ate breakfast at the staff canteen.
at 7, the gate was opened, whilst waiting for the plane, i blogged a little and viewed a little of the ks camp photos. (man! im too detailed) afterwhich it was time to board the plane. so we flew to thailand.
reached Suvarnabhumi Bangkok Airport at around 9.30. then we met uncle william who then brought aunty sally and phoebe to meet us. we were very happy because we had a family for company, btw uncle william's family is in the same bs group as my family, so we are quite close. :) then we were not sure of what to do, to sign up for a tour or just follow the itinerary which my father had come up with. but in the end, the men of the group decided to have a guide to bring us through some place of thailand. so they signed up. at the counter, we were informed that our guide was called nancy. and that she could speak english. then uncle william asked the receptionist whether nancy was a man or woman. lol! what a thng to ask. then the receptionist said in a very affable tone, " it's ms nancy, not mr nancy!" lol! all of us laughed like mad. so it was settled that we would go to our hotels to leave our luggage with the concierge and then nancy would meet us at our hotels at 11, bangkok time. (btw bangkok time is 1 hour behind singapore's) my famiily's hotel was baiyoke boutique and uncle william's was first hotel. both in the prat tu nam area, so it was rather convinient to meet up.
so nancy came at 11, she's a little plumb and is a wee bit shorter than me. and she's absolutely cute when she starts talking! :) haha. then we hopped into a minivan and we were going to the grand palace first. nancy told us of we came to bangkok but not the grand palace, it was as good as not coming to bangkok, i guess it's because of how significant the grand palace is in bangkok. i actually had some hicup with my 3 quater pants because to enter the palace, visitors had to wear very modest clothes. u must know that i dont owned a pair of fitting pants so i was wear a 3 quart that was a little big for me, but it was still not sufficient. but in the end i manged to enter without any problems.
the first place that we visited was the temple of emerald buddha(if im not wrong about the name.). it was quite interesting becuase the buddha had different outfits for the different thai seasons: summer, rainy and winter. im not sure about the winter part but maybe it's when thailand is at its coldest. then we walked around in the vicinty, with nancy telling us a lot about the thai culture and folklores. learnt about king chulalongkorn being the first thai king to go to europe and how he brought back some of the western architesture which is evident in some of the buildings he built. so we toured the area, to be frank, i didnt quite appreciate this tour, apart from the educational values, there was the hot sun pouring down on us and there was lots of walking to do.
after that we went to three places, namely 2 jewelry factories and a textile shop. in the first jewelry factory, i realised that carving the shapes for the diamonds and the precious stone were no easy task, furthermore, it really reminded of dnt, only that the workers used really complexed machines and tools this time. then we went to the shop which is conjoined to the factory. there the salespeople kept bugging us to purchase some jewelry. the cheapest a saw was a ring which cost 14,000 baht and the most expensive, was a delicate bangle with an intricate design which was full of precious stones. it's worth a whooping 914,600 baht, i mean just for a bangle... that's eqiuvalent to S$45, 730. crap!
the second jewelry factory was about the same. lastly, we went to a textile shop. i was looking around in the souvenir shop and wasnt bothered about the textiles. then we bade nancy goodbye and then we headed for platinum fashion mall to shop and have dinner. i ate a very nice tom yum seafood soup with rice there, though it was quite spicy, it tasted like an instant noodle soup, however more authentic. julia(my sec sis) requested for the mango sticky rice. it was very delicious because the mango was so sweet! then i ordered a corn and raisin crepe and julia ordered a banana and chocolate flavoured one. it was very shiok. thai's are really creative and they have amazing food. after dinner, uncle william's family decided to return to their hotel to retire, it was still quite early, about 7 pm. so my family shopped for around 2 hs. then we went back to our hotel.
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Day 2 - tuesday, 11th dec
rise n shine at 6.30. went to the hotel restaurant for buffet breakfast. the meatball beehoon were fabulous. i think could have survive on that only for breakfast. the soup has a really unique taste which i add in condiments lemon juice and light soya sauce. and the beehoon is really special, it has this very very chewy texture, not like the normal beehoon. im sure we dont have it here in singapore so i will miss it!
after breakfast, went down to the lobby to meet nancy and uncle william family and then we went by minivan to the floating market which was around an hour and a half from bangkok. there, the prices of items were exorbitant, so bargaining was a must. and there were a lot of stall selling repetitive items so it was very tricky when it came to buying items, as we did not noe when another stall would offer a lower price. bought some stuff for friends yeah and i was holding the cam so i took alot of pics, but i shall put up only selected pics cos there are too many. after the cruising down the river for a hour, we had bought quite a number of things and were quite satisfied. i learnt some bargaining skills by observing aunty sally and i have come to a conclusion after this trip to floating market : that women are good at bargaining, men are too ready to offer a high price for something not worth that much, because they think that the price they offered is very low but it is not the case! so men should leave women to do the bargaining and the paying! mom bought 3 kg worth of cikus. and they cost S$5 altogether, so unbelievable!!!!!!
next,we headed to the teak museum, there we were enchanted by the great pieces of work done by the thai workers there. u should see the photos later. especially the table top which had convoluted designs. uncle william jokingly said that if he bought the table for bible study, people would be studying the carvings instead. it was truly amazing! there we also took many photos and marveled at the crafts.
next we went to the rose garden. this place is not as its name suggest, instead it offers a cultural show and an elephant show enough to last u for at least 2.5hs. first, we went for the elephant ride. i paired up with julia, mom with dad, and christine with phoebe. the ride was very shaky and wobbly. the elephants passed motion anywhere. lol so it was also an almost stinky ride. and er jie was so scared that she was clinging onto me for almost the whole journey! and i was calm! :) but to be frank i was afriad that the seat wasnt fastened securely enough.then we went to watch the cultural show. we learnt more about the everyday lives of thai villagers. and about the famous muay thai and the planting of their rice seed. it was thoroughly enjoyable.
on the way back, we were deciding where to go the next day. and nancy recommended the safari world, she said that according to another singaporean customer of hers, this safari is better than singapore's. after a moment of discussion, our group decided to go to the safari world, and that nancy would bring us there too. so one more day with nancy! :) lol.
then nancy dropped us off at chinatown for us to tour. as we walked around, there were many chestnut stalls! and i bought a box of 500g, it was super uber delicious, so sad that singapore doesnt have chestnut stalls along the streets anymore. :( later on, we ate our dinner, i ate chicken rice and some seafood. the food was fab and it was really cool to watch the cook fry the food in a wok. the flames would go up to a metre's high. and because i was sitting very near, i could feel the heat every time there was a burst of flames. the parents were mentioning that this place reminded them so much of the past singapore, where there were street hawkers and just nearby there was an open air cinema which was even more befitting the past of singapore. i could watch the show from where i was. the place was very vibrant, eventhough there were ocassions when a kid or two would come up to us to stand next to us, they were beggars and where hoping that we would give them some money. however no one from my group gave them money, i saw a kind hearted lady on the next table giving a boy some money, probably out of pity.
after dinner, we walked around to shop for some chinese goodies as the prices there were quite low. after everyone was tired, we stopped by a bird nest shop and savoured some of the authentic bird nest desserts. then we were wondering what to do, and someone suggested that we could go for a foot massage. so everyone said okay! it was exciting as it was the first time I was going for feet massage. :) yup so we settled down in one shop and there we had feet massage and at the same time we could watch the singapore vs thailand football match. when I came into the shop, the score was quite depressing, it was 1-0 to thailand’s favour. as u noe im a team singapore enthusiast. yeah. then will they were soaking our feet in water as part of the preparation, thailand scored again and I was very unhappy! then aunty sally started to bargain with the shop keeper, the price of the massage was 150 baht, she talked in a very cute tone, “boss, thailand 3(shows 3 fingers) singapore 0, 100 baht! 100 baht!” she said in such a way that everyone started to guffaw, even the masseuse who were foreign to english giggled too. and the boss went no la, no la! (not the same as the singlish ‘lah’) lol. yeah so we watched on and the third goal really came on, it was as though we could foretell the future, but the boss was still reluctant to reduce the price so we stuck to the original. but S$7.50 is worth it for the massage actually. :) after that my feet were no longer that tired and I was rather refreshed. then we parted ways to return to our hotels to have a good night’s sleep before the long day the next day.
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day 3 – wednesday,12th dec
woke up at 7.15am. ate breakfast, the same food, u noe.. yep then met nancy at the hotel lobby, she was early as usual and was talking to my mom, probably adults talk. i was mopping around in the lobby with jules. then the minivan came at 8 and we hopped in. the safari world was about 1h from bangkok. when we reached, nancy got us out prepaid tickets and then the minivan drove into the vehicle-accessible safari. it was really cool because we could come really close to the savannian(my adj of the animals in the savannah, it isn’t in the dictionary though) animals, but we couldn’t get out of the van if not it would be dangerous. the first animal to greet us was the ostriches, one ostrich, im not sure whether to describe it as friendly or otherwise because it came pecking at our glass window on my side some more, maybe it was saying hello or maybe it was saying, “ welcome to the wild! but actually u are not welcomed into my territory! so im here to peck u off!” (i’ve just realized that is actually a pun!)
then we drove on, taking many pictures of the animal up closed. it was a very beautiful sight to see the animals in their candid moments. after making one round, we went to the wild cats area. there were where the tigers and lions were situated. we we not permitted to wind our windows down for safety’s sake. the tigers were very beautiful although most of them were resting under a tree. next we viewed the lions, they were extremely majestic and carried an air of mightiness. even as we approached, the lioness stared the roar, so loudly that the van shook a little. little did we know it was lunch time for them, so there were hungry and were wondering where their food was. soon the ranger came up from behind us and fed them food. i shall not go into detail how the lions so eagerly ate the food but see the picture below. it was scary!
after the seeing the wild cats, we went into the park itself. there, we had 5 shows to watch. the first was the orong utan boxing show. my group was a little late for the show so we missed quite a bit. but it was really hilarious. the orang utans were depicting how humans thai boxed. and they really succeeded in making all the spectators laugh.
after that was the sea lion show. it was very enjoyable watching the sea lions balance the ball. this show is quite similar to singapore's but i felt this one had a great impact.
the following show was the cowboy stunt show. the props were very real and the actors were very good. though i would have give it an m18 for all the violence displayed, it was very enjoyable to watch the actors immerse in their roles. they did extremely well in making us laugh too.
after the show, we went to eat buffet lunch, thanks nancy for reserving the table, or rather it came with the packaging. there was quite a variety of the dishes offered. and the chicken curry was ichiban! the nicest i have tried, though it accumulatively spicy towards the end. the also provided grass jelly for dessert, which was very colling and essential for tourist who would be walking under the sun for a few hours.
the third show we watched was the dolphin and beluga whale. the mammals were extremely intelligent when it came to performing tricks, they could jump out of the water to touch a ball suspending about 5 metres above the water. very strong animals i must say. they also could swing the hula hoop around their snout. they are truly very talented!
then it was time for the spy war show. which is the thai version of james bond acted out. i didnt quite enjoy this as there was quite a number of thai dialogue and of course the ear threatening explosions.
last of all, there was the elephant show. the elephant showed off their talents, one of which was performance as an ensemble. there was also the last pary of two elephant taken part in a penalty shootout. it was a very interesting show. my conclusion for the showa: the thais are very creative when it comes to entertaining people!
after the show, all of us headed for the giraffe feeding area. there, we purchased a basket of fruits for 40 baht to feed the giraffes. it was a very good experience! i thoroughly enjoyed myself by feeding those gentle and lovable creatures. i tried touching their heads but they were rather shy and backed off.
finally, it was time to bade the park goodbye, we took a few last photos with nancy as it would be her last time with us. i will miss her quite. :)
for dinner, nancy dropped us at sum lum night market. she had said earlier that it had over 3000 shops, i hope i heard correctly. i ate chicken(again) with rice. it is not that im an avid fan of chicken but to me, the other food werent very appealing. after dinner, we went to walk around the shops. the was great variety, i bought some things and so did my sisters. soon we were tired and went back to our hotel to rest.
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day 4 - thursday, 13th dec.
woke up at later then usaul at 9 since there was no official schedule. ate the same thing for breakfast, which is… (say it together!) meatball beehoon. u’re so smart, u knew! was sad that i wouldn't be able to have it anymore in singapore. when we went down, we met uncle william, aunty sally and pheobe. while the adults were discussing on where to go, i played solitaire on the com in the lobby, no internet service was provided free of charge. then to my surprise, they were broadcasting my fav epl team, manchester united on the tv. so i watched a little then it was time to go. we were going to walk down the street market. there were many apparel shops, but the quality of the clothes were a question. my sisters bought some clothes nevertheless.
then we went to platinum fachion mall again as the previous time we went wasn't enough to cover the whole mall. but before shopping, we ate lunch first. i ate tom yum kung, which is slightly different from the tom yum seafood i ate on the first day. u can tell from the name anyway. again it was very delicious! then ate crepe again cos i love it! then shopped. i bought a very nice pair of 3/4 pants which i love alot. i will wear it quite often in the future. so shopped and shopped.
soon it was time to leave for the hotel to check our luggage out and then head for the airport. uncle william's family n my parted ways (we take different airlines) but wew met again outside the airport. then inside the aiport, we parted ways to check in our flights. then my family went ot eat our last meal in thailand. we ate 90 baht worth of mango sticky rice! it was mouthwatering. then we queued at the immigration counter and got out passports checked. after passing the immigration counters, we met uncle william and co again, they were buying chocs. then we parted ways again, my mom want to buy rum for baking cakes and then we headed for the gate. at the hand carry luggage checking area, we met them again, and then we parted ways. so my family got into the plane. and we flew to singapore.
yup that's about it. im so tired after typing all this down. view the pics for some eye comfort after the boring black and white(pink actually!). :)
in the plane on the way there
three siblings, from left: julia, christine and me. we were waiting for the plane from the singaporean terminal.
in the airport at bangkok, three of us plus phoebe, all smiles
the hall of the emerald buddha
photo of us leaning on one of the golden pillars. btw they are painted in gold, not 100% gold
the outfits for the buddha during the different thai seasons
some gold structure, not sure what exactly it is
photo taken at the guard house outside the royal guest house. no visitors permitted in there. according to nancy, our president ever resided there when he visited the king.
julia and the rosemaries
second day, i in the minivan on the way to the floating market
the thai love their king a lot, so everywhere u go, there is a photo of him, like in singapore, it's the trees u see everywhere, in thailand, it's him. yeah so the 'entrance' to the floating market
my family in the forground, background's the floating market
floating market, it was rather crowded with mostly foreigners. it is during the weekend when the thais visit this place
this is my sisters and my mom taken by my dad. i took the other boat, with phoebe, uncle william, aunty sally and nancy
picture of the 2 boats. not sitting properly, haiz
sis n her delight! mango sticky rice!
family shot i should have sat properly. lol but no space
teak museum and factory. very intricate carvings. jules and i in front of a very nice piece of work
mom and nancy beside a worker in the midst of his work. :)
family shot again, we blocked the carvings. lol
very nice pic of the girls. i just realised that i've been wearing my guitar shirt, i must say that it's comfy for me.
erjie and i on an elephant for a ride, it was very bumpy and the seat always felt like it was going to fall backwards, very scary but i calmed myself. :)
in chinatown, the food's very shiok. the white box beside me is my fav food! chestnutssssssssss! it was so delicious! for dinner i ate
at a massage parlour. feet massage anyone?
watching sea games singapore vs thailand. singapore lost... lol aunty sally was bargaining with the boss to give us further discount if thailand won 3 to nil. true enough the final result was as that. her way of bargaining drove all of us into laughing fits.
a pair of loving white rhinos
a zebra close up.
tigers! very majestic and very big. :)
a very evil looking lion, reminds me of scar from lion king
a pride of lions, the males have a mane shave, dunno why, so u have to look closely to differentiate them. and the lion's roar is extremely bassy, so scary, so much like a growl, as if they want to devour u up.
feeding time! observe the hungry lions, to the extend they go up to the top of the rangers vehicle.
at the cowboy stunt show. all the shows had a very nice setting.
all of us at the dolphin and beluga whale show.
second sis with a snake around her neck. i was too freaked out with snakes that i dont have a pic with a snake in my photo collection.
pheobe and a tiger cub. it's only 1.5 monthsbut at the rate of the way it drinks milk, it's going to shoot up in no time.
jules with the same cub
chris with the same cub
and i with the same cub, when it was at its cutest! no lah, it was struggling with me, as if it doesnt like me :(
da jie erjie and i, notice the giraffes behinds, they are so cute
me feeding a giraffe, i was so brave that i started to go nearer and nearer until i touched their tongues, it's very hairy.i even touched their heads! very fun!
this shot taken by me! very cute giraffe!
outside the safari world, group shot taken with nancy in too.
me and the quite conjested road outside platinum fashion mall
wooh! posting this recount is FREAKING TEDIOUS! argh, took at least 5-6 hours! be glad that u read it, it’s my hard work after enjoyment. :(
feel free to look into my sis's blog for a different style of recount - the link http://christravels.livejournal.com/
yep so see ya and have a great weekend!
for ur info this post is more than 3,000 words long! i would like to thank God for the energy to write this post and making this trip a success! and i would like to thank the music which kept me awake while i typed this entry. lol i tok like i just wrote a book.. shut up and go off!
