Bangkok

Went to Bangkok with baby a couple of days ago... erm.. ok, it's 1 week ago. We were there when the coup d'etat starts. in fact, we were there at the same temple when the army chiefs were getting their blessings from the monk at Wat Pho.

Ok... other than that, we didn't realised the army has taken over the country. we were shocked to find that out when we reached malaysian shores. i supposed the media overplayed the whole thing here. but nevertheless, it was a good story to tell people.


Day 1: Saturday
Didn't get much done as we went there only after work. by the time we reached bangkok, it was already time for supper. it was raining cats and dogs too. had dinner at Thong Lo, a poshy area for the rich Bangkok kids/ yuppies.

Day 2: Sunday
Went around everywhere. started early (6am their time). went to a floating market nearby, to Chatuchak Weekend Market, visited a few temples before the rain starts. Decided we can't complete all the temples that we wanted to look at as the rain started early (around 4.30pm). Went to MBK mall to do some shopping while waiting for the rain to stop. Ended up having a all you can eat japanese steamboat for dinner. dang, can't eat a lot of food these days. so not worth the money anymore. :(

Day 3: Monday
Went to Ayuthaya, about 2 hours drive north of Bangkok. Again, started the day early as the sun rise is earlier there than in KL. Reached Ayuthaya by 9 am but it was already blazing hot. The bus didn't drop us at the bus terminal and for the first 30 mins or so, we were like headless chicken, trying to figure out where we were (no one seems to know English there). wanted to rent a bicycle to explore the old city but in the end, we use our bus no. 11 for transportation. it was only after we visited 4 places (some 4-5 kms later), that we bumped into other tourists with bikes. We asked the japanese boys where they rent their bikes but were told that they rented the last 2 bikes from the backpackers. bummer. had to use more bus no.11. Day was hot and we forgot to bring another cap for me. had to make do with a small face towel. i look like an idiot with a towel on my head and partially i look like an arabian (that's becoz most arabs wear those red and white headgear). After walking and walking and walking for a very long time, we managed to get to where we wanted to go. we decided to forgo the further away wats as our legs were tired by then. After visiting probably around 10 wats, we decided we have enough of Ayuthaya and took a tuk tuk to the railway station for us to catch a train back to bangkok.

met up with cynthia and her sis and her few cousins at Khao San Road for dinner. dinner was yummy, delicioius and cheap even though we were in the midst of a very touristy place.

Oh, Monday is love the king day where almost everyone seems to be spotted with a yellow tshirt (yellow is the king's colour and the king was born on a monday). too bad, we werent' there until friday as friday is love the queen day and everyone will wear light blue tshirt.

still trying to figure out what those rabbits meant on some of the yellow shirts that we saw that day.

Day 4: Tuesday
Decided we need to sleep in as we were exhausted from all the walking from the day before. baby and i were sunburnt too. after breakfast, decided to visit Wat Pho since we missed that out on Sunday due to the rain. Was told by an army officer we had to come back after 1pm as the army were having a ceremony/ blessing there for that morning. (read my first few paragraphs... should have give much thought about it and warn mr thaksin). anyway, that army officer got us a tuk tuk to visit other temples which are far away and specifically told the tuk tuk driver not to charge us more than 40 baht. (good deal huh since my previous trip, the tuk tuk driver charged me an overpriced rate of 200 baht). after a few temples visit later, we decided that we should continue with our shopping. Went to Silom Road area and had MK steamboat for lunch. man, food was good and reasonably priced too.

After a lot of shopping and walking (we got lost a bit and ended up visiting the residential area nearby instead), we decided that we need to go back before our legs break. Stop by at the massage parlour nearby were we stayed and had an hour of thai massage. It was baby's first massage and baby didn't like it one bit. well, it's either she's too stiff or her masseur was too rough on her, she got blue black, even till today. my masseur gave an excellent service though.

We went to Thong Lo area again for dinner. i think Leslie really likes Thong Lo or perhaps its because it's the closest place that he can think of. The thai food there was good and not pricey. After dinner, decided that we need to walk off our dinner and head to Suan Lum night bazaar. Even managed to catch a live performance and have some cocktail there before we had to rush back as the weather looks like it was about to rain. We were amazed why there are a lot of soldiers stationed around the entrance of a motorway on our ride home. I even joked that there could be a terrorist attack or something. we got news bout a possible coup after we got home. oh yeah, both of us turned off our phones during most of the trip.

Day 5: Wednesday, Final day
Decided we still have yet to see Wat Pho and wanted to squeeze a few more temple visit and also shopping before our trip back. Went to the city and was surprised that the roads weren't badly jammed up (since bangkok is famous for their notorious jams). everything seems normal, like a sunday morning. people were doing everything like normal, we didn't suspect anything was amiss. saw some soldiers near the bts entrance for one of the station, none at other station. one of the road was cordonned off but since our bus route didn't require it to go past there, we didn't even think much about it.

We stop at Democracy monument since that's the closest stop to where we wanted to go. again, the roundabout was quiet (that's usually the place to go when there's any protest, demonstration, etc). we walked past the Grand Palace. didn't come across any soldiers there. after taking a lot of photos there and just before we reach wat pho, we found out that they were closed for that morning. can't remember what's their excuse this time round. decided that we have no luck visiting the wat this trip.

time was running short for us and we wanted to do more last minute shopping and spend away all our thai baht before we head home. we went to pratunam area and decided to shop in Platinum mall. The clothes there were cheap. baby got herself some teeshirts and some souvenirs for her brother. after that, we rushed back to pack but before that, we stop by at a japanese restaurant for lunch. we ate like kings and queens before doing a mad dash back to get our luggage and rush to the airport.

No signs of any armies at the airport. our flight was delayed and we finish all our bahts except for 21 baht (around Rm2.50). decided to check out other travellers and we found a very strategic spot to watch people go through the security. boy, i sure don't feel like flying with Qatar airways after this unless i have a lot of patience. A lot of the passengers were late (i'm not talking about a handful people but more than that) and they took their own sweet time to board the plane. the airline did the 'final boarding call' for more than 1 hour! let's just say, by the time we board the plane, they were still waiting for their last 2 passengers.

There you go... our trip to Bangkok.