And finally,

Feng and I departed for our well deserved trip to Bangkok!

A completely self planned trip!

From the daily itineries, booking the air tickets,

choosing the hotel,converting the currency,

packing...

Here's putting my planning talents to test..We instinctively woke up at 3am,

since we slept at 1am,

after helping Feng pack his luggage at the last minute..

His parents send us to the airport,

we checked in straight away,

and went shopping!!! ( at 5am)

At the DFS,

we looked for Chole Perfume for myself,

Prada perfume for my MIL,

And Aramis Perfume for my FIL..

I had a foot massage with the Big Foot massager!

I let out such a loud shriek when I put my feet in,

the 'angmoh' lady next to me had a fright!

This damn thing is super ticklish!!!

We had a super expensive morning tea at the toastbox,

and before we know it,

found ourselves hurrying to our boarding gate..

Time passes soo fast when there's things to shop!

I love Thai Airways!

I feel its really underrated..

I'd always enjoyed flying with them to Thailand..

Lucky us!

We've got the window seats!

It pays to check in earlier!

Feng slept like a baby through the flight!

Totally oblivious to the slight but noticable turbulence..

We didnt really like the continental breakfast and Thai curry beehoon..

2 hr 20 mins later...

We arrived at Sukhumvit Int'l Airport..

About 8.30am Thai-Time

Luved my pink ettusais luggage!

Spotted it far far away from the belt!

We had a hard time getting out from the arrival gate!

People with cardboards on their hands stopping us:

'Sir, Maam, taxi service? Tuk Tuk ride?'

While waiting for our transport to bring us to our hotel...

Both of us have shades..

But they are insufficient!!!

WE NEED SUNGLASSES!!!

Its soo bright!!!

Feng tipped the friendly driver 100baht..

and we reached Asia Hotel..

We opted for the smoking room,

and heard an old angmoh couple next to us who strongly opted for a non-smoking room..

They threatened to move out if they whiff any cigs smell..

We enjoy our complimentary coffee and tea

at the hotel lobby cafe..

They'd better give us a room at higher floors!!!

We booked the superior room!!

Upon landing our luggage in our comfy and cosy room,

We were out of the room within 10mins..

We took a cab to the Grand Palace,

hoping to catch it before it closes before 3pm.

A guy who was touting tourists to take his boat rides took a pic for us!

We are still outside of the palace..

My dressing is considered inappropriate to enter their palace ground!!

Sobs..

I purposely wore long garments to cover up!!!

Anyway,

I changed into their sarongs in exchange for my deposit of 100baht..

Remember girls!! Wear long SKIRTS in the grand palace!!

And thus we enter...

Hey little boy!!

Shooo!!!

Laogong beware of the 2 creatures behind you!!!

We went 'woah' when we enter the palace..

The historical sites were quite grand and impressive!!!

Look closely at these monuments and see that it sparkles..

The detailings are crazy!!!

We are glad we included visits to their cultural sites as part of our itenery!
The whole stretch of hand painted drawings with gold details..

It is a long long stretch of wall murals...

I must say that at the ends of the painting,

which is also the very end of the building,

it was like, dim and shadowy and a bit spooky..

We are about to enter hrough this door...

Photographs are not allowed!!

It is where Thai people come to pray..

We were instructed to leave our shoes outside too..

We went in, and sat on the floor with the other locals and tourists..

The locals were praying..

But for me and Feng,

Our main purpose is to rest our aching legs!!! The palace is huge!!!

We sat strategically infront of a huge fan!!

Admire the magnificient statues, and

read the history and map of the grand palace..

while enjoying the serenity of the place..

Another part of the palace..

We saw display of historical guns, rifles, knives, swords, spears..etc

They were old, brown and rusty..

We wondered if anyone were killed by these weapons...

spooky..

Took a pic with the motionless palace guard..

Naughty Feng asked me to make funny faces at him to make him laugh!

I'm not that wicked!!!

Now you can see my batik sarong!!!

Everywhere within the palace were desks with their personnels behind it..

It was as if like they were checking on our attires all the time!!

It was hot so I attempted to pull down my jacket zip a little..

But I always dutifully zip them up when I see these palace personnels!!

They are so strict!!!

More strict then my hubby Feng in terms of my dressing!!!

After exploring the grand palace that's damn grand,

We took another cab to Chinatown!

We were starving after the sucky 'breakfast' on the plane!!

We found this nice air-con restaurant at the outskirt of Chinatown!!

We had spicy green curry chicken, fried chunky crab cakes,

and jumbo prawns with salted egg yolk!!

The food is heavenly!!!

It surpasses the standard of whatever

crystal jade or nanxiang restaurant of Singapore!!

We will definitely go back to this restaurant when we go back to Chinatown

for our next trip!!

We walked down the narrow alleys of Chinatown,

and heard so many people speaking teochews and hokkiens!!

It felt so warm hearted...

They were selling all kinds of snacks, salted veg, meat and poultry etc..

The typical apartments of the Thai that lives in Chinatown..
An old lady selling grilled bananas by the road...

After Chinatown, we went to this shopping mall around Rachadamri stadium,

where we were scheduled to watch Thai Boxing..

There were many people charging exhorbitant prices to tourists for their tickets

outside the thai-boxing stadiums!!

After discussing with this angmoh lady,

who was a 'victim' of the locals who charge her sky high prices,

Feng decided to skip the match..

(They charge tourtists 1000 baht each for normal tickets)

However, it was fun bargaining with them halfway,

and standing at attention when their national anthem was played at 6pm sharp

around the country.

Thais are patrotic.

Their BTS..

The most convenient form of public transport in BKK!

Our hotel is linked directly to the Rachathewi Station!!!

2 stops from the Siam square / National stadium station!!

(which means shopping and more shopping!!!)
By the way, Thais always lined up in front of the train door to get in!!!

Unlike Singaporeans who crowd around just to rush in !!! Ugly!!!

For dinner,

we had Jap food at Siam Discovery Center..

A casual dining Jap restaurant with partitioned space for privacy!!!

It is a mall that links Siam Paragon to MBK,

If im not wrong...

We luved Jap food soo much we gotta have it even in Thailand!!
This is yummie!!!

Some croquettes stuffed with salmon fish and mayo...

After dinner, we went exploring the nearby malls and

Feng saw something that catches his eye...

Needless to say, it must be a car right!!!

He hopped in!!!

I hopped in too!!!

It must be the fastest car I've ever sat in!!!

With computeriesd gauges and all...

Skyline GTR-35!!!!

I was happily looking at the car,

when I heard Feng talking to the owner in Cantonese...

He asked us where we were from since we don't look local..

A very friendly Thai guy..

I dun understand Cantonese that much, so,

dun know what Feng and him were discussing about...

Feng later told me the owner send the car to Japan to mod it..

Seemed like he is taking the car for a race!!

It was great meeting people on the street that knows our language,

and shares the same passion as Feng!!

Given that he owns this car, and yet, can be so friendly and generous in sharing his tips

It was already late when we went back to the hotel..

It was nice having a bubble bath in the big bathtub!!!

And the bed's super soft, like sleeping on a bed of feathers!

No wonder Feng & I always find ourselves waking up late every morning,

so we have to rush down so as not to miss the FOC hotel breakfast...

So this is our 'superior room',

located at the higher floors and providing better amenities..

Went to Erawan Shrine the next morning.

The shrine is located under the sky bridge.

We were walking at the skybridge above when we noticed the locals momentarily

bowed and clap their hands together

facing the shrine while they walked past it..

Just in time to see these ladies put on their headgear and dance..

Feng says the dance and the way they sing is eerie..

I thought it's pretty interesting!

When I was in BKK a few years ago,

I took a picture at almost the exact same spot too!!

The distinctive grey marbled walls..

It's still quite early and we already had shopping bags..

We have to go out shopping early daily after the hotel breakfast,

and head back to our room a few hours later,

just to put the shopping bags down,

rush out of our room within 15mins,

and go shop again, with more bags to bring back that night!! Another shrine amidst the modern shopping mall..
A great contrast with the posh Siam Pargon just around the corner..

I've forgotten what this mall is...

We've been to MBK, Siam Discovery Center, Central World Plaza,

Gaysorn Complex, Pratunum Mall, Bombay Plaza etc...

Ive always prided myself to be able to walk in heels with complete ease..

I went to BKK with a relatively short pair of heels..

But the 2nd day, I surrendered..

And Feng brought me to buy a pair of slippers. FLATS.

Sobs..I feel short!!!

But its a nice pair of slipper that's silvery and bling!!

We went to MBK's KFC for a snack..

The glass and plates soo heavy I had a hard time carrying them up to the

2nd floor we were sitting!!

If I'm Thai, I'll freak out when I come to S'pore to realise

that all our fastfood's served on cardboxes!!

We had a chance to catch some thai boxing!!

The Thais love it soo much,

Outside Rachadamri stadium, most of them were carrying mags

with the profile of the boxers so as to bet on them..

When we show friends this photo,

they seriously thought it was the protest of BKK..

The day we arrived, there were about 5000 to 10000 protestants

on the streets of BKK!

Fortunately they were not on the Main shopping area,

We only saw police with shields near their minister's office when we passed by on a cab..

This is a nice parade, like Singapore's Chingay..

We dunno what parade it is held for,

but I was in a shop at MBK at about 4pm..

I was looking for the sales girl, and her next door 'neighbour' told me she had went downstairs

to see the parade!

I asked what time she'll be back and guess what?!

8pm!!!

Thus, her 'neighbours' was guessing the price of my jacket by themselves!!

Next to the parade, they were waving their Thai Flags enthusiastically..

I felt they were more happy as Thais,

compared to Singaporeans who are effectively work-slaves..

This is our friend the tuk tuk driver!!

He drove us to Suan Lum Night market,

a big market which is cheaper and less touristy than chatuchak market..

selling similar stuffs, but cheaper!!

At suan lum,

a guy asked us to follow him into another shop with its shutters down..

To see 'A1 goods.'

We went in, he shut the shutters,

and we saw shelves after shelves of counterfeits!

He shove us the calculator, and kept saying..

'Best Price?!'

I was abit worried when we followed him..

But, curiousity and the excitement makes us follow him to another alley..

What An Experience!

Back to our friend the tuk tuk driver..

After suan lum, we went to Patpong..

their red light district-cum-night market..

We heard someone calling out to us on the street,

and realised its that same tuk tuk driver again!

He beckoned us to ride with him again,

and thus, after negotiating,

he rode us back to our hotel..

My hubby becomes a temporary tuk tuk driver!!

Here we go!!!

Weaving in and out of traffic at fast speed...

I couldnt resist the road side stall!!

Pad Thai at 30 baht only!!

It's soooo yummie, 10 times better than thai express!

I helped myself to generous serving of fish sauce, lemon chilli and peanuts shavings

on my table!!

Yum Yum but Feng refuse to eat for risk of having a diarrohea..

We were walking through PatPong and suddenly a big elephant came faced to face with us!!

It looked so huge up close!!

I feel threathen by it!!

At Patpong, I have sales girl chasing me a few stalls down,

lugging and hugging my hands and shouting,

'Sister!!!!!! Y You don't buy from me??!!!!'

"Your best price???!!! Best Price??!!!!"

Me and Feng couldnt help but laughed out loud at PatPong..

This picture is taken in their Mos Burger..

Nothing much to say apart from their super service,

Except I stole their coaster home...

Nice coasters!!!

We were happily taking pictures,

but am really cracking our heads thinking of where to get extra cash..

Feng saw 2 wonderful, cannot-find-in-S'pore Porsche model cars

that costs 6000 over bahts..

Shall we convert more currency? Remit money?

Eat grass the next day?

We decided on credit cards..

Swipe swipe swipe..

I was sitting on the red cushion of the model car shop - Teafose

while Feng s~l~o~w~l~y inspect his cars..

and the sales girl actually gave me a brand new mag to bring home!!!

Those thick fashion mags like Bazaar, Elle etc..

We ate at Outback Steak House

We had toasted garlic better bread..

served with a knife in the middle..

and fried crab cakes with chunky meat

with a tantalising sauce..

Black Pepper sizzling ribeye steak

with steak sauce...

Alice's Spring Chicken..

And Blooming Onions that piping hot!!

My dearie Feng enjoys his dinner so much!!

i regretted eating soo much so that I'll have to walk with a hunch out of the restaurant..

Less than 1/4 of our shopping..

We bought Thai traditional snacks, pork flosses, polo-Ts, clothes,

T-shirts, cosmetics, bags, shoes, slippers, model tuk tuk, model cars, etc..

And an extra big bag to check in our shopping!!

It was late at night, the both of us had cravings for snacks..

And Feng has withdrawal symptoms for Fanta,

We went to the 7-11 near our hotel!

By the way, our hotel is linked to Ratchathewi BTS station!

Take the BTS,

and we are less than 5 mins away from MBK and all the malls!!!

I love Paddle pops!!

And this is their version of it!!!

With pretty colourful rainbow rice!!!

My Laogong's HOOKED/ADDICTED to FANTAS!!!

If FAnta's a girl, I'll be freaking jealous!!!

Fanta Float, Fanta from a bottle, Fanta from a glass,

Orange Fanta, Cherry Fanta,

Fanta, Fanta, Fanta..

Feng told me,

'Hun, I could bring home a dozen of Fanta!'

On our last night there,

I couldnt resist asking the massuer to come up to our room..

I want Massage!!!

Swedish Oil Massage..

Feng sat there watching me getting the massage,

while watching some movies on TV..

And the massuer kept covering me up with the towel!!

Maybe she scared I'll be Pai-seh..

Haha

But he is my laogong...!!!

This is the cafe we have our daily FOC Breakfast..

It's really the usual continental breakfast buffet etc..

But there's some nice dishes such as

grilled snapper porridge, Gui-Lin Gao,

Ginger soup with brown sugar etc..

Our last morning there,

during breakfast,

I was like,

'Lao gong, You feel like going back?'

Feng said 'No. You?'

"Of course not."

That was it.

We chiong up the room,

And I called Thai Airways..

'Can we go back 2 days later?'

'Yes, Miss. But an additional 10,000 over baht per person'

Thats about S$1000 plus for the both of us!!!

"Erm... No! We Are taking the flight back today!!"

( We are not stupid, miss Thai -Airways Operator =) )

S$1000 can bring us back to BKK all over again!!

Last min shopping, Last min shopping!!!!!!

MBK Here we come!!!

We had some Dunkin Doughnuts there!

Doughnut Factory's still better!!!

We bought bags and more bags, shoes, and many more stuffs before eating at the

international cafe at 5th floor..

The foods heavenly, but freaking expensive!!!

There he goes again!!!

Is that Fanta Orange???!!!

Swensen's slogan..

So cute, with the angelic ice cream!!

I remembered going to swensen's in BKK the last time I went too..

But couldnt seem to find it..

Feng enjoys his ice cream just by looking at them!!

They are soo huge!!

And compact!!

And it's only about S$4 per glass!!!

Finally, its time to check in..sobs..

Worried that we'd have to pay extra for our ultra heavy luggage..

Everywhere we go in Thailand,

It's 'Long Live The King'

Now, Let me take a pic with their queen!

My hubbie looks tired..

Indeed!

Busy shopping, sight seeing,

taking care of me,

sleeping late, waking early,

carrying shopping bags...

Feng slept the minute the plane took off!

See this big paper bag?

It contains his precious 6000 baht model cars..

Soo Fragile, we don't allow them to be checked in...

Thus, I'll have to carry them...

And save them 1st regardless of any situation..

We were waiting to depart when we remembered the

yuckie food on board..

Thus,

we had a meal by the viewing gallery..

Yummie pizzas and BBQ wings..

Feng's favourite.

"No Fanta?"

Of course NOT.

the cheese real cheesy,

the pizza's real crispy and hot!

One last pic before we go for more last minute shopping at DFS!!

It was almost 12midnight when we arrived in Singapore..

Bought Martell and Caramel Baileys!!!

And so,

we bid farewell to BangKok..

Bye to all the friendly people and friends that we met on the streets!

The Thais who brought us straight to their rival's shops when they ran out of

the model car Feng wants to get,

the Thais who gave us the directions,

the smiles,

the hospitality,

the 'sawadeekups' everywhere we go..

Bye, to the country who embraces their culture soo much,

who love their King,

who stood up straight when their national anthem is being broadcast

(at 8am and 6pm sharp. They are so serious they'll stop talking, walking, negotiating, bargaining..)

Bye to you people who are happy just leading simple lifes..

Feng & I will be back soon!!