if the end of love is this hard. i would never love again. never again.

Saturday, March 15, 2008

bangkok

at last. my post on my recent bangkok trip (270208 - 020308). =)

my main purpose on the bangkok trip was to visit my friend in thailand, watch, as well as to go for a holiday getaway. am very glad that melissa was able to join me. the last time i met melissa was like one year back when she just returned from studies in australia. =)

well, we went to 2 countries during our 5 days trip. Thailand and Laos. both meli and i met up about 5.30 am at the airport as our flight was 6.10am. despite being tired, i just could not sleep on the plane. maybe i was too excited. haha... anyway, started taking photograph of the clouds halfway through the trip. they were so beautiful that it makes feel like reaching out to touch them. fluffy like cotton candy as though it will melt when you touched them. *grin. think i beginning to love the clouds and the blue sky (remembering the airshow). *note. not those dark clouds*

pictures of the clouds..

before dawn break

dawn break

morning

1st day..
when we reached the Suvarnabhumi airport, it was around 7plus am thailand time (which is 8am s'pore time). both of us were famished. thus, the first thing was to find FOOD!! haha.. we were so so hungry that we decided any where that has food will do and we even forgotten to take photos of our food which initially we kinda said we would. haha.. anyway, after breakfast, we started to tour around Suvarnabhumi airport as it was too early to go to Don Muang airport for our domestic flight to Udon Thani. basically, the first morning was more of a waiting for our flights and taking lots of photos of ourselves. haha.. and catching up with what happened during the past one year.. =) was really great..

below are some pictures we took at Suvarnabhumi airport as well as at Don Muang airport:

Suvarnabhumi airport

Don Muang airport

met watch at Don Muang airport. was really excited to see watch. thus, when i suddenly shriek (kind of) when i saw watch, meli got a fright. she thought what happened.. haha.. sorrieee.. = 3 of us headed off to our first destination, Sala Kaew Koo at Nong Khai.. some backgrounds, it was constructed in 1978, also known as indian temple / "wat khak". Is a unique place with combinations of hindu deities sculptures etc... their main element is the 7 headed dragon. apparently, you can see lots of the 7 headed dragon on the streets of Nong Khai as well.. is a pity i could not read the wordings as it was in thai. but watch thot both of us some characters that represents numbers. meli is better at it. therefore, dun ask me now. i had already forgotten during my third day!! haha..

-pictures at Sala Kaew Koo-

the 3 of us..

our next stop is the Pho Chai Temple. background: it houses numerous statues of the Lord Buddha - luang por pra sai (there's a story behind it and it was drew out. good if u guys go and see it urself. =p). people would gather there during the Thai New Year period (also known as the Songkraw, if i ain't wrong is their water festival as well) period and Naga fireball festival. Just a side track. am quite fascinated about the Naga fireball festival which according to watch, happens around nov-dec. whereby a phenomenon of a fireball like object would shoot up from the Mekong river. but there is no exact explanation as to why. As the Pho Chai Temple was a sacred place, thus, no photos can be uploaded. =)

last stop before dinner was Tha Sadet Market. background: situated at Tha Sadet, a pier that crosses into the neighbouring country, Laos. sells imported goods from places such as Indochina, east europe etc. Think the pictures are more interesting than what i typed.. so... below are the pictures of the pier and the first gift i bought in thailand.. =)

-pictures at Tha Sadet Market-

it says, "welcome to tha sadet" (if i didn't remember wrongly..) =p

behind us is the country laos

i was looking forward to see the Thai-Lao friendship bridge as on the book, it looks beautiful during the night. but we were kind of in a rush to meet watch's family for dinner thus didn't had the chance to. hehe.. next time i suppose =) Had dinner at Kualao Restaurant. A restaurant that serves nice traditional thai food. lots of foreigners visit that place too!! =) out of all the dishes, i love the springroll. maybe because of the sweet sauce that we get to dip with it. haha.. could not take any pictures cos watch's family was with us. thot was quite ill-mannered. haha.. anyway, managed to take a picture w watch before her family arrived. *smile..

-picture of Kualao restaurant-

introducing.. the signboard. =p

outside Kualao restaurant

while waiting for dinner..

after dinner, meli and me checked into Don Chan Palace (name of our hotel). the hotel had a good view as it faces the Mekong river. it was also an expensive hotel. and we felt really bad when watch's dad want to pay for it. but many many thanks to watch and her family for the dinner, hotel and being such great hosts!!

2nd day..
watch met us after breakfast. our first destination was That Luang. it is the most famous landmark in Vientiane and i've seen some taiwan celebrity introducing the place. was said to be made of real gold. but think during the war, people went to pluck the gold out thus, during restoration they can only use gold paint to paint it.

-pictures of That Luang-

at the entrance

model of That Luang

next stop was the morning market. once again, we attempted to shop for stuffs. only managed to buy some. the place is known as a center for clothes, bags, shoes etc... which was made in Laos and imported from China and Vietnam. had lunch at an Italian restaurant - L'Opera. nice food. and it was located at a place that had a very European style. can imagine how is it like at night. with the fountain in the middle of the whole square. should be quite romantic bah.. well, once again, some photos to make u all hungry..

during the day... the fountain activates only at night

yummy cakes and cookies found in one of the shop.. =p

last and final stop before heading for coffee and massage was the Pratuxay. it was situated in the center of the city and was as high as 7 storey building. was modeled after the Arc de Triomphe in France. but was not fully painted because before they could finish, Laos declared independence from France. more details.. look at the picture below.. well, we climbed lots of stairs to just to have a view of how izzit like.

-pictures of Pratuxay-

introducing the history of Pratuxay

the entrance

top down view

noticed the unfinished workmanship?

the 3 of us at the highest level.. =)

had a nice cup of drink, can't remember what mine was. some hazelnut latte i suppose.. before heading for a massage. it was my first. and it was quite funny at the ending. i suppose i wun forget it. one of the lady staff even asked if i was a local. haha.. btw meli, u said you would bring me to one in singapore.. dun forget.. haha..

outside the spa - LVCity

dinner was really really nice. i like the noodles, as well as their version of prata. meli love it too.. in the end, despite telling myself not to eat too much cos it was rather oily, i finished the last piece of prata. haha. =p

-pictures of our dinner-

something like "you tiao" their version of prata. (very nice)

dinner for e day - won ton noodles =)

3rd day..
last day in Laos.. took a picture of the hotel and the Mekong river before we leave for bangkok. the weather is always so cooling at Laos in the morning. unlike bangkok.. Zzz... =p half the day was gone due to the time we spend on travelling to Don Muang airport and the flight to bangkok. upon reaching bangkok, headed to our hotel - Grand China Princess. Had lunch at MBK, black coffee canyon and started our shopping spree.. haha..
maybe due to what i was wearing, some of the people there thought i was from japan or that i was a local. it was quite funny. now i seems to belong to many different country. =.=" anyway, the pictures below....

picture of the mekong river taken from our balcony

our hotel - Don Chan Palace

meli and i at MBK shopping center

4th day..
had breakfast in the morning. the food was so so nice that i can't stop eating.. Zzz.. before heading towards chatuchak weekend market, we went to walk about chinatown, which was very near the hotel we were staying. didn't take a lot of pictures at chatuchak as we were too busy shopping. haha.. the only bad thing about chatuchak was... they do not have proper changing room!! thus it was quite troublesome to try an outfit.. sigh.. by the time we left chatuchak, it was about 3pm.. all of us were so tired of walking that we do not feel that hungry. thus, we headed back to our hotel for a rest before going to "central world" in the evening for dinner at a jap restaurant which... i can't remember the name... did a little more shopping and called it a day.

the busy streets of chinatown

our yummy dinner - salmon set w kimchi =)

one of my favourite photo! - green tea ice cream w red bean

5th day..
our last and final day. we allocated the last day for some bangkok sightseeing. first stop was the floating market. spend quite some time waiting for the boat.. but it was really an experience.. the uncle drove so fast at first that we had water splashing on us. ok.. ain't that much.. but............ haha.. anyway, had our first try on having noodles on the boat, sanpan, i dunno what u will call it.. luckily we had watch who understood what the uncle was saying. thus, he was kind enough to intro us which stall sells the cleanliest food etc.. haha.. got to see how they made sugar from coconut.

-pictures at the floating market-

outside the floating market. seems quiet.....

the stalls at the floating market

the busy market..

vendors on the boat cooking..

my bowl of clear soup noodles.. yummy? =)

the driver in charge of driving around for that day brought us to some wood carving factory which meli and i was rather impressed. the way they carved the image. well, have a look for yourself..
next stop was the Thai Human Imagery Museum. had some small little dispute with the staffs there because if you ain't a local, you gotta pay 150baht more.. yup.. anyway, the experience was good. the images really looks as if it was real.

carve from wood..

welcome to thai human imagery museum

the previous kings in thailand..

the queen mother

as watch and her brother gotta head to the airport earlier than us. thus we said our goodbyes after visiting the grand palace. did not get to tour around as we were a little too late when we reached there. before leaving for the airport, meli and i took a quick tour at Plantinum mall. had ham crepe and takopachi which was very much cheaper as compared to singapore but not as nice the ones here. =) while waiting to board the plane, which arrived late, we started to entertain ourselves by taking a picture before we leave bangkok and back to singapore.. =)

map of the grand palace

one of the few buildings located in the grand palace

photos of both of us while waiting for our flight back to singapore...

had a great time with meli, watch and her brother. thank you meli for coming along. watch and her family for the great hospitality. my classmates, jocelyn, daphne etc.. for persuading me on the trip as well as being worried for me. for the rest of you guys, many many thanks as well.. if you were worried for me during my trip.

signing off... 3.40pm