Tuesday, July 29, 2008
I only know how to say PANG PANG!
A long-awaited hello to my readers! i'm finally back in action after a long period of dormancy. My past four weeks was filled with activities almost back to back. And this was one of the reason why i have not been updating my blog. Well, the other reason was procrastination. Alright, time to get on what i've been doing...
Just last week, i went to Bangkok, Thailand. This was my second trip there. The other time was about 2 to 3 years ago, when i went there with my relatives. This time, i went there with my best friend, Yaowen, and we were joined two days later by his girlfriend, MelisSaTay, and her mum. Many have told me this was a weird combination to go on a vacation with whenever i mentioned who i was going Bangkok with. i always think back realising the truth in what they tell me. But then again, it was more weird realising how much i've gotten to know my best friend's girlfriend, as well as her family members. i dont know how this came about, but it just conveniently happened. Weird, huh?
Well, for this trip, i didnt get trigger-happy with my camera. i only took pictures on the first two days of my trip. i guessed this trip was very different from the last time. When i arrived at the airport, i took their local bus to transfer to their BTS Skytrain, then transferred once again by their MRT to reach our final destination, Palazzo Hotel. Here's a picture of me and Yaowen in their local bus.
It was pretty cool riding on their local bus. It was the first time i see a bus travelling on Lane 1 on the expressway. It was travelling very fast, and the ride was smooth and comfortable. The bus was air-conditioned too. Leg room was more than sufficient. i could put my luggage in front of my legs.
This was the panorama view from my room in the first hotel that i stayed in. i just loved taking panoramic shots. i remembered my previous trip to Hokkaido, i took many panoramic shots of the scenery. But this time, i just wasnt as trigger-happy with my handphone camera.
My first meal in Bangkok after a long wait. This was my lunch-cum-dinner at about 4 or 5pm. My previous meal was at 7am in the morning on that day. i was totally famished. This chicken stew with fried egg was very delicious. But it could also be because i was so hungry.
Yaowen took their Tom Yum Goong. And he found this mutant prawn in his soup. The head was abnormally big. Just check out the difference in size between the body and the head. At first we thought the prawn has been cooked too long, therefore shrinking in size. But after eating the prawn, we realised it was not. The prawn was one of the freshest i've tasted, except for those in Hokkaido. So there was no way in hell that the prawn was overcooked. The head is exactly like what i said, abnormally TEKONG!
Then afterwards, Yaowen and i went to watch Muay Thai! Just in case you dont know what Muay Thai is, it is Thai Boxing. i cant believe there were two people whom i spoke to who do not know what Muay Thai is.
Anyway, i saw a Muay Thai boxer with hot pink pants! Totally hot!
This is their pre-fight dance ritual. Most of the fighter could do it very gracefully.
This is a view of the audience. They are quite an interesting lot. Because there were bets involved, the people got quite involved in the matches. A lot of talk and action during my entire stay by the ring-side.
This was where i sat. It is the VIP seats. Quite expensive actually. Cost each of us 1600 baht just to sit there. That is about S$67. It would have originally cost us 2000 baht (S$84) but because we said we were students, we were offered a lower price. Pretty shiok but still darn expensive. It's like the most expensive thing i paid for in Bangkok, even more so than the first hotel i stayed in over two days. Kenasai! But never mind. The experience was worth it.
This was the second day, when i went to Chinatown to have a look. As weird as it may sound, i didnt come to Chinatown on my previous visit. But never mind about that. Anyway, i was sitting in this alleyway to have a meal. It was a totally different dining experience. You dont really get this in Singapore. If you look at the picture closely, you can see how narrow this alleyway is. But even so, something even more cooler happened.
As i was sitting there, there were countless number of motorcycles roaring up and down the alleyway. But luckily, the exhaust fumes were not that intoxicating.
This is the condiments i found on the table. There were sugar, green chilli, orange chilli, and chilli powder. Up till now, i really wonder why there is sugar there. i thought a better condiment such as salt would be found there. Weird...
i think this was one of the prominent landmark in Chinatown, so i decided to take a picture with it.
Well, for the first two days, i really made my stay in Bangkok as heartland as possible. Yaowen decided not to bring me to the heart of Bangkok that early as i would be going there practically every day when MelisSaTay arrived with her mum. That's why we decided to go to other places and walked around. There was this local housing estate that i was walking in. Not that the architecture was unique. i just felt that the window grilles looked good and decided to take a picture with them.
There was no more pictures from henceforth because i became lazy in taking pictures. Besides, there wasnt any interesting thing to shoot.
i went down to Pat Pong with Yaowen. My cousin and a friend of mine recommended me to go there. It was a lup sup place with many bars. And there was also a night market there. On the lup sup part, as Yaowen and i walked there, there were many of those locals trying to pull us in. "Want to watch Thai girl show?", "Want to watch ping pong show?" and "Come and watch for free first, can pay later." were the lines we kept hearing. i knew what Thai girl show was, but i surely didnt know what a ping pong show was. The only ping pong i know was the table tennis ball. As i was walking, i managed to caught a glimpse of the action inside the bars when the door happened to swing open. Guess we were too early there, i only managed to see girls (or maybe transvestite) in bikini dancing on a platform with poles. On the night market part, it was very interesting as well. i didnt have the intention to buy anything from there in the beginning. i was supposed to buy this shirt for my aunt. At the first shop, i just decided to enquire the price. The guy quoted me 1100 baht at first. That's a freaking S$46 for a fake shirt. i was totally turned off. i walked away and he pulled me back. He quoted me 650 baht this time. i was pretty shocked at the sudden drop in price, but S$28 was still quite pricey. i didnt have the thought of buying in the first place so i just walked away. This time, he shouted out his price, without hesistating, "200 baht (S$8.33)! 200 baht, SIR!". From 1100 baht to 200 baht! That's a 81.8% drop in price! What the hell man...
On this trip, i finally tried out Thai massage. The first one i tried was by some amateur masseuse. There were some times when the massage and stretches felt damn good. But overall, i walked out feeling not much difference. The second massage i tried was the foot massage. This time, it felt much better. But still, i walked out feeling pretty much the same. Guess my muscles are pretty relaxed and good originally. Hahaha...
Anyway, pang pang means CHEAP in Thai. It isnt really the only thing i know how to say, but it was my keyword i felt like using most of the time. Whenever Yaowen asked me if i know how to say whichever word in Thai, i just kept saying, "PANG PANG!". Hahaha... Alright, i'll update till here. i'm still feeling super drowsy from consuming my medication just now. i'm having a similar cough like when i was on my Hokkaido trip the last time round. i hope this isnt a curse, that i'll fall ill whenever i go overseas. Otherwise, i wont be able to enjoy the trip fully.
Just last week, i went to Bangkok, Thailand. This was my second trip there. The other time was about 2 to 3 years ago, when i went there with my relatives. This time, i went there with my best friend, Yaowen, and we were joined two days later by his girlfriend, MelisSaTay, and her mum. Many have told me this was a weird combination to go on a vacation with whenever i mentioned who i was going Bangkok with. i always think back realising the truth in what they tell me. But then again, it was more weird realising how much i've gotten to know my best friend's girlfriend, as well as her family members. i dont know how this came about, but it just conveniently happened. Weird, huh?
Well, for this trip, i didnt get trigger-happy with my camera. i only took pictures on the first two days of my trip. i guessed this trip was very different from the last time. When i arrived at the airport, i took their local bus to transfer to their BTS Skytrain, then transferred once again by their MRT to reach our final destination, Palazzo Hotel. Here's a picture of me and Yaowen in their local bus.
It was pretty cool riding on their local bus. It was the first time i see a bus travelling on Lane 1 on the expressway. It was travelling very fast, and the ride was smooth and comfortable. The bus was air-conditioned too. Leg room was more than sufficient. i could put my luggage in front of my legs.
This was the panorama view from my room in the first hotel that i stayed in. i just loved taking panoramic shots. i remembered my previous trip to Hokkaido, i took many panoramic shots of the scenery. But this time, i just wasnt as trigger-happy with my handphone camera.
My first meal in Bangkok after a long wait. This was my lunch-cum-dinner at about 4 or 5pm. My previous meal was at 7am in the morning on that day. i was totally famished. This chicken stew with fried egg was very delicious. But it could also be because i was so hungry.
Yaowen took their Tom Yum Goong. And he found this mutant prawn in his soup. The head was abnormally big. Just check out the difference in size between the body and the head. At first we thought the prawn has been cooked too long, therefore shrinking in size. But after eating the prawn, we realised it was not. The prawn was one of the freshest i've tasted, except for those in Hokkaido. So there was no way in hell that the prawn was overcooked. The head is exactly like what i said, abnormally TEKONG!
Then afterwards, Yaowen and i went to watch Muay Thai! Just in case you dont know what Muay Thai is, it is Thai Boxing. i cant believe there were two people whom i spoke to who do not know what Muay Thai is.
Anyway, i saw a Muay Thai boxer with hot pink pants! Totally hot!
This is their pre-fight dance ritual. Most of the fighter could do it very gracefully.
This is a view of the audience. They are quite an interesting lot. Because there were bets involved, the people got quite involved in the matches. A lot of talk and action during my entire stay by the ring-side.
This was where i sat. It is the VIP seats. Quite expensive actually. Cost each of us 1600 baht just to sit there. That is about S$67. It would have originally cost us 2000 baht (S$84) but because we said we were students, we were offered a lower price. Pretty shiok but still darn expensive. It's like the most expensive thing i paid for in Bangkok, even more so than the first hotel i stayed in over two days. Kenasai! But never mind. The experience was worth it.
This was the second day, when i went to Chinatown to have a look. As weird as it may sound, i didnt come to Chinatown on my previous visit. But never mind about that. Anyway, i was sitting in this alleyway to have a meal. It was a totally different dining experience. You dont really get this in Singapore. If you look at the picture closely, you can see how narrow this alleyway is. But even so, something even more cooler happened.
As i was sitting there, there were countless number of motorcycles roaring up and down the alleyway. But luckily, the exhaust fumes were not that intoxicating.
This is the condiments i found on the table. There were sugar, green chilli, orange chilli, and chilli powder. Up till now, i really wonder why there is sugar there. i thought a better condiment such as salt would be found there. Weird...
i think this was one of the prominent landmark in Chinatown, so i decided to take a picture with it.
Well, for the first two days, i really made my stay in Bangkok as heartland as possible. Yaowen decided not to bring me to the heart of Bangkok that early as i would be going there practically every day when MelisSaTay arrived with her mum. That's why we decided to go to other places and walked around. There was this local housing estate that i was walking in. Not that the architecture was unique. i just felt that the window grilles looked good and decided to take a picture with them.
There was no more pictures from henceforth because i became lazy in taking pictures. Besides, there wasnt any interesting thing to shoot.
i went down to Pat Pong with Yaowen. My cousin and a friend of mine recommended me to go there. It was a lup sup place with many bars. And there was also a night market there. On the lup sup part, as Yaowen and i walked there, there were many of those locals trying to pull us in. "Want to watch Thai girl show?", "Want to watch ping pong show?" and "Come and watch for free first, can pay later." were the lines we kept hearing. i knew what Thai girl show was, but i surely didnt know what a ping pong show was. The only ping pong i know was the table tennis ball. As i was walking, i managed to caught a glimpse of the action inside the bars when the door happened to swing open. Guess we were too early there, i only managed to see girls (or maybe transvestite) in bikini dancing on a platform with poles. On the night market part, it was very interesting as well. i didnt have the intention to buy anything from there in the beginning. i was supposed to buy this shirt for my aunt. At the first shop, i just decided to enquire the price. The guy quoted me 1100 baht at first. That's a freaking S$46 for a fake shirt. i was totally turned off. i walked away and he pulled me back. He quoted me 650 baht this time. i was pretty shocked at the sudden drop in price, but S$28 was still quite pricey. i didnt have the thought of buying in the first place so i just walked away. This time, he shouted out his price, without hesistating, "200 baht (S$8.33)! 200 baht, SIR!". From 1100 baht to 200 baht! That's a 81.8% drop in price! What the hell man...
On this trip, i finally tried out Thai massage. The first one i tried was by some amateur masseuse. There were some times when the massage and stretches felt damn good. But overall, i walked out feeling not much difference. The second massage i tried was the foot massage. This time, it felt much better. But still, i walked out feeling pretty much the same. Guess my muscles are pretty relaxed and good originally. Hahaha...
Anyway, pang pang means CHEAP in Thai. It isnt really the only thing i know how to say, but it was my keyword i felt like using most of the time. Whenever Yaowen asked me if i know how to say whichever word in Thai, i just kept saying, "PANG PANG!". Hahaha... Alright, i'll update till here. i'm still feeling super drowsy from consuming my medication just now. i'm having a similar cough like when i was on my Hokkaido trip the last time round. i hope this isnt a curse, that i'll fall ill whenever i go overseas. Otherwise, i wont be able to enjoy the trip fully.
