Streams of consciousness

• I only get deeply emotional and depressed when I’m hormonal, and I hate this biological freakshow of being a woman.
• I’m tired of being the jack-of-all-trades. All aspects of my life require me to! Argh.
• I’m a perfectionist. Performing for me requires a lot of discipline, so I am frustrated & disappointed when other people slack off when it’s already needed. I can be uptight, but the quality of my performance is a result of it. But hey, I know how to have fun. Just in the right timing and place.
•  I’m a fast worker, so I accomplish things at work right away. This gives me a LOT of time on the internet (I manage the office social networks anyway).
• I have travelled 3 countries this year, my fourth by December as a birthday treat to myself. It’s gonna by an Eat, Pray, Love thingie.
• I am tempted to resign already because the separation pay is my monthly salary x 11 years of service. I could spend it traveling more…

Bangkok: Chatuchak Market

The sisters were still fast asleep when I woke up because my body clock won’t shut off (I regularly wake up at around 6:30-7:00 a.m.). Went to the Citrus Sukhumvit hotel’s pool deck at the 8th floor to shoot the view:

I was getting a bit hungry, so I checked what street food was available, and this ended up as our ‘breakfast’:

mini donuts

ripe indian mangoes

breaded chicken strips & chicken skin!

What a breakfast eh? Our tummies got filled by these yummy though weird choices of mine to munch for an early morning snack.  For 100THB, three mouths were fed. Hahaha.

It’s our last day in Bangkok, and because it’s the weekend, why not spend it looking for good stuff in the weekend market of Chatuchak?

We took the subway train again and got off at the Kampaengphet Station whose exit is fronting Chatuchak market’s entrance. The sun was shining strongly again, and we got a bit overwhelmed on how to go around. The first thing we did was grab lunch at a nearby food stall!

Watermelon shake & shrimp fried rice

Pad thai again

Thai-lish

Market mob

I pretty much finished most of my pasalubong list in my shopping in Platinum Mall (see previous entry), so I went around the market looking for a few specific things to complete my list. Basically grabbed a few shirts and some Thai coin purses and I was done! It was really hot so I decided to wait for the sisters, rest, and cool off in the Kampaengphet Station Mall which had a food court and a few stores to actually shop from. I got giddy after finding something that I’ve been searching high and low for, and Manila, HK, and Macau (been looking non-stop) didn’t really recognize how iconic this was:

My Neighbor Totoro toys!

Aren't they cute?

It’s Studio Ghibli’s trademark/icon. He’s the furry creature named Totoro from the Ghibli animated film, My Neighbor Totoro which my niece and I love! It’s not available anywhere except in Bangkok, but I still didn’t buy any from this stall. They were still a bit expensive, and my tired heart just wished I could find a store that sells it cheaper before we leave the country. After my friends were done shopping, we headed to our last stop, MBK mall, for food pasalubong. Guess what? I found Totoro plush toys that are way cheaper! I bought 2 Pictures later.

We headed back to the hotel to fix our luggage. L & I had dinner in the hotel, while our friend C went out for a last minute foot massage. In the cab on our way to the airport, we took pictures of the funny stickers on the window:

Don't have sex in the cab!

Don't bring durian

Don't load carabaos?!

That last one cracked us up. Anyway, I got a bit sad leaving Bangkok, and the pre-boarding stress was creeping up on me. Our flight home was at 12:30 a.m., and the 3-hour wait and lines usually bore me out. I brought out my newly-bought Totoro toys and thought of a brilliant idea: Traveling Totoro photos! I’ll probably save that for a next entry.

I was really groggy during the flight, and if possible, I won’t book a dawn flight anymore because the lack of sleep makes me really woozy. Flying coach is difficult if one needs sleep (and the chairs aren’t that comfy unlike in the business class).

That pretty much wraps up my Bangkok adventure, and the last interesting thing about it was that I left my Thai dilis & rice puffs goodies somewhere because my mind was too foggy to function. So much for the food pasalubong!

I booked a flight to see the Broadway musical Wicked in Singapore in December, so that would be my last out-of-the-country trip for 2011. 3 down, 1 more to go

Bangkok: Ayutthaya City

L, C’s sister, flew in Friday dawn to join us for this tour. Since Ayutthaya was in the outskirts of Central Bangkok, we decided to delay breakfast and started traveling as soon as possible. We took the BTS to Asok station, the interchange to the subway train called the MRTA. It was the rush hour of Friday, and we hesitated to line-up for the touch screen vending machine for train tokens and tickets to not delay the Thai people with our fumbling selves because we didn’t know how to operate it yet (we were really just worried where the ‘English’ button was on the screen, hahaha). Our corresponding fare to go to the Hualampong MRT station was a black token that I stupidly didn’t know how to work. It’s supposed to be swiped on the screen too, apparently. The said station was the very last for the subway, and the State Railway of Thailand, which was just across the subway exit, was not hard to miss.

We had our breakfast in the Halal-approved food court at the right side of the station, and had a bit of entertainment because we chanced upon the locals shooting a commercial/movie. A lot of tourists swarmed the area, just patiently waiting to board the train. Guess what, we were assigned to platform 10 (9 3/4 was where Harry Potter had to bump himself into)! It wasn’t long before we boarded the airconditioned carriage. Fare was around 225 THB. The non-airconditioned carriage was way cheaper, and was just recently offered to foreigners on a cheap budget trip. Midday heat there was unbearable, so no thanks.

It was a comfortable ride. The leather seats were still decent and comfy, and we got to catch up on sleep because the ride took more or less an hour and 30 minutes. Tour guides immediately swarmed us when we stepped down Ayutthaya station, and we were lucky to snag a tour guide with a real car instead of a tuk-tuk!

We arranged our trip to cover only 3 hours, for 200 THB per person per hour (600 THB total). Didn’t get all the names of all the wats that we went to, because they all look similar, along with the Buddhas we visited again. As they said, once you’ve seen one, you’ve seen ‘em all! Here are our interesting shots though, having fun around the ruins.

We caught the 3:30 p.m. subway train back to Central Bangkok. The trip back to the mainland was slower, because it was the rush hour going home. Our BTS train interchange had forced us to wait in line for more than 15 minutes, as the stations were filled to the brim. The only notable thing about being caught in the Bangkok rush hour is that the Thai people are still orderly.  The BTS was full of people, but everyone was lined up and wasn’t pushing one another to get into the train. People waited patiently (unlike here in Manila). We silently endured the aching feet, and decided to drop by Siam Paragon for a quick dinner to end our long day. The mall was filled with weekend shoppers too, and we just grabbed some chicken inside the Siam Paragon foodcourt.

 Guess who bumped into at the mall? Tom Cruise and Jackie Chan!

 It was an awesome, awesome chance to get the picture of these wax figures before going home. Jackie Chan made my day!

Our trip was coming to a close, but we still had to visit one more place to check out before leaving. Chatuchak market in the next entry!

Bangkok: Tha Chang Market & Platinum Mall

After leaving the Grand Palace grounds, we were famished. Twas past lunch time, and we headed to the Tha Chang market to grab some food. I remember a friend telling me that food was really good in this area, and we made the best decision of our lives by staying in this place!

Fried squid with garlic & something

Shrimp w/ red curry

Pad Thai, the real thing!

Our exhaustion was erased by our delicious and filling lunch, so after resting a bit we headed to our last tourist spot in that area, the humungous golden reclining Buddha. Entrance: 50 baht.

We headed back to the city using the same route: by ferry and by BTS. When we got to the Siam interchange, I told C to check out Platinum Mall for a bit of shopping. We took a metered cab from Siam to Pratunam, the textile area of Bangkok. Holy moly! It was the Greenhills/Divisoria of Manila! Prices of clothes were rock bottom, and the more you buy, the cheaper it gets! No wonder a lot of Pinoys import Bangkok dresses for their online Multiply shops.

Bling heaven!

The name of the store is Pink Pvssy!

Bought dresses for myself and my family, and blings as costume jewelry for the concerts of my singing group. Had a blast, but I had to control myself in this low-budget trip. After I made sure I got at least half of my pasalubong list ticked off, C & I headed back to the hotel by BTS. Gawd, the 5-10 minute walk from Phrom Pong station to the hotel felt like forever with my lead feet and heavy shopping bag. What better way to relax and end the tiring day than to get an authentic Thai foot massage?

Massages range from 250-500 baht. There were a lot of massage parlors in the street of our hotel, and we just crossed and picked one. The foot massage was intense, and I cringed on some painful pressure points, but that was part of the experience. We haven’t had dinner yet, so we sat in one of the food stalls by the road.

Fried crickets! No, we didn't eat them!

Me: beef noodles C: grilled pork & chicken

 This ends our first full day in Bangkok. Cheri, sister of C, arrived past midnight to join us for our 2nd day tour of Ayutthaya city. That’s for the next entry!

Bangkok: The Grand Palace Tour

Waking up to a free breakfast buffet at a hotel always makes me giddy, because am a huge fan of breakfast meals (in other occasions, brekky meals at any time of the day)! We oooh’d and aaaah’d at the super cool hotel interiors as we approached the lounge/restaurant. The food? Yummy! Kudos to their special fried rice where I don’t exactly know all that’s in it, but is one helluva delicious morning upper!

After our sumptuous breakfast, we walked over to Phrom Phong station, the Bangkok Skytrain or BTS nearest Soi 22 Sukhumvit. Our landmark to remember going home is the huge, posh, Emporium Mall beside it. The BTS is just like Manila’s LRT, but they have a TV in there showing commercials and it flashes the name of the next station.

We got off at Siam, an interchange station to another BTS Line that would bring us to Saphan Taksin, the stop we get off because the pier is right below it. To get to The Grand Palace, we have to take the Chao Praya Express, a river boat ride. The train rides and boat fares are only less than 50 baht each, and I’m proud of the fact that we’re commuting and taking the public transportation than be convenient tourists on a bus or van. I did all the research on how to get to the places we want to go to, complete with maps! Who says women can’t read maps? I can!

The river trip was nice, and the boat had a Thai tour guide explaining tidbits of history about the important structures by the river. We decided Wat Arun to be our first stop instead of our last, since it was the nearest port. It was across the river, so we had to board a different boat again to get across for only around 3 or 4 baht. Entrance fee to the Wat Arun: 50 baht.

Wat Arun

We weren’t prepared for the heat though, as the bright, midday sun made us sweat profusely, penetrating our flimsy, cheap umbrellas we bought in 7-11.  Our adventure started here. The experience wouldn’t be complete if we didn’t climb the Wat, so we did! Damn, my muscles cramped afterwards. The climb down was scary because it was so steep, but the view from the top was worth it.

We got back to the ferry and got off at Tha Chang, the port where the main palace grounds was near. The Grand Palace was still a good 500 meters away, and we traipsed along the famous amulet ‘market’, a strip of sidewalk where lots of knickknacks were sold but known for the curious amulets for protection, for health, or for whatever purpose it will serve. We also chanced upon a yummy grilled snack, much like our good old bbq, only for 5 baht each!

 

We finally reached The Grand Palace grounds, and we got a bit confused where the entrance for visitors were. Fatigue was wearing C & I out, because we didn’t think hard enough that usual entrances are up front and in the middle, and not the sides, hahaha. Wasted our time looking for it on one side, but we eventually managed to get to the main entrance. Finally! The entrance was full of tourists and locals on field trips, and a Palace officer was barking at visitors’ clothing that weren’t allowed inside. The entrance fee hiked up to 400 baht per person, as compared to the 350 before. We didn’t complete the whole place’s tour, just went to have pictures with golden buildings and entered the shrine of the Emerald Buddha, that surprisingly looks more like jade!

It’s already past lunch time. Our feet were sore and we were quite dehydrated and hungry. Next up: Tha Chang market and some Platinum Mall shopping!