Thailand Trip 2007-- Bangkok (Day 1)

Just got back from my 10-day Thailand trip on Christmas Day. Had so much fun that I wished I didn't have to come back so soon. Haiz. Singapore is just so b-o-r-i-n-g. Wells, get ready for lotsa lotsa pics! Warning: Your computer may lag! (We've 700+ photos to show, and I've already cut down A LOT here.)

Singapore-Bangkok-Udon Thani-Nong Khai-Loei-Nong Khai-Singapore

Kh and I went to Bangkok on our own before joining my aunt and cousins at Udon. Reason for staying in Bangkok? We had to transfer a flight anyway so why not? Besides, we got all the air tickets at cut-throat prices. $0.99 each! =P

I planned our itinerary for our whole 5 day stay in Bangkok. Took me many many hours of thorough research to come up with what I think is the best we can get during this period of time. By thorough research, I mean right down to the nitty gritty details of how long it takes to travel from one place to the other, how much it would cost, where to eat, how much we would spend, how to get there, etc. Well, my effort has indeed paid off. It was a jam packed 5 days worth of activities. Everything was almost according to plan and these 5 days was more fun than what I had expected it to be. =)

Here's DAY 1...

Our flight got delayed! Hmph!

We arrived at Bangkok around midnight and we were greeted with a wonderful surprise! Our hotel was just perfect! Highly recommend this to anyone who's going to Bangkok! Here's why:

--> ONLY US$41/room/night and you get a 4 star hotel
--> Excellent service (we even tipped!)
--> Very clean and spacious rooms with a kitchen
--> Very classy dining table
--> Cable tv
--> Hi-fi system
--> Free WiFi
--> Queen size bed
--> Sofa bed
--> Iron and ironing board provided
--> Within walking distance to skytrain
--> 24hr 7-11 and burger king nearby
--> It's in the Pratunam area! THE area to shop!
--> Price includes daily breakfast buffet

We booked a room without kitchen as we figured that we wouldn't have time to cook anyway. I think they gave as an upgrade because our room had a kitchen. Well if this isn't their room with a kitchen, I can't imagine what their room WITH a kitchen looks like! :O

Anyways, so kind of them. We requested for high floor and they gave us the 28th floor out of 30!

CENTREPOINT PHETCHBURI HOTEL

Our room!

The buffet restuarant

Part of our breakfast

I didn't think the breakfast buffet was fantastic. There was just way TOO much food! There's chinese, western and thai food. Plus lotsa desserts and drinks. The taste of the food is just alright but I ate so much I got sick of the taste. =( I would give this hotel a 10/10, but -0.2 points for the breakfast so that's 9.8/10. I wouldn't really blame them though. Food in Thailand is nothing compared to Singapore's. =x

The swimming pool with jacuzzi!

Video of our room... The room looks a lot better in real life than on photos and videos!

We packed our stuff, slept for 5 hours or so, and had to wake up early to meet our tight schedule! First stop: Chatuchak!

A tuktuk driver offered to take us there for a low fee but I was skeptical of his intentions as I've read so much about such jewelry scams in my research. Apparently, some are worth trusting. Taking a tuktuk anywhere is expensive but this guy offered to take us to there for 20B in condition that we stop over at a jewelry store to take a look. No obligation to buy. Reason? He gets free petrol. =)

Our tuk tuk driver!

The jewelry store! Woah very exclusive. The kind that is good enough to be a tourist attraction by itself. Too bad I can't afford anything. And mind you, this "excursion" it's totally free. Bonus stop. Lol. =x

Chatuchak!

Chatuchak's pet stores! A must-see! Oh so many cute puppies and pet boutiques. =)

Well there's lotsa stuff to see, many things that I could buy, but it was HOT HOT HOT! I read that we have to go early to avoid the heat, but it was only 10am in the morning and the heat was already driving us crazy. We HAD to leave. Next stop: Safari World!

It's that kind where you drive inside the park and the animals get to run around freely. Managed to get some really close shots of some animals, thanks to our cabbie! =)

Our ticket allows us entry to Marine World as well. Marine World has both land and marine animals. Not in the wild though. We watched all the animal shows there. Very fun! =D

That's one naughty statue! It squirts water from the nipples! Kh and I were walking past it when it squirt water at Kh's face and he drank a mouthful of water! Eww!

Ooh... scary crocodile... looks huge doesn't it?

Well... here's the actual size. It's a miniture crocodile. -_-"

Kh and I paid 40B for a bucket of bananas and tapioca to feed the giraffes! One old giraffe was so picky about food! He only ate bananas. Wouldn't eat a single tapioca even when we tried to stuff it in his mouth. Hmph! (That's the really old giraffe in the 6th pic. He's the tallest!)

Watch Kh play with the giraffes! Cute!

Yes Kh loves animals so much he has to disturb them. Watch him play with the blue bird! (Super funny! My cousin kept urging me to upload this on YouTube!)

We headed back to Pratunam by cab. Had dinner at Platinum Plaza. Why? For my fave sharks' fin soup! Only 150B!!!

Saw a Swensens banner at the foodcourt. Couldn't resist getting this promotional Swensens ice cream at 69B only! What, that's like S$3? With that, you can only get a single scoop of ice cream at Swensens Singapore. And this is like, woah, 3 scoops of icecream, a whole banana, wafer, and marble cake altogether. Everybody say wow now.

Oh-so-heavenly

Look! I'm not lying!

Planned to meet Jf at Bangkok for supper (her hotel is juz a few mins walk away from ours), but she had an early flight to catch the next morning. Anyway, Kh and I had already made plans to go for a thai massage at HealthLand Spa. Recommended by Kh's parents, confirmed by Kh's sister, and now's our turn to try it out. Satisfaction guaranteed. I won't say it's the best but it's good enough. 450B for 2 hours only. =)

Check out the website! http://www.healthlandspa.com/

We had a long day and it ended with a really relaxing thai massage. Kh and I fell asleep on the massage mattresses within the first 10mins. Money well spent or money totally wasted? We don't know. =x

Stay tune for Bangkok, Day 2! Coming right up!