Day 2 (10 May 2009)

Was up around 6+ and dressed in preparation for the hot weather – dri-fit top, shorts, cap, hair in a bun. With an empty backpack, we headed to Citi Bistro for our daily breakfast. The spread is the best I’ve seen in a hotel. There was a wide selection of bread, pastries, condiments, cereals, yoghurt, fruits, western, Chinese, Japanese, omelet station, half-boiled eggs, soups etc etc. I loved the miso soup, cold soba and somen, tamago maki, ham in pineapple gravy, crispy bacon, omelet with the ingredients I chose – ham, bacon, mushrooms, cheese etc etc. We had 3 selections of fruit juices everyday, my favourites are the orange and guava juice. Other choices included apple and pineapple.

We filled ourselves up and walked out of the hotel to the nearest BTS station – National Stadium. Usually we can access it through MBK, but as the building wasn’t open so early, we went around. It only costed us 35baht each to ride to Mo Chit station, this included changing trains at Siam station, a very kind Thai guy directed us the right way to go, he was very helpful, even sticking his body halfway out the train door at us to make sure we don’t go the wrong way.

I’d never go on a trip without mopiko, i’m a mozzie-magnet!!! Walking to the station alone earned me round 2 – 3 bites!

Walked about 5 mins from Mo Chit station to Chatuchak. Most shops weren’t open yet but we found the pets section with many adorable puppies, kittens and squirrels. It’s not very advisable to stay too long here, cos they aren’t exactly living in the best conditions, any pet lover would feel upset. My first purchase of the day were doggie caps in different patterns. It was really warm in there, even my fan couldn’t help me much. The best relief we had was when we stepped into a doggie apparels shop about 1+ hrs into our walk. It was air-conditioned, thank goodness. We took our own sweet time to choose, and when we had to leave, you can imagine the difference in temperature the moment we stepped out. Throughout our trip, the temperature forecast was around 35 – 37 deg C!!! It was weird, we couldn’t really find stuff we want to buy. Nothing seemed to catch our eyes at all! What’s happening??

After just 2.5hrs there, we called it a day and popped into a cab to travel to Yaowarat, White Orchid Hotel. This has always been the landmark I choose to get off at, cos that’s where the restaurants are!

*Tip: Always ask if the cab will go by meter BEFORE getting in. Even after he agrees, when you get in, make sure he does turn it on.

The cab fare was 83baht, but he rounded it off to 100baht. We just gave it to him, we were actually prepared to give 120baht as an extra tip, but since he added it himself, then so be it. He didn’t stop us where we wanted anyway, he stopped across the road. Took us a while to cross the junction, we didn’t really understand the lights. We headed to Hai Wai Tian, a place we usually go to for Sharks Fin, first thing to order, a bottle of coke and sprite. The bf finished his drink in record time.

Exhausted and burnt… but a nice cold Coca-Cola sets things right!

We ordered for ourselves a 500baht claypot Braised Sharks Fin each. It was delicious…

He wanted birds nest so I suggested going a few doors down to Nam Sing. It was not bad, quite yummy too. They gave us free ice-cold chrysanthemum tea. We ordered the 300baht bowl. After that, we asked for directions to Sampeng Lane.

Managed to find Sampeng Lane without much problem. It is a narrow lane with shops on both sides selling anything you can think of. There was even this cute Wall-E robot toy which dances to music, but I didn’t get it cos it was priced too high! Sampeng Lane can also be quite crowded and takes a bit of getting used to jumping out and back in from the shops.

Bought some accessories here – necklaces, hairbands, earrings etc etc. When we decided it was enough, we hopped onto a cab back to the hotel. It was only about 56 baht back.

After freshening up, we took the BTS to Siam station (lazy to walk) and headed to Central World, the walkway extends all the way up to there. If only Singapore has a walkway to connect the entire Orchard Road, heehee. There, we saw a company’s event which had this display of many many PINK flowers. Of course we had to pose for pictures there.

After that, it was some shopping around at Zen and Naraya for their affordable pretty bags (I bought 4 bags and spent only 900baht) and we started feeling hungry. At the food level, we saw the place called Pizza Pizza, which serves thin crust woodfired pizzas. We ordered a pizza and some garlic fries to share. It was one of our best meals for the trip.

Garlic fries

Can’t remember what pizza this is, but it was thin and yummilicious!

*Tip: According to a fellow blogger Matt, Zen Japanese food is at Central World. We would have gone there if we knew it was there. We just assumed it closed down as we couldn’t find it at MBK. It supposedly has cheap and good jap food. We went to another place which has sub-standard jap food, more on that in future posts.

Walking around, for some reason, I started feeling very tired and didn’t want to walk back. So we headed to the taxi stand, which till today, we still don’t understand the system. You tell the guy where you’re going and you sit down nearby. Cabs come in, they go down their list of places and beckon the passengers over. It was confusing as people coming after us were going off first. Probably they forgot about us until the guy noticed us sitting there for a while and reconfirmed our destination again.

Now, at such a place, you would probably expect that the cabs they talk to will use the meter. Noooo. We got in and I realized the meter wasn’t on. I told him to go by the meter and he said, “holiday holiday, no meter, 100baht.” I was tired, but I ain’t gonna get ripped off without a fight. I figured, I know it would probably only cost us less than 40baht, but I’ll just offer 60. NO. 60baht, its so near. “Nono, okok, 80baht”. NO, its so near, I know its not so expensive. Finally, he relented to 60. WTH, 100baht, even Yaowarat back to Siam area was only 50+, don’t think of cheating me of my money. Will avoid the taxi stand at Central World from now on.

It was quite late already, so the rest of the evening was spent slacking and watching TV, plus an aromatherapy massage. RELAXING!! (I didn’t manage to find the guts to do Traditional Thai Massage, I’d freak out once they start the ‘cracking’.)

14 June 2009

OMG, this is so horrid!!!!!!! I’ve been to Jalan Bahtera before and the roads are really creepy at night.

Taken from AsiaOne.

Cabby dumped girls in deserted Lim Chu Kang

By Chong Shin Yen THE two teenage girls took a taxi to their school camp in Lim Chu Kang at night. They didn’t count on ending up with a cabby who’s afraid of the dark. This was his excuse as he dumped his 14-year-old passengers in the middle of nowhere and drove off, leaving them to an ordeal that lasted 2 1/2 hours.With only the light from their mobile phones to guide them, the girls trekked through a deserted dirt track in a forested area near Jalan Bahtera, off Lim Chu Kang Road. When rescuers found them, the girls were sitting by the roadside in a daze, exhausted and traumatised. Now terrifed of the dark, they have had to go for counselling. One of the girls’ mother complained to taxi company ComfortDelgro, which tracked down the driver and reprimanded him. The mother, who wanted to be known only as Mrs Puan, told The New Paper that her daughter and a schoolmate had boarded a cab at Yio Chu Kang MRT station at about 8.45pm on 30 May. They wanted to go to the Singapore Girl Guides Association Camp at Jalan Bahtera to take part in a three-day-two-night camp organised by their school. The other students and their teachers had left for the campsite in the morning. But Mrs Puan’s daughter and her friend had to make their own way there as they had to go to school in the afternoon for another activity. Mrs Puan did not want her daughter to be interviewed so as not to relive her ordeal. But the teenager earlier told Lianhe Wanbao that she and her friend had felt uneasy about half an hour into the journey. ‘The cab was travelling on a winding road when we felt something amiss,’ she said. ‘We asked the cabby if he was on the right track but he only smiled to himself and kept quiet.’ Just when the girls thought they were nearing their destination, the cabby reached the end of Jalan Bahtera. The road ahead was sealed off and there were no street lights. Mrs Puan’s daughter said the cabby then turned into a nearby dirt road, which seemed to be ‘inside a forested area’. Said the teenager: ‘It was pitch dark and dead quiet. He then turned around in his seat and told us that he did not want to ‘turn here, turn there’. ‘He said, ‘I’m afraid of the dark. Just give me whatever money both of you have and get out. I don’t want to continue with the journey’.’ The girls were stunned. They did not know what else to do, so they obeyed him. The fare meter showed $22.80. But the girls had only $21, which they gave to him. ‘He told us that he would use the cab’s headlights to shine on the track to guide us to the main road,’ said the girl. ‘We trailed behind his cab for a while but suddenly he drove off and was out of sight within seconds.’ The girls looked at the time on their handphones. It was 9.15pm. Frantic, they continued walking even as they called their teacher at the campsite. After telling them to remain calm, the teacher went to the nearby Police Coast Guard (PCG) base to seek help. Meanwhile, the girls continued on their seemingly endless trek. ‘It was trees and bushes everywhere we turned,’ Mrs Puan’s daughter recalled. ‘We didn’t know where we were and we were unable to tell our teacher our location.’ They were bitten all over by mosquitoes. Everywhere they turned, there was the sound of insects chirping and frogs croaking. Trembling in fear in the near pitch-dark night, they held on to each other’s hands for comfort. The teenager said the pair tried to keep calm by walking faster, but did not know if they were headed in the right direction. Soon fear and a sense of helplessness overcame them. ‘We kind of made out a dilapidated hut along the way but we did not dare to approach and knock on the door,’ she said. ‘I then told my friend that I saw two white shadows watching us from a distance. My friend also said that she felt ’someone’ following her. ‘In the end, we broke down in tears and started running.’ Rescued Their ordeal finally ended when they reached the end of the dirt track and spotted a tarmac road ahead, believed to be Rakit Road. Exhausted, the girls sat down by the road in a daze. What happened after that was a blur. The teenager only remembers crying and hugging her schoolmates after being reunited with them at the campsite. Mrs Puan said the girls were found at 11.45pm by an off-duty PCG officer who had driven around the area in search of them. ‘I only knew what she and her friend had gone through after she returned from the camp,’ Mrs Puan added. Mrs Puan said she had called her daughter that night as the girl was ‘taking too long to reach the campsite’. ‘The first time I called, she sounded panicky and said she was lost. ‘She said she had alighted from the cab but assured me that she had called her teachers, who were looking for them.’ Not long later, Mrs Puan called her daughter again. This time, the girl told her that they had been found. It was only after the school camp ended that she realised her daughter had lied to her. Said Mrs Puan: ‘The second time I called her, she was still lost but she didn’t want me to worry.’ Mrs Puan was livid when she found out what the cabby had done. ‘He shouldn’t have been so irresponsible. He is an adult but even he is afraid of the dark,’ said Mrs Puan. ‘What about the two young girls? Wouldn’t they be more scared?’ She said her daughter was so traumatised by the experience that she now sleeps with the lights on and had to see the school counsellor. Her daughter also told her that her friend was badly affected and did not want to talk about the incident at all. ‘I wish to thank the PCG officer who went to look for my daughter even though he was off-duty,’ said Mrs Puan.

Finally the PC is working fine for the time being. Got my photoshop installed too. So here’s the long belated post on Bangkok (9 – 14 May 09).

Woke up bright and early at 4:45am. I had some difficulty dragging myself out of bed, but the sound of thunder got me sitting straight up. Goodness, WHY???? There’s no shelter to the cab!!! Fortunately, I managed to call a cab and got my auntie to shelter me with the huge golf umbrella, managing to keep both of us and the luggage dry. Upon reaching Terminal 1, fortunately, the uncle helped me get my luggage out of the boot and off into the airport I went, where I met up with the bf.

We checked in after waiting very very very very long… When it was our turn, this auntie who was queuing behind me IRRITATED ME. I was at the counter waiting for the officer to be done with my passport and boarding pass, when she stood right NEXT to me and put down her stack of passports and started writing stuff and all. Annoying, why can’t she wait for her turn. And when the bf said EXCUSE ME so he could stand next to me, she didn’t even want to move. Baaa.. They should implement some waiting line, so that people stay where they should be.

Going in, we were hungry for some breakfast, but everywhere was packed, no Ya Kun for us, but heyy, we found Burger King, which was located on the second floor. Service was rather slow, maybe cos it was so early, they had a lack of staff, only one counter was open. While waiting, it was interesting to watch as the skies got brighter and brighter. The rain has stopped J and the sun has risen.

After waiting for a while at our boarding gate at C15, we boarded Thai Airways TG402 to go off to the land of smiles – Bangkok! But when I settled into place, hmm, something seems to be missing. Oh, in-flight entertainment. Haha, I’m so used to having the personal TV on SQ and China Airlines flights that it seemed odd to have none. So I was contented with just the headphones with jazz music, eyeshades and a nap. The flight was quick, only about 2 hours. Immigration counters were really quick too! We got our luggage and headed out to look for the hotel rep. We had decided to pay a bit more to travel via the hotel’s transportation. Not long after, we were led to a Mercedes Benz and given a nice welcoming cold towel and bottle of water.

The ride to Pathumwan Princess was fast, about 30 minutes? The driver is a lady and she was very nice, talking to us along the way, recommending places and pointing out interesting spots. At the hotel lobby, the manager was there to greet us and bring us up to the check-in area on the 2^nd level. Our luggage was fully taken care of. They provided us with a cooling guava juice welcome drink and cold towel, gave us discount coupons for dining in at their restaurants and brought us up to our room on the 22^nd floor. The bellboy was already outside our room waiting with our bags. The room was everything we expected it to be, big, spacious, modern, great view. Check out the pictures..

It was only 10+, 11… so we decided to get changed and head for Siam Paragon for lunch and Ocean World. After looking around, we settled on this Asian Cuisine place and ordered shrimp cakes and abalone on fried rice in claypot for sharing. It was DELICIOUS. The gravy went well with the sweet-tasting abalone and rice. Lunch was 800baht.

We then took the escalator down to the basement and were just in time to watch the mermaid show where girls dressed like mermaids performed with 3 mascots – mantra ray, shark and penguin. I only managed to grab one mascot for a photo. Their Ocean World is MUCH bigger than our own Underwater World.

We paid 850baht each for admission alone and the first we saw were the HUGE spider crabs and these tiny little eel-like creatures that poke their head out of the sand. We saw another huge sea creature – Rock Lobster.

We went along and saw more sea creatures. One interesting one was the mexican mole salamander, according to the sign – larvae of this species failed to undergo metamorphosis, so the adults remain aquatic and gilled.

You wouldn’t want this swimming into you.

Fish in microwave, we also saw them in refrigerators, washing machines, cars.

The most interesting we saw was the shark feeding. We’re not talking about those normal tiny sharks, these are the hugeass scary teeth sharks which could probably bite off a huge chunk of your body. The feeders are very brave being in there, the fishes were crowding around them, including this big mantra ray which is as wide as when a normal adult stretches out his arms, who kept hovering above their heads, going from one to the next. Brrrr…

Coming out from there, we decided to start shopping around the complex and it was all mostly branded stuff which aren’t on my shopping list. We found the car showrooms and saw a Lamborghini, Maserati, BMWs. Pity the Aston Martin showroom wasn’t up yet.

We then walked around Siam Square and didn’t really see anything we wanted to buy. There is a standalone Etude House there, but I’ve also seen their cosmetic counter in Siam Paragon and Central World. Didn’t buy anything, it wasn’t really cheap anyway.

Heading back, we went for a quick snack – beef balls from the MBK food court at level 6. YUM! Always liked that stall.

Then we bought some stuff from the supermarket in MBK and went back to the room to rest.

Was lazy, so we decided to dine in, especially since they were offering a 50% discount on their BBQ Seafood buffet dinner. Only about 580baht per pax. It was a good choice, the food was fantasticcccc… The prawns were sweet and big. There was a pasta corner, tempura, chocolate fountain, desserts. It is almost like The Line @ Shangri-La, but cheaper.

We then explored the hotel a little bit. Level 8 is where their swimming pool and gym is located. It also had a nice view of the city.

Decided to sleep early, cos we woke up so early and were feeling tired.. Must get ready for Chatuchak the next day!!

Had to reformat my PC.

Won’t be able to update until later cos it seems like there’s still some problems. Might need to format again!!!

Keeps telling me some files not installed and there’s no sound even after I installed the sound driver.

Frustrating.

Just returned on Thursday night from a wonderful relaxing trip to the land of smiles.

Indeed it lives up to its reputation, save for some DFS shops. Even the touts smile at the prospect of earning money off you, they didn’t get me though.

Still waiting for pictures, so here’s just a summary of the trip and more details in later blogposts.

Day 1
Siam Paragon
MBK

Day 2
Chatuchak
Yaowarat
Central World

Day 3
Erawan Shrine
Platinum Fashion Mall
MBK

Day 4
Grand Palace
Wat Pho
Wat Arun
MBK

Day 5 & 6
MBK

Lotsa MBK cos I stayed in Pathumwan Princess, which is linked to MBK. Very convenient location!

Finally, in 2 weeks, I’d be in Bangkok… shopping paradise. Tickets booked, hotel booked. It was really annoying, the moment I had all things booked, they declared a state of emergency. Now that they’ve lifted it, I just hope all stays calm for a long while…

I’ve got many places on my…

Shopping hitlist – Chatuchak, MBK, Platinum Mall, Pratunam market, Central World, Sampeng Lane (if i can find it), Siam Paragon, Siam Square, Suan Lum Night Bazaar (if it is still there…);

Food hitlist – Somboon, chinese restaurants in Yaowarat, then I’m not sure what else – any recommendations?

Attractions hitlist – Dreamworld, Grand Palace, Wat Pho, Wat Arun…

Excited! haven’t been updating lately, but will definitely take lots of pictures for this trip and post it up

It’s been a fantastic night. I have just returned from ‘One Wakin Live in Singapore’. The concert lasted for 4 hours!

Last November, I even got my tickets autographed by him. I don’t usually make the effort for other artistes, just 周华健. Cos he has really good songs and has this sense of closeness with his fans.

His theme this year is ‘Roof-top’, hence his stage was made with roof-top props such as clothes drying, pots of plants, and the background screens showed scenes of starry nights, lighted up buildings etc.

周华健 also definitely didn’t fail at keeping his fans satisfied with many of his songs, such as 我站在全世界的屋顶， 让我欢喜让我犹，花心，朋友，小天堂，你现在还好吗，不愿一个人，明天我要嫁给你，其实不想走，爱相随，怕黑，亲亲我的宝贝 etc. During his encore, I was so glad to hear one of my personal favourites – 风雨无阻, I’m sure everyone has a specific song which has special memories for you, this was one such song for me.

His special guest was Wynne who performs at EZ50, a live music bar in Neil Road near Chinatown. At first I was wondering, why him? Then after he sang 月亮代表我的心 and I Don’t Like to Sleep Alone, wow, he had a really good voice!

One other great thing about this concert was the company I had. I’m glad I spent it with someone who is dear to me. And I’m glad he went even though he probably had difficulty understanding most of the songs.

Everything was good, cept if I were the event organiser, I’d be appalled that when concert-goers were entering the indoor stadium at about 7pm (concert was supposed to start at 7:30pm), the indoor stadium staff were still going around putting seat numbers on the chairs. Should have been done way before.

Other than that, I can’t wait for the next concert of his!

Here’re some pics from the concert.

Dear Friends,

On Thursday night 29 January, the SPCA received a report from the police that 45 cats had been buried along Seletar Road within Seletar estate.

A resident had called them complaining about a stench.When SPCA Animal Handling Officer attended to the call, he saw five garbage bags along Seletar Road, near vacant land. It was later observed that there were a total of 14 bags, scattered over four areas. There were also signs that the bags had originally been buried. All bags were sealed up securely with tape.

Ten of the dead cats were brought back to the SPCA and submitted to the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority for a post-mortem examination to try and establish the cause of death.SPCA has appealed through the media (see The New Paper report 2 Feb) for any witnesses who may have information on the case to please call 62875355 ext 9. Pls pass around the information so we are able to find the people behind the cruel act.

More info @ http://www.spca.org.sg/seletar45cats.pdf (includes photos so pls be advised).

The article is available here – http://www.asiaone.com/News/The%2BNew%2BPaper/Story/A1Story20090203-119119.html

Any help will be appreciated!

It’s been around for many years, but everytime I watch it, I still burst out in laughter.

Here’s something to brighten up what’s left of Monday.