Advertisement
Published: April 9th 2009
March 2/2009
Thailand, what more do I need to say...... So my break from school started back in February and pretty much over the past year I have been planning a trip to mainland Asia and it was quite surreal that I was actually going to do it! I booked my ticket through a Japanese student travel agency called Skygate.com and paid only about $631.00 for a roundtrip ticket to Bangkok and back to Osaka from Singapore. My journey started on the morning of March 2nd as I had an 11AM flight to Hong Kong to catch a connection to Bangkok. It turns out that my first flight would stop in Taipei and then head off to Hong Kong. It was a long day of flights for me and I touched down in Bangkok around 8PM local time and went through immigration and customs. After that I was supposed to meet my friend Tisha who lives in Bangkok and went to school with me in Japan. I met my friend Tara (Canadian) who would also be staying with Tisha for about a week. About 30 minutes later we saw Tisha and headed to her house to put our things away.
Our first night there Tisha took us to a local eatery where we had some great Thai food and beer (the beer is called Singha) and all of it was just great!
March 3/2009
We started the day off a little late at about 11AM and headed to a sort of cultural theme park that has replicas of nearly all the famous temples in Thailand. Since I would only be in Thailand a week I was pretty excited to see what all of Thailand has to offer in just one place. It was such and interesting concept to see all of these temples because I knew that I would mot have enough time in Thailand to see the majority of the temples represented there. We spent about three hours wondering around the park via golf cart and I must say that it is extremely hot and humid in Thailand compared to the 2 Degrees (C) weather in Osaka when I left.
After that we headed to the Crocodile Farm to check out the animals there. I ended up feeding a baby albino Siberian tiger, tipping and elephant, and watching an interesting and sometimes scary crocodile show. I
think the pictures and the videos of my time there speak for themselves.
When we finished viewing the crocodile show we headed to another part of town to pick up my friend Tisha's boyfriend (Young) and then it was off to a street market which is famous for selling fake goods and lots of touristy nick nacks. The name of the night bazzar is Suan Lum Night Bazzar for those of you who want to plan a trip to Bangkok yourself 😊 So I ended up just window shopping and looking a dresses with my friends Tara and Tisha....haha....(I was the only guy so I was forced to! ) and then we met up with Young and some of his co-workers for drinks and dinner at this local eatery right next to the night bazzar. If any of you have ever been peddled by a ticket scalper while going to a game, shopping at a bazzar in Southeast Asia is like ticket scalpers on steroids times ten! It was so crazy! If you show the least bit of interest or just a simple glance they respond with ("You buy sir! You want to buy?!"). A little surprising I must
say seeing as how I was coming from Japan which is a country where people respect your personal space and being enough to not bother you unless absolutely necessary and especially in public. I would say that this was the most significant part of my culture shock for the most part. Other than the culture shock the dinner was great and I had another chance to try Singha!
March 4/2009
My friend Tisha had to work so she wasn't able to hang out with me and Tara for the day so we would have to get around Bangkok ourselves. We started the day out with a traditional Thai massage at a wonderful which I forget the name of now but when I find it I will add it 😊 The massage was two hours long and relaxing and active at the same time because about halfway through you would have to participate by moving your body a certain way so the masseuse could stretch your entire body. It was my first massage so I was up for anything but it was quite funny because neither of our masseuses spoke decent English to tell us what to do so
it was more like them moving around human sized rag dolls..haha. The massage itself only cost about 350 Baht which is about $10. Quite cheap right? After that we headed to the Temple of Dawn which is one of Thailand's most famous temples. We took a boat up the river and then we had to transfer to another boat to get to the actual temple, a little complicated at the time but totally worth it. Spent some time there taking pictures and baking in the hot Thai sun. We then haggled a tuk tuk driver to take us to Koasan Rd. which is the main touristy spot in all of Bangkok with lots of touristy nick nacks for sale and many hostels as well. We wondered around the road and then spent sometime at the McDonalds where I got some lunch. (Yeah I know but its so cheap!) We ended up getting on a bus back toward Tisha's house but we met here at the local mall not too far from there and caught a taxi back home. That night we went out to a club called Muse which was quite a trendy spot! The DJ would play various types
of music like Hip-Hop and Techno and then would let the live band play for an hour also. Of course I didn't understand any of the songs that the band sang because they were all in Thai but I always enjoy the energy in nightclubs, especially those in international cities! It was a great night and we retired at about 2AM to head back home to meet our American friend Dan who also studied in Kyoto with us. His flight arrived at 12AM and he taxied to Tisha's house and we got there just as he was pulling up into the driveway...perfect timing.
March 5/2009
First lesson for a night of clubbing....don't take money you think you won't need or spend because it will either get stolen or lost 😞 I woke up to realize that I was missing 2000 Baht which is about $56. I know, I know I should be careful but I am pretty sure it just slipped out of my pocket at some point when I was taking my camera out of the same pocket. Believe me, lesson learned! We started the day late and had some lunch down beside the river at this
Temple Theme Park
Traditional Thai Dancersgreat place with lots of delicious Thai food. If you have ever tried Thai food then you have probably tasted one of the spiciest types of food! Spicy but good! 😊 After lunch we bought a boat driver for the whole day to take us to an island where we got to try and see local people and the goods that they make for sell. We went to a Thai candy shop, a souvenir shop, and a clay pottery factory. I ended up buying something at each place because things were just so cheap and I felt better buying most of my souvenirs there because they are hand made and not imitation goods of some sort. The most interesting thing of the day would have to be when I witnessed Tisha and her brother Tasha pray at a Buddhist temple. A pretty nice and interestingly cultural day.
March 6/2009
My last full day in Bangkok was spent seeing some of the most famous sights in Bangkok. Save the best for last! Me and my friend Dan headed to the Grand Palace which is perhaps the most famous thing in all of Thailand besides the beaches. Upon entering me
and Dan noticed a sign that read Short pants were not allowed in main temple complex. Confused, we entered not knowing what would happen but we found out that we could borrow pants to cover our exposed legs for free. I don't know the reasoning behind this but I am sure it is religious in nature. We borrowed our oversized pants and headed into the temple complex which lives up to its name. I took lots of pictures of course and they speak for themselves! I was awestruk looking at the immaculately constructed buildings. I don't know much of the history behind the palace but I'm sure it has a lot of meaning for Buddhist followers. It was quite expensive to visit (350 Baht~ $10) but well worth it I would say! After that we headed to the touristy spot of Koasan Rd. to meet up with Tara later. Later on that evening me and Dan went to the tallest building in Bangkok which is a hotel/restaurant/office and is maybe about 60 stories tall. It was quite a site to see all of Bangkok at night. On our last full day in Bangkok we decided to hit up club Muse
once again but this time we got to hang out in the VIP area which was somewhat the same as the night before...just more crowded because it was Friday night and everyone was out. No lost money this time but lots of dancing and all! We left at about 1AM because me and Dan would take a bus the next morning to Koh Samed Island to hang out on the beach for the weekend.
-----Also I have found a way to post videos onto my blog as well so please check them out! 😊
Advertisement
Tot: 0.046s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 14; qc: 26; dbt: 0.0252s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Meredith
non-member comment
Too cute
Oh goodness looks like u had a ball.