The Singer & His Food.: The Bangkok Trip

Saturday, October 15, 2005

The Bangkok Trip

5 Days in Bangkok left a truly unforgettable experience. Everything there was cheap, yet good. The traffic is bad sometimes, but surprisingly, transportation is efficient! The best way to get through a jam is to get on a tuk tuk, or 1 of the trains. There seems to be no traffic laws in Bangkok. Vehicles swerve in and out of each others' lanes, yet i did'nt see a single accident over the 5 days of travelling about. The people were beautiful and friendly. The food is cheap and excellent, coupled with good service. Even though i don't speak their language, i felt rather comfortable and thought i could get used to Bangkok. I'm definately going back soon!
Anyway, here comes the photos. Enjoy.

Us getting on the bus headed to Changi International Airport.

Taking a few quickie shots before we entered the terminal.

1)That's my favourite Italian style pizza.
2) That's our friend, Kheng. Unlike what his name suggests, he's the most hardworking 1 of the lot.

1) Check out the shiny forehead of that guy on the right, that stood out of the pic for some reason.
2) Group shot. Gary, Cedric, Anselm, Clement.

1)The objective of this picture was to take a pic of that stunning gal in the center. She has a milliondollar smile. Too bad we did'nt get to talk to her.
2) Me, on the plane.

Assorted voyeur shots of the SIA Stewardess(s)

Men deep in thought. Seemingly.

The shot and smile that melted our hearts. I asked her to pose for a shot while we were alighting from the plane. Because everyone was moving forward, i could'nt stand still and take the photo, so it was a little blurred. And she grumbled in a psuedo pitiful tone "why am i taking the photo alone..." but it was too late, we were already past her... after which, we cried our hearts out and lamented for not taking a picture with her. Anyone knows her by chance?

Bangkok

1) The infamous tuk tuk.
2) Morning view from my hotel window.

1) Me and Cedric
2) Kheng, Fred, Ben, Cedric, Clement, Gary

The streets of Bangkok.

We were headed for a boat ride tour, towards the Wat Arun temple. This was the same type of boat we were about to board.

1) Stuff floating all over the river.
2) A condominum along the river. I'd like to buy a unit here when i'm able to. I heard it costs only 30k baht . How true that is, i'm not sure.

1) On the boat...
2) Cedric and Clement

1) The magnificent Wat Arun Temple
2) Me with an amazing back drop.

1) The glimmer on the left side is not a photo/camera effect!

1) Me posing by some 'great gate' . (Star Gate?)

1) Clement & Fred

1) Groupie: Junhuai, Fred, Anselm, Clement, Kheng
2) Fred & Davis

1) Houses along the river
2) Floating merchants

1) Check out the sizez of the fishes were were feeding with bread. It was supposed to be some kinda good deed to feed the fishes, and perhaps get something good in return.
2) Group photo at the lunch buffet. I look like the Chairman of the association!

The infamous Mah Boon Kong aka MBK Shopping center. Hub of all trendy stuff.

Us taking a break at Swensens. I believe you can't find a cheaper Swensens anywhere else in the world. However, the catch is... Their Swensens only sell ice cream.

This is the bowling alley at the top of MBK. The place looks fantastic, and i nearly got my ass kicked for taking this picture. But it was worth it. They have a DJ spinning music there, Hip hop RnB stuff, and you have swarms of pretty school girls going there to bowl and hang out. Altogether, the place is an excellent place for chilling out!

1) The guys all dressed up for some night life!
2) Hollywood Discotheque. Recommended by our perverted tourguide, who basically ripped us off and took us on a joy ride. Asshole.

1) Chatuchak. This is a crowded little corner eatery, where we had an excellent breakfast. I was skeptical at first, coz the clay plates looked pretty dirty. But the quality of the food made me forgave everything else.
2) Spring rolls, light skin with ample juicy fillings.

1) I had the rice vermicelli with grilled pork. Was disappointed that there was no sauce, but soon realized that it was cuz the flavour of the grilled pork was so excellent, anything else would bring injustice to it.
2) My friends had the vietnamese pho. The noodles were amazingly elastic and chewy. Something that is seldom seen in rice noodles. The soup was good too.

1) An outdoor shot of Chatuchak market. The biggest flea market i've ever been to. It really defines the term 'Flea Market' .

1) A humble hawker selling some grilled poultry outside Chatuchak. We bought 7 sticks for like 20 baht. Do you have any idea how insanely cheap that is? It tasted very good, and we did'nt get any food poisoning after that either. You MUST try the roadside stalls when you're in Bangkok.

Went to Chinatown's Nam Xing restaurant for some cheap but mediocre quality Sharksfin. Had scallops, brocolli with crabmeat and a huge fish steamed cantonese style. Total damage, about SGD20+ each.

Day3: The street of Pertunam.

1) Birds sold by the cages. You're supposed to do a good deed by buying a cage, and setting them free. That way, your wish that you prayed for would have a higher chance of coming true.
2) Me and Anselm.

1) At a shopping mall in Pertunam. There are like 5 storeys and all of them are connected by these "Step-less" escalators. Pretty cool. Shortly after i took this photo, i came across a sign that said "No Photo"
2) Theres something about skyscrapers that just seem to yell out 'TAKE A PHOTO OF ME!'

The river/canal transport.

2) Aha! Yes.. Fried Cockroaches. The term 'I'll crush you like a cockroach!!" is passe. Here, the fry and eat them. My friends did buy a couple of bags. But none of the roaches though. Reviews from them suggested that fried mealworms tasted like prawn crackers. As in, the Calbee stripey kinda crackers.

1) Had intended to take the girl in the center, but she did'nt give me a pose. Instead, ended up with a pretty stylish night shot.

1) Our last day at Bangkok. We're chilling at another Swensens outlet in MBK. There are like 3 Swensens outlets located in the same building. All 3 of them are equally packed.
2) Tried to take a pic of the gal behind.. She's pretty cute, but she did'nt turn to the camera.