Sunday, January 16, 2011

Land of 'Wat'-evers...Bangkok!!

Dec 9 (Thurs): Penang-Bangkok
Bangkok was our first destination outside Malaysia. The original plan was for bro to join us in Bangkok and we've also bought the air tickets and booked the hotel for 3 person. But there were some last minute changes to our plan, bro forfeited this trip to stay home and help out at home.

Took an evening flight. By the time we arrived Bangkok, the sky was already dark. 

Checked into our hotel...Sawasdee Sukhumvit Inn.

Dec 10 (Fri): 'Wat'-evers Day
Honestly, I don't really know much about Bangkok...all i knew was that it's famous for shopping & temples. Too bad, I'm neither a big fan of shopping nor temples...so I asked him to prepare a list of places that he wanted to visit. :p If you haven't noticed from my Penang post, he is very very very interested in temples. =.= That's the weird thing about we people, we always like things that are different from what we normally see. Btw...there are sooo many Wats (temples) in Bangkok...now you know how I came up with this title.  

Breakfast at the hotel before we start the day.

Took a cab from our hotel to our first stop...WAT Mahathat.

Our next destination was just across the street. Saw some Thai students, street food hawker as we were walking. It's not easy to cross the road in Bangkok ler!

The Grand Palace. This place was hugeee...took us 2 hours to see this place. The ticket costs 350 baht per person. I didn't know that it was free for the locals...or else I could have just walked in together with other Thais and got in for free since I look like Thai. =.=

WAT Phrakaew inside the palace.

No idea what's the name of all these structures...too lazy to refer to the map. :p

Cool drawings on the wall. I was too bored so made him pose. :p

They really like gold color huh!

I guess this is the palace.

Couldn't stand the heat anymore so went straight into Au Bon Pain for food & aircon. :)

Continued walking to another WAT.

WAT Pho...sleeping buddha.

Wanted to take a boat across Chao Phraya river to Temple of the Dawn but we were both tired so decided to just take a picture and head back.

Traffic jam on our way back bcoz of these red-shirt ppl...dont know what they are up to this time around.

Dec 11 (Sat): No Wat Day!!

Bought a day-pass for 120 baht and traveled around the city on the skytrain.

Traffic in Bangkok is always busy.

Vimanyek Mansion. Good that they don't allow us to take photos in the mansion...if not i'll have even more pics to edit...hehe! :p

Lunch at Siam Paragon. Mr. American had american fast food again. =.= I let him try my tomyam noodle...actually just the squid (without the soup) and he said it was too spicy...lao beh la!

Jim Thompson's House Museum. He was a rich silk trader in Thailand and disappeared in Cameron Highlands...haha...'good job' Malaysia! :p No photos allowed inside the house = less work for me...hehe! :p 

Chatuchak weekend market. It's just like our pasar malam here but the amount of people there were just crazy. Look at all those cars parking there! Daniel thought it was pretty interesting coz they don't have this kinda 'market' there.

Dec 12 (Sun): Last day in Bangkok

A pic of our hotel. =) Bought the skytrain day-pass again.

MBK Plaza. Kinda like Sungai Wang...nothing new to me but this angmoh has never seen so many shops and people in a mall...welcome to Asia. :p

Mr Daniel's favorite 'place of interest' in Bangkok...Soi Cowboy & Nana Plaza...aka Bangkok's Red Light District. =p Lotsa neon lights, gogo bars, girls & ladyboys in sexy/skimpy outfit...pretty interesting. Those girls/ladyboys didn't kacau him much coz they probably thought he already got one escort...lol!! Do I really look so Thai?!?!

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Touring Penang with DanDan

Started my working life last Wed and all I could say is...life ends when you start working. =.= Work-eat-sleep...same boring routine everyday. Been trying to spend some time editing my pictures after work but always end up falling asleep with my lappie on...this is definitely not a good sign. So I guess I'd better start blogging about our 'winter' trip before I get buried by work.

Those who have been kaypo-ing on fb should know that I had a vip guest who came all the way from US to visit last December. =) Yup...my boo took a month off work and flew all the way to the other side of the world to visit me. Since this was his first trip abroad, we took the opportunity to travel around Southeast Asia as well. It was kinda a bad timing to be away from home after everything that happened but all these have been planned and booked in advance so cancelling the trip wasn't really an option...and thanks to my 'good' planning skills, we had a jam-packed schedule for an entire month! Luckily big bro was able to take leave and stay home while I was away. {Dec 6-9: Penang   9-13: Bangkok   13-17: Phuket   17-23: Penang   23-27: Siem Reap   27-31: Kuala Lumpur   31-Jan 3: Singapore}

Dec 8 (Wed): Georgetown, Penang (UNESCO World Heritage Site)
This was my 2nd time bringing people around Penang...and I admit I'm quite a lousy 'tour guide' coz I'm not good in explaining or telling stories, especially when it comes to history. :p So to make things easier, I asked him to pick the places that he wanted to go and I be the driver. =D

 One thing you can't miss in Penang is FOOD!! Had ice kacang, cendol and mee goreng at New World Park. His description for cendol is the 'green worm thing'...lol!

Kuan Yin (Goddess of Mercy) Temple...one of the oldest Chinese temple in Penang.

Some old houses behind the temple. He wanted to take a pic of the drain coz they don't have  this kinda drainage system in US. =.=

King Street Temples. Dad used to live in King Street when he was a kid (not in the temple la of course) but I didn't know bout these clan temples before this. :p That colorful thingy is some sort of candle...no idea what it's called.

Sri Mahamariamman Hindu Temple.

Teo Chew Temple.

Rice+dishes for every meal was new to him. We eat with spoon & fork but he used only fork to eat rice. I asked him to try using both but he can't coordinate...haha...lousy! :p We eat rice & dishes together but he ate only dishes first and rice last. Excuse me sir...that's not the right way of eating! :p Whenever we go to grandma's place, she'll stuff him with food...lol!

Big bro bought this new game (something like Wii) and it was supposed to be for dad but look who's playing. Game boys...*head shake*. =.=

Dec 18 (Sat): Penang (Part 2)
Continued our tour around Penang after coming back from Bangkok and Phuket. More temples to come...haha! Lucky me, the weather was gloomy most of the time when we were in Penang so it wasn't hot but not good for him coz he wanted to get some tan...lol!

Drove all the way to Batu Feringghi for this view...kinda disappointing right?

Went to CRC for dinner and badminton. We rarely see angmoh playing badminton there so one uncle asked if he's from Denmark (coz of Peter Gade Christensen)...sweat! =.= And guess who won the game? Of course me la...haha! :p

Dec 19: (Sun): Penang Heritage Trail
Very productive day coz we did a lot of sight-seeing for one whole day. Still trying to complete the checklist of the places that he wanted to see. 

Khoo Kongsi...'represents the opulence and prosperity of the Khoo clan'.

It was my first time visiting Khoo Kongsi too. This place has been restored so it looked quite nice. 

Lotsa exhibits and facts here so we spent about 2.5 hours here.


Nice exterior with lotsa details.

Finally a picture of us together. =)

Exterior of old houses in Penang.

Sleeping Buddha/Wat Chayamangkalaram. This is a Thai temple I reckon. 

Mom & dad gave him a treat at CRC restaurant. 

Bloated again. :p

Hahaha...gotcha!! :p


Pinang Peranakan Mansion. The place was kinda messy when we went coz ppl was gonna film something there I guess. This place is famous coz it was used to film several movies and drama series. 

Peranakan, also known as Baba & Nyonya (the Straits Chinese), was a prominent community of Chinese that created a unique lifestyle and customs by adopting local Malays and the colonial British customs and traditions.

Dhammikarama Burmese Buddhist Temple.

Why do we have so many different types of temples in Penang har?

Fort Cornwallis (built by Captain Sir Francis Light) & Queen Victoria Memorial Clock Tower. 

The Esplanade.

City hall and Town hall. There was a Chingay, Lion and Dragon dance parade that day but he was too tired so we decided to call it a day.


Western food for dinner at Mizi Bistro.


Dec 20: (Mon): Kek Lok Si
Was supposed to visit Kek Lok Si and Penang Hill but the tram to Penang Hill was under repair so we missed that.

The huge Kek Lok Si Temple.

He's very interested in all these so we spent quite some time here.

Took some pics before going up the pagoda.

Climbing the stairs was alright but prob is the steps were so small!

View from the top of the pagoda.

Kuan Yin Statue.

The old Kuan Yin statue broke so they're building this new one with shade for the statue. 

Stopped by Queensbay for a view of Penang Bridge. Look at the skies...rain's coming!

Dec 21: (Tues): Seafood dinner at Tambun

Farewell dinner for Daniel before we said bye bye to Penang.

Yummy!

Dec 22: (Wed): Penang-Kuala Lumpur
Took a bus down to KL coz we had to catch our flight to Siem Reap the next morning. Our bus broke down on the way and we had to switch to another bus. What are the odds?!?! He's too 'lucky'. The funny thing was the bus driver actually gave privilege for foreigners (angmoh to be specific) to switch first coz apart from Daniel,there were 2 more angmoh in the bus. The bus driver was pointing at us and said 'pelawat'...took me few seconds to figure out that he was talking about us...lol!!  

Pheww...long post and my keyboard is retarded...so annoying. Working on Bangkok pictures now so will try update the next one asap.