It's been a while since i last blogging... No time and no mood to write... Anyway, i manage to complete this travel memoir after a number of procrastinations..
THAILAND, the land of the free. I had the opportunity to visit this country when i had won a writing competition held by Swiss Garden Vacation Club. At first, I thought of just cancelling the trip since my husband had just taken a week off for our family vacation in Bali. I, on the other hand, had no problem at all since I was still enjoying my semester break holiday. After coaxing my husband into getting another 2 days of his annual leaves, we departed to Bangkok on the 11th of June 2011...:)
DAY ONE (KL-BANGKOK-PATTAYA)
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Safely arrived at Suvanabhumi Airport on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.
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| Rice with chicken padprik & cashew nuts. Bought at stall no. 1,Airport food court. There are 2 halal food stalls at the food court. One is stall no 1 and the other one is a stall selling bread (can't remember the number, though.) |
Our first destination was Pattaya. Pattaya is approximately around 2 hours drive from Bangkok. We took a bus by Bell Service from the airport straight to our hotel. Service was OK with hiccups here and there.
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| The express bus that took us to Pattaya |
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From Pattaya Bus Station to the hotel
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The view of Pattaya from our hotel's room
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At night, we went to town for dinner and sight surveying the town area. Halal food is not a problem. There are a lot of halal restaurants around.
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View from our tuk tuk. Going out on our first night to get our dinner and surveyed
the town.
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| The Little India (Adjacent to Mike Shopping Mall) |
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| Ginger Tea (35 bath) |
After eating, we went shopping at the street market. Tired of shopping, we went for foot massage. Marvelous! Actually, there are plenty of food massage parlors along the street, u just choose which place u want and the prices vary too. I notice if the place is nicely decorated, the price is higher...standardlah tu kan....
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| 150 bath an hour (happy hour price!) |
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| The Street of Pattaya near midnight. |
DAY TWO (PATTAYA)
Very early in the morning, we went to Pattaya Floating Market. We were so early that most of the stalls were still not opened. Ha...ha... So, we just roamed around the market for a while waiting for the market to be opened at 10am. I read that there should be some sort of cultural shows at the market, but since it was raining that day, so the shows started quite late and we missed watching them.
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| Pattaya Floating Market: Early in the morning. Free Entrance. |
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| The Entrance |
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Koh Kae Shop...Everything is about nuts! i bought a few bags of Koh Kae peanuts
to be brought back to KL |
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Capturing momentos.Hubby in his new t-shirt bought from the street market
last night. |
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| Sampan is also used as a mean of transport here. |
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| One of the shops. This one selling crafts. |
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| Trying the hat on |
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| The weather was not so good that day |
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| A shop selling durians |
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| Musolla |
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| Making teh tarek. Lovely tea! |
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| That's the tea! |
We left the floating market somewhere in the afternoon. I didn't buy many things except a few bags of koh kae peanuts and some souvenirs.
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Left the floating market and went to town for lunch. After lunch, we went sightseeing along the sea. At that
time it was drizzling. |
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| Pattaya after the rain |
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| A lot of motorbikes for rent at a cheap price. We did not rent here, though... |
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| For those who wanna have fun...:) |
In the evening, we went to HRC to buy t-shirts for us and the kids. This time around, we were tired of tuk tuk and cabbies that always wanted to rip us off, so we rented a motorbike. Very cheap and economical. Here, they didn't ask for your license. They only wanted a copy of your passport. Our plan was actually to but t-shirts and the went to A-One Hotel (near HRC) for Halal buffet dinner. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the hotel, the porter told us that the buffet dinner had been shut down since there were less demands from the locals and tourists...sigh....
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While waiting for the bike
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| Taken from our rental bike...:) It feels freer and more relaxed... |
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| That's ours! |
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| Hard Rock Hotel, Pattaya |
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| The Avenue, one of the shopping complexes in town. Ripley's is in the building |
Decided to rumble with our bike that night rounding all around Pattaya. I sure had so muucchhh fun... At the same time, dropped by at the night market (adjeacent to The Avenue) to buy my mom's handbag. Papa also bought nice t-shirts for him and Faris. 100 baths each... Unfortunately, the T couldn't fit Faris...What a waste!
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| Mini van selling all sorts of drinks |
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| Let's drink! |
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| The best smoothies in town! (I don't know why the pix came out that way, silly!) |
DAY 3 (PATTAYA-BANGKOK)
Woke up early in the morning as our bus to Bangkok was leaving at 9. So, had to wait for the shuttle as early as 8. The bus left for Bangkok at half past nine. Reached Bangkok at noon. By the time we reached the hotel, we were starving like hell. Went to Sara's Restaurant (inside the hotel) for lunch. In Bangkok, we stayed at a muslim-owned hotel, The New World Lodge (Thanxs to a blogger friend who introduced me to the hotel thru her blog). In fact, i'd got many info on Halal stuff from her blog. Anyway, the hotel was good. Some of the staff speak Malay as they are from Pattani. They gave us tips and info as not to be ripped by the people outside. For my review of the hotel, you can visit:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g293916-d308878-r113691274-New_World_City_Hotel-Bangkok.html#CHECK_RATES_CONT
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Welcome to Bangkok!
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| Very nice! The taste of Thailand... |
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| Green curry with mango salad, omelette and thai tom yam..nyum..nyum... |
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| The Tuk Tuk Driver...:) |
After lunch, we quickly freshen up and headed straight to The Grand Palace. Tuk Tuk driver asked us for 500 baths at first but after my husband 'yelled' (well, not really yelling, actually..just to show disbelief), we managed to get the trip to Grand Palace for 20 baths...Ha..ha.. talking about good bargaining...
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| Memory with the Siamese Army... |
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| Welcome to the Grand Palace |
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| Very beautiful...No words can describe the beauty of this building.. |
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| Outside Grand Palace..Don't know what it is... |
Unluckily, I didn't get the chance to enter the palace..huuuahhhhhhaaa....:(... A visit to Thailand is not complete if u don't visit the Grand Palace....The reasons: 1. I was already late..the last entrance is 3.30pm... 2. Hubby didn't want to enter..wasting money, he said.....:(
To unwound my misery, we went to Siam Square...he..he..
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Inside Siam Paragon Shopping Centre...Actually we were sitting inside Auntie Anne's Pretzel overlooking that pretty cubic ice shop...
The shop was nicely decorated as if it was in Antarctic..Something like the Ice hotel in Sweden, I guess... The TV was showing all the latest k-pop clips...We noticed all the customers were school students |
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| That's it! As the result, Don't drool yeah.... Bought from the Ice Cubic Shop - It's called Choco Mania! |
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| This place is very similar to our Bukit Bintang..Very very similar |
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Paragon Square
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To mend my broken heart, i'd decided to visit Madame Tussauds Bangkok. I have my own history with Madame Tussauds, actually. The first time i wanted to visit Madame Tussauds London, 11 years ago, i did not have enough time before my departure back to M'sia. Went to Hong Kong, at that time pocket was not so full. Then, i went back to London 2 years ago, planning to visit. Again, at that time there was a strike coming. Then, went to Madame Tussauds Amsterdam, it was close for renovation and lastly...Madame Tussauds Bangkok. Not as grand as London, but OKla...However, some of the wax figures do not really resemble the celebrities.. MT Bangkok is situated at Siam Discovery Building. Below are some of the pixs taken at MT Bangkok. There were lots of them actually...
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Top left: stronger than Bruce Lee, top right: with best buddies, Ronaldinhio and 'entahla'.
Bottom left: with Madonna Oo La La, middle left: our present prime M still not a wax figure yet but Che' Dad's is there,
bottom right: the anorexic Tata Young. |
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| Other famous people |
Really enjoyed my Madame Tussauds trip until i forgot to go to HRC Bangkok for my signature t-shirt..apa la... We went for dinner at Maria's stall introduced by one of the worker's at the hotel. Big portions and cheap too... Not a fancy restaurant, just a stall nearby.
That night, went to the ever famous Khou San Road Night Market. Even though it was nearly midnight but there were plenty of people especially tourists.
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| Khau San Road |
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| Tourists Still massaging... |
DAY 4 (Going home time...)
After breakfast, we took the hotel transport to the airport. It cost us 550baths, cheaper than the normal taxi. Reached airport less than an hour.
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| Breakfast@Hotel |
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| We're leaving |
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| Bye bye, Bangkok! |
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| The hotel's MPV that took us to the airport... |
Really enjoyed my trip to Pattaya and Bangkok. No wonder people like to come here..there are things here that is specially catered for everyone.. Will be back again in the future to do things that i did not manage to do during this visit.
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| At the airport |
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Where would I be without AA...? Most probably at home, watching
channel Travel, Home & Living |
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| Chao Phraya River |
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| In the plane already...going home...:) |
FINALLY! Dpt jugek kte crik blog yg hadoo cite2 sal bkk ke pttya. ade tu ade yg lain tp kbyakan bujang2 lain plan nye. ye dak?
ReplyDeletebtw nk tnya.. cm kat pttya tuh jenjalan nek ape? tuk2 ke? and kat pttya tu jgk dr float market, town2 ke hr hotel tu jauh x? and kenape bus kne amik at 9am? mmg ssh ke bus nak ke bkk di pttya?
tq in adv.
tq
ReplyDeleteSalam FM, bile nak ke BKK nih..? BKK memang best, serius! esp makan2..paling saya suka mango smoothie...memang best bangat! Sangat berbeza dari kat sini... saya dari BKK ke Pattaya naik Bell bus service.. boleh belik online. online secure sikit sebab kalau penuh, kite kena tunggu bas seterusnya, buang masa.
ReplyDeleteOh ya! Bell service ni akan hantar kite teros ke pintu hotel.. Mula2 sampai saya naik tuk tuk... x larat kena ketok ( xla mahal sangat sebenarnya...), kami sewa motor.. memang best pusing2 pattaya naik motor... tepi laot lah katakan... jngn lupa p massage..murah...! thai massage yg x leh tahan tu... sakit tapi best... sekali-sekala kena siku, memang puas hati... HR Hotel kat town... nak ke floating market leh naik teksi atau sewa motor aja... kat pattaya x mintak lesen pon, die mintak fotokopi pasport aja... tp saya haritu ke floating market naik taxi pasal hujan la time tu... Bus tu ada yg lewat sket... tp since masa saya terhad, so saya ambik yg paling awal which is 9 am... tp kat BKK x leh sewa motor ya, banyak pak polisi..he..he..
ReplyDeletealhamdulillah.. n tqssm bg info the best.. ssh sket nk tgk pgalaman blogger ke pttya n bkk :) tq taw.
ReplyDeleteamboi nak ke spore, byk nye list die nak pegi.. hikotttt ;p
psl zam2 resto tuh, station smrt utk ke sane is Bugis. tapi lepas turun ke bugis kene jalan dlm 10-15min nak ke resto tuh. resto tuh betol2 berada di arab st. arab st tuh plak byk jual2 kain.. jage2.. hehehehe..tp lebih kan mase klu brenti di bugis ni. sbb nya betol2 sbelah station bugis ade market name bugis street. ade jual tshirt2 print tuh and FM ctk2 jugak la. so byk attraction kat station tuh. so lapang kan masa lebih sket klu nak brenti situ..
zam2 resto @ arab st ni betol2 opposite sultan mosque. die diantara building2 office. nnti jgn lupe try murtabak spore. sodap! ;p
Memang saya nak try test murtabak nyalah..pasal semua org pon cakap murtabak ni best.. so, nak tau jugak ape speselnya murtabak nih...he..he.. FM kat BKK dok kat mana..? Rasa saya HRC Bangkok x ada hotel kan..? Saya pon pengumpul t-shirt HRC tp entah mcm mana masa saya p hari tu, teruja sangat masok Madame tussaud, sampai terlupa nak ke HRC belik t-shirt.. Haru betol! Hotel yg saya duduk tu, muslim owned hotel. Restorannya pon halal... Pekerjanya ramai org Pattani, pandai cakap melayu, terasa mcm di KL plak bila berada di hotel tu... Airport transfer hotel ni murah..seingat saya masa saya p tu, TB550@RM55, naik Avanza baru... Harga ni lebih murah dari taxi biasa dan tuk tuk yg saya survey... kalu awak naik tuk tuk, hati2 sikit, mrka ni suka ketok org, esp tourist mcm kite ni... Kena pandai bargain habis-habisan..mereka ni x marah2.... lagik satu, saya selalu baca komplen pasal sesetengah pengusaha jet ski di Pattaya yg mengenakan customer. Mereka bagi kita jet ski yg memang dah scratch tp mereka cat dengan cat yg mudah tanggal. Bila kita main di air, cat tu akan luntur, dan nampakla scratch sana-sini..die akan tuduh kite yg buat dan minta bayaran ganti-rugi.. kalu kite report polis pon, polis mereka subahat sama.. dah banyak saya baca kes mcm ni kat Trip Advisor...
ReplyDeleteUish jht gils! Thx for the infos.. Mmg menakotkan.. Sbaik info awal. Mne tau gatal2 plak nk naik jet ski. BKK hotel belom amik lagi.. Tgk cemane.. Ingt nk amik kat tgh2 town yg dkat dgn Madame tussaud tuh. silom kn? Any suggestion x? Tgh pening sma ada nk dkat silom, otel sis, or riverside. Nk kirim ke tshirt BKK? insyaAllah sis tgk nk yg mne, bnk in duit, nnti kte beli kn.. Xpon sis kne repeat la pegi BKK.. Ngehngehngehngeh.. Ade jugak search kat agoda otel sis tuh. waduh fenin!
ReplyDeleteHotel saya tu dekat dengan Khoa San Road... malam2 happening ah situ, shopping2, massage... hotel2 lain saya x pasti plak.....he..he..malam, saya makan kat gerai Maria..gerai muslim, murah situ.. pekerja hotel new world yg cadangkan...time kasih kerana nk tlng belikkan tp insyaallah saya memang nak ke sana lagik..tp x tau bile.. cuti susah sket.... FM kalu p tempat2 lain nanti, yg saya rasa saya tak p, saya nak kirim t-shirt HRC boleh kan..? saya bank in duit...:) Dulu, dekat A-One hotel (next to HRH Pattaya ada halal buffet kat tingkat 10 A-one Hotel tu, tp sebab x dapat sambutan sangat, so mereka tutup buffet tu... Dekt floating market pattaya ada satu akak tu aja yg jual makanan halal dalam sampan tu.. tp saya x lalu sket ah nak makan....
ReplyDeleteAgain study pasal bkk hahahhahaa.. adoi la..
ReplyDeleteeh y not, insyaAllah.. will do. tapi cume tak tahu la lepas ni nak ke mana,, yg pasti tidak laa mcm awk yg terbang ke sane kemari yg jauh2 nun disana.. :) mahu kah kamu memesan HRC collection dgn sy yg terbang rendah2 ni je ;p
btw sis, nk suggest.. why not u buat label kat blog ni each town and each country yg u had visit. mcm entry ni serious xtau u dah went to pttya n bkk. sbb u tulis thai je kan? ni sy bru pg negara jiran, mne la tau sok2 nk p oz ke, europe ke (verangan) mesti ke blog ni jugak.. sure haru nk mencarik label.. kekekekekkeke..
He..he... saya ada label kat tepi tu.. tp by countryla, bukan town or event.. selalunya saya akan pecahkan citer2 saya ni, tp yg BKK dan Pattaya ni saya sekalikkan.. x ingat plak kenapa, malas kot rasanya, nak tulis banyak2...
ReplyDeleteHe..he... jgn ckp cengitu, saya ni next year x taula, anak 1st dah naik darjah 5, so..nak berjalan mcm terbatas sket... asik nak kena ponteng aja bdk2 tu nnti... tahun ni, dah kena skip 4 hari nak ke GC...kih..kih... he..he.. Europe best...! P sekalik, pasti mo pegi lagik..