Thursday, March 13, 2008
Bangkok - The City That Shops and Shops!
As the title suggest, it really is a shopping heaven since it boasts super cheap prices for its clothes, shoes and even food! So its basically eat and shop when you're there. For me, it was an eye opener since it was my first time there. Previously, i visited Phuket and was mesmerised by the beautiful and sandy beaches not forgetting the great seafood she offers. This time round, i told myself i needed an entire wardrobe makeover with many many buys! So many i shocked myself at the end of the trip...
After a smooth flight, i arrived at Bangkok's new terminal. Despite it being new, i still find S'pore's Changi Airport top. =) I was travelling with a HUGH number of people since many of my relatives were holiday-ing together! It was the first time i was travelling with such a large group of people! 21 to be exact! Upon touching down, the time was 9pm local time. We cleared immigration and started searching for transport to Bossotel - our lodging for 3 days. After much haggling, (yes! even right outside airport, it has already started!), we managed to hire a bus to fetch us all there. It cost 1200 baht originally 1400 baht. That sums up to around $60. Quite cheap considering the fact that we are travelling in such a large group. The trip took 45mins to an hour and that made me appreciate life in S'pore where travelling time rarely exceeds 45mins!
Slowly but surely, the bus plonked its way through the busy streets of Bangkok and finally pulled up beside our hotel. After the 1hr+ flight and bus trip, we finally checked in our rooms and i couldn't get myself up again after lying in bed! Since we had not taken our dinner yet, we changed into comfy shoes and clothes before taking a walk downstairs in search of our first meal of the trip!
Right across the street, we saw roadside stalls selling noodles and since all of us were too lazy to walk around in search of better alternatives, we made do with what the small squeezy stall has to offer ignoring the dirtiness of the place. =x Thankfully, there were no reported incidents of tummyache throughout the trip.
The next day, we went shopping at this damn big market called chatuchak market. It was so big that it contained 5000 stalls! It opened only on weekends and even if we spend 2 full days there, i doubt we can patronise all the stalls! And no surprises, that's where i bought most of my purchases! 3 tees, one puma jacket 3 footwear, what more can i ask for! The fact that things that were soooo cheap did not do much to prevent me from spending a bomb! No prizes for guessing but 2 of my female cousins spent the most! Easily shooting up to $450!! Every shop seems to be able to catch their attention as they buy and buy and buy and buy. Yup, and thats day 2 for you mr diary! And oh! I ate a worm that day! Fried worm from a road side stall! Still cant believe i actually put that into my mouth! YUCK!
Day 3 soon came and i realised i've not seen or even text Piglet for 3 days! Although that may seem chey, 3 days nia... But to me, that was VERY VERY long!! I missed her so badly i wanted to return back to S'pore that very day... Sadly, i was only scheduled to return on Monday. Can't take it anymore, i started to type and send her an SMS. This despite my cousins warning me how expensive it is to send an SMS. I did not give a damn, as i just wanted to know how she was doing back in S'pore. Things did not help much as she told me that she missed me alot! This makes me want to fly back to S'pore even more just to see her and give her the BIGGEST hug i can give! Missed you so much back then dear!
Finally, that day has arrived! Time to return to Home! Yup, Home sweet home whr i know Piglet's waiting for me intently at home! Flight was scheduled at 8pm which means i would most probably reach Home at 11-12midnight. Dying to hear her voice even though it was only a telephone call. At the airport, we had our meals before boarding TigerAirways heading back to S'pore. I was soon going to realise i was about to experience my scarriest flight yet. Take off soon came and my cousin realised she had no seatbelts on! Budget airlines huh, we chuckled to ourselves. Nevertheless, she chose to remain tight-lipped about it after some coaxing by me and my other cousin. =x Thankfully, take off was smooth and we went to take a quick snooze. I was dreaming about aliens i think? when the whole airplane suddenly rocked! I wasnt exaggerating.. It dipped and i could feel from my seat that we were losing altitude. That woke many passengers up as well and like ostriches, many started to cranked their necks from their seats trying to see what was happening. Worse still, a passenger vomitted on the plane which sent a whiff of pungent smell throughout the plane! All of a sudden, the announcement (announcement was to fasten seatbelts) came on and the captain assured us that everything was fine and the plane was merely undergoing a turbulence. That gave reassurance to few but my cousin who was without her seatbelt in the first place was getting jumpy. Her expressions were hilarious but i tried to keep a straight face afraid of frightening her even more. She was getting more and more uneasy as the lights on the plane flickered. She could not take it any longer and she soon called for assistance. When the steward knew about it, he seemed shocked. That did not help things as my cousin was already close to peeing in her pants! Poor her. haha. After a few frightening minutes which seem like hours, we finally landed safely and we heaved a hugh sigh of relief happy to be alive. Me even more so as i lived to see daylight which means being able to see my lovely pei wen after not being able to do that for the past 3-4 days! I called immediately upoin landing but sadly, her hp was off. Understandably so since she has to report to her new job the next day. Still missing her like crazy, i turned on my PC to check my mails she sent me upon reaching home before slping on my soft bed dreaming of what its like to see her again after such a loooooong time away although it was only 3-4days!! Hell knows how 17 days is like!
`iRained
signing off at 2:22 AM
