Yes, I am back! Before I begin on this write-up on my experience in this trip, I would first like you to visit each separate day from my own account. This is to give you a little background to this summary I am going to write:
To visit Day 1, click Day 1! (22nd June 2017)
To visit Day 2, click Day 2! (23rd June 2017)
To visit Day 3, click Day 3! (24th June 2017)
To visit Day 4, click Day 4! (25th June 2017)
To visit Day 5, click Day 5! (26th June 2017)
To visit Day 6, click Day 6! (27th June 2017)
To visit Day 7, click Day 7! (28th June 2017)
Ok so now, I assume you roughly understand what went through for the whole trip. Now to the main point. Roughly a month ago, I was still working for the NYP bursary department, with this 3 other colleagues, namely John, Fenhui and Yutong. The 4 of us were hanging out quite a lot during those days so naturally we wanted to make full use of the Hari Raya long weekend. It was Yutong who first made a casual remark that she wanted to visit Bangkok.
And then the rest of us thought that was a pretty good idea. So a plan was formed. We wanted to only go on the Friday and return on the Monday, but the plane tickets were so expensive. At half the price, we get to stay 2 more days if we go on a Thursday and return on a Tuesday instead. We only booked the plane and hotel one month prior to departure. I felt that was very rushed, but it was still smoothly done.
Fast forward a few days after we completed the booking, we got fired from the job. Don't ask me why because I don't know why too. That's it. The trip to Bangkok is not a break from work anymore, but a random holiday trip in the month of June. Nonetheless, we stand firm that this trip is gonna be a good trip.
Fast forward again to Day 1, we arrived at the airport in high spirits. All 4 of us were excited for the trip. We reached Bangkok safely in the evening and spent the night exploring the place. We ate some street food, got lost at some ulu place, visited a night market and caught a movie together. We got our first-hand experience at Chang beer! It was a pretty good way to start the trip!
The street food over in Bangkok are super cheap. But, not many can handle its nasty oily nature. It is good only for small bites, not to fill your entire stomach. The movie experience is similar to Singapore's. So if you have better things to do than a movie, go and do your better things!
Thankfully, our hotel provides us with breakfast every single morning so we have one less meal to worry about. I tell you, Budacco is considered one of the best value hotels in the heart of Bangkok. Nice clean rooms with amazing service, not to mention the location of it. The Pratunam market is just a stone's throw away and there are tons of shopping malls to shield you from the prickling heat.
We went Bangkok without a solid plan of what to do on each specific day so we only planned where we wanna go when we woke up each day. Day 2 was starting to get a little confusing so I ended up leading them to walk on railway tracks for an hour. It was a good experience for me but maybe not for the rest, and definitely not for Yutong. (She hates walking long distances)
Of course, we checked out the Thai massage at night. If there is one thing Bangkok is famous for, it is their Thai massage. I don't usually go for massages so I can't compare the Thai massage to any other kinds. But I was thankful that the parlour we visited is an extremely clean one. It feels good to have someone stepping on my back and loosening up my muscles.
Day 3 got a little better. We visited an elephant zoo and spent half our day there. Elephants are sacred animals in Thailand so it is a must to see those beasts perform. It was an eye-opening experience to how zoos in other parts of this world operates.
We tried to visit the Chatuchak market at night but most stalls were closed. Our improper planning caused us to wonder why we are walking down a closed market sometimes. The huge learning point for us is that we really need to have a proper planning, in other words, a leader. Unfortunately, I didn't feel good about leading in this trip because I would be leading them to crazy adventures instead of relaxing shopping sprees.
Finally, we visited the full market on Day 4. There was so much to see and buy but we didn't buy much. John and me only wear a specific kind of clothing (sports clothes) so our range was very limited. The available sports clothes were of quality that couldn't meet any of our expectations. So we did not buy clothes at all.
Food wise we were pretty much afraid to spend because of the general hygiene in Bangkok. I bought a ukulele from the Chatuchak market so I am considered happy since I spent some money. We tried visiting Pat Phong at night and was scarred by the amount of sex clubs in that area. Pat Phong is a super dirty place to go at night. Lesson learnt.
Day 5 was sight-seeing day for us, finally. We visited the Grand Palace and went on a useless boat ride. Apparently, the language barrier was too much for us that we just went along with any plan that was thrown at us. That is how we got scammed so easily. Granted, it's better to get scammed and have something to do than to stone and nua on the hotel bed.
The tourists attractions were so freaking crowded. Most of the tourists are Chinese and they just pushed and squeezed their way through. We were so done with walking around aimlessly in the huge sea of human sardines. The hot weather only made things worse.
But at least we got to take a few photos so it's all good. As a happy-go-lucky person, I tried my best to cheer everyone up. It wasn't easy, but I didn't stop my jokes. I can feel the atmosphere getting lighter each time so I was quite happy.
The Big C supermarket there was the bomb. Like every other overseas trip, a trip to a local supermarket is one of the best things to do. The 3 of them stocked up on enough food to last them throughout World War 3. I, however, did not buy much as my money is almost gone.
The interesting aspect of the Bangkok supermarkets is, they allow us patrons to reuse their cardboard boxes to store our items. How cool is that! I wished Singapore would do the same instead of selling the cardboard boxes for their own gain.
Day 6 was go home day and we never felt more relieved. Honestly, this trip, half the time we are lost travellers. It still felt like a holiday break, but I feel stressed at times when issues pops up. Issues like not knowing where to go, or ending up in a dead street, makes me feel like crying. But I prefer to look on the brighter side of life; at least we are getting lost TOGETHER. :)
Getting lost can be fun if we are all the adventurous kind. But we're not. So if we are going on a trip again in the future, I'll be sure to plan out detailed proposals and backup plans.
All in all, the trip itself was fun. I have never been to Bangkok so the first-hand experience will always be a good experience. The communication can definitely be improved and we would definitely appreciate a slightly larger group, especially since we have 3 extroverts on this trip.
And that's pretty much it.
It is I, Edwin Ang, signing out!
No comments:
Post a Comment