So, i guess this travel log is gonna take a long time to complete, bit-by-bit everyday (that is if i do complete it, as i do remember that i still have a trip from more than a year ago that i've yet to finish blogging about it...).
Day 1, 19/03/2008
Met up with the gang at Changi Airport at around 9am. The flight was at 11am and the check-in counter wasn't even open yet. So we had breakfast at Burger King. If i recall correctly, this was the first time i had Burger King breakfast. It was good and the servicing is big, but a pity that the coffee wasn't good.
The flight departed and arrived on schedule. It was our first time at the Suvarnabhumi Airport. This airport was not in operation yet during our last trip there. The airport is huge, but the interior design felt kinda old-fashion. It was rather surprising to see that a newly built airport wasn't equipped with all the state-of-the-art facilities.
Being my careless self, i dropped my passport at my seat on the plane. Fortunately i reached for my passport right after i stepped out of the cabin and realized that i had lost it. I ran back to the cabin and the flight attendant immediately handed back the passport to me even before i asked. I considered myself lucky that it wasn't picked up by someone else who actually took it for illegal dealings.
Before the trip, Ting had made an online booking for transport from airport to hotel, but she didn't get any confirmation in return. After we had cleared the custom, we spent quite some time looking for the person who was supposed to pick us up but to no avail.
A person who was there (supposedly fetching someone else) helped us make a call to the online company and we found out that the booking was not received at all. Then this person who helped us out (and who was from a travel agency) told us that he could arrange the transport for us at THB1,500 (for 6 persons). We thought the price was reasonable and took it.
The journey from the airport to the hotel was far.
Along the highway, i noticed that there were a lot of cabs on the road. It was as if for every 10 cars you see, 5 (or even more) are cabs. And they sure have a queer taste, i mean, pink color for cabs? That happens to be one of the colors i hated the most.
We were staying at the Zenith Sukhumvit Hotel, which is located just beside the Pakistan Embassy and with lots of restaurants serving Middle East cuisines nearby. For a person like me who had spent half of my time staying in hotels, there's really nothing to shout about this hotel, but i'd say it's more or less value for money.
After having checked in to the hotel, it was already 3pm+ (Bangkok time, which is one hour behind us). We walked away from the hotel, looking for a decent restaurant for our first meal in Bangkok. Then we came to this Thai restaurant and struggle through placing order for the food, as the waiter doesn't speak much English.
The soft drinks in Bangkok came in those bottles that reminded me of my childhood days.
And of course we ordered the Tom Yam Kung, which wasn't really that fantastic.
I ordered a plate of Pad Thai, and half-way through eating it, i realized that i've forgotten to take a picture of it.
The strange looking veggie beside the bean sprouts is banana flower. The waiter told us that we could just eat it like that. I had a small bite, and it was kinda tasteless. I didn't like it.
After lunch, we decided to walk to the Erawan Shrine (four-faced Buddha), which we thought wasn't too far from the hotel as seen on the map, but turned out to be quite some distance, especially when we were walking under the hot sun by the busy streets with polluted air.
This is a very famous shrine. It was said that the Buddha is so efficacious that whatever you pray for will be answered. It was so famous that i heard some HK movie stars had come here for prayers too. Indeed, there was quite a crowd at the shrine, and my bet was most were tourists.
Both 貝 and i donated some money, and 貝 also paid respects to all the four faces, while Ting was the only one who seemed to be praying seriously to the Buddha.
Before we left, a dance performance by a Thai troupe was about to begin. There was this guy kneeling beside the pillar, praying very hard to the Buddha.
Hmm, so many people were asking for something from the Buddha. I wonder if really all would be answered.
Labels: travel
