~~~MeMoIrS oF oUr BaNgKoK tRiP!!!~~~

Yes we are back. Been a few days in fact. Anyway my baby has already given the breakdown of the damages from the trip so I shall not repeat it again. However I would like to give some basic guide to those who are interested to go there sometime soon.

Transport

Three options to choose from - Tuk tuk, Taxi or walk! :P

Tuk tuk - No fix price. All base on your knowledge of the market price there and your bargaining power. I said I was going to give some basic guide so here it is - From Patrunam to Chinatown which is pretty far, should cost u only 70baht. Basically taking tuk tuk should not cost u anything more than 100baht anyway. Most would ask for 150 to 200baht. Just slash is down. There's plenty on the street so don't worry. There are 2 types of tuk tuk, one type has white license plate and the other has yellow. We were told that those with white plates are registered drivers and their names are on the police records. So that means its safer with them. And there are much cheaper. I encountered one and it cost us only 30baht for the to and fro trip. However they are pretty rare on the street. Don't worry the yellow ones are not dangerous. In fact, we only managed to use those with white plates once. Oh by the way, the advantage of taking tuk tuk is the speed. You don't wanna waste half your time during the holiday being caught in the jam. Traffic is terrible!!! BUT you must be prepared for the pollution. Its most than smoking lor.

Taxi - Flag down price is 35 baht and it takes almost forever for the meter to jump. Each jump is 2baht. I never took them not becoz they are much more expensive but to avoid the heavy traffic. Anyway you will have to take a taxi from the the airport to the hotel and back to the airport form the hotel. From airport to hotel should cost you about 350baht excluding toll charges if there's any. Actual price is only 300baht, the additional 50baht is for airport surcharges. As for going back to the airport from the hotel, its usually the same or slightly higher at about 400baht max! However if you were lucky enough like us to use a metered taxi you can expect to pay only about half that amount. We paid only 160baht including toll charges of 20baht from the door steps of our hotel to the airport.

Walk - Depending on where you stay. If you stay near Patrunam Marketing which is a good location to stay at, then most places are quite within walkable distance. However, again you will have to tolerate the pollution on the roads lor. And PLS don't cross the roads like heros becoz heros die first. Use the overhead bridges. The steps are rather steep but no choice.

Where to stay!!! - Most Singaporeans will stay at Asia Hotel for convenience sake. It is linked to the local subway called BTS. Again staying where depends on your itinery. Mostly its for shopping lar.

Itinery - If shopping is your main itinery, here's a quick guide. Chatuchap flee market. Known to be the largest flee market in the WORLD!!! Approximately 5000 stalls. You can expect to spend the whole day there lor. The other must go place for shopping is MBK shopping mall. Its only walking distance from Asia Hotel. However if u like u can take the train there which is probably only 1 station away, like from Toa Payoh to Bradell. The main difference between to 2 shopping areana is MBK is aircon-ed and chatuchap is not. Many says that if you cannot find what you want in these 2 places than you can't find it in Bangkok. If you have most time here's a few other good shopping location - Patruman Market, Platimum Fashion Mall (Just opposite Patrunam market), Biyoke, Indra Square (these 2 are within Pratunam market itself). For more upmarket shopping experience, you can try Peninsular Plaza or Amarin Plaza. Patpong is a nightlife place with the famous Thaigirl show (Tiger show - commonly known as). If you haven't seen it no harm going. There is a feel market there as well. Prices are steep there but don't be afriad to bargain down. My advice is never go Patpong first before visiting MBK or Chatukchap coz only after you have visited these 2 place, only will you know the marketing price. Otherwise be prepared to be chopped like a raddish at patpong.

Food - Seafood is cheap! Basically food is cheap lar. If you are more adventurous, you can try street hawkers. They are dirt cheap but at your own risk. You don't want to spend the rest of your days there sitting on the toilet bowl right? :P There is always food courts at shopping centres. They all run on a store value card system. Good to the counter and buy about 150 to 200 baht worth of SVC. That should be good for 2. You might still have some left. Refund them from the same counter you got them from. Beware, food in Thailand are relatively sweet so you have to get used to the taste.

Ok I think I have covered the main survival issues liao. Have fun andif there's anything more you need to know, READ UP!!! :P

~~~CONTENTED!!!~~~

I already am and will be even more tomorrow. In fact its in a few hours from now. I will soon be the husband of my beloved and she will be called my wife. I don't really care anymore. I don't care how good I look or even how much I earn and how people see me simply because I am CONTENTED now that I have found the one for me. I really am!!!

All the long days and months of planning for the BIG day tomorrow! Oh shit I just realised that I have not prepare my "thank you" speech. Ok ok ok got to go......

~~~HeR nAmE iS aDy!!!~~~

Its all over baby's blog now and we are all over her. She's our new found precious baby and I'm sure my baby loves her to the core. Ady is such a dear. We can't wait to spend some quality time with her, training her, grooming her and playing with her.

AND at the same time we are getting excited over the wedding. I can't believe its next Sat. Meeting the 'brothers' this weekend. Meeting the photographer to run throught the itinery too. Need to go for my hair cut this Sunday too. So much to do in so little time. Sounds farmiliar?

With all the good news and new pet........something sad happened. I flop one paper, IM. I will have to retake this paper in May. Sighhhh......Now I can't officially call myself a graduate as yet. This failure hit me hard even though I was mentally prepared for it. However, now I'm already accepting this fact. Oh well.....

~~~2 MoRe WeEkS!!!~~~

Yes, its 2 more weeks b4 the wedding!!!

Finalising the guest list, planning the seating arrangement, and making any last minute preparation for the wedding. Baby and I are meeting the "brothers" and "sisters" soon to brief them on their respective task for the actual day. We still think that there is still alot of thing to do but then couldn't think of what exactly.

Picking up the wedding gowns on 19th and the flowers on 20th. Going to pai pai on 15th in the morning. The itinery has already been more or less confirmed. Hopefully not much changes lor. Its been tiring for the both of us and we will go for our deserved break after the wedding.

~~~mY bOdY iS bReAkInG aPaRt!!!~~~

After yesterday IPPT test. I have to admit that age is catching up and the mind is getting weaker. I used to be a rather constant gold medalist during my active days and my record timing for 2.4km was once under 9mins. And those days the requirements were much more stringent than what we did yesterday.

Ok enough of cock and bull story.......I FAILED!!! For the first time in 10years, I walked during my 2.4km run. Like I said, the mind is weak lar. Honestly, whether I walked or jog, I still felt just as shack, but the mind is weak so I decided to walk instead. Anyway, I have made arrangement to go for my second try this Sat. One of my army friends will be going with me too. Hopefully we can help to motivate each other.

Took a day off today to recuperate from yesterday. I have been taking leave way too often recently. In fact I'm on half day leave tomorrow also. Super bo chap mode on to the max!!!