The F-Word Blog: thailand

Showing posts with label thailand. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Can't get enough of Bangkok!

I was in Bangkok for yet another weekend holiday in November 2013. I arrived on a late Thursday night and left Sunday. The last time I was in Bangkok was more than 4 years ago, when the airport railway link wasn't open yet. So I was very excited to get to try it.

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Phuket, I'm back!

I was back in Phuket for a 3-day weekend getaway in August last year. This is what I love about Singapore actually, there are a lot of weekend places you could go to either by bus, boat or a short plane trip. Phuket is definitely one of the choices for a short holiday.

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Oh Phuket!

I was in Phuket in May and August last year. This post is for our trip in May with my housemates. Our first trip together! We have always wanted to go on a trip since moving in together in Aug 2012 so we were happy we finally got to do it.

L-R: Rachel, Lenin, Krizia and Alfian

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Pola Pola Cafe, Bangkok, Thailand

On our 3rd night, we had dinner at this Italian Resto that we chanced upon while walking around the area near our hotel. It's not that we were tired of thai food, we just wanted to sample how Italian cuisine is in Bangkok.

Margarita to kickstart your appetite =)

Long Island Iced Tea

(Free!) Freshly baked rolls for Appetizer with creamed garlic butter

Scrumptuous!!! Seafood Squid-Ink Fettucine with Cream Sauce. Look at the abundance of scallops and seafood!

4-Cheese Pizza

Lobster & Shrimp Fettucine.

Dinner was around THB 1,331 (around S$60). Not bad considering we had cocktails, pizza and pasta.

We so enjoyed our dinner the previous night that we decided to go back for lunch the next day, our last day.

Pola Pola's Special Salmon Pizza

A bit salty and lacking in tomato sauce but still quite nice.

Squid-Ink Angel Hair Pasta with Mushrooms in cream sauce.

Lunch was around THB600+ (around S$30).

So that caps off our 4-day Bangkok getaway. We were a bit anxious to get home as by that time the riots were really getting crazy. In fact, singapore residents who were in Thailand were already encouraged by the government to enlist their names online just in case anything happens.

Lek Seafood, Bangkok, Thailand

Dinner on our first night was at a hole-in-the-wall neighborhood restaurant (this was at a small alley at the back of our hotel). It was actually Patrick, Zach's friend, who introduced us to this place. He ate here before and guaranteed the place served authentic, delicious and (most importantly) cheap thai food.

As they say, a picture says a thousand words so let the pictures do the talking hahaha.

(BURP!!!)

Erawan Tea Room, Grand Hyatt, Bangkok, Thailand

On our first afternoon, we had high tea at the Erawan Tea Room in Grand Hyatt. I love the interior of the place, homey yet classy ambience.

THB220 per person for the high tea. Quite reasonable given we were in Grand Hyatt, plus the spread was really plenty. It wasn't buffet though but believe me it is very filling.

An interesting mix of international (scones, tart et al) and local delicacies. I love the Banana dumpling in Banana leaf cone.

I never really liked rice cakes or rice desserts as I find it too heavy for snacking but the Mango with Sticky Rice was utterly divine. It looks real plain and simple but the taste is exquisite and unforgettable. Ok I'm exaggerating. But really it was good. Don't ever leave Bangkok without tasting it.

Bangkok, Thailand

3 days after we got back from Bali, we were headed to Bangkok. It wasn't a good time actually. The previous night I saw in the news that the rallies were escalating. The problem is we already paid for our tickets & hotel months before and unfortunately we didn't get promo rates. So riot or no riot, we had to be in Bangkok by hook or by crook haha.

Zach was actually on vacation leave for a month that's why we jampacked our travels in April. I also needed a break from work anyway. Bangkok is pretty much like any cosmopolitan metropolis. Very modern but the touch of culture and heritage spells the difference. The food was absolutely the highlight of this trip (haha whats new). Seriously, authentic thai food is the bomb!

It was a big bummer that on our 3rd day in Bkk, everyone in Siam Paragon was asked to go home since the rallyists were invading the area. So we pretty much weren't able to go around anymore for fear of our safety. It was ironic though how the rallyists were causing chaos while the others were celebrating the Songkran "Water" Festival.

Enjoy the pics! Click on the link to Kodak Gallery below and make sure to scroll over the headings to view the titles/comments.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=176isvtt.c4io72it&x=0&y=8xa6j2&localeid=en_US
Read more on "Bangkok, Thailand"!

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Phi Phi, Thailand

On our 2nd day at phuket, we took the boat tour to Phi Phi Islands. If only I knew it would take us 6 hours to get to and fro Phi Phi, I would have not taken the tour at all. I could have just used the cost of 1600 Baht for my food blog or shopping.

Seriously, it was too tiring. 1 hour land trip and 5 hours boat trip. To make matters worse, the waves were so strong I really thought the boat would capsize any minute. It was actually a cruise liner that had at least 500 people on it but it looked like only half were the legal limit on that kind of boat.

Passengers were throwing up, feeling nauseaous and sick. It was really terrible. To think Phi Phi wasn't worth all that fear and effort.

Anyway, please continue to read on..

I think an hour or so into the boat ride, we reached Maya Bay.

We literally just passed by Maya Bay so people could take pics. No one got to get down the boat.

Snorkelling at Phi Phi Don. We were such cheapskates we refused to rent the fins, only to endup with a big wound on my big toe due to the sharp corals. Bummer.

We had to share this food with the other tour group passengers. Not bad. But after most of the people throwing up on the boat, this was great food. We met this family from Algeria and another very nice & hospitable family from Bangkok who offered us bananas and rambotan.

Curry Puff, Phi Phi style. Quite Good.

Phi Phi's beach was actually way better than Patong Beach but still incomparable to Boracay or Cebu or even Patar Beach in Pangasinan. I think because the tide was quite strong, the sand got eroded so much that you couldn't go far into the water because it got too deep after a few steps.

I'm sure you all know this is where they shot the movie "The Beach". It does look nice with the cliffs in the backdrop but the water was not that clear plus the granules of the sand weren't fine. My problem is I already have Boracay as my benchmark that's why anything that pales in comparison is not good enough for me. Hehe.

Hundreds of people waiting to get on the boat. I wasn't too excited to endure another 2.5 hours of fear and vomit.

All in all, hate me as much as you want, but I don't think I will ever go back to Phi Phi again if I have to travel 6 hours. It was just too much. Imagine we were only able to snorkel for 1 hour, eat lunch for 30 mins, and swim for another hour. Thats 2.5 hours of leisure compared to 6 hours of torture.

With all the buzz from the movie, the media, the press and the internet, I was really expecting a whole lot from Phuket and Phi Phi, most especially. So I don't think I can blame myself if I feel like i was shortchanged.

Maybe they should shoot the sequel to "The Beach" in Boracay or Cebu or Palawan then I should be happy. :-P

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Phuket, Thailand

So 6.30 in the morning we already checked-in at the airport so we could get good seats - meaning exit seats hehe. Plus, like I said, I really love Changi Airport. There are so many things you could do. Free Internet, Free Gaming (PS, etc), Shopping, Sleeping, Eating, Gym etc etc.

So let me just blog about the pics rather than every single detail about our trip. I don't think you'd be interested to know the nitty gritty of every minute :-)

I took this shot from the lavatory.

I LOVE airplane food! Though Silkair's food was a little disappointing. PAL would usually serve both bread and dessert but with Silkair, you can only get either of the two but not both. Or is it because of the airline industry crisis around the world?

YES!! you read it right! Those are real worms. Worms that I actually ate! hehehe.

Mmmm, tastes like chicken. Rotten Chicken. hehe. No but seriously, they weren't bad at all. Just tastes like normal fried finger food. We got so excited buying all sorts of Thai snacks in this store only to find out later they sold 2-3 times more than the retail price.

Now this is a very interesting pic. I took this pic during the mandatory "city tour" en route to our hotel from the airport. Another tourist trap - we were taken to a supposedly "famous" honey manufacturer and as soon as we got there we where whisked and LOCKED in this room. Can you imagine that? If she was selling good-find food or souvenirs then it would have been interesting. But she was selling freakin' honey that she claims can cure almost all forms of sickness AND burn your fat. BULLSHIT. Plus the honey was so damn expensive.

It was so funny how it got awkward when everyone was just sitting there with no interest to buy at all, but couldn't go out of the damn room. Sometimes I think Asians are really nice people because in such cases we just keep quiet, act interested and remain courteous. I can just imagine if caucasians or white people were put in the same situation. I bet they would storm out of the room and humiliate the damn lady.

And the reason why the girl looks blurred in the pic is because she quickly moved away when I took this shot and told me "Sorry no pics allowed". I should have said "Then let me out of the f$&!ing room!!"

And yet another tourist trap. Inside a jewelry factory. We were swarmed by the sales ladies as soon as we got inside the jewelry floor. Reminds me of the tour we had in Hongkong years ago. Well, at least they served free flowing juice and softdrinks.

Morale of the story - Never ever take a package tour. If you could buy a "free and easy" tour to avoid all these unnecessary city tours then do it. The only reason why we took this package is to avoid the hassle for the hotel-airport transfers because it was my first time in phuket.

Finally. Welcome drinks at Holiday Inn Resort, Patong Beach.

The hotel room was probably one of the most spacious hotel rooms I have ever seen. That couch beside the bed was as big as a single bed, no kidding.

All that room space and you still get a balcony. Hallelujah! hehe. Too bad our view was the 7-11 downstairs hehe.

I love this snack! Fried whole crablets.

Main Wing Pool

May they rest in peace.

Busakorn Wing Pool

I really hate to sound so bitter but the beach was the biggest disappointment of our phuket trip. I mean all that hype and media about Phuket and this is what I saw. Seriously, it looked like any other regular non-touristy beach in the Philippines. The sand was dark, the water was murky and unclear, and the waves were so damn big it was hard to frolic on the beach. Phuket was just incomparable to Boracay. I don't want to sound unfair and bias, just because I'm from the Philippines, but being as objective as I can, that is the honest truth.

Maybe more than the disappointment, I really felt bad for the beaches in the Philippines. Cebu, Boracay and Palawan would give Phuket or even Phi-Phi a run for their money. But the tourists in Phuket, especially the caucasians, were probably 10 times more than the tourists in Boracay. Seriously, I've never seen so many white people in my life in an asian destination. Even the white people in Raffles City can't compare to the ones I saw in Phuket.

So if anyone knows anyone from the Department of Tourism in the Philippines, I think this is a wake-up call.

Bangla Road. Famous for their notorious go-go shows where ladies play pingpong and pick up bottles with their vajayjay (if you know what I mean).

Have a break, Have Haagen-Dazs. Hehe

I couldn't resist not taking a shot of this. Very Funny hehe.

About to take a dip at the Busakorn Wing Pool.

This water and sounds show was at the Jungceylon Mall near Bangla Road. Like a mini-version of the Bellagio Water show. I'm not sure if I was hearing things but I think they were playing "Don't leave me this way" during the water show - quite a weird choice of song.

I was really impressed with the Phuket International Airport. It's way nicer and more spacious than the Manila International Airport Terminal 1. What a shame. Another wake-up call.

Is Burger King also this expensive in Manila? Thailand Baht has higher value than Philippine Peso, which means if you convert this to pesos it's almost like eating in a restaurant right? 200 Baht is around 8 SGD. I'm surprised people in Thailand can afford this.

My Last Supper. On the plane that is..

If not for the highest of highest of my expectations, I think Phuket would have been a wonderful trip. Nevertheless, shopping and food was amazing. Fresh seafood was cheap and delicious. Shopping was even cheaper. More so, they had sizes up to 4XL. So they fit both my budget and my tummy. haha. But haggling is a skill in Thailand. It is true that you bargain for half the price of what they offer. Especially in touristy areas where some people take advantage. There was even one time the tuktuk was charging us 150 baht for a short trip. Tsk Tsk.

The hotels and resorts were also amazing. It was a blessing that we stayed at the Holiday Inn or else I would have been so pissed. At least we were able to enjoy the pool and amenities of the hotel.