Bangkok day 1-6

Finally after such a long wait (1 month to be exact), i finally left home! Met XY and gang for lunch at this Italian place in vivo that serves weird pasta and sped(HAHA!) to the airport. Met up with my family and some of my other friends. Turned out all the guys that said they would come didn't turn up, making it a all-female party. Nonetheless, i met up with my 2 other friends who are going to Bangkok with me and checked in.

My family!
My "got heart" female friends

My singapore wall paper...

turned into thailand! Cool eh?

Basically, my first few days in bangkok were spent shopping and eating. Went to famous shopping places like chatuchak market, Mah boon Kong Shopping center, a few Siam shopping center and Puan Lum Night bazaar.

Loads and loads of cheap counterfeit goods here. Any brand, any merchandise you would ever want. I didn't want to add any weight to my bag and i only bought 1 fire man t shirt(

The place where we initially wanted to stay (New Joe GH) was full. We were there at 10pm so in the end, we had to settle for another place nearby called Top Inn (600B Dbl room $24). It was an average place for its price and we couldn't stand the small and cold shower. So after 2 nights, we moved to Sawadee Banglumpoo hotel (850B Dbl Rm $36), a place with bad reviews on the net. Nonetheless, we did not find any faults with the place after 3 nights. It had good shower facilities, tv, air con, mini fridge, free breakfast and is very close to the (in)famous Khao San Rd.

Phad Tai, many stalls selling this along khao san till very late at night(20B)

Khao San Rd is knowned for its happening night life and the many backpackers lodgings around. Walking down the streets, you see many foreigners especially westerners EVERYWHERE. Mostly making a fool of themselves. From my friends who went to the pub/bar, the girls(half girls) there are very easy to hook. All you have to do is to treat them a drink and they are yours for the night. Definitely not my kind of place to stay. So after they left home this morning, i switch to another GH for the remaining days in Bangkok.

Leg and back massage, was very good and not sleazy at all.(450+50B tips $21)
Internet cafe (10B 30 mins $0.45)

One of the days, we were bored of shopping (finally). We went to watch Ong Bak 2. The cinema was cheap at 120B ($5). Ong Bak 2, fortunately they had english subtitles
Cinema
Nachos (sucky) and drink
Mah Boon Kong, a place with many singaporeans
Big extinguisher :P
Then we chanced upon this shop with chopped bodies while we were walking....
Ouch
Looks real... i did a little editing on my camera for these 3 pictures.
All these faces are actually made of bread! If you like it, you can even buy it home
Talking about bread, this is Wong's room service. Skinny chicken wings on the left. Omelet egg from Khao San Rd (20B $0.90)

So i changed from Sawadee Banglumpoo GH to Apple GH(100B dorm bed $4). It is located a short walk from the main street and into the side alley. The place is not a nice clean hotel, instead it looked like the owners converted their homes into it. So i have to share my room with 3 others tonight. Haven't met any of them yet, i hope they don't snore.

My room
My bed

I locked my bag to the bed post and went out to do some exploring. Went to the river to take their boat. Unlike in Singapore, their boat is their public transport. It is much cheaper than taxis and tuk tuks (which i have not taken any yet). A ride cost 14B and you can stop anywhere along the river. A land ride would put you back probably 10 times that price. Boat
Many tourists and locals were on board
Monks use them as transport as well

I took the boat to Tha Tien Pier where the Grand palace and Wat Pho are. Was hungry so ordered something.

Bee hoon soup with alot of ingredients, very tasty (30B $1.30)
Reclining buddha
What is that? That is Wat
"Need guide for you sir? good price, best price, first sale"
Then i took another ferry (3B $0.12) across the river to Wat Arun.
And saw an older monk teaching a younger monk
Wat Arun from far

Next, i decided to stop by Thonburi railway station to get my advanced ticket for kanchanaburi on Saturday morning. The route map shows the boat stopping there...but it didn't... It only stopped at the next one. Great, now i have to walk back. Walk past a few schools and even went the wrong direction and ended up in a hospital. Quite interesting as i have never really been to any other hospital except for those in singapore. Interesting snack kinda like the ones we have in singapore except we have it with coconut or peanut and they have it with sweet cream and an unknown thing. Cost 2 baht ($0.10) cheap cheap!

After reaching the station, they said that i can only buy the ticket on Saturday itself :( oh well, at least i know exactly the time and location of the railway station. I ended my route earlier than i expected so i decided to try to take a bus back. Note: don't do this unless you are willing to risk getting lost. In the end, a guy sitting beside me kept looking at me when i flipped through my map and he helped me with the bus. He spoke very good english and said that he just came back from a friend's wedding in Singapore. There are lots of buses with different rates in Thailand, there are no bus routes written anywhere, just the number. Worth a try or two if you have the time to wander around. Funky bus interior (8.5B $0.30)
Char Siew Wanton noodle
Bought from a road side stall

I came to bangkok last saturday and will leave for kanchanaburi this saturday. A week in bangkok really is quite enough to shop and see all the main sights. Wong calculated, including air ticket, he had spent almost $1000 in these few days. Not exactly as cheap as initially expected with the many goods and apparels here.

For me, i had spend roughly $600 plus including my spanking new glasses and prescription sunglasses which cost 6000B ($260). Exceeded my budget a little considering i did not do much shopping.