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.

How Green can an Island be?

Green island! There is only 3 words to describe this island. Fun! Fun! Fun!. Ok actually that is the same words repeated 3 times. Nonetheless, it is Fun that you will find here. Many popular islands in South East asia had been given a makeover to cater to tourist and rows of hotels, bars, al fresco dining could be seen lining along the beach front. That however is not what you will see here, though i cant say that for the future of this island.

Arranged with our transport to the jetty at our hotel for 250NT. Together in the mini van were 2 elderly ladies who were touring the area and they didn't seem to mind that the driver drop us off at the jetty first. We chatted on the way through the empty streets and they were surprised we came all the way from Singapore and were venturing out on our own.

Prior to this day, we had booked a package for green island and i would recommend everyone to do so. My friends know me as a person who avoid tours and package as much as possible so why this time, i opted otherwise?

Green island is a very small and tight knitted island and the main lucrative business would be those providing for tourist such as accommodation, food, transport rental, water activities, island exploring. The number of competitors vying for the same piece of bread isn't that many, some even providing a few different services at the same time. The price difference as well is almost none existence as the operators usually are the inhabitants of the island.

Package with Jack's Hotel: Cost 2400NT
Lodgings for 1 night
Ferry Return ticket (400NT on its own)
Scooter rental (400NT on its own excluding petrol)
Outdoor spring tickets (250NT on its own)
Snorkeling
Night Tour
Breakfast

Alright, back to our trip!The harbour isn't just used for ferries to green island, there are boats to lanyu and many fishing boats docked as well
Our ride to green island

The 40mins ride to green island is well knowned to be vomit magnet, and you had better believe it. Countless people were seen with white faces and plastic bags just 10 mins after we embark. I named the ride "roller coaster on water" and it had lived up to its (nick)name. I took a video at the deck and even though it may not seem to be rocking hard, you can still see the slight movement on the camera, now multiply it by 50 times.

Audrey decided to come onto the deck after feeling bored in the boat. Something occur ed and i bet she wished she had stayed inside.

While we were enjoying the strong breeze and hanging onto dear life on the deck, a young lady who was standing bout 5meters before us started to feel sick. The next thing that happened was her lunch flying out of her mouth and with the wind blowing to the back of the boat, landing on the numerous people standing along her side, audrey being one of them. The end result? Fresh puke over her clothes! I feel bad but i couldn't stop laughing the whole trip, i guess that's how i survived. Thanks audrey!

The aftermath without the bigger "pieces"

i took a video of someone puking in the sitting area. She seemed to have noticed me. And i met her again as we went on a snorkeling trip together later.


We were greeted at the harbour after the longest 40mins for some people(not me though) and brought to Jack's Hotel by Jack and his wife. I picked this place mainly due the pictures shown on the web and the prompt reply to questions posted. The price is the same as many other places.Stairs leading up
Living Room
Happy Buddha
Our scooters
Jack's Hotel

Another alternative for those who are afraid of riding a scooter is golf cart. Amelia was hesitant about riding and opted to rent one. The price is expensive at the 1000+NT range and requires a licence which she didnt have, resulting in a no go at the end. Fortunately the scooters didn't a licence...Shhh don't tell others i said that.

It was the first time we ever a rode a scooter and after a few minutes of warm up, we were all riding with the wind. Now.. where is the horn?
This is audrey's first 1 minute on a scooter! and 10 mins later she was speeding down the lane. Its that easy! whats more? parking is free! On a side note, i was inspired to get a motorcycle licence after this day and i had went to start!


Feeling hungry after the boat ride, we went to have our lunch and dessert. Sea weed Ice!! Let me tell you, this is the best sea weed i ever had. A must try for all who comes to green island. The whole place is beach theme even with shells used as bowls. Nothing beats eating off a shell with the sea breeze blowing in your face. Table decor Sea Weed Ice
Amelia's red bean almond ice
Audrey's strawberry ice
Immediately after our ice dessert, we had our snorkeling which audrey decided to opt out since she is already a frequent visitor of the underwater and got on the net to search for accommodations in Hua Lien(花莲). For first timers like me, it was a great experience though. The colourful features of the fishes and the water organisms is still a fascinating unknown to me. It sparked off my thought of going for diving trips. My camera is afraid of water, no pictures for it.

We have an island before us and the best transportation ever, the next best thing we can do is some exploring. There is only one main road in the island and whichever way we go, we would end up back at the hotel. With a simple map we were given, we went down the road and chanced onto a beach with a light house. Fishing in the sea
Empty waterfront
Except for these dried fishes
I got this picture of audrey in 1 shot!
And she had to do 10 before she can get this of me
I would move here to stay

For dinner, we had BBQ buffet(250NT/pax) by the sea. The boss was very friendly and keep checking on us to resupply our bbq. BBQ by the sea
In three!

At night, we actually had a night tour with the puking girl group, the ones we went snorkeling with. And the tour guide is actually the snorkeling guy as well! We decided not to opt for it at the very last minute as we were tired from the day's activities. However, our butts couldn't sit still, in the end me and audrey went for our very own night tour. Most of the sights were stated on the map and all we had to do was to follow it, or so we thought....

The streets at night were dimly lit and the only lights were from our scooter. Somehow we had ridden off the main road unknowingly and went onto a rocky trail which was very difficult to navigate. It was deserted and although my instincts told me to turn back, my adventurous side urge me to find out what is at the end of the road.

What seemed to appear before us is a dark field of some sort, void of human life and quiet and the moment we turned our headlights to looked around, we saw rows and rows of tombs lined up on the slope of a hill!! Needless to say, we quickly turned tailed and hurried back the way we came. We head back to the main road and immediately saw a big group of people riding scooter like ours. We figured they must be doing the night tour and followed them. Turns out the guide of this group is actually the BBQ owner we met earlier and he remembered us! We followed him, listened to his interesting stories about the various caves and about frogs having the ability to jump onto the "rich one". Again my camera is afraid of the dark, so no pictures again.

There is a 24 hours sea water hot spring on the island. One of the three on earth and it was said we could see the fabulous sunrise from there. Still feeling disappointed with Alishan's Sunrise, we went to try our luck at 4am. We rode in the empty streets with freezing sea breeze blowing onto us and rode our way to the other side of the island with chattering teeth. The walkway to hot spring in the sea!
Eggs that we bought
Spring "holes"
Another spring "holes" 3 in total with varying degrees
This unfortunate fello picked the wrong spring to mess with

This time again, we did not manage to see the sunrise. But we did have fun with the aunties who were soaking there. We left after the sun rise and instead of riding the way came from, we went the other direction(remember how i said there is only 1 main road and would lead us back to the hotel). The road was easy to navigate with lots of scenic views. We felt like we owned the island!

Empty roads
Doggy and Sleeping beauty rock formations advertised by the locals
HAHA!
Was feeling mischevious and told them that this is another famous rock formation bearing resemblance to a rat and they totally bought it!
It was a great view
When you are standing up there, it feels like you own the world
The vast ocean
Good times will always be remembered

On the way back, we pass by the "off the beaten track" route to the tombs and with the sun on our side, we decided to see what is really there. This time round, the place didnt seem so scary anymore and we even got a brief history lesson by amelia who could tell tons of information just by looking at the tombs. I'm impressed.

Hidden behind the darkness the night before is a totally unexploited beach. Although there are signs of human activities, it still feels like we were the first explorer to this land.
Hidden beach

We went walking around and found this really interesting cave, much like those that were used in ancient times. We even made our own discovery planet clip on it!


Following that, i conclude our Green Island Exploration Adventure. Go there not to look for luxury, comfort or shopping, you would be disappointed. Go there for fun, adventure and the sense of primitive experience. You would not want to leave. Go there quick before it gets a make over and turns into the uniquitous island scattered around.