HONG KONG 2009

Boring with daily routine of work-gym(optional)-sleep-work?
In times like this, we really should plan out something to rejuvenate, life is supposed to be fun!

Hong Kong, Here I Come!
Doing it Free & Easy with my two loveliest old people :p

Despite the bad timing of Influenza A H1N1..It didnt stop my urge for a get away.

We had to wear mask to KLIA.

Well, we weren't alone.

Many"Mask"eteers in the airport. H1N1 virus is just one-layer-of-mask away...

4 Hours Later...

We arrived HK airport. Almost similar to KLIA, except for the Chinese signboards

We took our transfer from airport to our hotel. Took some photos of the beautiful & sophisticated sceneries along the way..

I really enjoyed looking at breathtaking view of the valley, ships, & sunset..Beautiful, isn't it?

It didnt take us long to reach the town centre of HK. Busy traffics, crowds of people rushing home after work..Back to realistic, why not?i love realistic..lolx

Here, we arrived our hotel. 5* neh..thanks to the package from Cathay Pacific, we got a very reasonable offer.

Plus the hotel front desk, who were kind enough to give us a free upgrade to Executive Suite!

I have this room all by myself..sounds decent?haha..that's what you thought!

Being alone in a hotel room...hmm it really depends on your imagination..

Bangkok DAY 2

Our first morning in Bangkok!
*City view from our hotel :)

Breakfast was served in buffet style. Not too much of varieties but good enough.

Our strategic location of the hotel allows us to go to the famous Erawan Shrine in just 5 minutes walk. This is one legendary place that attracts many prayers around the world.
*Erawan Shrine.You may find it a little weird to find this place in such a sophisticated city.

*Make a wish, make a wish


Our shopping adventure has begun! :D behind me is the Central World Plaza. (See the SALE sign behind!) Go if you are a regular 1Utama shopper. You can find TopShop, Zara, Isetan, LaSenza, MNG etc there.
If you have a complete plan to Thailand, your list should not leave out this place. MBK Shopping mall. This is also where most Thais shop. Its famous for its varieties & also cheap prices. Just stop at Siam Station(BTS) & walk for 5 minutes to reach there. Go if you like Sungai Wang.

Despite the shopping experience at MBK, the best part of this plaza is the Food Court at 6th Floor!Change your coupon at the counter & start looking around for your choice of food, many to choose from!We ordered Kuay Chap, Fried Oyster, & Mango Stick Rice!I love the fried oyster & mango sticky rice! :D




Right after lunch, we went to Siam Paragon, which is also 5 minutes walk from MBK. Its a nicely designed mall with all the international brands, Gucci, Armani etc. Its nice to take a walk outside the mall if you are not a shopper. Just to experience the modern architecture in Bangkok.
Platinum Mall is also a shopping paradise for shoppers. Its a textile wholesaler that offers great prices to not only boutiques owners, but also shoppers like me. The down side of this mall is that there's no fitting rooms.

There's also food court & places to drink in that mall.
*We've snacked fried beef noodle (Thai style, sugar & dried chilly flakes added), the cute mini Thai Fried Eggs with assorted flavor.

Not to forget one best thing in Thailand is their Thai Ice Tea. It has a very special fragrant that i simply cant resist!

We ended our shopping adventure of the day at Platinum Mall. Without much delay,we moved on to our next destination for dinner at the Cabbage & Condom restaurant.

There's always no problem getting a taxi around Bangkok, whom just cant resist conning the tourists. Another experience of almost conned, one of the taxi drivers approached us & asked where're we heading. We told him the restaurant name, at first he hesitated, then the next second he said "ohh..i know that restaurant, the condom restaurant right?ya, but that restaurant is not open today, they are closed for a company meeting, why not i recommend you another restaurant?" alright, we knew he was lying..so we left him for another taxi behind. Well, just have to becareful, usually these people will bring the tourists to the restaurant/any place that promised to pay them commission for bringing in customers. & Usually those places are not genuine & will charge the tourist a bomb.

It took 20 minutes drive from the mall to this restaurant, would be shorter if its not the traffic.
The Cabbage & Condom Restaurant. Nah..Don't get horny, its just a themed restaurant that promotes safe sex.

Its an interesting themed restaurant. Food was fine too.
We ordered : Phad Thai, Minced meat with basil & Chap Chay..I liked the Phad Thai most

Bangkok DAY 1

The first hotel I arrived was the Bangkok City Inn Hotel. Read the name, BANGKOK CITY inn, its in the heart of the city. GREAT LOCATION & also GREAT PRICE!! Very good for budget travelers like me :) Room was fine, breakfast was reasonable, service was good. Even the receptionist boy is good looking!Needless to say more.Lolx*Hotel Lobby at Bangkok City Inn Hotel
*Bangkok City Inn Hotel Bedroom

This hotel is basically within 5-20 minutes walk to most of the popular places i.e. Central World Plaza, Platinum Mall, MBK Mall, Siam Paragon, Erawan Shrine, BTS Stations etc.

Though we were nearest to those places, we went to China Town as our first destination. why?FOR SEAFOOD DINNER OFCOURSE! Yeehaaa

It was 20 minutes drive from city to chinatown. Beware Tourist!Taxi drivers in Thai(not all but majority) will try, by any chance, to get more taxi fare than what's shown on the meter. My experience was, the taxi always give me lesser change. i.e. I paid 100 Baht for a 57Baht Fare, he would give me 20Baht change, 23Baht Less. ALWAYS ASK THEM FOR EXACT CHANGE!!don't have to "Give Face". (I was shy to ask too, but after several times, I was off limits!But you can always pay tips if you like to)

Here, Our 1st Dinner in Bangkok, Not bad. But still not as good as expected.

We ordered : Steam Fish, CrabMeat Fried Rice, Stuffed Crab, TomYam Gong, Coconut.(700-750Baht, Not cheap..)

Then, do take a walk around chinatown, Its cheapest to buy dried food there i.e. Dried Durian, Dried Pineapple & all other interesting foods. different by probably 5-10Baht from elsewhere. better than none.lolx

We also tried some street side hawker stalls. This is the common food you can find in Chinatown, Bird's Nest (100Baht)

How to go from Bangkok Airport to City

Finally Departed to the place i've longed to visit, Bangkok!! The Suvarnabhumi(Soo-wanna-poom) International Airport looks so much like KLIA.

Anyways, when you arrives to Bangkok Airport, there are 2 ways of getting to the town.

1. Public Bus (150Baht/person)
2. Public Taxi (approx 300Baht)

Smart traveler like you should know how to do the calculation. If you go in a group, its much economic to take a Public Taxi. I took public taxi.

If you're taking a Taxi, DO NOT take the taxi from the airport counter, its much costly. Just walk out from the custom & look for this "Public Taxi" sign. Jump into the public taxi queue. There will be a girl at the counter, just tell her your destination & she will write it down in a piece of paper in Thai.


*PS* As not many Thai speaks/understand English, Its wise to bring a book with simple Thai vocabs translation.


It's around 30-40 minutes drive from airport to city (near chitlom area), depending on traffic condition.
If you take bus, its gonna take longer because there are stations to stop.

Depart Bangkok with an expired passport

Its Airasia promotion again, I was just a click away. So i decided, why wait?


"BANGKOK HERE I COME!"

6 days 5 nights, July 2008

The journey didn't start off very pleasantly. I couldn't believe it, when the airasia check-in officer told me that i couldn't go bangkok because my passport was EXPIRED!



*PS* passport is considered expired 6 months before the expiry date stated on your passport.


Disappointed & hopeless, I thought I would have to take another flight to bangkok after i renew my passport. But THANK GOD!just when i approached the helpful officer at the desk for immigration's number, he asked me what happened & he offered to help.he called the bangkok immigration & told them to approve my entry & there, I finally managed to depart!! though bearing the risk to be sent back & penalized a sum of USD 3,000! I couldn't have a peace of mind throughout the 2.5 hours flight to Bangkok.

At the end, I managed to get through without hassles. The trip meant even more to me after this incident..phew...