Monday, October 29, 2007

We had SO MUCH FUN!

KY and WL were on a 7 days 6 nights Pattaya-Bangkok trip..... of cos, with me as their tour guide. This post is dedicated to the other gals in our NJC gang who missed this trip. U dunno how much fun u had missed!

Day 1
We took the shuttle bus from the arrival hall to the bus terminal (about 10 mins ride) to catch the intercity bus to Pattaya (PTY) only to realize that now the intercity bus goes into the passenger terminal to pick-up passengers. We could have saved the trouble of lugging our luggage up and down the shuttle bus.

Checked-in at Baan Khun Poh (the apartment which I'm staying at in Pattaya) costed them about S$13/night/person (without breakfast).

First stop shopping – Outlet Mall. I thot there's nothing much to buy here and yet they were able to find some bargain buys.

Dinner was at a Thai restaurant located on a pond. It's known as Wooden Boat or "La Mai" in Thai. The food was so delicious that WL asked if we could have our dinner there every night. KY wanted to buy the chilli sauce served at the restaurant. Hey girl, YH checked with them already. It's not for sale. Maybe it's their secret receipe.


Day 2
We visited the Underwater World Pattaya early in the morning.

Then we hired a van to bring us to the largest Chinese Temple in Thailand located in Ang Sila, Chon Buri Province. It's about one-hour ride away from Pattaya.

Lunch was at a roadside stall. We had a roasted chicken, papaya salad with crab and glutinous rice. The Thais like to eat these.

Then we visited the Khao Kheow Open Zoo (also in Chonburi province). Entrance fee of 100baht per foreigner. As the name suggested, the animals are free to roam in certain parts of the zoo. And so, we had to stay in our van to get close to the animals. But the closest encounter that we had was with the various wild cats. A business contact of YH brought us to see the wild cats (like tigers, lions, cheetahs, etc). The cats were so restless when they saw us. They paced hastily up and down their cages, like they were ready to leap on us anytime. If they knocked down the cages, we would be dead meat literally.
Highlights:
- We were 5 mins late for the animal show and YH's biz contact postponed the commencement of the show, just for us. We felt like VIPs.
- WL left the area where the wild cats were caged cos she was very scared of them. She told us that she was thinking of contingency plans in case the cats ran wild - Was she supposed to lock the cage with us inside or was she supposed to run for her life? She's still not sure till now.

Want to go the next time: Khao Kheow Es-ta-te. It's a camping resort in the open zoo itself. The tents are impressive. I'm sure it will provide a different experience. To avoid disappointment, pls book early as it's very very popular.

As it was still too early to have our dinner, we decided to have a 2-hour Thai massage at HealthLand. I like this massage place a lot cos it's clean and the environment makes you feels relaxed. (I pitied the van driver as he was just waiting for us at the lobby).
Hightlight:
Although dinner was to be served after the massage, WL was so hungry after her massage that she bought a piece of cinnamon roll. Her massage finished half an hour before ours. We saw her finishing her last mouth of cinnamom roll when we came out. And yes, there was only 2 raisins left on her plate.... maybe one each for me & KY.

We had our seafood dinner by the sea. The mantis prawns were so big (which are rare to find in S'pore) that they proved to be irresistible to KY. She decided to pack some for supper.

Then we took a walk down the once-famous Walking Street (the nightlife of PTY) with A-GO-GO bars all around. YH said that this street used to be packed with tourists and you probably had to squeeze your way through. But now, we seemed to be able to keep an arm's length away from the other tourists. Perhaps the political situation and the murder of 2 Russian tourists in PTY in February have some negative impacts on the tourism industry of PTY.

Day 3
We made our way to Bali Hai Pier located at the end of Walking Street to catch a ferry (20 baht) to Ko Larn (Coral Island). It was a 45 mins ferry ride and then a motorcycle ride to reach one of the beaches. The water around the island was far more beautiful than in PTY itself. We walked down the beach, stopping occasionally to see interesting souvenirs or to buy some food sold by the vendors.
Highlight: I bought a knitted hat which the price dropped from 200baht to 80baht, without us bargaining.

We took the 2pm ferry back to PTY mainland and proceeded to Royal Garden Plaza to start another round of shopping. They really can buy. Most of the things seemed to be a bargain for them.

As the weather was getting a bit cool, we decided to eat steamboat. So, dinner was steamboat + BBQ buffet which costed about 119 baht (excluding drinks).

We had the mantis prawns for supper as KY was too tired to eat them the night before. Emmm...... Delicious!!

Day 4
I brought them to visit my workplace, the Vocational School for the Disabled.

Then it's shopping again before having lunch at Fuji, a Japanese restaurant. The food was so delicious and cheap that KY wanted to have it again for dinner.

After lunch, we returned to Royal Garden Plaza as the gals felt that they had not completed the whole shopping complex yesterday. This was where we met the "body proportion consultant" at the Wacoal boutique. After measuring and some guidance from her, we were all "upgraded" by her. This was so much fun and it made our day. Ha ha ha. If we had met her earlier, the gals wouldn't have bought the wrong size (or cup to be more precise) at Outlet Mall. Luckliy, KY managed to exchange hers when we returned to Outlet Mall. Too bad for WL cos she cut off all the tags already.

We shared a piece of Tiramisu cake for teabreak.

And yes, we had our dinner at Fuji again. Poor YH. He had Fuji too for lunch and now, he had to accompany us to have Fuji again for dinner. Luckily, Fuji has so much variety to choose from.

Day 5
The hired van was supposed to arrive at 5am to pick us up to Bai Long Wang Temple. But it only arrived at 5.40am. We could have slept for another half an hour. The 3 of us were also anxious cos we might not be able to obtain a Q number to see Bai Long Wang if we were late. Luckily, we managed to get a number and it turned out that we were the last three persons for the day.

I was in fact the last person for the day to see Bai Long Wang. He told me that my "Mian4 Xiang4" is very good. Everything for me will be good. But I have to be less anxious and have to take things slower. Maybe he's right. I also have to be less petty....... Well, perhaps he's right again. And I have to learn to talk back less....... Oh no, he's hitting on the nail again. I did not even open my mouth to ask anything and yet the things that he told me seem to have some underlying meaning for me.
Highlight: WL was very nervous before seeing Bai Long Wang that she almost wanted to give up her chance of meeting him. She said that she's worried that he might scold her.


We checked into Bangkok City Suite around 1pm. It costed about S$16/night/person and this was with buffet breakfast.

Shopping started again at Platinum Fashion Mall. This mall is superb. Wholesale price for 3 pieces and above. But the gals were running low on cash. Luckily (instead of sadly), the shops started to close around 6pm. This "forced" us to give up and proceed for dinner.

Dinner was at Chinatown. We had sharks' fin, birds' nest, grilled prawns, grilled squid and vegetables. This was the highlight of the trip. We had been talking about sharks' fins and birds' nest since the planning stage of the trip...... Hahahaha.

Day 6
More shopping of cos. Platinum Fashion Mall seemed too attractive for us that we decided to give MBK a miss. KY was smart enough to prepare reserve cash so that she could continue to get more bargain buys.
Highlight: Eventually, I bought 3 pieces of top from a shop bcos (1) WL did not like hers after trying when we return to hotel. I bought it from her at 130baht, a discount of 20baht. (2) KY's "upgraded" cup made her top seems tight and she owed me some money. So, she decided to give up her top to me to offset her debt.

WL learnt something new again...... This time on tampons. This is what happened when the trip is an all-girls trip. Funny things will happen.

Day 7
The gals took the early flight back to S'pore and me took the 8am bus back to PTY.

Hi gals, I hope u both enjoyed the trip. It's great to have u both here. I enjoyed myself very much for the past few days. Though we were sick for some parts of the trip, we had the care & concern from one & another. I see the care and concern that your loved one had shown you by calling you up to check on your condition. This is bliss. Gals are most beautiful when they are being cared for and I see that in the 2 of you. Wish that you will stay in bliss forever.

4 comments:

洪玮祾 said...

There were so so so much fun & laughter every moment we were together. You just cldn't imagine!!!

Though the 2 of u keep saying want to bash me up or ignore me for my nonsense, i know the 2 of u love me lah :) hehehee... This trip really re-ignite the fire & power within me in search for better tomorrows fearlessly :) Never did I ever realise how blessed I'm to have you around me, supporting me, encouraging me, accompanying me... :)

There were so many highlights that our dear circle cldn't write it down on her blog. There are all in our memories & hearts only... Jealous?! Too Bad!!! Hahahaa...

Choosy said...

Hey! It's U who always asked us to ignore you....

Yes, there are still many highlights.... maybe I shd edit my post to include some of those.... eg. u eating a cinnamon roll on ur own while waiting for us to finish our thai massage and left 2 raisins for us!!

Anonymous said...

Hey gals, it has been a wonderful trip even tho I have an automatic alarm clock that wakes me up by saying "KY, I'm hungry" early in the morning.

Anyway, being with you gals have always been fun. All the other highlights were bonus.

SY, maybe the 2 raisins were not meant for us cos WL quickly gobbled them up when we were approaching her table.

Not sure when will our next trip be. Maybe we shd fix a date now. How about that?

Anonymous said...

People should read this.