Good to be back

Wow, it is really good to be back in KL -where broadband runs like a proper broadband. Our Bangkok home internet connection wasn't running up to its full speed, I suspect it had something to do with the Songkran holidays and Thais logging in en masse. Without a good internet connection and the Photoshop/Fireworks software a blogger can feel quite naked. I couldn't even watermark my pictures! Ok, I better stop, I am beginning to sound like a nomoblophobe*- pathetic. (I reckon it won't be long before noblo(g)phobia enters the English lexicon, as in nomophobio- fear of being out of mobile phone contact, no mobile phobia!)

It was doubly good to be back because Thomas Yap had just buzzed me on Yahoo and said he would buy me a ticket to the yapthomas.com's Blogger's Movie Meet. Yay, cos I rarely say no to freebie. It is good to be Sisuahlai I tell you :).

Ok, I won't blog too much this evening, there is enough rubbish on the blogosphere as it is without me adding to it. I will write more when my mind is coherent.

Meanwhile, here are some woosy holiday snaps for you blog-voyeurs:

Songkran turns into a street (water) warfare

Becoming a little tribal when uniformed men get involved!

A more sombre and civilised form of water usage

Songkran is a time for cleaning and renewal (wiki-fact) like renewing SSL's wardrobe

The stick-on pink shades only look cool when no one is looking

And Phuket was fun too...

thank you very much.

Songkran

I can tell you that it is good to be in Bangkok in April, and it is even better to be in Bangkok over their Songkran weekend (Thai New Year or popularly known as the "Water Festival"). If you are celebrating - HAPPY SONGKRAN DAY.

Pic: CHATUJAK - ENTER THIS PLACE AT YOUR OWN PERIL

Side note: I was at the special screening of Kite Runner at GSC One Utama last Friday - I was glad I went to the screening despite finishing work late and having to catch the flight to Bankok the next morning. You must watch this one, and please bring your best friend along - I can't tell you why. (I saw a guy digi-camming this movie during this screening - what was the deal, dude?)

------I wish I can blog in Thai - but I don't understand a scribble ฌฆฯฤ"ฎ็"๐๕ฯฏ๋๗๐ฤฯฏฤศฏษฤญฤษ๖๐!!!!!

Peninsula Bangkok

PHOK adj. skint, finished

You know you are staying in a premium 5-star hotel when...

the sumptous panaromic views of Bangkok city and the Chao Phraya river greet you as the automatic curtain drew open...en...

you can watch Pussycat Dolls on MTV in the bath-tub... all day.

you are staying in one of Southeast Asia tallest hotel buildings...

you have the choice of hotel food or the real world food...

you are only minutes away from Khao San Road (and drink Chang beers with skint Farangs)...


You really know you are staying in a premium 5-star hotel when...

you have infinite free shuttle service across the river...


you stay in a hotel that makes you think you are floating on a river...


your hotel provides you a 24-hour doctor and nurse service if needed.

Best of all, if you ever get bored with the city, you can even escape in a helicopter!



But really, really... you know you are staying in a premium 5-star hotel when...

you are struck with USD$450 bill the next morning!


Ouch. (Not so smug now)

Bang-bangkok

SUAH-PA n. jungle

Bangkok city qualifies as a jungle; a concrete sort of jungle, where the cars and buses represent the thick foliage, the people represent the insects that feed on it, the intricate network of soi and thanon resemble the weaving roots. And me, a sua-pa khoo. A complete alien. Thankfully I have a guide...

I wanted to do Bangkok in one day. I missed the early morning bus to the city due to factors out of my control, namely the heavy slumber. So I had to make few last minute adjustments, it was now Bangkok in half a day.

I knew what I had to see first. The Emerald Buddha in Wat Phra Kaew. So we took the cab to the nearest Skytrain, On-Nut. No time for buses and tuk-tuks.

Arrived at Hua-Lamphong Skytrain station at 2pm. The Skytrain is definitely the best retreat from the deadly afternoon sun. If you had bought a fresh fish in the morning and left it in the Skytrain, and picked it up 12 hours later, you'll still have a fresh fish. It was that cold in the Skytrain carriage. Surely chilled by made-in-Malaysia air conditioners.

Ok, now at Hua-Lamphong. Flagged a cab. "Wat Phra Kaew," we commanded.

Our cab wormed its way sleekly through the city. When I say worm, I meant a worm high on amphetamines. Missed a few beggars, negotiated a few red lights, brushed against a tuk-tuk. Who needs a PlayStation when you can have this much fun!

Got to the Grand Palace/Wat Phra Kaew in one piece.

We were greeted by a plain-shirt Museum worker as soon as we stepped out of a cab. "Why so late?" he said.

Why so late? Do I look a like a school-kid who's late for class? For goodness sake, I was a tourist on holiday. I can be as late as I want, what's your problem? I wanted to provide a sarcastic reply but I was too stunned to even move my lips. (I was later told that they close the place at 4pm, luckily I kept my mouth shut.)

Wat Phra Kraew was one amazing place. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

The Golden Chedi and the Giant Guards (Indrajit) in Wat Phra Kaew.

The mural depicting the Ramayana. A story about the Giants versus the whole species of the Monkey world.

Full-time score: Monkeys 5 (Red Monkey 2, White Monkey 1, Green Monkey 1, Giant Own-goal 1) Giants 2 (10-arm Giant 2). Some monkeys didn't play the full 90 minutes.

YOU REALLY DON"T WANT TO MESS WITH THOSE MONKEYS.

Believers and their Offerings.

A glimpse of the Emerald Buddha. The most revered image of Buddha in Thailand.

The Grand Palace. The cremation ashes of previous Thai Kings are kept here.

It was difficult to sum up the atmosphere and the experience in Wat Phra Kaew. Suffice to say, you must visit this place when in Bangkok. I could not think of a Kuching equivalent.

Next entry: The Journey to Peninsula

Sawasdee krap

CHIAK HONG v.,n. the uncomplicated, quaint act of eating wind. BURP!
CHIAK-HONG v. the slightly more sophisticated act of booking an AirAsia flight out of town

This will be my second last holiday destination for the year 2006. Bangkok, Thailand.

This is not a de-stress exercise. This is not an escape. Kuching has offered me all the necessary sanctuary for life's detoxification. I am here for a nobler purpose. I am here to celebrate King Bhumipol's 60th anniversary of His accession to the Throne . I simply adore cultish King-worshipping activity. This is similar to my last act of voting BN into power, again. Well, at least I am loyal.

I will be wearing yellow on Mondays, just like all monarch-loving people here. If I am too lazy to do laundry, I might just continue wearing the same colour until the King's birthday in December. We'll see.

Well, if you are not so monarch-loving, you can still visit Bangkok solely for a glimpse of its truly majestic new international airport, Suvarnabhumi International Airport. I know, like copycats, we Kuching people have a new airport, they also want a new airport.

I think they would have preferred our local super-efficient construction company to take on this project, we have a new airport in one year and it took them 10 years to plan and build this one.

Tomorrow, I shall be getting up early to catch the morning bus to the centre of universe: Wat Phra Kaew. And if my budget master allows, I shall also be spending the night in one of the world's most luxurious hotel, The Peninsula.

Excited? Indeed I am.

On second thought, the money saved could buy me 40 Thai and foot massages. Hmm.. (pei tau).

Want to read more? Scratch here.