Bangkok - Great City of Angels

4 days 3 nights ... never enough when you are in Bangkok. But basically that was all the time I had , so here was how we (Vicky and I) zipped across the city, downtown - outskirts, upriver - downriver, covering all inch of the city ... on foot, on wheels, on tracks, underground, on water, in the short time we had. Here we go ...

1st Day
6:00am - "Rinnnnggggg" . Rise and Shine. Off to Changi to catch our 9:05am Valuair flight. Even had time to catch a McDonald's Breakfast before we set off. The flight left on time. Was served 'Chee Cheong Fan' for the in-flight meal - quite tasty, though feeling a little full with 3 pancakes inside me.

I'm lovin' it

Touched down at Don Muang Airport. Was greeted with showers along the way to our hotel- Bangkok Palace Hotel located on Petchaburi Rd. After settling down, looked for lunch around the hotel vicinity and found an quaint old shop serving a delectable plate of fried rice, definitely one you can't find in S'pore.

In the evening, we decided to take a walk along Bangkok's busy streets to the shopping belt at Sukhumvit Rd. It was worth the walk, as we had a good glimpse of the giant shopping malls that hug the famous 'Orchard Rd' of Thailand. It was dark when we reached MBK (more like MBI it read), a welcoming sight indeed for the weary and also the shopaholics.

MBK Shopping Centre, Bangkok Traffic, Hardrock Cafe Bangkok

Floors and floors of shops selling all things from bags and shoes to fashion and accessories. A shoppers' paradise indeed , you don't need designer names to attract girls, Vicky was smitten, like bees to honey. Let's skip the shopping part okay ? Moving on, we found dinner in a restaurant selling mainly noodles. Had a fiery encounter with the papaya salad, the lil' chillis certainly fired up my entire mouth, removing all remaining appetite for that dish.

Before the night was over, managed to meet up with Dennis who brought us to a nice little Japanese joint for some snacks. Call it a night after that and made our way back to the hotel.

2nd Day

Rose early for breakfast. Was going to be long day. First stop - the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Keow. First taxi that we stopped told us that the palace was only opening at 11am to visitors due to the King's visit, was willing to take us to another stop before that. Didn't buy the story, so took another cab. Unsurprisingly the palace was swarmed with groups of tourists (mainly Japanese) and school children. These was one breathtaking sight , the many statues, drawings, decorated temple halls, and lofty palace walls - a grand old reminder of the splendour and wealth of the old Siamese Kingdom.

Grand Palace & wat Phra Kaeow

After leaving the venerated walls, we decided to explore the nearby Khao San Rd, famous for being a backpackers haven. A helpful stranger kindly pointed us the direction even without us asking, now that's truly a sight you don't see often in S'pore or M'sia. Khao San Rd greeted us with a outburst of colour, large bright signs everywhere, it was like a mini United Nations in Bangkok. While Vicky was naturally drawn to the roadside peddlers, I was trying to look out for a place to tuck in. Consulted my guide book (the Rough Guide to Thailand) and decided to heed it's advice, Prakorb's House it was. See what we had for lunch ...

Khao San Rd , Prokorb's House, Our delightful lunch

After a good meal, we were off to the river to try catch a express boat ride downriver. For only 16 Baht each, we had a nice slow ride down the scenic Chao Phraya. We got off at the last stop at Central Pier and took the Sky Train to Ploenchit Station, walking back to the hotel form there.

River boat along Chao Phraya

That night, it was off for dinner with familiar faces, friends from Muar - Yuin Hui, Hwee Kun, Dennis and Kia Liang, currently living in Bangkok. Yuin Hui's home was at Sapulai Park, about 15 minutes walk from Phahoyonthin station. Hwee Kun and cute Letitia, her lil' ma phrao, greeted us downstairs. Nice apartment they have there with a wonderful view of the area. For dinner we had a wonderful seafood meal at the Diary Queen restaurant. It was also Kia Liang's b'day, so that was another reason to celebrate. After dinner, it was back to the hotel for a good night sleep.

Gathering of friends in Bangkok

3rd Day
Saturday, today was saved for a visit to the market, Chatuchak weekend market. Just a short walk from Mo Chit Station, Chatuchak looked like a clutter of stalls under zinc roofs, selling all things under the sun, even things you never imagined. After the compulsory browsing and testing of prices, the bargaining and buying soon started. We bought some tee-shirts, banana chips, bags, skirt and even door blinds with coral deco. The endless rows of shops never seem to end, so we decided to maximise the experience by walking all the way inside to have a look.

After the morning marketting, we took a train ride to Siam Square for lunch. Found this delightful restaurant, Hong Kong Noodle, serving one tasty bowl of noodles and yummy little 'siew mais'.

Hong Kong Noodle - restaurant and servings

In the evening, it was massage at Khao San Rd (only 180 Baht for one hour) before we move on to our main course, dinner at a Israeli restaurant with Dennis and Kia Liang. We had Schnitzels with Humus Chips, Eggplant Salad and patato chips. After dinner, we strolled down Khao San Rd one last time. Found a great book, '11 minutes' by Paulo Coelho, at a second-hand book shop. Bought it for only 250 Baht! The FA Cup final was the main draw tonight at all the pubs along the road, so decided to have a drink at one of the queiter pubs. It was back to the hotel after that.

4th Day

Sunday ... our last day in the city of angels. Woke up slightly later than usual today, a bit worn out after two days of sighseeing, but in time for the morning buffet. After a hearty breakfast, packed our stuff and checked out of the hotel (leaving our luggage under the hotel's care). Since it was our last day, I tried taking a Tuk Tuk to MBK , just for the experience. But the driver made it difficult by wanting to chrage us a exorbitant fare of 80 baht (only 40 Baht by Meter Taxi!). We tried to haggle down to 5 Baht and thought we got away with the bargain. However after getting into the Tuk Tuk, the driver told us that he will first bring us to another stop. Same trick. We declined straightaway and was shooed off immediately. Well at least we tried. So we took the tried and tested way, the ever available and reliable - metered taxi.

It was all out last minute shopping at MBK. Mainly buying gifts and souvenirs for friends and family back home. We were only limited by the amount of remaining Baht we had with us (had to leave 500 baht each for Airport tax!). After saying our last goodbye to MBK, we rode the train to Chit Lom to meet Dennis for lunch. For lunch, he brought us to a restaurant in a remote spot of Sukhumvit Rd. We had a good meal of fried rice, hainanese noodle and tom yam. After lunch we bade farewell to Dennis and hurried to the hotel.

Our Valuair Plane took off about 7pm (bangkok time). No reclining seats this time (we were seated just in front of the emergency exits) so less comfy trip this time. Last view of Bangkok, now only a cluster of tiny brightly coloured specks from my window, think I can even see a Bangkok Traffic jam from here (a long line of lights). Goodbye Bangkok , or in Thai, La Kawn ...

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'Krungthepmahanakhornbowornrattanakosinmahintarayutthayamahadilokpopnopparatratcha

thaniburiromudoratchaniwetmahasathanamornpimanavatarnsathitsakkathattiyavisnukarprasit'

Actual name for Bangkok

A Starry Starry Night in Istanbul

It was one of those nights ... an European Cup finals , a night for die-hard soccer fans, a night when glory or defeat is decided by a 22 players on the pitch. Well, this was the 2004/05 Champions League final pitting the 2nd best team in Italy, AC Milan, a star-studded team and favourites to lift the cup against the underdogs - Liverpool, 5th in the premier league, a shadow of it's former glory.

I have to admit that although I was rooting for the English team to take the cup, I had made no prior plans to wake up for the match (reason being I'm a Man Utd fan and was feeling rather tired after watching the Star Wars III earlier tonight). Strangely enough, I woke up suddenly from my slumber and decided to check the time. The time was 3:30am. So, ok, I decided to check out the score onTV.

Whoa ! Milan was up by two goals, and wait, Kaka launches a beautiful curling pass which escapes Carragher's stretching leg and ends up on the feet of Crespo , who then duly chips the ball over the helpless Dudek. Score 3-0 ! Looked like Liverpool was dead and burried. I believe some Liverpool fans had actually call it a night then, convinced that their team had lost to a better team that night. Well these same fans will probably be knocking their heads on the wall the next morning after missing out on one of the football's greatest comebacks.

Second half, Liverpool brought in Hamann, maybe in an attempt to wrest control of the midfield from the battling Gattuso and Pirlo as well as to stop the marauding Seedorf and Kaka. Then on the 54th minute, out of one of the rare Liverpool attacks, Risse sends a innocent cross into the box. Gerard being in the right place and right time, heads a looping header into the corner of the net. Milan was stunned. The match commentors who had before half time declared that the cup was as good as Milan's, was suddenly staring at a probable comeback.

The Reds didn't just stop there, they were rampant, attacking at every opportunity and Milan was allowing them the space to do just that. Riding this wave of new hope, Smicer decided to cut in and hit a powerful grounder from 25 yards. Dida dived, fully stretch, but only managed to grasp thin air as the ball found the net. 3-2 , the game was on. And then a couple of minutes later, just as if it was scripted, Liverpool was awarded a penalty after Gerard fell under the challenge of Gattuso. Alonso missed the penalty but before a collective groan could be heard among the Anfield faithful, he smashed the rebound into the roof of the net. Comeback completed, now for the win.

Unfortunately ,after that was mostly Milan's show. Carragher and Dudek was often called to stop the relentless Milan attack. I drifted in and out sleep at this time, saving myself for the penallty kicks afterwards (as if I knew!). Full time flew by. Extra time - still no goals. PENALTY ! I prayed that Liverpool were more fortunate than Man Utd at spot kicks (still reeling from the FA Cup Final loss to Arsenal). Then as if afflicted by the same curse as the Italian national team, the first two Milan players failed to convert their spot kicks. Finally it rested on Shevshenko's shoulders. Surely, he, the reigning European Player of the Year, would not miss, right ?? But gut feeling told me that it was gonna be Dudek's night. And sure enough, Shev's tame kick was saved by Dudek's outstretched hand.

So the fairy tale ending came true for the underdogs; the cup was going back to England (and staying in Liverpool for good after having winning it 5 times). What a way to win the cup, coming from the brink of defeat to produce one of the greatest football finals' comeback ever. Whoa, what a night ! If I were a reds fan, I'd probably be on cloud nine for the rest of the day. Thanks for the fitting final Liverpool, and enjoy the crown and euphoria ... while it last.

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Wait for my next post on my Bangkok Trip , still organising and downloading the photos ...

Prayer for the Stressed

Still a classic stress reliever .. a prayer to get you thru' the work week.

A PRAYER FOR THE STRESSED

Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

the courage to change the things I cannot accept,

and the wisdom to hide the bodies of those people I had to kill today

because they pissed me off.

And also, help me to be careful of the toes I step on today

as they may be connected to the ass that I may haveto kiss tomorrow.

Help me to always give 100% at work....

12% on Monday

23% on Tuesday

40% on Wednesday

20% on Thursday

5% on Fridays

And help me to remember.....When I'm having a really bad day,

and it seems that people are trying to piss me off,

that it takes 42 muscles to frown

andonly 4 to extend my middle finger and tell them to bite me!

AMEN

Green Hills and the Leper King ...

It was a fine Saturday morning, 7th may 2005, not perfect, but after weeks of severe heat wave a cool saturday morning was a welcome. The plan for the ten of us was to hike up Bukit Timah hill. So after trudging down steep steps, walking thru' rocky paths and occasionally posing for shots around scenic landscapes, we finally reached the summit. A one hour hike up ... a little too fast for our liking, it made our previous hike, the 10km round trip to the McRitchie Tree Top bridge and back, felt like a mini marathon. But we made the trip down more memorable by taking the climb up the 184 steps.

A group photo at the summit

Another successful outdoor outing. We're running out of places to go in S'pore. Let's see what's next.

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the Leper King ,you're right, he's the cool masked character in Sir Ridley Scotts' latest epic "Kingdom of heaven". Must admit it was quite a far-fetched tale (from ordinary blacksmith to warrior to knight to baron to defender of Jurusalem without batting an eyelid, like a hero out of a greek legend) , but the memorable characters and amazing scenes made it worthwhile to sit through the 2 +hrs, staring up at the big theatre screen just 7m away. This is the second time I'm watching one of Ridley's movies from the first few rows of the theatre, the first was Gladiator. It was indeed a challenge to absorb all the rapid-fire action of the skirmishes and battles from where I was sitting, my eye had to cover the entire length and breadth of the screen each time before the next throat was slitted or before the next trebuchet was fired.

Anyway back to the Edward Norton's character, the leperous ruler of Jurusalem, King Baldwin IV, he was very well portrayed in the movie, a man of obvious physical deformities and weaknesses, yet held strong when he was required to. Though his reign was short, he never shrugged his duty to his kingdom and especially his people. So when he died, the kingdom was in turmoil as it fell into the hands of Guy de Lusignan. Some true fans may bemoan the absence of the all important battle at the Horns of Hattin, but just like Gladiator where the story revolves around Maximus, this tale revolved around Balian d'Ibelin(Orlando's character), so what we had instead was the storming of Jusrusalem, a sure-win victory for Saladin. The leper king, may be remembered in the history of the crusades for all the wrong reasons, and he may be outshined by greater and more powerful characters like King Richard of England, King Philip II of France, or Saladin or Salah al-Din - the great muslim leader, but he had his moment in history and lived his life the best he could despite his weaknesses and limitations.

"be without fear in the face of your enemies, be brave and upright that God may love thee, speak the truth always even if it leads to your death, safeguard the helpless and do no wrong..."

a knight's oath

Roti Wars

If bread could talk ...

Scene 1 : (Told in the spirit of Star Wars)
CB 1 : Hoi Mum, you're in my territory ! Now deal with my stick !
Zeauww ... (whips out green light saber)
CB2 : You're right Boy, this town isn't big enough for the two of us. Now you'll have a taste of my shaft!
Zieuww ... (pulls out blue light saber from under the crust)
Zat ... Zut..Zit ...Zot (both sabers clash in the air)

CB1 : I was here first, why, in fact I was the first CB in this country. You're just a cheap imitation. Now return
to the wheat fields where you belong !
CB2 : So what if you're first ?!! It's the class that matters. See , here's my 4 1/2 stars to prove my quality. Only
the best survives.
CB1 : You insolent copycat ...
B.'Hans'.Solo : Zueauww..Zueauww.. (Runs in wielding two-edged red light saber).
Talking about first, I was here long before you two showed up. Now, before my 'Pandan Cake'
becomes a 'taste' of the past, I will rid the West off you two scumbags ...

(CB = Coffee Bun; B.'Hans'.Solo = Bengawan Solo)

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Well, if you've been in Clementi lately , you'll know that the two acclaimed 'Coffee Bun' bakeries or bakeshoppes as some call them, Roti Boy (the incumbent) and Roti Mum (the chellenger) has set up shop only a few shops away from each other. Selling only Coffee Buns, this is a head to head mouth-watering match up.

I have tasted both buns. My first encounter was with the bun from Roti Mum branch in IMM. The first bite was heavenly, never tasted buns so aromatic and tasty before. The coffee flavour and buttered interior did the trick for me.

After the first encounter, I wanted to try the rival bun from Roti Boy so much that I made my way to Toa Payoh. However this time, the taste didn't match up to my expectations (maybe I had set my standards too high and they were a little too generous on the sugar that day).
Now that they have come to Clementi, I should give them another 're-match', in case my first was a little bias. Ok, will update on my take on both Coffee Buns real soon.

Dawn at Tanjong Muar 

Chasing Sunsets

It's a wednesday night, pretty stuffy weather outside, Amazing Race is on tv (Rob and Amber is leading at the moment), only the aircon keeps me sane ...

Another day at the office. Can't complain, only 4 working days this week. Can't imagine it's already May. Still haven't got into the swing of things yet, my resolutions are still unwrapped somewhere under a mountain of inertia. Got to push myself to start soon (on my resolutions) or else it'll be another year slipped away.

Just think, each day we rush off to work, first struggling to get our ass off the comfy mattress, then steering our way through the rush hour traffic, if time permits maybe a quick cup of coffee and a sandwich to oil the stomach engine, and finally we plunge into our work until it's time to call it a day. No time to smell the roses (heck ! you can't find roses planted on the roadsides in S'pore anyway), no time to even marvel at the sunrise. It seems that each day we are just running the motions, looking for the end of the day, chasing sunsets ... I must admit, sunsets are a great sight (having taken photos of many a sunset), but the day really starts at sunrise, we should be giving the sun-streaked skies of morning and the great yellow sun of dawn it's just due by starting off the day with the right enthusiasm and spirit, living with gusto.

Midnight approaches, the bed beckons. Before I go, here's something from the book I'm reading at the moment ...
" That's something else that gives me royal pain. I mean if you're good at writing compositions and somebody starts talking about commas. Stradlater was always doing that. He wanted you to think that the only reason he was lousy at writing compositions was because he stuck all the commas in the wrong place ..."

from THE CATCHER IN THE RYE

J.D.SALINGER

Goodnight world. A new day is around the bend. Enjoy your sunrise.