Future Itinerary

Korea here we come!!!
2012 trip will be where hanguel font exists.
I have been practising to read, write but yet to converse.
I think this trip will break my budget record.

2013... south china??
Zhen yuan is comparable to guilin!!
Suzhou, where my bro is staying.. free loader!!!

I wish I have a travel partner who can plan everything for me!!!??

Malacca here we come
Probably, I'm going down for 1N2D trip with my sister.
Need to track down the best suan pan zi that I have tasted.
I tried almost everywhere in KL but can't beat the one in Malacca.
Mission is to avoid the weekend crowd so hopefully my sis will arrive in KL earlier.
Anyway, Malacca is all about food and the place!
darn.. another set of pictures to process.. I better get going with my china's before this.

Malacca plan is cancelled.
hmm...
My PC died.
what do i do??!!
Bought a dell laptop with i7
Moments ago, throttle with my antivirus so that i can bypass the activation.
forbidden city pics r on the way!!! yippy!!

Hatyai trip is on this December.
Planning to do some shopping.

Anyway, I've just finished my itinerary plan for Korea.
The others are satisfied with the places which we plan to visit.
Only things left to do are the domestic flight and accommodation booking!!!
I have been getting some feedbacks of my queries directly from koreans.
Thank goodness for that.. because there aren't much info about going the minbak-esque approach.
Jeju, Jeonju, Seoul... the 3 stooges are coming !!!!
get excited!
 Updates : Domestic flights booked.

Well am I going to Pattaya for the International Choir Competition??
If I ever go there, i'll just opt for being a chaperone to them.
The greater idea is I'll just hang around or take pictures!!!
Nicely said!

Hosted a couchsurfer for a night.
I brought him to 'pasar malam' but personally, I think he lost out in trying Malaysian food just being vegetarian/vegan.

I'm spending Christmas out of KL.
Flying off...yet I still have lots  to do.
Anyway, taking a break to feed myself well before starting work in January

Thailand 2011 Day 4 & Day 5

Day 4
Nakhon Pathom

Sanam Chan Palace

50 bht

To get here was quite easy and direct. Just go to Victory monument and nearby there is van taxi station.

The ticket officer could speak a little english so just ask him to inform the driver to drop you off somewhere nearby the palace.

Marck from Philippines joined us as that was the last day for him before flying back at night. 

This palace boasts a 100-year-old historical architecture with blends of Thai, English Tudor and French styles. The area is divided by a man-made river which connects to a small lake. 

King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) was educated in England and had a high level of appreciation for the West. 

This is a must-see palace.. ah... in fact I wanna see all the palaces.. *start count down* 

The sour tang of fresh tamarind excites the tastebud!! My first time tasting the one not chemically preserved. Not known by many, the ones that sold in Malaysia are preserved by the chemical used for corpse.

The King's house is connected to this red house.

King's house.

I would skip this as interiorly, nothing much to see (The wooden house). Plus, we were interrupted by a bevy of students and saw a 'pondan' guide/teacher briefing them. They were scattered all over the place and blocked our passage to the display. A very long office house connecting to the temple and theater.

Other interesting misc.

 

Beside the palace, there is a university with many mammoth colourful statuettes. 

Quite a sight and we spent some time there.

Amazing lunch, in fact the best tom yam so far!! 

*cukup rasa but not spicy enough for me*

well everyone loved it! 50 bht

Both misters ordered fried glass noodle as they saw many people mainly ordering that. 

I thought the taste was just so-so.

Dinner when we firstly arrived saphaipee.

then..it's chatuchak market..till last day. 

Food basically the ones we tried in Bangkok were not good. 

Maybe we were unlucky not knowing where good food is. 

 

Street Western Food .. we saw many people here.

Sightseeing nearby MRT stop
This is the korean/japanese backpacker spot.

Thailand 2011 Day 3

Day 3
Samut Sakhon

We took a railway trail to Samut Sakhon.
It's better and fun.
Really enjoyed the morning slow ride and the hustle&bustle of hawkers along the railway station and the passengers hoping in and out of the train.
We were greeted cheerfully by the station workers.. love them.
He passed us tourist flyers in Thai!
Taking a 1-day trip outskirt of Krungthep (Bangkok) was easier through the train, but you need to coordinate the timing of 2 trains.
First train runs from krungthep to samut sakhon , for the next train is u need to take a ferry to cross the river to the following station.
Fortunately, for us we didn't have to after encountering with siam winery workers.


Lots of people definitely were looking at us and curiously asked about our nationality.
ticket 10 bht


We tried their curry puffs. The Thais always seem to like things in sweet, similiar to the Malays.
I guess that most chinese Malaysians always automatically expect salty fried food.
6 bht for 1




Poor fella.. he had to keep his distance away from me.
Don't u just love the background which is so classic.


Approaching the station.


So we took the van to somewhere near between the salt field and siam winery.
My plan was to visit the salt field but hampered by the raining season.
Without sun, salt is impossible.
30 bht




What is worst that the field is in the middle of their so-called highway.
Lucky for us, the salt owner gave us a ride to somewhere nearby the siam winery.
From there, again we had to take a ride to the siam winery as we were told it's kind of far to walk.
motor tuk tuk : 30 bht
We arrived there and bad news strucked again.. it's pruning season.
Siam Winery should have informed me about that when I emailed them.
However, lots of ppl told me that if they had told us, we wouldn't had gone there.
I guess I overlooked from the dribs and drabs that I picked out during planning.
They told us that we are their first customers that arrive by motor.
lol... that's what happens if one travels off the beaten path.

I would say we were lucky to witness and taste the grape as the delivery truck was there.
The grapes colour look very vibrant that i felt cheated when it tasted sour.
Perhaps I always assume that grapes should taste sweet.
The slides are in sequence.
The place was loud but we were the only visitors and were drove around by a van from one point to another point.  I have to say that Thailand always serves the best hospitality!!!

Wine tasting session



Samut Songkhram

Unlucky yet still lucky
While chatting with our guide, we told the siam winery staffs our next stop.
They offered to drop us off at Maeklong station since the staffs were heading the same way.
Yeah to free ride!!!

The next spotlight was the Talad Rom Hup (Maeklong station)
We checked the train schedule and buffered our time for lunch and sight-seeing.
Really anticipated to see the train arrival and the market people.
Since we arrived early, we roamed around and tried some food.



Lunch
all : 35
A sweet dumpling for me and mr ng had noodle


Very sweet dessert but can't beat Vietnam's


this must be nice but I forgotten to try it


The range of sugar can't beat the vietnamese


The unique lifestyle of Thai.
The train whistle signaling its arrival.
The hawkers shuffled and dragged their umbrella backwards.
The train had slowed down and I gambled for time to take a more up-close and sharp image.
The whistle definitely deafen my ears.


There were few tourists here and most of us were anticipating the train.
All was over within few minutes.


We took songtheaw/baht bus to the floating market.
I can say that I don't regret missing it during my first trip to thailand.
This floating market is filled with locals.
I wish tour companies hog only the Damnoen saduak and leave the locals alone.

The rattling sounds of the boat engines and the chattering of strangers along the market was a great sight.
The boat hawkers zoomed to and fro, ferrying plates of food.




We tried out the seafood. Dirt cheap as most of the seafood were fresh caught.
all : 115 bht






delicious fried baby bamboo shoot/banana flower , fish paste and tamarind sauce
20 bht


Other interesting food




Deco items sold


Return to bangkok from Maeklong by van : 70 bht