Haha… I guess Oswald is the lucky one after all. This is the first time I celebrated my colleague’s birthday since I join my new office. So yeah, he is the youngest member. Ah… our little boy have finally grown older.

So yes, the member of the creative department decided to go for some “makan” celebration. Yeah, good food… that is something that bonds everyone of us together. We decided to go to Umai-ya Restaurant which happens to be located very near to our office. Yeap… a great Japanese restaurant with nice ambience (although I find the chandeliar light in the middle a little odd compare to the rest of the deco).

But the best part… it’s like only 2 minutes walk from the office. So yes, I am determined to try all their dishes. Every single one of them… hemmm.. I guess by now I would have cover 30% of what they have to offer.

Our group totally love sashimi. I mean…it’s really a simple dish. All you need to do is serve fresh fish and nothing could go wrong. Er… okay, I think wasabi plays an important part too. So we ordered this Sake and Hamachi Sashimi to warm things up. Totally thumbs up! The fish is fresh, it’s nicely sliced. Not to mention the food presentation is awesome!

After the first round, we totally got addicted to fresh fish and decided that we want more! Yes, more… more and more. This time around, it’s all about salmon. We all have one thing in common… we all love salmon! We ordered more Sake Sashimi and Sake Maki to fulfill our salmon cravings. Oh yeah… the salmon seems to just melt in my mouth~ HEAVENLY!

Yummie… we even had Deep Fried Soft Shell Crab. I must say, it’s really a huge crab..  deep fried till golden brown. Oh, it’s so crispy. See… my cravings for crabs hasn’t exactly been cured~

Tempura… tempura!! In my point of view, I benchmark a Japanese Restaurant by their tempura. Well… a tempura seems like an easy dish to prepare… but I would say, many shops failed to impress. The mixture of the batter is simply important to get the crunch yet light feel. Most importantly… it shouldn’t be very oily. I must say, the Ebi Tempura is cool! It’s really crunchy while maintaining the freshness and the juiciness of the prawn. Oooo… I particularly love this dish!

We ordered this Unagi Tamago to share around. As someone who loves Unagi to the max, I somehow didn’t exactly enjoy this dish. It’s my first attempt to try this… but I somehow felt the Unagi taste was drowned in this dish. I could hardly taste the Unagi taste. Hemm.. I think I should try this dish from other restaurant to tell if it’s me or the dish.

We also ordered the Teppan Seafood. The teppan seafood have prawns, salmon fish slices and octopus served on a hot plate. The dish is topped with some thousand island like sauce mixed with some chili flake sauce. Like I say before, the seafood is lovely… but I find the sauce a little too strong and it seems to over the seafood taste. Not to mention… I really felt it didn’t go along well with the seafood. I can’t tell why exactly… it just felt like it doesn’t compliment.

I have no idea what’s the name of this dish. When the waitress came in and took our order, she asked if we would like to try their chef’s new creation sushi. She listed a few… but this particular one with mango seems to sound interesting. Fruits… sushi… okay.. now that interest us and we decided to go for that. The presentation of the food is simply beautiful and colourful. They actually use thin mango flesh to wrap around the sushi topped with some kind of “ikan bilis”. In the middle… one can find overload of wasabi flavoured ebiko and if I’m not mistaken… it’s some soft shell crab.. Lovely. I don’t normally  like sweet and salty food mixed together. But this one just tasted so good. Everything just gets along so well together. Stunning yet taste-blowing dish.

Taste Review:
Packaging Review:
Place of Purchase: Isetan, KLCC
Price: RM9.90

I love cookies! It’s kinda sad that I can never master baking. It seems so difficult and need lots of time to prepare it. Not to mention the cleaning process after the baking. Hence, purchasing it off shelf seems the easiest way. When I went shopping for my normal “stock up” routine, I suddenly saw this clean white paperbag like packaging on the shelf.

Unlike others who tries too hard to just wow you with their vibrant and striking packaging colour, the Pepperidge Farm packaging seems to distinguish itself by just looking clean and neat. Yes, I really love the whiteness of the packaging. Pepperidge Farm seriously comes out with many variety of cookies. So I have been standing there for quite some time, when I finally decided to pick the Pepperidge Farm: Chocolate Chunk Cookies - Milk Chocolate Macadamia (read about their ingrediants and nutrition information here).

I personally love the neat design. A big and prominent logo as branding, product name and just one big product picture that says it all. The yummy visual, classy font type. Woo la la… elegant! But what I am really impressed is, their product shot and their actual product don’t really look that different. Unlike many, the product shot look so big and yummie but the actual product is not even 1/2 of what being shown.

There are 8 pieces of cookie in each packet, 4 pieces in each tray. I must say, each piece of cookie have generous amount of chunky chocolate. Unlike normal chocolate biscuit, the chocolate chunks is soft and melts instantly as you bite them. Mixed together with the roasted macadamia nut chunks, it’s totally perfect.

The aroma of the roasted macadamia… makes it really irresistable. The cookie itself is a little soft. Some might not like the texture of it, but I personally felt it is cool. When you eat the cookie as a whole, you can feel the different texture. The crunchy macadamia nut, soft cookie and melting chocolate. You figure that out yourself.

There was this one day, when I had this sudden cravings for seafood. I was out watching movies and shopping with a friend in KLCC. But when ask me what I want for dinner… all I could think of is seafood. Crabs seems to just jump out from nowhere.

I just gotta have crabs!!! That’s the exact word I told Winson. He just laugh. Then the thinking hard session comes. Seriously… I don’t know how I could not even think of Unique Seafood Restaurant since it is like so near to my place.

I pass by the place quite many times and always said I wanna try it… and I finally did.

It’s a norm for restaurants to serve you peanuts when you first sat down. Yeah… something to munch or chew on while waiting for our dishes to arrive. But at Unique Seafood Restaurant, they serve Meat Floss (RM2.50). I was seriously addicted to munching this stuff

We ordered the Fried Rice Indonesia Style (RM12.00 - small) to go along with our dishes. It tasted a little different from the fried rice I normally have. It’s a little spicy compared to the normal fried rice. I love how they are being so generous with the amount of seafood in the fried rice. But the killer would be the stir fried dried chilli and dried shrimps topping.

Ah… I am dying for Mantis Prawn (RM130 per kg). It’s really been some time since I ate mantis prawn, hence we ordered the Salt & Pepper Mantis Prawn (RM78 for 600gram). We don’t really know how to gage how much to order. So I practically entrusted this task to the captain. I sorta like this dish. Salt and Pepper could never go wrong. But I think it would be better if the garlic are a little more crisy. Slurp slurp… Oh yeah, did I mention the size of the Mantis Prawn… hemmm… is almost as big as a lobster. Okay okay… probably a little smaller.

Yeah… what I have been dying for! Salted Egg Bake Crab (RM35 per kg). Yes! Yes! Yes! It tasted just perfect. Generous amount of salted egg… the amount of sauce is just right. Every part of the crab is covered with the salted egg. Best of all… you can really see a lot of big salted egg yolk chunks. Woo… just lovely. The crab meat is so fresh and juicy. Now I felt like drooling.

It is a little pricey. But hey, what can I say… they serve good food. It’s okay to pamper yourself once in a while :). Er… I know I pamper myself way too much. But I work hard for it…

Yeah, I think I would bring my parents there when they drop by. Yummie~

Address:
Unique Seafood Restaurant
11, Jalan Perusahaan Kiri,
53200 Setapak,
Kuala Lumpur
Telephone Number: 03. 4022 0988

Day02 - 21st June 2007

Has it ever cross your mind that you tend to sleep less when you are on a holiday? I felt so. My dark circles worsen. I always thought I could rest more during the holidays. I wanted to… yet, I didn’t want to waste time and wanted to cover more areas or places of visit.

I force myself to wake up at 7.00 am. I seriously have not wake up in such early hours for… as far as I can remember. Probably my working hours have been pampering me too much. After spending our half day lepaking around Khao San Road (yesterday night), we decided to do the tourist thing.

Upon waking up, we went on and doing our girly things and then head down for our complimentary breakfast. Yeah, my stomach is making noise the moment I step out from my hotel room. Upon reaching the breakfast place, many people is already there… mostly foreigners.

They serve lots of stuff. Many many different type of bread served with different type of jams and butter, pork sausages (yes, only pork), ham, scramble eggs, salad bar, congee with many different type of pickles, cornflakes and cereals with milk, soya bean with “yau char kwai”… and the list goes on.

My favourite would still be the limited but tasty thai food. I still remember how I go goo-goo-ga-ga over their thai food the previous time I stayed here.

Right after breakfast, I took out my bangkok map while Nicole busy reading her guidebook… and we both started our journey. Like a normal tourist, we walk and walk and walk while busy looking around. Everything seems so new and fascinating. Until now I still can’t figure out why.

I could still remember, we were looking around figuring our way and where should we head towards next. We stop at this crossroad junction when suddenly a woman who claims that she is a college student greeted us. Noticing our “I think we are lost” face, she offered help. I felt really happy. I mean, when you are in cofusion of where to go and someone seems to just pop out from no where, so generous to help. She took our map, and showed us where we are. Then ask us where are we heading towards. I just said we are walking around trying to find our way to the nearest tourist spot.

She then start asking me and Nicole to go places that claims to be the “OPEN FOR ONE DAY ONLY” temples. Yes, she repeatedly asked us to go visit the Lucky Buddha, the Black Buddha and some other form of Buddha statues. That very moment remind me back of the incident which happens to me and Jiimbo on my previous trip (click here to read). I should have seen it coming. Yes, I have been noticing her outfit and her LV bag just didn’t fit the college profile. For those who don’t know, I think all their college and university students wear uniforms. And I must say, their uniform… especially the girl’s ones are extremely sexy. I seriously won’t mind wearing uniform like that.

She then keep on repeating the fact that there are special promotion and “TODAY IS THE LAST DAY” one will get a special rate because the Thailand Tourism Board is trying to promote Bangkok to the tourist. I kept pulling Nicole away insisting that we shall travel by foot. And that there are many places we want to look around.

The lady then walk away. Me and Nicole continue to look at our map. After 5 minutes, she re-appear behind us and ask us how come we are still here and that we should just take her advice. Haha… seriously, the more she talk about it… the more scary and bad senario keeps passing through my mind. We both quickly cross the street and just continue walking. Serious, I felt keep on moving to god knows where is way more safe than just standing still trying to figure where we are suppose to go next.

Ah… I finally found the familiar landmark. Yeah, I could see the Santichaiprakarn Park from far. I have been there on my previous trip (click here to read). I think it’s really a lovely place to hang out. It’s really quite a big place with a few sections.

Prasumen Fort/Phra Sumen Fort is the main attraction of Santichaiprakarn Park. Prasumen Fort is one of the two remaining fort in Rattanakosin Island (an area that demarcates the old city area of Bangkok) and is situated at the north-east corner of Rattanakosin Island.

Description about Phra Sumen Fort from the information board in front of the fort:
Phra Sumen Fort was built in the reign of King Rama I. It was made from bricks coated with cement in octagon-shaped. Its front sides faces towards Bang Lamphu Canal. The basements of the fort and the wall are made to be wide flattened bases and are situated 2 meters under the ground. The size from the northern side to the southern side is 45 metres wide. Its height from ground to the top of Bai Sema (battlements) is 10.50 metres, inside the fort. Also it has earthwork and a shelter that protects the ammunition.

The ground floor of the fort is divided into 2 parts by a wall which having Bai Sema of the sharp-point ede type, separating the ground floor’s wall and the upper floor’s wall. There is a door that opens to the front side of the fort, and there is another big angled Bai Sema at the staircase at the back. The wall also having Bai Sema with sharp-pointed shape, the lower parts are bored cavities of the curved shapre, there are 4 cavities in each side.

In the middle of the fort, there are 38 rooms for ammunition and weaponry storage. However, the 7 angle-shape battle tower and the roof were tumbled down during the reign of King Rama V and King Rama VII. In 1981 the Fine Arts Department renovated the fort by using old photos taken during the reign of King Rama V and registered it as a national monument in the year 1949.

Then, there is this big park  by the fort. You can see a lot of school kids around, some tourist is walking around taking pictures and some were plain sleeping on the grass, enjoying the bright and sunny day. As for me and Nicole, our best way of enjoying ourselves would be taking pictures and pose around.

One will see an empty concrete ground facing the waterfront. You can see lots of benches by the waterfront. Tourist can actually sit down and rest while looking at the breathtaking view. Yes, one is actually facing the Chao Phraya River. Looking further north-east of Chao Phraya River, one can actually see the Rama VIII Bridge.

The Rama VIII Bridge officially opened on 20th September 2002. The brige is 2.45km in length (including approach spans). The Rama VIII Bridge has become a new tourist attraction. 

The Santichaiprakarn Pavilion, a beautiful Thai-style pavilion is located at the middle of the park. A lot of cultural performances is being performed at this pavilion. And I must say, the view overlooking the waterfront is simply amazing.

Looking towards the south, we can actually see the Phra Pinklao Bridge. In recent years, a walkway along the waterfront is built. Tourist take a long walk along the waterfront heading towards the Pinklao Bridge. So you see, one couldn’t ask for more. I’m just at the first stop and it seems like I have visited way many area.

On my previous trip, I took the waterfront walkway route. So, this time, I decided to walk along the main road to catch more exciting views.

Oh yeah, did I not mention, the moment I stop by in front of Santrichaiprakarn Park.. some “appears to be friendly” tuk tuk driver approach us.. trying to explain to me about the park and then tells me how boring and how there isn’t any interesting place to visit around. Again, he insisted that me and Nicole to go visit the same few places. And the best part, he kept lowering his price to convince us to hop on the ride. Mmmmm… from then onwards. I am convinced, it is all a scam.

We walk and walk and walk. Little do I know, by choosing a different route… everything one see just changes. We then manage to walk towards the National Museum (view virtual tour) section along Na Phrathat Road. It really cross my mind that I wanted to go in and visit the museum. However, it really seems like a huge place.  And our travel schedule is really pack to the max. We hardly have time to slot in a short tour around the museum in our agenda.

Address:
Bangkok National Museum
Na Phrathat Road
Phra Borommaharatchawang Sub-District
Phra Nakhon District
Bangkok 10200
Telephone Number: (662) 224 1333
Fax: (662) 224 1404
Opening Hours:
Wednesday - Sunday: 9am - 4pm
Closed: Monday, Tuesday, Public Holidays
Website: http://www.thailandmuseum.com/thaimuseum_eng/bangkok/main.htm

We then continue to walk till we pass by a few university. Yeah, we are actually on our way to visit the Grand Palace. The funny part, along the way… everyone starts to ask you where you are going. Me and Nicole soon found out the trick… that is to stay quiet. Don’t care and just walk straight.

For those who travel by foot. You will really know you are at some very famous tourist spot when there are many people around you trying to ask you where you are going and trying hard to divert you to some place else. Besides that, you will see many stalls selling drinks and of course some would walk around selling souvenirs.

We know the Grand Palace is just around the corner, cause one can really see the golden colour shrines. But as we were walking… some young guy just walk pass us and tell us that if we are heading towards the Grand Palace, it’s closed and will only open after 1.00pm because it’s Buddha’s Day and they need to pray.

Me and Nicole got shocked. Cause we really planned things out and we have many other places to go after that. The guy then ask us to go visit some other Buddha statues places (just like what the previous few people say). Then on, we knew there is something fishy and continue walking on. It’s how great he pretend that he is just a university kid walking towards the university compound… he saw us and knew we are tourist and decided to give us a head’s up.

The nightmare soon start. Everyone… everywhere would just keep asking u where you are going. Some would just shout or tell you it’s close cause it’s Buddha’s Day or something along the line like it’s close for prayers and only locals can enter.

It sounded a little weird cause according to Nicole’s guidebook and what I read over the Internet, the place should be open. So yes, after a tired walking day, we decided to just grab a bottle of water (10 baht), drink up and then continue.

We didn’t want to be hassled by more people so we decided to find some quiet place. We spot this park/field like place called Sanam Luang. It seems to be a quiet place… and best of all, there are some benches where we can sit down, look at our map and guidebook.

Sanam Luang is actually an open field right in front of the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew. This place used to be the official royal cremation ground (Thung Phra Mane). It is a place to cremate the kings, queens and princes since King Rama I. The area is actually around 30 acres and the last cremation that took place at Sanam Luang was for the Queen Grandmother in 1997.

King Rama IV changed the name Thung Phra Mane to Thung Sanam Luang in 1855. The name was then shorten and is now known as Sanam Luang. The Fine Arts Department has listed Sanam Luang as a historical place in 1977.

Oh yeah, if you plan to walk around, sit down and relax on the bench… please make sure you are not afraid of birds. I don’t mean one or two.. I mean a big group of them. If you are walking along the place, it’s really fine.

But once you sit down, some lady with come up to you and force you to hold a bag of bird food. Even when you refuse to take it, she will just leave it on the bench next to you. And the next thing they would do… is to throw bird food right in front of you. So yes, all the birds from all around will be flying and fighting right in front of you.

And yes, I am totally afraid of animals. And now that I can’t go anywhere… I seems to be stucked. Haha… okay, Nicole is afraid of the birds too. Having no choice, Nicole took the bag of bird food and threw it far away so the birds would go far far away. Needless to say, everyone knows what happen next.

The lady came back and asked Nicole for money (20 baht if not mistaken). So yes, we did pay her off cause at the end of the day, we really just want to sit down and just continue on with what we were doing. Yup, Nicole is pissed off. The only way to cheer her up? TAKE PICS!!!

More exciting stuff… more exciting places… next…

Woohoo… let’s just I finish this Birthday banner in time. I know it’s a little too late. Probably in less than 2 hours time her birthday is about to past. But seriously, work have been piling up. I hardly have time for myself and friends too. Sigh!

But well, yeap… I manage to find a picture whereby my sister is smiling happily. I bet Simple American won’t complain she don’t smile. Hemmm… so yeah!!! Happy Birthday, My Dear Sis.

I don’t know why. But I have a feeling Nicole is going to message me and ask me… why I didn’t do a banner for her Hahaha… cuz, I felt like I know you alot from just a short trip to Bangkok and Hong Kong!

Taste Review:
Packaging Review:

Bright PINK!! That is my first impression of this Firefly bottle. I think it’s a really well executed bottle. From front to back, top to bottom. I love the classy and neat feel of it. Their font play is really amazing. I especially fall in love with how they blend a nicely shot black and white polaroid treated picture as the main picture.The back of the bottle features short description about the drink and it’s ingrediants and nutritional facts (click here to read about it). I love how they mix and match 2 font type. It makes it feel artistic and natural. Like how someone just scribble on the label. It really make me smile a little when I look at it, cause that is how I always scribble on my sketches and notepads.The Firefly Tonics company have 6 different type of healthy drink. But so far, I only manage to get 4 of it (Yup, you will be seeing more of this review in the near future). So yeah, what exactly is Firefly : Wake Up drink? It’s actually a mixture of Peach & Green Tea drink. According to the label, it is claimed that the drink is made from all natural ingrediants and no added sugar.

The Wake Up drink is reddish in colour. As for the taste, it tasted quite alright. One can really feel that it is made of natural ingrediants. No kidding, it has this distinguish taste which is really different from the local brand can drinks. Best of all, it really isn’t that sweet. So, how well does it keep up to their reputation as a wake up drink? I’m not sure if it’s because it’s way past my sleeping time or what. Coz before I decided to drink this, I haven’t been sleeping for more than 24 hours and I don’t really sleep after a certain amount of hours.Hemm, I guess I will have to try it again someday. During some boring meeting or when I am just plain bored doing nothing.A bottle of 330ml healthy drink that can help you survive over boring meetings, packed in such a beautifully done bottle design cost RM9.90. Yeah, it’s kinda pricey but… I love the bottle is all set to collect them all. Not sure where else you can get the drink, but I got mine at Isetan KLCC.

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I am a typical girl who likes typical pop song. I am known to be an Andy Lau fans. I love Faye Wong. But I guess not many know I am an Ayumi Hamasaki fans. Yup… the J-Pop Diva.

I think she really is an amazing person. Someone who dares to do just anything and everything. Yup, she just dare to be different. From wardrobe, make up… it’s simply cool. Best of all, I really like how she party and play hard and yet still be such a successful person.

Her very first song that touches me is this very song “A Song For XX” (click here to hear the goddess sing). I think it was nicely written and of course it sounded good. Yup… ever since then, I am totally devoted Ayu fans.

I wonder if she will ever held a concert here? I really hope she would. Please do!

Taste Review:
Packaging Review:

Recently, I notice McD’s is actually selling a different version of pie. Riding on the success of their Apple Pie, they recently launch the Banana Pie which kinda substitute my favourite Pineapple Pie.

I was warned that it doesn’t taste as good but that didn’t really stop me. The Banana Pie is packed in the original pillow shaped packaging, of course only the bright and cheerful yellow differentiate it from the Red Apple Pie packaging. I can really say, besides liking the brightness and the cheerful yellow of it… nothing really impresses me. Worst when it comes with this lines that I can never justify the purpose.

Unlike the Apple Pie/Pineapple Pie where you can taste the chunky feel of the fruit, the Banana Pie doesn’t give you that texture. I believe it is because Banana itself is a soft type of fruit. So, if you are looking on biting on some crunchy fruit or taste the fruit texture, one would immediately be disappointed.

Well, I sorta think it really isn’t up to what I expect it to be. Not to mention it doesn’t have a strong Banana taste to it.

Taste Review:
Packaging Review:

I love Peanut Butter m&m’s!!!! Maybe because the fact that I can’t get it over here in Malaysia makes me love it that much. Yup, as far as I know, the nearest place to get it is in Singapore. So each time my friends go over to Singapore, I would ask them to buy me 10 packs.

I think I have been spoilt by this Peanut Butter m&m’s. Honestly, ever since I tried them, the normal m&m’s never appeal to me anymore. Why? The Peanut Butter filling really adds taste and tends to compliment well.

Right… it is a little big bigger compared to the normal m&m’s and when you hold it, it’s a little more oily. But yes… it taste damn good! I wish they would distribute and sell some over here!

As for the packaging… I must admit I like the distinct bright red ALOT! From far, one can really recognize the colour. But I must say, if put side by side with a packet of NIPS, one sure would pick up the wrong one.

Day01 - 20th June 2007

What can I say… if someone ask me what word sounds the best, I would not hesitate to answer “holiday”. This is practically my first trip with my cousin. No kidding… we have known each other since she was born… been to god know how many times family dinners but yes… this is our very first trip together… without all the adults’ supervision.

I thought it would be a free and relaxing day… I could wake up late… rest and relax, take my own sweet time in doing everything and anything. Sad to say, I am wrong. Since I slept like 4 in the morning… I thought I could sleep a little later… but I end up waking around 11 in the morning to continue packing and re-checking my luggage. By the time I am done, I heated up the dumplings my mum made. Ooo lala… I must say they are simply the best. And yes, we must have some specialty food before we leave. What happen to the others… DEEP FREEZE.

After eating and cleaning up… me and Nicole is ready to embark our little trip to Bangkok. It was rather exciting. My heart starts to beat a little faster when I started to pull my little luggage… er okay… it’s not that little after all. We took a cab from my place to the nearest LRT station. The journey from my house to the LRT station is enough to make Nicole know me more. At least now she knows her cousin (me) speaks Mandarin. Okay… and all this while, I thought she knew I could speak fluent Mandarin. But right… she was like :o. No kidding… eyes rolled so big, mouth wide open with a total shocked look. So yes, cuz… I can speak fluent Mandarin.

When we reach the station, we got tickets and travel to KL Sentral. It’s pretty much fun. Everyone around us is busy going to work or to college.. but me and Nicole… we are just pulling our little luggage and is taking our own sweet time going to the airport. Now this is so close to my so-called perfect life.

We got to KL Sentral, go to the money changer, change some Thai Baht and then hop on to the SkyBus. Yeap… we are one step nearer to our Cuz Power Holiday. It was quite a long journey. We talked and talked and talked our way to the LCCT Airport (official site). Er… yes, I have a lot of story to tell. I guess one would have guessed it from my long-winded writing style.

I guess the RM9 fare was pretty much worth it… considering the bus stop us at the entrance of the airport. No hassle to change bus or any form of transportation media. Seriously, I have been all practically all the public transport in order to get to the airport. So yes, enough is enough.

We were practically very much early. We arrive way before our check in time. Since there isn’t much thing we could do in the airport, we decided to just sit down and Coffee Bean and have a cup of coffee. Yeah… Both of us ordered a small Iced Caramel Latte (RM11.00) and a slice of Tiramisu (RM11.00) to share. I must say, I still prefer Starbuck’s Iced Caramel Latte. It somehow taste richer. As for the tiramisu, it was alright but surely not the best I ever tasted in my life. Well, the normal tradition before the eating and drinking begins would be the picture snapping session. Of course a little self portrait wouldn’t hurt… in fact, it would seems weird if there aren’t any self portraits.

When we finish, we headed to the check in counter to check in our luggage. We still have lots of time to walk around. Hence, we walk around the stores… tried god knows how many type of perfume… looking at chocolates but end up buying nothing.

We have to go through a few rounds of checking. Nicole was pretty much pissed of when the security wants her to put her lip gloss in a bag. Which labels and treats her lip gloss as a dangerous item. Yes… chill my cuz… chill. Well, what can I say… you should be thankful they didn’t confiscate your lip gloss man.

And we finally get to board the plane at 6.15pm. Woo… it’s one of those new planes. I can smell it! The strong leather smell…  the strong air-con, it manages to confirms it all. I guess it was a late evening flight. There weren’t much other passenger on board. I am glad though. Yes, that means less people pushing me while queuing up, nobody to kick my chair from behind, less auntie to talk out loud and yes, less people to actually fight nasi lemak with.

Ah… my holiday finally began. Our flight reach much earlier than expected.  The airport seems a little different from the other time I came. Which reminds me, the previous time I came, we stopped over at the old airport. When reach, we saw many people at the visa section and it got me and Nicole panic for a moment. As far as we remember, we do not need any visa. But well, who knows what have change.
We then walk to the nearest information counter to clarify matters. Phew… lucky to know, we do not need any visa. We then carry on to the arrival area to get a cab to our hotel. Wooohooo…. We took the airport cab to our hotel. It was slightly costly, but well… I just wanna get to the hotel as soon as possible and eat tom yam. No kidding, tom yam can’t wait any longer.

Nicole and me decided to stay back at the hotel I previously stayed. Why? Well, supposingly we have other options but I am very much happy with Khao San area and wanted to shop more around there. Must I say that it is a very friendly and happening place. Yes, really really happening. It’s like a town that never sleeps.

The street looks just so different. I still remember the last time I came, it was somewhere in the afternoon. Must I say the night view is really different. But guess what, I pretty much still remember my way around. Especially the few routes nearby Khao San.

We then arrive at our hotel, Viengtai Hotel. We checked in, and I must say the people are so friendly. They chit chat with us, give us some small tips. It’s really amazing, they even told us to not trust the tuktuk who offer us trip to the Grand Palace or the ones going to the Lucky Buddha. One of the guy even told us to just walk around as places to visit is quite nearby.

It’s amazing, most of them thought of us as Japanese or Korean. Hehe… Nicole is very much happy when she heard that comment. However to our surprise, when we said we are Malaysian Chinese, they talk to us in Mandarin. Their Mandarin is quite accurate. At least I could catch what they are trying to tell to me.

We then throw our luggage and happily roll on the bed. We rested, watch some Thai series and plan on our outing tomorrow. Yes, you have no idea how important planning is. I don’t really want to waste my holiday getting lost here, there and everywhere.

Address:
Viengtai Hotel
42 Tanee Road, Banglampu,
Bangkok 10200, Thailand
Telephone Number: (662) 280 5434 45
Fax: (662) 281 8153
Website: http://www.viengtai.co.th/

After we have rested enough, we decided to venture around Khao San since it’s quite late. This is what I label as “The Look, See… Look, See” night. So what exactly I do? Look around and see what is interesting, sold and things I could get here. It’s really interesting and cool, coz I know I can afford to do last minute shopping if I waste too much time at any other place.

We decided to fill up our tummy with some local dishes before we look around. For me and nicole, searching for food and place to drink at night is really not any problem at all. There were loads of stalls we can choose from, pubs is everywhere… spas, tattoo places even discos.

We decided to just hop on at one of the roadside stalls nearby our hotel. Why? Er… coz I see quite a number of locals dine there. Khao San really is the centre of backpacker’s place. Believe it or not, even the roadside stall’s menu comes in English version :). So yes, it isn’t much drama ordering food. Then again, one can always pick and point.

If you ask me, I would say food is SUPER cheap. Seriously, me and Nicole decided to pamper ourselves and go on ordering  Seafood Tom Yam Soup(30 baht), Fried Garlic Pepper Shrimp(50 baht) and Fried Crispy Pork(40 baht) plus coke (10 baht) and plain rice (5 baht). So yes, dinner for two for 150 baht… and I already felt like burping out loud.

And… Khao San is really backpacker’s place. People from all around gather and one can really meet many new people. We met a group of backpackers from Austria and they were so friendly. They offered share their IQ toy and even offer to help us take pictures.

We have to walk the extra food off at Khao Shan road. It’s really a paradise. Stalls selling cloths, keychains, dolls, lamps, decorations, food, alcohol and etc. Seriously, it’s really a lot to see and buy. It’s really a busy street with many friendly people. Everyone busy with their own agenda… either busy partying, bargining… eating or even just sightseeing.

After walking around and looking at things, we decided to just drop by a bar opposite our hotel before going back and have a nice shower and then jumping to our beds. Yes, me and Nicole have make a deal that we will go and drink together when we are in Thailand.

So this is it! We stopped by at 100 Pipers. I ordered my favourite Kahlua Milk (50 baht) and Nicole ordered Pink Lady (50 baht). It’s really a different feel, drinking by the roadside. Best of all, the bar counter is outside by the roadside.

I espcially love the writing on the glass whereby they serve the alcohol. I think it’s really thoughtful, simple but neat. The bartender is a friendly guy and I guess he really loves the camera. Whenever me and Nicole is trying out our camera, he would try his best to make himself appear in our pictures.

Haha… I guess the cool part of this whole experience of drinking by the roadside is… they serve us fruit platter.