It had been three years since I travelled alone to South Korea. I completed my degree and get myself a job in a local English newspaper. This means I can now get my backpack ready and my feet are going to step to new land.
Since I'm a fresh grad, and obviously budget and time will be my main concerns to travel. Hence, I planned to travel to oversea twice a year, and South East Asia will be first to be conquered.
And so, I kicked start with Thailand.
My friend and I went for a short trip to Bangkok last Jan 12. It was supposed to be a solo trip, but then I decided to invite this friend of mine to join because I've only travelled alone to South Korea and not any other country. South Korea is probably one of the safest country in the world, while Thailand....well, you tell me ^^
So, we packed our stuffs and boarded on Jan 12 for our 5-day trip. Our flight which was scheduled to depart at 2115 was delayed. And so, we reached Suvarnabhumi Airport late. The trip was not easy at the beginning, as the hotel that we booked who was supposed to pick us up at the airport was not there. Since we didn't expect this (as I confirmed with the hotel the previous night before we departed on our arrival) we were kind of like "huh, what to do now..???" We arrived BKK around 2330 Thailand time. Best part was, both of us only carried notes, no coin at all for public phone. so, we tried to get some change from the information counter. The lady on duty was so kind that she gave us enough to make local call (since our note was too big to be changed). Anyway, cut the story short, we got the coins but the public phone did not work. OK, I guess we were too dumb that we don't even know how to use a foreign public phone. So, no choice I have to roam my mobile phone...Finally, when we got hold of the hotel, they said "We are sorry. I thought you all are not coming. So, we didn't send people to pick you up. Can you take taxi??" A big LOL. One of the reasons the hotel was chosen was their airport pick-up service. I knew that we are going to arrive late, so I did not want to risk on our safety, and so airport pick-up is a must when I look for hotel. When we reached the hotel, everything started to be fine. Since both of us were hungry and tired, we decided to to get instant noodle at the nearby 24-hour mart. After the first Tom Yum instant noodles, we had our rest..
Before we departed, we were told that Bangkok is just like Kuala Lumpur, nothing much to see. But it is a shopping paradise. So, our itinerary was like - first day, sight seeing (Standing Buddha etc), and another two days for shopping. Since we were new there, things that could not be avoided happened - cheated by Tuk-Tuk and lost....Even though we wasted so much on Tuk-tuk, we were able to visit some significant places in Bangkok such as the 32-meter (100-foot) tall standing Buddha of Wat Indrawiharn and the Golden Mount. On the first day also, we were told by the locals that there are two different types of vehicles in Bangkok - private owned and government owned. Those government owned vehicles came with a yellow colour plate number and private, white colour. Government owned taxi and tuk-tuk offered a cheaper fares compared to the private owned ones. And so, if next time you are in Thailand make sure you get a yellow-colour plate number tuk-tuk or taxi which offered cheaper fares.
After wasted so much money and time on the first day, we decided to used only the sky-train, BTS. Since the second and third day are shopping day, we did nothing else except for shopping. We went to the famous Platinum Fashion Mall (low to middle prices) and Weekend Chaktuchak for teh shopping journey. Trust me even we spent two whole days in these two places, but we think that it was not enough...So, for ladies out there who love shopping make sure you go to these two destinations.
Due to our budget constraint (we over-spent on our handbags and clothes @@''), we did not have the chance to try on nice foods. We tried only street foods, but we enjoyed it so much. Oh, yeah..for fruits lovers, make sure you try the fresh juices that are available almost everywhere in Bangkok.
As this was not a perfect trip (I missed so many things here-the foods, the interesting museums etc), I promised I will go back alone without my friend, so that I will not shop that much and will spare more times in museums and sight-seeing.
Since I'm a fresh grad, and obviously budget and time will be my main concerns to travel. Hence, I planned to travel to oversea twice a year, and South East Asia will be first to be conquered.
And so, I kicked start with Thailand.
My friend and I went for a short trip to Bangkok last Jan 12. It was supposed to be a solo trip, but then I decided to invite this friend of mine to join because I've only travelled alone to South Korea and not any other country. South Korea is probably one of the safest country in the world, while Thailand....well, you tell me ^^
So, we packed our stuffs and boarded on Jan 12 for our 5-day trip. Our flight which was scheduled to depart at 2115 was delayed. And so, we reached Suvarnabhumi Airport late. The trip was not easy at the beginning, as the hotel that we booked who was supposed to pick us up at the airport was not there. Since we didn't expect this (as I confirmed with the hotel the previous night before we departed on our arrival) we were kind of like "huh, what to do now..???" We arrived BKK around 2330 Thailand time. Best part was, both of us only carried notes, no coin at all for public phone. so, we tried to get some change from the information counter. The lady on duty was so kind that she gave us enough to make local call (since our note was too big to be changed). Anyway, cut the story short, we got the coins but the public phone did not work. OK, I guess we were too dumb that we don't even know how to use a foreign public phone. So, no choice I have to roam my mobile phone...Finally, when we got hold of the hotel, they said "We are sorry. I thought you all are not coming. So, we didn't send people to pick you up. Can you take taxi??" A big LOL. One of the reasons the hotel was chosen was their airport pick-up service. I knew that we are going to arrive late, so I did not want to risk on our safety, and so airport pick-up is a must when I look for hotel. When we reached the hotel, everything started to be fine. Since both of us were hungry and tired, we decided to to get instant noodle at the nearby 24-hour mart. After the first Tom Yum instant noodles, we had our rest..
Before we departed, we were told that Bangkok is just like Kuala Lumpur, nothing much to see. But it is a shopping paradise. So, our itinerary was like - first day, sight seeing (Standing Buddha etc), and another two days for shopping. Since we were new there, things that could not be avoided happened - cheated by Tuk-Tuk and lost....Even though we wasted so much on Tuk-tuk, we were able to visit some significant places in Bangkok such as the 32-meter (100-foot) tall standing Buddha of Wat Indrawiharn and the Golden Mount. On the first day also, we were told by the locals that there are two different types of vehicles in Bangkok - private owned and government owned. Those government owned vehicles came with a yellow colour plate number and private, white colour. Government owned taxi and tuk-tuk offered a cheaper fares compared to the private owned ones. And so, if next time you are in Thailand make sure you get a yellow-colour plate number tuk-tuk or taxi which offered cheaper fares.
After wasted so much money and time on the first day, we decided to used only the sky-train, BTS. Since the second and third day are shopping day, we did nothing else except for shopping. We went to the famous Platinum Fashion Mall (low to middle prices) and Weekend Chaktuchak for teh shopping journey. Trust me even we spent two whole days in these two places, but we think that it was not enough...So, for ladies out there who love shopping make sure you go to these two destinations.
Due to our budget constraint (we over-spent on our handbags and clothes @@''), we did not have the chance to try on nice foods. We tried only street foods, but we enjoyed it so much. Oh, yeah..for fruits lovers, make sure you try the fresh juices that are available almost everywhere in Bangkok.
As this was not a perfect trip (I missed so many things here-the foods, the interesting museums etc), I promised I will go back alone without my friend, so that I will not shop that much and will spare more times in museums and sight-seeing.
