Bangkok/Pattaya - Day 2

Note: Photos are mostly taken with Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W1, unless otherwise stated.

Our Friday morning in Bangkok started early, at 6am. We had a hearty American breakfast meal before we wait for our tour guide to bring us around. Anyway, if you're planning to stay in Ibis Siam, you have got to try their custard! Its so delicious! And there's something about Thailand that makes me love drinking milk so much. Which is really something considering I am not a fan of milk to begin with!!



Our first itinerary for the day was a boat tour on Chao Phraya River. It is like the Mississippi of Thailand. You can actually see the river from the plane.

Both photos taken with LG Viewty

While waiting for the boat to be ready, we got to hang around the area for a bit. The first thing that caught my attention is seeing people bathing in the river in full view of everyone.


They are actually the homeless living underneath the highway. The funny thing was, it looked as if the place was made specially for them. The sleeping area were fitted with wooden floorings, and the huge space meant a lot of them can sleep comfortably. Tourists found it interesting that they started snapping pictures openly. I was afraid of embarrassing them, so I took photos of them in discreet. However, it seems like they were not at all bothered by the cameras that they go about doing their daily activities.



They pretty much do everything in that river. Washed their clothes, bathe, brushed their teeth, and maybe pee as well. Living in a 1st world country with the basic necessities like clean water, I stared at disbelief how anyone could let them clean themselves in waters filled with diesel. And our tour guide could still say the river is clean. Because if you look further down, its littered with rubbish and considering their close proximity to the motorized boats and a sewage, I doubt the river is as clean as how our tour guide would like us to believe; at least not in that particular area.


Thankfully after 20 minutes or so of waiting, we finally got to board our boat! I thought I'm gonna get sea sick, but nopes! I didn't. We had to board with so many others mostly Westerners.




The boat tour guide is really funny. He had this spastic laughter which I find amusing. Since it was Buddha Day that day, he explained, "Buddhist don't drink alcohol, don't steal, don't kill and don't tell lie... but I only tell white lie". I found that funny. Then he went on to explain that if he didn't tell white lie, we (tourists) wouldn't want to go on the tour. So they had to lie that the river is clean, beautiful, etc. Well, they had a point there.

So, the river tour was actually just to show us the number of temples that are around the river and the houses that were said to be built before land transportation were available (ie people rely on the river for transportation). So I guess that translates to more than a hundred years old.... Unless our tour guide told us one of his 'white lies', then I wouldn't know.


Most of the houses were on wooden stilts and were in dire need of repair. Some were even beyond repair, and partially submerged.



I know there would be mosques in Bangkok, but I didn't expect to see a Chinese temple in Thailand! Suddenly seeing a temple adorned with dragons instead of gold looked so new to me. :P



One of the highlights of the boat tour was fish feeding just outside a temple. For 20 baht (80 cents) you get the chance to feed the fish a few pieces of bread. I was so shocked to see so much fish concentrated in a particular river at one time. I was told it was catfish. I'm not so sure. But it was so freaking huge!! Each fish could probably feed a family of 5? I am not kidding when I say they are huge and fat. But unfortunately, we're not allowed to fish. Because it belongs to the temple. Each time someone throws in a piece of bread, the fish would scramble to eat it and water is splashed everywhere! They looked like savage beasts... But cool.


I think these fish were so used to being fed, that they would follow us upstream. However, upon realizing that food were no longer being thrown at them, they eventually stopped following us and returned back to the temple. Amazing isn't it? Instead of being scared of us, they actually followed us!



So while travelling down the river, we came across a shop selling coffins. Our boat tour guide said something really funny. He said something along the line, "You can buy souvenir in Thailand, but this souvenir not yet buy". He meant to say that it is not our time (yet) to buy the coffins as a souvenir from Thailand. It was funny.

Further upstream, we stopped by at the Thonburi Snake Farm. For 150 baht (S$6), you get to enjoy a snake show and various other animals. It is like your local zoo, only that it is dirtier and animals were kept in cages.


Among all of the animals they had on display, I especially pity the monkeys. They looked so sad and pitiful.



Finally after a few minutes of waiting around, the show started!! For the faint hearted, I strongly suggest you seat at the back. But for the ultimate snake experience, seat in the extreme front of the stage. You will be so shocked beyond words!! I sat in the front and I regretted it at first because they threw the snake around and it landed just next to my feet. I could even hear it hissing. I was so afraid I thought of running every time they did that. But after the whole show ended, I changed my mind and it was probably worth the fright! LOLOL!! I mean, it was a once in a lifetime experience. Where else can you pay S$6 to scare yourself silly? Even a horror movie doesn't cost that cheap.



I would recommend anyone who went to Bangkok to go on boat tours like these. It is really worth every penny. You get to experience what Bangkok is all about just by traveling along the river.

So after the boat ride, we had our lunch at a muslim restaurant. We found out there's a whole stretch of road that caters to the muslims. So next time I'm in Bangkok, I know just where to get my fix of Singapore chendol. They don't look like your typical Singapore chendol, and certainly doesn't taste like one. But its nice nonetheless. Their version of chendol is actually thick green thingy that looked like fat tadpoles and very watery instead of the usual thick coconut milk we're used to.

The 3 photos above were taken with LG Viewty

The tom yum that was served to us tasted so much better that the previous night's dinner. It is tom yum goong cooked in coconut milk. We also had sweet and sour fish, a dish that looked like chopped chicken paprika, vegetables with loads of mushrooms, and a few more other dishes!! Delicious!

After lunch, we drove off to Royal Jelly factory store. We bought a couple of bottle of Royal Jelly. Not cheap though. Cost just as much as the ones in Singapore.

So, after the tour and all, we were sent back to our hotel and waited for our driver to send us to Pattaya! In the meantime, we took a taxi ride to MBK. Cost us 60 baht. I initially wanted to ride a tuk-tuk for only 20 baht. But he told us he'll make a detour to his 'sponsor' first. We were pressed for time. We had like only 2 hours before the driver to Pattaya will come to pick us up. So we decided to take a taxi meter instead. I found out later that the 'sponsor' he was talking about was to bring us to a shop where they sell some stuff and you are forced to buy something. Otherwise you're stuck there. So thankfully, we did not take the tuk-tuk. Otherwise we'd have to miss MBK!

While MBK is a shopping haven for the petite, it is however, not suited for those of my size. I didn't quite like the material of the t-shirts and I'm not really a gadget person, so MBK is so not my kind of shopping centre. Before I went back to the hotel, I bought a few pieces of donut from Mister Donut.

Photo taken with LG Viewty

It costs 12 baht each (around 50 cents), for 1/2 the size of a normal doughnut. The dough is as soft as J.Co, but tastes very much like Dunkin Donut; only smaller. And I was right, because I found out Mister Donut is now owned by Dunkin Donut. I am so good at this tasting thing. There are other kinds of doughnuts. Some costs like 29 to 60 baht.

The 2nd Adventure

So we waited for a taxi to drive us back to the hotel. We finally had one that don't look like the usual Toyota Bangkok cabs.

Bangkok's taxi comes in an assortment of colours. The pink taxi is so striking, it reminds me of cotton candy.

The car looked so beaten up and old. So obviously we're afraid it's another dubious taxi that will overcharge us. But we were told its a meter taxi. The driver was really old. Like 70 or something. He drives really slow at 50km/h. We then stopped at the traffic light. Then was when we almost got a heart attack. He forgot to put the brakes on. And so the taxi slide backwards. We frantically shouted, "Uncle! Uncle!". We should have said "Brakes!". But at that moment in time, we were scared out of our wits! Luckily the car behind us honked. And he was alerted.

But it didn't stop just there. He didn't really know exactly where to stop us. So we had to direct him to a bus stop. And I think in the midst of the excitement, he drove on the wrong side of the traffic!!! Thankfully the approaching traffic stopped for him to make a turn.

It was definitely a ride from hell!! But worth the 50 baht. LOLOLOL!!

Pattaya

So we went to the lobby, got our bags, boarded an awaiting van and off we went to PATTAYA!!!!!!

It is a smooth 2 hour journey from Bangkok via the Highway. We checked into Golden Beach Hotel. Straight up, I hated that hotel right from the beginning. The staff looked like they can't be bothered to serve you, and their uniform skirts were so tight that if it was any shorter, it'll even pass off as a mini skirt. I read from forums that the hotel has got bed bugs. The night I was there, I didn't see any. It was only the next morning after breakfast that I found a big ass bed bug crawling on my bed!!!!!

Photo taken with LG Viewty

The condition of the hotel is old and everything in the bedroom was kept at a minimum. I don't even feel the aircon. Lousy. Well, what do you expect from a S$40 a night hotel?

As for food... There's 2 kinds of buffet. The American Buffet and the Indian Buffet. There's a lot of male guests from India. And I really mean A LOT of Indian men!! It felt like I was in India and not Thailand. And why are Indian men so creepy. They looked at you like they wanna eat you or something. Felt so uncomfortable around them.

Photo taken with LG Viewty

Anyway on our first night out in Pattaya, we had our dinner at an Indian restaurant. We were served with... yet again another bowl of tom yum goong and a few other dishes. The tom yam tasted like how my mum would cook it.

Both photos were taken with LG Viewty

We walked around a bit after dinner. While walking I soon notice a huge number of Indian visitors. Like every corner I go to, there's always an Indian there. Surprisingly, I hardly found any Westerners. It could be due that they are drinking away in their hotel room since Thailand is observing the Buddha Day. Which means 'No alcohol and no partying'. Which is a bummer because I came to Pattaya to see their nightlife. I've always wanted to see for myself a drag queen performance. Unfortunately, religion is very strong in Thailand. So... none of that for the night. But I do however, came across a few prostitutes touching every inch of one White man's body. LOLOL! It was really something.

I don't recall seeing any tuk-tuk. But I do however saw a transportation that looked like Philippines' popular public transport: Jeepney. Its actually known as songthaew in Thailand.

So, after a night exploring Pattaya, we finally called it a night.

I'll continue with day 3 in my next entry. On day 3, we were brought on a speed boat to Coral Island, which is nearer to Phuket. We did detours along the way to try on parasailing and diving.