Sat Nov 21 Bangkok
Took bus from KL Sentral to LCCT to meet my family members and my mum's colleague's family.
The pre-booked lunch on flight was quite nice =)
Arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport in the afternoon. Very nice & big airport. LCCT should build a multi-storey carpark like theirs.
The tour guide was quite arrogant. Being a smoker, he had heavily stained teeth and an intruded tooth 12, leaving a space for him to stick his cigarette in :P (Hehe, student dentist talking here :P)
Our group consisted of 3o+ people staying at 7 different hotels (pre-booked by customers themselves). Pity the tour guide.
We stayed at Prince Palace Hotel, Mahanak. 1st - 6th floor of the hotel building & outside the building was a wholesale market. Things were cheap there but one has to buy at least 3 items to get a really low price. Some shops would not sell unless you buy a dozen! Well, the quality of the things there wasn't as good as expected.
Not all Thai people are friendly. My sis Daphne chose 3 jackets at one stall, then we saw nicer ones at another stall. So we told the stall owner to hold onto those jackets first. She thought we didn't want to buy from her, then angrily threw the jackets on the floor 1 foot away from her! So rude! We got pissed off and went to all other stalls to search for nice jackets for Daphne, but in the end she realised she liked those at that lady's stall the most. Eventually my dad had to "thicken his face skin" to go buy from that lady :P
The tour guide brought us to a lousy Chinese restaurant in a shopping mall for a lousy dinner.
After dinner, we prayed at the 4-faced Buddha opposite Central World shopping complex for safety, career, relationship and wealth.
Sun Nov22 Bangkok & Pattaya
Took a boat ride on Chao Phraya River. People here lived on stilt-houses, experienced a 3-month flood with river water into their houses annualy. Years ago, they were still making a living by selling things on boats.
Prayed at a King level temple built by the only Thai King of Chinese descent after winning a war with the Burmese about a hundred years ago. The temple was built from the porcelain, food, etc donated by Thai people.
Visited Thailand's biggest leather goods shop. Learnt how to differentiate genuine & synthetic leathers. Cow, goat, elephant, ostrich, stingray, etc.
At Safari World, we watched stunning cowboy show & dolphin show. Again, had lousy buffet lunch there :(
After lunch, we headed to Pattaya.
On the way, we saw the magnificent almost 1km long Italianese mansion of Thailand's richest man, childless :-|
After another lousy dinner, we went for Thai massage :D 10+ people in a room, male & female together. We were clothed with similar "pyjamas" provided by the parlour. I still prefer the aroma oil therapeutic massage i had a month ago. Here, they just tap & pulled. Luckily it's not painful :P
We stayed at Golden Beach Hotel. There're pubs outside the building. I didn't sleep well due to the thundering music from downstairs :(
Mon Nov23 Pattaya
Took speedboat to one of the island. Daphne tried parasailing, i just watched :P
My whole family went seawalking 8metres under the sea, wearing a globe-shaped oxygen-filled helmet. RM140 per person. Fed thousands of fishes with bread, nice experience =) Corals there weren't as beautiful as those in Tioman Island. However, seawalking in Tioman Island will be RM450 per person.
Visited wax museum housing wax statutes of famous monks. This museum was part of the temple built for preparation of the current Thai King after his "retirement" from the throne and to become a monk here.
One of the mountain nearby had Gautama Buddha's shadow. They traced it using 18K gold.
Drank 100% pure grape juice at a Holland-style grape vineyard. Nice =)
Visited Nong Nooch Garden built by Thailand's 2nd richest man. He owned 40+ sport cars parked in a 3-storey carpark building. He planted 10 000 over plants in this garden. Watched cultural show & elephant performances there.
Watched the famous Tiffany Show at Alcazar. The trans-sexuals were so much prettier than genuine females!
Walking Street in Pattaya is quite similar to Jonker Walk in Malacca, except that it has lotsa pubs and clubs there. Pity the prostitutes, i'm sure they won't take up this job should they be given a chance to choose. Making as much money as possible to improve the standard of living of their family is their goal.
Took a up-sized pick-up van tut-tut back to hotel =)
Tue Nov24 Pattaya & Bangkok
Visited world's largest jewellery factory -- Gems Gallery. Took a monorail ride (similar to the one at Petroscience, KLCC) to look at the formation of precious and semi-precious stones. Watched how an ordinary-looking stone was cleaned, cut, polished and glazed into an expensive stone. Had free drinks at the factory cafe with beautiful landscape & interior design.
One crazy Thai man bred tigers & pigs together to tame the tigers by feeding them with pig milk. We visited the farm housing thousands of tigers, pigs, crocodiles, etc. Watched tiger & crocodile performed.
Visited a honey factory. Tried honey drink, pollen & royal jelly for free here. Took pictures with the boss's yellow Lamborghini =D
Went to one of the world's biggest bazaar -- Suan Lum Night Bazaar near the embassies in Bangkok. It had 16rows of shop-like stalls, all departmentalised. Things here were very cheap as long as you know how to bargain =) Sigh we left the camera on the bus so no pictures were taken here :(
Wed Nov25
Left Asian' most polluted city and came back to Malaysia =)
Check my Facebook for pictures =)
