Bangkok or Bust!

Both of us have been meaning to visit Bangkok since last year. Finally we got our wish and had a weekend romp in Bangkok on 20 May 2006. Airasia offered us the best airfare, and I used my timeshare membership to get us a room at Baiyoke Sky Hotel, the tallest hotel (building?) in Bangkok.

Our flight departed Penang only 15 minutes behind schedule... phew. Airasia is notorious for flight delays. 1 hour 45 minutes later, we arrived at Bangkok's Don Muang International Airport. But we gained an hour because Bangkok's time is 1 hour behind Malaysian time.

I've heard stories about the traffic congestions in Bangkok. Now I got to see them in person. In retrospect, I noticed Thai drivers are very courteous, patient and very skilled at weaving between lanes. Taxis are everywhere, and they are easily spotted by their garish colour schemes - green and yellow, shocking pink, bright orange. I spotted a few 4x4 trucks, but the majority of the cars were Honda and Toyota.

How can we visit Bangkok without trying the "tuk-tuks"? That's what we rode on our first day in Bangkok. The ride was exciting - very bumpy, noisy and dusty.


On the first day, we visited Chinatown. I don't know where the "tuk-tuk" dropped us, but I'm guessing it's somewhere along the Yaowarat Road. There were throngs of people in the market. We walked (or waded) through the sea of people busy buying a variety of items - fruits, vegetables, meats, dried foodstuff, some I can't even identify.

We got back to the hotel before nightfall. I was really happy with the hotel room. I specifically asked for a non-smoking room, and that got us a room at the 39th floor. The room was very spacious, with a large bathroom and a cavernous walk-in wardrobe. The staff were very friendly and helpful.

A good night's rest and we were raring to go the next day. Our next destination - the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew. We were fortunate to witness the changing of the guards at the Grand Palace.


These formidable looking guards stood at attention at three points at the Grand Palace. They stood so still that I thought they were decorative statues from a distance.


That's us at the Grand Palace. Right next to the Grand Palace compound is Wat Phra Kaew, an enclosed area with many many temples, stupas, halls, statues.


The lack of tourists in the picture may be because it started to rain. I liked the rain because it made everything look clean and shiny, and kept most of the tourists away except for hardcore tourists who didn't mind getting wet (I got sick when I arrived in Penang 2 days later...).


That's a view from our room at the 39th floor. But we made plans for dinner at Baiyoke Sky Hotel located at the 76th floor. The dinner buffet was nice, but nothing to shout about. Even so, I enjoyed the dinner. I had several rounds of Banana Mataba that looked like "roti canai pisang".

The highlight of the night was the visit to the observation deck at the 84th floor. The sky was clear from the rain the morning so the view was impressive. The observation deck rotates so we just had to pick a spot and enjoy the ride/view.

We didn't get to visit many places in Bangkok this time around, but we told ourselves that we'd be back next year.

Literary Mug

MPH is celebrating its 100 year anniversary. Gosh... I didn't realise MPH has been around for that long...

So for every RM100 you spend, you can get a nice mug with some minimalist decorations and a snippet of text from selected books. There are a total of 9 mugs and I think only the most persistent readers (and with loads of money to spare) would be able to get all 9 mugs.

That said, sp and I got 3 of them. Thanks to the help of my sister who is an avid reader, but not a mug connoisseur, for the third mug. We got the "cracked" design, the "measuring cup" design and the "paint splat" design.

I chose the "cracked" design for my daily mug. I'm quite particular about the mug I use. The volume has to be right to ensure the best tasting Milo. Did I mention I'm a Milo addict? Then there's the shape. A good mug has to feel comfortable in the hand when I drink my nightly portion of Milo. Finally the mug should be well balanced on the table so that I don't easily tip it over with my flailing arms when I browse the internet while waiting for my steaming mug of Milo to cool down enough to drink.

sp does not understand my Milo addiction, but she lets me have my quirks. She makes a good cup of Milo, and she does it every night for me. If that ain't love, I don't know what is.

Grab Bag

I'm subscribed to this podcast called The Tech Night Owl Live. Every week, listeners would be given a chance to win a Macbook Grab Bag. What we have to do is to listen to a movie clip and identify the actor, the role he played and the movie.

I hardly ever join any contests because I'm too lazy to think up slogans or to collect clues weeks at a time.

But for the contest at The Tech Night Owl, it was easy. I listened to the movie clip, and Google'd the phrase. So far, my success rate is 100%. If only the contest was that easy. Out of all the correct entries, one winner will be randomly selected. Nevermind, I thought. Since the contest was easy, why not try?

To my surprise (and sp's, when I yelped aloud), I actually won the May 4th contest! I had to listen to the podcast twice to make sure the presenter was really calling my name.

The website says it would take 4-6 weeks for my Macbook Grab Bag to arrive. I don't know what's in the grab bag... and I haven't had any reply from the presenter to acknowledge my win.

4-6 weeks is a long time... 4-6 weeks... and what's in a Macbook Grab Bag?

Fame

I certainly didn't expect it. I submitted 2 photos to DCM (Digital Camera Magazine) Malaysia - one for the humour section and another for readers submitted section called Hotshots. And guess what? My photo was printed in the May issue of DCM!

I was out with the guys during lunch hour and we decided to drop by Giant to check if the latest issue of DCM had arrived. I quickly bought a copy and thumbed to the last page of the magazine where the humour section would be. Nope. It wasn't my photo. Feeling a little dejected, I thumbed to the Hotshots section and to my disbelief, I saw my photo! I didn't title my photo, but the editors at DCM titled it, "Boat at Jett". I'm assuming the correct title would be, "Boat at Jetty". But I wasn't going to complain.

Right now I'm pretty psyched. I've submitted another photograph to the Hotshots section. Hopefully it will be chosen as the picture of the month and win a camera bag. Ok, ok. I shouldn't be so greedy. Having my photograph printed in a magazine is reward enough!

Strawberry Pear

Also known as Hylocereus undatus, and commonly known as the Dragon Fruit.

My dad got a cutting of a Dragon Fruit sapling about 18 months ago from a farmer in a nearby village. He didn't expect the plant to flourish, but recently the plant had a growth sprout and began bearing fruit. It's still too early to see how well the fruit will mature, but here's a sneak peek of the fruit that my dad planted. The flesh is red! And I was surprised that it was sweet, almost sugary sweet.

The Dragon Fruit is gaining popularity. I guess we'll know when it reaches mainstream popularity when we start seeing shampoo with Dragon Fruit essence.

Lights! Cameras! Action!

My first DVD is the movie Armageddon. I didn't have a DVD player, and I used my PC to watch the disc. The software was buggy and the movie would only play after several restarts. It took me 3 years before I finally gave in and got myself a DVD player from a local DVD outlet, HK Video. This DVD player lasted me shy of a year before it broke down. I had it repaired under warranty, and barely 6 months later, it broke down again.

I admit I was looking forward to this day. I can finally look for a new DVD player that can playback DivX videos. A quick research on the Internet revealed that the Pioneer DV-383 had good compatibility with a variety of video codecs. The trouble was, it was difficult to find, and the retail price was above RM300.

Unable to find the player, and faced with the prospects of paying a premium for a DVD player, I put aside thoughts of buying the DVD player. Weeks passed and one day, sp came home with a box and said, "I got something for you."

I couldn't believe it! She actually bought the DVD player that I wanted, and I didn't even mention the model to her. Turns out, there was a warehouse sale that day, and she got the DVD player for RM279 (it's actually cheaper, but there was a RM5 charge for using a credit card).

I tried some of the DVDs I have, and they played flawlessly. Then I tried a few discs with DivX movies and series, and they worked! The audio is much louder and better quality compared to playback using my iBook. Video playback on the DVD player looked very good albeit a little darker.

Couch... check! Movies... check! sp... check! Let the show begin!