TO THAILAND WITH LOVE
Haha the title tickles me a lot hahhaa….
31st MAY 2008 (Saturday)
Ok my journey to Thailand the land of the elephant more to ELE-FUN to me hehe..
Started on 31st May 2008 when we boarding a train from Butterworth to Padang Besar on 6 am…and for ur information this is actually my first time traveling with train so I myself can’t imagine how excited I am..then we reach padang besar around 10 am to have our passport check while waiting for the train to change its head (the engine)..which takes around 1 hours (more or less)…and around 11am (Malaysian time) the train starts to moves heading to THAILAND (o’ my gosh..i’m so happy) haha…and we reach HATYAI JUNCTION STATION around 13.00 hrs (Malaysian time)..and without wasting anymore time we heading out to find a way to KRABI which also means AO NANG and PHI PHI DON..without any helps from any traveling books just a little helpd from tuktuk driver outside the station we books the bus to KRABI..which is 1230pm (Thailand time) heheh..and right after the bus (or more like a van) arrived we are now heading to KRABI the AO NANG (seriously since I’m kind of person who never or dunno express my feeling..no one really knows how happy and excited I am if they look at my face but deep within me only me and my god knows how happy and excited I am)…and the moment we reach KRABI we boarding the same bus to AO NANG’s BEACH..with additional payment of 100 bath..and now we off to AO NANG…so after we reach AO NANG..we tried to find place to put our bags and rest for a while..and guess what since there is only 3 of us we first decided to cut cost by just rent one room but since the rates is unbelievable which is for me its just 150 bath for a single room and my friend is 200 baths so we decided to have separated room (so I have more privacy haha)…and that nite we were wander around to find a right agency to bring us to PHI PHI DON..and first few agency were offering around 1000 baths for the trip so we continue till we found the agency which offer us 950 baths for the trip which is under J. MANSION (J. SPEED BOAT TOUR) ahhh finally my dream since I watch “THE BEACH” movie will be achieved..finally!!!
1st JUNE 2008 (Sunday)
I woke up really2 early (as early as I can) hehe the adrenaline of excitement is filled up all my entire vains..YES..YES today I’m going to phi phi Don hahhaa…finally…so woke up early…went to ao nang beach walking around enjoy the sunrise haha..then went back to the motel to woke my friends up..and checkout from the room having sum breakfast and yeah go to the agency for the pickup point and yeah around 830am (Thailand time) we are heading to the marina..where the speed boat is waiting for us. Meat the captain of today Mike and his assistant who insist to be called as Bang Mee (a wonderful beachboy, if I may says so)..then we move to the first island, BAMBOO ISLAND where I first time in my life do a snorkeling and guess what I almost drowned there..since iwas busy snorkeling until I did not realize I was already went far and suddenly I feel a panic attact but slowly I was thinking..i’m not yet be in the place where “the beach” shoot so I calm myself up and I safely return to the shore haha…
And after Bamboo Island we went to see Viking cave..to tell ya that’s the most magnificient view…Viking cave yeah…and we went to sumwhere I forgot the name (well Shazana if u read this can u tell me the name of the destination and correct me if I’m wrong..hehe) where the organize another snorkeling activities but I didn’t joint since I’m still in trauma hehe also coz I dunno how to swim hehehe…and then we reach MAYA BAY…hell yeah Maya Bay where the shoots of The beach and as u can notice later in the picture that I’ll post I taken a lot of picture there and yeah its all about me haha (although using someone else camera..thanx Shazana and Gie) from there we went to Phi Phi don for the lunch (wow that’s a lot of foods and yeah if u are a vegetarian or vegan do inform them early as they will provided u with a buffet of vegan and vegetarian buffet)…then after that we went to another beach but we skip monkey beach since the water is not deep enough for the boats but though we skip the monkey beach we still went to another beach which is quite nice with the environment and yeah the panorama its just like a heaven falling on earth if I may say so!) heheh..then we went back to Ao Nang beach where I promised that I’ll be back in December since august is not a good month to be there hhhaha…and after we reach the ao nang beach, MIKE took us back to his office to take our back and sent us to the bus station since we need to be in Bangkok for transits to Chiang Mai ..THANX MIKE!!!
2nd June 2008 (Monday)
Still in the bus to Bangkok as we reach Bangkok from krabi around 5 in the morning..what a 12 hrs journey through bus hahah but its quite enjoyable and from Bangkok we took a van to the bus terminal which will bring us to Chiang Mai…and once we reach the second terminal we bought a tickets to Chiang Mai..which honestly I dunno what actually waiting for me there since I dun do any research about Chiang Mai.. so we bought our self a ticket to Chiang Mai..and there we meet a traveler from South Korea, Hualong (if I not mistaken her name) hehe…quite an informative mate which I can say as she been travel around from China to Cambodia to Bangkok and now to Chiang Mai..and once return to her land she’ll continue her study in England..wow..i really admire her and make me thinking like..can say she is the same age as me (plus or minus) but the place that she been visiting is more than what I reach ..so the journey starts to Chiang Mai..andwe reach in Chiang Mai around 6 plus (pm)..so first thing first I wanna change money..so we walk to the neares Carefour just to be told that hey are been told to not accept any money from Malaysia (thanks to all the forgery and our gov..instead of thumbs up I give u middle finger)
Then we heading to TAPAE ROAD since our Korean friend inform us that tapae road is in the middle of Chiang Mai and there is a lot of traveler lodge which is cheap..so we were heading there with the Tuk Tuk which cost us around 90 baths..so we reach the tapae road and later decide to roaming around to find a cheap guesthouse and yeas we found one called MIDTOWN hotel which cost us 300 bath per nite for two and 200 bath per night for single ..and once we check in..after get ready for everything we start to find for food and this is the moment where suddenly I/we feel fondled with a Restaurant called TASTE FROM HEAVEN and yeah its actually a vegetarian restaurant.. and we have our first meals in Chiang Mai there the place might look so posh and luxurious but for me its just fine..and this is the only place where I only eat (as for my Dinner, Lunch and even Breakfast) hahha and after eat we move on to the next event which is sight seeing in night bazaar….the mission in night bazaar is to shopping like hell in the heaven for the shopping maniac hehee
3rd June 2008 (Tuesday)
Woke up in the morning with my friends’ plan to touring around Chiang Mai..with a cute tuk tuk..so we went walking in the wet market to see how the life of the Chiang Mai people and its quite interesting compared to others part of Thailand, people in Chiang Mai more relax and the way they talk is too polite and really soft spoken compared to Bangkok and Hatyai..so we walking around the morning wet market to just do sum windows shopping and yeah its quite nice walking since I can see a lot of fruits and vegetables (yeah) and sum exotics foods (yucks!!)
So its almost lunch hour so we went to my favourite place called TASTE FROM HEAVEN.. yeah I’m in heaven so what else I eat like God there hahhaha…
And we out boarding a loang awaited tuk tuk driver (this uncle actually waiting for us before we eat which is around 1 ½ hrs waiting for us to bring us around Chiang Mai with a rates of 90 baths all together..so today we gonnal go around Chiang Mai (but not really around) just around the Bo Sang Village which we actually visit first The Silk Factory, Gold & Gems Factory (which I bought a Birth Stone for my mom since we share the same Month and Zodiac)..Silver Factory, lacquerware factory, and last but not least is the Umbrella Factory..and after finish all this tour we were heading back to Tapae Road…and guess what along the way I was thinking…what the hell the tuk tuk driver eat with just 90 bath since the cost of one simple fried rice already cost around 45 bath average..so I was talking with my friends and we all agreed to pay more plus to have him fetching us again on the next day which is through out the way we all in Tapae road..plus my friend want to buy him a bottle of water when we stop in Seven 11…but after we pay him 100 bath he was gone with the wind before we even got time to say thank you and to ask him to bring us all around Chiang Mai..all that becoz we stop in the place which no one are allowed to stop their vehicles arghhh what a waste hopefully I’ll see u soon uncle once I be in Chiang Mai again,…hopefully..
And on that nite after dinner in TASTE FROM HEAVEN we all went again to night bazaar to buy stuff since last nite we only got there for the market survey only..and tonite will be the shopping day…so I got myself and for my friend a shirt which I really admire the quality and also the price hehhe…and then got another shirt for my brother and myself another wolf shirts….and right after that we went back to our room…
4th June 2008 (Wednesday)
So today we woke up feel like ahh would it be nice if we have the tuk tuk uncle to accompany us around Chiang Mai. So we make a decision to search for him around…asking another tuk tuk driver about his tuk tuk just based on the only clue that we have is the picture of his tuk tuk and his plat number…so the search is begin but none of the tuk tuk driver we meet knows him..so we stop the search and hopefully he the one that found us..but still nothing happen so we jump to next chapter, where we thought about visiting Doi Suthep Temple. so instead of go by agency we choose to go by ourselves so we board a tuk tuk to a station (where the pickup truck will bring us to the temple) with a cost around 30 bath per person but with a condition there must be 10 people in the truck if less but still want to go we have to pay 100 baths..so after deep thinking we say ah..nevermind there always another time so we just choose to walk around from the station and try to get back to our hotel..so we just walk with a Principe of “Walk till drop/ jalan sampai patah kaki” hehe…so the journey on..till we eventually get lost haha so we board a tuk tuk and bring us to the railway station to buy ticket back to Bangkok…which actually cost us 120 baths…suddenly when we got charges like that its remind us back to the nice tuk tuk uncle..and after we reach hotel both my friend went to get massage and for me I choose to stay in my room just to relax my mind coz that’s the purpose of my journey to relax my mind…and later that night we having a Dinner in TASTE FROM HEAVEN again hehe…and went to Night Bazaar to shops souvenir for my dad…
5th June 2008 (Thursday)
Today is our last day in Chiang Mai..after checkout from the hotel, we went to TASTE FROM HEAVEN for a last time (for this trip)..and its really hard for us to say goodbye since the people/crew treats us so nicely THANX to MR and MRS ROY (ur passion I admire the most), Ta Nom (pronounce Ta Nuum, softly pronounce)with a great smile and the way u treat like we are the brothers..and for that I really appreciates..
And after we having our early lunch we board a tuk tuk to Railway station and that’s the time I feel its really2 hard for me to say bye2 Chiang Mai..there’s a lot thing happened there and I never feel home in anywhere but Chiang Mai..the peoples, environment which I guess maybe that’s the reason why one of the backpackers that I meet just called him Giant bought a home in Chiang Mai..coz its totally different from other place…Chiang Mai u will be forever in my hearts…
So as the train leave Chiang Mai..i started to planning a plan to go back to Chiang Mai and this time as a volunteer in elephant nature park ( go checkout their websites elephantnaturepark.org)..so I determined to do so in the next time I’m visiting Chiang Mai…as the train moving leaving a Chiang Mai behind..and Chiang Mai is no more in my sight but in my heart and mind Chiang Mai is well painted there…
6th June 2008 (Friday)
The train reached Bangkok station (Hualampong) around 730am..so we rush to get aticket back to butterworth as I feel like nah I’m not gonna stay long in Bangkok since just like the our Korean Mate said Bangkok is same as the other big City..and yeah we can see that…hehhee…but all tickets sold out..so since we decide not to stay in Bangkok we get a ticket to Hatyai and from there we decide to get a ticket back to butterworth…so while waiting for our train..we just relaxing ourselves..and in Hualampong I did learn a lesson for not following what my friend told me which is “BRING UR BAG ALL THE TIME, DO NOT LEAVE UR BAG”…and for me once my friend say like that I was say nah dun worry we wont be long just for lunch and furthermore the food courts is not far from my bag…HAHAHA..then after we ate..my bag is GONE…YES ITS GONE.. SAME GOES WITH ALL THE THING INSIDE..ALL MY FAVOURITE SHIRTS IS GONE!! GONE!..i was stutter at that time wish its just a dream and hope I wakeup faster…so I do a police report and to inform all THAI’s police is so helpfully especially when it comes to Tourist since they actually cater well for tourism..so they bring me to look in the CCTV maybe I can identify my bag from the camera placed in the entrance and exit points…but I dun see my bag being bring out ..so since our train around 1400hrs…so I decided its ok maybe there a lesson to be learned from all this so I just board a train with my short and my shirt..without my bag..
And in train I learn another thing people in the tbangkok hatyai train is not as friendly as Chiang Mai Train…maybe bcoz of the stressful life in Bangkok..ahh..its just as same as u board a commuter in KL where u can find all people dun really care about others…well its all the same..people in the capital city is always the same. stressful life..so since there is no interesting thing happened I choose to just sleep all the journey and yeah according to my friends I sleep like a baby during the whole journey..
7th June 2008 (Saturday)
The train reach Hatyai..as early as 7.30am..so since I have no bag to carry I only helping my friend bring out the foods (breads, fruits and drinks)..so we bought ticket to butterworth 1450pm so since we got time I thought of hmm lets go I got to buy suymthing at least for my parent…so we jump into sume cute pickup truck to Hatyai Plaza (pasar)..to shops sum stuff..and yeah got my dad the same shirt and for my mom a 4 meter of thai silk enough I guess to make her dress which cost me 450 baths (thanx to Shazana and Gie for ur bargaining skills)..and then we walk around to find sumthing for my brother and for friends but too bad there is none..so we thought of ahh lets go makan breakfast first..so we go to the food court..and there where we meet Hajah Khadijah..one makcik which remind me of my grandmother..so we have one breakfast and woow..i have to says its been a while since I eat a friend rice in the tomyam stall..(since my friend rice does not contain any blood) just fresh vege..its really taste nice and both of my friends also agreed with me so we decide to tapau (bring back) the food and eat in the train later..so since its just only 10.00 am..so we decide to roam around hatyai shopping centre…where my friend bouts sum nuts and we walking around to find stuff for my friends and brothers..but the search is return zero..so we decide to walk back to hatyai plaza to tapau the food and go back to train station..since its almost the time..after we settle everything….we get back to station just to get ourselves conned with pickup truck wihc charges us 20 bath instead of 10 baths..as promised early..
So as we board a train it make s me think that the next time I’m gonna be in Thailand I guess there only 2 places whbich I’ll heading..which is AO NANG and CHIANG MAI..
That’s all..hope whoever u are who reading this enjoy the lame writing of mine..and maybe next time I’ll write a journal based on daily writing instead of lump sum like this as I may have left sumthing since I never record anything…
And for sum tips..
- Try To Learn Thais as it will help u a lot
- always smile
- keep ur bag with u all time..i’ve learned my lesson..
- Dun worry about food if u are a vegan, vegetarian or a muslim since there is a variety of the food available…
- learn how to say thank you every time u done sumting..(Kha Phun Kap for male and Kha Phun Khaa for female)
- Greet people whenever u can..
