Thailand 2009: Day # 1

Phew, the Penang Bridge International Marathon is just a few days away and I have been dedicating most of my free time to get myself in shape for this special event so do pardon me for the lack of update in this blog.


I am somewhat sceptical about the above claim.

Anyway, if you still remember the hardship that I had to go through to get my passport done, I finally get to put it to good use by tagging along with my colleagues for a six days trip to Thailand. Call me an idiot but due to the various worries I had in my head prior to the trip - influenza A (H1N1) pandemic, political instability in Thailand and first aeroplane flight in my life - I have to calm myself down by handing over my treasure key to my girlfriend for safekeeping.


The key to priceless treasures.

I left my motorcycle in Alan's house and his father fetched us to the airport where we held our rendezvous with our Thai colleague, Samarn. Nothing much to describe here except for the fact that our flight FD 3542 was delayed by around 20 minutes. As this was my first time on an aeroplane, I was pining hope to get the window seat but alas, I was assigned to the seat next to it. This was a Thai AirAsia flight, so I more or less ignored all the in-flight announcements as I had a hard time making out their English that was laden with Thai accent.

Around one and a half hours later, we touched down on the Suvarnabhumi Airport and it instantly became the very first landmark in Thailand that I fell in love with. Even though our aeroplane did not have the privilege to drop its passengers off into a gangway that is directly connected to the airport terminal building, they have buses waiting to transport us there.


I love the design of the see-through elevator!

The Suvarnabhumi airport terminal is such a humongous building that we had to grab a copy of the free airport maps to prevent ourselves from walking in circles!


The departure floor's row F, G, H, J, K and L. This goes on until row W.


I bet the garden itself is even larger than the Penang International Airport building.

Our first mission was to hunt for lunch and after getting ourselves slightly lost, it did not take us long to gobble down all the food.


S&P's yummy deep-fried pork spare ribs.


Ten minutes later. *burp*

We did a minor tour around the airport while looking for a way out. Trust me, as a stranger in a massive four-storey building with glass doors on all floors, you would be under the impression that certain doors are meant to be entrances only and if you were to take a step out of those entrance doors, an ear-deafening alarm would be triggered with the airport security personnel popping out of nowhere like ninjas, ready to stuff you into a wooden crate and deport your sorry ass back to your country of origin for flouting even the slightest law there (longest sentence ever!)... well, something like that. :P


Mess with us and we will suffocate you with an extra large plastic bag!

Once you are out from the airport terminal building, there are various forms of transportation that you can take to get yourself around Thailand such as public taxi, airport limousine, the Airport Express bus and if you are really up to the challenge, walk.


We hopped on the free shuttle bus which brought us to the nearby bus terminal.


Five minutes later, we were in another bus, on our way to our hotel near Khaosan Road.

Samarn booked us a standard double room each in Sawasdee Khaosan Inn. The room rate for a standard single room was almost the same hence he felt it much wiser to opt for the standard double room instead.


No you perverted basket, I did not bring back any special friend to share the queen-sized bed with me.


However, if you are itching to call for one, there is a box of condoms on the refrigerator for your convenience.

Half an hour after checking in, we found ourselves in a pink-coloured taxi, on our way to the Chatuchak market. Public transport in Thailand is very efficient, a far cry from the situation we have in Malaysia. Not only do the taxis here run on meter with reasonable fare, they come in so many colours that I would have mistaken them as M&M's candies if I were without my glasses.


Samarn claimed that the colours are part of the Thai government's proposal to make the traffic jam looks less stressful. No joke!


Chatuchak market, the human version of Bangkok's worst traffic jam.

We initially just strolled along the market's parameter as it is wider compared to the alleys in the market itself. Just like our local markets, there were no escaping beggars but the stark difference is that the Chatuchak beggars do not just sit there with hands held high nor do they bug you. Some - especially the elderly and visually-impaireds - sang karaoke with a speaker hung around their necks while doing their rounds.


The younger generation would usually try something eye-catching, like performing freestyle football in such a cramped space.

I also noticed a group of students in uniform - presumably members of their school band - playing a wide variety of music with an open violin case filled with coins placed in front. I could not help but to wonder if such freedom would ever be granted to our students back home. In my opinion, I find nothing wrong with showcasing your ability in public and earning a little pocket money along the way as long as it does not hamper your higher priorities. Haha... who am I kidding to think that our government would endorse such a talent building initiative? Not only would the pupil be subjected to suspension from school, non-governmental organizations would intervene and sue the parents' asses off on charges of child exploitation and abuse. Malaysia BOLEH!


This guy went to the extent of dressing up as a cyborg just to distribute pamphlets.


We attempted to navigate ourselves into the narrow alleys but did not last long, no thanks to the crowd and the cloudless sky did not make the situation any better.


When all hope seemed lost, this coconut ice cream came to our rescue. It was so good that I could not help salivating whenever I heard the name Chatuchak being mentioned.

We spent quite some time on our dinner as the dishes were way too spicy but they were definitely good. By the time we returned to our rooms, it was already dark even though the clock just stroke 6.30pm. After cleaning ourselves up, it was time to hit the party at Khaosan Road, where the whole stretch of road would be closed to vehicles in the evening.


Based on the amount of neon signs, you can more or less guess how long this road goes.

Khaosan Road was flanked on both sides by cheap hotels, pubs, massage parlours and convenience stores. Talking about convenience stores, I find it hilarious that there were three 7-Eleven stores on the same road itself. Either the business must be pretty darned good or there was a big fail in the business planning stage.


You can find a lot of mini stalls selling all sort of delicacies ranging from simple fried noodles to exotic deep-fried scorpions.


It was the 31st of October, hence Halloween party was in full force.


I guess this must be where our politicians obtained their fake degrees.


The biggest signboard in Khaosan Road for a product that I never get to use. *blush*

After a few hours of eye-washing, we headed back to our rooms with a few bottles of beer, worms and scorpion, ready to 干杯 away my first night in a foreign land... only to have Alan fell asleep with all the snacks locked along inside his room.

-sigh-


The scorpion who died in vain. T_T