Thailand 2009: Day # 2

I almost forgot about the remaining days that I've yet to write on for my Thailand trip until the recent events where we saw Bangkok city being literally transformed into a mini war zone. I'm an outsider hence I won't go into details on which side is the culprit or victim.

One thing that caught my attention though is how they've renovated the Democracy Monument...


... from this...


... to this.

Day 2 saw Chaiwat joining us on our tour. In fact, he reached our hotel pretty late the night before and bunked in Samarn's room. Since he would only be around until evening, we more or less elected him as our unofficial tour guide of the day.


Our first destination was the Golden Mount, a pagoda on top of a hill.

I guess it must be an auspicious day or something special since there were a large number of tourists - comprised mostly of locals - joining us up there as well.


Rows of bells along the way to the top, each clanks signifying a wish comes true... I think so.


Once on top, I noticed that they were holding a donation campaign where devotees get to scribe down their well wishes on a red cloth which will be draped onto the pagoda.

Apart from the donation drive, there were also Buddhist relics on display in the pagoda which might explain the crowds.


The hill itself wasn't very high, but with the addition of a pagoda on top, it was tall enough to afford a scenic panorama over the city.


A mini-replica of the Golden Mount with the aforementioned red cloth.

Since Chaiwat had a timer ticking down, we wasted no time in getting to our second destination, the Vimanmek Mansion Dusit Palace.


Mansion or palace? Make up your mind!

I'm not sure if it has something to do with the latitude of Bangkok city but the weather here was so much sunnier compared back home. :(


Why has the cloud forsaken us?!


With this kind of temperature, we had no choice but to hop onto an idle tuk-tuk to get here.

There was nothing much to see here as we have to pay in order to enter a certain building. Of course, it was pretty normal to charge tourists entrance fees but to forbid us from bringing in our cameras was totally unacceptable.

As a result, we just strolled around the compound and took a few photos here and there, especially on the ridiculous number of different transports that were on display there.


In one corner, we have the Cinderella-style horse carriage.


If you don't like Cinderella, no problem! There are many more types that you can choose from.


No horse? OK, then how about a purple-coloured tuk-tuk.


Purple again? Are these vehicles sponsored by Cadbury or something?


One of the 2 interesting buildings that we can find here was this large greenhouse across the river with no admittance allowed.

The other interesting building would be the air-conditioned toilet.


In such hot weather, it was definitely heaven on earth!

If you were to ask me, I sincerely think that stopping by this world's largest golden teakwood mansion was a waste of time since there was nothing much to see from the perspective of a tourist. No offense intended.

I'm not sure what actually transpired once we exit the gate but we ended up having to walk a few kilometers just to catch a bus to bring us to our next stop. Bad thing was the hellish heat. Good thing was that along the way, we got to pass by a few interesting landmarks.


The smelly Dusit Zoo.


A post to commemorate the water level this area was under in the past.


The King Rama V Equestrian Statue. Till these days, people still pay homage to this late king even after his demise in 1910.


Compared to the one in Penang, the Bangkok plant-watering vehicle looks so much high-tech. :P

It didn't take me long to realize that I've got my expectation wrong as the bus that came for us was of such an old age that even the flooring was made out of wood.


I suddenly found myself back in the Penang 90s' Yellow Bus. :D

After a short lunch where we had the Bangkok's version of chicken rice, we crossed a few roads and CentralWorld - the largest shopping complex in Thailand - stood majestically in front of us. Now, perhaps this is just culture shock to me, but I can't help being peculiar on how Bangkokians - not sure if this is also applicable to the entire Thailand as well - are able to integrate superstitions into their daily life especially with the erection of 2 Hindu shrines in the least expected location - just right in front of CentralWorld.


Pray to Ganesha for career success...


... and Trimurti to bless you with true love.

If you are a girl reading this, I need you to calm down. Bangkok is a shopping heaven, there is no denying that but unfortunately, we didn't really have much chance and time to do so. :(

I thought I've seen it all when I visited the Langkawi Underwater World but apparently Siam Ocean World decided to prove me wrong. Tucked away in the basement levels of Siam Paragon, the Siam Ocean World is so much bigger and allows you to get much closer to the fishes.


An ocean under a shopping complex? O.o"

I'm not going to show you much fishes here since I can't allow them to have much more screentime than me. This is my blog after all. :P


Aquarium that is even deeper than the tallest of us 3.


OK, this was where my confusion set in. They were trying to tell me this freaking dinosaur is a Jurassic fish?


How to tackle complaints on insufficient variety of fishes on display? Get humans to cosplay gigantic fishes!

In the Siam Ocean World, there were a section where they have aquariums made out of normal everyday appliances. I guess it was an attempt to raise awareness on recycling or something similar to that.


Chevrolet Optra that has been filled to the brim with water and has fishes as passengers.


Fancy having a microwaved goldfish as dinner?

Now, before any of you go yapping about animal abuse, these fishes didn't work here for nothing. One of the few benefits that were documented in their contracts was dental care. Let's take this shark as example:


On its first day of inception into Siam Ocean World; misaligned and protruding teeth.


Now; a much more handsome shark!

Hahaha... good joke eh? No?

-sigh-

Fine, let's move on. The Siam Ocean World also boast Thailand's first 4D theatre, though I would advise you to exclude this feature from the entrance package if possible as it was just so-so.


OK OK, I admit that I don't recommend the 4D theatre because they won't let me keep this funky looking 3D glasses. :P

As we came to the end of the Siam Ocean World tour, Chaiwat was running late to catch his trip home so we had to call it a day. Moreover, Bangkok's sky gets dark pretty early due to the different time zone hence we just jumped onto a taxi and nothing much occurred for the rest of the night.