Bangkok : Fast, furious and spicy

Warning : VERY long post ahead.

2 weeks just before Raya, I was informed that I will be given the opportunity to go to Bangkok to attend a conference by a vendor. The conference will gather customers, distributers and collaborative vendors from Asia to showcase their products and offerings. That's the good news. The bad news is that the travel date falls on Raya week and I will be going with 2 Malay colleagues and eating logistics was ... sigh have to find halal where possible. Oh well, a free trip is a free so I won't give too much crap.

Thinking ahead, I planned to extend my stay because the conference was on Thursday and Friday so I might as well stay until Sunday. I made my hotel bookings searching for the one of the cheapest hotel and on Google Map looks quite close to the shopping malls. I have heard a lot from my friends that Bangkok is a shopping haven and I do like a little shopping.

I flew in on the 31st and as expected the rest of the participants were non-Muslims. The vendor who was accompanying us have a presence in Bangkok and therefore their counterpart arranged the transport to the hotel. The first thing you will notice in Bangkok is the way MOST people drive. It gives a whole new meaning to fast and furious, the van that was bringing me to the hotel was going 130kmph almost all the way to the hotel slowed down only by the tolls and traffic lights. Other Toyotas were zipping us by like were not over 100kmph =_=|||

The first evening was like a registration cum cocktail reception and most people were in a relaxed state and your's truly went to the registration counter wearing bermudas and slippers :p All's well because they did not specify the attire anyways and we grabbed some finger food and ate quite lightly because we were told that we will be going out to try the local food and of course to check out the highlights of the city.

Initially we were told that we would be going to have dinner on a boat but we were all gathered, our host informed us that the restaurant have already closed and it was only 9pm local time (Thai time is 1 hour behind Malaysia time). It was quite disappointing and since my colleague have been harping to go visit Patpong since the day he was told that he would be going and that was where we went >_< After another super fast taxi ride, we made a pass into Patpong all the way to the end and to me it felt like Petaling Street but the shops are all about pole dancing bars and pubs. We had our so called dinner nearby before heading back to check out the notorious second floor and its shows.

However from my research before going there, Patpong is not a place where you want to go and see those kind of shows because they are littered with scams. My host fell for it and although the shows were an eye opener to all, the bill was a complete shocker to my host. Vendors being vendors especially those who are good at negotiating managed to bring the bill down to a more manageable figure but still it did set them back quite a bit and to make it worst, the owner of that place refused to give them a receipt meaning to say they cannot claim!

On the second day after the conference ie the last night for many guests, we did get our dinner on a river cruise. The food was so so but the view is actually quite good although it did drizzle a little but avid photographers, myself included did not let the rain bother us from taking the pictures of lighted structures on the riverbank. After dinner, we were suggested to visit a disco which was supposed to be famous but to me it was quite a sorry place to spend the night. The supposed shows features girls and guys who would strip down to their underwear but the girls were wearing skin colored under underwears =_=

On the third day, my colleagues went off earlier to do their shopping of which this would be their last chance. I stayed on at the conference hoping to win lucky draws again :p Unfortunately, the Ipad2s were won by other participants but the last draw was totally unfair because I was still in one of the sessions and they did not wait for us ... 2 vendors and another participant extended our stay and we went on our own adventure after bidding farewell to the others.

We went to Khao San road after reading much about it telling us that there were a lot of things sold there and the expectation was quite high BUT it was a major letdown. Nothing worth buying nor spend too much time on. We had our dinner and an extremely nice coconut water each before heading to another recommended club. This place I like, the idea of the place is superb and if I have the opportunity, I would extrapolate on this concept in KL. This place was MUCH better and there were many many Thai girls to "wash eye" :p

On the fourth day, I was alone because I booked my hotel myself and it was quite a distance away from the rest. It did not matter because the place I wanted to go they were not so interested in. I woke up quite early had my breakfast and immediately set out to Muang Boran aka Ancient City located in the outskirts of Bangkok about 35km away.

The signs leading to the place was not fanciful and most people would pass it by without much thought BUT I can vouch that they really made a bad decision not to visit this place. I have read the warnings before deciding to go there when I was researching and I was somewhat prepared but it was still not enough by the end of my visit there. I had with me just 2 bottles of water ie 1 liter and a shirt for change when I leave the place. Good idea on the shirt but bad idea on the water, my advice is to carry as much water as you can carry because you will need it! I spent 5 hours there and drank 2 liters but I was totally dehydrated just visiting over 60% of all the exhibits. I carried on as much as I could until my camera's went flat and that broke me but I still went on but with much lesser enthusiasm because taking pictures with my phone was downright poor quality. Make sure your camera battery is at 100% or have a spare batteries, bring as much water as you can, bring a shirt for change and the most important is to apply loads of sunblock!

I was glowing red by the time I reached the exit and only buying some food to bring back. The taxi ride back was a killer, it cost the same as the entrace fee of 400B ... whereas my trip there only took set me back 300B. I went to the shopping district to meet up with my hosts and also to collect my colleague's custom made suit. The shopping malls did not differ much from the malls in KL and the prices are higher so I totally lost interest at wanting to shop there. I went to a mall which supposedly does wholesale and the prices there were more acceptable but some of the items are still quite highly priced.

After meeting up with my hosts, we had dinner by the roadside after a sudden thunderstorm and a light flashflood. The 2 of them ordered quite a number of dishes and in the end we all ate until we were full. Tomyam, shabu shabu (Thai style), siham and a big grilled fish. I was too exhausted to follow them for another round of massage because I have been too tired from all the cycling in the morning and walking around in the shopping malls. We decided on some plans tomorrow to meet up and go to the airport together despite having different flight times to save on travel cost.

The final day, I went to drop off my bag at their hotel before we go on our final excursion. I made a bad decision to walk from their hotel to the shopping malls (about 2 BTS stations away) only to find that the shopping malls have not open for business. Realizing that I quickly changed my plans and went to Chatuchak. I was quite ready for what I was about to enter but I was totally taken aback by my daunting task of finding my way around the place. I have exhausted my water supply within the hour of my exploring. In the end I just bought some shirts for my son and a jersey for myself :D

Before I left there to join up with my hosts, I bought an iced chrysanthemum tea to help cool me down. I used the bottle to help cool my face which was still red hot from my previous day adventures. Overall I would say that Im satisfied with what I bought and seen BUT given another chance, I would definitely want to finish checking out Muang Boran and the other shopping malls.

Hotel during the conference

3 lanes also jam ...

BN/PAS coalition

Bacon for breakfast

River facing sign

Buffet dinner on river cruise

Some bridge seen during the river cruise

Some say it looks like the Eiffel Tower

Our river cruise ride

My only massage session :(

Kruk, kruk, kruk

Pasar malam pad thai @ Khao San Road

Sweet coconut

Giant sized apple flavoured alcohol @ RCA

Dance floor @ RCA

The concert-feel side of RCA

Even outside is jam packed!

Muang Boran

Special packaging for Muang Boran waters

Ingenius way to carry your iced coffee

I want to win a MU bike!

BTS ticket with map

Hello? Hello???

Samurai Pork Burger

Jackie Chan loafing in Bangkok

My loot to bring back home

Tradition broken ...

I have a tradition to not work on my birthday but it was broken this year. I had to work ... But then again, I repeated what I did 5 years ago whereby I went to renew my passport XD

Firstly, it started with me working from until 4am from the previous day and then just getting 3 hours of sleep before I head out again to the Immigration Department in Putrajaya whereby it was quite a challenge since the main office which was listed on its website does not offer passport renewal services anymore. They could have just notified everyone on their website instead of just preparing maps at their front desk counter =_=" Thankfully parking was free else I would be cussing.

Although the map was pretty straightforward, the actual roads are not really clear so I decided to clarify with the front desk officer. After making sure of the starting point of the given map, it was as per the directions on the map. To be honest, it was quite a distance and if you want to renew your passport at Putrajaya, DO NOT go to their headquarters (in Presint 2)... go directly to the address below :

Bangunan Chancery Place
2/2, Jalan Diplomatik
Presint 15, Putrajaya
Tel : 03-88811091

If you have a GPS, it would be best to to use it because you will NOT find this place easily. Heck even with the map, I still overshot the turning because the landmarks are few and a far between not to mention the most important was hidden behind a blind spot for the driver.

Entering the office, it was very quiet and not many people which was just what I wished for. After filling up the form, I was given the number 12 with just 2 person ahead of me. Incredbly, the staff were all food mannered, perhaps its because of the holy month :p After paying, I was told that it would take around 30 minutes for the passport to be prepared. So I went to the only shop in the building to look for something to eat. Again, since it was fasting month, there weren't much and I just grabbed a pack of chocolates for breakfast. By the time I my slow stroll in the building took me back to the immigration office, only 10 minutes have passed.

After settling some office issues via phone, to my surprise my number was called ie my passport was ready! That was just 15 minutes from the time I was told that it would take 30 minutes. So all in all I spent around 30 minutes to get my passport renewed! Shocking but true!

Time to head back to work and I thought I could leave in the afternoon but things after things after things arose and I had to resolve them throughout the day and my supposed leave did not happen at all. I worked like it was a normal office day until I had to head back home to have dinner with my family as a birthday dinner. Not to mention that I was sleepy as hell the whole day from the lack of sleep.

Why did I have to renew my passport? I was given the opportunity to go Bangkok as my boss could not make it. Hehehe, this means that I am now prepared to go travelling again if I have enough resources. Angkor Wat? Vietnam? Taiwan? Hong Kong? Europe??? ^_^

3张冇得找

"人生有多少個十年?" (How many decades are they in a lifespan?) was like the phrase of 2009 but in a way its completely and directly true. According to statistics, Malaysian males have a lifespan of just under 70 and females a little over 75. Seems like Im halfway used up now.

My twenties flew by without me noticing much about it other than when I was 21 when I got a bunch of gifts where it meant that I had reached the age of maturity and was given the key to freedom. Envy of singers whose age was same as mine and looking like 30 somethings BUT making millions. Footballers who are same age as I am are still idolized making me feel like Im just a young kiddo.

When I really sat down and think about it, its not actually true that I did not get much from my past years. I am much more different now than I was before. My temper fuse although have lengthened a little but I still consider it short when compared to others. Although I think I am more mature now but somehow I am still a teenager when compared to the people I work with but they are not even 5 years older than me.

I do feel like an old fart now, I feel lethargic too often, my back always tries to kill me, my eyesight feels like they are supposed to be using a much higher power but many optometrist have checked and verified that my glasses are still OK to be used, they new and young joiners at work are highly paid and I sometimes feel like fainting when they tell me their age, heck some of them are getting higher pay than me ...

After all that being said, I am looking forward to many things to come. Many things can be improved and of course I have to work towards that although almost all of us would prefer a simpler route.

Official honorable member of the "3张冇得找" (3 cards no balance) club.

Do you smell spirits?

That was the exact question posed to me by my colleague when we were in the loo. Actually when I stepped into the restroom, a very strong smell (to me) of cleaning agent. I was going on my business when that question was posed. The first thing that came to my mind was, WTF??? Do you even know what month it is now??? @_@||| What kind of a question was that??? Can't he just use a normal word???

What the dictionary says :

1) the principle of conscious life; the vital principle in humans, animating the body or mediating between body and soul.
2) any distilled alcoholic liquor such as brandy, rum, whisky, or gin
3) an aqueous solution of ethanol, esp one obtained by distillation

Those were the different meanings as per their order. The list which tries to describe the supernatural being was about half of the whole page. As you can see, I was not the only one who thought that what he meant would most likely be "those" things.

But since I have already picked up the pungent smell, I knew he meant the unpleasant odour that we have to endure while we try to finish up our business to get out of there.

Would you be any different if posed with the same question?

RM2 and some sweat for 4 movie tickets

The Internet in office was shite on Tuesday, my work laptop's detected bad sectors and it keeps on hanging, a couple of project wanting to cutover BUT they are still not ready yet. So the whole day I was busy seemingly doing a lot of things but felt like I have done nothing.

Thankfully dinner was a treat by a vendor for buka puasa :D At least something good for today. The food was surprisingly above average but since its quite famous so that was the minimum expectation that a diner would want to get.

When I reached home and after a quick shower, its time to check my mails and I thought I just got another birthday wish from another website but strangely its titled together with another company, "Happy Birthday from Nuffnang and TGV Cinemas!". Usually these email wishes, I would not pay much attention but there was a strange feeling about it and when I read the content, WOOT!

Dear Nuffnanger,

Happy birthday from all of us at Nuffnang and the good people at TGV Cinemas!

As part of the TGV Birthday Surprise for Nuffnangers, you've been selected to receive FOUR (4) complimentary passes for any movie* at TGV Cinemas outlets nationwide, which we hope will make your birthday a special one indeed :)

Feel free to drop by and collect your passes from the Nuffnang office before 9 September 2011(Friday). Our office is open from 9am - 6pm on weekdays (with the exception of public holidays), and is located at;

12B-5 & 12B-6, Heritage House, 33 Jalan Yap Ah Shak, 50300 Kuala Lumpur.

You are allowed to appoint a representative to collect the passes on your behalf should you not be able to collect the passes yourself. Do make sure to provide your representative with the email address that you used to register with Nuffnang though, as we will need it as verification of identification upon collection of the passes.

Once again, happy birthday and we hope you enjoy yourselves with the complimentary passes! Don't forget to give TGV Cinemas a little shoutout for being so awesome if you decide to blog about this birthday surprise ;)

*Terms and conditions apply.

Cheers,
Axxx Cxxxx
Blogger Relations
Nuffnang Sdn. Bhd.

Cool, more free stuff BUT I need to go and collect at a not so convenient place from my workplace and I had to do it before this Friday ... yesterday I was not free so I have to go there today. Sheesh, can't they give you like a 1 week notice?

The 4 movie tickets as promised but cost me RM2 (LRT) and loads of sweat from all the walking to get them. All that said, the girl giving me the tickets was quite cute ^_^
The ticket close up

That being said, what movie is good to spend these tickets on? =D I think I have quite a limited choice seeing that the validity is just 1 month =_="

p/s : Anyhows, thanks Nuffnang and TGV!!!

Goodbye Scholes T_T

A genius that everyone doubted just because of his size. A legend who puts his head down and gets the job done. A man of little words and shy away from the limelight. Given the space and time, he will rocket in a goal almost always good for contention for "goal of the season".

Picture says it all ...

Wallpaper material

Superb technique and magnificent shot for the first goal of the match

His testimonial on 5/8/2011 will surely be the last time he dons the number 18 for Manchester United. He really did show that he is great at what he does when he scored the first goal of that match. His trademark long range goal, struck with precision to make a football rocket in past a legendary goalkeeper (Brad Friedel) who always seems to do well against Manchester United in the league but not on Scholes night.



THANK YOU VERY MUCH PAUL SCHOLES!

Edit 23/8/2011 :

Guard of honor and posing with Pele and Cantona



This man is so modest that he is shy in giving his speech for his testimonial ...



The reason why he is known as the key, killer passes is one thing, accuracy without needing to break stride just takes my breath away ...

你懂不懂我为爱忍辱?

I heard this song many times before but today while driving, I really tried to understand what it means but I could only really understand like 50% of the song. However I do know that I like the rhythm of the song and usually that means the song is good in my book.

神木与瞳 - 宽恕

面对面坐着眼神不屑一顾
mian dui mian zuo zhe yan shen bu xiao yi gu
挤出的笑容看起来好突兀
ji chu de xiao rong kan qi lai hao tu wu
我走错一步坠入万丈深谷
wo zou cuo yi bu zui ru wan zhang shen gu


还是会想起你的荒唐糊涂
hai shi hui xiang qi ni de huang tang hu tu
针刚刺在心上血流已如注
zhen gang ci zai xin shang xie liu yi ru zhu
背叛了幸福拿爱当赌注
bei pan le xing fu na ai dang du zhu


曾把感情放逐
ceng ba gan qing fang zu
何时能结束
he shi neng jie su


遇到你我想停止游牧
yu dao ni wo xiang ting zhi you mu
让爱归真返璞
rang ai gui zhen fan pu


飘泊会落幕承诺说得那么铭心刻骨
piao bo hui luo mu cheng nuo shuo de na me ming xin ke gu


你的眼泪让我无助
ni de yan lei rang wo wu zhu
你懂不懂我为爱忍辱
ni dong bu dong wo wei ai ren ru


努力学习宽恕
nu li xue xi kuan shu
原谅那错误
yuan liang na cuo wu


不甘我们的爱死在半途
bu gan wo men de ai si zai ban tu
听见你的心还在哭
ting jian ni de xin hai zai ku
遗忘不及痛蔓延速度希望你能觉悟
yi wang bu ji tong man yan su du xi wang ni neng jue wu
我真的领悟
wo zhen de ling wu


伤口慢慢愈合再被爱包覆
shang kou man man yu he zai bei ai bao fu

Now that I have read what the lyrics mean, it is more meaningful to me and I like it even more. There have been many things that happened and somehow we pulled through but sometimes I just don't understand why you cannot see it from my angle that it is impossible? I had to and have sacrificed many many things but there is always another challenge higher and tougher than the previous.

I was not able to accomplish a win-win situation and now its a lose-lose situation. I no longer have many things but in a way its balanced out by regaining something which I have lost almost entirely. Perhaps everything has a price and what was paid for, IMHO was far too expensive to be worth it. Sigh ...