Bangkok (mis)Adventure
Sunday, February 26, 2006
23-25 February
BANGKOK
Thailand
clad in my favorite traveling maong pants, i entered the airport confident that i'd get on the flight. i checked the load 2 weeks ago and the bookings indicated that the flight won't be full. i was dead wrong. at the check-in counter, i gave my ticket to the agent who, in return, just asked me to wait as the flight he said, was full. at 2035H though, i was checked-in.
while waiting to be boarded, i lingered around the duty free--looked at the price of samsung units [for ms. ann's daughter], marveled at the jewelry from bahrain [thinking that it's a possible gift for nanay's birthday], and tried to search for polo black [for uncle]. as i was browsing through paulo coehlo's books at the other section of the duty free, 2 malaysians approached me, asking if it's alright to take a picture with me. haleeer! ano ako? artista? hehe. but then, of course, i obliged. e ngayon lang meron gusto magpakuha ng picture with me eh. haha!
i fell asleep as soon as i sat down on my seat. i wasn't even aware that the flight already departed. it was really a tiring day for me. i arrived in bangkok at 0900H [flight was delayed for 2 hours] and met monina at the holiday mansion hotel. on my way to the hotel, i almost felt...at home. it was like going to sucat since the road looked like the highway from magallanes to alabang! there were also shanties built under bridges and the buildings are like those in manila. after taking a bath at the hotel, we went to siam station and ate our semi-authentic thai lunch. we went back to the hotel thinking that the tour would start at 1200H. unfortunately, the tour operator called the hotel while we were out to inform us that the tour was re-scheduled to 1400H. better, actually. i had time to sleep more. :))
we went first to the site of the golden buddha, the biggest in the world, the tour guide told us. then we went to wat pho where we took some shots of the reclining buddha. it was after these 2 sites that monina and i realized that we're actually getting old. we are not that awed easily anymore. although i would have liked to go to the grand palace, which, iva and donald said was a must-see, we simply lacked the time. the tour finished at 1700H, at the jewelry shop where pink rubies and blue sapphires abound but were so expensively unaffordable.
as planned, we went to mbk later to shop. i was able to buy a lot of 'office' clothes. nothing fancy. we ate at the thai restaurant at the ground floor of mbk where i almost cried with the spicy pancit and pork with basil that i ordered. i never thought the food would be thathot. i didn't finish the food but i came out really full--of water. haha! talk about authentic thai food!
at 2200H, i was fast asleep again. i woke up at 0330H since my flight leaves at 0750H. the agent informed us that i will be picked up at around 0430H from the hotel. true enough, the driver was there early and so, at 0530H, i was already queing up at QR's check-in counter. there was still THB115 left in my pocket so i decided to have a light breakfast at burger king. much to my disappointment, all meals were above my THB115 budget! thinking that i only need THB20 to afford the whopper jr. meal, i went to the money changer and shamelessly exchanged QAR4 for THB32. kapaaaal! so habang kumakain ako ng aking meal, me nakipagkwentuhan pang korean saken, thinking that i was also korean. hah.
at 0715H, i rushed to the immigration counter. the queu was reaaaaally long this time. and, when it was my turn to go through the security check, the agent at the gate asked for my tax receipt! wtf?! kailangan ba nun? at ang nakakatawa pa, THB500 yun pala. nyay! so i ran to the money changer again to exchange my PHP1000 for THB520. oo, mababa ang value ng peso sa thailand! hay naku. e kasi naman ang pinakamababang pera ko na lang ay 30 dirhams, 100 riyals at 50 dollars! ayun tuloy, nakawawa ang peso ko.
inflight, i was asked by my seatmate if i was thai. actually, i never expected anyone to think i was thai. i mean, i could be mistaken for a jap, chinese or whatever but thai??? hmmm..anyway, i watched 2 movies during the 7-hr flight back to doha--pride and prejudice and elizabethtown. at exactly 1200H, i was again back to reality. :((
BANGKOK
Thailand
clad in my favorite traveling maong pants, i entered the airport confident that i'd get on the flight. i checked the load 2 weeks ago and the bookings indicated that the flight won't be full. i was dead wrong. at the check-in counter, i gave my ticket to the agent who, in return, just asked me to wait as the flight he said, was full. at 2035H though, i was checked-in.
while waiting to be boarded, i lingered around the duty free--looked at the price of samsung units [for ms. ann's daughter], marveled at the jewelry from bahrain [thinking that it's a possible gift for nanay's birthday], and tried to search for polo black [for uncle]. as i was browsing through paulo coehlo's books at the other section of the duty free, 2 malaysians approached me, asking if it's alright to take a picture with me. haleeer! ano ako? artista? hehe. but then, of course, i obliged. e ngayon lang meron gusto magpakuha ng picture with me eh. haha!
i fell asleep as soon as i sat down on my seat. i wasn't even aware that the flight already departed. it was really a tiring day for me. i arrived in bangkok at 0900H [flight was delayed for 2 hours] and met monina at the holiday mansion hotel. on my way to the hotel, i almost felt...at home. it was like going to sucat since the road looked like the highway from magallanes to alabang! there were also shanties built under bridges and the buildings are like those in manila. after taking a bath at the hotel, we went to siam station and ate our semi-authentic thai lunch. we went back to the hotel thinking that the tour would start at 1200H. unfortunately, the tour operator called the hotel while we were out to inform us that the tour was re-scheduled to 1400H. better, actually. i had time to sleep more. :))
we went first to the site of the golden buddha, the biggest in the world, the tour guide told us. then we went to wat pho where we took some shots of the reclining buddha. it was after these 2 sites that monina and i realized that we're actually getting old. we are not that awed easily anymore. although i would have liked to go to the grand palace, which, iva and donald said was a must-see, we simply lacked the time. the tour finished at 1700H, at the jewelry shop where pink rubies and blue sapphires abound but were so expensively unaffordable.
.jpg)
as planned, we went to mbk later to shop. i was able to buy a lot of 'office' clothes. nothing fancy. we ate at the thai restaurant at the ground floor of mbk where i almost cried with the spicy pancit and pork with basil that i ordered. i never thought the food would be thathot. i didn't finish the food but i came out really full--of water. haha! talk about authentic thai food!at 2200H, i was fast asleep again. i woke up at 0330H since my flight leaves at 0750H. the agent informed us that i will be picked up at around 0430H from the hotel. true enough, the driver was there early and so, at 0530H, i was already queing up at QR's check-in counter. there was still THB115 left in my pocket so i decided to have a light breakfast at burger king. much to my disappointment, all meals were above my THB115 budget! thinking that i only need THB20 to afford the whopper jr. meal, i went to the money changer and shamelessly exchanged QAR4 for THB32. kapaaaal! so habang kumakain ako ng aking meal, me nakipagkwentuhan pang korean saken, thinking that i was also korean. hah.
.jpg)
at 0715H, i rushed to the immigration counter. the queu was reaaaaally long this time. and, when it was my turn to go through the security check, the agent at the gate asked for my tax receipt! wtf?! kailangan ba nun? at ang nakakatawa pa, THB500 yun pala. nyay! so i ran to the money changer again to exchange my PHP1000 for THB520. oo, mababa ang value ng peso sa thailand! hay naku. e kasi naman ang pinakamababang pera ko na lang ay 30 dirhams, 100 riyals at 50 dollars! ayun tuloy, nakawawa ang peso ko.
inflight, i was asked by my seatmate if i was thai. actually, i never expected anyone to think i was thai. i mean, i could be mistaken for a jap, chinese or whatever but thai??? hmmm..anyway, i watched 2 movies during the 7-hr flight back to doha--pride and prejudice and elizabethtown. at exactly 1200H, i was again back to reality. :((
