james, who holds a humane job under the auspices of UNESCO as a humanitarian, left for work for humane reasons, and dora and i - to our own devices. we were both ready to take on the city.
this is as close as we got to keeping to our exercise routine (like we had back in singapore) - we visited the pool downstairs from james' apartment and after a minute, we went on through the sois of bangkok in search of glorious food.
i don't do this in singapore, but dora said we must do this in bangkok. starbucks was just across the road from where james is living at and we had to go visit it for a cuppa.
the both of us were totally bowled over by thai hospitality from the staffs of starbucks. we felt the initial reaction - that restive feeling started to brew in both dora and i. why can't we ever get impeccable service such as this in singapore?
i told dora i am seething on the inside at the startling degree of asymmetry between bangkok and singapore when it comes to service and hospitality quality.
all was calm on a friday morning in starbucks. lovely french doors opened into the deeper exterior of the place.
aaargh! their starbucks is housed in a lovely wooden villa!
the food loft @ central chidlom - it's like le vill'age or marche' in singapore, only difference is that it is not tacky and does not contain cheesy decor. and oh, did i say it has impeccable service standards? and supremely all-smiley and helpful service staffs too?
with a view to boot from where our dining table was
pad thai - pure culinary heaven on the taste bud till the last stands of noodles and taugeh and juicy prawns
and we walked down past the grand hyatt erawan where the famous erawan shrine is situated next to it - the four faced brahma deity
the erawan shrine replete with female thai classical dancers in service of dedication of song and dance to the deity for every devotee's prayer that was answered
although james and david (who joined us in bangkok on later in the evening) were alarmed at how dora and i exhibited our disturbing eating pattern and habit throughout the whole trip, james was glad to know were were both planning embarking some serious cultural tour of the city of bangkok.
i forgot how majestic the sight of the golden stupas and glittering roof stuccos were when i first visited the grand palace complex many years back. one has got to be there to revere the awesome architecture of the whole complex.
the avenue leading to the entrance of the grand palace
one of the first murals on the doors of the main gate we came across - i went completely crazy over them non stop
a close-up shot on part of a massive mural depicting a scene for the ramakien, the thai version of the ramayana epic
the upper terrace where the golden reliquary, a buddhist scripture repository and the royal pantheon of the past chakri kings are enshrined
watching the courtyard swarming with tourists and travellers like myself, i can't help but reminisce the days when i read ancient and modern thai history in school and university. for a while, i imagined how the early chakri kings could have strolled in the palace courtyard - long before commoners were allowed in its hallowed compound.
pat on my back - not bad an attempt at a shot on my cheapskate digicam
along the corridors of the emerald buddha temple, aka wat phra kaew
the main doorway leading into the hall where the statue of the emerald buddha sits atop a more than ten metres altar gilded with gold and precious gems. dora and i sat on the floor inside the main hall where the emerald buddha sits... and i was totally in awe of the massive murals on all walls and the ornate interior produced by the finest thai craftsmanship.
the royal pantheon - prasat phra dhepbidorn
dora and her newfound bling-bling buddy as accessory
she wasn't quite pleased when i requested a shot of her from her cleavage upwards
looking at this very window makes me want to be so frigging rich cos i'd like the same for my windows at home too, including the kitchen and bathroom windows
endless wall murals on the depiction of buddha's life
the chakri maha prasat hall where the central throne hall is situated
very very hot... cannot tahan
quaint small cafe where we had our 10 frigging bhat cold mineral water... 10 frigging bhat! that's like under 50 cents in singapore... we felt restive all over again
so we did the tourist trapping of hopping onto a tuk-tuk to MBK mall where we met james who knocked off work by 4pm (at 4 frigging pm!!!).
under my instigation, dora and i had a quick but fantastic KFC meal at MBK. we conspired not to reveal this part of our eating habit to both james and david.
dora suggested that we should clean our hands and fingers with antiseptic gel to rid ourselves of the KFC smell of oily fried chicken, in a bid to destroy all evidence on us partaking greasy junk food. i totally adore this girl for her brilliant ideas.
but we both can't lie or keep a secret for nuts, and confessed our actions to james when we met him at MBK. david soon too, found out. it's official - both dora and i are are singaporean tourists in bangkok.
back at james' apartment in the evening, the three of us had a tete-a-tete over wine, beer and gin & tonic before heading out to dinner at soi lang suan
dinner at thang long with james' friends - sara, jeffrey and sittisak - and many many beautiful boys there made me go a tad haywire along with the many many glasses of wine and rum & coke
dora went back to receive david who had just arrived in bangkok that night. and i tagged along with the rest of the gang to a nice bar called 'the room' along soi lang suan facing lumphini park. i think i had one too many whisky by then... but hell it was frigging fun.
we went back at 2am, and as i got ready to sleep, i had piggy thoughts of pigging out the next day at more food courts and food halls all one may find in bangkok.
hmmmm... food... equals to fat... but i'm on a holiday.... so it is fine right? sure is fine.
No comments:
Post a Comment