Thursday, March 31, 2011

Off to Hua Hin, Thailand - Part II


I'm glad that we did not skip this floating market. It's definitely better than the city tour floating market that I'd visited during my virgin trip to Bangkok! Unlike other floating markets,  Amphawa Floating Market opens in the late afternoon and the best thing about Amphawa Floating Market is that you could hardly spot a European face!
Ladies in Cappie
The moment Celeste and 毛毛 saw this Siam Heritage Studio, they charged  in immediately for a series of photo shots in Thai costume. Influence by the 2 ladies, we also took up a few shots.

Siam Heritage @ Amphawa Floating Market
The boss was very nice and friendly, he even offered to take a group pics of us using my G10 :)
Us @ Siam Heritage Studio
Our rumbling stomachs starting making noises, guess we had spent too much time at the studio as it has already past our lunch time. This also means, less shopping...
Water-boat vendor
YC brought us here for their famous garlic scallop and roasted meat

Garlic scallops
Roast Chicken
Big Prawns
Glutinous rice
Roast Meat!
Another spicy soup!
Som Tam
A sign to show their good culinary
Hot weather @ Amphawa
It was almost 4pm BKK time after lunch. We continued with the next visit without any delay. We took a short canal ride onto the mighty Maeklong River to Wat Bang Kung, a small chapel that is completely enclosed within the roots of a banyan tree called Bot Prok Po and a little zoo nearby the vicinity.
Wat Bang Kung

The Buddha, "Nilmanee"
Next to the temple, line up a row of Muay Thai fighters in different poses. We started cam whoring with the models dramatically. It was almost dust when we left for Bangkok. I will certainly come back to do more exploring and more shopping!! Perhaps, considering a boat trip to fireflies or even a 1N homestay.

To plan a day trip to Amphawa Floating Market, please email YC @ siamkid99@gmail.com; yc@siamkidtravel.com or contactus@siamkidtravel.com for more information!

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Off to Hua Hin, Thailand - Part I

Felt the adrenaline flow as the days drew closer to our trip. It's a planned trip with a tour guide who is Adz's cousin. I wish I could just post up every pics coz it speaks a thousand words! lolxI really enjoyed group trips where we can established closer rapport with our friends or friend's friends! Not only that, I finally did my 1st banana boat sports in Hua Hin with this wacky group :)

To quickly start off,  I've uploaded our itinerary here and will briefly talk about this trip in 3 separate parts plus all the MUST TRY and MUST GO that you must not miss! This trip came as a package ($368 excl. air ticket) with a wonderful tour guide

Part 1 of the trip:
We stayed at Bluesky Resort which is about 30-45mins away from Hua Hin. It's a pity we didn't have ample time to enjoy our resort serenity and facilities as well as shopping at Cham-An FO.
More pics of the resort here.

Our first dinner (Opposite the resort)
Spicy Seaweed Soup! - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Personally, I didn't enjoy this dish as the prawn meat was a lil hard.
Big Prawns

Calamari - Mediocre
Green Curry Chicken - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Deep Fried Fish - YUMZ
Pork with basil leaves
Total damage @ only THB1510!
Set off to Hua Hin in Day 2. This day, we visited Wat Huay Mongkol Temple (The Largest statue of Miracle Monk, Lung Phor Thuad) and had great times at the Elephant Village and Adventure Park. Not forgetting great meals at Madame Green Seafood Restaurant and Lobster Feast at Hua Hin Night Bazaar.
Blue Sky Resort: Synchronized colors in Day 2
Wat Huay Mongkol Temple
In fact, I did quite a few search on Wat Huay Mongkol Temple. I was on cloud nine and was looking forward when I knew there's a Sunflower Field in Wat Huay Mongkol. One of my favorite! Talking about this, when was the last time Adz give me hur hur hur? 

This half done statue will be placed behind Lung Phor Thuad upon completion.

YC and the guys

Elephant Village
Basically, we were here for an elephant show and a 40mins ride. Our elephant named Lydia, 16yrs old if I remembered correctly. If you ask me would I want to come back again, I would say "NO"! One experience is good enough.
Me and Cecilia
Almost lunch time after the ride at Elephant Village. YC brought us to Madame Greene's which is located on Takieb Beach

Beside the Baan Kang Mung beach hotel.
Call 032-512233 for directions
Seafood Fried Rice - YUM!
Crab meat - YUM
Spicy Som Tum - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
The savory dish which I first felt in love with 2 yrs ago when Act ordered it at The Post Bar! Kid you not, it's FINGER LICKIN GOOD!!! Ask Caf, he will tell you how amazing this plate of raw Raw Shrimp in Fish Sauce can make one salivate!
Goong Shae Nam Pla - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Deep Fried Fish

Fish Cake - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Deap Fried Omelet - YUM!
Dessert
Mango with Glutinous Rice - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Oh man!!! As I blog, I realized I did not picture the soup we had! Anyway, Madame prices are quite decent coz we ordered 2 sets each and it costs us about THB3500.

Following next, was Market Village and Adventures Park, Plearn Wan Old Town and Hua Hin Night Bazaar. Though MV is quite a big mall, but there's nothing much to shop imo.
Taken @ Market Village, Hua Hin
Time for some sports to loosen our stiff muscles after short hangout at MV. We did ATV and bananas boat ride! It was really fun and exciting and I've really enjoyed it to the utmost! lolz! Unfortunately, Celeste had to skip the banana ride as she got a deep cut on her thigh during the ATV ride.
The ATV riders



Kudos to her attitude despite her bad wound!
















I didn't like to ride ATV so I become a pillion of the ATV instructor and later Cecilia, taking photos for the rest. The instructor was kind enough to give us another round of track run on our way back from the beach! Riding in the night along the jungle track was indeed exciting cos you wouldn't know what's in front of you.
My fast and furious driver
Our next destination was Pluern Wan Old Town followed by dinner at Hua Hin Night Market. Plearn Wan Old Town is a faux-vintage market which I've been longing for a visit as I have a liking of old school  and quaint retro object or place. I didn't take alot of photos coz it's night time and my camera's night shots really cmi. :(
Picture taken from the internet
Plearn Wan @ Night
Us at Plearn Wan Old Town

Getting there:
4/90- 95 Soi Moo Ban Bor Fai | 032-52-0311 www.plearnwan.com
Open daily: 11am – 12am Admission Free After snacking and snapping, it's dinner time!
Restaurant in Hua Hin Night Market
Hua Hin signature train decor above the stall
Super duper nice scallops!
Delicious lobster
This is one of the most sumptuous meals I had! Each dish came in set of twos. Total damage for this meal was about THB2800. Really cheap and tasty! That's not our last program of the day, we ended our night putting fireworks at the resort beach but was later stopped by the police on duty due to wee hours disturbance.
Variety of fireworks
To explore further or plan a trip to Thailand, email YC @ siamkid99@gmail.com; yc@siamkidtravel.com or contactus@siamkidtravel.com for more information!