My Very First Blog

Finally, I have reached the last post of my 2014 Bangkok travel series! Yes, what a relief! Haha! Now we can move on to the next destination.

My friend and I did not have breakfast at the hotel that morning. We checked out at around 9.30am and took a metered taxi to Don Mueang Airport. We reached the airport at about 10.45am, slightly less than 3 hours before our scheduled flight back to Kuala Lumpur.

However, after checking in our luggage, we heard an announcement that our AirAsia flight would be delayed by about 30 minutes. So we had even more time to kill.

There was nothing much to see and do at Don Mueang Airport, so we just lazed around at Starbucks. We sat next to the glass window and watched airplanes land and take off.  Actually, it was kind of enjoyable. Lol.



I had cafe latte and tuna sandwich.  My friend had something else - I could not remember what as I did not take any photo of his food.



Took some photos of an AirAsia plane that just landed.









My notebook and pen that I took with me during my travels. I always note down things on this little notebook. Now you know why I could recall most of the events of my trip (down to the minute details) even though this Bangkok trip was made 2 years ago! Haha, I definitely did not have a good memory! :)



Of course I also took the opportunity to use the free time waiting for my flight to write down whatever experiences I had during this Bangkok trip.

Some of you may wonder how come my friend never appear in any of my Bangkok trip photos. Well,   like me, he did not want his face to appear on the photos I post on my blog. So I had to make sure I did not upload any photos with him in it. Lol.

Soon, it was time for us to board our flight. While inside AirAsia plane ready for take off, I saw this plane behind us. It looked like a bird with the nose area painted to resemble a bird's beak. It's actually Nok Air, the budget airline of Thai Airways! Isn't it cute?



If you happen to miss any of my 2014 Bangkok trip posts, check out the links below. I have tried to arrange them in chronological order. Meantime, good bye Bangkok!

1. Red Pork Rice, Starbucks And Bicycles For Rent In Bangkok
2. My Stay @ Marvin Suites
3. Mango Tango @ Siam Square
4. My Dinner @ Inter Restaurant
5. Pork Satay Rice @ Cafe Boran Hat Yai
6. Mont Nom Sod @ MBK Centre
7. After You Dessert Cafe @ Silom Complex
8. Window Shopping @ Siam Paragon, Siam Center And Central World
9. My Late Night Snacks And Desserts In Bangkok
10. Wat Ratchabophit : One Of The Most Beautiful Temples In Bangkok!
11. Searching For Nuttaporn Ice Cream In Bangkok
12. Is Bangkok Still A Safe Destination?
13. A Visit To Hualamphong Station
14. The Terrace Restaurant And Buddhi Belly @ Central World

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Yes, it's Goodbye Bangkok once again! Why once again? Because this is my 5th time saying goodbye to Bangkok. And I'm pretty sure it won't be my last.

So finally …. this is my last post on my Bangkok trip back in January 2013. Gosh! I took almost a year to blog about it! LOL!

I have to say Bangkok is the place I visited most outside of Malaysia. Why do I keep returning to this city time and time again? There are several reasons. Mainly, I think it's near to my home country - did I mention before that I hate sitting inside a plane for long hours?

Another reason is that Bangkok is pretty affordable. Hotel and food in Bangkok never really make a dent in my wallet. Add to that the friendly Thai people, the yummy Thai food, those good satisfying massages and the addictive Thai TV dramas and music videos, you can see why I just love Bangkok so much!

Anyway on my last day in Bangkok, I ate this porridge with you tiao (chinese crullers) for breakfast at my hotel before checking out. It was yummy!



I did eat a lot of unhealthy stuffs during my stay in Bangkok like this McDonald's Samurai Pork Burger and Ham & Egg Pie.



Didn't really like the pie ... but the Samurai pork burger was yummy!

And I even bought Mama Shrimp Tom Yum instant noodles to eat as supper in my hotel room.



Very unhealthy I know, but this Mama instant noodle brand was really, really good! And so convenient too - just pour hot boiling water into the cup …



….and your instant noodles could be eaten straight away. The tom yum flavor was excellent!



We arrived at the Don Mueang International Airport early. It's a pity AirAsia now only lands at Don Mueang - I really missed Suvarnabhumi International Airport. Maybe I should consider other airlines besides AirAsia in future!



However, the good thing about this airport is that it's not crowded, so that's a plus point. But then again, there's not many shops around.

Look at Ronald doing the wai  : )



My friend and I did our rounds of duty free shopping but came out empty handed LOL!



Oh they have 'rooms' for you to stay overnight! : )



Left with nothing much to do while waiting for our flight, we took pictures of planes. Haha!



Do you know that last time I did not realize that planes cannot reverse themselves? I mean, the pilot cannot move the plane backwards, so you need a vehicle in front to push it.



Oh, our AirAsia plane has landed! It's time to go!!



Good bye Bangkok!! Hope to see you again!

If you miss some of my Bangkok 2013 posts, here is the complete list in chronological order…

1. Landing At Don Mueang International Airport
2. Bangkok Loft Inn : My Favorite Hotel In Bangkok!
3. My Breakfasts At Bangkok Loft Inn
4. The Erawan Museum In Bangkok (Part 1)
5. The Erawan Museum In Bangkok (Part 2)
6. The Erawan Museum In Bangkok (Part 3)
7. My Lunch At Soi Polo Fried Chicken
8. My Visit To Asiatique The Riverfront In Bangkok
9. Eating Roasted Duck At Prachak Pet Yang
10. Yummy Coconut Sticky Rice With Durian At Boonsap Thai Desserts!
11. My Visit To Wat Arun (Part 1)
12. My Visit To Wat Arun (Part 2)
13. Double Dogs Tea Room In Bangkok's Chinatown
14. An Evening Stroll Along Yaowarat Road In Bangkok's Chinatown
15. R & L Seafood Restaurant At Soi Texas
16. Waraporn Salapao At Robinson Bangrak
17. The Rabbit Card And Mall Hopping In Bangkok

Last January I flew to Bangkok for a short holiday with a friend. I can almost hear some of you loyal readers shouting out loud "Again?!!"

Yes, again.

In fact, this must be my 5th time holidaying in Bangkok. I am not sure why, but I just don't seem to get tired of this city. There are always new things to discover and I have enjoyed every single one of my trips there.

Read More > Things I Did In Bangkok

Only this time, instead of landing at my favorite Suvarnabhumi International Airport, my AirAsia flight had diverted to the older and much smaller Don Mueang International Airport. In case you didn't know, AirAsia had moved all flight operations from Suvarnabhumi to Don Mueang since October 1st, 2012.



However, I was quite pleased that there were less crowd at Don Mueang, although I must say it was quite annoying to find our luggage coming out from another conveyor belt instead of the one where we were supposed to wait! Not very efficient eh?

But wait! I have jumped the line. There's something I wanted to tell you regarding my flight with AirAsia.



While boarding the plane to Bangkok at LCCT in Malaysia, the male flight attendant asked me to place my backpack in the luggage compartment above the seats. I was surprised as I have flown with AirAsia so many times, and this is the first time I was asked to do such a thing.

I told him that I have always placed my backpack on the floor under the seat in front. He told me that was against the rules. No bags allowed on the floor. Really? Since when?

Besides, my backpack was not large and long like a backpacker's backpack if you know what I mean. It's just like a children's school bag! Can you see my backpack on the chair in the picture below?



Oh by the way, that's the picture of my hotel room in Bangkok. The hotel is a boutique hotel by the name of Bangkok Loft Inn and it's one of the best hotels in that price range that I have ever stayed in Bangkok. More about this hotel in my next post.

Read More > My Experience Flying Thai Airways

Back to my story. I was adamant in NOT placing my backpack in the luggage compartment. The flight steward insisted that I do as he asked. I refused. Deadlock. He was a bit irritated. I was furious. But I kept smiling and so did he. Although I was sure he could see the fakeness in my smile as clearly as I saw the fakeness in his. In the end, the customer won. Hah!

Now tell me, dear readers, did I do anything wrong? If I did, why was I allowed to place my backpack on the floor under the seats every time I flew in an AirAsia plane? Or did they just change the rules?

Anyway, upon landing at Don Mueang International Airport, my friend and I took a taxi to our hotel. The only problem was, the taxi driver did not seem quite sure where exactly our hotel was located.

Coming Up Next : My Stay At Bangkok Loft Inn 

This is my last post on my Bangkok trip in February 2012.

During this trip, I managed to visit the Giant Swing, a famous landmark in Bangkok.



Located in front of the Wat Suthat Temple in Phra Nakhon district, this Giang Swing is actually a religious structure and formerly an old Brahmin ceremony. I am glad that this unique structure is well preserved.

Although there are many shopping malls in Bangkok, one that I must visit every time I go Bangkok is  Siam Paragon.



During this trip, I managed to take a shot of the Siam Paragon logo. I like walking along this lane watching the water streaming down the long stretch of wall.

I don't normally visit fast food outlets like McDonalds in Bangkok, but this time I visited Burger King just to try their pork burger. Surprisingly, I did not take any photo of the pork burger but I took a picture of the outlet's interior.



I thought this part of the wall in this Burger King in Silom was really nice! "Have It Your Way" - that's the Burger King's slogan.

By the way, the pork burger was delicious! No regrets at all giving it a try.

Going around Bangkok city is such a breeze with its efficient MRT (underground train) and BTS (elevated Skytrain). But it can be pretty lonely walking in the underground stations especially late at night.



I took the above photo one night on the long escalator in the MRT station. Do you think I was going up or down?

There are many shrines all over Bangkok. Like this one.



You can see lots of local people and even tourists lighting incense and praying at these shrines. Of course, the most famous is Erawan Shrine which every first timer to Bangkok must visit!

Although I don't really like airports, I find Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport to be quite nice!



In case you do not know, it's pronounced as Su-van-na-phum.

This is the main international airport serving Bangkok and it has the world's tallest free-standing air traffic control tower at 132.2 metres!

Sadly, there had been some overload problem and effective 1st October 2012, budget airline AirAsia no longer lands at Suvarnabhumi Airport. Instead it will be moving back to the older Don Mueang Airport.


Ceiling lights at Suvarnabhumi Airport

During my last day in Bangkok, my friend and I were a little late to reach Suvarnabhumi Airport to catch our flight home. Luckily, we managed to check in our luggage with an hour to spare! So we decided to use up our remaining Thai baht dining at Mango Tree restaurant.

I ate Tom Yum noodles and drank Thai ice coffee.



The Tom Yum noodles was quite nice but I thought it was too pricey at 210 baht (USD 6.80) while the ice coffee was priced at 120 baht (USD 3.90).



My friend ate fried noodles with chicken (sorry no photo) and drank ice coffee like me.

Soon it was time to board our flight back to Malaysia. I really enjoyed my Bangkok trip. And you can be sure I will visit Bangkok again in the near future!

In case you missed any of my Bangkok 2012 posts, here's the complete list.

1. Terminal 21 Bangkok : Awesome Toilets! (Part 1)
2. Terminal 21 Bangkok : Awesome Toilets! (Part 2)
3. Terminal 21 Bangkok : Awesome Toilets! (Part 3)
4. The Golden Gate Bridge At Terminal 21 Bangkok
5. The London Bus At Terminal 21 Bangkok
6. Meet the Sumo Wrestlers At Terminal 21 Bangkok!
7. The Dazzling Lights Of Istanbul At Terminal 21 Bangkok
8. The Lighthouse And Marble Statues At Terminal 21 Bangkok
9. The Hollywood Floor At Terminal 21 Bangkok
10. My Lunch At Pier 21 And Jeffer
11. The San Francisco Tram At Terminal 21 Bangkok
12. My Visit To Madame Tussauds Bangkok (Part 1)
13. My Visit To Madame Tussauds Bangkok (Part 2)
14. I Visited The Haunted Mansion 7 In Bangkok
15. I Love Thai TV And Thai MTV!
16. Melt Me And Isaan Street Food In Bangkok
17. Volcanic Fried Mussels And Boonsap Desserts At Bang Rak
18. Drinking Mandarin Orange Juice On The Streets Of Bangkok
19. A Morning Jog At Lumpini Park In Bangkok
20. The Pinnacle Lumpinee Hotel In Bangkok
21. A Boat Ride To Wat Pho : Temple Of The Reclining Buddha
22. Eating Boat Noodles Near Victory Monument Bangkok
23. Eating Tonkotsu Ramen And Gyoza At Chabuton

As soon as Jam, his friend and I landed at KLIA-LCCT Airport from Phnom Penh, Cambodia, we went to Taste Of Asia in the airport terminal to have our dinner.
After checking into the hotel, we went to the lobby to go online for a little while as they provide free Internet access there. (We were not willing to pay for the in-room wifi). Then, we walked over to Starbucks in the airport terminal to have a drink and chit chat.

When we returned to Tune Hotel, it was almost 2am. I think I only slept one hour. We had to wake up at 4am to catch the 7am flight to Kuala Terengganu. I wasn't sure if I could survive with so little sleep! I think Jam blamed me for bringing him to Starbucks - apparently the coffee kept him awake almost the whole night! LOL!

Coming Up Next : My Trip To Redang Island

It was my first time traveling to the Philippines! Needless to say, I was excited.

I had targeted Manila City and its surroundings for my 6D/5N visit. I was looking forward to see many things in Manila and to meet up with two Filipino bloggers there!

So on one fine early morning in January 2011, I found myself at the LCCT airport checking in my luggage. It was a breeze doing so as there wasn't a big crowd. Probably doing my own self check-in on the AirAsia website at home the night before helped me escape the normal crowd.

The AirAsia plane departed at about 7.20am and reached Manila at 11am. I did not have proper sleep the night before so I tried to sleep in the plane, but found it impossible to do so. I don't know if it's just me, but I always have difficulty falling asleep the night before I travel to a foreign country! And AirAsia seats were just not conducive for sleeping!

Upon landing at Clark International Airport, I was asked by the custom officer how much Philippine pesos I brought with me. Well, I actually brought 11,000 pesos but it was against the law to bring more than 10,000 so I said 10,000. LOL!

I forgot to take picture of the Clark Airport (also known as Diosdado Macapagal International Airport) so here's a picture taken from this site HERE.



It was a small airport serving only budget airlines like AirAsia and I knew before I went to Manila that I had chosen the wrong airline and the wrong airport!

Why wrong airline and wrong airport? Well, because AirAsia only lands at this airport and not Manila International Airport (also known as Ninoy Aquino International Airport) which charges higher landing fee and which is just within 25 minutes to Manila.

The Clark Airport on the other hand was located far away from Manila in Angeles City, Pampanga. To get to Manila, I had to take a bus from the Clark Airport to Pasay Bus Station in Manila. I bought the bus ticket which was priced at 350 pesos (RM25) at the counter near the airport exit.

The air-conditioned bus, operated by Partas was however quite comfortable. I did not manage to sleep in the bus though I wanted to. It took me about 1 hour and 45 minutes to reach Manila.

So for those of you who want to go Manila, do not fly AirAsia unless you don't mind the long journey from Clark Airport to Manila City!

When I reached Pasay Bus Station in Manila, it was already almost 2pm. A few people approached me asking me which hotel I would be going to, but I did not trust them. One said he would charge 300 pesos (RM22) to take me to my hotel. I slashed it to 150 pesos (RM11) and he shook his head. Oh well, I was not going to be cheated!

I walked out of the bus station and down the road with my luggage in tow, trying to flag down a taxi. But it was quite impossible to get a taxi at that time, so when I finally got one, and the driver agreed on the 150 pesos (which I knew was still too expensive but what the heck!) I quickly jumped into the taxi feeling totally relieved!

It took about 20 minutes to reach Lotus Garden Hotel where I would be staying. Located at the corner junction of A. Mabini and Padre Faura streets in Ermita, the Lotus Garden Hotel is a budget hotel and quite a comfortable one at that!

More about Lotus Garden Hotel in my next post, so stay tuned : )

This is my last post on my 2010 Bangkok Trip.

This trip was not very adventurous as I did not visit a lot of Bangkok's famous tourist places. But that's OK as I had visited most of the tourist attractions last time.

It was however, a very happening trip as I got to shake hands with Enrique Iglesias, attended a live concert by K-pop artists like Super Junior and CN Blue and stayed in one of the most expensive hotels in Bangkok, which is Dusit Thani Hotel.

And so on my last day in Bangkok, it was with heavy hearts that my friend and I checked out of Dusit Thani and headed to the airport.

The first thing we did when we reached Suvarnabhumi Airport was to have our lunch. I forgot the name of the restaurant but I ate tom yam goong.



Well, I had to. I knew that once I leave Bangkok, I would never get to eat this favourite dish of mine.

My friend ate fried rice.



And we both had Pokka Japanese Green Tea for drinks.



I enjoyed my tom yam goong. Look! I almost finished the soup! Yummy!!



After checking in our luggage, we walked towards the Departure Area and passed by this structure with Buddha figurines. There were two people cleaning it.



Actually, I was not sure if they were cleaning, dusting or painting it!



I like Suvarnabhumi Airport. It was very grand, modern and nice.



I watched the TV while waiting for our plane to arrive.



And then I looked at the seats and could not help laughing. Priority is given to (please look at pictures from right to left below) .....



Women with babies, Pregnant women, Disabled people, Senior citizens, and ........
what is that? Mummified people? Mummies? Mumm-ra? Hahaha!!

I wished they had included a picture of a panda in there too! Then I will surely be assured of a seat! LOL!

Soon, our plane arrived and we left for home. Goodbye Bangkok! I hope to see you again soon! Well, here's my latest update - I just bought AirAsia ticket for my next trip to Bangkok for RM150 return flight. Is that cheap or what?

For those of you who have missed some of my Bangkok posts, here is the complete list.

1.I Discovered CN Blue In Bangkok
2.I Finally Own AirAsia
3.My Very First Ride On The KLIA Ekspres
4.Walking Through KLIA Jungle Boardwalk
5.Flying Thai Airways
6.My Stay At Dusit Thani Hotel
7.Exploring Dusit Thani Hotel
8.The Best Sticky Rice With Durian!
9.I Discovered The Juciest And Most Affordable Steak At Jeffer!
10.Food I Ate During My Bangkok Trip
11.Massage And Welcome Drink At Dusit Thani
12.The Four Faced Buddha Of Erawan Shrine
13.My Favourite Crispy Durian From Bangkok
14.Walking The Streets Of Bangkok

Coming Up Next : My Very First Trip To Manila!