Bangkok

Thought of the day:

I’m a better observer than listener, especially over phone. I have problem concentrating if I am not looking at the 'speaker'. I guess I am the kind of person who ‘feels’ conversation. But, I got better now, I think ^^

Ok, let’s move on to the main story. A simple travel guide if you are visiting Bangkok for the first time.

Packing
When you are packing for Bangkok, remember one thing- you don’t need anything more than one day supply, clothes especially. Follow this age old trick - lay down all the things you think you need, and then pack only half. And yes, you really need to bring that extra luggage everyone been telling you about.

Accommodation
Stay in Bangkok is wasted if it’s not in a boutique hotel. There are a number of good ones, but this is highly recommended – The Key Bangkok. Located ‘almost’ next to BTS Asok station (two or three blocks away from Westin Bangkok) and offer really good prices, the room fulfills my personal 3C – clean, comfort and chic. Reservation can be done through asiawebdirect.com that offers better rate.

Small lobby but impressive room

Sukhumvit Soi 19, 7 Eleven is nearby for all your toiletries & snacking needs

Going Around
BTS FTW.

Yes sir, I won't run for the train.

BTS connects all the major malls and can get you to Chatuchak (Mo Chit station)

Stuff to do in Bangkok
You don’t need me to 'guide' you about shopping in Bangkok, or visiting Grand Palace, Sky Bar, etc. But try these when you are in Bangkok:

1. Afternoon tea at The Oriental Bangkok (Get a cab, or boat ride if you happened to be at Grand Palace)

990 Baht per person, great place to impress chicks. For my case, mom and dad too =P

2. Catch a movie in SF World Cineplex

We watched Wolfman, without subtitles @.@

3. Check out The Bed Club if you fancy nice interior and dancing angmohs

4. Get a haircut

Before. Styling by Grand Palace Wardrobe Department

After. Total ownage.

Useful pointer for shoppers
Most of the international retailers/ brands offer VAT refund for tourists. Now, a tourist can only claim it back after spending no less than 5,000 Baht in total and no less than 2,000 Baht in any one day, paid under one name.

So the trick is, shop for goods that gives VAT refund in a single day (Just dedicate one day for mall crawling, and you will achieve this easily). Pay using one credit card (I think) and fill up the VAT forms under one name.

Leaving Bangkok, it would be wise to pack all the VAT refund goods in the same luggage for inspection. At the airport, go to the VAT office to get the VAT form validated first. Then only you check in at the airline’s counter. Pass the immigration gate and look for the refund counter.


Buildings spotting

The Elephant building & Grand Palace Weapon Museum

Brushock! & Erawan Shrine

I hope you find this useful. Have fun^^


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曼谷是购物天堂。真的会买到手软，男生也会。有卡的请自重。

临去之前， 我本想跳过大皇宫，睡佛，水上市集这些景点。因为很俗啊。

朋友，如果您是第一次去曼谷，然后对文化建筑稍有兴趣，拜托一定要去大皇宫。

看着一块块镀金的瓦砖，还有艺术家小心翼翼地在壁画进行修复工作，感觉真的很棒。

几个世纪前，工匠们的 OT应该蛮够力的。无法想象他们的 Time Entry...

观后感是，一点都不俗，只是很热。

更衣间有游客留下来的字迹，很搞笑。

其中有位说- “天气太热，我的蛋蛋溶了”.

这位仁兄，你好可怜哦，希望我借到的Hip Hop裤不是你穿的那件。

P&S Wedding.

Featuring my new sneakers bought in Bangkok =)

To be continued this Saturday...

The many kinds of food – Muffins VS Brownies

I grew up with ‘bread’ (面包)’, ‘baozi’ (包子), ‘biscuit’ (饼), ‘cake’ (糕), and ‘mantou?’ (馒头). My understanding of this type of food spanned from here, grouping future encounter of foreign/ domestic variation into this four main categories. For example, I think of croissant and baguette as subset of bread, and to differentiate them from the good old loaf of Gardenia, my brain Google Translates them as French Bread (法国面包).

My system worked quite well for a while, until I inevitably grouped too many variations into one type and confuses myself.

It also dawns upon me that I don’t know much about Cupcakes, Biscotti, Tart, Fudge, Toffee, Meringue, Pavlova, Tiramisu, etc, apart from saying that this is a type of western cakes/ biscuits, and proceed to swallow them down.

Plus, due to another mistaken id of muffins and brownies, I now have images of each pasted on my FB wall by the ghost of FHKL.

My lack of understanding prompted me to do something about it. My first step is to ATTEMPT to tell you something about Muffins and Brownies!

Muffins
Muffins are a type of bread, but smaller in size. The ones we (Malaysians) most familiar with are cornbread muffins, invented by Americans. Think Kenny Roger’s muffins. They are sweet, but not as sweet as cupcakes, and most of the time contains raisins and/or chocolate chips, and served in paper muffin cup.

There is another type of old school muffin called English muffin, which is disk shaped and less savoury. Think of the McMuffin’s buns, ya, something like that.

Brownies
Now, brownie is like a hybrid of cake and biscuit, served in square or bar shape. Think Secret Recipe’s chocolate brownies. You can pour in extra chocolate sauce, and eat it with ice-cream or whipped cream. Did I mention that American invented brownies too? During the Chicago World Fair in 1893.

I hope you enjoy reading this little introduction. Maybe we can talk about cupcakes and scones next time.

This advertorial is sponsored by the Malaysians Love Brownies & Muffins Association.

Chinese Lessons

I thought I will start this post quoting something smart from the book I had just finished reading, I can’t.

The book is- “Chinese Lessons: Five Classmates and the Story of the New China”.

As a Chinese myself, I think I have a good understanding of our qualities. We make good entrepreneurs, and are competitive, diligent, hardworking, prudent, humble, excellent with numbers, and hold great respect to the elders. On the contrary, our weaknesses lay in selfishness, rude, loud, jealousy, and ironically, once successful, we can be very arrogant, and corrupted.

It is safe to say that for a typical Chinese, there’s no such thing as equal, you are either better or inferior.

I have always been enthusiastic about China when it comes to its rich history. I finished reading two huge tomes that consists stories of the kingdom’s great battles and generals for 3000 years at the age of twelve. Those close to me are often perplexed at my fervent interest of Chinese historical documentaries, movies and drama series. (Jess probably just rolled her eyes at this point =P)

My interest in China's long history stop exactly at the chapter where communism emerged, which I view as the darkest period of Chinese history, not just to those living in the Middle Kingdom, but including those who fled overseas as well. I was disgusted by it, and often hoped that KMT had won the civil war instead. (See disclaimer)

I started reading Chinese Lessons half-heartedly. USA Today described the book as “A compelling account of China’s evolution. The communist country’s emergence from isolation and impoverishment has been told before, but rarely in such intimate, and occasionally heartrending, detail.” I couldn’t agree more.

I envy John Pomfret, whom is able to witness the transformation and thank him for changing my view on this country and its people. Now, I understand that the attitudes and behaviors are necessary to release decades of mount up dissatisfactions and grieves caused by the thuggish revolution. I would have gone crazy.

I was disgusted because I never really tried to understand the people.

Having to survive Cultural Revolution, Great Leap Forward, Tiananmen Massacre and catching up with the international economy after decades of detour, I found utmost respect to the generation that had made it.

For the record, I’m still extremely grateful for my grandparents’ decision to flee the country and resettle in Malaysia.

Perhaps I should chat more often with my grandma and ask for her story. (According to my mom, she left China at the age of 16, already married to my grandfather) You should read this book if you haven’t.

Disclaimer:
If you read the entire article, you should understand by now that it was meant to say how much I had misunderstood the Mainland Chinese, if you have not, I urge you to. This post was written with my new found respect to them, as well as my continuos admiration for Taiwanese Chinese.

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My Bangkok post is work in progress.. =)



At the mean time, you can visit my FB photo album to check out some b/w, cross-processed and toy cam's images.