Bangkok '09 ~1st Day.. 29 Jul

Woke up feeling very sleepy but excited at 4am! Supposed to go airport by 5 but can't realli sleep much. 2nd trip to bkk but this time we included my lil bro Noga. Too bad the rest of the family can't join us..

the sun was just rising when we board the plane

And so we reach bkk at 830 bkk time n got to check in hotel by 11. As usual, we stayed at First House hotel and the rooms given to us certainly didn’t disappoint =)

Decided not to waste the day thus we decided on sightseeing at Grand Palace, Wat Prat Kaew, Wat Pho and Wat Arun. Had wanton mee for lunch outside our hotel first, and passed by Democracy Monument enroute

and so we reached Wat Prat Kaew (temple of Emerald Buddha). For a note, foreigners have to pay for admission while it’s free for locals. Our visit coincided with a big group of high school stoudents.

the Emerald Buddha is sitting high atop this golden structure, how impressive!

the Grand Palace is situated just beside the grounds of Wat Prat Kaew. Here Noga’s taking a pic with an ang moh. Haa..

We were out of the grounds within one and a half hours. Too bad Noga doesn't know how to appreciate the most beautiful place in bkk so kinda waste of money. Haha. But we did have a quite shiok massage at wat pho thou :) had to walk quite a distance from Grand Palace to Wat Pho as we had to walk around the Palace’s perimeter, but many roadside stalls and hawkers along the way so it doesn’t seems as far.

the steps at wat arun are realli steep! First time look so awful while walking the steps. :p

We got to take a ferry ride across the chao phraya river as well, only 6 baht to n fro :) it’s not easy to spot the boarding point from Wat Pho side though, hidden in a camouflage of shophouses.

can get a good view of the surroundings and across the Chao Phraya river.

shared a seafood Phad Thai before dinner.

later we were caught in the famed bkk jam. 3 pple crammed on a tuk tuk for 1.5 hrs is no joke. The tailbone of the spine all sore. But for the realli fulfilling dinner at Fuiji restaurant @ Siam Paragon, it's worth it! 988 baht for food which can fill at least 8 pple, wat u think?

After dinner we spent an hour at naraya! Crazy.. So many pple there.. Haa. But it is definitely a good deal!! 6 bags for about $50. Then Slowly walk back at our hotel at pratunam, stock up at 7-11, abit of discussion n drinking (of black soya bean), and we look forward to waking up at 5.30 for floating market tmr!