Friday, September 16, 2005

Bangkok heat

Less than 2 weeks to go before I leave for Bangkok and I'm getting excited. Think about all the beautiful thai ladies wonderful food and interesting places I get to enjoy with my gf....

This is my first trip to Bangkok since 1985. I went on a tour with my mom and sister then, I think I still have the photos somewhere in my photo album back in Penang. Sad to say, I can't remember much of the trip, except the transvestite show we watched in Pattaya. Guys who looked more feminine that some of the female Body Combat instructors girls I know here.

Anyhow, this trip was planned in July, way before the stupid Waja scam hit me in the face. I probably would've cancelled the plan if I hadn't bought the air asia ticket then. My gf would've been very disappointed then... Well, can't change anything now, so might as well do my best to make it as enjoyable as possible.

For this trip, budgeting is the #1 priority for me. In fact, we're staying at the guesthouse which costs about RM18 a night per person. So most of the money will be spent on shopping, eating and visiting places of interest.

I want to be prepared for my trip, knowing how much I will need to set aside. So, I've been surfing the net for the pass few days and Virtual Tourist has been pretty helpful so far. A fellow blogger Gina just came back from her Bangkok trip and her blog has been informative as well. Another site I found very "geng" is by this ang mo at http://www.bkk-gui.de/.

http://www.bkk-gui.de/

This guy is really something. He's got almost everything you want to know about Bangkok covered. From shopping to finding thai female life partners... you name it, he's got it- even "adult entertainment"!

But my main interest for this trip is definitely the chicks watching a "live" muay thay match. I've seen it on TV, I've tried to imitate it in class, but nothing beats watch 2 fighter beating the living hell out of each other. It's gonna be brutal and bloody, so I hope my gf can stomach it. The only set back about watching a muay thay match is it's quite expensive- around 800 baht for tourists. Still, at least it is better than a fruitcake I know driving with 2 friends all the way from Penang to Bukit Jalil in 2002 to watch a couple of guys pretending to kick one another's arses.

I've listed out a couple of places to visit with Virtual Tourist's assistance. There are actually plenty of Wat one can visit in Bangkok but I'm NOT that keen on looking at buddha statues. So besides the muay thay match, the highlight of the trip will be the shopping at Phat Phong and Suan Lum Bazaars.

I have set aside a couple of hours on Thursday 29 Sept to visit Fitness First Thailand because I cannot afford not to workout for too long. It will be interesting to see how they teach Body Combat in Thai(may copy some stuff back for personal use!). I'm not sure if I can enter with just my GXI card- will try to get a FF passport booklet from the front desk before I leave.



Of course there will be visits to some temples, the Grand Palace, Chinatown, etc. I was initially thinking of going to the Safari World but I may substitute it with a visit to Damnoen Saduak floating market and Nakhon Pathon(Rose Garden)-the latter costs about 50% less than the former.



Will be discussing with gf to finalise the itinerary within the next 1 week.