Bangkok - Doing Things Differently in Aug 16

We did different things this time round in Aug 16 - a nearly two-week stay in Bangkok and we decided to venture into other areas of Bangkok.  First thing was to stay near Chao Phraya River and got to get a better view of the river.  We checked in to Chatrium, a very clean and good hotel instead of staying at our usual hostel (We stayed a few days). The view was splendid and I was tempted to stay near the river every time we visit Bangkok. Though the place was without BTS, we could still easily get to point to point via boat or taxi. One point that impressed us was how they kept our baggage and asked us to identify our baggage when we came to retrieve it.  Very professional. 



It was quite interesting though to hear workers doing morning exercises at the construction sites nearby. There seemed to be very ongoing projects, and not sure if the view would be obstructed next time. 



We visited a night market which was quite far from our hotel.  About 30 mins taxi ride.  It was a "Train Market" - a very huge complex behind Secon Shopping Centre. The complex was huge and there were exhibits - old vehicles on display. This night market was different from Chatuchak or the night markets that we visited. However, we didn't buy anything though we took some photos. Weather was hot in Aug, and probably why we didn't stay long enuff till dusk.  I had wanted to buy a couple shirt but they dun have our sizes.



Have wanted to do the Mae Khlong Train Market route for many times. This time round, we decided to do so via tour agency.   Didn't want to be bothered with the DIY journey, and not sure if the market was opened or not.  We joined this Taiwanese-operated tour agency and it was quite fun mingling with the travellers.  There were 4 taiwanese in the group, and my wife was de facto tour guide. She explained and talked more than the tour guide.  I think she is a natural "tour guide". While she was entertaining the group, I was too tired and dozed off on the return leg.  Focusing on the Train Market, it was very fun to see the train moving slowly into the market and the vendors steadily keeping their stuff. My dear was too excited and she accidentally stepped onto the "boundary" of one auntie and she slapped my wife's leg. Frankly, I was a bit pissed off by the action but my wife looked quite guilty and our focus was re-directed to the coming train. Till now, I could still remember the "loud slap on the leg" - actually I was quite angry.  My wife was still videoing as the train crawled in and I have to keep telling her to come back behind the railings.  Behind the backdrop was constant loud whistling by the train warden.  



Part of the tour package included the famous touristy Damnoen Saduak Floating Market. Unlike the previous round with my parents, my wife and I were sitting in a wooden boat going through fun corners of the river.  A bit different.  The stalls seem to be lacking in variety of stuff to sell - not as interesting as before.  I tried to find the big fan hanging on the wall but couldn't find it.  I remember my mum took a photo with it and it wasn't there anymore.  Something similar no longer there. 

We also tried thai cooking class this time. Haha, I used to be quite reluctant to do so but since we had a longer holiday, we decided to try.  We got to learn to cook green curry, satay and tom yam soup during the lesson.  It was quite interesting to start the class by visiting a local market and understanding how to select the ingredients. During the class, the first task was to chop a bunch of ingredients and my wife thought I would be quite slow to do so. However, when she saw me chopping like a "pro", she knew she was the slow one.  Another surprise for her was the operation of the stove.  I was able to on the gas without much difficulty, and I was grinning at her with my "achievement".  However, I was labelled by our teacher to do "bungy jump"ing the ingredients.  The oil looked pretty hot and so I "dropped" the stuff into the pot and it was "bungy jumping" to the teacher. 



We got to know a mother and daughter team during the lesson.  The mother was quite surprised to know that we purposely came to learn cooking as part of our trip. She had thought we were working in BKK. Her daughter however was actually working there. When we shared about the cost of ABC cooking, she mentioned that we could do "instalment".  Didn't get the point that we wanted to put across for sharing.

It was quite fun doing things together and doing different things in familiar grounds. Truly enjoyed the good longer break and made new discoveries with new experiences:

* My wife bought a few local lady wear and she looked like a local Thai lady in it
* We also stayed at Chinatown and we got to see morning Chinatown and taste a new noodle shop
* Morning Chinatown market was where my wife got her local wear
* Stayed in cab for nearly 1 hour during evening peak and didn't realise the long duration when we were chatting
* First time doing haircut in BKK
* Coffee Bean-ing at Dao - very nice cake shop
* Volunteering work to play with babies - a very unique experience and we hope we had made a little joy in the short day with the babies
* 7-11 Banana cakes were very popular snacks
* A new vegetable that goes well with egg - a dish recommended by our Thai friend

Land of Fairy Tales - Denmark Part VII

One of the highlights of our trip was to go and take a look at the famous cover of the Lonely Planet guide for Copenhagen - Nyhavn. It is a place with rows of beautiful coloured  houses lining along the river.  It fascinated me for a long time, and I had been harping to go and take a look.  And finally, we were there. Frankly, it was a nice place for seeing and relaxing though the windy weather made it a bit "tough". We went there twice, one by walking from our hotel and the other by boat.  It was still a nice and beautiful experience and the "that's it?" kind of feeling.  Decided not to dine there though as we had specially booked a dinner at "Krebsegaarden" - a top ranked restaurant in trip advisor. We had our dinner on somewhat like a "tasting menu" - and each serving came with a different wine from different countries. My wife drank much than me and we were a bit worried on making our way back to hotel drunk. 




The little mermaid statue in Copenhagen found its meaning as it was one character from HC Anderson's fairy tales.  Dunno why it felt a bit magical to me. Maybe it was "born" in Copenhagen as a result of the fairy tales? We didn't do the typical tourist photos as there were too many people queuing to take a photo with the mermaid.  And another reason was we were more interested by the sakura trees in Copenhagen. 

Another area worth mentioning is Christiania. It supposed to be a "Freetown" which is on its own, and it was converted to a residential area from an army barrack.  We felt a bit interesting and also a bit wary as we were told that "no photography" was allowed in certain areas of the Freetown.  So, I told my wife not to take any photos in the Freetown.  There was indeed an area of "strange smell" with booths in camouflaged cover - not really sure what the booths were selling though - but it was "no photography" zone.  The place was quite huge to us, and a few entrances and exits from different corners of the Freetown.  Along a lake, there were houses with owners from Japan and other countries too.  It was an unique experience. 





Coming to Copenhagen - we have to go to the old amusement park - The Tivoli Gardens.  It was the oldest operating amusement park and it made me reminded of the times I played in our amusement park back in homeland.  The Gardens, however was huge.  In fact, we could see the scary "Star Flyer" from our hotel and it was not for the faint hearts.  I personally liked the "Flying Trunk" which showed a slow ride into showing the famous stories by HC Anderson.  We also tried a "safe and mild" looking Odin Express train ride and well, it was fast and furious at certain turns and this had scared my wife too. Oops.  The Ferris Wheel was another highlights and my wife said we got to take in the day and night for different views of the city.  For the night ride, we were the only couple taking the ride and the operator told us "Enjoy" and "Woa Woa" with a grin.  My wife said he thought he was doing us a "favour"...


I decided to do something different this time in regards to free breakfast served by the hotel. We missed the opening hours of a very famous cake shop near our hotel - "La Glace".  We went past it a few times and it was closed due to Danish holidays.  We decided then to skip our hotel breakfast on the day of our check-out and ventured to try the cakes.  We were one of the first few to get in the shop. Well, the cakes were yummy and the chocolate drink by my wife was concentrated and thick. Haha, we liked the cakes. There were locals ordering cakes and even wedding cakes.  Eating cakes in an old shop was a fairy tale thing to me and us. 

It was a very magical feel for being in Denmark. Quite different feel as compared to other visits.  In summary, we are re-living our fairy tales - Lego, Sakuras, Tivoli, Cakes etc.  It would be very apt to end this blog with a quote from HC Anderson - Life itself is the most wonderful fairy tale.  

Yes, I agree totally.  Our lives are wonderful bunch of lovely fairy tales.