Monday, June 06, 2005
A nomad's life
Sarwadee-kar ladies & gentleman...
ah yes, back from the city that sleeps only at 2am (or some might beg to differ and say that it's a city that never sleeps) - Bangkok. For those who just tuned in, i went for a trip to Koh-Chang & BKK for the past week & i must say that Koh-Chang was much more enjoyable.
Koh-Chang - 5 hours bus ride from BKK - an island about 2/3 the size of Singapore and i bet in just a decade's time, it will be on the yellow brick road to become over-run by tourists & being polluted like all other islands in the gulf. But for now, it's still nice & things are still relatively "untouched"... Stayed in a very nice hotel called "Cookies Hotel" - 800 baht per night only. Only thing is that the TV could only receive BBC news, ESPN sports & Star Movies (at selected times) haha. Oh well. I wasn't there to watch TV anyway.
The beach of cos was the highlight. Imagine nice clean sand littered with seashells extending gently to the water for at least a metre or two... and then when u reach the clean cool water, you can walk all the way into the sea for at least another 2 metres, while the water is still below your waist level... then picture the sea waves crashing towards shore... sounds scary but it's actually pretty thrilling to just dive and jump against the huge waves and to feel yourself momentarily flying up in the water... all this under nice sunny weather with a cool sea breeze... :) We should and could have stayed longer at Koh-Chang, if not for a certain misfortunate incident, which will be revealed in another entry... But i must say the pineapple juice they have there is really nice... cool & refreshing, not like the sucky ones in Singapore that taste dry or bite your tongue.
Booked a mini-van for just our gang to bring us back to BKK from Koh-Chang for 600 baht. Traveled at an average speed of 120km/hour. Yee-yup, the driver was see-u-per (translation: super) stylo lah! "It's all about the sei" (as Wesley puts it) and i believe that either the driver had no sense of speed, or he just is damn skillful. Overtaking and swerving from one lane to another at the speed of 100-110km/hour, at a distance of perhaps a couple of inches away from the next vehicle, must be one of the test exercises that Thai drivers have to learn or something man. The way he did it was effortless and thoughout the thrill ride, his face was expressionless, like *yawn*... except for the couple of times when he cheekily smirked at us when we all squealed in excitement and fright when he did one of those hair-raising swerves. He's cool. I swear for that journey, i had a crush on him cos he wasn't too bad looking too haha :P
And wad about BKK? Boring. Besides eating and shopping, there's really nothing much to do. Don't think i'll go back there for some time... but i know it really made me appreciate how clean & orderly Singapore is. BKK really is a mess. But i must say the fresh fruits that the street vendors sell are oh-so-heavenly... it's not only dirt cheap, it's fresh, and it's a big portion. I wish i could have some more of that yummy guava... *ahhhh*
So what do i miss most about Thailand? Actually nothing. Except for the beach, the fresh fruits, the 120 baht (about Sing 5 bucks) movie ticket prices, the tuk-tuks & the Thai massage.
Next stop: Kota Tinggi (once again) on 18-21st June... to help out with a youth camp. What can i say? It's a nomad's life after all...
ah yes, back from the city that sleeps only at 2am (or some might beg to differ and say that it's a city that never sleeps) - Bangkok. For those who just tuned in, i went for a trip to Koh-Chang & BKK for the past week & i must say that Koh-Chang was much more enjoyable.
Koh-Chang - 5 hours bus ride from BKK - an island about 2/3 the size of Singapore and i bet in just a decade's time, it will be on the yellow brick road to become over-run by tourists & being polluted like all other islands in the gulf. But for now, it's still nice & things are still relatively "untouched"... Stayed in a very nice hotel called "Cookies Hotel" - 800 baht per night only. Only thing is that the TV could only receive BBC news, ESPN sports & Star Movies (at selected times) haha. Oh well. I wasn't there to watch TV anyway.
The beach of cos was the highlight. Imagine nice clean sand littered with seashells extending gently to the water for at least a metre or two... and then when u reach the clean cool water, you can walk all the way into the sea for at least another 2 metres, while the water is still below your waist level... then picture the sea waves crashing towards shore... sounds scary but it's actually pretty thrilling to just dive and jump against the huge waves and to feel yourself momentarily flying up in the water... all this under nice sunny weather with a cool sea breeze... :) We should and could have stayed longer at Koh-Chang, if not for a certain misfortunate incident, which will be revealed in another entry... But i must say the pineapple juice they have there is really nice... cool & refreshing, not like the sucky ones in Singapore that taste dry or bite your tongue.
Booked a mini-van for just our gang to bring us back to BKK from Koh-Chang for 600 baht. Traveled at an average speed of 120km/hour. Yee-yup, the driver was see-u-per (translation: super) stylo lah! "It's all about the sei" (as Wesley puts it) and i believe that either the driver had no sense of speed, or he just is damn skillful. Overtaking and swerving from one lane to another at the speed of 100-110km/hour, at a distance of perhaps a couple of inches away from the next vehicle, must be one of the test exercises that Thai drivers have to learn or something man. The way he did it was effortless and thoughout the thrill ride, his face was expressionless, like *yawn*... except for the couple of times when he cheekily smirked at us when we all squealed in excitement and fright when he did one of those hair-raising swerves. He's cool. I swear for that journey, i had a crush on him cos he wasn't too bad looking too haha :P
And wad about BKK? Boring. Besides eating and shopping, there's really nothing much to do. Don't think i'll go back there for some time... but i know it really made me appreciate how clean & orderly Singapore is. BKK really is a mess. But i must say the fresh fruits that the street vendors sell are oh-so-heavenly... it's not only dirt cheap, it's fresh, and it's a big portion. I wish i could have some more of that yummy guava... *ahhhh*
So what do i miss most about Thailand? Actually nothing. Except for the beach, the fresh fruits, the 120 baht (about Sing 5 bucks) movie ticket prices, the tuk-tuks & the Thai massage.
Next stop: Kota Tinggi (once again) on 18-21st June... to help out with a youth camp. What can i say? It's a nomad's life after all...
// posted by superlambanana @ 10:36 PM 
Comments:
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You are back!!!
Hahaha, BKK boring? Wat of the shopping that u were so looking forward to? =)
Hahaha, BKK boring? Wat of the shopping that u were so looking forward to? =)
# posted by 
: 6/07/2005 11:06 AM
: 6/07/2005 11:06 AM
hey! missed u haha. got anything for me besides a story?
ok i'm not talking abt material stuffs... :P i'm sure you have alot of pictures so start uploading them and send me the link!
why you keep travelling so much now? As if University has zapped all your life and you're trying to get it back... good thing too, when you get a proper job, you'll be a zombie.
ok i'm not talking abt material stuffs... :P i'm sure you have alot of pictures so start uploading them and send me the link!
why you keep travelling so much now? As if University has zapped all your life and you're trying to get it back... good thing too, when you get a proper job, you'll be a zombie.
# posted by : 6/09/2005 12:50 AM
: 6/09/2005 12:50 AM
heh...wish i could say stay...but one i'm not sure if there's anything here for you to stay for and two if there's greener pastures out there, hey by all means run out and graze!! heh...just tell me u won't forget maria...that you'd still b a permanent fixture on msn and beep as often as u can...Maria
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# posted by : 6/10/2005 12:50 AM
: 6/10/2005 12:50 AM 
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