NotSoSolo Trip Bangkok (June 2024) - Bye Bye Bangkok, See You Again Soon!

 

The next day, we left early to catch our flight home :(  My friend had arranged for an airport transfer which I shared with her. I know airport transfers are convenient, but personally, I prefer public transport when I travel. It's just a personal preference. I guess I like to 'suffer' when I travel! Haha. The airport itself was also adorn with Thai gold statues. Lovely. I wonder is it the same in Malaysia KLIA airport. I've never been to the arrival or departure hall of KLIA before in my life! I've been inside the transit area recently, and boy was it boring! 

Since it was still early, and we haven't had breakfast yet, my friend was kind enough to give me a treat before we parted ways. I guess she really wanted to eat the porridge one last time before leaving Thailand. Above was what she ordered. Porridge in Thailand is amazing! I super love it too! But I also have another dish which I have yet to eat during this current trip, and that was.....

Pig trotter rice! I love love love this dish, especially if it's served with the oily part of the pig, or with super soft melt-in-your-mouth pig skin. Love the taste, the smell, and the collagen that I can feel absorbing into my body. I always try to eat this at least once whenever I am in Thailand. It's weird, cause I can also get a very good version of this back home  in Penang. There is this Thai lady that sells it at a nearby town near by home, and me and my husband always go there for lunch whenever he comes and visit me :)

Anyway, after breakfast, we parted ways as my friend's flight was earlier than mine. But I managed to check-in early too and went in to browse around. Surprisingly, I still have a lot of Thai baht left, so I got myself a mini Choya Umeshu Set. I do miss the taste of it sometimes. Yet I have yet to drink it.... Better drink it before my husband comes visit!

Some snacks I got from my trip. The Fishermen's Friend flavour in Thailand was totally different from what we have in Malaysia or Singapore. I bought two to try, a rather expensive sweets, but super nice cause it has chocolates! I also love the dehydrated jackfruits. I can finish a pack in one seating no problem. 

And here are also my must buy whenever I am in Thailand, the thai sauces! My personal favourite is the sauce in three packets! It's a super spicy stir fry sauce that makes me cry. Love it! And I can cook it almost meatless too. Palo sauce is also a must for me, and of course curries and tom yam. My cousin recently recommended Royal Elephant to me, so I bought two to try. I cooked the green curry recently when my mum came to stay, and we both love it! So I bought 3 more packets during my transit there in August. I've cooked the massaman curry just this week, and it was lovely! So yeah, lifestyle inflation for me! But a better quality of life :)  Cheers! I'll be back soon Thailand! On the whole, I spend only 600sgd for my whole trip, which was 60% of what I've actually budgeted for the trip! So yeah! Money's worth trip! Can do it again!

NotSoSolo Trip Bangkok (June 2024) - Wat Arun

 

Wat Arun, another famous attraction in Bangkok. Always features in those Thailand advertisement. Can't believe I've never been here, or even seen it even though I've been to Bangkok multiple times! I also have a good friend named Arun which I call "bro" while working in a Japanese bank. So of course I wanted to visit a temple with the same name, that's my travel logic! Lol. 

To get there was easy enough, you can't possibly miss the stop. The ferry practically stopped in front of it. It was one of the most crowded pier I saw on my trip there. And for such a famous place, it was rather small. I was expecting something bigger. But it was beautiful. But super crowded. 

Many tourist were dressed up in Thai traditional costume and busy taking photos everywhere. All the stupa was surrounded by people that I didn't even bother going up any of them. We went in by one of the side door, and quickly dart into one of the temple nearby.

Surprisingly the temple was rather empty. Everyone just wanted their photos with the beautiful stupa, not so much of the Gods here, lol. How practical of them. But it was lovely inside the temple. At least it was quiet. 

Gold statue of Buddha can be found here, as all similar temple across Thailand. But I still wanted to go in and pay my respect. 

Outside exploring the stupa, they were decorated mainly with tiles. Lots of lots of tiles. Very beautiful. Just too crowded to my liking.....

The costume worn were beautiful though. I've never dressed up and do such photo shot before. A friend has suggested we do something similar when we are in Kyoto at the end of the year, and I have agreed to it. I hope I have a good experience! I'm even keeping my hair long for this event! And I'm naturally losing weight due to a change in diet. Hope I have something beautiful to post by the end of the year! 

Took a photo of the logo or sign of Wat Arun. I like such symbols. 

And lastly, the main temple was at the back of Wat Arun, and this here is my miracle shot! Why? Cause half way inside Wat Arun, my mobile battery has more or less ran out. And me being me, I don't believe in carrying a power bank. So I was contented to just enjoy the place. But the moment I sat down in front of the Gods here, my mobile somehow came alive again! And I managed to capture two shots of this image before it shuts down again. A miracle I say! Buddha really wanted me to take this photo so that I would remember him! :) I felt truly blessed. 

NotSoSolo Trip Bangkok (June 2024) - Late Lunch at Wang Lang

After the Khon Performance, I rushed to look for my friends. I was afraid they might be angry with me for missing lunch with them :P  But I had to do what I had to do. Hope they understand :P I found them at a cafe, and after which, we took the ferry again to the other side of the river to go to a local street market at Wang Lang area.  

The pier to stop at was Tha Phra Chan Ferry Pier, and from there, just head left towards Wat Arun's direction and walk. I would have happily walked to Wat Arun from there, which was like a 20-30minutes walk, but my companion wanted to take the ferry there.... Anyway, I really like the Wang Lang street market, cause there was a lot of food there. While one of my friend did her shopping, I got some super cheap and thick milk coffee to drink as I have yet to have lunch and it almost 3pm. I also bought some Thai snacks back as souvenir, the fried tamarind vermicelli snacks that I love so much. I bought 3 boxes, gave one to my friend to try, one box for my cousin Kak Laz, and one for myself :)

For late lunch/teat, we wanted to try the famous fried oyster omelette here and asked around till we found the shop. I was dead hungry by now. We ordered a plate of tom yum seafood kinda soup which was super delicious, and we ordered the omelette. All my life I've always ordered one omelette to share with everyone. But here, my Thai friend ordered 3, one each per person. I was stunned! But it was so yummy that I finished all mine. It was served in a hotplate, which I totally love, cause I hate my oyster getting cold and fishy. Love love love the omelette here. And it wasn't that expensive either. Would love to come back here again in future! There was a lot of food I would have love to just sit down and eat along the way in the street market. It was a rather local market, so it didn't feel too touristy, which is what I like.

While walking around, I saw this truck selling fruits stopping at the traffic light, and the fruit was so cheap that the motorist was buying from them while waiting for the light to turn green. I find this rather comical. This is what I love about travelling, seeing the funny side of things from different country. During our road trip at Ayutthaya, I also saw a BBQ vendor on bike driving around, WHILE still fanning his bbq pit! It was so comical even my Thai friends find it funny. It's those lighter moments in life that I love while travelling. I like to document them down so that I remember, that travelling isn't always about seeing the main tourist attraction. It's about the human connection, the food, the culture. 

After Wang Lang, my friend didn't know where else to go, so I of course suggested we head to Wat Arun. It was on my to-see list! Actually I wanted to see it during sun rise and sun set, but travelling with friends made it kinda hard for me to do that. I will put it in my next trip agenda. I know I will be back in Thailand more often in future. The food alone is enough to make me return :)

NotSoSolo Trip Bangkok (June 2024) - Khon Performance

Walking out of my first museum. I was wondering where to go to watch the Khon Performance. I was also wondering where the textile museum was. But where I stood then, in one single line, was all the beautiful different stupa and roofs of the Grand Palace. So I took one photo here to remember it. 

I wanted to catch the 1pm show. And I wanted to make sure I catch the free shuttle bus there. But I have no idea where the bus was going to be at, except that it was at the exit. And I have no idea where the exit was! The ground was suddenly so big! And with not much clear directions! But I saw the sign for the textile museums, and I think I might have enough time to visit it before catching the last shuttle bus to the show.

But guess what! A matching band have to come by there and then! I mean, it was a rare sight! I am fortunate to see it, but I was also in a hurry! But the police man told me to stop running across the road and wait. The museum entrance was literally in front of me! But I have to wait for the royal band to marched by ..... Oh well, might as well take a photo!

The Textile Museum building was beautiful. Very european style. It displays all the royal clothes that the Queen has worn in the past. Since I wasn't interested in fashion much, I spend maybe just ten minutes inside.

But the grand hall leading up to the exhibition was pretty impressive though. I like it.

I managed to catch the bus to the theatre. The ride there itself was exhilarating! Cause I didn't know where the theatre was, and I didn't know if the bus was gonna bring me back to the same place. I didn't know how long the performance was gonna be either. But heck it! I was gonna go see the show! It was held at the Sala Chalermkrung Royal Theatre, and it's included in your 500baht ticket! Awesome to the max!

The royal theatre was quite a site. It wasn't modern looking or anything. But rather retro looking. I like that it looked very traditional.

The entrance to the theatre was also quite retro. It reminded me of the water puppet theatre I went to in Hanoi.

Inside, it had awesome aircon, so I managed to take a quite rest before the show started. No photography inside, but the show was very entertaining. It shows the dances from different era, and also different region. It also had a short segment of the story of Hanuman and the sea nymph. Very nice! So many dances on stage too! Totally worth the 500baht! Value for money!

After the show, I headed back to the shuttle bus area, and thankfully they provided transport back to the palace. Not many took the bus back, and some alighted at an earlier stop. So it was a rather relaxing ride for me. I took in some sight seeing, taking note that this was a rather nice walking path to take next time I'm back in Bangkok. All the government buildings were rather unique and great for photo taking too! Next time....

Another monument of the King along the road.

The bus turning into the Grand Palace road, with all the tuktuk lining outside waiting for clients. It was a rather long road, so I was glad I was on the bus, and not having to walk it.

Last photo of the Grand Palace main road. Kinda reminds me of the parliament road in Delhi....

NotSoSolo Trip Bangkok (June 2024) - Grand Palace Outer Ground

And now, after seeing (almost) everything in the inner palace, I went out to the outer palace ground to explore. To be honest, I was rather anxious as I didn't know how much more time I needed to see everything. It was almost 2 hours past, and I was supposed to meet my friends for lunch, and I've yet to even enter a single museum! And I really really wanted to see the free Khon Performance! Anyway, above is the outer ground grand building. It is like a state hall, used for state building. The King wanted to build something European like, but decided last minute that he wanted Thai style roof! Hence this is what you get, as explained by the guide....

Personally, I think Thai architecture is so much more beautiful than western style building. Eastern art is so much more fine and elegant. Granted I do like some western art, but my heart, is pure proud eastern in nature!

Stone walk ways, with western arch. I took this shot from the toilet area looking into the gardens. No, I didn't go to the toilet. It just happens to look like a nice walk into the arch.....And I wasn't wrong.... I love these kinda arch looking out kinda photo. I took many, in many places too! You will see one soon again! In my Alor Setar post coming up soon!

Above is a parking spot. Yup, I would never have guess that either. It is apparently an elephant parking spot. And you can alight or board an elephant at such stopped. I know that now thanks to the free tour guide!

I also wandered around on my own, even though I was short on time, and I saw these beautiful doors that reminded me of India somehow. Or maybe Turkish? Everything here is so whimsical. It's like I travelled back in time! I just love it.

Next to the official building, there is a super thai style building. I think this are places where royal bodies are placed when they pass on. I think the building is so beautiful. I think people should be proud of their own culture. Cause there is only one Thai culture, and they should be proud and preserve it, cause that's what make Thailand, well, Thai!

A wider view of the buildings.

I like this beautiful Garuda on the roof. Interestingly, I also took a kinda similar photo of the same thing, but made of sandstone, in one of the temple in Angkor. So much similarity. They both looked like they are gonna take flight anytime soon!

Speaking of Angkor, again, you can see a lot of influences in the outer ground too. Like these white side doors, build in Khmer style.

Another side door, with the 4 faces of Brahma, just like the temples in Angkor.

Finally, I reached my first museum! And there was a garuda-like thing on top of it too. 

It was the Emerald Buddha Museum, and I rushed thru it. The main thing I wanted to see was the gold clothes of the Buddha. The Emerald Buddha has three gold clothes he wears, depending on the season. So when he wears one, the other two is actually kept here. And since it's made of gold, it's behind security lock too! Fascinating. It was also here that I decided I wanted to go watch the Khon Performance. So I texted my friend to go ahead with lunch without me. I would meet them after their lunch at around 2pm.

NotSoSolo Trip Bangkok (June 2024) - Emerald Buddha and Inspiration

 

Once the tour has ended, I headed to look for the Emerald Buddha temple. My aunt has asked that I go see it, cause she said it was just beautiful. And so I did. It wasn't hard to find, it's the temple with the most people trying to get in! No shoes are allowed, so you have to take them off. I have bought a plastic bag with me, so I took off mine and placed them in my bag. I wasn't gonna risk losing my shoes! Once barefoot, I fight my way up these stairs into the temple of the Emerald Buddha.

It was surprisingly a very small temple. I mean, I was expecting a huge hall seeing how popular it is. But as you can see on top, the left side is the entry, and the right side the exit. In the middle door, if you look in, you can see the Emerald Buddha. No photography is allowed inside.

But! With the power of zoom lens, I managed to get this photo from outside looking in. That golden statue there is the Emerald Buddha. Yes, it's rather small. But it's placed up high so everyone can see it. And it's gold and green, so it shine brightly. It was rather beautiful. Most people walk in, see the Buddha, and walked out. I actually spend almost half an hour inside. You can actually sit down in front of the Buddha like any other temple, and just meditate, or admire the Buddha. That was what I did. And It was a rather peaceful moment in that space and time. 

Exiting the temple, there are more decorated pieces. What I can assume is a black guarding dog? Or maybe a kirin?

Again, lots of gold, lots of glass at this window panel. 

The outside corridor of the Emerald Buddha temple with it's high decorated pillar. So many people here....

But here's me anyway. A selfie with the golden Garudas.

Before I left the inner palace ground, I went to look for the miniature model of Angkor Wat. I wanted to take a photograph of it. 

It was a full model. Something the King commissioned, because he can't build the full thing here in Thailand. All he could do was build a miniature of it. And I stood there looking at it. At that time, I didn't know when I would ever see the real Angkor Wat. I've always wanted to visit. But no one seems to be interested to go with me. 

So I took this photo in June 2024, as an inspiration to myself that one day, I will go visit and see the real thing. Forward 2 months, August 2024, I've kept that promised to myself. It wasn't planned or anything. A friend happens to be headed to Siem Reap, and I asked if I could join him. Interestingly, my husband, who has rejected me countless times to go Angkor, also decided to join us there. And on my second day in Siem Reap, I finally saw the real Angkor Wat. That feeling of being there, no words could described how I felt. Do you believe in fate? Do you believe in dreams? Do you believe in yourself? 

I leave you here with one of my favourite quote from Bodhidharma : When you don't understand, you depend on reality. When you do understand, reality depends on you. This quote blew my mind when I finally understood it :)