The Bangkok & Hua Hin Project [Day 3]

On the third day in Thailand, we were to check out and continue the journey to Hua Hin. Dad insisted to try the duck meat noodles again before leaving Bangkok. Too bad the shop only opens after 8am, and we were too early. Therefore, we went to another shop at opposite street for breakfast. We had something similar to keoy teow thng in Malaysia. Not to say extremely delicious, but simple and nice.

Keoy teow thng with lots of bean sprouts.

After breakfast, we had to depart to Hua Hin. On the way to Hua Hin, we stopped at the famous floating market, Damuen Saduak Floating Market. Before exiting Bangkok, the van driver, Mr Tok, realised something wrong with his van. We had to stop by the mechanic for repairing. Luckily we departed early that morning. We spent almost an hour at the mechanic shop before continuing the journey.

Damuen Saduak Floating Market is in between Bangkok and Hua Hin. The Railway Market is nearby, too. Unfortunately, the Railway Market was closed for some reconstructions. By the time we reached the port for boat trip to floating market, there were already many people lining up waiting for boat. The price for one boat which accommodated six of us costed THB5000. That was very, very expensive. Furthermore, after visiting the floating market, the conclusion made was, TERRIBLE! HORRIBLE! It was a very disappointing trip. With THB5000, we can actually eat two or three lobsters in Hua Hin! The things selling at floating market were two to three times higher than market price. If you do not bargain, then wait to be chopped. This trip to the floating market was a very expensive experience and lesson. 

Ticket for the boat.

The so-called floating market, which you sit on the boat, and the seller sit on the land.

The only thing I find worth buying, food.
Coconut pancake.

A temple they stopped by for tourists to pray.

After the not-so-satisfying boat trip in floating market, we had a very good lunch as compensation for our disappointing hearts. LOL. This shop that sells duck meat situated a short distance opposite the floating market. The food served was very delicious. It was not expensive at all! The owner of the shop is very friendly, too! 

Duck meat again.

We then continued our journey to Hua Hin. The good thing about renting a van with driver throughout the trip is you can stop on the way and leaving your luggage in the van. Better than hiring a taxi which might charge you extra money and not reliable. We stopped at Swiss Sheep Farm which was before Hua Hin.

The entrance of Swiss Sheep Farm.

 As we spent extra hour repairing the van, by the time we finished visiting Swiss Sheep Farm, we had not enough time to visit Santorini which is just opposite the farm. We straight headed to Hua Hin and check in to the hotel. I did not realised I booked a suite instead of hotel. It was a condominium which the property agencies invested, to be rented for tourists.

First Choice Suite.

It was a very hot day. We needed some rest and a nice shower before going out again. The driver brought us to the weekend market, the Cicada market. It was a very big market, with many nice food and arts.

Pad thai. Recommended.

We ended our day at Cicada Market around 11pm. After a whole day of unexpected events and disappointing trips, we finally get some rest in a home-like suite. All of us were very satisfied with the suite. It provided us with kitchen and all the cooking utensils (although we did not really use them).

The Bangkok & Hua Hin Project [Day 2]

Second day early morning in Bangkok, we went to search for local breakfast along the streets near the hotel. Dad found this duck meat noodles. It was very, very yummy!

Duck meat noodles.

Good morning, Bangkok!

After breakfast, the van rental driver has already waited us at the hotel lobby. He brought us visited the places in my schedules with some adjustment. Besides that, he recommended us the boat cruise along Menom Chao Phraya. The view of Bangkok city from the river was magnificent! The downside was the sun was scorchingly hot!

River boat cruise.

Wat Arun which was under renovation.

Cruise along the khlongs.

The Grand Palace.

The Marble Temple.

Thai food lunch.

Four faces Buddha.

After the four faces Buddha, we headed back to hotel. It was a very hot, sunny day! We could not bear to stay outside for another minute. Hence, all of us decided to take some rest and tour on foot around the place we were staying.

Local dinner in Bangkok.
Cheap and delicious!

Went shopping in a local supermarket down the street after dinner.

River view by the hotel.

The second day in Bangkok we did not spend much. The boat cruise costed us THB2000 for 6 people, which is quite worth it. However, one thing bad about the tourist attractions is the entrance ticket are very expensive. The places (Wat Arun and Grand Palace) are very crowded. On the other hand, the good side of self-planned trip is that one has the chance to walk along the streets and look for cheap food. Never look down on the appearance of the shops, they do provide cheap and delicious food. Sometimes, way better than those luxurious ones.

The Bangkok & Hua Hin Project [Day1]

We departed from Alor Setar to Hatyai early in the morning. By the time we reached Sadao, it was time to have some breakfast before continuing our journey to Hatyai International Airport. The keoy chap we had was overall delicious, but kind of salty for me.

Keoy Chap 粿汁

After reaching Bangkok Don Mueang Airport in the afternoon, we quickly settled the car renting. We successfully negotiated a van rental (which accommodated six people) with driver for the five days journey. The price given was cheap comparing to other agencies in the airport. However, it will definitely be cheaper if one gets the contact of the driver and deal with the driver without getting through agency.

The hustle and bustle of Bangkok city. Traffic jam all the way from airport to hotel.

iBis Bangkok Riverside hotel. Pool view and river view from my room.

After checking in the hotel and getting a very short rest, we continued our journey to Chocolate Ville. At first, I thought Chocolate Ville is a place for shopping, sightseeing and eating. I was wrong! It is some sort like a themed restaurant, a very big restaurant. It is a place for people to have dinner. The view is superb! Although the food is a bit pricey, it is quite delicious.

Part of the view in Chocolate View.

German ham (can't remember the full name though).

"ma paw"

Tom yum goong (creamy). This was the best tom yum goong I had for the five days in Thailand.

Squid with salted egg.
It is similar to the 咸蛋虾菇 we always had, but the difference is this is not fried.

Lemon cheese cake.
Daddy could not wait for the food to be served. Tasted good!

Fancy dinner in beautiful place.

Some photo shooting after dinner.

Chocolate Ville after the Sun has set.

It was still early after we had our dinner and photo shooting. We then went to Asiatique for some shopping. My schedule was rearranged due to unexpected circumstances which were the horrible traffic jam in Bangkok and miscalculated the time for Chatuchak weekend market (only on Saturday and Sunday, 6am-6pm).

The famous night market, Asiatique.

By 11pm (Thailand time zone), we were already exhausted and went back to the hotel.

Overall, our first day in Bangkok started at 4pm. Within 7 hours, we only managed to visit two places in my schedule. Most of the time were stuck in the traffic jam, especially after working hour. Lesson learnt, try take public transport like MRT or BTS.

The Bangkok & Hua Hin Project [Overview]

It is another semester break for most people, but for me, it is a one-month-break before starting a new journey. Yeah, I have done my four years degree (unofficially, as my graduation ceremony is yet to come). Time really flies. It is already 1st of August, 2015 today, I have only one week of sweet holiday left.

Well, who cares how long the break is, as long as it is meaningful. Recently, by just scrolling Facebook newsfeed, there are many different groups of my friends visited Bangkok and Hua Hin. Hua Hin, especially, is a place in Thailand that has just emerged to be a new tourist attraction. My dad, who claimed to admire the fascinating view of Hua Hin beaches, suggested a trip to Bangkok and Hua Hin. It was a tough decision whether to follow tours provided by travelling companies or plan on our own. Eventually, I decided to plan on a budget trip for the family.

The planning process was a tough one as I am the only one from the family that has experiences in planning backpacking trips. However, I was not very fond of Thailand, maybe due to some unfavourable memories when I was a kid. The people look very scary to me and they cannot speak English. The planning was tougher than the time I planned for Hanoi trip. I did some researches from different websites, flyers from travel agencies and blogs, especially blogs from Celine, my matriculation friend. Few of my friends who went to Bangkok and Hua Hin before gave me useful tips in planning. A useful application to be recommended is Tripomatic. Tripomatic will show the places of attraction with details and place it on the map which makes it easy for us to plan the route later.

Based on my experience, all talks and no action will end up with nothing. Therefore, the first thing to do was to book flight tickets. Then only some planning on the places of attractions that we want to visit. By using AirasiaGo, I have booked flight tickets and hotels together. I could not say that it was the cheapest price I got, but it was definitely cheaper than booking them separately. One thing to take note is the location of the hotel. Sometimes it is hard to determine where to stay for the convenience of transportation when one is not familiar with the place.

Bangkok basically is a place for shopping, praying and eating. They have many famous shopping malls and night markets. Since I am not the luxurious shopping type of girl, night markets became my choice for shopping and eating. There are also many temples in Bangkok. People usually go to the temples for prayers, but I planned to go there for photo shooting. The architecture of the temples amazed me. They give me the impression of "blink blink" and "shining shining" everywhere. LOL. We spent one and a half day in Bangkok (half day used for flight from Hatyai-Bangkok) taking photos, eat and temple visiting. We also took a boat cruise in Menom Chao Phraya.

Hua Hin, on the other hand, is still developing as a tourist attractions. There are not many places that can be visited. The usual places where everyone visits are Santorini, The Venezia, Swiss Sheep Farm, etc.. Honestly, those places are very beautiful when seen from others' photos, but they are not very worth the price for entrance tickets. They are like specially made for tourists but not very related to the name of its place. I personally think that those places are overrated! The most satisfying visit in Hua Hin is the night market. We managed to visit Cicada night market which only opens during weekends. It is a very interesting night market with many arts displayed. There are also stalls selling handicraft. We also visited the famous Chatchai market. There were many things to buy there, such as clothes, souvenirs, food, especially SEAFOOD! The price are considered cheap in Hua Hin night market.

The overall expenditure for this 5D4N trip is approximately RM1000 per person, which includes only return flights and hotels, transportation (in Bangkok and Hua Hin) and entrance fees for tourist attractions (boat cruises and entrance tickets). In fact, the price for food in Bangkok and Hua Hin are reasonable. It is very easy to get delicious food with cheap prices, provided that one knows where to find good food. It is also important to visit places that worth visiting, else, one would end up spending huge amount of money for something that will make one disappointed.

P/s: Attached the itinerary I have planned (it was really, really, really, a very tough job in finalizing the places and routes.) Not a perfect one, but at least can be used as reference.