Thailand: Madame Tussaud and Grand Palace

Ep.47

“I would not exchange my leisure hours for all the wealth in the world” - Comte de Mirabeau.

BKK – Bangkok, Thailand.

7^th-11^th May 2012.

Me @ Grand Palace.

Day 3: We survived our to our third day of Bangkok exploration vacation. What do we have on the list for today? Even at the very beginning of the trip planning process, Ochie told me that she would love to go to Madame Tussaud Bangkok. I have been to the one in Hong Kong, but there were no harm to go to the one in Bangkok, the wax statue should be different somehow. What else? Another shopping time in downtown and night market again. That’s what we called: Girl’s itinerary.

Breakkie!

We left early and had a breakfast in the nearby the hotel. I ordered myself a pineapple fried rice and banana smoothies, while Ochie ordered herself a portion of Tom Yam Goong as well as banana smoothies. (Good for breakfast, heh?). It was a great regret that due to one and other things that Ochie can’t consume a large amount of prawn, which is a very crucial ingredient for Tom Yam Goong. And that’s where “what’s friends are for” quote really shown. I ate those prawns for her, happily and deliberately. Even though it was in a quite nice café by the road, the price was just reasonable. It cost us like THB 265 each, as our menu price was almost the same. 

Madame Tussaud Bangkok

Tummy filled, we then hailed a taxi, “to Siam Paragon”, we said. Approximately 15-20 minutes later, we were there already. Siam Paragon itself located just next to another shopping center named Central World, Siam Center and Siam Discovery, where Madame Tussaud Bangkok located. We went directly to Siam Discovery and up to 6^th floor. Well, it was quiet, not many people? Why? Of course, because we were two amongst the first visitors to Madame Tussaud that day. Think it over, it was just 10.30 in the morning, which means it was just opened for 30 minutes. Haha. We paid the admission fee, which was THB 800 per person. We also can bundle it with Siam Ocean World admission ticket, which will be a good deal *at least that was what they said*, but we just need to visit one. Remember! We got to shop (here see, shopping has become a necessity) later. Ochie and I grabbed our weapons (read: cameras) and start! 

a night with Oprah

Thai actors and actresses, which most likely we don’t even know, still we took picture with them (paid already! Take all!). President Obama, Queen Elizabeth, Lady Diana, Nicole Kidman, Brangelina, Will Smith, George Clooney, Lady Gaga, Madonna, David Beckham, Tiger Woods, Christiano Ronaldo, Doraemon, Khan Kluai, and many many more. Compared to Hongkong’s Madame Tussaud, Bangkok’s one is smaller, but property wise, Bangkok’s better. In a way that they provided all the properties for us to take picture with the statue, such as, boxing gloves, jersey, basketball, guitar, microphone, hat, etc. They also provided some games such as football game and sumo game which we could play interactively, just like when we play Wii. 

Melt Me!

Spent almost 3-4 hours there, we finally end our tour in Madame Tussaud Bangkok. Time to shop! We strolled around the mall, across from one to another mall, took hundreds of pictures here and there, admired some unique looking café, and we stopped at an ice cream parlor called Melt Me. What a sinful afternoon snack. I forgot the price but it should be less than THB 200. I got myself Hazelnut and Dark Chocolate, while Ochie got herself Green Tea and Dark Chocolate. It tasted unbelievably delicious. And who knows that while we strolled around we walked across Channel V Bangkok? Lucky!

Us and Obamas

We continue our journey from Mall to Mall. (Wait up, it was just a warm up). It was so hot outside at 35°C and we waited until the sun went lower a little bit as we shop what we need from the supermarket first. Some back up drystore for me and some gifts and souvenirs for Ochie to bring home. We finally went out through the BTS bridge, in order to across the street. We shopped along the pavement sidewalk, where there were so many street fashion hawker sold these clothing, dress, souvenirs with shocking price. And yet, we could still bargain. What?? We also accidentally  found a little alley where they sold local designers’ fashion line and it serves us with many variety of models and sizes. Big size? No problem! We almost spent all pf out THB by that time. Even Ochie, finally, after long consideration, drew some money from the ATM, I even lend her some. 

Breakkie

Actually, our objective was to go to Patpong Night market, which we finally found after we shopped like 10 bags full?? Haha. Apparently, the market has lost it attractiveness already, and we just have a quick look and went back. Along the side of Patpong Night Market, there were those pubs and clubs that provide you with adult entertainment, and we decided not to go. As we were dragging many shopping bags already, we decided to go back to Siam Paragon area by BTS (we should try all local transportation, aren’t we?). We then took taxi back to Khaoshan road (THB 150-170). It was really amazing how we could skipped lunch while we were so high spirited for shopping and suddenly felt hungry when we finished our day. We bought some food to eat at our room and we jot down all the expenses we had that day. Awesome. Dresses, accessories, shorts, tops, souvenirs, food, sandals, shirts, etc. Phew! Really a hardworker shopper, aren’t we?

We went to sleep as soon as we finished cleaned up ourselves and finished with our packing time. We should packed our things as the next day we would be leaving already. The bag we brought was full and we even got out extra bag (as like we have predicted and expected to be use), and it was also almost full. YEAH! Welcome to what we called holiday trip.

Ochie and Me

Day 4: It was the last day we would be in Bangkok. Our trip was nearly come to and end. Our plane would depart at 8 something. I would take the same flight with Ochie as I will spend the rest of my leave in Jakarta. But, still, it wasn’t over yet. We woke up early and grabbed our breakfast in another nearby café. We got ourselves sandwiches with iced chocolate (seriously, we know the best food to get ourselves even fatter!). It was only cost like THB 170 and as we failed to visit the Grand Palace on the very first day (thanks to that tuk-tuk driver), we would redeem it today. We took taxi to the Grand Palace (THB 70) and we paid the admission fee for THB 300 per person. This kind of places always made it worthed when you visit a country, as it was their landmark, their cultural heritage and of course you will get great pictures. Haha!

Grand Palace

The Grand Palace is a complex of buildings at the heart of Bangkok, Thailand. In shape, the palace complex is roughly rectangular and has a combined area of 218,400 square metres (2,351,000 sq ft), surrounded by four walls. It is situated on the banks of the Chao Phraya River at the heart of the Rattanakosin Island. The Grand Palace is divided into four main courts, separated by numerous walls and gates: the Outer Court, the Middle Court, the Inner Court and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. Each of these court's functions and access are clearly defined by laws and traditions. The Outer Court is situated on the northwestern part of the Grand Palace; within are the royal offices and (formerly) state ministries.To the northeast is the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the royal chapel and home of the Emerald Buddha. The Middle Court housed the most important state apartments and ceremonial throne halls of the king. The Inner Court, situated at the most southern end of the complex, was reserved only for females, as it housed the king's harem.

what do you call the thing behind me?

As it was a very large and spacious ground, even though we got the map on our hand, Ochie and I got lost of direction. We gave up upon the map and just walked around. We took as many picture as we could, as long as the battery last on our cameras. We went to the Emerald Buddha Temple inside the Palace ground, (easy to find, as the crowd concentrated there), we were forbid to take the picture of the Emerald Buddha, but thanks to technology, we used the zoom feature of the camera to do the dirty job. There were a lot of tour group from all over the world that came and visit this landmark of Thai kingdom. We walked over two hours inside the palace ground until we felt we have covered the most of it, few bottled water drained already. Ah! The weather was still as hot as ever and you were not permitted to wear sleeveless or shorts. It was just like sauna time for us. 

Sawadeekap!

We went to the war museum to got air conditioned for a while and crave for some shade. Judging from the sunshine all over us these few days, we knew that we were tanned already, may be unevenly toned. We went back to Khaosan and we bought ourselves a nice THB 20 for one whole mango. And guessed we still have some time, there is no Bangkok trip without Thai massage!

Nearby our guesthouse, we got lots of massage parlor along the Khaosan area and the price were just more or less the same from one to another. We chose the one that looked clean and neat at the corner of the street and we went for a THB 200 one hour massage. After 4+ days of fun, a massage felt sooooooo nice! We even fell into drowsiness, as we were so relaxed. The therapist stretched us in so many ways to relax our muscles. We ended up served a cup of tea at the end of the treatment and we went back to our room. We took a bath and made the final packing. I checked out and here we got the problem. This guest house do not have any elevator (read: staircase only). And getting up our luggage up to our room at the third floor, when we came wasn’t an easy job already. NOW, after we shop that many plus the extra bag, it would be just “nice” for us to get all our luggage down.

salute!

We did all sort of kind of efforts to get all of our luggage to the lobby and hailed a taxi to go to the airport. It cost almost THB 400 for the taxi and we checked in directly. As soon as we got our boarding pass, we do another round of window shopping at the airport after we passed the immigration counter. We got ourselves dinner at Burger King, as we still have some time and have nothing to do, and knowing that Airasia would not provide any meal. We then waited at the gate, the most far end of the gate, and our plane was delayed for 30 minutes.

So Thai and So hot!

When we board the aircraft, we were at a different seat, but we managed to seat together just before we took off. That was a 3.5 hour flight and I couldn’t even slept for a bit, as the stewardess was noisy to the max. Ochie and I were seated just at the last row, near to the toilet and galley and that particular female flight attendant was just super lively for a night flight like this. Anyway, we landed at T3 Soekarno Hatta and Ochie was picked up by her family already. Me? My dad got the wrong perception of time and date. He thought that I would be arrived one day after. So I just catch a taxi back to home rather than wait for another hour in airport in the middle of the night. 

Look at our luggage?

So! That was it. My Bangkok trip on my leave with my friend, Ochie. We had a great 5 days 4 nights trip in The Land of Thousands Smiles, Bangkok, Thailand. And even though we admit that we were exhausted, yet, it was a pleasant one. You should try it once in a while, plan a trip, no tour group, just 2-3 people together and be happy!

“A happy travel is when you travel with someone with same interest, same pace, and which is a compatible partner.” – Me