A month in Bangkok

It has been a very long time, like eons I should say, to not have blogged. Hmmm.  Well, I think things are not really the way we want them to be but thankfully it will always be where we can grow and learn.  Last 2016, I left Cebu for Bangkok.  I accepted a job in the city.  I was kind of bored and frustrated in Cebu so yeah, I quit my high paying job.  My managers were asking why I had to resign.  I was doing great, I had good pay raises every year, I made friends and got along with my peers. But I just had to quit. Well one reason was I felt the place was really conducive, I felt boxed.

Last June 9, 2016, I landed in the beautiful city of Bangkok.  It was a strange feeling of excitement and bravado.  I'm gonna start work on a Monday. The company paid for my travel and booked me for a week in a condotel.  Since I have a friend who has been working in Bangkok, I thought that things are going to be fine.

Monday came and a week has ended.  I knew something terrible is brewing.  I felt not up for the life in Bangkok.  I find it inconvenient and I felt lonely in the city.  I like their food though but it was not enough for me to be happy.  I guess, we just need to be honest with ourselves to come into terms of the things which are acceptable or not.  In short, I do not see myself living in Bangkok.  I thought the excitement was what it was, but wasn't ?  I felt like I was having some anxiety and I began to miss home terribly.  Not that I did not do anything about it but I felt like I do not belong.  The people are nice but it was not the place for me.  Then another week came, and I heard through my brother that my dad was hospitalized (again).  That did not sit well with me.  I was a bit helpless and depressed.  So the next work week, I resigned. I booked my one way ticket and left Bangkok.  The company did not want me to go.  They wanted me to be on an unpaid leave and just work part time with them. And I thought it's pointless because I can't concentrate with all the things going on.  Don't get me wrong, even if I stayed in Bangkok for just a month, I actually went to see Bangkok around and also managed to visit Pattaya :)

 

When I arrived in Cebu, I gave myself few more days to think through about the job I left. The moment I left, that was it so I just made my declaration to my company that I am officially resigning. What a month!  Since I did not have a job and good thing I still have some savings, I decided to travel around.  I went to Surigao and Siargao. Visited a friend in Surigao, went to enchanted river and went to Siargao.  Beautiful places I should say.  Oh my dad was already okay, he was discharged from Chong Hua hospital two days after I arrived in Cebu.  I barred him from eating oily food, salty food - unhealthy food in general.  

In my three weeks stay in Cebu, I started to apply jobs for either Cebu  or in Manila.  The pay and offers were competitive but not what I expected.  So I was up to another adventure. I talked to friends so at least I'd be able to evaluate things better.  So I decided to fly to Singapore! And that's for another post.

Vacation : From Phuket to Bangkok

MJ and I were not done yet with our vacation as we were heading to Bangkok through a very long bus ride which had started from Phuket town. Imagine, it was a 14- hour bus ride.

When we arrived in Bangkok, we did not actually know where it was specifically. All we know is that, it was in a bus station beside a mall. All we knew, was that we need to commute going to Khaosan. Well asked around and then we were directed to this group of motor bike drivers. We asked the driver how much was the fare before we went there and he pointed it was 35Bahts which was written on their board. Then we rode the motorbike and we went with our helmets on. The driver then stopped at this expressway and he negotiated that he was going to collect for 250 Bahts each. We were so surprised at what he did but then we replied that it's just close, actually we did not know if was really close, and before MJ and I discuss things, her driver swiftly started the engine and left us and the motorbike which I was in followed suit. It was actually just a 7 - 10 minute ride so it was relatively near. When the motorbike dropped us at Khaosan, he was insisting that we give 250 Bahts which was really too much. Not unless we did not know that they were playing at us because we were tourists but the point is we knew and besides we did not agree on their proposal. He said that he would want to call the police and I said yes call the police and let's settle it with them. But the other guy would want us back to his motorbike and bring us back to the terminal which we did not agree. There was this guy who looked different and he was like eating on something and said that we can agree to pay 2oo Bahts. Even if we knew they were just milking us, we agreed to prevent any further argument. I nearly uttered swear words in front of the drivers. Anyway, we were very tired and we did not have any reservation. We walked around and there the drizzle came. We first checked the nearest hotel on our site but it was a bit expensive. We walked around and looked for another one and so we found Star Dome hotel . It was not as nice or grand as Baumanburi, the one we had in Phuket but it was just well within our tight budget. We got the place for 400Bahts per night. Since we were very tired already and pissed off, we decided to forget that bad incident and slept our way for tomorrow's activity....

The ventilation was not that great. It was already 10 AM when we woke up. We need to get going for the schedule walk-tour around Khaosan's neighboring temples and castles. After the bathing time, we went down for our brunch. After branch we headed to our first temple, Wat Chansongkram. After that we went to park where one could take a glimpse of the Rama VII Bridge. We continued to walk to Wat Sangwei, Amataro and Phraya. We also bought bottles of water just to replace the loss of water due to excessive sweating as we were under the extreme heat of Bangkok streets. We were actually going to the old palaces of the Thai Royals. At about 20 minutes of walking, we saw the king's statue riding a horse. Then on the other end was the Royal Throne Hall. The building did not resemble anything Thai as it was more of a Renaissance architecture. After taking some pictures of the place we proceeded to the Rama V Rd. where all the other palaces of the Thai monarch were erected. We took pictures and then we went to the ticketing office but prior to that, there were some we-were-lost moments. The entrance was only 100Bahts and it was a value for money. In fact, the tour inside the royal palace was a bit of knowing Thai history. It was fun but sometimes, I don't understand the words coming from the guide as their English accent was different. But we tried to just appreciate the collections adorning the palace with all the finest fit for royalty - just feasting our eyes for all its worth. I somewhat imagined being one of the royalty, like how it was to be really one of them. Anyway, after the tour, we had a chance to take pictures.

After the palace tour, we got so tired so we decided to have a tuk-tuk ride going to Khaosan for 100 Bahts. We arrived hungry so we decided to eat - we did not have our lunch so that was it. We went back to our hotel after that super late lunch. MJ decided to go down to use the internet and I decided to stay in the room. But the room was really hot and the aircondition together with the not-so-mighty ceiling fan could not make the room conducive for a good nap, I decided to go down and look for MJ, but I could not find her. I then decided to just walk around and found myself in a grocery store. I bought some soaps and two boxes of Thai Gaba rice - I just thought of trying it out as it advertised itself as a healthy substitute of some sort of the regular rice. I went back to Star Dome hotel and found MJ using the internet with her eyes glued on facebook. I also used the net since I did not want to wait and do nothing. After 10 minutes of checking my mails, and now MJ was waiting for me, we decided to back upstairs and prepare for a night out.

We went to my Thai officemate's spa. I had a foot massage while MJ had a full body massage. It was relaxing in fact. After that, we went to a bar and had a bottle of San Miguel beer light then finished it off with a cocktail which has vodka on it. After that simple drink, we decided to call it a night and we headed back to our hotel . So we won't be charged much by the taxi driver, we just got inside the taxi without talking a word and when the driver would push the meter then asked us, we just say Khaosan and then stop from talking or anything until we arrived to our destination.

The next day was a Saturday and we planned to visit the Grand Palace and the surrounding temples. We actually took our breakfast at McDonalds. MJ had a chicken meal and I had a vegetable salad and pie. After that simple meal, we walked and looked for the Grand Palace. Since it was a holiday, the Palace was close. So we just took some photos outside. We visited few temples and took some pictures. Then we decided to go back to our place. By the way, we also tried some street food ala Thai style and it tasted good. After some few go-and-see, we went back to our hotel. We then went around Khaosan, and see some things to buy. I bough two shirts and one painting. MJ bought some shirts as well. After that, we went back to our hotel again and did some bits of packing for the Sunday, which my flight was scheduled at 12:35 in the afternoon. Knowing the Bangkok traffic, we had to be prepared. After that simple packing and stuff, we went out to booze. We tried Chang beer and it was a bit strong as a downer. After finishing a plate of fried Thai noodles, and two glasses of beer, we decided to call it a night.

Sunday came and we woke up around 7AM. We decided to just have our breakfast at the airport. For the last time we took some photo and bid goodbye-and-see-next-time hug. MJ's flight was schedule late in the evening so she called her friend in Bangkok and she had a tour while I was on the boarding area.

My Thailand get-away was really nice except for that one incident but, I'm definitely coming back in the near future to go see Krabi and next time to shop around Bangkok, Thailand.

Phuket Adventure 4

This is another entry of me and my friends vacationing in Phuket.

It was a Tuesday, and it was time for Olga to go back to Singapore. The three of us had to wake up early and get a good breakfast, still at the hotel's dining area. It seem to me though that the food was getting boring, no offense but it's almost the same every morning. Anyway, after breakfast, Olga had to go immediately to her room and get her things. She was hurrying a bit for her early morning flight. Olga left at around 8AM, I guess.

Since MJ and I had not much thing to do, we were deciding to take bus from Phuket to Bangkok. Yes, we were not over yet with our vacation and we were going to Bangkok. The plane would cost us 1900Bahts and the train plus bus ride would cost us 1000 Bahts. So what we did was, we first soaked ourselves in the hotel's pool and after that, planned to go on an excursion in Phuket town. We asked hotel staff how to get there and good thing, we got the information we needed. It was really not planned on how to go there but we were bolder to having a great and exciting tour of Thailand.

Anyway, after cooling off ourselves from the hotel's pool, we went to the bus station just 5- 10 minutes walk from our hotel. We road their bus which to me looked like a bigger version of a jeepney in the Philippines. We waited for around 10 - 15 minutes before the bus would start firing it's engine up. The bus would drive slow picking up some commuters. When we got out of Patong, the bus started to speed up. Well the fare was only 25 Bahts, so not much of a concern. Anyway, after an hour ride, we arrived at our destination, the Phuket town bus terminal. We got inside the complex and looked for this bus company that would send us to Bangkok. Hehehehe. Good thing we got a good schedule in the morning, 9:30AM, from Phuket to Bangkok due for the next day. After such an easy task, we felt we need to eat, so came looking for a food shop or restaurant and we found one just near the bus terminal. After that hot and spicy meal, we decided to check out Phuket town.

Did I or have I mentioned that most Thai people looked much of a Malay as well? So what happened is that, people would tend to converse in Thai when we go out and ask some directions, haggle for prices or even passing by stores where sales people invite us?

Going on, we had such a good time in that small excursion and Phuket town has those clothing and related stuff in Patong, priced similarly. Somehow the need to go back to Patong is calling me and MJ could not find a good money exchanger. So our next plan was to go back to our hotel and check some money exchanger. We walked to the bus terminal and good thing, a bus just passed by when we have crossed the opposite side of the rode, so we we went back to the other side. The bus was scheduled to go back to Patong and off we hopped inside the bus. But the driver had to have a stop over so we waited a bit. After 20 minutes of waiting, the bus started it's engine and same things happened, it drove slow collecting some commuters mostly children wanting or needing to go to Patong. There was a bit of a traffic jam at this main highway but nevertheless we arrived safe and sound in Patong after another hour or more. We got tired actually of all that excursion so it was a lie when I mentioned sound. Hehehehe. When we arrived at our hotel, we took a short rest, then prepared ourselves for some last night-out at Patong. When we got outside, we were greated with this beautiful sunset and so we decided to do some last minute action. The sunset was really beautiful. I have said to myself what a good life there is here. Anyway, after some sunset experience, we were refreshed but we can't deny the fact that it was getting darker and we were hungry for dinner. As usual, while walking along the beach road, we dined out at this same restaurant where I ordered the food that is fish curry with vegetable and MJ had a vegetable salad. I was a great dinner with all the cultural music and dance from Thailand. The other day, when we were there, there was this Filipino band playing, so it was also good of a sight and sound and there was variety which challenges boredom. After that dinner, we decided to walk around Bangla and same thing, fascinated with all the lights and music, and people going round and about the place. It was such light and fun experience. We need to go back to our hotel for a good bed rest as our trip for the next day is going to be really long and tiring. At around 11PM we went back to our hotel....

The next day, we had an early breakfast and after that, we checked-out from our hotel and went to the bus station. We decided to take a bus as it was way cheaper than a tuk-tuk or taxi that would cost us 400 Bahts. It was already, 7:30 when the bus decided to shoot and drive and same thing, it has to go slow to pick other commuters but when it was out of Patong, it drove faster. We arrived in the bus terminal at around 8:30 and that, there was already a bus going to Bangkok. Our schedule was on 9:30 that is an hour after but then the bus captain allowed us to ride the bus. It was another exciting moments for the two Filipinos journeying Bangkok.

The country side is really peaceful. Passengers were greeted with all the forest and mountain on the other side and beach on the other. It's really amazing to see huge mountains and visible water falls on it. Since we can over recline our chairs, most of the time we were just sleeping while listening to music in my phone. But, we did not fail to take some photos.

Bangkok, the second leg of our vacation will follow soon. Good day for now and enjoy the weekend guys!