Thailand trip

Whee! I’m back in Singapore after 2 weeks of being in Thailand. There’s quite a bit to blog about so whoever’s going to read this, happy reading! =p To give you a rough idea of how long this entry might be, let’s just say I wrote in my notebook during the trip and it took up 2 A4 sides and that’s just a record of what I did... Anyway, since there’s so much to blog about, I better organize my blogging a bit so I’m going to include the records from my notebook, which will be in italics, and then add on other comments and details day-by-day in the normal font. Here goes…

Day 1 (18/12): The trip could have started off better… Vomited right after lunch @ the budget terminal. Anyway, realized that the last time I took a plane ride was in Primary 4. Ohh, the view from above is really nice! –gushes over clouds-
Dinner was different was Singapore cuisine (duh!). Surprised myself by trying out dishes that were hot/spicy. At least I’m showing signs of improvement. =p
Next stop, night bazaar! Mostly, it was just window shopping. I like the furniture! Especially the design of the lights and lamps. Ack, I still miss that pair of pants that I didn’t buy…But it was rather overpriced. Pft.
[Heehee. For those who are about to kill me for not taking care or what, I’ve been ok throughout the trip. That was just a one-off incident. Yay! I can at least take a bit of spicy food now, I think. It’s actually more like I can take but normally, I choose not to. =p]

Day 2 (19/12): -teeth chatters- Bathing with cold water in the morning isn’t something I enjoy. BBQ chicken for lunch! –slurps– Oh yay, took pictures with my grandaunt’s dogs.
MBK! At least I have a chance to go there. Whee! My favourite shop of all time, NPB! (For clothes only..) Bought 5 shirts at 1 go, oops? But other than that, not much…
After walking around, it was time for some massage. Ahh… -dozed off- Yeps. Relaxing. Didn’t ache as much after that. Still have to catch a train tomorrow so off to bed now…
[Ack. Ended up eating BBQ chicken almost every day… Oh well. That’s probably part of the reason why I gained weight. I’m now 2 kg heavier. By the way, MBK’s a shopping centre and NPB’s a brand of clothes. Disclamer: I bought 5 shirts from there because it’s really cheap and I like the cut of the shirts. Mhmm. Heehee. Oh well.]

Day 3 (20/12): Writing this on the train… 12 hour ride from Bangkok to Chiangmai. One thing’s for sure, I sure caught up on my sleep… -gushes- I love staying at my uncle’s place! When I looked up at the sky, there were so many stars…
[Whoa… Long, long train ride. Mhmm. Mostly, I slept or listened to my mp3 player or read. =) Ohh! Uncle Phorn’s (second grandma’s son) place is NICE!! We stayed at this place throughout the whole time we were in Chiangmai. Cause he bought some land and built a few “houses” and so we stayed in one of them. It’s similar to a chalet? Yeps. A lot, a lot of stars in the sky. Couldn’t stop gushing when I first looked up.]

Day 4 (21/12): A long car ride up a mountain and then various stops on the way down.
Hmong village. Just walking and looking at the various shops. I have a growing obsession with stars. –eyes my bracelet- Rented the outfit of the Hmong people & took photos. =p
Next stop, the winter palace, a retreat of the royal family. There’s over 250 kinds of flowers there. 0.0 Very scenic but not much time to enjoy it all.
Went to the Chiangmai zoo for a few select exhibits only. The pair of panda bears, the koala bear exhibit and the deer exhibit. Just realized that deers have long eyelashes..
After dinner, it was time for the family to be dolled up in Thai costume. Everyone looks really different..
[Ohh, remembered the name of the mountain at long last. It’s Doi Suthep. Pretty, pretty flowers at Bhu Ping palace! Especially since the roses were in full bloom. Didn’t have much time at the zoo so only saw those few exhibits. The panda bears have a celebrity status of sorts since they were flown there from China, etc etc. Haha. The dolling up in Thai costume was a photo shoot of sorts. The whole family dressed up in Thai royal outfits to have our picture taken. For my mum and I, it meant doing our hair and having make-up put on too… That elaborate. The photographer has a very unique way of taking photos. He sings karaoke while taking the photos. Mhmm.]

Day 5 (22/12): Before lunch, made a detour to a shopping centre to look at pants. That overpriced pair of pants was in the shop. Bought it anyway..
After lunch, the flower show. Didn’t quite meet my expectations. But the floats at the end was rather impressive.
[Ahh. The same pair of pants that I saw in Bangkok was in the store. I went high when I first saw it and then when I saw the price tag, -cringe. Fortunately, my grandma bargained it down a bit. Oh well. I like that pair of pants.. Mhmm! The flower show I’m referring to is the Royal Flora exhibition in Chiangmai to commemorate the King’s 60th year on the throne. Maybe cause I prefer to see flowers rather than greenery, so I didn’t enjoy that place as much as Bhu Ping. Ohh. Whoever design the mascots of the exhibition is a clever person. 9 mascots in total, so imagine the amount of merchandise and souvenirs being sold. But they’re so cute! Haha. I even ran around the place trying to look for the drink stand so as to buy the cups with the mascot for my mum.]

Day 6 (23/12): Early morning wake-up call due to the need to get to Maesa elephant camp for a performance. Drawing, dancing, dart-throwing, etc done by elephants.. Then, a visit to see how umbrellas are made. Got my jeans and jacket painted. =)
Ended off the day with a massage session.
[This record was shorter since I reached the end of the page in my notebook. =p The paintings by the elephants are good! Considering that the paintings sold for a few thousand baht each. I still like the painting of the bonsai. But I wouldn’t have bought it anyway… Went to see how those traditional paper umbrellas are made. I’m super impressed with the handicraft. Each part of the umbrella is painstakingly handmade. And of course, I have to gush over the designs of the umbrella. Ohh! It’s really cool when all those who paint the umbrella seat in one row and provide painting services for your clothes, handphones, etc… For a price, of course. But very affordable. 50 Baht (around $2 plus?) Got my pair of jeans painted with some pink butterflies as to the design on my jacket… What else? Dolphins! –bounce- Haha. Shall bring the jacket to school to replace my black one, which I still can’t find.]

Day 7 (24/12): Had the chance to sleep in. =) After breakfast, went around looking for things to sketch. The price one has to pay for a chance to sketch roses: getting a tan on one side of my face. In total, 9 sketches. Quality-wise, not bad but can be improved.
Went to “People’s Walk” at night, walked about 1 km and bought lots of things. Yay! Bought a pressed flower lamp. Hmm.. What a way to spend Christmas eve..
[Bought a notebook the day before at the umbrella making center so used it to sketch. I’m rather proud of the sketches. Considering how long it’s been since I sketched anything. Oh. Disclaimer: Not all 9 sketches are of roses. Considering Jonathan asked me to draw the mascot plushie and various other things as well. Whee! I like the subjects of each sketch. Regarding the tan, I didn’t realize until my mum commented that one part of my cheek was darker than the rest. I don’t know the name of the place where we walked at night. But the direct translation is “The street where people walk” so yeps. My dad counted the number of lampposts and then multiplied it by the distance between each lamp so that’s how the 1 km came about. Still can’t believe I really bought a lamp and that my parents actually allowed! Whee! It’s like nice. Pressed paper flower lamp. Yeps.]

Day 8 (25/12): Blessed Christmas! Had to wake up early to go Doi Inthanon, a mountain. It’s the highest in Thailand. Went to the summit first and bought a jacket. =) The temperature was around 70C!
After that, drove to see two pagodas. The view from there is really spectacular. Blue sky, which was cloudless, and lots of greenery.
Last stop at the mountain: Mae Ya waterfall. –gush- Breathtaking.. Wish I could have spent more time there…
Other than Doi Inthanon, went to walk around a “village” of shops. There wasn’t really much that I like but got to say that I’m impressed with the handicraft.
[I like Doi Inthanon! That day was one of my favourite days during the trip. Had to wake up early (what’s new?) to drive there but it was worth it. The view’s breathtaking. Shall upload pictures onto my MSN space as soon as possible. I like the jacket I bought! It’s those kind which you pull over your head. Been looking for one so yeps, I like the one I bought! It’s black and has a hood and the design’s not bad. It’s just words saying that Doi Inthanon’s the highest mountain in Thailand and the exact height is there too. Mhmm. The view from outside the pagodas is really spectecular! You can see the mountains shrouded in clouds and the colour of the sky is really, really blue. Dad took one picture with his hand phone, which I sent to my phone almost immediately when we came back to Singapore. Very scenic place. Started gushing once I saw the waterfall (duh! It’s a waterfall!). But since there wasn’t much time, couldn’t stay there for long. Pft.]

Day 9 (26/12): A long drive from Chiangmai to Mae Hong Son. Around 300km and 1864 curves. Went to the village of “Longneck Karen”. Pft. Foreigners always have to pay more.. I like the handicraft! Shawls and handphone holder. =)
[Hired a minibus to drive the 10 of us up to Mae Hong Son. My parents, Jonathan, my grandma, my second grandaunt, her daughter (Auntie Yang), Uncle Phorn and his wife, Uncle Vincent and me. Mhmm. Long, long trip. Ended up sleeping a lot. Ohh. The part about the foreigners having to pay more is cause some locals charged us another 250 Baht for each tourist which meant my family and Uncle Vincent. In the end, my grandma bargained it down.. But still. It’s aggravating to have to pay more just because you’re not Thai. Sighs. Yay! I finally have a shawl that I can call my own. Been using my mum’s each time I needed one. Anyway, Auntie Yang bought the shawl for me. Cause I was looking at it and asking her to help me find out the price. It’s like a blue-green colour. Mhmm.]

Day 10 (27/12): Yet another long drive from Mae Hong Son to Pai. Stopped for lunch by the Pai river. After lunch, more driving, all the way to Chiangrai. Altogether, a rather uneventful day. Oh yes, did I mention that hitting your head on the minibus window repeatedly results in a particular part of your head to hurt, quite badly?
[Ok. The last line is due to the fact that when I fell asleep on the minibus, I ended up hitting my head against the window several times. And ouch, it hurt? So had 2 bruises for quite a few days. It was super irritating when that particular spot got itchy and I couldn’t scratch it cause it hurt to touch my head. Ack.]

Day 11 (28/12): Went to Doi Tung, the Queen Mother’s palace. The garden’s rather big and there’s a high quantity of flowers but not that much variety. A lot of nice scenes to sketch but didn’t have the time. Also walked around her villa. Very clear view of the mountains from there.
After Doi Tung, it was off to Mae Sai. Crossed over the border to Myanmar for a high amount, 600 Baht per head. A lot of jackets & imitation goods sold at the shops.
Last stop before heading back to Chiangmai, the Golden Triangle. Could see Laos and Myanmar from where we were. Finally back in Chiangmai now…
[Doi Tung is nice! Doi Tung and Doi Inthanon are my favourite places in Chiangmai! With the sole exception of Uncle Phorn’s place. The gardens are planted with a large quantity of flowers rather than a large variety but it’s still very scenic. And the flowers in full bloom are big! Bigger than my palm anyway. Didn’t really enjoy going to Mae Sai and crossing the border. Not much point anyway? The high fee that we had to pay was due to the fact that we’re … not Thai. Whee! Oh. Met the son of Uncle Phorn and he went back with us to Chiangmai. Mhmm.]

Day 12 (29/12): No programme planned so slept in. Walked around and sketched a bit. Lunch, followed by another sketch and then a 2 hour long nap. Tea-break, then last sketch of the day: a rose in full bloom. Watched the sunset alone from one of the houses.
After dinner, it was time for a karaoke session at our chalet. Sang til 11 plus, local time.
[The sunset was nice... Hmm. Karaoke session was rather interesting.]

Day 13 (30/12): Yet another massage session before going to the “People’s Walk” for one last shopping trip. Covered a lot more shops in a shorter amount of time. Went back to Uncle Phorn’s house and slept in the Thai-style “house”.
[There's not much to add on so I'll not add on. =p]

Day 14 (31/12): Last day of the trip. Woke up early and headed to the airport. Writing this on the plane now. 2 more hours til we reach Singapore, can’t wait to be back home.
[I'm back. What else is there to blog about? Oh. On the plane ride, realized how homesick I was. Pft.]