BKK - 16 Mar 2008

After the Hotel's hearty breakfast, we were supposed to have a 2-hour trip debrief & after that it was free-time, YET again.
.
Being on the last flight, I had about 3 hours to kill after the debrief. I flew out on my own right after the session, took the BTS to SIAM & went to Siam Square, MBK & Little Siam. I have always loved that area rather than the high-end malls.
.
I didn't find much to buy & anyway, I was not intending to be spending much money, I treated myself to a nice Thai Lunch. I had wanted to go back to the famous small & difficult-to-locate SOM TAM restaurant but when I went there, there was a queue & I was not sure if I could wait. I went across the road & found another local eating place. HOW CLEVER AM I!?


.
I had wanted to eat Thai Food! I ordered the ever-so-popular Thai Spicy Chicken & Glass Noodles Salad, a Fried Macaroni with Basil & Chicken & 2 COKE!!! 2 because the food was spicy! I enjoyed my meal the the time alone. I only had to pay 195Baht for the things I ordered.. which was less than S$8! I had a blast on my own. Feeling happy & contented, I strode back to the hotel for more WAITING...

.
While waiting I treated myself to a coffee room service! hahahahaha...

After all the waiting, we finally embarked on the journey to the airport at about 4.30pm.
.
Jason & his family would be waiting at the airport for me, a little weird but alright, his mother has never been on a plane & they took this opportunity to bring her around the airport & also visit the Terminal 3.
.
By the time I got home, it was already 1am...
.
What a trip.. it left me alittle empty but emotionally-heavy, due to some things that dad had shared with me.
.
Well... hopefully my next Bangkok trip would be a blast again!

BKK - 15 Mar 2008

Today we are supposed to be moving out in our pre-split groups to carry out the 'Study'. The details cannot be mentioned here but the food, MUST be highlighted! *giggles*
.
After my favourite eggs & toast breakfast at the hotel (I LOVE HEARTY Hotel Breakfast!)
We headed out to the mall called the Emporium. We 'studied' there for a while & headed to the current most happening high-end mall called the Siam Paragon at the BTS station called SIAM.
.
There, we settled in for tea at the L-espace by the Oriental Hotel Cafe.

The wonderful thing about this cafe is that it is situated right smacked in the atrium of Siam Paragon yet carefully segregated by man-made lap-pool & lush greenery. The servers were very polite & the service was tip-top.

.

We ordered 2 sets of Hi-Tea which costs about 380Baht each set which was cheap. 1 set was for 2 person.. We got to choose from a variety of tea & there was this server whom was so passionate about his job, brought us the tea leaves samples for us to smell & even explained to us each & every one of the different aromas & taste. Thumbs up for him! If I can go back there again, I would have Hi-Tea there again... very reasonable priced & their pastry were so yummy especially the scones.

.

After Tea, we continued our 'studying' until about 5pm we walked back to the hotel. We had a drink from the cafe & carried out our discussion there whole waiting for the company's transport for dinner somewhere else.

I ordered a refreshing smoothie which has my favourite strawberries, oranges & bananas! YUMMY!
.
For dinner, we were taken to the a lovely riverside restaurant, forgot the name, will input it when I remember... Ok its the Supatra Riverhouse!!

.

We thought that was it & we'll have our dinner there, it was nice, cooling & romantic.. BUT NO! We were supposed to take a boat ride across ...

Mobilephone camera can sometimes be inconvenient. I was snapping this wonderful experience we had on the boat when ALAS... battery went flat & phone went dead! It was really a pity! The restaurant, sat peacefully on the bay of the river, was like a free-standing colonial house. We booked the whole of the interior & practically had the whole place to ourselves!
.
I was also keeping myself busy looking around the mysterious restaurants & found that they had certificates that branded them BEST THAI RESTAURANT from year 2000 all the way to 2007! I was really amazed! It was a good dinner & experience though I have no photos to show for it.
.
After the great dinner, the coach dropped some of us the Famous SuanLon Night Market, some at a Massage place called Healthland & the rest of us, at the Hotel. I went back to the hotel as I was planning to hit the gym to burn the sins I had consumed today. Again, we stayed in the gym until about 1am before hitting the beds!

.

BKK - 14 March 2008 (The Hotel)

The COurtyard by Marriot
.
We put up at a wonderful hotel, tucked conveniently behind the Erawan Shrine. The modern simple lines of the hotel coupled with space-saving yet bulky customised pieces of furnitures around the hotel give it a very unique & cosy feel that is tedious to describe with words.
.
I checked with a colleague & understand the hotel is about S$180 per room night under corporate rate.. I wonder if this would be an economical hotel to stay in if we travel on private holiday trip in the future... it's nice, in town YET peaceful as it is not situated by main roads & major malls like the Central World, Gaysorn are all within walking distances.
.

.
The COurtyard by Marriot - Room 417

The room was really luxurious to me though in modern, no-frills design. There weren't need to lavish upholstery or bedspread or even bath-tub BUT it was very clean, crisp & comfortable.
.
I have also always liked the bathroom to be overlooking the room... great for allowing light into the bedroom area at night.. *blush* PEEKABOO!!!!
.

BKK - 14 Mar 2008

This year, the company decided to send us to Bangkok for Retail Study as well as a Retreat. I was not exactly excited about this trip as somehow I knew I wouldn't have much time on my own to do my things.. but I went anyhow.
.
We were split into many groups taking many different flights, I didn't know if I was lucky or unfortunate, I was put on the earliest flight in & the last flight out. I was not exactly pleased with the arrangement as I felt alot of time were wasted in my case as there were alot of waiting being earliest flight in means we had to wait longer for the rest to arrive & being the last flight out also means we must wait for all to be gone before we can leave! SIGH.... & I also prefer to travel in intimate group of less than 3 people than huge group of 8 to 9 people.. let alone, this trip, there are about 40 of us.. so I was uncomfortable. BUT well, these are the inevitables when going on company trip so I must stop whining..
.
We met at the airport at 6am for check-in & breakfast... to start this long day ahead, I had to eat! We checked in & had a yummy breakfast at the Killiney Kopi-Tiam... Mee Rebus!. .

.

We boarded the flight.. thank goodness I was given Thai Airways to travel in.. I have always liked Thai Airways!

.

We arrived in BKK International Airport & was transferred to the Hotel by a van, quite comfortable. Upon reaching, we realised the others will only arrived later in batches & we have, in fact about 3 hours to kill - 3hrs is not enough to go too far. I wanted to venture out on my own than stay behind in groups but saw a colleague & invited her to join me. Both of us went to the Erawan Shrine to say our prayers & made our offerings before heading to the Central World to kill some time. We both decided to not spend too much on food so we went menu-browsing in the huge mall & finally settles in ToastBox.. YES I know... SIngapore also has ToastBox by BreadTalk BUT we just wanna have something economical but its was not easy in this mall.. in other places like MBK or SIam SQuare, of course I would go try some local food instead.

We ordered a Mee Siam each & shared a Thai Spicy Tofu. All in all the meal didn't cost us more than S$10.
.
After the satisfying meal, we went walking around, I was looking for something to buy for Jason & was happy to be able to get a very nice Polo-tshirt from the Arsenal Specialty Store for him. He'll love it!
.
Before we could do anything else, it was time to go back to the hotel for the Briefing.
.
Briefing started & ended by 6.30pm & it was free & easy again. Sigh.. in a way I still felt I had wasted the whole day...
.
I zoomed out right after the meeting to take the BTS & changed to the MRT to meet my dad in the far away Mall popularly known as The Robinsons.
.
As it was the evening peak hour of Bangkok, it was very crowded in both the BTS & MRT. Though so, the Thais definitely did not push their way through doors, nor crowd themselves around the entrance. They were so disciplined that they actually formed a line at the doorways! A REAL LINE! They were also patient & soft-spoken.
.
As I was late for my dinner appointment & rushing like mad, the people showed no impatience in the queues whether buying train tickets or tokens! I admired their graciousness.
.
Met my dad & we went for Yummy Korean-Thai styled BBQ! We went to Starbucks after that for coffee.. though it was not a very long time we'd spend together, I was happy we talked about things, things even we hardly conveyed with each other - a true bonding time.
.
AFter the coffee, I made my own way back to the hotel. I was really strolling slowly thinking of things my dad said to me. I enjoyed the slow pace back though the journey was far. I have no problem travelling on my own in Bangkok but not in KL!
.
When I got back to the Hotel, it was already 10.30pm. I decided to go to the gym as I came to know from the catalogue that it operates on a 24hr basis! Well, at least whatever I had consumed for throughout the whole day can now be converted into energy through exercise!
.
I was at the gym until about 11.30pm when my room-mate finally arrived from her flight & joined me. We 'gymed' until 12.30am & head up to the room to retire for the day!

KL - 22 Feb 2008

Woke up Happy today knowing I am going home!
.
We didn't go to the office & went to the store at the Pavilion instead for a short meeting. We ordered toast for breakfast at Cafe Esprit.
I ordered their Latte of course! They have the best Latte I ever tasted for someone who doesn't like coffee with any kinds of milK!
.
After that we had lunch at the Ichiban Boshi at the basement. I ordered my favourite Braised Duck Ramen!
.
We were sent to the airport by uncle in the late afternoon & we decided to have alittle snack before boarding as by the time we reach Singapore, it would be about 6pm. Starbucks was our choice!
I ordered my favourite Chipolata Puff with Coffee!! Yummy!
.
Goodbye KL, hello SIngapore!

KL - 21 Feb 2008

Today we decided not to make a turn to buy breakfast on the way, instead, we woke early & went opposite the apartment to some run-down place to eat instead. I must say I really enjoy the experience of eating local food in such places.

I ordered Kuey Teow Soup, it was nice, plain & good for breakfast! But I still must say KL doesn't have NICE KOPI-O!

.

After the simple-local breakfast, we headed to office & skipped lunch as we had planned to leave office early & have early dinner instead.

.

AGAIN, we went to Pavilion. We decided to try their sandwich & Pasta at this place. I ordered their CLub Sandwich. Its strange all Restaurants, Bistros, Eatery & whatever have different kinds of Club Sandwich. I have always ordered Club Sandwich & has never tasted one that is similar to another. I wonder who invented CLub Sandwich & what exactly are the ingredients! Must go surf the net to find the answer!

.

The CLub SAndwich has eggs that are piping hot & came with veggies that looked so raw & healthy... though I did not know exactly what veggies those were!

.

After dinner, again, we went walking around the huge retail castle & stopped for snacks before we head on back to the apartment. We found this place that resembles Killiney Kopi-Tiam & since my colleague has been craving for eggs, we decided to deal with her cravings!

.
We walked back to the apartment after that & retired early.

KL - 20 Feb 2008

(picture - the leftover CHNY lightings along Bukit Bintang)
.
Once again, I went to KL on a last minute notice.
.
I was alittle reluctant as I am still in the struggle to finish the wedding preparation. But still, I went on ahead.
.
As usual, we booked the Japan Airlines, the much preferred Airlines for us to travel from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur since then.
.
We went in the late afternoon flight of 19 February. Had a quick Ramen at the Ajisen Ramen at CHangi Airport Terminal 1 and didn't had anything to eat until we reached our apartment in KL.
.
When we opened the door to the apartment, it was in a mess as though someone was living in it. Later we realised the housekeeping lady hadn't gone up in 2 weeks. So, as usual as I'd get uncomfortable & completely paranoid to sleep in a bed that someone had slept in before, we set out to clean the whole apartment.
.
We started out to only change all the bedsheets in the 3 rooms, to sweeping the floor to mopping. The kick sets in & we were clearing the fridge off its expired stuff in no time. We cleaned the whole apartment inside out until 2am. BUT it felt good knowing all are clean now.
.
20 Feb morning, the usual Uncle picked us up & we requested to pack breakfast as there are no food easily accessible from the office faraway in PJ. We stopped by at a coffeeshop along the way to the office & bought coffee, Wanton Mee & Lor Mai Gai. I was alittle stunned when the man told me the coffee I ordered cost RM4.60. In my heart I was thinking how could it be?! Then, the Wanton Mee was also RM2.50 per packet. EXPENSIVE! Prices has either gone up or the stallholders has sharpened their 'knives'!
My Lor Mai Gai & Coffee Breakfast at the office.
.
ONe thing I enjoyed about being in our Malaysia office is that, I get to have the whole discussion room to myself & no one, absolutely no one would come & bother me... Haha!
.
Time quickly passed by & it was time for Uncle to pick us up. He also knew our habits already & dropped us at Pavilion.
.
Pavilion has become the mall we would go rather than KLCC firstly being the fact that from Pavilion, we can walk back to our apartment at Times Square or take the monorail which is one station away.
.
We decided to have a good dinner! We went to this Taiwanese, Japanese, Thai-Fusion place on the 5th Level of Pavilion.. the food was yummy!

The food was yummy & the decor was really nice. I couldn't help but kept on snapping pictures though I know end of the day, nothing much would show through on my Samsung Hp camera! I ordered a fried seafood udon & changed the seafood to pork, it was delicious! they ordered a soup & a beef-rice set each. We even shared a dessert! WE WERE INDEED GREEDY! But it was a hearty & happy meal!
.
We wow-ed at the decor & all the food that were served to us.

.

After dinner we walked around a bit then went back to the apartment.... we rest early before 12mn.