Things to do in Bangkok.

Let me start this post off with a fun fact!

DID YOU KNOW THAT :

Bangkok is what we call it but in Thai, it's the country with the longest name in the world (not being dramatic, it really is) which is  Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit. 
Translated  : The land of angels, the great city of immortality, of various devine gems, the great angelic land unconquerable, land of nine noble gems, the royal city, the pleasant capital, place of the grand royal palace, forever land of angels and reincarnated spirits, predestined and created by the highest Devas.

That sounds like an incredibly long and descriptive lead up to the actual name of your city ... where potholes are plentiful, the transport meant for the public is often tardy, where crows target their poop to land on your car and where actual manpower is used instead of machinery to dispense tickets at the tollgate...Kual....

But anyway, Sawadeka from Bangkok!

Here's my unconventional what to do in Bangkok list cum travel log :


1. Avoid the hot seasons.

Have you ever gone to Bangkok and thought it was so hot your face was probably melting? Yes?
Then you had probably gone sometime March-May aka the Hot Season.
Unlike KL where it's perpetual heat with some rain then perpetual rain with some heat, Bangkok has 3 seasons Hot, Cold and Rain.

Best time to go is December to February during the cold season. Fret not, you can leave your jacket behind. This just means you can walk all around the night markets, enjoy the cool air and probably wouldn't be drenched in sweat when you get back to your hotel room.


2. Wear sunnies when riding Tuk Tuk
Because speckles of dust will fly into your eye if you don't. #truestory.

3. Or take a cab.

I know it's the more traditional mode of transport, but tuk tuk's are often mistaken to be alot cheaper than cabs. They probably are, but not for us tourists! Many a time taking a tuk tuk is almost the same price and sometimes even more expensive than a cab (which is metered). But the difference is you won't have to sweat it out while breathing in the exhaust fumes courtesy of the traffic jam you're stuck in.

Oh but be smart when taking a cab. Don't buy into "need to fill petrol so I'll drop you at this Gem factory for awhile" stories that cabbies feed you. Just firmly tell them no I only want to go to Platinum, else get out of the cab. Chances are they'll  "okay okay" you and just take you where you wanna go.


4. Better still take the BTS.
Because it's convenient, cheap and when you arrive in Siam, it's like wah! Super extensive pedestrian bridge that links to all the shopping malls. Also sense of accomplishment that you're in a foreign country and taking the BTS likka local. *smug*

Ps: Remember that it's called BTS, because it'll be easier to get an answer than if you said "where's the train?" When in Bangkok, get the Bangkok terms right, right?


5. Eat coconut ice cream
Must! I love coconut ice cream and can eat it allday 'eerday. They sell them in a few shopping mall food courts but the best ones are obviously the ones by the road. :D

Coconut ice cream in/with real coconut!

6. Shop!
This one abit conventional la. But best places to shop is Platinum (obvious) and I love the night market outside Siam square and the one at Victory Monument. :) :) Night markets are best!


7. Must-bring-home item.
Everyone goes to Thailand and brings back elephant key chains or peanuts.
When I go, a must is Lays chips! Sounds odd I know but they have flavours like hot and spicy crab, lobster hot plate, Peking duck etc..which tastes exactly as it sounds. I think they have seasons because everytime I go out to get them there are new flavours. So much more interesting than the usual flavours we get here. Peking duck flavour is the best-est!

What I'm packin' ...getit getit!

8. Must-bring-there item.
Empty bag or extra bag for all the shopping you're gonna do.
Clearly overestimated myself here, the bag was barely half full when I left.

And that's the list! ( I wonder is this can be a tagline like Heidu Klum's aufiderzein )
I love Bangkok! The architecture, interiors, shopping, food! It's the top of on my list of South east asian country to visit....so far. *homer face*

 

Will blog about Terminal 21 next! :)

A list of things to pack when you travel.

You know what I hate most about travelling?

The "I think I forgot something" feeling that bugs you up to the time you board the plane.

This used to annoy me more last time, now I just look in my bag and tell myself  
"passport, ticket, phone, wallet..got all? okay that's all I need"
because everything else is probably not as important. Unless I forget to bring something vital like...underwear.

I'm packing for Shang Hai now. I know I know, I feel like a frequent traveller.
I wasn't planning to stay in Perth for so long. #fwp

So anyway, here's a list of things to pack for when you travel!
For my convenience and anyone else who's reading this. :)


*indicates optional/less important things/might only apply to some people

IN YOUR CHECK IN LUGGAGE:

My Barista Course @ The Coffee School Perth

 I wanted to make the most out of my time here in Perth, so I decided to sign up for a barista course!

I went online to look for one and found The Coffee School Perth to be the best one.
The whole course was AUD199 not the cheapest, but not the most expensive either. (fml. I just went to the site and I saw they were having a promo for it for AUD99 #cheated)
Some were AUD99 and some went up to AUD400.

The whole course takes 2 days (1 whole day teaching , 1 supervised practice) and you'd get an internationally recognized cert when you finish, which is a plus! #happycamperface
It's also on Murray Street so it was pretty near and wouldn't be hard to find. (also a plus)

First, abit of theory. MJ explains types of coffee, milk,  portafilters and the machine.

You know, the more boring stuff. Not THAT boring la, but less interesting than playing with the coffee machine. lol

The Perth Royal Show

 A bright sunny day! There were bottles of sunblock around for everyone to use. Ahh, Australia :)

 Ferris wheel atop hundreds of plushie prizes / the swinger.

Should I go to Mt Dandenong?

"Get some Perspective & Escape the noise and pressures of the concrete jungle. Less than one hour from the Melbourne CBD you can be SkyHigh – on the uppermost reach of the Dandenong Ranges, amid cool fern glades and lush towering native forest, looking at the big picture, from the Mornington Peninsula across the majestic sweep of Port Phillip Bay, surrounded by Melbourne’s growing urban fringes, to the You Yangs on the southern horizon. After sunset the southern sky, brilliant in the clear mountain night, is imitated by a spectacular carpet of city lights."
Doesn't that sound enticing?

If you've been to Melbourne, you'd realize that there aren't many outdoorsy places to go to that's near the city.You know, for a day trip kind of thing.

After hearing so much about it, we decided to head to Mt. Dandenong (which is only an hour away) in the hopes of seeing the awesome view, eating Ms. Marples pie in the sky, sitting on the Giant's chair and the Puffing Billy.

To get to Sky High (where the view is) in Mt. Dandenong:

What you have to do is take a train from Flinders Station to Belgrave (about an hour)
and then take a bus to Sky High. (about 20 minutes)

But honestly, if you're planning to go on public transport...it's terrible.
Why I think so :

Reason 1
We got off the train at Belgrave and I got distracted by a "PUFFING BILLY this way!" sign and wanted to check it out. (this took less than 10 minutes)
Then we walked back to the bus station to get to Sky High and found out the bus only comes every hour and we missed the last bus by 10 minutes.
So we had to wait almost 50 minutes! for the next bus to come.
And let me tell you...there's almost nothing there! Trying to kill 50 minutes is extremely difficult.
Even better, there's barely any reception there, so if you miss the bus GLHF.

A 50 minute wait and a 2o minute bus ride later,

We got to Sky High and were amazed at the view!!

You can see the city from here!

Walked around and found The Maze, which was well, a maze.
It's closed sometimes, but just go to the counter in the restaurant and tell them to open it for you
it's AUD6 to enter.

After going through The Maze, we were like "hmm I think we should try Ms. Marples pie in the sky that everyone's talking about."
BTW! it's not in the same place. You have to take a bus from Sky High to Sassafras to get there (something we only found out when we got there) and here's the best part, which bring us to..

Reason 2
the busses only pass through Sky High like every 2 hours, and we just missed the last one! Yet again! So we angrily waited there for 2 hours and by that time it was pass 4.30 and Ms. Marples was closed.

Reason 3
By the time the bus came it was 5-ish and the Puffing Billy was closed.

Reason 4
All the busses (on weekdays) are like that (scarce..ahem), we thought we better get back to the train station because the train for Flinders leaves at about 6pm and the next one about 8pm.
God forbid we stay in that place until 8pm! We wanted Melbourne! We wanted civilization! We wanted an ample and constant flow of public transport!

So that's the story of my trip to Mt. Dandenong. No Puffing Billy. No pie in the sky. No giant's chair. (because it was hidden and we didn't know where it was) With my luck that day I should've tried for the lotto. I know.

If you're planning to go there you should probably go with a journey planner and follow it to a T!
Or go by car so you can see the whole of Mt. Dandenong, which looks quaint and quite interesting. (but then again I might be wrong, this is based on seeing it from the inside of a bus #bitter and #angry)

Pros of visiting Mt. Dandenong:
- Good for a day trip
- Ms. Marples pie in the sky
- The view
- It's outdoorsy
- The Puffing Billy

Cons of visiting Mt. Dandenong:
The 4 reasons above.

Churchill Island Farm + Koala Conservatory + Penguin Parade

G'day!
While in Melbourne we wanted to do the tourist thing...... see penguins on Phillip Island.
There's a 3 in 1 ticket where you get to see not only the Penguin Parade
but also the Koala Conservatory and Churchill Island Heritage Farm Link is here

Oh shoots, just read that you can also see fur seals lounging on the beach just next to where
the Fairy Penguins come out. If you're reading this and you're going to Phillip Island, go see the seals also okay!Be Malaysian and get your moneys worth/claim free things!!

Pelican feeding- this was neither of the 3, but we saw this on the way to Phillip Island.

Koala Conservatory

over looking the wetlands/the lump is a sleeping koala



Churchill Heritage Farm





And we saw these on the farm!

I thought it was a fake cow when we were pulling up to the farm..then it started moving!
Isn't it so surreal!? Like one of those cows you see in movies or something.
Apparently they're heritage cows and not many people breed them anymore.
But so cute right? So fluffy!

I found these on google but it was taken on Churchill Island.
Green grass, blue sky, blue water, fluffy cow - how can this scenic sight possibly look any better?!
If Mary Poppins were flying in the sky with her umbrella or something maybe.

cow says moo.


what you lookin' at?


sheep herding show







Penguin Parade

You're advised to dress warmly, see the mini arrow at the bottom of that coat?
Yup that means it's at it's coldest. What to do! go in winter like that la.

penguin in his burrow


another penguin in his burrow

Yea that's all I got because cameras aren't allowed.
They're the smallest type of penguin they only grow till around 30cm!
that's like the height of 2 grey plastic rulers, the one we used during school.

okay here's a google picture

Their fur is a really nice navy blue and you'd see these tiny penguins walking around like
they're lost. They look really blur and will just walk back and forth till the rest of the penguins catch up with them...like an impatient sibling!

the view

We waited more than an hour in the cold and rain to see these penguins.
Then finally we saw 2 penguins come out (in the front line of battle haha) and watched them make their way from the water to the hilly rocks. We watched these 2 penguins for about 10 minutes,
then the rest came out - probably after they saw that the first 2 weren't eaten.lol

-

The tickets are pretty worth it if you haven't seen penguins, farms or koalas.
Okay maybe not koalas. All of them are sleeping and you'd be playing " I spy with my little eye"
because they're up in the trees and pretty hard to spot. No up close and personal encounters. :(

The Heritage farm was probably the best as there are a few shows like sheep herding, sheep shearing and whip cracking. There's also this huge ass horse and cute fluffy cows.
The route there to the farm is through wetlands so it's pretty scenic as well, you get to see geese and ducks.

Penguin Parade was pretty good too, but maybe not in winter and rain.

Oh oh oh! alternatively, if you don't wanna take the 2 hour drive there we saw the same penguins on St Kilda pier! Just not as many, maybe 4 or 5?

This is the only picture I managed to take because I didn't wanna scare the penguin.
And all the french and chinese tourist that were there swarming the poor thing and despite signs
that said ' No flash photography' there was flashing all over the place!
..from their cameras I mean. Not like flashing of body parts...yeaa.

ANYWAY, they were swarming the penguin and even crawled under the boardwalk,
where the penguin was nesting, and took flash pictures of it!
OUTRAGED! I was secretly hoping the penguin would go manic and bite them!!!

Apparently cameras used to be allowed on Phillip Island's penguin parade. But now no cameras are allowed..I'm guessing because of inconsiderate tourists. > :(

Bottom line, yes to Churchill Island and Fairy Penguins no to Koala Conservatory.
If you don't want to see farm or drive 2 hours then just go to St. Kilda Pier and see the penguins there.
Don't take flash photos! If you do I hope they BITE YOU!! And you get peguin rabies!

xoxo

Camping @ Teluk Segadas, Pulau Pangkor

 We went camping by the beach in Pulau Pangkor!
#happycamperfaceforrealthistime

But first!
For a more island-like experience, listen to this while you read this post!
You won't regretsss!

-

FAQ before/during/after camping trip :

1. How long will it take to get there?

It's a 4 hours drive to jetty from KL and a ferry ride to the other side (RM10 both ways)

You then have the option of :

a. calling a boat and asking them to take you to the teluk

(RM45 both ways inc. stay at camp ground)

or

b. taking a taxi to a trail and hiking there.

Our boat guy couldn't get us because the water was too choppy.
so we took an impromptu hike to the teluk. Which took maybe less than 30 minutes?

Camping and hiking in the same day! I've never felt more outdoorswoman-ish..almost

2. Is it really camping? Or is it like a camping ground with chalets
where there's a restaurant where you can eat.

Well, it's a camp ground la. So I guess it's real camping.
Like it's-pitch-black-at-night camping. Like don't-bring-food-you-starve.
No frills. Only monkeys (really)

3. Is it safe? Will wild animals come in the middle of the night and bite my face off or Will pirates come and steal your food and expensive facial products?

It's safe! There are quite a few boats and ships going up and down, so I don't think pirates are a problem (no seriously, this question was brought up more than once before we went)

But watch out for the monkeys!They are quick, crafty and conniving. They managed to open the tents and eat 11 packets of instant noodles and half a pack of Chipsmore! They even ran in between us and stole our bread!

Ashley defending us all with her sligshot.

 
I also woke up several times at night because of their endless screeching and chattering.
I thought they were wild boars (wth) apparently mating sounds (??)


4. Clean or not?
Clean! not like dirty brownish murky water, litter all over*, drain leading into the sea,
black sand with remnants of oil. The water is a teal blue! I could see fish! #superexcited






5. What do you eat?
We had chicken, sausages, egg, milo, toast, corn, potato everything but baked beans...
and instant noodles that we brought with us.






6. Is it Cold or not?
No. In fact it's freakin' hot! I was literally sweating in the tent.
Around 3AM, it got alot cooler.

Tip : Set tent facing the jungle and not the sea. Wind blows toward the sea at night.
It will be like a sauna in the tent in the middle of the night if you face it to the sea.
So in the middle of the night, we turned the tents around.


Lastly,
Most important, most frequently asked question!

8. Is there a toilet!?
I asked this question like 10 times before we had gone.
The answer is yes. I took a picture of it:

GLHF.
Particularly scary at night when it's pitch black. Do not go in alone.
Evacuate bowels before going for camping trip! Alternatively, hike 30 minutes up to the mainland and look for toilet.

I went in to shower and I saw a huge gecko/lizard,
I didn't know whether to scream for help or ignore it
....I ignored it #stronglikemountain #outdoorswoman #sohardcore..I know.


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In no particular order;














Breakfast!


Campfire at night


















From insta: Campfire/Best squishy burnt marshmallow.

Best beach holiday/camping trip! :)

* be considerate: don't leave trash around nature-places like this and then complain that all Malaysian camp sites/outdoor places are dirty. Beach was quite clean but there was litter in the toilet. You saw it, ya didn't help one bit.