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| Anantasamakhon palace |
January 21/22... Check out again today. We're leaving to Koh Tao today at 1800. Hostel check out time is 1200, so i woke up at 0530 or 0600 so I could have more time with my blog posts. Coffee just across the street.... thank goodness. It helps with concentration for sure (^^). Along with coffee I also ordered some veggie fried rice. I thought I told them to make it very spicy but apparently not at all.... no fun :D. It was good though. Spent the whole morning until check out time doing my blogs. I guess making blog entries didn't seems to be a lot of work, but I guess to write about something meaningful and editing videos and pictures does take some time. It wasn't just about telling people what you see or do for the day, but also what your thoughts are about the events. That's the hardest part I think.... putting into words how you feel about what's going on for the day. That's why sometimes (more like all the time) my blog posts are late, because I want to write something meaningful and well thought of. This morning was perfect. Nice and quiet, with a cup of coffee and Thai nasi goreng (fried rice). Had shower then quickly pack up my stuff (which consists of throwing everything in the luggage and close it :D), then checked out quickly.
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| Beautiful canal at the marble temple |
Some hostels in Thailand will charge you few Baht to keep your luggage for you, but my hostel didn't. Mind you, it wasn't secure at all, since you just leave your luggage under the stairs, kind of behind the receptionists desk. Someone is always there, but they don't guarantee to watch your bags for you. I figure no one would wanna take my dirty clothes and underwear, so I don't mind leaving my stuff there. However, take any valuables with you.
To waste some time, we took a walk to some of touristy highlights in Bangkok. We took a walk to the marble temple, on the way there we passed one of the palace. The we took a walk again, this time we run into the golden mountain temple. Unfortunately, it is impossible to take good picture of how majestic this temple looks because the structure itself obscured by walls and trees, and maybe only visible if picture taken from some far and higher place. Darn... We walked some more, this time we run into the giant swing which is on an intersection, and we decided to take a break on a quiet spot next to the intersection to have ice cream. We were tired at this point and decided to head back to Khaosan and not continue to the palace. When we returned to Khaosan Road, we had few munchies, that was my newly found favorite, the veggie dumplings, and waited for our bus.
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| Marble temple |
We picked up our luggage from the hostel then we head to the agency where we got our ticket to get picked up for the bus. We eventually got on the bus after waiting to pick up more passengers, then waiting some more.... and more :D
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| Marble temple |
The bus was very nice double decker and very comfortable to sleep in, just like my willer bus in Japan (^^). the combined ticket cost 900 Baht or around $30. The ticket includes express boat to Koh Tao. Definitely cheaper than one way ticket to Tokyo from Nagoya via willer bus, around the same distance.... or is it farther? Even if it's tourist price, we could call that fair trade I guess. I would recommend the other way by daytime train if you have time to stop at places and sight seeing before heading to Chumphon ferry port. Ferry leaves from Chumphon port at 0630, 1300, and midnight. However, few companies run the show here. If I have lots of time to spend in Thailand I would do that and try to see places along the way. At 0330 we arrived at the ferry port in Chumphon, there we sat again waiting for our ferry which supposed to leave at 0630.... somehow we know that's its gonna be 0700 by the time we leave :D
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At the same complex of marble
temple |
A little side note, I was quite surprised to find that not too many Thai people smoke. In Indonesia, everywhere you look seems like everybody smokes. Cigarettes quite expensive here, 90 Baht or around $3, compared to half that price in Indonesia. Rarely we saw Thai people smoke, we almost thought they have the same rule of no smoking outside as in Japan...... but then we saw one smoking :D It was quite a pleasant surprise! I'm glad most people took a very good care of their health that way! Another thing I noticed was animals are so friendly and not afraid of people. I think, people treated them good here, that's why they're not shy to come up to people and ask to be petted.... another pleasant surprise !
We arrived in Koh Tao, and right away they have a representative from the place I booked waiting. Free pick up.... I didn't know they have that :D. A bit disappointed that for the price I shared an 8 bed dorm, but I do like how clean the place is. The receptionist was very sweet lady. We didn't have time for Vivian to take his certificate, so we're booking him for introductory class... again. Something to do (^^) better than nothin. I was so hungry at this point because I couldn't eat at the port because the lady already cooked some fried rice with eggs and she didn't want to make something with veggie only... a bit mendokusai for that time of the day I guess. Went to eat at the restaurant where I stayed, not only there are only 2 vegetarian menu choice, it was average tasting, expensive and she didn't take my order cuz she misunderstood thinking I only want pizza which was Vivian's... And of course the attitude was the most concerning, not the fact she didn't take my order :) Whatever, eventually I got it, and able to concentrate a bit to take a walk and check surroundings. A lot of restaurants within walking distance, cheap and they have vegetarian options of Thai food! That's where I will be going from now (^^). It was a bit worrisome to find out there are no vegetarian restaurants here at first..... I guess I can't assume people know that I eat nothing that was cute and alive before ended up on my plate and minimize my consumption of dairy and eggs. Worse comes to worse, fruit always a healthy option too! Booking ticket back to Bangkok was easy, ticket agents every 2 steps, more than combini in Japan !
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| At Golden Mountain temple |
My goal in this place is to stay close to the ocean and not stepping out far besides to have something to eat.... beautiful ocean they have here! I extended my stay another day here, hoping to get to Bangkok early morning then head straight to the airport because I don't want to go back to Khaosan Rd. Hopefully the boat not cancelled :D yikes....
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| Inside golden mountain temple |
I went to watch sunset, managed to get a glimpse of it before the cloud covered the beautiful sunset. Sitting in the ocean water was nice, but I still got chilly from it :D. We headed out for dinner, hoping to go to the restaurant with vegetarian options, but it was packed. I found food is more expensive here, even on the streets. I guess that's fair, since most population here are tourist, and that might be the local's main income is from tourism. I found another restaurant, with vegetarian option for EVERYTHING in their menu.... finally managed to eat Thai red curry.... It's really cute how they toned down the spiciness then surprised of how much chilli I add on to that (^^). If only they know the kinds of food I grew up with :D. So my heart was really happy after getting some good curry and ginger tea.... I think the ginger tea what settle me down (^^). From now on, after work I will have some ginger tea to make my heart feel good.
My opinion is, this place I'm staying right now is expensive for dorm, clean but shit could be better for how much they charge. Oh well, I learn better for next time :D. I was really tired yesterday, had trouble sleeping cuz the rest of people in the room talking loud, but mostly the mosquitos.... will try to sleep ...
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Oh hello (^^).... view of Bangkok city from the
top of Golden mountain temple |
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| The little glimpse of Golden mountain temple |
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Bangkok's giant swing... looks like a giant
torii gate at Japanese shrines |
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| Many stores selling these big Buddha |
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| Democracy monument |
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| Sunrise on the way to Koh Tao |
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| Koh Tao |
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| Fun way to get around this small island ... by motorbike |
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| Caught on camera : Sleeping on the job |
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| Boat taxi |
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| My Beautiful sunset.... |
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| Tofu and veggie red curry... above was Viv's spaghetti |
January 21/22... Check out again today. We're leaving to Koh Tao today at 1800. Hostel check out time is 1200, so i woke up at 0530 or 0600 so I could have more time with my blog posts. Coffee just across the street.... thank goodness. It helps with concentration for sure (^^). Along with coffee I also ordered some veggie fried rice. I thought I told them to make it very spicy but apparently not at all.... no fun :D. It was good though. Spent the whole morning until check out time doing my blogs. I guess making blog entries didn't seems to be a lot of work, but I guess to write about something meaningful and editing videos and pictures does take some time. It wasn't just about telling people what you see or do for the day, but also what your thoughts are about the events. That's the hardest part I think.... putting into words how you feel about what's going on for the day. That's why sometimes (more like all the time) my blog posts are late, because I want to write something meaningful and well thought of. This morning was perfect. Nice and quiet, with a cup of coffee and Thai nasi goreng (fried rice). Had shower then quickly pack up my stuff (which consists of throwing everything in the luggage and close it :D), then checked out quickly.
The bus was very nice double decker and very comfortable to sleep in, just like my willer bus in Japan (^^). the combined ticket cost 900 Baht or around $30. The ticket includes express boat to Koh Tao. Definitely cheaper than one way ticket to Tokyo from Nagoya via willer bus, around the same distance.... or is it farther? Even if it's tourist price, we could call that fair trade I guess. I would recommend the other way by daytime train if you have time to stop at places and sight seeing before heading to Chumphon ferry port. Ferry leaves from Chumphon port at 0630, 1300, and midnight. However, few companies run the show here. If I have lots of time to spend in Thailand I would do that and try to see places along the way. At 0330 we arrived at the ferry port in Chumphon, there we sat again waiting for our ferry which supposed to leave at 0630.... somehow we know that's its gonna be 0700 by the time we leave :D
A little side note, I was quite surprised to find that not too many Thai people smoke. In Indonesia, everywhere you look seems like everybody smokes. Cigarettes quite expensive here, 90 Baht or around $3, compared to half that price in Indonesia. Rarely we saw Thai people smoke, we almost thought they have the same rule of no smoking outside as in Japan...... but then we saw one smoking :D It was quite a pleasant surprise! I'm glad most people took a very good care of their health that way! Another thing I noticed was animals are so friendly and not afraid of people. I think, people treated them good here, that's why they're not shy to come up to people and ask to be petted.... another pleasant surprise !
We arrived in Koh Tao, and right away they have a representative from the place I booked waiting. Free pick up.... I didn't know they have that :D. A bit disappointed that for the price I shared an 8 bed dorm, but I do like how clean the place is. The receptionist was very sweet lady. We didn't have time for Vivian to take his certificate, so we're booking him for introductory class... again. Something to do (^^) better than nothin. I was so hungry at this point because I couldn't eat at the port because the lady already cooked some fried rice with eggs and she didn't want to make something with veggie only... a bit mendokusai for that time of the day I guess. Went to eat at the restaurant where I stayed, not only there are only 2 vegetarian menu choice, it was average tasting, expensive and she didn't take my order cuz she misunderstood thinking I only want pizza which was Vivian's... And of course the attitude was the most concerning, not the fact she didn't take my order :) Whatever, eventually I got it, and able to concentrate a bit to take a walk and check surroundings. A lot of restaurants within walking distance, cheap and they have vegetarian options of Thai food! That's where I will be going from now (^^). It was a bit worrisome to find out there are no vegetarian restaurants here at first..... I guess I can't assume people know that I eat nothing that was cute and alive before ended up on my plate and minimize my consumption of dairy and eggs. Worse comes to worse, fruit always a healthy option too! Booking ticket back to Bangkok was easy, ticket agents every 2 steps, more than combini in Japan !
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