I remember having the bestest feeling ever on the morning of the 14th October. And why not? The day before, the whole family were at ROMM to witness Marzuki and Juriah’s marriage registration. Then it’s packing for a 4 day 3 night trip to Bangkok.

Dee spent the night before at her mum’s house at Tampines. Ina was in the same area so I decided to get there and share a taxi to Budget Terminal. The inconvenient of no direct bus to Budget Terminal!

After our breakfast at McDonald’s, we decided to check-in to departure area. There, Dee was contemplating about getting a poncho which she didn’t get. Ina was contemplating about getting a bottle of contact lens solution which she ends up buying one. I was contemplating whether to use the toilet there or at Bangkok, which I end up doing at home ground but nothing came out! Perangai. That made the three of us Star Karats. Last to board the plane!

Two hours later, we arrived at Suvarnabhumi (Pronounced “Sue Wanna Poom”) Airport.

Day One: Arrival Day, 14th October

Drizzling weather welcome us to Bangkok at 9:30am local time. But if you look at my face, I was grinning wide from ear to ear. If you X-rayed my heart, you’ll see it was jumping up and down. I text Juriah and mum as they were worried about the weather condition.

Since we are early to check-in to the hotel, we find seats at Dunkin’ Donuts at the airport. I didn’t have trouble counting in Bahts compared to the difficulties I had with Rupiahs when I first went to Batam.
This would be my second time I am travelling with Dee. The first one was when she was still single and we went to Kuala Lumpur for a weekend with a few friends. Now she is married but I know I won’t have any difficulties with her. Ina, on the other hand, I have seen her lots of time but never really got a chance to get to know or hold a conservation with her. She turns out to be gila like Dee and I. Then it is time to hit the road… ermm hit the train tracks?

After like thirty minutes train journey, we arrived at Phloen Chit station along the BTS Skytrain. And another five minutes walk to our hotel. The Legacy Express is a budget hotel but it’s rooms are bigger compared to budget hotels in Singapore and the kucing kurap hotel at Batam. The hotel has it’s own restaurant – Casablanca. Sharing the same building just on the left of the entrance is a 7-eleven and to the right a clinic.

You won’t read about this here but my room actually was prepared with vanilla scented aroma therapy and temperature set nicely at 22ºC. Dee and Ina’s room has nothing ready for them. That left the two ladies more jealous than puzzled.

After settling down, we head out. Dee is familiar with the area so I just follow where she wants to go or bring us. Like me, it’s Ina first trip to Bangkok too. With my pouch slinged, I am ready to explore Bangkok.

Had lunch at MBK. There is a Yana Restaurant – Thai & International Food. I don’t recall what I had for lunch but I do remember I had goat’s milk for my drink. Then we window shop and eventually shop for a few things. Then the toil gets to us, (ceh) we rest at the Star Coffee. I decided to get a hold of Nancy Chandler’s Map of Bangkok (recommended by an acquaintance.) from the book store opposite. It cost 275 bahts, about S$11. The A2 size double sided map is beautiful. (It makes me sit on my bed reading every little detail and tips on it that night before going to bed.) Very detailed and some humour of the Chatuchak, the Chinatown, the Banglampoo, Central Bangkok, the Greater Bangkok and our hotel area – Sukhumvit. Comes with a handy guide book listing the places of interests and the things you are trying to look for on the map.

Then something caught our eyes. Siam Ocean World at Siam Paragon, located just beside MBK.
We bought a 1100 baht (S$45) ticket each. It includes a choice of a soft-drink and popcorn, a souvenir we may collect, (which turns out to be a keychain) a 20 minute fish spa, the “Back-of-the-house” tour, (they let us see where the newly arrival fishes and the sick are quarantined and taken care at) a glass bottom boat ride, a walk through the underwater cannel, (like Singapore’s very own Underwater World) a 4D animated movie (about what humans can do to make the ocean a better place) and endless camera-whoring session. My favourite attraction would be the glass bottom boat ride. The trill about being on a small boat while the sharks swim underneath. But they must get bigger boats, lah.

Dinner at Nasir Al Masri Restaurant and Shisha. The Tomato Rice with Curry Chicken dish is awesome lah. I love it. That won’t be the last time I eat tomato rice at Bangkok.

Day Two: Almost Bankrupt, 15th October

Dee and I read the leaflet from our hotel room about a tour to the floating market. We were interested and give our three names to the front desk personnel. Each person has to pay 900 baht. And was told we need to be at the lobby tomorrow by 6:30am. (7:30am Singapore time)

We went to Chatuchak! We set out early to have breakfast there too. There is a Halal hawker smack in the middle of it. The 27 acres weekend market is a shopping heaven for locals and tourists alike. Everything is affordable (yet we need to bargain) and we could not resist the temptation of stopping and asking how much something cost. At least for Dee and Ina. I have a better resistance against impulse buying. Macam paham… I almost gone bankrupt at Chatuchak after buying a few meters of Thai Silk for my mum and Juriah. I bought a big bag to content my shorts, lots of tees, lots of soaps, trays and a pair of slippers. This handy bag eventually becomes heavy and a hassle to bring on the plane on the way home. Damn…

The girls went for a foot massage after spending eight hours at Chatuchak. I helped with their shoppings and head for the hotel as I dislike foot massage. I do not like people to touch my sole. It is ticklish and if they do touch them during a full body massage, I could give the massuer a ninja kick to their face free of charge.

I took a shower while waiting for the girls to return and get dinner together. I even have time to repack my shopping bag and pick a new “I Love Thailand” tee for dinner.
We got Lebanese food from Akbar Restaurant five minutes away from the hotel. I recall the scrumptious kebab and ice coffee I had there. The pizza was tasty too. Om nom nom…

After dinner we went to the 3rd room (actually meant for Emilda and her sister) to hangout. We had dessert which Ina bought earlier and we recorded a Birthday song for Syafiqah. That was hillarious! I laugh till my nose bleed. Serious sia!

Since Channel V is playing K-Pop once too many times, we off the telly and play songs from Dee’s iPhone.
Then start a round of Monopoly Deal. I have two full sets alrdy (both shown but not complete. I hold the remaining “winning” cards in my hands) and just need one misarable card to appear and I could have won in three moves. But Dee got Lady Luck with her. She won that one and only round. I was distraught! After the laughing session, we head for bed. We will be heading to the floating market bright and early tomorrow. 6:30am at the lobby!

Day Three: My Birthday, 16th October

I was sure I didn’t request for a morning call. Dee did. So the only person who would call the room at 4:50am would be her. I cleared my throat (to not sound like I just woke up) and greet “Sawadeekap!” Trying to sound eager for the tour. The male person over the other line wished me,
“Good morning, this is your wake up call.”
I went “Oh, thank you so much.”
*Slaps forehead*

Obviously front desk had the room numbers wrong because the girls didn’t receive any morning call.

Apparently there is more than one floating market. (I got to know after I return to Singapore. Duh!) The one we went to is the Damnoen Saduak Floating Market.
I wanted to stay there longer to shop or sit by the river and sip coffee but the time allocated to us was just 45 minutes, as it is only a half day tour.

The only thing that left me aggrieved during this whole trip to Bangkok is this – the descriptions on the leaflet wasn’t thorough and deceiving. The leaflet about the tour to Floating Market from the hotel didn’t mention it includes the stopovers at the Elephant Village, the Cobra Farm and the Gems stones showcase. On top of this, the entry fees into these places are not included in the 900 bahts we had paid! Com’on! At least the front desk personnel could give us a heads-up. Knowing things are done this way, we would have miss this entire trip and use the 900 bahts to visit Madame Tussauds instead. Grrr…

After a disappointing first half of the day, we went to Pratunam market. I did not quite like that place, to be honest. The drizzling weather and an empty stomach made it worst. Or maybe I did not like Pratunam because we were just passing through there to get dinner. So I did not get a chance to soak-in the sights and sounds and atmosphere there like I did at Chatuchak. Dee did some shopping (I think she can even shop if the flood is up to her waistline) and started to find a place to eat. A kind traffic policeman ask if we needed help. Then it’s either he gave us wrong directions or we totally misunderstood him. However we did found a Muslim restaurant with a waitress who speaks no English. Just point the picture of what you want to eat and drink. Perangai nyer waitress!

We ask around to get to MBK on foot. Power! The girls did more shopping. Then I found a brown emo looking alien stuffed toy with his hand in his chest. When I pulled his hand out, It comes with his red heart and with he words “For you”. I WAS SOLD! I showed Dee and Ina how cute that thing is. I knew at that point I have need to get that stuffed toy but I also know that I shouldn’t be wasting money on things which are not important. Then Dee took it and went straight to the cashier. I thought she could have bought it for her husband because there is no way a girl would like a hideous stuffed toy. I mean, like really hideous. And I remember thinking if Ali would appreciate that stuffed toy like I would. (Ok, I like stuffed toys and I do know of other boys who do too!) Stop it, ok!

We went to Dee’s favourite cafe – Star Coffee. After a long walk and shopping, I’m relieved to have a comfy seat and sip ice mocha.
Halfway through my Banana Choco Cake, Dee handed me the bag containing the stuffed toy which she bought earlier. Then she wish me “Happy Birthday” Ina even sang me a Happy Birthday song in Tagalog. Yup, in loghat Tagalog. You need to hear it to believe it. A dissapointed morning and an average day suddenly became awesome and memorable in a good way. The stuffed toy I fell in love at first sight with became mine! Thank you again, Dee! To be very honest, I didn’t even remember it was my birthday. Being there at Thailand seem to be a more happening thing.

Smack in the middle of MBK is a emormous protrait of King Chulalongkorn or Rama V. I remember reading alot about him during my lower secondary school days. Now I have forgotten the significant about him. Then, Dee voiced out that uniqueness about Thailand. The only one country in the south-east Asia that never been colonised by anyone till now. The King rule the entire kingdom since forever. She added that King Chulalongkorn, through his policies and acts, managed to save Thailand (then called Siam) from being colonised. All his reforms were dedicated to then Siam’s insurance of survival in the midst of Western colonialism.
When Dee ended her lecture, Ina and I glance to the man that stood his ground right for his people. And there was a feeling of honour in me for him. I have a new found respect for him all over again.

Day Four: Last Day, 17th October

We started the day late, on purposed. After brunch at Nefertiti Egyptian Restaurant, we head for our hotel to fetch our bags. I tipped Mr. Boonsong with all the money I had left. About 10 bahts. (S$0.40) Hahaha… I wonder what he could do with money that much. But I have already treat him a big bottle of Singha the night before. On top of that, I nominated him as Employee of the Month. (Little did I know, Mr. Boonsong ever won that title. I saw a photograph of him receiving an award on Facebook.) Mr. Boonsong is the doorman cum bellman cum security cum whatever else he does. The nicest person from Legacy Express, if not whole of Bangkok.

Mr. Boonsong greeted us with a smile whether it was raining or sunny. Always making sure the three of us don’t slip after a heavy downpour. He is knowledgeable about the shopping hotspots; bargains and well informed about street traffic jams. One night when the girls were having their nightly massage and I volunteered to take their harta karuns back to the hotel, Mr. Boonsong helped even before I reach the hotel stairs. He carried half of my loads to the lift and even use his own lift card to operate the lift as my hands are full. It’s the little-little thougtful gestures from him that made our stay at Legacy Express memorable. Impeccable service by Mr. Boonsong.

What Diyana and Ina don’t know is that when I return home, I wrote in a compliment e-mail about Mr. Boonsong to the Hotel Manager. He replied the next day saying thank you for taking time to write and will share my e-mail to all his other service personals at Legacy Express to boost their morale. Perangai nyer hotel manager. Ingat email aku tu dvd pe? Boleh passing-passing?
I believe in credits must be given when credits are due. Especially for service staff. I know the shit they put up with on a daily basis.

The toll (ERP, lah) during the taxi ride from the hotel to airport was paid by Dee. I’m officially baht-less.
Ok, I don’t want to start writing about the taxi driver. I’m trying not to remember him.
Ina even treat me to ice mocha at Baskin Robbins at the airport. While our flight got delayed, Dee got me donut and coffee from Mister Donut. Thanks for everything, girls!
While Dee and Ina are doing their best to finish up their last bahts (LOL) I started to jot down ideas for this blog entry. But it was much later when I actually have time to publish it.

We reached Singapore 12:30am. I manage to get the last bus home. And all three of us have to report to work in a few hours time. Power sia, kitorang!

First up, Ryan and I watched Sucker Punch on Saturday. Oh, wow! we love that movie. From the five butt-kicking chicks, orcs, robots, zombies, dragons, samurais, war, swords, explosions to the soundtrack. I immediately recognized Björk’s Army of Me. Have not listened to that track for so long now and it made me go through the internet for the Sucker Punch remix mp3. Oops… too much informations there.
Will definitely buy the DVD later.

Then on Sunday, I was on Instagram looking through the photographs by my followers and the ones I am following and I came across a challenge conducted by one of the first friends I made on Instagram – @jwoon888 or his real name, Justin Woon. He called it #makemypixtalk and gave his two original photographs for all who are interested to participate play with.

The first photograph is a policeman with his back facing the camera. The obvious thing I notice about this photograph is the law enforcer’s crease-free uniform.

The second one is a photo of a couple sitting facing each other at a restaurant. The lady is facing the man while the man is looking else where. At one glance, I know this will be a more popular selection from the people participating.

I never participated in any challenge on Instagram before and that makes me a Instagram challenge virgin. I made up my mind to try out and sure am delighted I did.

Late Monday night, Justin Woon picked his winner and it was my entry out of forty three entries. I went through the entries and thought they were good and some were better than mine. Witty, funny and so creative. But sorry and till next time, people, The judge picked mine.

I did not win any prize money or flat screen television (although I sure want to) but for the next two hours that night, the followers on my profile and the likes and comments on my photographs has a steep increase. I am usually not this famous! Haha…

During the weekend as well, I finally listen to the whole of Yellowcard’s new album. When You’re Through Thinking, Say Yes. This is my view and mine alone. I prefer their Paper Walls better.

It has been over two years since I last posted something. Not only I have deleted all the photographs from my Flickr, (and now you can no longer see photos on this blog) I no longer have an intro page on my blog. Yup, deleted that thing too.

Wait, if by any chance you are reading this, I’m NOT back to blogging. You might think I’m kidding cause you realized I just changed the theme of my blog. Well, you are wrong. Damn wrong.
Maybe I will pop by once in a while when I feel like it.

Anyway, I instagram alot lately. Well, fairly lot. That Instagram app you can get for free from the App Store. This is my latest Instagram photo. Please add me as friend there! My photographs are purely mine or those very close to me and they do not mind if I use their photos.

The other reason I am always on my iPhone is because of Foursquare. I reluctantly open a profile there after months of waiting for Facebook to activate it’s Places here in Singapore. Now I am hooked on unlocking the badges. It is addictive still after four-five months into it. I have over forty badges now.
While you are adding me as friend on Instagram, add me on Foursquare too, Please?

Sure the first few days were so hard, so bad. I couldn’t sleep at night thinking of what could have happened to him that fateful Friday afternoon. I hope he didn’t experience lots of pain when he had the heart attack or when he fell.

The day we took the body home was heartbreaking for me. My two uncles and I went to identify the body while the rest waited outside the observation room. And I broke into tears just looking at him lying there in the next room through the mirror.
Mum’s wish to get the body home as soon as possible was deterred as dad’s body had to be detained for post mortem.

Slightly after 2pm, we were on our way home. There, friends and relative crowded to see dad for the last time. Mum said many more came earlier but had to leave for work.

We bathe him, those who wish, place pacai and then set off to Al-Istiqamah mosque to pray. The mosque at Serangoon North was where he was last seen alive during performing his Friday prayers. He managed to finish his responsibilities there as a official volunteer before setting off back to work which is a five minutes walk away. That was when tragic strike.

It touched my heart, how on a Saturday, people having religious classes and those in the mosque all who knew him came together to pray. I notice this one man who walk with a very distinctive limp on one leg rush forward to carry dad’s coffin to the center. I don’t even know that man. I’m certain at some point dad must had entered his life like he did to many other people.

Donations poured in from every corner and stranger. I couldn’t thank everyone enough for their donations and physical help. I felt a lump in my throat whole day and couldn’t shake it off.

Sitting in the van to Pusara Aman made me even more distraught. I recited Al-Fateha non stop and pray for God to pardon his wrong-doings and would place him in a good place.

And I feel bad and sometimes disturbed when I throw away his favourite items around the house. I had thrown away all the wedding souvenirs and invitations card which back dated as far as 1994. Those working watches are still in his drawer and sunglasses are in mine. We went through his letters looking for any outstanding bills or fee during his life. Alhamdulillah, there were none.

Dad’s shirts, two bags full, were given away to my uncle in Selangor. We all gathered at home yesterday for a forty-day tahlil. Mum even gave away dad’s fishing net which I did not see him use even once. Earlier, dad’s two keris were also given away.

At the same time I felt truly blessed that we still manage to spend this year Hari Raya as a family of four. I still manage to seek forgiveness in the morning for Eid Fitri and truly hope didn’t make him worry about me so much. A week before the incident, we manage to witness the wedding of my cousin.

It’s amazing how a major incident manage to budge all good emotions into one massive misery. But life needs to move on.

The pieces are crunchy corn and oat rings, filled with graham cracker bits, crispy rice and honey in the middle.

Second on the fav list is Nestle’s Koko Krunch. Not the dual with white chocolate, just the plain chocolate one. And I have my cereal with strawberry milk.

I’ve been bringing a big bag everywhere I go. It’s convenient. I can carry my sweater, books, toiletries or whatever I need to bring around.
On top of that, I can put in groceries if I happen to do some small shopping. I’ve been doing this since two years back when topic about global warming started to arise and became a problem.
I’ve heard about patrons are charged an additional ten cents on every first Wednesday of each month, which also known as Bring Your Own Bag Day, if they request or need a plastic bag for their groceries.

It was just past midnight, on Monday morning, when I was at the NTUC Buangkok Central. I was charged $5.60 for my bread and milk and when I gave the cashier exact amount, he returned 10 cents. My first thought was maybe I mistook a twenty cents coin for a ten.
I grab my things, stuff them in my bag together with the receipt (I’m the kind of customer who takes his receipt if he’s given.) and went home.
It was then I noticed on the receipt that the cashier gave me a discount for bringing my own bag!

I don’t know how long this discount for bringing your own bag has been going on but this is my first encounter.
I’m Jakun

Oh, wait, I’m not done! Today is my birthday! I got a slice of Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf cake from Nurdiyana and Emilda at work yesterday.
Today, I woke up early to catch Max Payne the movie. I have been waiting for it! Then Mak, Adek and I had dinner together at Arnold’s. When we got back, Ayah got a cake and we took pictures. That’s it! I’m done now.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri. Maaf zahir dan batin.

Professional ketupat weavers – Mum and Adek.

Adek had idea from Mum’s fruit cake. She substituted the mix fruits with Hershey’s syrup and bakes her own Hershey’s Choco Cake. It was done just after buka and we all got a chance to taste it. I applause her for baking it from stretch although it was slightly weak on the taste bud. But hey, she did it from stretch!

Then it was my turn to spend some time in the kitchen to make some cupcakes. They smell and taste just ok but failed miserably for presentation.
I misread the quantity of eggs, milk and oil and my cupcakes rise while baking but flat out after cooling down.

The top one is blueberry cupcakes; bottom is nutella filled vanilla cupcakes; and on the left is nutella cupcake which suck the most.