I was surprised that I could wake up on my own (w/o alarm) at 7am the next morning. Put it that way, I was so tired that i din even bother crawling under the blanket and ended up sleeping on top. The hostel costs included daily breakfast at a small restaurant next door, which supposedly serves italian food. I was going there to have american breakfast. The deco included figurines like this: Go figure…

The day’s itinerary surrounded exploring the Wat (temples) along the banks of the Chao Praya river.  It was surprisingly chilly when i stepped out and walked to the nearby Skytrain station, Asok.

Took the skytrain to Saphan Taksin Station where the Chao Praya Express river boat stops at Sathon (aka Central) Pier.  A ride on the boat costs 13baht from Sathon to Tha Chang, where the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha) is.  It becomes apparent on how impt the river is to Bangkok when I saw that much of the activities and administration used to be centred along the river.  Top hotels have their own piers and boats to ferry their tourists, and ppl live along the river by building their houses alongside. There were some interesting boats, other than the normal ferries.  Check out the super-zhng longboats

Close-up of the engine, fierce!

Unknowingly I have gotten off at the wrong pier, Tha Tien instead.  Now this pier is also next to the Grand Palace, the back of it that is, which is near the entrance of Wat Pho, my supposedly 2nd stop.  Smartly, I walked about 500m alongside the palace’s wall to the main entrance of the Grand Palace.  Talk about doing things in order, so inflexible..

The entrance was manned by a really looking serious soldier. You can see the barrel of a GPMG on the right side on the table

The grounds contained what used to be the Grand Palace, and a temple that holds a small emerald buddha.  Admission was priced at 200baht, for foreigners.  Thai nationals got in for free.  I was reading a travel guide which said that it’s not because the Thais enjoy milking foreigners.  Rather it’s their sign of respect for us being able to pay, hence we should pay.  I rather not pay I tell you.  And unlike Taiwan, NUS matric card here no power. 

The main purpose of this excursion was strictly for photography, so i didnt really research into the history of the place and what-not.

I din regret bringing my 1.8kg tripod I tell u, damn useful for this when i dun trust passing my camera to strangers, for both safety and aesthetic reasons.

Ornamental staircase railings

From the base of a pagoda

On hindsight, the 2nd shot i should have taken another one with the sky properly exposed, and combine with this existing shot, hmm..

Another angle of the pagoda

Wat Phra Kaew in its full regalia

No emerald Buddha photo here cos i followed the “No Photography” rule to a T.  It’s probably less than a metre tall, mounted on a pedestal that’s probably 10 times its height.  A short walk over to the Grand Palace followed.

I dunno, but i’m always shooting guards of honour, and I took some time to do a short portraiture of this guard. I was very disappointed however with his colleagues’ professionalism later, but that’s another story.

Surrounded by xiaomeimei

The marching was never going to be as precise as Taiwan’s, and before this shot, they were laughing n chatting..

Chit-chat somemore

By then, I’ve already spent 2 hrs plus in the compound and decided to make a move to the pier.  Anyhow ate at a kopitiam near the pier before taking the boat 1 pier back to Tha Tien where i originally got off.  Damn lazy to walk under the hot sun, and my daypack’s straps were cutting into my shoulders lah..the bag which i tot would be the most comfortable, compared to my slinged tripod and camera bag.  time for new daypack Anyway this pier is near to Wat Pho, the temple with a huge (or rather, long) reclining Buddha.  As usual, Thais not paiseh to charge foreigners, 50baht this time.  Worth the money i tell u though.

Relak-one-corner pose

All 10 toes clearly seen in 1st pic, notice how small the guy is, relative to the toes

Totally dwarfed!

Wat Pho was declared a long time ago to be the official academy for Thai traditional massage. There are diagrams of the human body on the walls, highlighting the various acupoints.

A shot of the temple, with me inside to spoil the picture..heh

Really regret not bringing my external flash unit..

I left the temple’s grounds n proceeded back to the pier.  One of the hello kitty taxis, i named them that cos of the bright pink colours, heh..

A short jaunt on a riverboat across the river brought me to Wat Arun, the temple of dawn.  The name possibly came for the amazing sunrise shots that u get there, which casts a golden shroud over the temple.  However, i was not going to come at sunrise, or wait till sunset.  So you have to make do!

Was trying to do a silhouette shot but no flash, so ended up my face as black as charcoal…

The tripod proved to be highly useful in self-photography.  Set up tripod, click shutter, scample like mad up the fucking steep staircase and tada

This last shot took me 7 attempts before getting something decent, you folks better appreciate it, ugly tanlines and all

O did i mention that Wat Arun also costs money to enter? 100baht if i recall correctly..grr! 

Wat Arun

Headed back to Central Pier and while going up to the platform of the skytrain station, i spotted this building.

This building is one of the many reminders of the 1997 Asian financial crisis that hit Thailand badly.  The property market was booming with many Thai companies taking loans from foreign banks to build buildings.  The currency collapse caused many companies to fold up, and resulted in buildings like this being abandoned and becoming derelict.

Being not so garang, i headed back to my hostel for a 2 hr nap before heading out again.  My tour guide, Maria said that i should try the area ard Siam Square for cheap and good makan before heading out to Khao San Rd.  Communicating with your guide via sms is a bad idea actually, especially when you need info fast and accurately.  I ended up not finding the makan place and ended up eating at this ramen place at MBK, the hugeass shopping mall (with lousy air con).

Since when physics is ideal? Tuition centre

Took a cab over to Khao San Rd, which is also known as the backpackers area.  Every night, the street is closed off for a nite market that’s pretty interesting.  Thai sellers peddle everything to the angmohs, like braiding your hair, fake adidas shoes, useless toys, tasers and bayonets, and fried bugs.

Following the lead of an angmoh, i paid 20baht for a combo pack, ie. one of each… the stall-keeper was nice enough to remove the bees’ stings and the scorpion’s tail before giving them to me in a plastic bag which he sprayed some sauce on them and dashed a bit of the chilli powder that you eat the Taiwanese chicken cutlet with.

For less than a price of a drink in Singapore’s pubs, you get a small bucket..which is prob equivalent to 4-5 drinks…hardcore!

Got back to the hotel @ 1am and saw the most ridiculous news in the Bangkok Post

knn..fine this kind of amt for wat, he makes more from selling 1 ticket lor!