haadyain bangkok woohooo!!
god i had missed this place so much!boarded a van from penang at 12:30pm on friday. stuffy old dusty van which took us from PG to haadyai for rm25. instead of going through padang besar the van took us to haadyai through BKH instead. the neighbouring Thai town of Sadao is pretty scary if u ask me. I dont want to generalize or stereotype, but there were lots of moslem thais around and lots of mosques along the way. With all the bombings and senseless murders of thais in the moslem-majority south by extremist-separatist groups, u can't help but wonder what would happen if the van get hijacked or something :p.
needless to say, the worry was baseless. reached the bustling town of haadyai around 4pm thai time. The van which took us from PG stopped in front Lee Garden hotel to drop off some passengers who opted to spend the nite there. Mom has talked about this hotel quite abit in the past...cheap buffet cheap rooms nice enviro bla bla bla but since i've never travelled with her before it was quite surreal to see the place alone. To me the hotel looked just a little better than Sunshine Square in Bayan Lepas.
walked around abit before hopping onto the 5:30pm bus to bangkok.

For being a stingy bastard wanting to save, i bought the cheaper bus ticket to bangkok. So my bus didnt come with the stewardass, free drinks and snacks...it's a normal bus with 2 rows on each side of the isle. Thats not the worst part. The worst part was...my seat. I had the backrow seat. Right in the middle of the 5 seats lined at the very back of the bus. These seats were elevated and stand (sit??) a tad higher than the rest of the seats in the bus because u're sitting right under the engine. so..sitting in the middle seat i looked like the King of Thailand..or at least felt like it. The freaking conductor didnt let me change seats although the 2 other seats on each side were empty!. bleh!!
i changed to the window seat when the bus started to move anyway! hah!
the journey was long and miserable :p departed from haadyai at 5:30pm friday, arrived at Sai Tai Mai Station at 7:30am satruday. brrrh. Bangkok was already well alive and kicking when we reached. crossed the highway to the other side, walked for a bit and waited for only 10 minutes at the bus stop before local bus #511 to Banglamphu arrived.
i got down somewhere near phra athit road. thank god i've been here before so i roughly know the places and stuff. Walked along soi chanasongkram to Khao Sarn Rd and looked for a place to stay for the nite. Guess wat?? i ended up at good ol Sweety Guesthouse! 2 years ago they charged me 80Baths for anite..today it was 140baths!! and its not even peak season yet. blehh!! haha

quickly bathed because the van and bus ride made me smell like a barn and headed rite out. splurged alil for breakfast...well ok..alot!! i'm not talling what i ate but it cost rm200 baths but it was fucking good!! haha
a treat for me because i'm working now and i dont have to spend like a miserable beggar like i did before. ;)
Went to a few Wats after that. Not really because i'm feeling particularly religious or anything, but i promised seow ling to donate some money to the Wats on her behalf. Wat ChanaSongkram, Wat Pho, and last but not least, one of the most revered shrine in south-east asia, the shrine of Maha Tao at Erawan Hotel. Haha legend has it that it's where most wishes are granted...so needless to say i prayed like a good little buddhist boy! hahaha buying flowers and candles and josssticks and stuff and going round the shrine praying like i never did before haha. For the health of family and frens. Mom and Dad, both grandmas. seow ling and family particularly her little ones, and of course..i asked for him to take care of my grandpa in heaven as well ;)
Siam Paragorn!! woohoo the spanking new shopping complex nxt to siam square was happening as hell. it's a good place to shop..seriously. prices may be a lil steep but u can almost guaranteed to find whatever u want i swear!! i have troubles in the many shopping complexes in malaysia to look for clothes that suit me.

chao phraya river...the boat ride...getting lost in the thai crowd...drinking coconut water by the roadside, quitely laughing at the faranga' behaviour, the quaint and lively soi chanasongkram.. wow...i've never felt so alive! :)
it's getting dark. khao sarn is already bustling with live..so full of it!
departing for siem reap first thing tmr morning. but for now...gonna go back to my pathethic little windowless clautrophobia-inducing room, get a shower, get dressed the best i can with watever sad wear-items i brought with me and head out to some bars for a good drink
;)
all is well...oh yes.
i'm not oging back..i'm not going back....I"M SO NOT GOING BACK!!!!