Just 1 night of IPPT. I did not even take the 2.4km run. Now I am down with muscle aches everywhere. Even got a splitting headache as well. Grr.

My IPPT window is closing soon (read: birthday coming), so I booked a test today. My weak stations are chin up and 2.4km run.

I left work early to go Maju camp for the test. Unfortunately, when I alight from the bus, it was raining heavily. I was stuck at the bus stop for quite sometime before the rain let up enough for me to brave thru it.

After I in-processed, I proceed to the training shed waiting for briefing. Saw Arthur and had a chat with him. There's not much pp in the shed, and nobody came to brief us. After awhile, I decide to ask the PTIs about it. Turned out all of them have already taken the static stations. They assigned 1 PTI to specially take my test. I have done a 1 man test before, it's very tiring. When there's a lot of people, you have ample rest between stations while waiting for others to finish. When it's only you, you tend to rest less. I chosed to do chin up 1st. I got only 4 chin ups, as expected. I need 5 to pass. The rest of the timing are normal except that I did much less for my situps this time. only 34. I used to not have any problems getting 40.

I forgo the 2.4km since I already failed the chin up.

It's the ST701 launch and they are having a free screening of Ultraviolet at 7pm. I barely made it in time for the movie and hurriedly eat refreshments provided.

The movie is quite boring. There are so much things unexplained that you don't know what is happening most of the time. Maybe the comic fans will appreciate it.

1 thing that I noticed is that everyone have flawless complexion. Flawless until it looks like a CG movie. Must have taken a lot of work.

Overall, I think this is a lousy movie. Watch if you are interested in Mila Jokovich.

For more info, read Thierry's account

I sound so swa ku, or like some pimply teenager. But I saw Fiona Xie yesterday when I was walking to go meet Bel after work. She's quite pretty in real life. Prettier than on TV. And she's wearing all pink.

Read about the 3rd day.



Going back today. As usual, we went for our breakfast at 10, and eat the same things as the past 2 days.

[IMAGE: Spotty]

Spotty is starting to like it here. He has not been here since 2 years ago when he came with me for 3 months.

We were given permission to check out at 1pm instead of 12pm, but the 1 hour is not going to make much difference for us since our flight is at 8pm. So we decide to check out at 11am instead, and leave our baggage with them while we tour the city for 1 last time. Sharon and Thierry have yet to go for their massage session.

As we are about to set off, Sotong says that she prefers to stay in the room till 1am surfing web, so we went out without her.

[IMAGE: Dunkin Donuts]

We went to walk around Siam Square area. Most of the shops are not opened yet. We saw this gigantic Dunkin Donut shop there. There are a lot of sitting space and a lot of choices for donuts.

[IMAGE: Interesting restaurant]

We passed by this restaurant that I thought is quite interesting. Looking at the design, I think it should be a Chinese restaurant. They have a ship at the front the shop as the place where the cooks prepare the food.

[IMAGE: Lunch]

Sotong came to join us for lunch. We went to the Wanton mee stall that we did not get to eat the previous day. It was near to their closing time when we reached there. They got not enough wanton for all of us. And the noodles are not as nice as the previous times I've been there. Sharon was telling me there's nothing great with the noodles, which unfortunately, I have to agree. It’s such a disappointment, after making so much effort. Maybe next time will be good again...

After lunch, we went back to MBK. Sotong, again, says that she wants to go back to the hotel, and left. The 3 of us just walk around the place for awhile, getting more snacks to bring back to Singapore, before we too went back to the hotel.

[IMAGE: Hotel]

We had 1 last look at the hotel, and then it's up the taxi heading for the airport.

[IMAGE: Taxi]

This is the taxi that is going to take us to the airport. It's a station wagon, we booked it from the hotel. It costs 100B more than if we flag 1 from the street, but they won't have station wagons on the streets. We are supposed to arrive in Singapore on Tuesday night, and I wanted to buy 4D for 5501 for Wednesday, but I forgot...

[IMAGE: Checking in]

We reached the airport early. It's 2 hours before Sharon and Sotong's flight, but Thierry and me took a flight that's 30 minutes later. The check in counter is not even opened yet even though the queue has already formed.

After checking in, we went in to clear the customs. Sharon had wanted to have dinner at Burger King, but there's no Burger King inside the customs. And she grumbles at me for asking them to go in so early. :P

In the end, the girls got some sandwich for dinner. And at the gate to the planes, we found a stall selling nice looking paos and siew mais. But they are nice looking only.

After boarding the plane, I ordered instant noodles for dinner. Thierry wanted to eat the donuts from the 2nd day. It's showing In Her Shoes for the in-flight entertainment, but Thierry slept thru most of it. I also attempted to take some pictures of Bangkok night view from the plane, but it turns out quite bad, so I shall not post it here.

[IMAGE: Landed]

We landed at the budget terminal. I told Thierry that we can take pictures of us and the plane from the outside. As we were about to leave the plane, I couldn't find my passport, and Thierry went first. I found it after awhile. As I came out of the plane, I saw Thierry standing inside the building, but still within photo taking distance, and I thought he'll take a picture of me and the plane, so I deliberately walked at a leisurely place. He did not take the picture. He waited until I reached him, then he brings up his camera to take the plane... And he uses flash. At that distance, the flash is not going to be much use, and the policeman standing in front of us with his back facing us turned around and tells Thierry that photo taking is not allowed. Duh.

Sharon and Sotong were in terminal 2 and they came over. Thierry's brother is here to pick him, and they gave Sotong a ride while Sharon and I took a taxi home. The taxi driver is really talkative in inquisitive. He asked us all kinds of questions about our trips. And he tells us all kinds of things like he has a wife in Singapore and a girlfriend in Bangkok, how he spends his time in Bangkok, etc. Luckily I get to alight 1st, and Sharon is the 1 who got to bear with him more. :P

Read about the 2nd day.

Thierry beat me to writing about this. Damn.

The girls decided to skip breakfast this morning, so Thierry and I went down to have breakfast ourselves. The food is, again, average. I liked the banana muffin though.

[IMAGE: Thick belt]

After breakfast, we went to Pratunam for some shopping. Shadow is working today, so it's only the 4 of us. As Sharon was looking for belts in a shop full of belts, I was looking around and see this belt that is so thick that it's thicker than Thierry's arm. Sharon later tells me that it's normal. I guess I don't keep myself informed about belts that girls used.

Thierry had been looking for flowery shirts since last year but never got any. He found 3 that took to his fancy in Pratunam. For lunch, I wanted to go eat at the road side wanton mee at Sathorn Road. But Sharon saw this new shopping center called Platinum mall. The items there costs are quite expensive. They can get most of the items at a cheaper price in Pratunam market and Chatujak market. Despite that, they can still spend so much time that by the time we get to Sathorn, the wanton mee stall is closed. !@#$%^&*

[IMAGE: Shangri-La]

We were pretty hungry by then. We walked around the area looking for a nice place to eat. WE settled on this restaurant called Shangri-La. Looks pretty high class, but the set lunch is ok. They have a number of set lunch and we ordered a set each. The food is not bad.

[IMAGE: Siam Paragon]

After lunch, we went to the new shopping center, Siam Paragon, to have look see.

[IMAGE: Siam Paragon]

It's really beautiful.

[IMAGE: Siam Paragon]

It's pretty big too. We only walked around in the first floor.

[IMAGE: Siam Paragon]

This pic should be proof enough that really went Siam Paragon? :P

[IMAGE: Toilet signs]

After leaving Siam Paragon, we walked over to MBK to get some snacks for bringing back to Singapore. Along the way, at 1 of the new Shopping Centers, Siam Center or something, we saw these toilet signs. I thought it's pretty cool.

I spent all my Thai Baht at MBK getting the snacks and tidbits. Sharon also almost finished hers. So we went to change for more. Sotong bought the most snacks, and she packed them all in 1 big box.

[IMAGE: Dinner]

We carry all our stuffs back to the hotel and had a small break and then it's time to go meet Ball for dinner. There was a bit of jam and we end up 20 minutes late. Yong came as well and Ball brings us to this nice restaurant for dinner. The ambience is quite nice, it's right next to the Chao Praya River. I've been to Good View, another restaurant on another part of Chao Praya River, but I think this Baan Klang Nam is better. The food is also better.

[IMAGE: Back to hotel]

Ball gave us a ride back to the hotel, and I passed to them a box of Bangawan Solo biscuits. Luckily this time I remember to buy. :P Yong was asking me if it's Bak Kua again. The last time I told them that I brought them some snack (Bak Kua), they got a shock as in Thailand, Bak Kua is eaten as main course. :P

[IMAGE: Shadow]

Since we are flying back to Singapore the next day, we went to Shadow's hotel to say goodbye. She looks quite happy to see us go. :P


We stayed a bit, chat a bit, took some pictures, and it's back to the hotel for packing and sleeping.

Read Thierry's account

Continues here.

Read about the 1st day.

We are going to Chatujak today. Shadow supposed to join us, but she say she is tired and want to sleep more. We set off for Chatujak straight after breakfast.

[IMAGE: Chatujak]

It's a very big market. It's a very long walk. I managed to get a number of shirts, so it isn't that bad. We had a break at a drink stall at abt 1pm. It's when we restart our shopping after the break that things gets exciting.

As we were walking, Sharon noticed that Thierry's waist pouch is opened. On checking, he realized that his wallet is gone!!

[IMAGE: Lost and found]

And off we go to the Lost and Found counter in the Chatujak management office.

[IMAGE: Lost and found]

They took down his particulars and we gave them Shadow's mobile number so that they can inform her if they found it.

[IMAGE: Map]

They even gave us a map for us to find our way to the nearest police station. Thierry has to make a police report so that he can make a claim to his travel insurance. He can claim about 60% of his lost.

[IMAGE: Rims]

Along the way, I noticed a number of shops right outside Chatujak selling car wheel rims, rims of all kinds of brands. Imitations I supposed. I did not know there’s a market for such things.

[IMAGE: Bangsue Police Station]

The police station is called Bangsue Police Station. They must have handled a lot of lost and found cases from Chatujak. On seeing us, they asked if we are making a police report on lost items in Chatujak. He took awhile to finish the procedures, after which we make our way back to the hotel for a short break.

[IMAGE: My new shirts]

By the way, these are the shirts that I bought.

We went to the World Trade Center to shop around. It is under heavy renovation and has been renamed to World Plaza or something like that. We had a taste of their Dunkin Donuts and Baskin Robins. Dunkin Donuts have a promotion a promotion where 6 donuts cost 99B. There were only 4 of us, but we got 6 anyway. We can save the extra 2 for later. It ends up going home to Singapore with us.

[IMAGE: BBQ fish]

The reason for going World Trade Center is because I wanted to eat at the roadside BBQ fish stalls. I've heard that they are good. Shadow is nearby at Pantip Plaza, so I walk over to bring her to the store while the rest ordered.

[IMAGE: Dinner]

There's not much items on the menu. The fish is nice. The others are nice as well.

[IMAGE: Fried insects]

On the way back from Pantip, I bought for them a packet of fried insects.

[IMAGE: Fried insects]

They were all munching happily on it. They say the fried frog is especially nice. I did not eat any of those though.

[IMAGE: Ball]

We wanted to go to Bed Supper club after that, but the driver told us they did not open until 10pm, so we went to the shopping center opposite for more shopping. On the way out, we saw this big ball outside the shopping center and took a picture in front of it. Looks like Shadow doesn't want to be seen taking picture with me...

[IMAGE: Bed Supper Club ticket]

We took a taxi there. On reaching, Shadow realized she's been there recently and she thinks it's a boring place. She decides to go home. The 4 of us continue in.

[IMAGE: Bed Supper Club]

At first it's quite boring. The bed isn't really comfortable. It's more like big sofa. They were playing trance and house music. We played 5-10 for awhile. Then at 12am, they had some tranny do some dance. That sort of liven things up for a bit. But we decide to leave nonetheless. On leaving, we realize the section that was not opened earlier is opened now. Inside, the color is mainly white, unlike grey on the other side. The bed is also more comfortable. We laze there for awhile and took more pictures before leaving.

[IMAGE: Chicken rice]

We went to for supper after that. I brought them to this chicken rice stall in the Pratunam area. It's right opposite Pratunam center. There's a few roadside stalls but we went to the shop. The rice is quite fragrant. The chicken is also quite nice, though not as good as in Singapore.

With our stomachs filled, we proceed back to hotel to turn in for the night.

Read Thierry's account

Continues here.

We look the wrong plane and ended up in Antarctica. Cold the place is.

Of course that's not true. There is so much cloud out there. An endless stretch of white.

[IMAGE: In-flight entertainment]

The in flight entertainment for this trip is showing 雀圣 2 之自模天后。I wanted to watch King Kong or In Her Shoes, but Thierry wanted that instead. It's only 1 hr and 37 minutes.

[IMAGE: Landing view]

We did not manage to finish it before we land. So I have it paused until we can watch it again after we landed.

[IMAGE: Waiting for Sharon and Sotong]

Sharon and Sotong is taken another flight here. Theirs is 1 hour after us, so Thierry and I have to find some place to wait for them, and to finish watching 雀圣 2. We went to the only cafe/restaurant we can find. A bowl of noodle cost 50 baht and a can of root beer cost 30 baht. Expensive stuff, I'll say.

[IMAGE: Banners]

There are a lot of people holding pieces of paper with names written on them to receive their guests, so we decided to join in the fun. I was using a pen to draw Sharon's name when someone offered me his marker. I declined as I was finishing anyway. But I borrowed his marker anyway when I started to draw Sotong. He even lends me his stack of papers for me to use as base for me to draw on my flimsy paper. Nice guy he is.

[IMAGE: Still waiting]

There are quite a lot of flights to Bangkok at this time and there's a very long queue at the customs. Thierry and I waited very long for them to appear. And when they did, they missed our signs totally and just walked past us looking the other way. Grr.

[IMAGE: Taxi Van]

We booked a van from the airport limo inside the airport for 800 baht. It will only cost us 300 baht if we took the taxi from outside, but it's a long queue. And the van is bigger.

[IMAGE: Hotel]

We stayed at the Bangkok City Suite. It's a 3 star hotel. It's quite clean. It's quite cheap. Cost us only 700B a night for 2 persons. We booked thru the internet, but we only pay on check in. Though there are no shopping places within walking distance, it's very near to most major shopping places by taxi. And most importantly, they have free wireless broadband. I think I'll go back to this hotel the next time.

[IMAGE: Streets of Bangkok]

Shadow come meet us at the hotel and we walked to MBK to exchange some Thai currencies. Sharon and sotong did not have any Thai currency with them.

[IMAGE: Lunch]

It's a really long walk and we got hungry halfway. We ate at a restaurant next to Asia Hotel. I think I ate there before in my 1st trip to Bangkok, I think 4 years ago. Maybe 5.

[IMAGE: Electronic sign board]

On nearing MBK, I see that they have this Electronic LED signboard at the cross junctions. Can't really tell what it's for, probably to inform the drivers about the traffic conditions.

[IMAGE: Chinatown]

After MBK, we went Chinatown. It's pretty late by the time we reach there and most shops are closing.

[IMAGE: Dinner]

Dinner is at this shark fins cum birds' nest restaurant. We happened to walk by and it looks nicer and more crowded than the other shops.

[IMAGE: Dinner]

It's not really dinner. We shared 2 small servings of shark fins and had a bowl of bird's nest each.

[IMAGE: Bird's nest]

The bird's nest come with either gingko nuts or longan. They are very very sweet. I taste of them, and our bird's nest taste bland. Luckily they gave us some tea. 1 sip of the tea and the bird's nest taste nice again. :)

[IMAGE: Flower market]

Shadow wanted to buy some flowers and we go to the flower market. There really are all kinds of flowers there.

[IMAGE: Big rose]

I thought this rose is real big, though the picture can't really show. It's as big as Sharon's hand.

[IMAGE: Outside Shadow's hotel room]

We went to Shadow's hotel for a rest after leaving flower market. She made Thierry and me stay outside the room while she goes in with the girls to pack up. Must be bras and underwear lying around. :P And she should have taken her flowers in first. Standing outside her room with 1 big bunch of flowers I did not buy seems abit weird.

[IMAGE: Beaver]

Saw this beaver at Shadow’s room. Cute right?

[IMAGE: Beaver and me]

It’s even watching with me.

[IMAGE: Shadow’s TV]

Liverpool vs. Everton game was showing on TV. I stayed with Thierry to finish the game while the girls left for Suan Loom night bazaar for some shopping. Liverpool was 1 man down due to Steven Gerrard getting a red card early in the game. But they won the game 3-1!! :))))

After the game, we joined the girls at Suan Loom. We wanted to go Tawandeng for the real dinner. However, none of the drivers seems to know the location of this German brewery. And when we finally found 1 who knows, he told us it's closed for the night. So we settled on eating at the food stalls in Suan Loom. They have this yummy looking Italian pizza stall and we ordered that. It only looks yummy. The rest of the food we ordered is also mediocre. I wish we were at Tawandeng instead. Later Ball told me that Tawandeng do not close so early, we've been had by the driver. He probably wanted to bring us somewhere else.

Finally I get to the end of the day. I seem to have written this entry forever. We went back to hotel after this and that's it. Hopefully tomorrow's entry won't be so long...

Read Thierry's account

Continues here