Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Bangkok Valentine's Weekend: Day 3

It's our third day and we realized that we haven't gone to any cultural site. We haven't really had "tourist photos" for this trip so far. So we decided to finally visit some temples. I did a bit of research before going to Bangkok, and we decided to visit 2-3 cultural sites, just to have some "touristic" photos haha! It's the adjective I use to describe photos that prove we're really tourists.:))

We took a cab to the area where the tourist attractions are. There's this area where most of the temples and authentic Thai restos are situated, and they're all near each other. We're supposed to go to the Grand Palace, but it's so "grand" that we were able to see some parts of it outside that we didn't need to enter anymore haha. Well maybe we're just too lazy 'cause of the scorching heat of the sun. It's 36 to 37 degrees that time. And besides, we've heard from a friend that entrance fee was relatively high. So we had lunch at a resturant outside Wat Pho. We had really yummy and affordable lunch. I love Thai food!:)

 photo IMG_7237_zpsdf1d7132.jpg
 photo IMG_7236_zpsd0e68f64.jpg



After lunch, we finally entered Wat Pho, or the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. It's the biggest Buddha in Thailand, and it's uhm yeah, reclining. Just a reminder, don't wear shorts and sleeveless, unless you wanna wear green robes as if you're inside a spa, just like us. LOL! Anyway, we paid 100 baht as an entrance fee. That's inclusive of a free bottle of water. After a few photos in and out the temple, we're done.

 photo IMG_7240_zps32b5798f.jpg
 photo IMG_7244_zpsc5601185.jpg
 photo DSC08676_zps13785798.jpg
filling the containers with coins
 photo IMG_7249_zps09534fcc.jpg
don't wear shorts or you'll look like this :))
 photo IMG_7262_zps7892c626.jpg
 photo DSC08683_zps72173fec.jpg
 photo DSC08688_zps98342892.jpg
 photo DSC08687_zps9acaeb3c.jpg


We took a tuktuk to the other side of the Chao Phraya River in order to get to Wat Arun or the Temple of Dawn. We paid 100 baht. It's relatively a fair price because the distance was kinda far. But be careful because some tuktuk drivers are taking advantage of tourists by charging more. Another option is to take a ferry crossing the river, which costs a lot cheaper, like 15 baht each. However, it's so hot and we we're already so tired trying to find the port. So to just get away with it, and for experience purposes, we just took the tuktuk. Anyway, entrance fee for Wat Arun is 50 baht. We had to rent sarong (long skirt) for 20 baht each since we're wearing shorts. The place was so nice, and everything's intricately designed. However, we were not able to climb really far because the steps were so steep and we're really scared of heights. So after reaching 1/4 of it (not even halfway up haha), we already went down.

 photo IMG_7265_zps7dd43a69.jpg
 photo IMG_7267_zps0a2d6c04.jpg
 photo IMG_7269_zpse67b45d4.jpg
 photo IMG_7272_zps797faa22.jpg
 photo IMG_7276_zps2fb59788.jpg
 photo IMG_7277_zps5e6d2855.jpg
 photo IMG_7279_zps354a8361.jpg
 photo IMG_7282_zps58b44a58.jpg
 photo IMG_7285_zps764d6305.jpg
 photo DSC07949_zps5963869e.jpg
 photo DSC07946_zpsddf5f4ad.jpg


Then we headed back to the hotel. While waiting for Dr. Sopon, who will be sending us to the airport, we stepped out to find something cheap to eat. Then we walked towards the direction where food stalls can be found. We tried one food cart that sells noodles. We couldn't understand anything on the photos and the vendors weren't English speakers so we just pointed the photos of our order (no idea what those were). Then it was cooked on the spot. For 30 baht, we tasted really yummy Thai noodles! It's just a cart on the side of the street, yet a lot were stopping by to grab something to it. The we got some dessert from 7-Eleven. Well it's really a cheap yet awesome dinner for us.

 photo IMG_7294_zps9f377f12.jpg

We went back to the hotel and Dr. Sopon finally arrived. He drove us to the airport. What a nice person, really! He's very down to earth despite all of his achievements. Anyway, we checked in kinda early so we explored Duty Free a bit. We bought some snacks that we ate right before boarding. At around midnight, we boarded the plane...and POOF! We're back to reality! Weekend's over. Time really flies so fast when you're having fun.:)

 photo IMG_7295_zps1908752d.jpg
i want!!!

Here's our Day 3 expenses:

1. Transportation (including toll) - ThB 500
2. Meals (lunch, snacks, dinner) - ThB 500
3. Entrance Fees - ThB 150
TOTAL: ThB 1,150 or PhP 1,620 (Php 810 each)

Here's to sum up our INDIVIDUAL expenses in our 3-day trip to Bangkok (not including shopping expenses), with free accommodation, some friends treating us to dinner/drinks and some free rides:

1. Airfare - PhP 7,000
2. Tax/Terminal fee - PhP 2,170 
3. Arrival - Php 328
4. Day 1 - PhP 975
5. Day 2 - PhP 1,813
6. Day 3 - PhP 810
TOTAL: Php 13,096

*If we had to pay for our accommodation at PhP 1,000 per night for 2 pax, that would've cost us PhP 3,000 for 3 nights, or PhP 1,500 per pax, so it's gonna be a total of PhP 16K.

The bulk of the cost is attributed to the airfare, which at that time was already on seat sale. If it wasn't, original price would've been Php 12K + tax for a roundtrip flight.

Anyway, it was a fun weekend. It's quite short but I don't think there's much to see there. It's really shopping and my Thai friends that would keep me coming back to BKK. Next time, we'll try Pattaya and Phuket for the beach. :)

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Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Bangkok Valentine's Weekend: Day 3

It's our third day and we realized that we haven't gone to any cultural site. We haven't really had "tourist photos" for this trip so far. So we decided to finally visit some temples. I did a bit of research before going to Bangkok, and we decided to visit 2-3 cultural sites, just to have some "touristic" photos haha! It's the adjective I use to describe photos that prove we're really tourists.:))

We took a cab to the area where the tourist attractions are. There's this area where most of the temples and authentic Thai restos are situated, and they're all near each other. We're supposed to go to the Grand Palace, but it's so "grand" that we were able to see some parts of it outside that we didn't need to enter anymore haha. Well maybe we're just too lazy 'cause of the scorching heat of the sun. It's 36 to 37 degrees that time. And besides, we've heard from a friend that entrance fee was relatively high. So we had lunch at a resturant outside Wat Pho. We had really yummy and affordable lunch. I love Thai food!:)

 photo IMG_7237_zpsdf1d7132.jpg
 photo IMG_7236_zpsd0e68f64.jpg



After lunch, we finally entered Wat Pho, or the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. It's the biggest Buddha in Thailand, and it's uhm yeah, reclining. Just a reminder, don't wear shorts and sleeveless, unless you wanna wear green robes as if you're inside a spa, just like us. LOL! Anyway, we paid 100 baht as an entrance fee. That's inclusive of a free bottle of water. After a few photos in and out the temple, we're done.

 photo IMG_7240_zps32b5798f.jpg
 photo IMG_7244_zpsc5601185.jpg
 photo DSC08676_zps13785798.jpg
filling the containers with coins
 photo IMG_7249_zps09534fcc.jpg
don't wear shorts or you'll look like this :))
 photo IMG_7262_zps7892c626.jpg
 photo DSC08683_zps72173fec.jpg
 photo DSC08688_zps98342892.jpg
 photo DSC08687_zps9acaeb3c.jpg


We took a tuktuk to the other side of the Chao Phraya River in order to get to Wat Arun or the Temple of Dawn. We paid 100 baht. It's relatively a fair price because the distance was kinda far. But be careful because some tuktuk drivers are taking advantage of tourists by charging more. Another option is to take a ferry crossing the river, which costs a lot cheaper, like 15 baht each. However, it's so hot and we we're already so tired trying to find the port. So to just get away with it, and for experience purposes, we just took the tuktuk. Anyway, entrance fee for Wat Arun is 50 baht. We had to rent sarong (long skirt) for 20 baht each since we're wearing shorts. The place was so nice, and everything's intricately designed. However, we were not able to climb really far because the steps were so steep and we're really scared of heights. So after reaching 1/4 of it (not even halfway up haha), we already went down.

 photo IMG_7265_zps7dd43a69.jpg
 photo IMG_7267_zps0a2d6c04.jpg
 photo IMG_7269_zpse67b45d4.jpg
 photo IMG_7272_zps797faa22.jpg
 photo IMG_7276_zps2fb59788.jpg
 photo IMG_7277_zps5e6d2855.jpg
 photo IMG_7279_zps354a8361.jpg
 photo IMG_7282_zps58b44a58.jpg
 photo IMG_7285_zps764d6305.jpg
 photo DSC07949_zps5963869e.jpg
 photo DSC07946_zpsddf5f4ad.jpg


Then we headed back to the hotel. While waiting for Dr. Sopon, who will be sending us to the airport, we stepped out to find something cheap to eat. Then we walked towards the direction where food stalls can be found. We tried one food cart that sells noodles. We couldn't understand anything on the photos and the vendors weren't English speakers so we just pointed the photos of our order (no idea what those were). Then it was cooked on the spot. For 30 baht, we tasted really yummy Thai noodles! It's just a cart on the side of the street, yet a lot were stopping by to grab something to it. The we got some dessert from 7-Eleven. Well it's really a cheap yet awesome dinner for us.

 photo IMG_7294_zps9f377f12.jpg

We went back to the hotel and Dr. Sopon finally arrived. He drove us to the airport. What a nice person, really! He's very down to earth despite all of his achievements. Anyway, we checked in kinda early so we explored Duty Free a bit. We bought some snacks that we ate right before boarding. At around midnight, we boarded the plane...and POOF! We're back to reality! Weekend's over. Time really flies so fast when you're having fun.:)

 photo IMG_7295_zps1908752d.jpg
i want!!!

Here's our Day 3 expenses:

1. Transportation (including toll) - ThB 500
2. Meals (lunch, snacks, dinner) - ThB 500
3. Entrance Fees - ThB 150
TOTAL: ThB 1,150 or PhP 1,620 (Php 810 each)

Here's to sum up our INDIVIDUAL expenses in our 3-day trip to Bangkok (not including shopping expenses), with free accommodation, some friends treating us to dinner/drinks and some free rides:

1. Airfare - PhP 7,000
2. Tax/Terminal fee - PhP 2,170 
3. Arrival - Php 328
4. Day 1 - PhP 975
5. Day 2 - PhP 1,813
6. Day 3 - PhP 810
TOTAL: Php 13,096

*If we had to pay for our accommodation at PhP 1,000 per night for 2 pax, that would've cost us PhP 3,000 for 3 nights, or PhP 1,500 per pax, so it's gonna be a total of PhP 16K.

The bulk of the cost is attributed to the airfare, which at that time was already on seat sale. If it wasn't, original price would've been Php 12K + tax for a roundtrip flight.

Anyway, it was a fun weekend. It's quite short but I don't think there's much to see there. It's really shopping and my Thai friends that would keep me coming back to BKK. Next time, we'll try Pattaya and Phuket for the beach. :)

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