After 4 months..

Uihhh..berhabuk blog aku nih..a lot of things happened during the last 4 months here in Bangkok tapi aku je yg malas nak update. Bukak facebook pon jarang2 ini kan pulak blog..ok la from now on will try to post more often.

Hmmm where to begin? Ok la..about 2 months ago my parents came to Bangkok for cuti2. It was great seeing them, bawak dioarang jalan2 Bangkok including sightseeing, shopping and shopping AND shopping (that will be my wife and mak mertua die) and tasting Thai cuisine. I have to admit, all the travellings I had with my parents, I can say that they enjoy this trip the most even though it was only in Bangkok. It was brimming in their faces and I was glad that they enjoyed themselves.

First day, picked them up at the airport and went straight to Siam Paragorn. Then malam gi dinner at Hi Ma Li Cha Cha, which was a famous halal Indian restaurant, pricey but delicious. Considering my mum loves Indian food, it was a great treat for her and my dad as well.




Second day, we took them to the Jim Thompson place where its famous for their Thai silk. This guy Jim Thompson, an American, revitalized the Thai silk industry in the 60s and made it a profitable industry as it was today. This guy went missing in the 60's while jungle tracking in Cameron Highlands and he's body was never found..maybe its somewhere in the dense jungle within Cameron Highlands, well who knows..anyways we started of with breakfast and lunch with my wife cooked her delicious roast chicken. Then straight to Jim Thompson, spent most of our time there. The thing is with my wife and my mum, they could actually spend the whole day as they went 'kain crazy' with all the cheap Thai silks. Surprisingly my dad was into it as well, and didn't complain one bit. Maybe because my mum bought him cotton shirt to pacify him. Then we went home for dinner. Thai kebabs and Thai pulut durian, it was awesome especially the pulut durian. Orang Malaysia jangan marah, but I think Thai durians lagi manis and biji kecik. So puas gile makan and sedap!







Third day, more of SHOPPING. First thing we took some photos around our apartment then went straight to All Season on Wireless Road for some light shopping. My dad got a Lacoste shirt as a belated birthday present. Then pegi lagi to Jim Thompson but this time is at Surawong, kedai kali ni a bit exclusive compared to the previous Jim Thompson outlet and the prices were slightly higher. After dah puas shopping we all pegi lunch at Usman Restaurant at Sukhumvit 22. Another famous halal Thai restaurant in Bangkok as the food is authentic Thai and superbly delicious. Bile semua dah kenyang, we all balik rumah and chill.












Fourth day, finally some sightseeing. The thing is with my mum her legs are not strong as they use to be, so we took them to the common tourist spot, The Grand Palace and Wat(temple). Then we had dinner at an Italian restaurant and finish up with a movie 'The Last Airbender'. It was bit weird watching a 3D fantasy movie with parents but it was great fun nonetheless.







The next day my parents went home to Malaysia. Sedih la jugak but overall I was happy that they had a wonderful time over here and can't wait for their next visit. Tommorow, few of my wife's friends are coming over for a visit from Malaysia and I'm sure it's going to be a blast. Till then, salam..

Our Home - La Vie En Rose

Ok, fast forward a bit, on the eve of the bloody crackdown on the Red Shirts, I got a call from my wife, telling to start packing and ready to move to another hotel. Bangkok security informed her on the imminent crackdown and the army is mobilizing to engage the protesters. Since our second service apartment, Centrepoint Wireless (after Centrepoint Langsuan..will tell about it later) was located at the Wireless Road (near to Red Shirts encampment) we have to move out or be stuck in the apartment for quite some time. We decided to move out and informed the housing agent that we want to move to our condominium immidiately. Its a good thing too, coz our condo is far away from the engagements. More on that on Bangkok Part 3.

Our condominium, La Vie En Rose Place, located along the Sukhumvit Road, Soi Sukhumvit 36. It's a lovely little condominium with a French influence to it. It has 2 blocks and on each block consists of 7 floors, mixture of 2 and 3 bedrooms. It also have a basement parking, a gym, a nice swimming pool and tuk tuk service. The entrance was gated and guarded like the many apartments here. The condo was also conveniently located at the Thonglo BTS Station.







Our condo is the 3 bedroom version, which was more than enough for the both of us. It came fully furnish, with addition of 2 flat screen tv, washing machine and and oven. Nicely located at the first block facing the swimming pool, which was breathtaking at night. Take a peek below.






Ok, that's it for now, will continue on Bangkok Part 3 soon..Salam and laters...

Bangkok Part 2

To continue where we left off, as part of my wife's expatriate benefit we got to choose any type of accommodations as long is within the stipulated budget, which was quite extensive i might add. We were called by an appointed house agent named Monchaya. She was a very nice and cheerful person with that famed Thai attributes to coupled with. We started venturing out nearby Langsuan area, and as per pics below, they do have nice condo's and apartments here. The only thing that some nice apartments were too cluttered and to get inside you have to go to some narrow roads, more like lorong la, we won't see that in Malaysia coz i think the housing planning is better there. We went to a place called the All Seasons, which was a high rise apartment and it was adjacent to a shopping mall, a 5 star hotel named Conrad and an office tower. There's an RHB bank to over there, never knew other Malaysian banks here other than CIMB Thai. The location was more like living in downtown KL or New York coz it was smacked in the middle of town (at the Wireless Road and opposite the US Embassy. They have a nice hotel liked lobby. But when Mon showed us the available unit, it was something else. I think the owner didn't take good care of the apartment coz is quite dusty and the furniture looks old and tattered. Not mentioning the refrigerator which was really dirty. Aside the bad part, the apartment have an awesome view of Bangkok skyline (it was at 24th floor, i think..) and the living hall and bedrooms was quite spacious. But we were adamant about the place and continue to check the pool area. Now, they have a nice pool, a gym area and a sauna room. Again all the amnesties looked quite old and not properly maintained. We decided to KIV first but in reality we don't want it, hehe..jaga hati agent.hehe

We went to another place called Parkview Place, not far from our service apartment, and it was right in front of Lumpini Park. But to get to this place we have to manoeuvre a bit, like I mentioned before Bangkok are infamous with this narrow roads. When we reached there, we felled in love with the place immediately. The main entrance was like a house which was gated and guarded. There's not even one Thai stays here, all of them are expats and 'farangs' (meaning foreigner). It was a 2 bedroom apartment and it's a low density apartment (only 7 floors). They have a nice living hall, very spacious bedrooms, complete washer and dryer and a maid room. But the main attraction of this apartment was the kitchen which has an attached island style to it. Furthermore the location is very convenient coz its near to my wife's work place and there's the Ratchadamri BTS (LRT) station nearby. Also they have the famous 'tuk tuk' service for free.I was over excited about this place and wanted it straight away, but decided to see other options first. Sadly this was not to be our home(eventually we got a better condo at a better bargain..)



Now, that's the only options that we can view for the day, due to the increasing Red Shirt protesters marching towards the Ratchaprasong area. I can see them from Mon's car, driving in motorbikes, dancing in the streets and blockings road. This was a sign of a bigger event that about to take place in Bangkok later on. Alhamdullilah is over now, will tell you more about it later. That's it from me now, will continue with Bangkok Part 3 pretty soon okeh..

World Cup 2010 about to start. Which team are you guys rooting for? It will be traditional Argentina for me, Diego Milito and Messi are the main hightlight of the team and can't wait to see them in action although I don't fancy their chances of reaching the finals, but who knows.Laters..

Bangkok Part 1

Ok, this blog will chronicle our lives, adventures and activities in Bangkok, Thailand, the Land of Smiles. So, how do we got here? Thanks to my wife, as she got an expatriate position here in Bangkok with her current company for perhaps 2-3 years, maybe more. An excellent opportunity for her as this is one of the many possible overseas posting and I'm along for the ride, hehe..seronok nye! Alrite enough of that, we arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport around 2pm on Monday April 29th and were already excited to find out that there's a Mercedes Limo waiting for us. Wifey was surely happy as she was grinning all the way to our service apartment in Langsuan, Bangkok.

"Seronoknye die"

We reached our service apartment in Langsuan called Centre Point Langsuan. Now, this apartment is a studio but just enough for the two of us and its quite cozy. They have a nice gym, a squash court and a nice indoor swimming pool. Well I kinda started working out again swam a lot too. Nak jaga badan sikit coz sejak kahwin nih badan memang naik. Anyways for 1 month makan2 company tanggung until we settle in our permanent residence. See the pics below.

"Bangkok skyline from Centrepoint"

After settling down in our apartment, we ventured out and scour the surrounding area. Wifey's work place is at the Central World at the Ratchaprasong intersection. This intersection is the premiere shopping area, like the Siam Paragorn, Central World, Gaysorn and many more. Her office is located at Central Tower adjacent to the Central World building, ni kira cam area kat Bukit Bintang la. One thing we like about Bangkok that they have an excellent LRT system. Trains were always available every 4 minutes and conveniently located at common spots like the Siam Paragorn mall.

"The famous Siam Paragorn"

Ok, that's it for now, next entry will be focus on our house hunting activity and the emergence of the Red Shirst protesters that turned Bangkok upside down for nearly a month, all in due time. Laters..