Saturday, September 27, 2008

Bangkok 2008 Season 2 Day 1-14: Summary of What Has Been

As you all might have known, I have been summoned back to Bangkok to give a final push and hopefully close the project that's been lingering forever, once and for all.

My return distincts from the previous trip. For one, I am no longer travelling with colleagues (Excluding my senior and the team lead- they have very differing views from me in terms of fun as compared to my other colleagues), I am staying away from the city (To my initial request and to date to my regret) where daily conveniences are not quite as accessible as before, and lastly, a very very tight work schedule.

Unpleasantries aside, situation is still managable and thus far, other than extreme boredom, I can still refrain from hanging myself from my bath room's shower rod (Ahahaha <-- this quote I cut and pasted from Sex and the City movie.), everything else is peachy.

Without further ado, I shall give a brief summary on the things I've done this past 2 weeks. Accompanied with some photos.

Day 1 (Monday, 15th Sept)- Travelling with Air Asia

Long story short, if you are traveling heavy, and if the company's paying, go for MAS airlines or any other airlines. Air asia can get very testy with a lot of travel aspects. I sorta lost my patience when they even charged for express boarding. I mean come on, women and children, senior citizens, the disabled... the management should have the courtesy of providing that privilege to them. Not charging at Rm50 per pax...

Cafeteria, where food and beverages cuts a big hole in your wallet.


A very packed waiting area. I think there's just one for all flights. Imagine people crowding there and flies buzzing about. It's such a sore eye.

The plane I boarded.


I chose to travel with Air Asia this time because I didn't want to go alone. My Indian senior was compelled to go with it because he had to shell out the tickets for his family from his own pocket. And I figured that we could share a taxi when we got to Bangkok. What a miscalculation that turned out to be, in the end we took seperate taxis.


Tried their Nasi Bryani.


It went down alright. Kinda pricey though. Cost Rm7++.

When we touched down @ Survanabumi at about 4.30pm, it was raining. I immediately did the most logical thing I could think of, restoring communication. Paid Rm50 worthed of top up amount so I could inform the apartment manager on our arrival.

The trip to the apartment was rather unpleasant but part of it being due to my other miscalculation. I had expectations that the apartment is situated in a location midway to the city but boy was I wrong. In fact, it was the other way round. It took us 1 and a half hours to reach the place, and in between we got stuck in a very bad rush hour jam.

Reached the place, got settled in a while and headed to Big C (Bangkok's equavalent to Giant) for essentials. Pretty much summed up the day.

Day 2 (Tuesday, 16th Sept)- Day 7 (Sunday, 21st Sept)- Getting Saddled In

It's all about work the next few days. Kinda felt empty without my other colleagues with me. This time I had to liase with a rather demanding Bangkok based Indian senior. Man how I dislike the guy... he's pushy, selfish and he gives me a strong impression that he's the kind who enjoys ridiculing others. I hate his occasional smirks when he hears about others' misfortunes. Something tells me that I will have to really test my patience with this fellar. So far our communications are still alright.

I didn't have the mood to go out on Friday night. The place I am staying at is an hour away from the city and it would cost me a bomb to travel by cab. Even travelling to the closest BTS station would cost me a hefty amount. So I decided to stay in and finished up Band of Brothers with the DVD player I bought on Tuesday night. In the evening I had dinner with Indian senior's family. Aside from the annoying whining, crying and fussing from the 2 year old son, dinner turned out ok.

On Sunday I decided to take a stroll to get acquainted with the surroundings. Just walking distance from my apartment there's Big C, Avenue, and Tesco side by side. Below are photos of Avenue.

Avenue is resembles a high class place with an open air 'The Street' concept much like the one found in the Curve. It's got a cinema, a bowling alley, a supermarket, gym, slimming centres, kids education centres and countless eateries (Including bars). The place really comes to life especially in the evening.









The cinema.


Gym.













How could I forget Oishi green tea?



Bought some dinner at Big C. Cheap cheap but not so good food.


My next day's breakfast.

Sex and the City Movie.

After my short afternoon stroll, I headed to Indian's senior apartment for lunch.


In the evening, I head to IT Square (Equavalent to Low Yat) nearby my place with Indian senior.


Bought some DVDs for pleasure.

Day 8 (Monday, 22nd Sept)- Day 14 (Sunday, 28th Sept)- Getting Saddled In

Pretty much mundane week. Work... new functions... and a heads up on what's to come this coming Monday (29th). Man there's just tons to do and so little time. I freakin hate that.

The place I am working has this market setup once every month. It spans for 2 days (Thursday and Friday). The market's got everything from food to clothing to accessories. A shopper's heaven.


Duck stall.

Sushi stall.

I didn't walk all the way pass the food area. Was lazy and besides, I didn't have the time. That evening I headed to watch Eagle Eye. Good movie.

On Saturday, went out to IT square for more DVDs, and Sunday... back in the office to get surf the net... and maybe work a little? I chose today because there's no one around and I have all the bandwidth to myself.

Well, that's about it then. Stay tuned for more updates. Hopefully exciting ones to come.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Bangkok 2008 Season 2 Day 5-9: Will it be Final?

Friday (Day 5) was mehh... I was seriously considering going to the city (Specifically to Silom for some eye-openers) but there was a matter of hooking up with former Thai colleagues. Anyway, I was ditched... at the last minute. Well was sorta expecting that already so no qualms. In the end, I had a pathetic dinner alone in my apartment with food bought from Big C supermarket. >.<

Saturday (Day 6), ordered in- Chester's grill and pretty much wasted the whole day watching Band of Brothers in my room. Had dinner with senior's family. Didn't quite enjoy it due to the little one making so much fuss.

Sunday (Day 7), senior invited me over for lunch. Before that headed to Tesco-> Avenue-> Big C to scout for some DVDs. Took some photos of the entire Avenue and scouted the area to see what's interesting... nothing... except for the various eateries and cinema. In the end, bought Sex and the city movie in Big C.

Lunch at senior's place was ok. The food was great but annoyance matched it.

Dinner time headed to IT square. Bought a new DVD. that's all though. lol.

Monday (Day 8)- Had to travel to the city where satyam HQ is at. Journey took 1 1/2 hours long and a total of 250 baht. We left our place as early as 7.30am yet we arrived only at 9.15am. >.< Not how I would wanna travel every day.

Supposed to have dinner with ex thai colleagues. But they weren't interested, or so I see... in the end kena ditched again. But... I was expecting it so no qualms.

Dinner time accompanied senior to Pamthip to acquire gadgets. That was pretty much it. I slept at 3am. And an hour before that walked a distance to 7-11 to snack.

Tuesday (Day 9)- I am dead tired now due to lack of sleep. 4 hours... Now right back in TOT and on the 8th floor. So far I am liking the place. Have some privacy because my monitor's facing the wall. and the room is cold... I likey very muchie. Will this be final? I really am not looking forward to hearing news about moving... disagreements... etc...

Will see how things go in the forseeable future. Sorry no photos again. No time to upload.

Tune in by end of this week. Toodles.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Bangkok 2008 Season 2 Day 1 - 5: Adjusting to a new Life... well not so new...

Basically it's been all about adjusting to life here. Yeah I know I've been here before but still, there are certain changes now that pretty garners a fresh experience.

Day 1

Traveling by AirAsia. This is my second time. The first being a holiday trip to Bangkok with best friends. On my previous business trip to Bangkok I was using MAS airlines, and in comparison, I would rather choose the former for convenience. AirAsia is just such a pain in the ass especially if you are traveling heavy.

Every single damn thing requires payment. To the extend of it being ridiculous. For one, it is courtesy for the staff to allow senior citizens, mothers and children for express boarding... but instead, they are charging for that. For Rm50 per adult... I would rather grab myself a nice meal. Even overweight baggage by an additional kilogramme they charge. Really silly. Not to mention they are too damn particular about the hand luggage you're carrying into the cabin.

Overall, if you have the cash to forked out. Go for MAS or other alternatives... AirAsia best suits only if you wish to travel affordably and don't mind the inconvenience.

Too bad for Air Asia, it's given me quite a bad impression.

After touching down in Bangkok, I was expecting the trip to the apartment a brisk. But due to my miscalculation, as it turned out, the journey to Chaeng Wattana is actually FURTHER than travelling to the city... >.<, coupled with the rush hour... it's real murder... Reached the place @ 6.30pm... was shocked... The apartment wasn't as I expected. I guess that's due to me being too pampered from my last trip. >.< More shock value to come. I was compelled that night to do some groceries... the essentials really. Actually, getting a DVD player was my main agenda... ahahaha... Oh well... The day pretty ended with a bore. No DVD player in sight.

Day 2

First day @ work. Was kinda expecting some warm welcome but that was mehh. lol. Started to get bombarded with work... and this time I had to face that old indian fellar who demands for everything. >.< Evening, headed to Carrefour... and this time got my DVD player. Not sure if it's a good one. I had a whale of a time inquiring about the models. I practically understood only 5% of the sales man I was talking to. I am sure likewise it's the same for him with me. ;-P Oh well. New Revelation... I had to endure something that I thought wasn't so bad. My God... the whining, and crying... but I guess it's expected from a 2 year old. But still... *Sings happy songs in my head*

Day 3

Same... work... bla...

Dinner... I was alone this time. Indian senior's family cooked... so I had to grab dinner on my own. Was practically standing for 5 minutes peeking inside a thai coffeeshop/restaurant... contemplating on if I should head in. Well, considering the crowd I guess it should be good. But in the end, crossed the highway and headed to Big C for dinner. >.<

It was also laundry night. Had to wash my own clothes. Not hand wash though. bwahahaha. I will whine if I have to hand wash. ;-P The waching machines downstairs of the apartment only handles 'wash' -> 'rinse'. My clothes were still sorta wet when I took them out... Better post a question to the management. >.<

Day 4

Work... sucks...

Had a meeting with client... a volcano erruption happened... damn blardy ackward... I am a back bencher so nothing sparked out from my side.

Dinner... had it in the office... was watching sarah connor chronicles season 2 episode 2 while working...

Left the office at 10pm... it was raining cats and dogs! My shoes got soaked!!! And it was kinda creepy. The office compound abandoned. Yet it's still the safest place anywhere. Boohoo... no taxis wanted to ferry me... guess they saw me a soaking mess.

Then turned in for the night...

Day 5...

Well will see... Hope it goes well.

Pictures to come in soon.

Toodles.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Bangkok 2008 Season 2

I cannot believe I am headin there again after 2 month stint back home. Journey starts tomorrow. 15th Sep. Countdown till am airborne: ET: 24 hours 30 minutes 45 seconds.

As usual, I shall cover my weekly experience there. Do tune in...