Bangkok 2008 Day 10 - Day 28: A Move to Misery Street

Pardon me, this is a little trip to unwanted memory lane.

Basically after starting to settle down in the first place we stayed in (Bally's Studio located just on Soy 20), we were in a way forced to moved out so our entire team could live under one roof. It was a poorly thought out plan as you will see why.

Our move was to Soy 3 and to a hotel called Unico Leela. Soy 3 is labeled a business district by many. Much to our dismay this so called business district is more of a sleaze street than anything else. More on that later.

Anyways, we checked out at 12pm (1st March '08-Saturday) and was chauffeured by our Reporting Manager's (Yes, the RM is very rich person) personal driver to the hotel. It was pretty exciting at first because I was expecting better/luxurious facilities than a normal service apartment. Boy was I ever wrong...

The first thing that bumped me out was the bitchy receptionist. Not so much as greeting us upon our arrival. And what's worst... no rooms to accomodate us. And we had to wait for almost an hour to be able to get access to one. Then it gets even better, she was practically pissed off by our very humble inquiries on rooms and facilities. What the hell? If she's gonna be like this to guests, might as well get other jobs. Obviously the service line ain't for her.

Anyways... I was led to a room for inspection. Initially we asked for twin share room. But the room first showed to me had 3 beds. And a lot of space. But the downside to it is that it's extremely run down, and smelled of cigarettes. Carpet was torn up here and there... it looked like a mess... Initially I mistakenly thought that they showed me the wrong room (Due to the 3 beds), and re-confirmed. They bell boy led me back to the lobby. Apparently later I found out that they mistook me for rejecting the room. I would say thank God for that, I sure hell won't wanna pay that much amount to be living in a rat hole.

Later another room was prepared and we settled in... and it's 60% the space we had in our previous stay. Which was extremely disappointing and killed the mood completely.

My goal was to search out ways of handling the laundry. The hotel does provide laundry service. But I wasn't sure how theirs worked and they charge a bomb for it. So I was off to inquire from the receptionist again on how to go about with laundry, not surprisingly she acted all bitchy again and directed me to call the laundry number. What the hell. How the hell am I supposed to make inquiries if the laundry person doesn't even speak English.

Anyways, went out for a stroll in the business district and to grab lunch at around 3pm.

Soy 3. a 1-way busy road.

This direction, headed to Nana station main road. At night, lots of sex workers would hang around.

Soy 3 is also where the middle eastern people reside. So naturally you will see lots of restaurants offering cuisines that reflect their culture.

Chilled lamb

I wanted to search for a decent laundry place. Though they offer more affordable prices than tht hotel, their operation hours just don't suite.

Finally got a chance to stroll inside Nana square.

Sad to say... that it's run down. And practically deserted.

Lunch at a restaurant called Chok Dee. Offers Hong Kong dim sum (Bad ones) and Bak Kut Teh (also Bad one)

Self explanatory.

Later that night we watched a movie (27 dresses) at Central World. It was a very disappointing movie (1/5) and did not help lighten up my spirits in any way. Pork Burger @ McDs for dinner and that basically summed up the entire non-productive day.

Central World cinema. VERY VERY BIG. Which spans nearly 2 1/2 floors! Very interesting experience. Before the movie starts, the audience have to stand up for a 1 minute tribute to the King. Interesting experience overall. ;-)

Lots of people flock this cinema.

On the upcoming weeks, we suffered staying at that crappy place. Paid a bomb for our in-hotel laundry service (Cost me over 2000 Baht just for 4 sessions. 6 pieces of clothing per session). Endured countless roaches prowling in our room and even on my bed!!!

Despite various complains and supposed action taken by the management (Particularly the roach infestation), there just wasn't any difference. But the receptionist was a little more polite than her usual self after our initial complains. They even sent up fruit baskets to us and refills throughout our stay.

We checked out on the 19th (Day 28, flew back to Malaysia for 5 days). Upon our return, we moved back to our old place! Which was absolutely, positively, FABULOUS!

Bye-Bye Unico Leela, no thanks to your crappy services. Once is enough to leave a lifetime of bad after taste.

Some comparison between Bally's Studios and Unico Leela:

In Bally's we stayed in an Executive Suite. so did we in Unico Leela.

Features	Bally's Studio	Unico Leela
Rates (per month)	Size 32-39 sq.m Rates[Baht] 2,500/Daily 38,000/Monthly. Bally's may be more expensive on a per-night stay basis. But monthly wise, it's far cheaper than Unico Leela's.	1,700 nett per night. Although we had the half monthly rates going on, so it was cheaper. It's around 1,500 Baht
Fridge, Sink in room	Yes	Fridge-Yes (Tiny one) Sink-No (Bathroom's)
Internet access in room	Yes	No. Instead you are either stuck with their Internet stations downstairs (Which cost 50 Baht for 15 minutes) or endure the countless mosquitoes on your butt while surfing with free wi-fi connectivity.
TV + DVD player in room	Yes and with good variety of cable channels.	No. Just a TV. And so limited channels to watch
Roaches	HELL NO.	What the hell… YES! Grr…
Swimming pool	Yes	Err… Yes… But just next to a smelly monsoon drain.
Gym	Yes	No
Breakfast variey	Not so good. But healthy.	Slightly better. But oily as heck.
Transportation accessibility	Good	Good
Laundry	Good, efficient, and cheap!	Expensive as hell and unreliable.
Staff	Very friendly and efficient	Looks as though they're having PMS every day.
Overall experience	VERY SATISFIFED	Bye-bye.

There you have it. An overall comparison. But just to be fair. It wouldn't be right to undermine Unico Leela all the way. If you do indeed have only few days stay, and that every where else is full and they offer good prices that period, go for it. It all depends on various circumstance anyway.

But long term stay is a definite NO-NO.

Bangkok 2008 Day 17: Sightseeing at Ayutthaya City

For some time I've wanted to do a little sightseeing in Bangkok. Away from the hustle and bustle of city life. Ayutthaya immediately sprang up and Day 17 being a Saturday, was the most ideal day to do some sightseeing as I had the following day to get much deserved rest.

The group decided to hitch a ride to Ayutthaya with special vans that ferry tourists to the premise.

Before that, we started out taking the BTS train to 'Victory Monument' BTS station.

Nana station. 8.30am. I was already sweating like crazy due to the surprising early morning heat wave, and the distance from the hotel.

Victory Monument BTS station

Once out of the station we crossed the overhead bridge overlooking the victory monument (Placed in the center of a roundabout) turned left, then walked down towards the van area.

The victory monument

The van area. After facing the Victory Monument, turn left and down the steps. Turn left again and you will find the van area. Speak to one of the conductors and haggle for a good price.

Victory monument area also serves as a bus stop.

One of the many vans waiting to ferry tourists to Ayutthaya city

The ride cost 70 Baht per head.

The van merely took us to the outside compound of the Ayutthaya city. The driver stopped us at a bus stop where a local tour guide waited. After an unsuccessful attempt to engage business with us (Due to overwhelming pricing), a tuk-tuk drove by and offered a more enticing preposition. He offered to take us to a designated spot for only 10 Baht per person. Naturally, being the cheaposkate peepos we are, we agreed.

Ayutthaya city map. With all the main Wats (temple) being highlighted.

There was a small problem however, nobody had an itenary. So decided to head for Wat Chai Wattanaram (Buddhist monastery).

Our tuk-tuk

Decided to be adventurous, stuck out my hand carrying the handphone and decided to take some above the tuk-tuk shots. Thank God we didn't hit any pot holes/bumps that time (In which later we did very often), otherwise I would have dropped the phone. Then that's bye-bye w700i >.<

Mr. Driver

When we reached Wat Chai Wattanaram , we decided to rent the tuk-tuk for the whole day. And only for the price of 750 Baht, which include all 4 of us.

In my opinion, of all the places we've been to in Ayutthaya City, Wat Chai is the best place. It's big and better maintained compared to the other places. Admittedly we could have enjoyed the place a lot more if there was a tour guide explaining the historical significance of the place. Instead we were reduced to eaves dropping on other tour groups and relying on booklets purchased. (Oh and as well as the Internet. kekekeke, ooo never failing tool of knowledge).

Prang in the center, surrounded by chapels.

The broken Buddha statues

If I remember correctly (Or not) this could be one of the 8 chapels surrounding the Big Prang in the center.

Ceiling of the chapel

One side of the Prang

Atop one side of the Prang

Atop the other side of the Prang. There's nothing inside the Prang other than a small alter with Buddha statuettes

Outer courtyard with 2 Buddha statues in meditating position. There were supposed to be 3. Probably the third (On the left), was destroyed some time back.

A replica of Wat Chai Wattanaram in it's glory days.

We saw this cute Caucasian kid (Probably at about 4-5 years in age) throwing a tantrum and refused to budge. His father probably gave up persuading him and headed for the inner courtyard while leaving his son where he stood. Probably some reverse psychology thing going on. I was sure whilst doing that the father was still keeping a keen eye on his son. ;-P

The boy was so stubborn that he actually resorted to play around in that same spot without getting to his dad. >.< Very very cute... naughty but super cute.

Our next destination was: A place with a reclining Buddha statue! I have no idea what this place is called. Though I know that the Tuk-tuk driver sorta misled us here. Originally we wanted to head to Wat Yai Chai Mongkon, but instead we ended up here. Nothing to do here but drink coconut water. ;-P


Next destination was: Wat Phu Khao Thong (The Golden Mount)

Do you see the tower tilting to the right? as if it's gonna collapse.

We couldn't enter the premise because it was flooded. Very sad case. I would love to see this place closer than what you see above. Anyways, there's a small stream full of fish. There were some packets of bread left in a basket. Visitors could place 10 baht in the basket, grab the packet of bread and feed them to the fishies.

Next destination: Wat Phra Si Sanphet

Surrounding this Wat is a HUGE market that sells lots of food stuff and some accessories. The amount of foodstuff sold here is so unbelievable. And I noticed that food/things sold don't tend to repeat across different stalls. There's just so much variety. Being well disciplined person, I resisted the urge to sample each stall. ;-)

This is a temple modern day temple that houses a huge Buddha statue.

The exterior of the temple.

Wat Phra Si Sanphet and its 3 Chedis

We spend a LOOOOOOOOOOOONG time here. Including a 40 minute lunch break. I had 2 bowls of food... ermm... that certainly squashes the entire I am so discipline remark huh... *Paiseh*

Next destination: Elephant ride. Was interested. But the girls expressed how inhumane to ride the animals. So naturally being a softy myself, I passed the opportunity.



Next destination: Wat Phra Ram


There wasn't much to marvel at here. The place was practically deserted. And the structural integrity of this monument is no longer sound. There are signs placed all over warning visitors to thread lightly. And some places are barred because the walls seemed to be so worn out that they are on the verge of collapsing.

Next destination: Wat Mahathat




This was the place I was waiting to be the whole day. It houses a Buddha head nested within the upper roots of a huge tree. Sad to say I was kinda disappointed. Please read on to find out why.

A structure that's shaped like a Sphinx in one angle. I was quite amused with this.

The Buddha Head.

The tree.

Like the first Wat I've been to earlier, this place was flocked by many tourists. I am guessing it's one of the major destinations in Ayutthaya city.

Why the disappointment? Welllllllllll... mainly because I was expecting a HUGE lush forest environment, with thick foliage surrounding the place, and that the place was coowl enough to just stroll in, and the Buddha head and the tree... Kinda hoped that it was HUGE! But instead it's a live size head... and the tree... well, from the pic I took above you could roughly guess the scale of the whole thing.

That was our end destination. We headed back to Sukhumvit, Bangkok after that. For a much needed rest... and dinner. of course. =P

The bus ride cost us nearly 50 Baht. And the journey cost us nearly an hour or so. The bus sent us to the Mo Chit bus depot (Near Chak tuk Chat weekend market), where we got on a cab and headed back to Nana area.

That's about it. We took nearly a day to cover the place. Although, we have missed out some highlights... you can find that out in the website shown below.

A word of advice. Before visiting historical sites in Thailand:

1) Try to get a tour guide who speaks English. Or better yet... Learn thai and your options would be more diverse.

2) Get a cap, lots of sun block.

3) Know how to say Soo-am (Which translates to Toilet), just in case of 'emergencies'.

For some brief info on Ayutthaya City. Visit here.

Tata for now. ;-P

Ayutthaya map courtesy of http://thailandforvisitors.com/

Bangkok 2008 Day 9-18: Short Update

Hey all,

Due to the extremely low bandwidth I have access to, I won't be able to upload the tons of pictures I have at my disposable this past week.

In short, here are the highlights from Day 9 (29th February Friday)

1) On the evening of Day 9, after work I headed to Emporium, a shopping mall located next to the Phom Phrong BTS station. It's a luxury shopping mall but only 1/4 of Siam paragorn's size. Siam Paragorn being the biggest luxurious mall in Bangkok. I like the food court, it's a bit small, but its decoration's got this very personal touch. Looks mall like a living hall full of books then any other food court I've seen. Very cozy.

2) On Day 10. Was sorta forced to move out from our usual stay to a hotel called Unico Leela. Much to my dismay, the hotel cost a lot more than the service apartment I came from and the facilities are far worst. Although I've adapted to the condition here, still extremely unsatisfied to a certan extend. Lacks a gym.

Took that off my mind by exploring Soy 3 (Where the hotel is located). Was actually quite eager to locate a laundry place because the hotel charge a fortune for wash/iron and there was no balcony for self washing. Noticed that Soy 3, being labeled 'business district', is full of hookers prowling the streets. Seems more dodgy than Nana street.

And the place is where middle east residents settle.

The walk to the nearest BTS station is pretty far too. I started hating the place on that very day itself. Oh well. Watched a movie at Central that night to coowl off.

3) Day 11- Trip to china town. They were hunting for bird's nest and sharks fin. Normally I would object to consuming shark's fin due to obvious reasons. But I guess it's fine this time around.

Later that evening found a hair salon. Found a style I like and might just get it before I return home.

4) Day 12- Day 16- Work... tired... bored...

5) Day 17- Head to Ayathuya (Ancient city). Spent practically the whole day sight seeing.

6) Day 18- None much. Just hung out doing jack. And resting up after the previous day's tiring trip.

Anyway, I will upload pictures once the Internet connection improves. Expect that in a few days time.

Take care peeps.