Our 2nd trip to the land of smiles.....

Yes, our second trip to Bangkok in less than 6 months. You might think that we must be nuts to go to the same place twice in a year, much less in less than 6 months. But we need to fulfil our promise to the Brahma God of the Erawan Shrine. What's more, we didn't get to do any shopping the last time we were there. Hence, this trip out to the land of smiles....

Though this was meant to be a shopping trip, we still manage to cram some sight seeing into it. We went to the Siam Discovery Centre where they housed Bangkok's underwater world. Mind you, this attraction is not somewhere off the city or near a lagoon or beach. It's smack right in the middle of the city! Pity we didn't get to take a photo of its exterior coz it was raining. But it was worth going. It's surprisingly big, new and well maintained. Except for all commentaries delivered in Thai, the place is superb!

Another place that we managed to visit was the Safari World. It's a day tour and we had to travel about 40 minutes out of Bangkok. The Safari is good and except for the idiotic bus driver who's very keen to move off (as if the tigers and lions is after him) and not allowing us to take pictures as we'd love to. Still, thanks to my 10x optical zoom camera, i still get to have some pretty good shots.






We saw a lot of animals. There were giraffes, zebras, wilderbeast, rhinos, ostriches, bisons, impalas, deers, pelicans, storks, grizzly bears, sun bears, tigers, lionesses etc etc. I was so excited that I was practically jumping up and down my seat snapping away with my camera!

There's also live demonstration of lion and tiger feedings. How do the Thai people feed their cats? I'll show you...

This just makes me wonder. What would happen if the tiger decides to pee on top of the cage? Also, in a safari, it's the humans that are in cages. So technically, the animals are looking at parades of humans? haha....

I had also managed to feed a tiger when I was in Bangkok. It's at the Marine Park next to Safari World. There were no cage between me and the tiger mind you! It was so exciting and exhillarating!

What did I tell you? I fed the tiger right? I fed him his milk! haha...

Don't underestimate the cub. It's actually quite heavy, and his paws are very strong. Fortunately for me, the rangers had cut away the sharp ends of his claws, so they were all blunt.

It cost 80 baht to feed the cub and take some photos.

And my hubby was the one who's peddling the business.. haha...

Business was hard. One particular group of tourist insisted on having a discount. They were only offering 40 baht! And this particular group tries to discount everything, right down to the Koi feed of 10baht!

The peddler (not my hubby) was so mad with them that she refuses to sell them the feed and walked off in a huff! I mean, come on! Just take it that you are buying some food for the animals and paying to maintain them and the park! It's not much. You won't even get to look at a tiger in Australia with 80 baht!

There were a lot of Indian tourist there. In fact, apart from 2 of us and another two from Oman, the remaining 8 of our day tour group are from India. The park was filled with them so much so that the management decided to play some Indian music, much to their delight. And spontaneously, they stood up at the auditorium and danced! It was such a sight.....

We also saw for the first time - Belugas! They were not exactly very nice / pretty creatures. But they are unique and very cute! I'd have loved to be on stage and kiss their slippery lips! There were two Taiwanese girls who went up and were "forced" to be kissed! haha..

One thing however, the polar bear looked a little pathetic. You'll get what i mean when you see this...

I don't think it's sick. I think the bear may have some form of skin condition or have moss growing all over its body that's why it looks greenish black. It was frolicking around coming to the glass when he sees visitors and sniffing for food closer to his feeding time of 2.10pm.

And I'm sure my hubby will remember this little fellow.

Why? Because this tapir claims my hubby as part of his assets. Why? Because this tapir had marked his territory on Esmo.

Ha ha haa.... You should have seen the look on Esmo's face. It was so hillarious!

After our day tour to the Safari, our first stop was MBK centre.

The mega shopping centre, 7 floors in all, that occupied our whole 1.5 days in Bangkok and resulted in our burst budget. We literally shopped till we dropped. By the end of our trip, our bed was full of our purchases.

Not contented with our purchases at MBK, we continued with the Suan Lum night bazaar! That's where Esmo bought his "England" shoes...

Bangkok is a very nice place to travel. The Thais have their own culture, unique in this world. They are friendly and they'll tell you "I love Farang" a.k.a. "I love foreigners". (Who wouldn't when the foreigners bring money? Well, except for the lot that tries to bargain products / purchases of 10 baht). So if you are planning a trip with no destination in mind yet, why not Bangkok? I know I wouldn't mind going there again - make it a hat trick. 3 trips in 12 months... haha....

(FYI, during our last trip, we went to the Grand Palace, Temple of the Dawn, the old capital - Ayutthaya, Bang Pa In (Summer Palace), Floating Market, Snake Farm, and of course the "Ah Qua" Cabaret show. We still have some places to cover namely the museum, the Temple of the Reclining Buddha as well as a trip to the River Kwai.)

P/S: Apologies to everybody. I'm backdating my blog coz I didn't have the time to update it as it happens. We were to occupied with our wedding as well as our move down under. Still, better late than never right?

Until our next post, see ya and take care!

.... (yawn!!!!)..........