Typo Error

Typographical error. Is it really important in this wonderful world of blogging? Some might say that it is and some may say not so much. I’m an OC (obsessive compulsive) when it comes to perfection. I double-check everything. So people type their posts blogger’s new post field, while I write my post initially in ms word and then just cut and paste it in blogger.com for posting. Thus, I can see if I typed the words wrongly right after I wrote them. Blogger has a spelling check of course … I still use that. After I pasted the words I’ve written in ms word, I still double-checked it with Blogger’s spelling check. And after that, I proofread my post just in case I missed out on something. I want my posts to be clear and error free… but of course I’m only human and error is inevitable.

Today I received an email from my friend Claude. The content was familiar and I received this email before. But just wanted to share it with you guys...

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer inwaht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas thought slpeling was ipmornatt.

See? Come to think of it, typo error is actually irrelevant since our brain can still understand what we post even if its garbled. We’ll the downside is that you should make sure that the first and last letters of the word is in its correct place so this can work. Nonetheless, I’m still amazed how our brain works.

Thailand Scrapbook: Day Four

 Breakfast at Montien Hotel

Our last day was a more relaxed atmosphere. This is the last time that we’ll enjoy the delicious American/Asian and Continental buffet breakfast at Montien Hotel so we all have our shares of 2nd and 3rd rounds at the buffet table. Foods in Bangkok are delicious. Whether it’s their street food (chicken butt, porkballs, chaa dam yen (iced tea with ground tamarind seed) and bread dipped in a creamy green sauce that I don’t know the name but equally delicious), their fresh fruits or their hot and spicy main courses, it’s guaranteed to be superb! I’m surely going to miss The Pizza Company’s excellent pizza and the authentic taste of Thai cuisines. I guess Thailand captured my heart through my stomach and not to mention my love for shopping. I truly enjoyed discovering Thailand’s culture, their history, the people, and the food. The authentic Thai Massage is like no other; it is a must for every person that lands in this country to experience it.

our home in Bangkok, Montien Hotel

After breakfast, we did some more shots of the hotel and went back to our room to get ready. I have luckily been able to fit everything in my luggage.. Almost. I have to use my backpack to put some of my stuff that can no longer fit in my luggage and a paper bag for some more take homes. I arrived in Bangkok with 1 luggage but I’m leaving with an additional backpack and paper bag :-) At 10:30 a.m. our ride to the airport has arrived. This is it... its good bye for now... but I hope to see it all again soon. In our honeymoon maybe.

our last group shot at Bangkok Int'l Airport

Thailand Scrapbook: Day Three

at the Skytrain after our shopping at Chatuchak

Its shopping time! I usually stay in bed until 11am on a Saturday but this weekend is different since I’m in Bangkok. It’s actually our most awaited day because it’s when the weekend market of Thailand opens its doors to the buying public. Chatuchak is the largest of its type in the world. And it is probably the most diverse. It is over 26 acres and 100,000 square meters in area. It’s so BIG, my feet sore already and we haven’t covered one fourth of the market yet. We went there in groups but eventually lost track of each other. Good thing I was with Baet and Maya and my phone was on roaming so we just sent SMS message to meet up at the Skytrain by 2pm. I bought some of my "pasalubong" there, some dried squid with chili and honey, T-shirts with "Thailand" printed on them, Adrian and my brother’s backpacks. I also bought a fancy ring for myself :-) So many great finds there, anything you can think of buying is there. I also discovered how the Thais are so creative, most of the shirts (for women) are hand painted or have beads on them (all hand made) I even saw this lady painting on a black shirt and selling them for 250 Baht. Some goods are cheap and some are not, you need to bargain if you want to buy the items for less. All sweaty and drained, we head to Mo Chit station to meet our friends. Kimchi and Kim still want to shop so they went to Pratunam and we went back to the hotel and had dinner. Take out some food from KFC and brought it to the hotel. After freshening up and changing into new shirts, we headed to the malls near our hotel, Robinsons and Central. Afterwards we went to MBK again and meet up with Kim and Kimchi who has not yet eaten lunch.

Anna's Cafe, delicious dining in Bangkok

Its already 7:30 and we went to Anna’s Café to eat dinner. A highly recommended restaurant by my friends who already have eaten there. We actually asked personnel from the hotel for directions on how to go to the restaurant but for some reasons we ended up in All Season, which is a condominium. We went inside and asked someone around where the nearest Anna’s Café and luckily a walking distance from where we are there is an Anna's Café. As we enter the building, its seems to be a fine dining restaurant but after looking into the menu the prices are affordable so we went ahead and ordered. We are so excited and eager to taste an authentic Thai food and we didn’t fail our tastes buds because the food was so delicious. I’m definitely going back here in my next visit.

Last minute shopping at Suan-Lum

After filling our stomach with yummy dinner. We continued our shopping spree at Suan-Lum Night Bazaar. Where I did my last minute shopping. I actually bought more stuff here than in Chatuchak. Prices are just the same; you just need to learn how to haggle. And my spiel that worked from me so I can get a big discount is that” I’m leaving tomorrow and I really want to get this for my friend/family back home” and with some sweet innocent smile, they gave in to the price that I haggled for. :-) Some merchants even recognize that we are from the Philippines and when I asked how come they could tell, some said its how we speak and some says how we haggle for the goods…always at 50% or even lower. For me, Thailand is not just a neighboring country rich in culture but a country of great, softspoken people, and a Shopping mecca to all Shopaholic. Becky Bloomwood-Brandon will surely love this country.. right Sofie?

And now the challenge! How to fit all the things that I bought in my luggage and not go over the required limit? Good Luck to all of us!

Thailand Scrapbook: Day Two

 The Ayuthaya Cruise 

After having our hearty all you can eat American/Asian/Continental Buffet breakfast, we are off to our Ayuthaya tour and the river cruise thereafter. Our first stop was the Bang Pa-In Summer Palace, built during the Ayuthaya era. The palace is beautifully decorated in both traditional Chinese and European style. It was said to be the Palace where the Royal Family of Thailand stays during the summer. But today, the palace is only used infrequently, and mostly for state occasions rather than as a royal summer residence. The landscape and the houses are truly a beautiful sight to see. We circled the Palace and went inside some of open houses. Kimchi even fed the turtles and the fishes in the pond.

At the Bang Pa-In Summer Palace

The Ruins at Wat Maha That

An hour later, we are off to our next destination, the ancient city of Ayuthaya. The former Thai capital for over 400 years, which was the center of trade between Thailand and other countries before it was destroyed. Nowadays the glory and the beauty of the grand palace and Temples in the past vanished leaving merely a glimpse of ruins, despite this it is a good reflection of the past. Our second stop was Wat Maha That. Over 600 years old, Wat Maha That was the heart and soul of the Ayuthaya people. It was almost completely destroyed by the Burmese during Thai-Burmese war. Then we went to Wat Na Phra Mane: which remains in perfect conditions, as it was used as the Burmese headquarters. This is the only temple that they didn’t destroy. Next we went to Wat Lokayasutharam, which has a mysterious past, because its origins are unknown. The temple enshrines a Largest Reclining Buddha Image, which was built during the early period of the Ayuthaya Region.

With the River Sun Cruise Captain

Afterwards, we depart for the River Sun Cruise, at the river sun Traditional Thai style pier at Wat Pho Taeng Nua. Lunch was already being served when we embark. Food was ok, I guess I’m to tired to notice what I ate. One thing that I remembered is that the fruits were delicious. Their guava is so sweet as well as the pomelo. After Lunch we just seated there and enjoyed the view but after a while to chit-chatting, I was getting sleepy and I did actually sleep with my head slumped on the table. And so at last, its time for a coffee break and we’ll be off the boat soon. But before we head the dock, we went to the deck and took some pictures.

We went back to the hotel to freshen up from our day’s tour and our guides picked us up to get a Thai massage, which we all needed after a tiring day. I was so excited to have my first authentic Thai massage. We had our massage at Body Relax, for 300 Baht you can already enjoy a two-hour massage. And they also give you jasmine tea to drink before finishing the massage. My masseuse, Pau was very kind and did a great job on my back and thigh. When I go back to Bangkok, I’ll surely visit this place again.

After our relaxing Thai Massage

Dinner at Suan-Lum Night Bazaar with L-R: 

KimChi, Tinette, Maya, Myself, Kim, Raffy and Baet

We then went to Suan-Lum Night Bazaar to start our shopping for “pasalubong” to our friends and families at home. For some reason, I was too relaxed and not in the mood for shopping. I want to go home and sleep. But I just went along with them. I just bought a string pants with elephant print. That’s it, while the other have plastic bags, left and right. We ate dinner around 11p.m. in one of the open restaurants in Suan-Lum. And the shopping didn’t end their, as we saw some stores are not yet close, we continued our walk around the bazaar. We left the night bazaar around 12:30 am and head to our hotel. We need to recharge for the whole day of shopping tomorrow.

Thailand Scrapbook: Day One

I’m back from Bangkok and excited to share with you our experience. The humid temperature didn’t stand in our way to experience Bangkok’s day and night life. Due to time constraints, I’m only able to do a post about our first day in Thailand. I will post succeeding days when time permits… I also miss my daily blog reads. I’ll try to cover as much reading as possible. Please bear with me my blogger friends.

Day 1:

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Left the house around 6:15 a.m. My brother drove me to the airport and we picked up Kim (my hotel roommate) along the way at the nearby gasoline station. We arrived in the airport at 7:30 am. Kimchi, Baet and Riggay are already waiting for us in the entrance. We waited for the others to arrive and finally around 8 a.m., we decided to check in. I presented my tempo miles card that I printed out… ahhh, my first 1,300+ miles :) Anyway, while waiting for boarding, we talked about our itinerary and what we plan to buy there. Oh we are all so excited. Winnie was talking on the phone most of the time... Hehehe, I guess she’s taking advantage of her last few hours in Manila to talk to JR. By 10:15, we aboard PAL Airbus 330 and I was seated beside Kim and Kimchi. Food was ok, movie shown was “Shall We Dance” but I slept through half of the film, I was so sleepy … waking up at 5 a.m. is not my cup of tea.

at Wat Trimitr with the Golden Buddha

It was a 2 hour and 45 minutes flight, and since Bangkok is –1 hour of Manila’s local time, we arrived in Bangkok around 12:30 (BKK local time). BIA is similar to Ninoy Aquino Int’l Airport. But what greeted us was an unexpected, not so pleasant smell something that I can’t describe.. I don’t know where it was coming from.. But anyway, as soon as I’m out of immigration, I’m just filled with excitement! We met our tour guides at the airport and accompanied us to our Hotel, Montien Bangkok. After bringing our luggage to our rooms, we then headed to our city tour. First we visited Wat Trimitr, famous for its world's largest Golden Buddha. The three-meter tall and 5.5 ton Buddha image, made of solid gold during the Ayuthaya period. Next stop was Wat Intharawihan (sometimes spelled Wat Indravihan) is located on Wisut Kasat Road on the northern edge of Banglamphu. This temple is known for a huge standing Buddha image called Luang Pho To. It’s about 4 pm and all of us are so hungry. There were some street food stalls outside the temple so we stopped by there before going to our next destination. My first Thai street food was a grilled chicken butt dipped in chili sauce… yummy but ohhh.. sooo hottttt!! Also tasted a porkball dipped in sweet and spicy sauce… a bottle of ice cold water will come in handy during this time.

Shopping at TOKYU in Ma Boon Krong

Our next stop was the Gems Jewelry Shop, where we saw how their precious emerald gems are collected, cut into shape and designed into jewelries. I bought a pair of earrings and a pendant for my brother’s girlfriend. We were dropped off at MBK for dinner and ate at the Pizza Company. We ordered the seafood pizza (thin crust)- which my fiancé recommended, and an all meat pizza ( thick crust) with some seafood pasta and spinach lasagna. And what a dinner that was! I’ve never tasted a pizza that good (I’m still savoring every bite even as I write this entry). A highly recommended place for you to eat if you’re in Thailand. After dinner, its shopping time! We went around MBK and we ended up in Tokyu where Naturalizer was way cheaper than here in Manila. And guess what, before leaving the airport told myself I’m not gonna buy a pair of shoes, but when I left MBK, I was holding 2 boxes of Naturalizer. Shoppaholics are on a roll!

Kim and Me after our Patpong experience

Went back to the hotel to refresh ourselves and around 11:30pm we went to explore Thailand’s nightlife at the infamous Patpong. We were lured by this guy to enter a bar with showgirls for only 100Baht. But when we got there.. and after giving us sodas and beer.. we were being charged 300Baht! What a modus operandi! We already drank our drinks, so we didn’t bother to argue since we were not in our territory. The girls were on stage and dancing with no cloths on and showing off things that their pussy can do (pardon my words). Of course our male companions were having so much fun who were seated in front of the stage... while we, the girls were giggling in the corner. I don’t say I’m culture shocked but had some realization that this is hard work for these girls. I’m both in awe and pity to those women who can’t get a more decent job other than this. Anyway, after an hour, the boys were still enjoying themselves so we left the bar around 12:30 a.m. while they stayed until 3a.m.

... to be continued.

xoxo,
S