THAILAND TRIP: Land of Smiles
May 2011. Me, my Asian Studies professor and classmates had an international tour to two of the countries in Southeast Asia - Thailand, formerly known as Siam and Cambodia. Way back in 2008, first year college, wherein we would just discussed about this country, discovering its history, government composition, economy and culture. Yet after three years, finally we could land on our own feet to these two remarkable countries in the SEA history. The main reason of our trip was to attend the 1st International Conference on International Relations and Development (ICIRD) at Thammasat University, Bangkok, Thailand. Then the rest will be a segway to explore anywhere.
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| ICIRD 2011 Booklet |
It was summer time however we had not availed of any Cebu Pacific's promo fare so we expected already of a sorta expensive plane ticket fare which was around Php38,000 (Davao-Manila-Bangkok and vice versa). Besides, we brought big luggages along us and promo fare are usually in travel lite. Then I just brought a Php5,000 pocket money which my parents gave to me and which I was able to thriftily use it up within our one week stay in two countries (imagine that?). Thank God I survived with that amount (Hahaha).
We stayed in a hostel named Udee as the previous batch of our fellow IS students had tried staying there already. And so far the accommodation and price were good. However, they only have common comfort room. The ambiance during our stay there was good also as the hostel was within the residential area. Its building size was not that big as well as with the rooms yet what was important to us was the cheap price, friendly staffs and the complimentary make-your-own breakfast. Yes, they have complimentary breakfast made up of bread with jam/butter and milk/coffee. They just don't serve rice and viand there. And don't forget to wash your own dishes too after eating as a courtesy to the next user. Yes again, it should be CLAYGO (clean as you go).
We spent three days for the seminar and right after the next day, we hurriedly hopped off thru a cab to go to Grand Palace, the former palace of the monarch family of Thailand and one of Thailand's top tourist attractions. (Tip: better to get a map offered for free by the hostel as the name of the locations/places are written both in Thai and English. You can tell the cab driver where you're heading to by pointing the name of the location written in Thai as not all of them know how to speak in English.)
Our next destination was the MBK Center, one of the shopping malls in Bangkok. We had seen most of the international fashion brands such as LV, Chanel and Gucci. We ate our lunch at their food court which was located at the uppermost portion of the building, over viewing the city of Bangkok.
We tried eating Thai cuisines which unfortunately, I forgot their names.
We didn't try riding their local mode of transportation which was called as tuk-tuk (tricycle in Phils.) as we were worried that we might get lost. Strolling was better as we had personally discovered the different corners of Bangkok. We even tried shopping at their night market. In 2011, 1.00 Phil Peso was equivalent to 1.50 Thai Baht. ;)
We ended the day with a long sleep for our next destination: CAMBODIA!
Xoxo,
Yahng
We stayed in a hostel named Udee as the previous batch of our fellow IS students had tried staying there already. And so far the accommodation and price were good. However, they only have common comfort room. The ambiance during our stay there was good also as the hostel was within the residential area. Its building size was not that big as well as with the rooms yet what was important to us was the cheap price, friendly staffs and the complimentary make-your-own breakfast. Yes, they have complimentary breakfast made up of bread with jam/butter and milk/coffee. They just don't serve rice and viand there. And don't forget to wash your own dishes too after eating as a courtesy to the next user. Yes again, it should be CLAYGO (clean as you go).
 |
| Udee Hostel |
We spent three days for the seminar and right after the next day, we hurriedly hopped off thru a cab to go to Grand Palace, the former palace of the monarch family of Thailand and one of Thailand's top tourist attractions. (Tip: better to get a map offered for free by the hostel as the name of the locations/places are written both in Thai and English. You can tell the cab driver where you're heading to by pointing the name of the location written in Thai as not all of them know how to speak in English.)
 |
| Foodcourt at the top of MBK Center |
We tried eating Thai cuisines which unfortunately, I forgot their names.
We didn't try riding their local mode of transportation which was called as tuk-tuk (tricycle in Phils.) as we were worried that we might get lost. Strolling was better as we had personally discovered the different corners of Bangkok. We even tried shopping at their night market. In 2011, 1.00 Phil Peso was equivalent to 1.50 Thai Baht. ;)
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| Pad Thai - Thai style stir-fried noodles |
We ended the day with a long sleep for our next destination: CAMBODIA!
Xoxo,
Yahng
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