Thursday, January 1, 2015

Trip to Bangkok - December 25 to December 29, 2014

My husband had planned this trip since June 2014 and my daughter and I only knew about it in November 2014. It was tough for me to get organized because I was at my last leg of getting the data transferred to the new company, Enquest, who bought 12 of Exxon's fields. At the same time we were having the Teambuilding to Tambun (will upload photos later) and the FM's Annual clean-up day in the pipeline. To add more salt to the wound, we had to clear the Holding area which is to be given up to make more office space and to also clear our work area as Management felt that it was about time to upgrade our work area. Well after 14 years, this is truly a welcome change. I suppose when I return to work, I shall have a brand new work area.
Yes, all this work and packing for the trip did take a toll on my health and I was sick for 3 days. Unfortunately, I was not given any sick leave by the doctor because it has been 'tradition' for me to be having fever at night and by morning I am up and running again. No doctors will believe I have fever to warrant a real Medical Leave.
We drove to Sg. Petani and overnight at my sister's house on 24th Dec and on 25th Dec, Amir (my brother-in-law) drove us to Prai Station to take our train. Yes, we decided to take the train to Bangkok instead of flight because we were late in our flight booking. Then again, the train ride was a real experience in itself and nostalgic for me.
I shall be doing a write-up of our trip in my other blog. These are just pictures.
Here are some selected photos of the trip - before, during and after. Enjoy.
Somewhere in Penang. We stopped here to fill petrol before going to my sister's house in Sg. Petani

In the Ferry to Butterworth

Our Coach to Bangkok - a 2nd class coach with Berth from Prai station

Taken from the train. somewhere in Southern Thailand. Signs of the area being flooded.

Zahra' and another passenger

A flatland of Padi Fields.

The track taken before we reach Bangkok Station



The Marble statue at the roundabout to the old Palace

Tourist bus. The colorful Graffiti attracted my attention very much

Zahra' at the Esplanade opposite the Old Palace





The view of the Esplanade 

The towering Minaret from the Old Palace. Taken from the esplanade

The Long-nose boat that we took to ride the Chao Phraya canal

At least these buildings are better looking along the canal

One of the rows of houses dotting the canal

Lovely Graffitti

The few remaining Market Floaters we encountered along the way

Wat Arun - Zahra' managed to climbed the third stage and
unfortunately she encountered muscle
cramp later

One way of earning money - Street dancer opposite the
Old Palace

One of the building inside the Old Palace enclave

The Street that leads to the entrance to the Palace. We didn't make it
because at 500 Bhat for an hour, it was not worth it

Zahra' and horses are best buddies. She can never
resist the temptation to stroke any horses she
encountered. This particular horse
really gave her the tender loving look

Our breakfast at one of the Muslim restaurant near the Inn we stayed

View from Phra Atit pier where we took our boat ride to our
destinations

One of the attraction at Asiatique. Zahra' so much wanted to
visit this place at night but the condition of her
legs prevented us from doing so.

The Old Mosque opposite Asiatique where we prayed the Zohor prayer with
the students. Their Zohor prayer was around 12:30 pm (about 1:30 pm Malaysian time)

One of the most beautiful Riverside stop. This is the only beautiful Pier
I had seen

Memorial Bridge

MBK - one of our last shopping stops. 

Zahra' and my husband really needed the
foot massage as both were having leg cramps. I just join in
and I must say I wasn't totally satisfied
with the foot massage.  I just have to
sweet talk hubby to give me a full Reflexology.
He does better and he knows where to
find the problem areas to fix. BTW, my husband has
a Certificate in Reflexology

Our last Pier to embark on our last boat trip back to the Inn
before we check out

Our train to Hatyai.