All i need will be mine if you are here, your love puts me at the top of the world.

"You looked so sad when I was leaving so I drove straight home to pick up my lenses, drove back as fast as I could, picked up your favourite supper, and came back here to surprise you. I feel like I haven't lived up to my duties as a good boyfriend the past few days, being sick and all, so I just wanted to make you smile."

I have the sweetest, most amazing, best damn boyfriend on earth.
And I can't think of anything better than falling asleep to the sound of your breathing and waking up next to you in the morning.

I say: If you can't fight it, eat it.

Despite all the amazing things I have heard about Bangkok from anyone and everyone, I had never been there before this trip. I seemed to be the only person who hadn't been there amidst a sea of Bangkok-loving Singaporeans who seem to frequent the city multiple times a year. After all the amazing things I've heard from everyone and anyone, I held this trip in high anticipation. I really have to thank the (lovely, gracious and generous) Tan family for bringing me on this trip and of course my darling boy for allowing me to experience the city through his eyes.

This trip saw me: eating 5 meals a day and up, having some of the best food I've ever had, experiencing unbeatable Spicyness everywhere, bringing the 1 Singapore dollar so much further to 23.6010541 Thai baht, Chatuchak & Cheap Clothes, massages every day, dirt cheap 5 sgd +- taxi fares!!!!! The city that never sleeps, heat waves and fearing for my life every time we cross the road. Opening my eyes to the poverty, hunger and less fortunate in the world. The city that operates by day and by night. The city that never seems to sleep.

Right after we landed and checked in, we went down to the tailor to choose cloths and make orders for custom made goodness. And then we took a cab down to Chinatown for some amazing seafood! Assam fish cooked with kang kong, big head prawns, clams, chilli crab, tom yum goong, crabmeat fried rice and lots more. Even the freshly squeezed orange juice (mandarin oranges i think!) was so yummy!


Walked around chinatown stopping at random food stands to eat more (kuey chap, durians, hor fun) before heading down to the Patpong Night Market at Sala Daeng. The tiny lanes and sidewalks are crammed with stalls selling everything from souvenirs to counterfeit products, electronics to athletic goods, clothes and bags.. pretty much everything you can think of. The fragant aroma of food changes with every few steps you walk and even past midnight it is unsurprising to see the streets crowded with tourists, motorcycles and taxis and the traditional massage parlors still open for business. Aside from this, Patpong is infamous for being the Red Light District that launched Bangkok's reputation as the sex trade capital of the world, or at least of Asia. It is impossible to walk from one end to the other without hearing the words "ping pong" more than 20 times whilst a wilted brochure is persuasively shoved towards you. Bikini clad girls (and some aunties) stand at the doorway of clubs with neon lit signs like "Pussy collection".

Aunty was quite funny, she said "better hold on to our boys, later they get grabbed away before we even realize." Daren also offered to buy me lots of "tiffany's" but I politely declined :) Had supper and a massage before heading back to sleep.


The following day, we had breakfast at our hotel and then a second breakfast in a super run down street stall in a tiny lane near our hotel. It was the most amazing porridge I have ever tasted.


Took the skytrain down to Chit Lum to visit a supposedly famous temple, pity I forgot the name.


Temple dancers & prayers.




And then we took a cab down to visit the Wat Pho which featured a 50m long reclining Buddha in Gold. You can't tell by the pictures, but it was seriously larger than life. I was totally and completely caught off guard and surprised even though I had already been told how big it was.


Use us as a scale for how big the reclining buddha actually was! And then multiply that by like 5 or 10! The sole of the feet were quite interesting, it had different symbols representing different parts.


Daren wrote a dedication to me on a tile which will be used to built the roof of the next shrine in the temple, pretty cool.


I really like this shot.


Cabbed down to Siam for lunch at Fiji, a Japanese chain restaurant (I guess much like Sushi Tei but with better food variety I think) and then we went to explore Siam Paragon.


Visited Siam Ocean World, which is supposedly the biggest indoor aquarium in the world. We bought a package which included a background tour showing us "behind the scenes" of everything that goes on in Siam Ocean World.


Quite hilarious, they had an area for "problem/ill" creatures and this tank was housing overweight alligator fish! "I'm overweight! The doctor has put me on a diet" HAHAHAH they hardly look overweight though, no?


Huge crab! Bigger than the boys' face :) Oh I could think of all the japanese delicacies I could savour from this kani, slurps! ;)


Adorable hermit crab, the cutest aquarium tank decoration, and some colorful coral fish (that appears to me kind of similar to a globe?)




There's something therapeutic about just watching fishes go by. And yes, that's my bad (not to mention unglam) attempt of trying to emulate the penguins.


The water rats were actually really cute. Can't say the same for that ugly fish which looks like the CNY jelly minus the colouring, don't you think?


Goldfish in the microwave?


We also bought the package that included the fish spa because noobs that we are we've never tried it before.


And also the glass bottom boat ride, which wasn't all that interesting truth be told.


Siam Ocean World :)


Shopped & Walked around Siam Paragon for a bit before cabbing back to the hotel for a shower, and then heading out to Som Boon for seafood dinner. Had this interesting dish where the prawns are served raw, marinated in fish sauce. Massage afterwards :) And supper 1 at the roadside beef noodle stand, supper 2 at the Tze Char place near our hotel.


The next day we woke up and went back to the same amazing porridge and it was as amazing if not more so than it was the day before :) The egg yolk seamlessly melting into the soft porridge, the awesomest pork balls and intestines..... ahhhh, i'm craving it now. Don't be deceived by my lousy photography skills which do no justice to the porridge.


And then we set off to Chatuchak. I love how colorful the cabs are (and I especially love the pink cab) lined up so prettily like that.


We had lunch at Chatuchak and then left our belongings with the adults at the cafe/bar whilst we kids braved the heatwave, the crowd and the bargaining. Look at that pot of lard, it's instant cholesterol attack.


Chatuchak was alright. I guess I had such high expectations of it that it wasn't as fantastic as I imagined it to be, but all the same I managed to get some t shirts I really like for myself as well as souvenirs for my maids. I think the heatwave got in the way of us properly conquering the place, and we left after spending a few hours lost amidst the gigantic market.

Cabbed back to the hotel for much needed showers and rest, and then the baby brought me to Central World to have a bite (ramen, best damn kfc zaab wings ever, dairy queen) and a bit of shopping but I only managed to cover one shop because of how gigantic the mall was.


Took the sky train down to MaBuKong to meet his family for dinner. We had shabu shabu... but interestingly the concept was much like a sushi train... ingredients like beef, noodles, clams, prawns and such would go by on the food train and you could eat grab them off there and cook them in your own pot. Buffet. Interesting concept and I guess quite an experience but not something I would probably do again. I ate so. so. so. so. much though.

After dinner we started exploring the nightmarkets in the area, and I bought my adorable boyfriend a cute hat for 100 baht only!


The temple next to LV. The boys told me that this LV was completely fake. The conversation went something like: "did you know that in bkk, they have fake lv boutiques? like this one? everything inside is fake!!" To which I replied: "no way!!! isn't that illegal? doesn't the police do anything? they even have a proper store? and display windows? no way!", only to be conned: "yes! can't you tell all the good look SO fake? no one comes to catch them so its okay! Only in Bkk! I'm not sure about Burberry/Dior but this LV stall is confirm fake" ..... It wasn't till we were in the cab much later that I found out how retarded I am :/


Again we had a massage before heading back to our hotel for supper and sleep :) My massage therapist this time was so so good and we all agreed that it was the best massage place we tried in Bkk.

On the last day, we went down to Chinatown again.


Chinatown by day is vastly different than by night. We also had the best wanton min I have ever ever tasted, although to be fair I don't usually eat wanton min. But that's because I don't really fancy it, which just goes to prove how good this one was.


Rice cakes in pretty colours, Fish Maw FTW.




Would you buy from a stall that had stray cats just all over its products? I think not if Singaporeans live up to their KiaSee name, haha.


And then, we had THE MOST AMAZING KUEY CHAP EVER. SERIOUSLY, BURSTING WITH FLAVOR. SO AMAZING. The belly pork in the soup was STILL crispy, how?!


Went to the snack shop to buy Bak Kwa, Durian chips and so on but even that Aunty insisted on buying for me (and I bought like more than 15 packets of stuff), I felt so bad :/ but so lucky and loved :) Speaking of loved, I thought it was very sweet how Aunty will always peel fish for me at every meal and hold my hand or help me when we cross the road, so cute :) And Uncle also very cute, he eats as much as me :)

And then we went back to the massage parlor from the previous evening for our final massage of the trip before packing up at the hotel, checking out, having our last Thai meal and boarding our plane back home.


In many ways, my expectations of the city were fulfilled: Yes, the food was thaaaat amazing and yes, the shopping was pretty cheap, and unfortunately yes, the heat wave was as awful as everyone warned me it would be. But when people told me about their trips to Bangkok, they never mentioned the poverty and the lives of the people there; and unprepared I was for the sinking sadness and helplessness I was thus overwhelmed by. We encountered plenty of less fortunate people- some without limbs, some completely scarred, some carrying newborns- all very heartbreaking. But what tore me apart the most was when one day, we saw a child begging alone by the roadside. She was the first child I saw begging in Thailand. Following that, every 100m, we would see another child, alone, begging. It was alarming. And most probably, these children have been kidnapped and are being used by some gang or leader of sorts. I wanted to give them money, but was faced with the moral dilemma: I'm not actually giving the children the money, the money all ends up in the hands of the evil guy. Yet, not giving the children money just seems too cruel. They did not choose the fate they were dealt. Imagine living a life like that everyday, how do you find the courage to live through every day knowing you have to face the same tomorrow? Even the market stall sales people, the need for survival is evident even in those with jobs: the speed at which they move, the conviction in which they speak, the passion in which they push forward their goods. I think the saddest part about all the poverty and corruption and abuse is that it had been the same for the past 50 years, and it will probably be the same for the next 50 years. The knowledge that things will continue to be as bad, and that no matter how much we (or they for that matter) wish for a change, for a better tomorrow... for the bulk of them, their fate has been dealt and that's just the way that it is. I truly wished at that point, that I could pick the children up and just bring them home.

To sum up, I guess the way I see it, Bangkok is a colorful contradiction: A bustling, lively city that people all over the world escape to in search of relaxation and tranquility; modern megamalls fighting for the attention of shoppers alongside some of the world's most famous night and day markets; uber trendy clubs and fancy restaurants propelling the city into the culinary future yet everywhere you seem to see tourists and locals alike rushing for tables at every worn down food stall on every other lane; vast poverty gap, age old temples and monuments hidden amidst the ever expanding concrete jungle fast forming the city skyline. Amazing Bangkok.