More babble
Jun. 7th, 2004 07:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
windandwaterHa! Took a break to do a few other online things. ^___^ Now I suppose I should say something or another about Saturday and Sunday, which was when the school-organized day trips were. So many things to see! I was so exhausted by the end of it.
A quick rundown because I'm tired and hungry and it's been raining all day and I want to go back to the hotel and sleep (or watch Chinese MTV, whatever):
SATURDAY:
11 of us went on this trip, carted around Bangkok in our own shuttle/bus/van thing. The quarters were tight, but had air-conditioning, and that's all that really matters. XD
Oh, and to enter the temples proper, usually where the neat stuff was to take pictures of, you have to take off your shoes and (especially if you're a woman) be properly dressed; no shorts, tank tops, skimpy clothing, etc. And your sandals had to have a backstrap, no flipflops. Anyway, I was taking off and putting on my sandals all day. At some places, it was easier to walk around barefoot over the grounds, to avoid the hassle. XD I refuse to think about the bacteria and unsanitary conditions of such things, as it may give me screaming nightmares. XP
-- Wat (Temple) Trimit Withayaram: home of the Big Ass Golden Buddha. Made of 5 TONS of pure gold. It rained JUST as we got into the place with the Buddha, and so we were stuck there for quite a while. ^^; Damn monsoon rainy season. Anyway, I was lured by the giftshop there and bought a nice set of seven Buddha pendants. I want to keep them all for myself, so maybe I should go back and buy some to give to people. ^^; Also bought an umbrella. Very handy, that unmbrella.
-- Wat Pho: house the Sleeping Buddha, made of gold and the soles of his feet are made of carved mother of pearl. FREAKING HUGE. *pets camera* The grounds were quite lovely and intricate (I like taking pictures of architecture), and the giftshop let me haggle. Bwahahaha. I bought a brass sleeping Buddha and a brass dragon.
-- Wat Arun Raj Vanaram: Temple of the Dawn, on the other side of the Cho Phrya River. Very ancient and covered in mosaic and porcelain. I snapped a LOT of pictures here because I couldn't believe the architecture and the sheer TIME it must have taken for the mosaic stuff. Was weak in the giftshop and bought two little brass bells. Can you sense a theme here?
-- The Grand Palace & Wat Phra Sri Ratana Sasdarn/Wat Phra Kaeo: Where the King lives, also has a Wat housing The Emerald Buddha. It's actually carved of jade, but the monk who found it thought it was emerald. ^^; All I bought THIS time was a poster of the inside of the temple housing the Emerald Buddha. You weren't allowed to take pictures from the inside of the temple, because it's sacred. I took some shot from outside though, but the poster is MUCH nicer. There was also a long... mural thing on the walls of the inner courtyard, depicting some myth or something... Rama-something. I walked all along it, and took pictures of ancient, Hindu sex. I even found some BDSM (god-type person tied down by monkey demon thing!), just for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
shdlm.
... I'm such a perv.
Had lunch at a very nice restaurant called S&P (so very close to S&M XD), that had the BEST FRUIT SLUSHES EVER. *slurps*
-- Vimarn Mek Teak Palace & Abhisek Dusit Throne Hall: The largest house (mansion, really), made of golden teakwood in Thailand. I think a King built it for one of his wives/mistresses, but I'm not sure. We couldn't go in because we were late and they closed the tour. -__-;; I still have my ticket though, and I'm going to go there myself to see. It's very pretty. Giftshop damage: a porcelian vase, a carved squirrel (some stone, I forget what), and a teakwood elephant (for myaoi).
-- Wat Benchamabopit: It was the end of the day by the time we got here and we were all pretty tired. This is called the Marble Temple, because, duh, there's a lot of carved marble. Pretty as well, and we took group pictures on the bridges. I also snapped a picture of a very... *cough*... anatomically correct gaurdian dragon/lion/dog thing. They need love, too! No souveniers bought! Go me! (Their giftshop wasn't very good).
SUNDAY:
Another day of trekking around Thailand! Except this time we were going OUT of Bangkok, and we got to do it in this really fancy touring bus, because nearly everyone came on the trip (headcount: 38).
-- Damnern Saduak Floating Market: OMG COOL! We made the tip 2 hours out of Bangkok (left at 6:45) to the Floating Market, which does, in fact, float. We got split into 3 groups and got into these nifty boats to be taken down the river. The market was so nice! Everyone was in their little boats, trying to sell us things. Food, souveniers, everything. Also stores on the banks of the river, raised up. My damage was just a carved and decorated teak trinket box. ^^; Though I nearly broke down to buy a pretty dragon lantern. I bet I could find it at MBK anyway.
Anyway, we also got to see the river, going by people's houses, and even fed the fish! It was so cool! We also saw this HUGE lizard thing swimming. I said it was a crocodile... but it wasn't. At least, I don't think it was... >_>;;
When we got back tot he landing, it turns out that the guy who took pictures of us at the beginning (we didn't know why buy smiled anyway), put out pictures onto little plates! It's sad but very tricky. You HAVE to buy something with your FACE already on it, or it's a waste. I'm glad I was sitting next to Samira though. ^^; We had fun. And even helped Professor Okeke bargain to buy a very spiffy hat.
-- Phra Pathom Jedi (Chedi): The largest Jedi/Chedi/Pagoda in Thailand and maybe the world. Somehow, I managed to erase all my pictures. T___T I lost everything of the floating markets, but managed to take a few more of the Chedi. I'm going to ask Samira and some others for copies of their pics. I didn't buy anything here. Thank god.
-- Rose Garden/Sam Praan Cultural Center: Napped on the bus on the way to this place. It's this big resort, but also has cultural shows... AND a HUGE buffet lunch! We were starved and I had more than one helping. ^^; Most interesting thing? I was eating rambutan (a tropical fresh fruit), when something JUMPED off the piece I was about to peel and eat. I squealed and dropped the fruit while everyone looked at me weird. It turns out that there was a little teensy tiny frog living on my rambutan! I should've taken a picture. It was TINY, like... smaller than a pencil eraser. Kinda cute though, even if it ruined my appetite.
I took lots of pictures at the cultural show, which had colorful costumes and Thai dancing and martial arts. Whoo! Sweaty guys getting it on! I even got to ride an elephant beforehand... mixed feeling about this because the mahouts had these pick things and would whack the elephants to make them do things. T__T I did NOT watch the elephant show because I didn't want to see that. Damage was a bunch of cute elephant keychain things (well, not ALL of them have keychain hooks), and some cute stuffed bunny things in kimonos.
-- Buddha Monthon: The Buddhist District, where monks hang out and stuff. Also a huge park with BEAUTIFUL grounds and a HUGE outside Buddha statue. We weren't allowed off the bus, but drove around the park, and I took some good shots. *pets camera*
Then... a nap while we drove back to Bangkok. Whew!
The school has more trips planned, for the Naval Base (not interested in that), to the Ancient City (wanttogowanttogo!!!), and even to see the Bridge over the River Kwai and the cemetary/monument to WWII (also want to go!).
This weekend, however, a bunch of people *coughbitchescoughcoughcough* (a.k.a. the girls who should keep quiet and stop being snotty and bitchy and mean because like oh my god I'm the coolest person ever because I go drinking every night and don't invite the weird girl with glasses) are planning on going to Chiang Mai and Samui, which is where the beaches are. TT___TT I want to go, but not with THEM. I will pray for heavy rain this weekend, since they're planning on leaving on Thursday. Pray with me, too.
And it's 7 pm. Time to go back to the hotel and have dinner!
A quick rundown because I'm tired and hungry and it's been raining all day and I want to go back to the hotel and sleep (or watch Chinese MTV, whatever):
SATURDAY:
11 of us went on this trip, carted around Bangkok in our own shuttle/bus/van thing. The quarters were tight, but had air-conditioning, and that's all that really matters. XD
Oh, and to enter the temples proper, usually where the neat stuff was to take pictures of, you have to take off your shoes and (especially if you're a woman) be properly dressed; no shorts, tank tops, skimpy clothing, etc. And your sandals had to have a backstrap, no flipflops. Anyway, I was taking off and putting on my sandals all day. At some places, it was easier to walk around barefoot over the grounds, to avoid the hassle. XD I refuse to think about the bacteria and unsanitary conditions of such things, as it may give me screaming nightmares. XP
-- Wat (Temple) Trimit Withayaram: home of the Big Ass Golden Buddha. Made of 5 TONS of pure gold. It rained JUST as we got into the place with the Buddha, and so we were stuck there for quite a while. ^^; Damn monsoon rainy season. Anyway, I was lured by the giftshop there and bought a nice set of seven Buddha pendants. I want to keep them all for myself, so maybe I should go back and buy some to give to people. ^^; Also bought an umbrella. Very handy, that unmbrella.
-- Wat Pho: house the Sleeping Buddha, made of gold and the soles of his feet are made of carved mother of pearl. FREAKING HUGE. *pets camera* The grounds were quite lovely and intricate (I like taking pictures of architecture), and the giftshop let me haggle. Bwahahaha. I bought a brass sleeping Buddha and a brass dragon.
-- Wat Arun Raj Vanaram: Temple of the Dawn, on the other side of the Cho Phrya River. Very ancient and covered in mosaic and porcelain. I snapped a LOT of pictures here because I couldn't believe the architecture and the sheer TIME it must have taken for the mosaic stuff. Was weak in the giftshop and bought two little brass bells. Can you sense a theme here?
-- The Grand Palace & Wat Phra Sri Ratana Sasdarn/Wat Phra Kaeo: Where the King lives, also has a Wat housing The Emerald Buddha. It's actually carved of jade, but the monk who found it thought it was emerald. ^^; All I bought THIS time was a poster of the inside of the temple housing the Emerald Buddha. You weren't allowed to take pictures from the inside of the temple, because it's sacred. I took some shot from outside though, but the poster is MUCH nicer. There was also a long... mural thing on the walls of the inner courtyard, depicting some myth or something... Rama-something. I walked all along it, and took pictures of ancient, Hindu sex. I even found some BDSM (god-type person tied down by monkey demon thing!), just for
shdlm.... I'm such a perv.
Had lunch at a very nice restaurant called S&P (so very close to S&M XD), that had the BEST FRUIT SLUSHES EVER. *slurps*
-- Vimarn Mek Teak Palace & Abhisek Dusit Throne Hall: The largest house (mansion, really), made of golden teakwood in Thailand. I think a King built it for one of his wives/mistresses, but I'm not sure. We couldn't go in because we were late and they closed the tour. -__-;; I still have my ticket though, and I'm going to go there myself to see. It's very pretty. Giftshop damage: a porcelian vase, a carved squirrel (some stone, I forget what), and a teakwood elephant (for my
aoi).-- Wat Benchamabopit: It was the end of the day by the time we got here and we were all pretty tired. This is called the Marble Temple, because, duh, there's a lot of carved marble. Pretty as well, and we took group pictures on the bridges. I also snapped a picture of a very... *cough*... anatomically correct gaurdian dragon/lion/dog thing. They need love, too! No souveniers bought! Go me! (Their giftshop wasn't very good).
SUNDAY:
Another day of trekking around Thailand! Except this time we were going OUT of Bangkok, and we got to do it in this really fancy touring bus, because nearly everyone came on the trip (headcount: 38).
-- Damnern Saduak Floating Market: OMG COOL! We made the tip 2 hours out of Bangkok (left at 6:45) to the Floating Market, which does, in fact, float. We got split into 3 groups and got into these nifty boats to be taken down the river. The market was so nice! Everyone was in their little boats, trying to sell us things. Food, souveniers, everything. Also stores on the banks of the river, raised up. My damage was just a carved and decorated teak trinket box. ^^; Though I nearly broke down to buy a pretty dragon lantern. I bet I could find it at MBK anyway.
Anyway, we also got to see the river, going by people's houses, and even fed the fish! It was so cool! We also saw this HUGE lizard thing swimming. I said it was a crocodile... but it wasn't. At least, I don't think it was... >_>;;
When we got back tot he landing, it turns out that the guy who took pictures of us at the beginning (we didn't know why buy smiled anyway), put out pictures onto little plates! It's sad but very tricky. You HAVE to buy something with your FACE already on it, or it's a waste. I'm glad I was sitting next to Samira though. ^^; We had fun. And even helped Professor Okeke bargain to buy a very spiffy hat.
-- Phra Pathom Jedi (Chedi): The largest Jedi/Chedi/Pagoda in Thailand and maybe the world. Somehow, I managed to erase all my pictures. T___T I lost everything of the floating markets, but managed to take a few more of the Chedi. I'm going to ask Samira and some others for copies of their pics. I didn't buy anything here. Thank god.
-- Rose Garden/Sam Praan Cultural Center: Napped on the bus on the way to this place. It's this big resort, but also has cultural shows... AND a HUGE buffet lunch! We were starved and I had more than one helping. ^^; Most interesting thing? I was eating rambutan (a tropical fresh fruit), when something JUMPED off the piece I was about to peel and eat. I squealed and dropped the fruit while everyone looked at me weird. It turns out that there was a little teensy tiny frog living on my rambutan! I should've taken a picture. It was TINY, like... smaller than a pencil eraser. Kinda cute though, even if it ruined my appetite.
I took lots of pictures at the cultural show, which had colorful costumes and Thai dancing and martial arts. Whoo! Sweaty guys getting it on! I even got to ride an elephant beforehand... mixed feeling about this because the mahouts had these pick things and would whack the elephants to make them do things. T__T I did NOT watch the elephant show because I didn't want to see that. Damage was a bunch of cute elephant keychain things (well, not ALL of them have keychain hooks), and some cute stuffed bunny things in kimonos.
-- Buddha Monthon: The Buddhist District, where monks hang out and stuff. Also a huge park with BEAUTIFUL grounds and a HUGE outside Buddha statue. We weren't allowed off the bus, but drove around the park, and I took some good shots. *pets camera*
Then... a nap while we drove back to Bangkok. Whew!
The school has more trips planned, for the Naval Base (not interested in that), to the Ancient City (wanttogowanttogo!!!), and even to see the Bridge over the River Kwai and the cemetary/monument to WWII (also want to go!).
This weekend, however, a bunch of people *coughbitchescoughcoughcough* (a.k.a. the girls who should keep quiet and stop being snotty and bitchy and mean because like oh my god I'm the coolest person ever because I go drinking every night and don't invite the weird girl with glasses) are planning on going to Chiang Mai and Samui, which is where the beaches are. TT___TT I want to go, but not with THEM. I will pray for heavy rain this weekend, since they're planning on leaving on Thursday. Pray with me, too.
And it's 7 pm. Time to go back to the hotel and have dinner!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2004-06-07 12:44 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-06-07 01:31 pm (UTC)...
*prods forlornly at self's cable*
No Chinese MTV, even. ;_;
(no subject)
Date: 2004-06-07 02:45 pm (UTC)Had lunch at a very nice restaurant called S&P (so very close to S&M XD)
Heh. There's a Driving school near where I live called BSM. Everytime I see one of their cars I automatically add in the 'D'!!
*prays for rain*
I hope it hurls it down on those girls. Either that, or that they get incredibly bad sunburn and can't leave their rooms for the rest of the trip. I hate people like that.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-06-07 03:38 pm (UTC)Only you.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-06-07 10:07 pm (UTC)... and did you want something, too?
(no subject)
Date: 2004-06-07 10:10 pm (UTC)... and Bangkok is aimed towards tourists. XD There's always stuff to buy.
And it's ONLY Chinese MTV that I get in my room, which means that I don't understand a thing. ^^;
(no subject)
Date: 2004-06-07 10:13 pm (UTC)But we have fun making the "special massages" jokes. They never get old. XD
... and yes... RAIN! MONSOON! I want them to have a terrible time.
>_>;;
(no subject)
Date: 2004-06-07 10:16 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-06-08 09:56 am (UTC)<.< And since you do have that big ol' suitcase to fill up, sure! Will be excessively happy and bouncy with anything, since everything you buy sounds neat. And some pervy. *grin*
(no subject)
Date: 2004-06-09 10:24 pm (UTC)XD I'll do my best! Any preference for colors?