BKK Hols: Day 1 - The Teochew-Speaking Chiku
Was away for a 4D3N trip to the Land of Smiles via Tiger Airways - new plane, cramped seats but who cares since it's cheep cheep!
The first thing that caught my ear was the melodious Thai language. It's spoken in a sing-song manner, clearly enunciated and sounds very teah to one who's more accustomed to dialects that are spoken more rapidly (Cantonese) or "roughly" (Hokkien). In fact, if you are a Teochew, you stand a good chance of bargaining down prices, since most of the Chinese in Thailand speak that dialect. From airport to shops, street vendors to tour guides, the lovely accent is heard and is truly music to my ears.
Ellen, Andrew, Yunru & I marveled at the spaciousness of the Grand Diamond Pratunam serviced flat. With 2 rooms and a view to die for at the sunken bath tub, we were all planning to get some bath salts and soak away till our skin peels off. The apartment also boasts of 3 TVs, a kitchenette, microwave oven and a mini fridge that's anything but mini. I'm already making plans for an early morning dip in the swimming pool.
Off to explore the vicinity of the service apartment. Yunru nearly flipped when she thought she saw shades at 10Baht (about S$0.40) a pair. She said she'll tell the stallholder to close shop for the day, for she's getting all of them for presents. Will be back to check it out again...
Met up with Andrew's friends Zach & Mary whom I'm very convinced know every nook and cranny of Bangkok. They are avid shoppers and seasoned travelers to this city - they knew exactly how much to bargain for tuk-tuk, handicrafts, clothes and even jewelry.
Off to dinner at a Thai restaurant in Siam Square - Bangkok's hottest place to see and be seen. For S$10/pax, we got to eat crab & tanghoon, fish cakes, green curry (yummy!), fried fish and some dessert which was really lemak. I was most impressed with the 3-storey hair salon opposite the restaurant... rows and rows of people seated in front of a plate glass window, doing their hair... amazing! The way they do Siam Square reminds me of Ginza...
Siam Square seems to proliferate with cinemas at every corner. There are many funky shops, with lovely shoes, clothes and accessories to check out. With prices that you can bargain down, it truly is a shoppaholic's nirvana. Om...!
Snacked on a kind of fruit called Honey Orange. I can't get enuf of it! They are so sweet and juicy... Ducked into a Boots pharmacy and drooled over all the yummilicious bath salts, bath gels (one looked like strawberry jam - good enuf to eat, I say), conditioners and skincare range. I don't recall seeing anything half as grand in UK's Boots - needless to say I bought nothing at UK 'cos things were 3x the price.
Walked back from Siam Square all the way to hotel. Dead beat, zonked out and basically am plodding behind Andrew who was still pretty much alive after a humid day. Tore open the complimentary fruit basket which featured 4 super sweet mangosteens (one each), bananas, a green apple (which remained ignored and uneaten), a honey orange (yeah!) and chikus.
The last thing I remembered before drifting off to sleep was Andrew telling us that the chiku told him that it was nice & sweet and to eat him (the chiku I mean). We asked him (Andrew) how he knew, and he replied with a straight face, "Because it told me so."
Since Andrew is the only Teochew amongst us, no prizes for guessing what language the chiku spoke to him in. Kaki nang!
The first thing that caught my ear was the melodious Thai language. It's spoken in a sing-song manner, clearly enunciated and sounds very teah to one who's more accustomed to dialects that are spoken more rapidly (Cantonese) or "roughly" (Hokkien). In fact, if you are a Teochew, you stand a good chance of bargaining down prices, since most of the Chinese in Thailand speak that dialect. From airport to shops, street vendors to tour guides, the lovely accent is heard and is truly music to my ears.
Ellen, Andrew, Yunru & I marveled at the spaciousness of the Grand Diamond Pratunam serviced flat. With 2 rooms and a view to die for at the sunken bath tub, we were all planning to get some bath salts and soak away till our skin peels off. The apartment also boasts of 3 TVs, a kitchenette, microwave oven and a mini fridge that's anything but mini. I'm already making plans for an early morning dip in the swimming pool.
Off to explore the vicinity of the service apartment. Yunru nearly flipped when she thought she saw shades at 10Baht (about S$0.40) a pair. She said she'll tell the stallholder to close shop for the day, for she's getting all of them for presents. Will be back to check it out again...
Met up with Andrew's friends Zach & Mary whom I'm very convinced know every nook and cranny of Bangkok. They are avid shoppers and seasoned travelers to this city - they knew exactly how much to bargain for tuk-tuk, handicrafts, clothes and even jewelry.
Off to dinner at a Thai restaurant in Siam Square - Bangkok's hottest place to see and be seen. For S$10/pax, we got to eat crab & tanghoon, fish cakes, green curry (yummy!), fried fish and some dessert which was really lemak. I was most impressed with the 3-storey hair salon opposite the restaurant... rows and rows of people seated in front of a plate glass window, doing their hair... amazing! The way they do Siam Square reminds me of Ginza...
Siam Square seems to proliferate with cinemas at every corner. There are many funky shops, with lovely shoes, clothes and accessories to check out. With prices that you can bargain down, it truly is a shoppaholic's nirvana. Om...!
Snacked on a kind of fruit called Honey Orange. I can't get enuf of it! They are so sweet and juicy... Ducked into a Boots pharmacy and drooled over all the yummilicious bath salts, bath gels (one looked like strawberry jam - good enuf to eat, I say), conditioners and skincare range. I don't recall seeing anything half as grand in UK's Boots - needless to say I bought nothing at UK 'cos things were 3x the price.
Walked back from Siam Square all the way to hotel. Dead beat, zonked out and basically am plodding behind Andrew who was still pretty much alive after a humid day. Tore open the complimentary fruit basket which featured 4 super sweet mangosteens (one each), bananas, a green apple (which remained ignored and uneaten), a honey orange (yeah!) and chikus.
The last thing I remembered before drifting off to sleep was Andrew telling us that the chiku told him that it was nice & sweet and to eat him (the chiku I mean). We asked him (Andrew) how he knew, and he replied with a straight face, "Because it told me so."
Since Andrew is the only Teochew amongst us, no prizes for guessing what language the chiku spoke to him in. Kaki nang!
posted by Leng @ 3:50 AM
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