Posts
Check out some of the photographs and video below:
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Mobile Bar in Bangkok
One of the highlights of our company trip to Bangkok was the mobile pub that we came across when we visited Soi 3 in Sukhumvit at 1:00 in the morning. The bartender was very friendly, the beverages reasonably priced and best of all, reggae music blasted from the Volkswagen van sound system. The catchy tune of "Buffalo soldier..." is still stuck in my my head.
Check out some of the photographs and video below:
Check out some of the photographs and video below:
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Vampires in Bangkok Palace Hotel
Last weekend, I was on my company annual holiday trip. Sixty of us were shuttled in two AirAsia flights to Bangkok for four days of bliss and relaxation. Personally, I have been to Bangkok a few times on business-related trips, but this is the second time I was there as a tourist :-)
I was looking forward to the infamous local Thai food and bone-cracking massages. We did the customary tour on the floating market, temples and palaces.
Unfortunately our most memorable moments in Bangkok were not of the wonderful times we had but rather of the "vampires" we encountered at our hotel.
Vampires in Bangkok Palace Hotel
After a long day on the flight, walking around the city and visiting the many tourist destinations, we were extremely tired when we reached our hotel. Our tour company, Mayflower Acme Tours, in arrangement with the local tour operator booked us to stay in Bangkok Palace Hotel.
We promptly went to bed at around 1:00am as we had to wake up earlier for the next day's city tour. At about 4:00am, I was woken up by George, my colleague. He told me that he wanted to change room and he showed me the rashes and swellings around his neck, arms and abdomen.
This is a video showing the bed bugs we caught.
We did not know what caused the swelling and rashes, but George was itching as hell. He said he saw a small cockroach scurrying off his bed. George being short-sighted and was not wearing his glasses, had not realised that the "cockroach" was actually a well fed bed bug. You can read up more about the little blood suckers on Wikipedia.
Photograph of a bed bug from Wikipedia.
George managed to catch it and squashed the little bugger. After removing the bed covers and checking our pillows, we found another four and two of them from my bed. I caught and put them in a glass. During that time, George went down to the reception to request for a change of room.
After about 10 minutes, the hotel staff came up and we showed him the bed bugs we caught. He told us that our new room was ready and that we could move in anytime we wanted. He was NOT even surprised. That really pissed us off.
The "Vampiric" Aftermath
The next morning at breakfast we found out that 8 of our colleagues had the same "vampiric" experience the night before.
We complained to the tour operators and they arranged for some of our colleagues to change rooms as well. If this were to happened to other tourists, I doubted if the hotel could have gotten off so easily.
In any case, this hotel is on our banned forever hotel list! Anyone thinking of traveling to Bangkok, be warned not to stay at Bangkok Palace Hotel, lest you become the next victim of these vampires!
I was looking forward to the infamous local Thai food and bone-cracking massages. We did the customary tour on the floating market, temples and palaces.
Unfortunately our most memorable moments in Bangkok were not of the wonderful times we had but rather of the "vampires" we encountered at our hotel.
Vampires in Bangkok Palace Hotel
After a long day on the flight, walking around the city and visiting the many tourist destinations, we were extremely tired when we reached our hotel. Our tour company, Mayflower Acme Tours, in arrangement with the local tour operator booked us to stay in Bangkok Palace Hotel.
We promptly went to bed at around 1:00am as we had to wake up earlier for the next day's city tour. At about 4:00am, I was woken up by George, my colleague. He told me that he wanted to change room and he showed me the rashes and swellings around his neck, arms and abdomen.
This is a video showing the bed bugs we caught.
We did not know what caused the swelling and rashes, but George was itching as hell. He said he saw a small cockroach scurrying off his bed. George being short-sighted and was not wearing his glasses, had not realised that the "cockroach" was actually a well fed bed bug. You can read up more about the little blood suckers on Wikipedia.
Photograph of a bed bug from Wikipedia.
George managed to catch it and squashed the little bugger. After removing the bed covers and checking our pillows, we found another four and two of them from my bed. I caught and put them in a glass. During that time, George went down to the reception to request for a change of room.
After about 10 minutes, the hotel staff came up and we showed him the bed bugs we caught. He told us that our new room was ready and that we could move in anytime we wanted. He was NOT even surprised. That really pissed us off.
The "Vampiric" Aftermath
The next morning at breakfast we found out that 8 of our colleagues had the same "vampiric" experience the night before.
We complained to the tour operators and they arranged for some of our colleagues to change rooms as well. If this were to happened to other tourists, I doubted if the hotel could have gotten off so easily.
In any case, this hotel is on our banned forever hotel list! Anyone thinking of traveling to Bangkok, be warned not to stay at Bangkok Palace Hotel, lest you become the next victim of these vampires!
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Point and Shoot!
My good old reliable Canon PowerShot A430 camera conked out a couple of weeks back. Since then I have been looking for a replacement.
This old camera had given me tons of memories. Especially those videos I took while learning Biketrials.
When I first took the PowerShot A430 to a Canon's service and repair outlet, I was told by the technician there that the cost of replacing the faulty parts would be better spent on a new Canon camera that came with better specs and feature. He told me to look for a new Canon camera that I liked, and he will give me a discount off the selling price.
Hence, I have been scouting for a Canon camera since. Although my choice was limited to Canon models due to the discount I could get from Canon, I was still gonna look at other camera brands to make sure that I was getting the latest feature set at least... LOL.
My selection criteria were quite basic:
So the camera, in my case is the ability to record a moment in time where I can revisit and share with friends and family over and over again :-)
In the end, I found the Canon PowerShot A2200 the most value for money and suitable to my needs :-)
After scouring some photography and camera sites, I decided to stay with Canon and managed to find a model that I liked, the Canon PowerShot A2200. The camera is packed with features that I probably will not use often. Check out the specs here, and it only cost me about USD80 or RM289!
I was advised by a friend (Tiensoon) to consider getting a DSLR. Well, I told him that he is a freelance professional photographer and has a necessity for one. Not me :-) In fact, he should look to further elevate his skills and scope, to even exhibit at a place like the Park West Gallery, (which incidentally, also runs the Park West Gallery Foundation, a non profit organisation that organise and does charitable work for the community).
This is the camera owned by Tiensoon, the Olympus PEN E-PL2, a thing of beauty, but way out of my league... LOL.
As for myself, I shall strive to just point and record memories that I hope one day will tell a tale to my children of the many things I have done or tried to do... LOL.
This old camera had given me tons of memories. Especially those videos I took while learning Biketrials.
When I first took the PowerShot A430 to a Canon's service and repair outlet, I was told by the technician there that the cost of replacing the faulty parts would be better spent on a new Canon camera that came with better specs and feature. He told me to look for a new Canon camera that I liked, and he will give me a discount off the selling price.
Hence, I have been scouting for a Canon camera since. Although my choice was limited to Canon models due to the discount I could get from Canon, I was still gonna look at other camera brands to make sure that I was getting the latest feature set at least... LOL.
My selection criteria were quite basic:
- It had to be a point and shoot camera. DSLR was an over-kill for my needs :-)
- High resolution enough for me to get a good print when I needed one.
- Less than USD300.
- Small and easy to handle.
So the camera, in my case is the ability to record a moment in time where I can revisit and share with friends and family over and over again :-)
In the end, I found the Canon PowerShot A2200 the most value for money and suitable to my needs :-)
After scouring some photography and camera sites, I decided to stay with Canon and managed to find a model that I liked, the Canon PowerShot A2200. The camera is packed with features that I probably will not use often. Check out the specs here, and it only cost me about USD80 or RM289!
I was advised by a friend (Tiensoon) to consider getting a DSLR. Well, I told him that he is a freelance professional photographer and has a necessity for one. Not me :-) In fact, he should look to further elevate his skills and scope, to even exhibit at a place like the Park West Gallery, (which incidentally, also runs the Park West Gallery Foundation, a non profit organisation that organise and does charitable work for the community).
This is the camera owned by Tiensoon, the Olympus PEN E-PL2, a thing of beauty, but way out of my league... LOL.
As for myself, I shall strive to just point and record memories that I hope one day will tell a tale to my children of the many things I have done or tried to do... LOL.