Bangkok shutdown 2014

We are back from Bangkok! Despite the political unrest and bad situation happening in Bangkok currently, we still went ahead with our decision and travelled there for our holiday. 

Upon reaching, we were surprised by the very cooling weather there, temperature was about 22 degrees. 

We took the train from the airport, took us about 30 mins and switched to the BTS cuz our final destination was Asoke station. The BTS was really crowded and we had difficulties boarding the train with our luggages. 

At the airport, first time seeing it so empty. 

Purchased tokens for the mrt ride. 

MRT train, city line. 

At Asoke station, we could hear the protesters before we even saw them. Voices from the rally filled the place, as well as whistles. 

When we exited the station, we wrrr greeted with this: 

Massive crowd. There was a stage in front. The rally ends about 12 midnight every night and it turns into a concert at certain intervals, singers will be singing and dancing on stage. 

Tents along the road. 

Lots of vendors selling souvenirs. 

Things were generally quite peaceful but we were advised not to wander around the streets especially at night. Wanted to make a trip to the night market near Victoria memorial but decided against it as the protesters would be gathered there. 

The next day in the early afternoon, Asoke was quite empty with some street vendors. 

However when we reached Siam station at about 3pm, protesters started marching in.

The normal crowd before protesters marched in.

Stalls were giving out free food and drinks. 

So generally, it's better to go out shopping in the morning and early afternoons, we travelled mostly via BTS which was very convenient and fast, crowd is same as normal days and not overwhelming. 

By evening, the protesters will start gathering. Malls like terminal 21, central world, emporium etc close earlier at 8pm. (The timing varies so pls check with the hotels or other sites for accuracy)

Platinum mall and chatuchak market are quieter than usual and shopping became such a breeze! 

We didn't go clubbing at night at all for this trip. But some of my other friends went during this period and all was fine. But of course, have to take precaution and be safe. We chose not to go because of the road closure. We didn't want to be walking around the streets at night dangerously. 

Posted some videos of the rally in Bangkok in my Instagram. Check them out if you are keen. 

JAPAN 2009- Day 7 (Tokyo)

KFC @Ikebukuro

Ikebukuro JR Station, we took the Yamanote line, destination Harakuju!

my ultimate favourite shopping destination in Tokyo :)

Harajuku- Takeshita Dori shopping street, crowded as always.

I love this street, during my last trip to Tokyo in 2007, i came here for 5 consecutive days.

This is the street where you can find trendy, chic fashion at reasonable prices (think our local far east plaza prices).

Besides clothes, you can find very cheap bling bling accessories for 300 yen (PARIS KIDS).

You can also find perfume shops, i tend to go gaga over perfumes sold in Japan, they have plenty of brands that comes in pretty bottles and i cannot find them here in Singapore and they smell very good.

This time, i brought back 3 perfumes.

saw an extremely tall guy

Lunch at Lotte- a fast food chain which i think originated from Korea.

tastes pretty normal to me, i still prefer my mushroom swiss burger from BK!

Yummy crepes, if you have a sweet tooth, you can eat this everyday cuz that's what we did in Tokyo!

Apparently, this crepe stall seems quite popular.

and directly opposite Marion Crepes is Angels Heart which also seems very popular due to the long queues.

our crepes

we ate 3 crepes in a row cuz they were really yummy.

Giant Takopachi

dinner time- we met up with some Japanese friends for dinner.

Very fresh Sashimi

big juicy scallops

Japan 2009- Hokkaido (Biei+Asahikawa) Day 5

Japan 2009- Hokkaido (Biei+Asahikawa) Day 5

on this day, we decided to make use of our Furano-Biei pass for a tour of Biei.

we booked the train tickets to Biei 1 day in advanced. (it's neccessary to plan ahead of time and check out the train timings because they come once every hourly, so if you miss the train, you'll have to wait one whole hour for the next one)

how the train looks like and thats the train master.

Biei station, it looks cute to me.

onboard the coach that was waiting for us right outside Biei station.

Takushinkan (Biei Photo Gallery)

This gallery stores the photography works of Maeda Shinzo who has been able to capture some of the most beautiful scenes of Biei and has put them together with some of his son’s works to create this large collection.

This is an extremely popular destination for photographers from around Japan.

another Lavender field!

our next destination- Biei Rolling Hills

aren't they lovely?

we're in paradise!

purple winnie the poohs can be found in Hokkaido too!

as well as purple Snoopys!

Biei!

next, we made our way to Asahikawa zoo.

We took the JR train from Biei station to Asahikawa station, from there we walked to the bus stop which is just opposite the station and took the bus to the zoo. (pls visit the information centre at the train station for the time table of the bus)

the intestines/insides of a chicken

this animal is so cute, doesn't anyone know the name of it?

in the little cafe choosing some snacks

we settled for Furano potatoes and also fried chicken

we had another meal somewhere near Asahikawa station

cold ramen

Asahikawa JR Station

one of the many snacks we bought from the supermarket

we couldn't get enough of the food here and came back here again on our last night in Furano.

Handmade cheese sausages

wagyu beef

this jelly is yummy! we bought it from the supermarket right across this ryokan we're putting up at.