Oceanbluesandsummerbreeze: Arrival In Bangkok

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Arrival In Bangkok

Sis and me left for the Changi Budget Terminal early this morning at about 4.30am. Dad fetched us there (thanks, dad :->). After checking in, sis and I had breakfast at Han's. The BT looks nothing like our Terminal 1 & 2, and there weren't much to see either. Finally, the time came for us to board our flight, and we took off at exactly 6.30am.

We arrived at Bangkok at about 7.20am Bangkok time (or 8.20am Singapore time), and Miti (the viola student that I would be playing for) was already there, waiting for us. He had come with his dad to pick us up. As we were way too early to check into our hotel, they took us for our 2nd round of breakfast at the S&P seafood restaurant, beside the Chao Phraya River:-

View of the river from restaurant

The S&P Seafood Restaurant

L-R: Miti's dad, Miti, me, Miti's mum & sis

The place reminds us of our Boat Quay or Clark Quay, except that the river is much wider and longer. The food at the restaurant was simply delicious and we had a great time eating and chatting. Miti and his mum then brought us to visit the famous Grand Palace, which is just about 10mins away on foot.

Sis & me in the compounds of the Grand Palace

The Grand Palace, established in 1782, is really huge and beautiful, with tons of colourful and majestic architecture. It houses the royal residence and throne halls, as well as a number of government offices and the renowned Temple of the Emerald Buddha (picture below, in gold):-

This picture was taken from outside the hall, as photography and video is prohibited inside. We went in to pray and we also gave a small donation to the temple. Then, we continued our tour around the palace compounds. Lucky for us, the weather was very good, though it was very hot. Here are more photos of the famous palace:-

Phra Siratana Chedi, a reliquary in the shape of a golden chedi

Prasat Phra Dhepbidorn (The Royal Pantheon)

Golden Chedis

A miniature of Angkor Wat, crafted by the order of King Mongkut (Rama IV)

Statue of a Buddha

Chakri Maha Prasat Hall

Changing of guards in front of the hall

After the tour, Miti and his parents brought us to our hotel, the Novotel Bangkok at Siam Square. It's a really nice hotel and we were given a room on the top floor, much to our delight. They then left us to unpack and to take a rest. At 4.30pm, Miti met us in the hotel lobby to bring us to The Stock Exchange of Thailand building, where we'll be performing tomorrow in the Prof. Sangvian Indaravijaya Auditorium (picture below):-

It's a very nice small hall, with a seating capacity of about 300. The Yamaha grand is not too bad too. Miti and I rehearsed for about 2hrs, before heading for dinner with sis and his parents.

It has been an enjoyable day and we're looking forward to tomorrow already.

posted by Ying @ 11:35 PM Comments: 0