HRC PinFest in Bangkok

Finally we have landed at Suvarnabhumi Airport at 11.20pm (Thai's time). After a short line-up at the taxi stand, we took a cab to our hostel (not hotel, thats normally our place to stay when we travel) named HI-Sukhumvit.

The next morning we headed to Chao Phraya River (one the most popular attractions in Bangkok) by sky train (Saphan Taksin station). You can buy One Day Unlimited rides for sky train (highly recommended price B120 per person).

Meanwhile for Chao Phraya River cruise, there's also One Day Unlimited Tourist Boat (price B150 person, buy 2 B250). There are 13 piers that you can stop and each one has their own attraction.

We stopped at the Maharaj Pier which brought us to The Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaeo. Admission is not free (B25o per person). We found its quite interesting and suddenly things became familiar... Oh yeah this is where Anna and The King was filmed.

After a few hours, we took a boat ride until the last pier and turn back to our first pier (Sathron Pier) and headed to town. Since we bought unlimited rides for our sky train we were able to stop at most of the stations. Most of them are linked to the shopping mall, which I think is a good idea. Siam Paragon, Siam Square, Central World, MBK, Siam Discovery are few that I could remember. There are a lot more that we didn't go.

The Big Day

This is the main reason for us to go to Bangkok. Pin Fest Bangkok is an annual event for Hard Rock Pin Collector all over the world to get together and do their selling, trading and auctioning their collection. Since I am still new with this club it was an interesting experience for me. We made our grand entrance at 12.oopm at Hard Rock Cafe Bangkok.

There were about 40 of us and most of them from USA and Europe. We spent almost 6-7 hours there with trading, selling, buying even auctioning pins plus lunch and dinner.

Besides that, they gave us a big surprise which was a BIRTHDAY SURPRISE for my husband, Faizal. Thanks to Mr. Osman, operations manager for Bangkok HRC and by the way he's Malaysian too. MALAYSIA BOLEH!

We went back to our hostel with lots of goodies from HRC Bangkok. Those who are interested to know more about HRC pin collector, checkout this link.

Chatuchak Market

On our last day, we managed to go to World's Biggest Market which has 15,000 stalls consist of EVERYTHING you can think of. Shall I say more....?

If you ever plan to go to Bangkok, make sure it falls on weekend because this market is a MUST go thing. I can spend hours there, from clothing to household, even food, flowers,pets even CDs... there goes my husband..

Anyway, after 4 days of our trip, we found out Bangkok has everything to offer... from its culture, people, food and at the same time their tradition..Sawadee...

Congratulations, President Barack Obama

I was in a middle of finishing our Bangkok trip post when the news came out. This historic date (4/11/08) has seen American went out to vote and elected their 44th First African-American President of the United States of America. (He won 53% of the popular vote and 349 electoral votes).

I managed to get a copy of his interview with the Rolling Stone magazine. It's a very special copy cause it was translated to Bahasa Indonesia. (Rolling Stone Indonesia Edition - 40th issue - August 2008). He talks about the youth vote, what's on his Ipod and his top 3 priorities as President. 

*Here is the link to read the interview... in English.

Preparing my playlist

I blamed myself for not updating this blog for quite sometimes.. catching a dateline before going to Bangkok for our 1st Hard Rock Cafe Pin Collector's meeting. Excited! we must say and at the same time checking the news on things happening in Bangkok. (The Thaksin things)..

Normally i'll check how long the flight duration is before i made my selection for the playlist. Currently we're listening to Kings of Leon and Aizat 1st album - Percubaan Pertama. So, both of their songs are on our playlist...

*The flight from Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok takes about 2 hour. (depands on weather or flight delayed)..

Good News!.. Concert Travellers

Even if you already own their album, to watch them performed LIVE would be the greatest moment that happen in your life. But for Malaysian, we always missed out some of this good performance. Our best hope is our jiran terdekat Singapura, Jakarta or Bangkok. 

Terbaca satu artikel di The Star mengenai AirAsia X dan Big Day Out. (BDO adalah satu acara Music Festival yang dianjurkan setiap tahun di Australia) The lineup for 2009 already impressed us – Neil Young, Artic Monkeys, The Ting Tings, Prodigy and more.. 

AirAsia X sedang berusaha untuk mewujudkan satu kerjasama dengan pihak penganjur untuk menyediakan pakej menarik buat peminat-peminat muzik di Malaysia. So, keep your fingers crossed guys... or else, you can always do your own budget travelling. 

Click here for the link to Star Online article.

*Hope to see Metallica touring South East Asia again. Missed it when they performed live in Singapore for promoting the BLACK album in 1993.

Nidji - Laskar Pelangi

A new song for the soundtrack of a new movie by Riri Riza (3 hari untuk selamanya, Gie, Kuldesak) is taken from the best selling novel in Indonesia "Laskar Pelangi" by Andrea Hirata. The story is about the struggling of an inspiring teacher and the 10 students for education at SD Muhammadyah school in the poverty-stricken Gantong village, Belitung.

The film & music producer, Mira Lesmana asked the band to "Baca novelnya,Baru nulis lagu". This is for the band to get the inspiration and feel the courage, hope, sad and happiness of the 10 high-spirited students in fight for their better future. Yes, and from the first listen, the song turnout beautifully. Tak sabar rasanya for the movie & soundtrack to be release di Malaysia.

This video clip reminded me of the song "Hard Sun" by Eddie Vedder from the movie "Into The Wild". Mungkin secara kebetulan kot.. sebab kedua-duanya diambil dari kacamata seorang backpacker.

Suasana Hari nak Raya

Selamat Hari Raya to all Muslimin and Muslimat. Mohon maaf zahir dan batin andai ada tersinggung kata sepanjang kami mula mem'blogging'. Dah agak lama juga tak update this blog.. well, busy for Hari Raya preparation & open house.

So, we start this month's blog with some of the pictures that we didn't manage to upload before Hari Raya. These were taken around Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman and Jalan Masjid India during last week of Ramadhan.

There were still people going out for their last minute shopping. Why? cos bargain hunting normally starts around this time and sometimes it continue until Malam Raya. 

At Sogo Department Store, one of the famous shopping mall in Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, people queueing as early as 9am to get in. What so special about this mall? Everyone has their own opinion but we guess you should venture this 10th floor mall yourself. Cos even if is not festive season, Sogo still packed with customers. Hmm.. wonder why?

*Also a nice spot for "lepak-lepak" after shopping, picture taking or doing nothing.

*Buying for berbuka puasa.

*The bargain hunting goes on..

Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman is a popular spot for "kain ela", tudung, baju kurung, butik pengantin, kedai buku and also gadgets like camera and handphone. Places like Harrison (textile), Gulati's (textile), Bunga Riben (wedding), Pustaka Minerva (bookstore), Medan Mara (tailors) and Maju Junction (camera goods), to name afew.. go jalan-jalan along this street, more shops and variety awaits you.

Bazar Ramadhan di Jalan Masjid India pun dipenuhi orangramai yang go for their last minute shopping. Kerepek & kuih memang fast selling item specially towards end of Ramadhan. Nak habiskan stok? Maybe.. tapi kalau beli banyak dapat diskaun, why not...hehehe. Our favourite kerepek and kuih during raya ni tentulah Kerepek Pisang Tanduk & Kuih Dahlia. Lagi sedap kalau ada kopi secawan...

Juga terdapat pelbagai barangan lain yang dijual seperti hiasan ketupat, butang baju melayu, songkok, beg tangan dan aksesori. But for us yang paling menarik sekali di bazar ramadhan ini ialah melihat gelagat para peniaga using their skills and creativity to promote their sales. 

*Berminat untuk ke Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman dan Jalan Masjid India, anda boleh menaiki public transport seperti  RapidKL bas dan lrt. (LRT berhenti di stesen Masjid Jamek dan Bandaraya) atau Metro Bus.

On my way home, tiba-tiba teringat this raya song titled "Raya" by actor/comedian Jalil Hamid. Jarang sekali stesen-stesen radio Era baru Yang Panas put this song on their playlist... Why?