Bangkok Bender....Family Edition

As some of you might already know from my twitter updates, I've been on a Bangkok trip with my family. No, not just my rents (rents=parents) and sister but almost half the clan!!!! With 8 other from the Miss B clan and we're a freaky traveling group of 12! And the scariest part is that, I, as in yours truly aka Miss B, is the only one who knows the way around Bangkok and with the ability to ask "Where's the toilet?" and "How much?" in Thai...oh I can count 1 to 10 in Thai too....and I can tell you that it's freaking stressful cos everyone's expecting me to know every nooks and toilet locations in any given shopping malls...oh yeah, they expect me to know every restaurants and shops in any given malls too....garrrr.....

But anyway, other than the freaking stressful bit, I actually had a pretty swell time sightseeing...well, there are only 2 spots which is Wat Arun and Ayuthaya (2 hours away from Bangkok city). Wat Arun cos apparently, according to my mom's book of family tree, the dude who's got the Temple built for is some ancient ancestor of my mom's side of the family...He's supposedly some kind of small time king ages ago...here's his mug shot (according to some of my clan, he actually bears a bit of a resemblance to a young cousin in my mom's side of the family....nah, I think they're just making it up)

Erm....well, I think my mom bears a very slight resemblance cos this portrait has a pissed-off look and my mom always looks pissed off....And the rest of the place is pretty nice too....very steep steps and stuff. But it's nicer than I would imagine...

The Miss B big clan....yes, all of them...I think there're some lurking behind me too

Not bad looking...

It's actually very steep...

 Oohh Me & Pappy...me with my new pink DianaF+ Lomo Camera

But ultimately, the Ancient City Ayuthaya is my favorite! It's the old capital of Thailand before the Burmese army invaded the city, driving the old Siam empire to adopt Bangkok as the new capital. The Burmese army ruined many shrines, chopping off the heads of all the Buddha statues....and one very famous head somehow found its way under a Bodhi tree and has been there since, with tree vines and roots growing around it and now it's a very famous spot in Ayuthaya. And when you want to take pictures with that, you've got to lower yourself and squat next to it cos you can't be higher than the Buddha's head. It's a very very scenic place and I LOVE IT!!!! I've always wanted to go but never got to until this trip. And it was nice, sunny and breezy that day...very very lovely...

As you can see, the Buddha's head been chopped off....

The famed Buddha's head....

M

More headless statues.... 

Ohhh that's the leaning tower of Ayuthaya....

 So that's Ayuthaya for you. The rest of the Bangkok is really the usual shopping and eating. Well, we've been to some very nice restaurants and a couple of them are top restaurants in BKK....went to the very famous Blue Elephant which is super posh. It's a very chichi colonial building that serves Thai cuisine but in a very western setting...it's almost like a french restaurant style...here's my very cute young cousins Isabelle and Lila and then my rents (wearing matching t shirt no less)

Can't be bothered taking more pictures and food porn cos I was too busy eating.....But Blue Elephant is very overrated and overpriced! It's not really worth its salt to be honest. The ambiance is excellent and fancy but the food is really so so...I'm not impressed. If you want a high-end place that sells really good Thai cuisine, there's this one called Baan Kanitha that's freaking good...apparently it's the No.1 restaurant in Bangkok like 7 years ago...

Anyways, here's Miss B's tips on traveling with big clan....

• If you're the only person who knows the way, NEVER, yes, NEVER say so. Failing which, the entire world will rely on you for directions and if you take a wrong turn, you get blamed on by everyone. That's speaking of personal experience
• If you've made the mistake of appointing yourself as the tour guide, then make sure you plan 5 steps ahead, knowing very very clearly where you intend to go or dine next AND coming up with a few options for the elders to choose and decide. Failing which, you'll get blamed for not being organised even when you're not really a tour guide by profession
• First thing to check out in the mall is to find out where the information center is because at some point, some of the peeps in your family would want to go find the restroom and if you don't know, they'll say you're a shit guide and that becomes YOUR problem
• If you're not the elders (people with authority in the family), don't even bother suggesting restaurants or you're gonna get blamed if the food sucks and you're gonna get some very angry faces if the food comes late (personal experience too....but a very important member had her food delivered only an hour later...)
• When the blind leads the blind, the ones with vision suffer. Yes, give very very strict instruction when you're guiding those who don't know the way (like when you're on the phone with them). Tell them if they don't follow, they won't find the way and if they are lost, it's not your fault. Yes, emphasize the last bit "NOT MY FAULT"
• If you're traveling with a bunch of not very adventurous elders, do consider packaged tour. It's a hell lot less stressful

Well, as you can see from my tips, my trip did have a bit of kinks along the way...but it's still good  nonetheless....and I did a bit of shopping....ta daaaaa....

Not exactly a lot but I did buy quite a bit of Soap&Glory face products cos they're not really available at Sephora in Singapore....but I'm nonetheless very broke cos it's the shopping in Hong Kong that's killed me....will tell you more...