Gebu Goes Places: i was in chiang mai with Normi (24

normi and i bought flight and hotel package to chiang mai from air asia website at less than RM1000. it was a great offer. great hotel. though a bit far from the city, transportation to the city is cheap. we booked tickets from 24th - 27th May 2006. Our first of many travels to South East Asia together on Air Asia :)

Day 1... 24th May 2006

i woke up as early as 4:00 am that morning.. was really excited. wouldn't want to miss my flight. since i asked mirza to take me to the airport that morning, and since it's an international flight (by right.. we should check in about 2 hours before flight), mirza suggested we leave at around 4:30 am from mama's. we're not sure if the traffic would be good at that hour or where the LCC terminal is.. so, 4:30 should be good. we're right on track. i arrived at LCC at about 6 am. turns out, air asia opens the check in counter exactly 2 hours before time of flight. so, we had plenty of time to spare for breakfast, and subuh prayers. we departed at 9 am. normi slept through the flight. i konon tak nak tidur.. yeah right.. slept half way..

we reached chiang mai international airport at about 11:30 am

(local time). had to change the time. chiang mai's time is one hour later than malaysia's time. took a cab to the Eurasia Hotel. it costs us 160B. pretty expensive.. cause turns out we should only be charged 120B. bloody hell..!!

luckily our hotel was really nice and cozy.. really liked the interior. for the price we pay, thought we'd get a lousy, roach motels.. but it really is nice. even had a kettle in the room. hehehe... can eat maggi mee guys.. hahaha..

about 3 pm(local time.. all local time from now on), we're ready for chiang mai city. we planned to take the hotel shuttle.. cause well.. it's free.. but we missed it by 5 seconds. so, we took a tuk tuk. that's when we met chan.. or jackie chan as we called him. he offered us a private tour of chiang mai and some other day tours.. for a fee of course. but by then we've already decided to join a tour group instead. thought it'd be more interesting. we asked jackie chan to take us to THA PAE ROAD, where Journey T

our is located. we decided to join the elephant safari tour. they charged us 1000B per person. the tour includes elephant show, elephant riding, ox-cart riding, rafting, visit to the orchid farm, butterfly farm and one visit to the paper factory.. will elaborate next time.. in day 2 entry. when we're done with the booking, it's raining even more heavily. so we took a tuk tuk to the anusarn market (at the night bazaar area) to find a halal restaurant called arabia. but we found asma instead. we had lunch at asma.. while waiting for the rain to stop. alas, it didn't look that way.. so, we walked in the rain anyways....

hehehe.. ye la tu.. we bought ourselves a rain coat for 75B each, and walked in the rain. it's terrible having to walk in the rain.. :( so we stopped at the pavillion night bazaar.. there we shopped for souvenirs.. and stuff. the place reminds me of bangunan PKNS.. where all the local industries gather and sell their products. it's pretty interesting. bought some t-shirts and key chains.. also got myself a nice looking handbag. they said it's handmade.. entah la.. but the bag is really cute.. loved it.. if only got matching shoes.. hmm...

about 7:15, we're already beat.. and the sky was getting dark.. the night bazaar is just beginning. the night bazaar is situated at chang klan road. there are stores at each sides of the road that's opened both day and night. but when night comes, the night bazaar stalls are opened.. and it looked like a really long

pasar malam.. it's really a neat place to be at night.. restaurants are opened along each side of the road.. McD, starbucks, subway.. to name a few.. and the lights.. wow.. it's so cool.. but our feet just couldn't handle anymore walking. so, we decided we should look for the hotel shuttle stop at imperial mae ping hotel. we waited at the cafe nearby. boleh nampak ke kat gambar tu? the tall white building is mae ping hotel, the yellow building ada cafe de siam. clearer view .. you'd have to go yourself :P

when we reached the hotel, we're too tired to even shower. i showered anyways.. the thing about staying at a hotel full of fruit trees is that there are so many insects. even killed a few.. ermm.. centipedes.. i think that's what those are.. we retired early the first night. have another long day tomorrow..

Day 2... 25th May 2006

we got up really early so that we won't miss our bus to the

elephant safari.. oppss.. did i say bus? ok.. it's a van. anyhooo... we paid 1000B each for the darn safari we'd better not miss it. we're all set.. anyway, wanna see our cottage? look to the right. cottage no. 933... see... green kan?

they were supposed to come before 8:20 am, but they reached the hotel at about 8:30 am. that's ok laa.. turns out our tour is a malaysian tour. heheh.. not owned by malaysians but the rest of the tourists in the van are malaysians. 2 chinese girls from penang.. kinda crazy la they all. and a malay

couple from jalan semarak with their daughter and their grandkids. turns out we took the same air asia flight to and back. wow.. small world kan? thought we're already heading off.. but wait.. there's one more. the bad thing about joining a joint tour instead of a private tour. it's like taking a taxi at puduraya or medan kidd.. u've to wait till the taxi's full.. then it moves. the other person we're waiting for was a south african named charlie. luckily she's real nice.. so, i wasn't so anal about having to miss a full hour of the elephant show. the weather was not so nice.. it's raining. and we forgot to bring our new raincoat.. sesia aje beli.

we first were taken to watch the elephants. i never knew i was so afraid of elephants.. no.. maybe not

afraid.. but geli kott.. what's the english word for geli ek? entah laa.. but all the hair on my neck suddenly tegak.. and i developed this icky feel when i touched the gajah.. or chang kata org thai. our funny little tour guide, oak said that they call the gajah, chang. our driver was choon.. and he's really cun.. heheh.. but no photos. entah la.. not cun enough kot. the gajah are really bright laa.. there's one little gajah drew a picture of a gajah on his own, while others were led by their trainers.. cute sangat.. they also massaged their trainer.. played football.. played basketball.. pandai laa.. it's really fun, only it's also really sad watching the little gajah having to work like that.. :(

at about 10, we're taken to the elephant riding station. normi and i got a tiny elephant. sian kat gajah tu kena bawak anak gajah dua ekor.. hehehe.. it's a painful, scary, fun, boring, and really wet experience. yupp.. it's that long.. it's a one hour ride.. across the river twice.. go up the hill a bit.. down the hill.. across the orchard.. where we could see the lychee trees and some dragon fruit trees.. banana trees jgn cerita la.a.. so many lah..

and then we stopped at the ox-cart riding station, where i bought a hill-tribe hand-made bag.. cute sangat.. color pink.. for 100B, and the makcik gave me a freebie.. a tulip charmed bracelet. unfortunately, i lost it at the airport.. i think.. sedih.. real cute.. and it's a tulip charmed bracelet pulak. the ox-riding cart was a short one.. thank god.. we rode the kereta lembu with the grandma and grandpa and the granddaughter. but kesian pulak kat lembu tu.. cruelty towards animal.. :( aku pulak naik ajeee.... gambar ada gegar2 sikit.. rough terrains laa..

after lunch we went on the river rafting. it's a very sleepy journey.. i mean it's a one hour long journey back to our tour van. when we arrived, choon greeted us with a cup of mineral water. thanks... i needed that.

then oak took us to the factory where they magically turned elephant dung into paper and the orchid and butterfly farm. lovely, the orchid farm was. really.. beautiful.. even the butterflies were beautiful.. breathtaking.. at the paper factory normi bought a picture frame.. i was too geli to buy one. although i know that i've touched it too many times..

we arrived at the hotel at about 3 pm. i think jackie chan saw us... erkk.. tak pe laa.. we already set a date for a thai massage at 8 tonight. better not be late. he'd freak out! hahah.. since it's really early.. we decided to find our mosque. before that we melantak dulu laa.. punjabi style. will elaborate more on food at my food site later.. soon..

we found our masjid, but with a little help from the tellers at islamic banking of thailand where normi changed her ringgit. they gave us the best rates too. thank you.. it's a huge mosque. really big.. i wonder how come we never bumped into it the day before.. it's really big.

when normi finished her prayers it's already 7:30 pm. that's the when we're scheduled to take our hotel shuttle back. jackie chan mesti marah nye ni.. hopefully we won't bump into him later tonite. we decided to grab a few stuff first before leaving on the next shuttle... headed back to imperial at around 8 pm.. but we sorta got lost.. arrived at around 8:45 pm. we headed the wrong direction. by then we're tired. i was cranky.. really ... my feet hurt like hell.. urghh... so, we had some coffee.. i had some of those mocha cakes.. umm yummy.. where else? cafe de siam of course.. unluckily for us, our 9:30 shuttle has already left.. so we asked the concierge at the imperial mae ping to call eurasia to arrange a pickup for us.. luckily they didn't charge us anything.. hehehe.. and we're not the only ones too.. jackie chan was there at the mae ping hotel.. hehehe.. he seemed pissed. told him we were lost in the city.. read the map wrongly, and promised to meet him at our hotel early in the morning. he agreed. that's when he told us we could call the hotel up for the shuttle.. nasib baik...

we arrived safely at around 10 pm. it's really a loooooonnnnggg day. can't wait for a massage next day.. mean time.. zzzzzzzzz

Day 3... 26th May 2006

i shall declare this day the most expensive day ever.. i spent a lot.. i'm telling ya'.. if u shop when u're hungry.. u'll overspend.. that's why u have to eat on time..

at 9 am, as promised, jackie chan waited for us in front of the hotel. normi and i decided it's a good day to find our thai silk in borsang and sankampaeng road. i think that's what it's called. not sure.. will have to refer to ur guidebooks guys.. jackie chan's taking us there at 200B... u shop i wait.. no complaint.. no problem.. he said. haha.. i said ok.. normi said.. emm.. ok la jugak..

our first stop was leather factory outlet. it's a huge outlet.. found a key ring that's really cute.. a female body in bikini without legs, arms and head. hehhee... made of leather laa.. costs me about 100B after discount. ok le kott.. also bought a stingray made wallet.. icky i know but very pretty.. not sure if i'll use it though.. i'll just keep it laa first. but things are very expensive there.. i think it cost me almost a thousand baht jugak kot there..

next up was gem's gallery.. thought we wouldn't buy anything. i went out with a 14K ring with an amethyst stone for mama.. and normi with a silver bracelet with 15 semi precious gems.. but hers would have to be picked up later.. for some extension.

then we stopped at the thai silk village.. that's where we saw the icky silk worm.. eww... and the processes of getting the silk stuff.. beautiful but very expensive.. about 70 ringgit per meter.. needed 5 meters at least for a full baju kurung for mama and me.. tu la gemuk lagi. need to lose this weight so that next time will only need 4 meters. i ended up spending another 9000 baht there. normi.. too. hehe..

we went back to the gem's gallery. i bought another ring with pink sapphire and a pendant matching the ring. for myself. cantik la.. couldn't help myself. jackie chan finally went in and helped us getting the discounts.

then we went to the cotton factory. there i saw the cotton plant for the first time. awesome. the process is complicated. the girl said that it'd take them 1 whole day to create one

pattern. can u imagine how long it'd take to make a finished product? i can't...

we asked jackie chan to take us back to the hotel. so we could put our shopping bags and normi could pray. we also had some maggi mee.. thank god for maggi mee... we're starved.. we asked jackie chan to wait. besides we haven't paid him for the services yet.. we needed him to take us to the massage thing. he said something about mae ping river..

about 4 pm, he arrived.. he said he had to take some tourists downtown. he said "two tourists.. tunggu tunggu.. no tuk tuk.. i take down town.. jam" hehehe.. pandai pulak dia cakap melayu.. ciss.. patut kena cakap jawa laa lain kali.. then they won't have any idea what we said. tak pe laa.. at least we get to take pictures in front of the hotel..

he took us to mae ping river for a boat cruise.. but the trip was too long..

about 1.5 hours. i personally preferred shopping to it. so we took photos of jackie's tuk tuk instead. he took us to the massage parlour he promised us. beautiful place, gorgeous ladies.. we opted for a private room.. segan lee weii... sedap nyee... sempat lelap.. if only she didn't tickle me..

about 5:30 we were ready for our dinner.. hehhe.. yes.. already. we told jackie chan. "now very hungry" he took us right in front of arabia restaurant. el-ruammit was right next to it. we're frankly were tired of indian food by then, so we opted for thai-chinese food instead. yummy.. wish we were here sooner.. we asked jackie chan "how much" he said "up to u" hhehee... abih la ko jackie chan... we only had 250B to spare nanti tak cukup pulak nak makan.. so we paid him 250B. he said no problem.. entah la cukup ke tak.. tak kisah laa.. i told him we'll see u whenever we come back.. :)

we walked some more after a one hour long dinner... even the workers were astonished hahaha... by the way, the dinner only cost us a mere 335 B... u should see our menu... we even had desserts..

we went for some more shopping. normi finally had her shopping spree.. bought her family souvenirs.. i got malissa and maria both t-shirts, lokman, mirzar and harris thailand t-shirts. we also bought hanim and al's presents. the elephant dung photo album. hehehe.. cian depa.. tak pe la.. they don't know..

we had our last coffee at cafe de siam that night. normi loved the iced chocolate so much she chose that one. i tried their banana blue berry shake.. delish!!

at 9:15 pm sharp we walked to the imperial mae ping hotel, tired and dead broke. and guess who's there..? jackie chan.. even tipu us saying that our bus had already left. memandai ajee... hehehe...

that night.. we packed our bags.. gaduh sapa nak bawak hadiah hanim and al balik. since normi bought extra bag for her stuff, i asked her to bring it back. i brought a bagpack laa.. tak sesuai...

we retired early that night.. kroh kroh... penat laaa...

Day 4... 27th May 2006

Day 4.. i woke up early. it's our last day at chiang mai..

our flight was scheduled at 11:05 am local time. we wouldn't want to be late.. so, we left the hotel really early. plus, i was eligible for some tax refund for my purchases at the gems gallery.. so need to be at the airport really early. turns out the tax refund counter is inside the boarding area.. so, we didn't have to be at the airport an hour before boarding.. and they don't even check my purchases. isk.. sian normi kena bangun awal.

turns out the bag normi beli for hand luggage doesn't qualify for hand luggage.. new ruling kot. MAS tak kisah pun buat gitu dulu.. when i came back from sabah.. anyway, she had to check in her luggage jugak.. luckily we were not pressed for extra charges.. seriau jugak...

thought of getting more thai silk at the airport. but the price mak datok... one store was selling it at 15000B a piece. another one was selling it at half price.. but still so expensive. i could get three and a half for that price in borsang.

normi and i took some photos at the airport. tak de buat apa.. wanted to finish off our thai currency.. seems difficult. everytime i spend i get more back.. we got some coffee at one of the stalls in the airport. lepak2 with the makcik we met during our elephant safari.. borak2 a bit. the pakcik and her daughter chose to get a thai massage. they've had two to three massages when they were there! dasat...

our flight left on time.. at 11:05 am. sms-ed mirzar

to pick me up. bought a pepsi. wanted to use thai Baht but it's more expensive. so used malaysian ringgit instead. dasat betul air asia buat duit..

everyone was really tired.. normi pun tidur the whole flight. since the flight was not as packed as our flight to chiang mai, we sat wherever.. heheh.. best betul...

arrived ahead of schedule. mirza was already waiting... comot as usual.

i had a lot of fun.. despite the rainy weather.. definitely will go there again. maybe next time will go to lampung.. :)