All About Thai

I do owned a blog since few months ago, but after so long, now only I plan to start to write my own blog. Well, hope it ain't too late for me to start my blogging life. So here's my very first blog about my 5 days 4 nights Bangkok family trip! There's a "power" in this beautiful city that motivates me to start blogging! 
P.S: This itinerary was well planned by my sis-in-law & majority of the photos were credited to her. Really appreciate for all the efforts & time spent on these. 😄 

"SAWASDEE krab/ka" & "KHOBKHUN krab/ka"

Friday, 12th Dec 2014 

Day 1:
We arrived Bangkok city quite late at night which was around 10pm according to the time in Thailand & we were starving! But luckily these were what we found which is just located near the hotel that we stayed, Centre Point Hotel Pratunam. 

Thumbs up for all the food served especially the bbq salted fish (Top left, PS: We had ordered 2 for that, hehe!) & tomyam soup (Top right)!




They cooked by using charcoal instead of stove, that's why the dishes tasted so good!

==========End of day 1==========

Saturday, 13th Dec 2014
Day 2:
Our 1st stop! Previously I only heard about the train market and the floating market but I never have a chance to visit these places. But now, here we are in the Maeklong Station!

Look at the crowd! It's really hard for us to walk through the lane.

Seriously it was so hard for us to take a good photo among the crowd!

The market seller were getting ready & started to clear the railroad.

  

Here's the scene before the train was going to move at the end of the market.

The leaving of the train through the market.

Because we are young!

A photo taken at the railroad after the leaving of train. Papa & mama say "cheese"!

Next stop for day 2! Dumnoen Saduak Floating Market! It's really a great experience for my family & I as we were going to sit on the boat and shop like a typical tourists!

We were on our way heading to our destination!

 All the houses and shops are made by wood & they can sell anything by the river.

When I sat in the boat, I was kinda worried and wondered "how is it possible for 3 boats to go across each other in this small river?" But it really surprised me when I saw those boats were able to go across  without bumping each other.

  

These were what we had as our desserts, the mango sticky rice and coconut ice-cream!

Actually, a visit to Amphawa Floating Market was not in our list, but we were told by the tour guide that this floating market is preferred to be visited by most of the local citizens. So, we decided to go and take a look! 

Photo taken on the bridge of Amphawa Floating Market.

Instead of taking the boat, we choose to walk by the river. Trust me, you will find more things to discover and shop by walking on your own!

 Look at these & I drooled!

I really don't know what this should be called but it tasted like sticky rice with the coconut topping.

The scallops are so juicy!

Attention all!!! Finally here's the last stop for day 2, but it was also the best part of the day! A place that my family & I had long waited! You must go to this place once if you have a chance to visit Bangkok, The Chocolate Ville!

Welcome to Chocolate Ville!

Once you step into this place, you will feel yourself like visiting Europe!

You can see from our smile that how much we love this beautiful place!

The lighthouse and the lighting behind added lots of nice effect to this picture!

We were lucky as we visited this place 2 weeks before Christmas, so this village was all designed & decorated according to the Christmas theme!

Dinner by the lakeside!

(PS: If you wish to have your dinner at this beautiful place, it's better for you to reach there & make the reservation earlier! We waited around 30 mins as we just made the reservation on the spot. But after all, it's really worth for the long wait!)

Let's dine!
Thumbs up for the pork ribs (Top left), salad (Middle), thai tomyum pasta (Bottom left), and the banana crepe (Bottom right)!

You will be missed!

==========End of day 2==========

Sunday, 14th Dec 2014

Day 3:

We started our journey quite early in the morning where we departed from our hotel around 8am, as our 1st stop of the day was to visit the sunflower field which located in Wang Muang, Saraburi! So as you know the best timing for the sunflower to rise is in the morning and that's the moment where you can capture the best scene! So even you feel sleepy as you need to wake up so early in the morning, but once you reach & view this place, I'm sure you will stay wide awake & you won't regret!

Here we are in the sunflower paradise & you worth it!

Haha I guess this is our best family photo!

*Dancing in the middle of the sunflower field*

Oppsss I'm trapped but I don't wanna get out from this place!

A breath-taking view where the skies are blue together with the infinity view of a sea of sunflowers!

Ready for the next stop? And here we are in the Farm Chokchai! The farm was named by the founder, Mr. Chokchai Bulakul. There're lots of stations in this farm that are waiting for you to discover!

Welcome to Farm Chokchai!

 The explanation about the dairy cow and how the milking process is carried out.

The views along the journey when we were sitting in our little truck.

It's cowboys' show time! Yee-haw!!!

I'm not a burger lover! But seriously this is too delicious! I can finish this all by myself! It's a MUST to try when you visit here! *Chokchai Steak Burger*

It's happy hour for both of my nephews as it's feeding session at the petting zoo.

Sit back, relax & enjoy the interesting performance by these cute animals! Give them a big applause!

It took around 30 mins for us to queue outside! But as long as we were willing to wait, all these really didn't matter & YES we were there for their steak!!! Bwahaha, finally it's our turn! There are few restaurants for you to select but heard the local said that Chokchai Steak House is their best option as they serve the best & juicy steak!

After visiting the cowboy farm, it almost came to evening & we were heading to our next stop, Palio Piazza Khao Yai! This place is known as "The Italy of Thailand". I had not been to Italy before, so by visiting this place, I able to experience & feel the Italy cultures! So please don't rush yourself in visiting this place, slow down your pace... 

Family photo is a MUST! Hehe...

Look at the structure of these buildings!

The alleys were full of souvenirs & there were some murals too!

The making of candyfloss. Anyone want some?

Before the end of the day, we still have another place to go! And we had planned this since earlier before we visited Bangkok! We planned to spend our 3rd night here in the vineyard! So, my sister-in-law made the booking earlier before we came to Bangkok! This place is known as Granmonte Vineyard which located in Pak Chong, Nakhon Ratchasima. 

We had looked forward to this place for so long, words can't describe how excited I am to be here. Finally here I am in the vineyard!!!

  

What a warm welcoming by the owner of this homestay!



Our dinner of the day! The Vine Cotto Restaurant is also owned by the owner of the vineyard. It's really awesome for all the dishes! If you want me to rate these, I will give a 9 out of 10 where the another 1 mark is for its improvement! Look at these, you can see how much effort is put by the chef in serving the best quality food for their customers.

==========End of day 3==========
To be continued

Monday, 15th Dec 2014

Day 4: 

We spent one night staying at the homestay in Granmonte Vineyard. It was so windy and cold and we really had a very good night sleep. If you able to wake up early in the morning, it's better for you to go for a morning walk and enjoy breathing in the fresh air over there.

A morning view from the homestay that we stayed. How could I not love this place!

This place is really suitable for relaxation!

Here are the unripe grapes. We were told by the local tour guide that the best timing for the grapes to grow mature is on next year February. 

Besides that, instead of sitting in the mini truck or van, it's better for you to walk and enjoy the view! Don't waste the precious view that you're only able to see here!

In front of every row of planted grapes, there will be some flowers in order to prevent the attack of insects on those planted sweet grapes. 

Instead of taking van, we chose to walk to the restaurant where we had dinner last night. Haha trust me, they served GREAT breakfast too!!!

And of course, they do produce their own 100% grape juice. My family love this and I can drink few bottles of this!

Really love the ambience over here where I can spend quality time with my family.

After breakfast, it's time for us to go for a walk in the vineyard. But first, how could we ever missed out our family photo?

Double the *Peace*

With ma bro!!! *We share the same smile*

I think she's just too good at modelling. Isn't she?

Bunches of grapes above my head, and I wished to pick them all!

Here's the process of wine making, but too bad we were not allowed to enter as they were undergoing the packing process.

Wine for sale!

Here's our favorite time, the wine testing session! 

Raise your glass & cheers!

Here's the last stop for day 4, the Jim Thompson Farm. It is also located in Pak Thong Chai, Nakhon Ratchasima. We visited Bangkok in the middle of December, so we had a chance to visit this place as it was opened from 13th December 2014 till 11th January 2015, where this place only open for public around 4 weeks a year. We felt so thankful as we had a chance to visit this beautiful place before leaving Bangkok. There are total 5 stations in this farm & we can spend hours in visiting this place!

First station is the Cosmo field & U-pick garden.

Look at the size of these long beans!

The second station is the pumpkin field & maize field.

This place is so unreal!

We're in the middle of sea of flowers! And we love this place so much!

Haha what a lovely couple we have over here!

Let's embrace this place!

We're selling big and sweet pumpkins, come & grab it!

A very weird pose where I was holding a pumpkin & surrounded by orange flowers!

For the third station, Isan village.

 Back to childhood!

The unique traditional structure of house at those ancient time.

The playing of traditional musical instrument.

The trying of traditional way to mill the rice! It was so hard & heavy!

Move on to the next station, what we have over here is the weaving village.

These silks were basked in the sun for drying purpose.

Look at this little boy!

You don't have to rush from one station to another, just take your time to visit every place because for every 10 to 20 mins, this little truck will pass by every station to pick up the tourists.

Last station for this place, the Jim Market.

Haha the sisterhood!

Haha the background seemed similar with the drama "Winter Sonata", so I called it "Summer Sonata"!

Flowers again!

They were selling variety of pumpkins in the market! You can taste it before you buy.

We really heart this place.

I was so lucky where I able to capture this beautiful sunset before I left.

You will definitely be missed!!!

==========End of day 4==========

Tuesday, 16th Dec 2014

Day 5:

For our last day in Bangkok, we just went for a free & easy shopping. We also tried their famous pork rice & mee wantan. Here's the only shop in Bangkok & there's no branch at other place in Thailand! *Seriously can't remember the name of the place.*

We queued up so long for this! 

Goodbye Bangkok!

==========End of day 5==========

*End of Bangkok trip*