美国印象-Prelude

美国是一个我一直都很想去的地方，从小就开始想，一直想到现在。友人觉得WORK AND TRAVEL USA是他人生中最美好的日子，我到是想见识到底有多美好，所以我因为SIGN UP FOR WORK AND TRAVEL。

这次我还是一个人SIGN UP的，很多人问我，你不怕吗？我是一个SIGN UP，可是不代表我不会去认识其他的人，不会去交其他的朋友。就象旅行一样，与其找一个合不来的人，不如自己去找一些情同意何的人一起去旅行.

对于每个人来说，旅行都有不同的意义。我喜欢旅行，因为每次旅行，都可以体会到不一样的环境，遇到不一样的人，听不一样的故事，感受不一样的人生。最重要的是，我可以有更多时间跟聆听我内心的声音。

每次旅行之后，都发现世界那么大，比我想象中的要大好多好多。我们总是对自己的生活不满足，但是看了外面的世界，就发现自己没有过的那么差。现在的我，不喜欢名牌货，也不太喜欢奢华，只要能有旅行的机会，我就很满足了。人生其实真的不需要那么多，只要足够就好了。我的目标不大也不小，接下来的几年，希望能找到一个跟我一起漂流的人，一起去看这个世界，找一个适合的地方定下来。

友人曾问我，我这样的生活辛苦不辛苦。的确有点辛苦，谁不喜欢住好的酒店？谁不喜欢吃大餐。可是如果每天住酒店，每次吃大餐，你还会觉得好吗？ 我当然不喜欢受苦，谁喜欢呢？只是我觉得人生要有点挑战才会精彩。Live life to the fullest and do not waste a single day.

Lost in Ayutthaya

Ayutthaya is another destination on my list.
As the lost kindom and now the world heritage site, Ayutthaya definitely have some charm that attracts people.
Took a van from victory monument to Ayutthaya,then I changed to a small bus to the heart of the town.
Met this friendly Thai lady on the bus and she actually directed me to the bicycle rental shop.

Having no budget for tuk tuk or other mode of transport, the rented bicycle becomes my mobility. As Ayutthaya is not very huge in size and the traffic is not that heavy, it is quite nice just to cycle around.

Walking through the ruins, imaging the raise and fall of the great Siamese Kingdom.
Life stops for a second or rather a few hours.
Tried some beef noodle and roasted banana at roadside store.
This is my first time seeing roasted banana.(Well, I have seen more as I travel)

Took the train back to bangkok.
The train back to bangkok costs only 20 baht,compared to the mini van which costs 100baht.
However, the ride back to bangkok tooks about 2.5-3 hours.
I am back to bangkok and Khao San road again.

Bangkok

Since I didn't visit Bangkok much on the first day, I visited quite a number of places on the second day.Some of the common tourist area I have visited are grand palace,wat pho and chinatown.



I think this place look more like Europe than Thailand.

Grand Palace from far

Statue in Grand Palace


My favourite orange juice that can be found almost anywhere in Bangkok,especially on the street on Khao San area.

I was cheated by one tuk tuk driver while walking aroud near grand palace.He actually dropped me at some weird temple which I didn't want to go at all.When I asked him to send me to Chinatown,he refused as I don't want to pay any additional sum.I walked out of the temple and decide to find my way there to chinatown.

Just as when I was walking, there is another Tuk Tuk driver approached me.I was skeptical about his intention at first, but he turned to be a nice chap. He actually walked me to the bus stop that has buses to chinatown when i failed to understand about his words.

Not long after I reached chinatown, then it starts to rain. I have no choice, but to squezze under the shelter with a bunch of Thai. It feels good when you integrate into the society.

Intro:My first backpacking trip

I have decided to went for a backpacking trip around south east asia on impulsive while I was still working. During my free time at work, I will browse through travel websites to kill time.That's why I had the idea about backpacking in southeast asia.

I booked my ticket with Jetstar on 1 June at $28SGD per single trip. 1 June is a notable date as Thailand is just released from state of emergency on 31 of May.Since it is my first time backpacking, I decided to go by the typical backpacker route, bangkok-siam reap-phnom penh-Ho Chi Minh.

I slept in Singapore Changi Airport the day before my flight as I have booked the 730 flight.Unfortuntely, my flight was delayed and I only managed to reach Bangkok at 1430 BKK time.

From Bangkok international airport, I took bus 511 to victory monument which is the cheapest way to get into the central area of bangkok. At the bus terminal, I bargained with the driver and managed to pay only 35baht for the ticket whereas even the thais paid 40baht. I am amazing, isn't it?

Overwelmed by the street food along the road side of bangkok. That's something you will never see in Singapore. Over the next few days, I have been trying all the wonderful street deli along the different parts of bangkok. Initially I was planning to stay over at this couch surfer's place, but it turnt out that he was busy overworking that day. I have to source for alternative lodging instead.

Street of bangkok at night.

I was feeling rather down due so many unforseen circumstances. Knowing that A is in bangkok, so we met and had a good time catching up. It feels wonderful to receive help from a friend when you are travelling alone.

That puts an end to first day of my backpacking trip.

New blog

From today onwards, I shall use this blog to record the colourful events of my life.
Hope that many years later, I can still remember what I have done in each phases of my life.