King Naresuan The Great

After having watched the movie King Naresuan episodes I & II, I just can't wait any longer to watch the final episode. And that will be during His Majesty The King's birthday on 5th Dec. I really enjoyed watching the movie of one of the greatest heroes in Thai history. King Naresuan was born in Phitsanulok in 1555, I guess the people must've been really excited back then just as we were excited during 1999 - before the new milennium.

At the age of nine, he had been taken as hostage to Burma for 6 years. King Naresuan was a great warrior king. He liberated Ayutthaya from Burma while he was the Crown Prince. He led the soldiers into battles to defend the country against Burmese invasions numerous times. He is widely known among the Thais nowadays for his heroic efforts. King Naresuan deserved the honor of being "the Great". He not only restored national independence but also made Siam such a powerful country that no enemy threatened the walls of Ayutthaya again for another 173 years.

This is simply the best Thai film I've ever watched so far. King Naresuan is played by Captain Wanchana Sawasdee who is a soldier. This war movie is full of spectacular battle scenes, war strategies of the different warriors, cock fighting, and even romance.

Episode I was about his life as a young boy, a friend, a monk, episode II was a display of his leadership skills, loyalty, wisdom, fighting skills, his talent in tactical warfare, his love for Siam, and the journey he made back to Siam. The end of episode II was simply superb when King Naresuan held a special 3-metre long rifle and fired a bullet across the river that hit the bulls eye! Episode I was interesting, episode II was thrilling, and lets hope that the final episode will put up a great ending!

The above pictures are taken from the official movie site http://www.kingnaresuanmovie.com/

Top 10 reasons to visit Bangkok

1. You love beaches
2. You are happy to see people with smiling faces
3. You like Thai food
4. Your boyfriend called saying he's extending his vacation in Bangkok
5. Your national threat level just got elevated
6. You need a low cost sex change operation
7. You need to experience Asian culture
8. You like shopping but dont have much money
9. You want to ride an elephant
10. You wont last through the winter

Songkran Holidays

The Songkran holidays just got over last week, and the heat is back. I see a lot of women beat the heat with their umbrellas in the morning, and wonder if I can get some kind of a manly umbrella that would look great on men.. .But I don't see any men carrying an umbrella despite the fact that men sweat much more than women. It is 40 °C out there and getting into one of those cars in the parking lot would easily feel like a 50 °C inside.

Every 10 minutes of walking requires a quick access to a 7-11 to cool down. I'm lucky to remain indoors most of the time - unaffected by the heat.

Places to visit in Bangkok

This is an itinerary style listing of places to visit in Bangkok.

Day 1 - riverside
1. Temple of the Emerald Buddha (Wat Phra Kaew) - situated next to The Grand Palace. traditional Thai massage offered.
2. The Grand Palace
3. ChaoPhraya River Trip - take an express boat for a windy ride
4. Temple of the Reclining Buddha (Wat Pho)
5. The Golden Mount Temple (Wat Saket) - situated on a little hill

Note: Show some respect to the Thai tradition - wear decent outfits to all temples, put on appropriate footwear (shorts & slippers not allowed), also carry a cap and some water as it is going to be hot.

Day 2 - city center
1. Erawan Shrine - One of Bangkok's holiest site
2. Gaysorn Plaza - shopping mall with designer labels
3. Central World Plaza (former World Trade Center) Mega Shopping Store
4. Pratunam Pier - If you want some adventure and don't mind getting a bit wet you could take a canal boat here (bridge connecting Central World Plaza and Pratunam intersection)
5. Baiyoke 2 Sky Hotel tallest tower in Thailand with a great rooftop city view (costs around 200 Baht per person to go to the roof)
6. Pantip Plaza - Thailand's premiere shopping mall for all IT needs

Day 3 - city center
1. Indian Temple (Wat Khaek) - situated on Silom Road
2. Phahurat Road (Little India, several Indian shops selling fabrics & Indian restaurants)
3. MBK Shopping center - lots of clothes, bags, etc at good prices (also includes cinemas)
4. Siam Square Shopping area - Siam Paragon shopping mall which has designer labels
5. Emporium Shopping mall - you can get here by taking a BTS skytrain from Siam station / National Stadium and getting down at Promphong station

Day 4 - further away from city center
1. Floating Market (Far away from bangkok)
2. Chatuchak Weekend Market (weekends only) - You can take a BTS skytrain ride from Siam station or any other station to Morchit Station to reach Chatuchak. Alternatively, take an MRT subway train to Chatuchak Park station

Note: Places highlighted in green are not to be missed

The reasoning blog

With millions of bloggers around, and an infinite number of reasons to write a blog, here I am with my blog hoping to share some ideas and claim my share of the web space. I'm wondering if one really needs a reason at all to write a blog. So here I am with a blog, but will anyone read it?

Keep walking

Keep walking, as its great for your health