I know what you’re probably thinking, “land of smiles”?? Is that like the backrooms or something?’ Well, the answer is no. It’s actually a country. And that country is Thailand. Which is where I am right now! Yay!

From Vienna, my dad booked a flight to Bangkok with Turkish Airlines. We had a stop over in Istanbul, Turkey, so tEcHnICaLlY I’ve been to Turkey :D! The flight with Turkish Airlines was very nice. They actually fed us good food, compared to what you get on other airlines. *cough* *cough* Air Canada *cough* *cough*. They gave us food on a flight that was less than two hours long. Then on the eight hour, they gave us little travel kits also, y’know like the ones you get in the first class in an American flights. Well, we were in economy and we got little bags with a sleeping mask, lip balm, a toothbrush and toothpaste, ear plugs, and it all came in a little pouch. Turkish Airlines is one of the best airline in the world, the flight was cheaper too, and we were treated better. Air Canada doesn’t even compare. The only airline that’s based in North America that even makes some sort of ranking in the worlds best airline category is Delta Airlines.

It is actually my third time in Thailand. My first visit was in Bangkok in 2012. I was only four years old. We went to the floating market here in Bangkok. I was terrified. The boat was so low to the water, and with every turn I thought water was going to come into the boat and then we would sink into the less-than-clean water below. I did not want to go swimming :D. The boat drivers paddle along the market slowly, and you can see the vendors selling their stuff on the sides. The driver stops for you if you see something that you like. It’s a really cool concept, and it’s quite the experience. I’m not sure I would do it again though, to be honest. I got a ukulele from there. Then we rode some elephants. Riding an elephant is interesting. Since they are such huge animals, with every step, you really just *drop* to one side. It’s like a little like riding a horse, but… like you can really feel it more.

We met up with my mom’s family from the Philippines in 2012. Last time I saw them before then was when I was 6 weeks old, so this was really the first time I was able to see them. Then in 2014, we stayed six weeks in Phuket, Thailand. So, in April we got to participate in the Songkran Festival. Songkran is also known as the Water Splashing Festival, which is celebrated to mark the New Year in Thailand. Basically you get to shoot random people with water guns and ITS SO FUN! Actually, scratch that, I wouldn’t know because guess what? My dad only bought ONE water gun which he used for the entire duration. All I did was get wet. -_- thanks, dad. See, it’s actually a religious ceremony and water fights are the trademark of the events. It’s actually like you’re being blessed if you get splash by the water. Imagine if Catholics shot water guns filled with Holy Water. That would be insane. I would love that. We should normalize this. Oh, also NO ONE is exempt from getting sprayed by water. Meaning that you WILL see police officers soaking wet in their uniforms. Also if you wear a poncho you’re lame. :p

Click here to read my post about Phuket, Thailand.

Blurry spots are because the camera was wet lol. Look at this. It’s an army of people with water guns.

This year, we’re not spending our winter in Florida like we’ve been doing for the past fourteen years. We are planning to visit different countries in Asia and to visit my mom’s family also. It’s been six years since I saw my grandmother, so we’re finally going to the Philippines to see them! Yay!

Thailand is called “the land of smiles” because the people are extra smiley. I’ve found that the Thai are always happy to serve you and friendly and welcoming. They are very nice to tourists.
Thailand was historically known as Siam, but in 1939 the leader changed it to Thailand. It is officially called the Kingdom of Thailand. The head of state is a king and the head of government is a prime minister. If you visit Thailand, you will see pictures of the king almost everywhere. Most Thai people are Buddhists, so there are small shrines in every building where there are offerings. Fun fact: if you see a batch of cookies, crackers, or bottles of pop sitting in front of a statue, they are NOT free samples for you to eat. There’s extreme poverty and extreme wealth in Thailand. So there are lots of street vendors selling food, weed, juice, knockoff watches, clothes, and other little things.

I don’t think that every single restaurant here in Thailand passed the health inspection with flying colors, so we took the Hepatitis A & B vaccines and Ducoral before we came. Even my mom took some, and she was born in the Philippines which means that her immune system is a little stronger than me and my dad’s.

The only thing that we’ve bought from the street vendors is fruit. A pomegranate, to be exact. ‘Twas the first time I tried a pomegranate, and I thought it was really juicy and good, but I don’t like the white part on the inside of the seeds. It’s weird for me to eat those. So we’ve only been eating from the mall food courts, and the restaurants. It is also inexpensive to eat out. Over all I’ve been loving Bangkok so far! Especially since the bubble tea is better here. There’s so many choices. I got to try bubble tea topped with ice cream. So good!

At the mall there is a lady that is selling bugs. Like bugs to eat. It’s weird that I don’t want to eat them. I guess it’s because they still have… everything on them. Their hard shells, their eyeballs, multiple legs-it grosses me out.

There’s also a shaved ice with milk tea and tapioca to flavor it, I have yet to try it, and it looks good. You can’t go wrong with tapioca and milk tea over ice :p

Click here: Bangkok Food Fest to see some of the local food in Bangkok.

Since we’ve been here before, we are not in a hurry to sight-see immediately. We are staying at an aparthotel that’s walking distance to Terminal 21 Mall, ECB Church, and BTS Skytrain that takes us anywhere we want to go. There’s also taxis, tuk tuks, buses, and motorcycle-taxi. You can hire a car through Grab, which is like Uber in North America, but you can pay your driver in cash once you get to your destination. You don’t have to give all of you credit card info to create an account. Bangkok has a lot of people, so there is a huge need for all of this public transport.

APEC Summit was held in Bangkok a few weeks ago. World leaders including US VP Kamala Harris was in town. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was also here for a day to meet the other world leaders. All these leaders stayed in these high-end hotels and dine-in in the best restaurants in Bangkok. So you get what I mean about extreme wealth and extreme poverty.

The malls and markets are fairly close to each other, there’s room for everyone, I guess. Some are high-end like IconSiam, Siam Paragon, Central Embassy, Central World, and Terminal 21. The second largest Starbucks in the world was located in IconSiam. There’s a water fountain show outside the mall too overlooking the Chao Phraya River. It’s pretty entertaining. Watch my Youtube video.

And there’s the local markets that you can expensive products. And just for an experience, my dad wants to visit the Chatuchak Weekend Market. It is the largest open market in Thailand. We took the BTS Skytrain to get there. The staff at the ticket booth can speak English and was very helpful to give directions.

According to Wikipedia, the market has 15,000 stalls and 11,505 vendors (2019). It is divided into 27 sections. You can find different kinds of plants, antiques, consumer electronics, cosmetics, pets, fresh and dry food and drinks, ceramics, furniture and home accessories, clothing, flowers, and books. There are also places to eat at the market.

This market looks like the market that you find in Thailand but on a larger scale. They have the street vendors, popup food carts, and shops. Some are good quality and good for souvenir gift, but some are not. It really depends on what you’re looking for, and if you really want to spend time going through the whole market. We didn’t really buy much. My dad got a T-shirts made by a local artist. The prints on them are really cool. We only spent an hour in the market because it was really, really hot. Honestly, it’s unbearable. Maybe it’s better go in the afternoon close to sun down.

That’s really all I have to report on Bangkok! Stay tune because I have some more interesting post!

Bye for now!