They say: Just imitate them. 




I want to win, I want to win, I want to win!

I can't afford to lose!

I'll lock myself in a room to study like a mad man if I have to. I need 3 days. Just 3 days to obtain peak performance.

I want to win. I want to win, I want to win!

I'm staking my role as a captain on this. I need to win!

I NEED TO WIN!

The Need To Win

from The Way of Chuang Tzu [xix,4], Thomas Merton Translation

When an archer is shooting for nothing
He has all his skill.
If he shoots for a brass buckle
He is already nervous.
If he shoots for a prize of gold
He goes blind
Or sees two targets-
He is out of his mind!

His skill has not changed. But the prize
Divides him. He cares.
He thinks more of winning
Than of shooting -
And the need to win
Drains him of power.

My time in Bangkok. Day 1. - Morning

Yawn. Morning! We met up in Terminal 1. I was still fiddling with my camera at that time. Elmo stayed over at RS' house. I think they met up with Sarah somewhere. Why do I know this? Because I know for certain they were late, and they arrived together.

Enough with the meeting up. I promptly went to Burger King to have breakfast. The bacon was hard and like a stick. And expensive. Needless to say most of us were unsatisfied with our breakfast. Making us look forward to lunch in Bangkok...

Yup, that's us. Sarah, Dorin and RS posing for my ever candid shots. Lemme tell you that RS is not the friendliest guy off the camera. Elmo had stomach ache and disappeared for awhile.

3K511 Departure at 0710. That was how early we were there. I think at least I was a little excited for the trip. It was my first time overseas with friends and no guardians. It was a little worrying too as we weren't sure about the situation in Bangkok. Maybe we'll be stranded over there when a coup repeats itself. Damn!

Worries aside, Sarah probably had more to worry about. It was her first time on the plane. She probably had to worry about how turbulence would feel like and taking off and landing and stuff. Man you know, those airplane jitters you get.

I read a comic strip about someone wishing for the plane to land on water. So he could slide down the airplane slide. Well, food for thought. Most of the time, the precautions they give you on the plane amount to nothing, if we ever crash land, we CRASH land. We die. But who knows? Let's stay optimistic to try the slide *haha*.


Did you know they allow free calls to local telephones? I didn't know that. Sarah sure spent a lot of time on the phone.


Here we were, waiting for the appearance of Elmo, who was still missing. We were waiting for the reappearance of Elmo.

Elmo came. We went into the boarding area. It was calm, you'll be surprised at the number of people going to Bangkok even when it's still on the list of areas to beware while travelling. I was surprised, heh. Soon it was time to board. I forgot our seat numbers already. But there was only one aisles. I probably don't need to elaborate. It's that small.


During the flight, I think Elmo and RS took sleeping pills. They slept. Dorin tried to sleep. I was doing my wei qi problems. Never a person to miss an opportunity. Heh. Sarah slept too. 2 hours flight. Well, it was fast.


Welcome to Thailand! The land of smiles. Touchdown! We received our due smses about the telephone networks. I swear these things probably reached us while we were still flying. Thailand, the first time here with friends. I probably visited this place like 10 years ago. I have no recollection whatsoever of how this place looked like, other than the Sawathikap.


The information counter.

We went into the queue for cabs right outside the airport. We had to get tickets for the cabs. I think this is commonplace among many countries. I certainly saw this in China and Malaysia for that matter.

We got into a Maxi cab with this ultra-friendly-but-limited-vocab driver. During the trip, Elmo kept saying, "I thought you went by meter?" He kept repeating, "Small Cab 300 Baht, Big Cab 600, same same!" I thought that he was probably trying to drive the point across that, "You'll pay 300 for a smaller cab and 600 for a bigger cab, I drive your friends and you together!" He probably thought that we would pay for the "safety" of being together. But hey, that's not bad I thought. I rather we'd stick together. But obviously if everyone in the world had no ill intentions, I'll probably... go for 2 cabs. :D

I took the backseat. I set so lovingly next to... a pack of luggage. Har!

A photo that I took along the way.
Now, this picture has 2 focus. The gal and advertisement for Mr. Boon Peng. Yea, I think he provides service across Thailand. Try giving him a call when you're there next time.

Another picture along the way. Amazing how sharp it is on a moving vehicle.

Yet another. We're getting to our destination soon. I took this photo off a truck on a highway.





Finally! Baiyoke Boutique Hotel! I looked around and when I wanted to take photos. I had a feeling overwhelm me, you know, the type where you dropped your hand phone in the bus. You know you're never going to get it back. Yep, I knocked off my camera's protective cap in the process of getting out of the cab. GOD DAMN IT!

Anyway, the boutique was nice, renovated and had a retro feel to it. God knows what this hotel is doing right behind a skyscraper. Like hey, to get here you even have to get through the skyscraper's carpark! This hotel isn't even visible from the outside! No shit! But we were greeted by a familiar sight when we entered. My senses told me that almost the whole place was packed with Singaporeans! My gawd. But the counter staff were friendly. With your basic courtesy like the usual Sawadikap.


Check in was at 2.00pm. It was 11am. We were way early. We left our baggage with the bellboy and went off to visit the 4-sided face Buddha. Supposed to be very famous and a must visit in Bangkok.


Elmo leads the way through a "Bugis themed" street. I kept my camera in my bag for fear of getting it scratched. So no photos meanwhile in this shoulder jostling avenue. We went across a few streets and reached the 4-sided face Buddha. Well, we prayed for safety. RS mentioned that he should have come here pray before the exams. You probably need more than a Buddha's help, you need to work hard man.

It started to rain heavily. We seeked shelter in shopping mall. It's called Siam Paragon!

Yan Tao should drool over this shopping mall.

Candid shot. I like it.

Ahhh. But Siam Paragon was but a detour. We came here to draw cash from the ATM and to seek shelter. Our main area was still far, but getting closer.


We went to yet another pit stop, Central World.


No photos allowed inside. Figures, lots of places are still banning photographs, just like in Singapore. But they actually have patrolling security guards, that's something you don't see often in Singapore. Thailand is a much bigger country and so are their malls. They probably have some anti-terrorism sentiments left in them.



On our way! This is the outside of Central World. We were heading towards Platinum! Our proclaimed favourite shopping paradise by our 2 ladies!

No Photography again. Sian. Who cares? Let's snap a few. I'll stop taking when someone tells me to.


Now for our lunch, ... wait, there was no lunch. RS and Elmo went out to buy their first set in this Thailand Trip series of Doughnuts. There was no stopping them. In less than 10 minutes, RS and Elmo vaporized 2 Doughnuts each. I didn't know that was lunch. Man did I regret that! Dorin and Sarah took 1 doughnut each and replenished their system before heading off to obstacle-land.


Time pass.... 3 hours later.

RS bought a few clothing here. Why only here? Why? Because my legs HURT LIKE HELL! Man! Those girls sure know how to shop! It was 4pm already and we were still in Platinum!

We soon got out of that addictive honeycomb. It was amazing how many obstacles we had to go through just to get out of there. It was obvious that the fatigue from shopping and not sleeping was getting to us. We all yearned for a nice rest and big bed. Elmo, RS and Me shared a suite. Dorin and Sarah shared a smaller room.



Our room. It was huge and nice. Had a cosy feel to it.

During the night, we went back to Platinum to eat our Dinner. Most of us had KFC. Probably because it looks safest to eat. Don't get me wrong, I am fine with eating from the stalls, but... I'm concerned about the hygiene. I really trust unhygienic stalls. I wasn't going to risk it and head to the toilet 2 or 3 times later or tomorrow.

Shop shop! With our legs rested in the hotel before, we were much better prepared to shop a little longer with the girls. we shopped the top level which was full of accessories. Yuan Lin, if you're reading this (OMG YOU READ BLOGS!), then this was where Dorin bought your headband.

We laughed a little on the way and stayed till closing time. It's actually just a walking distance to our hotel. No need to hurry. We could stroll back, except it was raining. So we did a quick walk back to the hotel. With that, our day concluded. Dorin and Sarah joined us during the night for a little DVD show. I played Wei Qi for awhile before fatigued got to me. Needless to say, I didn't last the whole show.


(Ok, I thought just heard creepy crying outside my house. Untill I heard someone shouting, like those good-for-nothing people. That balanced myself. It's 1am for God's sake! Stop making those awful crazy noises!)