Hi everyone! It's been forever since I've updated my blog so I figured that it was about time to put up a post so long overdue. As you may have guessed from the title, I traveled to Bangkok for the second time during the September holidays! (It's the December holidays now and I finally gotten around to finishing the post sigh) My first visit there was when I was still young, around 11 years old when I haven't appreciated the true beauty of shopping.

IMPORTANT NOTE: My photos were mostly taken with my phone at that time (Xiaomi Redmi) so that explains why the quality of the photos are not at the best standard. This was supposed to be a huge and detailed Photo Diary like the one I did for my Japan trip (link here) but just yesterday my mini SD card got corrupted and all my precious precious pictures were gone! After painstakingly using many many different softwares, manually clicking more than 2000 times, I managed to get back only some pictures and the rest are gone for good :(

We left Singapore on the 7th of September on Thai Airways. It was my second time riding Thai Airways too and the facilities were alright, it looked new, the staff were friendly although their service was slightly slow. The seats and pillow were comfortable, the blanket is VERY soft and there was a TV with reasonable choices of movies to watch (there was only a limited variety of music tracks though). The food however, was not all that fantastic. It was edible and tasted right but it was just... Lacking compared to Singapore Airlines.

We stayed in Novotel Hotel Bangkok for the next 4 days. I've stayed there previously and it looked exactly the same, the lobby and lifts were not yet rundown but it looked old. However, the hotel rooms looked relatively new and they gave us free apples that were incredibly juicy. House keeping even gave us more apples when we ate them all! Another wonderful thing about Novotel is that the staff are always very nice, making us feel welcomed. They do their job just like every other bellboy in hotels do but they do it with a smile :)

After all, Thailand is knows as the land of a thousand smiles and they really do live up to their name unlike Singapore with our garden city when really we would be trash without all the cleaners. I went to Hong Kong before and when you look at their goods and ask them questions yet change your mind and decide to leave, they scold you in Cantonese or give you the dirty face even when you say thank you. In Bangkok, everything is so much more different! We can see that they learnt some basic English to communicate with us and they are always polite and greets us with smiles when we don't buy from them. The way they speak is also more gentle and they are also more willing to give us discounts especially if we buy more. Out of all the countries I've been to, I'll choose to settle down in Bangkok, Thailand if I had to choose. Everything is cheaper, people are nicer, life is not so fast paced! Only bad parts are that the drains are smelly, drivers don't particularly look out for pedestrians and compared to Singapore (which is an incredible high standard), it is quite unclean.

We went to Thailand's tallest building, the Baiyoke Sky Tower (309 metres tall) and ate at Bangkok Sky Restaurant which was an all-you-can-eat buffet that served really good food and had a nice view of the city. I was spoiled for choices and just kept stuffing food in myself even when I was full because all of the food looked and tasted so delicious! It was also rather expensive to dine there so I wanted to make the money spent worthwhile. I actually felt bad for eating so much when there are people in the world starving... We ate for 2 hours and went to the Observation Deck on the 77th floor to take lots of pictures (all accidentally deleted argh). 

Photos from the Internet:

Finally, we went up to the 83th floor, climbed 2 stories up to the roof top and it was so cool! There were army soldiers guarding the entrance and the circular platform that we were standing was spinning 360° and we got to see the brightly lighted city in the dark with cool wind blowing at us. After a while it started to drizzle and my sister wasn't feeling well so we left :(

The Ring Of Fire

After we had our breakfast buffet at Novotel Hotel, we walked all the way to the outdoor temple to pray. I've heard that many people who prayed there got their wishes granted and it was very popular. It was really sunny and wasn't even afternoon time yet A LOT of people came to pay their respects to the Four-faced Buddha. Basically you buy 4 flowers, a candle and 12 joss sticks and pray to each face of the Buddha starting from the one facing the door and moving to the left. My mum said I may ask for any wishes as long as it is not more than 4. After that, we can wash our hands/body and drink from the holy water.

My breakfast usually revolves around these limited dishes, toast and porridge

Next we went to The Platinum Mall which is basically shopping heaven and is a MUST-GO for all tourists! There is EVERYTHING and it's all at dirt cheap prices! (okay not dirt cheap but really cheap) It's a wholesale mall so you can get discounts when you buy more in most shops. 4 huge levels of Women's and Men's clothes and 1 entire level of children's clothes + accessories. There are so many shops, I got lost and confused about which way to go. I spent nearly all of my allowance, 2000 baht (Singapore $80) at Platinum Mall and I bought so so so many clothes I was so happy haha! Sadly when I had my lunch, I realised that the food at the food court was quite limited (or maybe I'm just a fussy eater) and it rained really heavily after that.

Since most shoppers were stuck indoors due to the heavy rain, there were actually policemen stationed at the main exit of the shopping complex that carried huge umbrellas (like the ones on the $1.50 ice cream motorcycle) and helped transport shoppers without umbrellas back and forth to this temporary huge umbrella taxi stand. He was so kind and nice, he seriously deserves to be applauded. Someone actually cut our queue and the police man saw and told the person to go to the back. There was a taxi driver that said he would drive us back to the hotel for 200 bahts but told us to go all the way to the overhead bridge in front where there is shelter and the policeman even took us there in the huge umbrella! He didn't have to do that as it wasn't his job and he himself got slightly drenched in the process! My family and I were really thankful :)

Because it was raining heavily, we saw that the queue for the Hello Kitty House shortened when passing by Siam Square Mall to the hotel and we quickly went downstairs to queue after we dried off in our hotel room.

The Hello Kitty House is SO pretty and cute and omg there's Hello Kitty everywhere! There's 3 levels, the basement is the shop and spa which I did not go :( The first level is the cafe and the second level are more seats for the cafe. Everything was pastel pink! My family and I spent about half an hour to take all the many pictures. (My mum is a hardcore hello kitty fan)

Everyone's taking selfies haha

I think this is the first unedited selfie I've ever posted online lolol

The Basement where they sell Hello Kitty merchandise at exorbitant prizes

Didn't go for the Hello Kitty Spa :(

These Hello Kitty stuff toys were so cute but unfortunately not for sale :(

They only served cupcakes, cakes and beverages and it was all really expensive. My family and I ordered Strawberry Shortcake, Oreo Cupcake and Soft Chocolate cake together with Bubble Milk Tea, Ice Chocolate, Coffee and Strawberry milk. All that was about SG$40 (If I remembered correctly) but the food was very very yummy so it was worth it!

Cookies and Cream cupcake, Strawberry Shortcake and Brownie (no nuts and it tastes like heaven)

Ice chocolate, Bubble Tea, Strawberry Milk (which was extremely sweet)

How can you bear to drink the coffee and destroy the Hello Kitty?!

15 minutes spent on taking the perfect pictures before finally eating!

My father said he still wanted to have a proper dinner and I nearly fainted because I was so full already but we eventually went to my family's favourite Thai Restaurant Ban Khun Mae (It means Mother's cooking) which was opposite the Hello Kitty Cafe. Like always, the food was delicious and the ambience was great. It had a very rustic feeling.

We went to MBK Centre, Siam Square 1, Siam Paragon and Bonanza Mall for even more shopping! They are just normal shopping centres that sell things mostly for tourists and the goods are slightly more expensive than in Platinum Mall. Siam Paragon is kind of like the Paragon in Orchard Road where all the shops sell branded goods, interesting thing is that I met some famous singer/celebrity at the mall and took some pictures of him haha I didn't even know who he was.

(Disclaimer: The pictures of the interior and exterior of the shopping malls below belong to their respective owners, I've only put them up so that the readers can get a clearer idea of the places I went, no copyright intended.) 

The last shopping stop and my favourite, most-anticipated one of all, Siam Night Market! We actually wanted to come on the second day but it was closed on Monday. In a more Singaporean context, it is like a Pasar Malam full of clothes, accessories and shoes with some handphone gadgets along the way. Kind of like a never-ending stretch of table stalls, it's one way so you can definitely find something you like when you go all the way from the start to the end and back! Be careful though, it is very crowded so you will get bumped into. Just in case, it's best to put your valuables somewhere safe or carry your bag in front to prevent pick pockets from targeting you.

After a long day of shopping again, our bodies were so sore we went to Chang Foot Massage again. My mum and sister (she's 7 omg) did the leg and shoulders message, while my father and I tried the shoulder and back massage. Ah so relaxing~

My parents surprised me by dropping my sister and I off at Kidzania at Siam Paragon and left to have some alone time. We were so confused because I've never heard of it before and the outside looked like the departure hall of an airport. When we finally realised that it was like an amusement park for kids my sister and I went wild haha!




In Kidzania land you can do many jobs like working in the police force, being a vet and even being a banker! I told my sister to focus on earning kidzania money first before spending it by playing games but unfortunately we didn't have enough time as we had to catch our flight back to Singapore :(

We pretended to put out a fire, it wasn't very not age appropriate haha

Radio Station

There were only real fishes, everything else were stuff toys haha

This was quite fun as we got to push the noisy cart around Kidzania and collect boxes (parcels) from different shops

My sister and I did a liver transplant for a mannequin here haha

The Police Station

We were in the same team as a few Thai students but we managed to break the language barrier and 'arrested' the right culprit!

Luckily I wore shorts underneath but it was still embarrassing...

This 'Secret Agent' mission is kind of like rock climbing!

If I remember correctly, I think it was Kidzania's 1 year anniversary so there was a fair!

Although it was kind of childish for a teenager I just had fun accompanying my sister :P I took home a few cards that were given to us after we completed our jobs and I received a fake Honda driving license haha! I think the 'Driving Test' excited me the most. In the end we bought Singapore dollars $100 worth of photos for memory's sake and they gave us free CDs filled with high quality photos by the canon photographers who ran around taking pictures of the kids "working".  Only sad thing is that we were left with lots of Kidzania money and we couldn't spend it anymore due to lack of time :(


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Here are all my loots that I bought with about 3500 baht (SG $140) during the 4 days trip! I think the most expensive item hat I bought was the Hello Kitty shirt from Hello Kitty Cafe. (it was 550 baht but my mum helped me pay half as it was too cute to resist) My best buy is probably the holographic ballet slippers with the transparent plastic at the side. Although it is actually quite stiff and hurts after a while but in Singapore it can sell up to $45 but I only bought it for 290 baht which is only around $15!

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Thank you so much for reading my blog post about my 4 days 3 nights Bangkok trip during the September holidays! I finally finished it after my end of year exams and lots of procrastination! 


Would you like to go or have you been to Bangkok before, are there any places for shopping or entertainment that you think I should check out the next time I visit Bangkok again? Also, what do you think about this blog post after me being inactive for so long? Please give me some constructive criticism! Tell me everything in the comment box down below :) There's an option to post anonymously if you're shy or don't have a gmail account :) 

Quality and quantity of photos are usually not this bad and will definitely improve in the future, don't worry.

❤,

Jermaine x

I have not been blogging since April and I'm sorry about that but just like every teenager I have school, exams, CCA and a social life. I decided to blog again bc I wanted to share about the entire EXO Concert experience from beginning to end bc I know some fans have not been so lucky to get tickets and maybe I can share my happiness and memories with you :) Sorry if most of the pictures are too bright or blur but it's hard to take pictures with a smartphone, shaky hands and mean security guards :/

If you didn't know, there was one entire day of priority ticket booking for OCBC Cardholders and the public ticket sales started the next day. It was good news for me as my mum had cards from like every bank so on July 25, I got ready at 9.30 and at 9.45 I was literally shaking and refreshing the page every minute. At 10 it started to load so slowly I was freaking out just chanting "OH MY GOD" again and again. After I think 10 minutes of waiting, I was so happy when I got in, but Standing Area A was sold out in the 10 minutes when I was waiting so I was automatically assigned the next best area, standing area B. I was so close to completing my order and was at the Check-Out stage when it suddenly said 'website was not available'. I SWEAR I NEARLY DIED refreshing the page. Fortunately, it worked when I clicked the back button :) I chose the option of Print-At-Home tickets and then everything was normal until I had to choose what outfit to wear.

I was praying and counting on my luck to be chosen on the stage for the Special Stage so I wanted to stand out and look different since everyone would be wearing Wolf 88 or EXO shirts. After much dilemma and shopping, I finally decided on a crop top with sliver sleeves, a holographic skater skirt, my holographic sling clutch and my sliver creepers. The creepers were kind of impractical as it hurt after a few hours but it really boosts my height and I was afraid that being 153, I would be blocked in the moshpit. Anyways I brought along slippers that I wore when waiting to go into the venue and changed into my creepers when they started letting us go in.

On August 23 (THE DAY HAD FINALLY ARRIVED), My friend and I arrived at Indoor Sports Stadium at about 2.30pm then we went around collecting banners and after a while we heard a lot of screaming from the car park and so on instinct I called my friend and I ran as fast as I could on my creepers. Everybody was screaming so loud and there were construction barriers and I guessed the boys were alighting from the van. Because I was too short I couldn't see anything even when I stood on the concrete bump (?) in the parking lot. I had to hold onto the backpack of a girl in front of me to prevent from falling and she was nice enough :) I saw a man wearing a black cap and black long sleeves shirt and if I remember correctly, black sunglasses. I thought it was Tao bc his airport fashion is usually black and the man looked quite tall. After that I heard many people said it was D.O. (My Kyungsoo omg) and I was unsure if I saw him or the staff. The rest of EXO was in a different van that went straight into the stadium and the windows were tinted black so we couldn't see them. Kyungsoo was in a different van bc he came directly from the airport after the filming of It's Okay, It's Love. I so regret not putting eye drops in my eyes bc my contact lens were so dry it blurred my vision, that's why I couldn't even recognise my bias...

The concert itself was just FANTASTIC and I don't even know how else to explain it. My experience with Sports Hub however, was not very happy as they spent very long rearranging us into our queue numbers when we were already sitted in the queue based on first come first serve. I feel that Spirts Hub should have been clearer on their website and said that there's no point in going early when you have a queue number like 2319. They did state that there it a queue number but it was given randomly so even if you bought your tickets first you may have to stand behind and if you bought the ticket just before it sold out and you're lucky you may have a queue number of 2001 :( At least the usher was nice and she tried hard to get the job done as fast and smooth as possible. They checked our bags and made us throw away all our drinks, even plain water so after the concert everyone was freaking thirsty and some people started to tear open the boxes of water. I'm not even guilty to say that I took some even when the usher said "this water is not for you". AESC (I think), the guards in the stadium itself, WAS HORRENDOUS. I get it that no photo and video taking are allowed but please not even some?! They would stand guard and when caught, they used a blinding flashlight to shine on the 'culprit' and give her an evil eye stare. They blocked our views by randomly popping out and were so RUDE. THEY DIDN'T even allowed me to go to the bathroom 1 and a 1/2 hours before the concert started saying that it was troublesome when it really wasn't, they just had to lift up the curtain under the stage and move the barrier. They guy said that if we went out we would have to join Standing Area C when we returned. I was so annoyed, we paid extra to be in the VIP section and they treated us so badly. How did they expect us to hold our urine for 2+ hours? (I managed to hold it in the end)

There were also many fanclubs like EXO Union, EXO Nation and more then the president (I think) of the some fanclub giving out the 3.6.5. was so RUDE. She kept shouting "People at the back, move back!" Firstly, why should we listen to her? She didn't spend more money than us buying the tickets. I know many people wouldn't want to stand 2 hours in the queue and would rather sit but why must she shout at us? Secondly, there was a lot of space for the people to move front and can't she walk to the back and ask them nicely to move? And also I overheard saying "f*ck this why are we doing so much so for EXO when they don't care about us" when she was giving out the banners. Sooo president material. 

Although there were times I regretted buying the VIP standing area when I could only see their butts (12 BUTTS SHAKING IN MY FACE) when they were standing too far away, I think the boys tried to make it as 360° as possible :) We kept running and looking around trying to get a good spot to see them for their solo stages and we were all squeezing which honestly I didn't really mind bc I went prepared and the moshpit was actually quite large. We could even sit down! Their solo stages were all amazing but in my opinion, Tao's martial arts, Lay's power dance and  Chanyeol's drums were the BEST. In Suho's special stage, he got a single rose and a Polaroid and took a picture with a fan in I think, Standing Area D. I think he picked the prettiest fan hehe.

When the boys were performing Moonlight we could really see them up close and they looked so passionate dancing. THEIR BODY WAVES AND SEXY MOVES AND THRUSTS OMG. Also, they really had a lot of love for EXO-L and they kept showing their appreciation and thanking us. It was so sweet of them, they said it felt good to see EXO-L in Singapore since the last time they came to Singapore, it was with their SMTOWN sunbaenims, and now every single one of us is a fan especially for EXO. All the members were so nice especially Lay who said he can't believe Singapore girls are so pretty and he was thankful for the fan events like the banners we held up for 3.6.5, hearts for Lucky and wore crowns for Peter Pan. 

I also loved it that the boys learnt more English to speak to us and Suho was so funny with his English. There were so many awkward pauses when he can't think of the English word and everyone laughed, including EXO. At one point Suho said he hope that we can see their passion when they are performing but he pronounced passion like patience. So funny omg. That reminded me of the time he wrote 'Fashion' instead of 'Passion' on his cookie as a lame joke. Tao was really good with his "Make some noise!", "What's up Singapore" and "Say EXO (EXO), Say T-A-O (T-A-O)" and he even apologised for not learning more English. At that point I felt like hugging him and saying it's okay and that I'm thankful for the effort he made. The boys all introduced themselves in English and when it was Kyungsoo's turn, he said in Korean that the members have said everything he wanted to say and that he was thankful. Lay was also lightening the mood by speaking in Chinese. There was also a time when they showed the boys' pictures with their autograph and a small message and I remember Chen wrote 'Love... I love you". Lay wrote SO much, I think they were writing it on a rectangular writing pad and Lay filled up the entire space. We didn't have enough time to read the entire message though. Most of the other members also wrote 'I love you'. Through all their playful stages and teasing banter when they were talking, it really felt exactly like how they act in Variety and Reality shows. It didn't feel faked or staged, they were having fun and just being happy.

For the special stage, I didn't get picked :( Some said that they only choose the girl from Standing Area A in most countries and I was in Standing Area B :( But it's okay since they left the girl alone after talking and dancing a bit around her. KAI was on his bicycle for Peter Pan and everyone in my area was waving their light sticks at him so I did a heart with my hands and he probably spotted it as it was different from the rest and he made EYE CONTACT with me omg then I smiled showing my teeth and HE DID THE SAME OMG. AH HE WAS LOOKING AT ME IN THE EYES.  BAEKHYUN kept smiling, waving and making EYE CONTACT with me and the others in Area B. SUHO was good with his words and fanservice but I don't think he looked at me :(  Chanyeol and Tao used their index and middle fingers to beckon us towards them and that was so... How do I say this... HOT. Xiumin was so hyper when throwing roses (I forgot the song sigh) and everyone was so aggressive to grab it and short me didn't get any :( I made conversation with a guy and asked him how and who he got the rose from then I asked him if he could give it to me and he said no :(

One thing that I thought was special was that Baekhyun and Kai did the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge live and at their point the security let us take all the pictures and videos we want :P When they had to say goodbye, they kept emphasising that they really enjoyed coming to Singapore and it was a memorable time for both the fans and them :) They didn't want to leave... It's so sad when they had to go and the 2 and a 1/2 hours passed by so quickly :( Even Sehun who usually has a poker face can't help but smile when performing after hearing our devoted fan chants and screaming! Lay even that said that the concert in Singapore was the best one so far! Such a sweetheart :)

At the end of the concert, I had a blister and my little toe hurt :( But it was all worth it. The money, the hours of waiting, who cares about it when I get to see my idols in real life? They looked EXACTLY like how they looked in videos and pictures. I will never forget 230814. If you are considering going to EXO FROM EXOPLANET: THE LOST PLANET #1, don't hesitate, beg your parents, fight for the tickets, and in my opinion, it's better to get VIP seating :) I'm still having post-concert depression... I MISS THEM SO MUCH :( but at least now I have memories of them in my brain!

Feel free to share with me your experience of meeting EXO or attending their concert too if you have any!

❤,

Jermainex

Hey everyone! I'm so sorry I haven't updated my blog in such a long time :( It's not that there wasn't anything to blog about, there were plenty... It's just that there was no time! All the streaming year stress and homework and projects... Sigh where's the June holidays?!

So here's what's been going on...

Valentine's day in TKGS♡

Su Yi and I had this idea to play Secret Valentine's in the class and it was a success yay! It was actually inspired by Secret Santa in the Perks of being a Wallflower.

I got NewAcoustic Guitar!

Fell in love with this matte, pink the moment I saw it on display at JCube :) 3 weeks later, it's finally mine!

Especially love the floral design!

Marco-Polo performance with Drama Club 

Family day at the Zoo 

It rained so heavily we were all drenched and annoyed. We argued a lot but nevertheless, we saw quite a few animals and it was a fun family day out organised by SAFRA! Oh and I also saw Ashley (my deskmate in school) with her family :)

Family Photoshoot

No pictures yet but here's a selfie!

Christofori Popsical

My first time singing on stage! Wow I was such a nervous wreck... The little kids were not even scared and there I was sitting at a corner, hugging my guitar and doing breathing exercises. The sound system was terrible because it was just an event organised by the music school with no special guest-of-honour but well, I'm thankful for the experience!

Cross country at Pasir Ris Park YAY

It was BURNING hot everyone sitting on the picnic mats were hiding under our umbrellas hahaha Cross country? More like umbrella parade! I wasted a lot of polaroid films because they were either overexposed or something was wrong with the camera :( Lisa, Jasmine, Amanda and I went for an unplanned lunch at MacDonald's, eventually became an unglam candid war with Jasmine and I spamming the Whatsapp group with pics of each other and Lisa and I fangirling over all the army boys at White Sands hahaha! We kept laughing and causing a nuisance everywhere and we tried to stalk our irritating juniors to scare them off but that didn't work :P

Grade 6 Ballet Exam 

Rising Son performance with Drama Elective classmates!

Had so much fun with my friends and we got to know each other better :) The performance was brilliant! I learnt so many things about Theatre and I can't believe 3 people can put up an entire play! I cried because it was so touching... One day that will be me on stage!

Last flower arrangement lesson :(

Haven't done a cover in a really really long time and a few of you requested for it on my ask.fm so here it is! I think my guitar is a little out of tune and sorry about the ambience noise! Wanted to upload the video of me singing this on stage but the quality was terrible :(

(Let's hope I won't regret posting this online in a few years time sigh)

Once again, I'm sorry for abandoning everyone and I'll try to keep you all updated more, but with Mid-Years around the corner and so many activities after school, it's quite hard :(

Comment about what you think of my busy month and the video? Thanks!

♥,

Jermainex