The value of this moment lives in metaphor

On Boxing Day, 26 Dec 2014, I set off from home to Changi Airport excitedly as I was finally going to see my best friend again! I booked a really long trip so I could spend as much time with her as possible and god knows how long I've been waiting for this day to come, but I guess no number of days can actually make me satisfied. 12 days flew way too quickly and we're back to a long distance friendship once again. 

I touched down at DMK airport in Bangkok around 1am (Thailand time). I bought a 7 days internet plan at the airport for about 200 baht plus, which apparently was really worth it compared to buying from outside! So next time if any of you are coming here you should take note of this as you'll save time trying to find places that sells the sim card and save money as well. Pan couldn't come fetch us that late as his parents don't feel safe for her to drive so far out in that hour, so I took a cab to her place. It was a pretty long ride, and strangely the cab meter jumps a lot faster than normal cabs. So we ended up paying about 400baht including 50 baht surcharge (no idea what's that for). 

We caught up for a bit when we arrived at her guest house, showered, got changed then headed to the theatre at her home for a movie. We watched The Bank Job that was based on a true story. It's about a bank robbery that actually fucking succeeded, meaning the bank robbers are filthy rich now and having the time of their life without any problems with the government or police. Fucking awesome movie and I was left in disbelief that it's actually a true story. We didn't do much that night but we did chatted a lot before we went to bed and prepare to wake up early the following day. The following day was a weekend and you know what that means....CHATUCHAK WEEKEND MARKET!!! It's literally my most favourite place to shop at in Bangkok. 

Woke up bright and early in the morning the following day to conquer our day 1 of crazy shopping. I wore a sheer white top that was supposed to be long sleeved but I rolled up the sleeves. I was kinda expecting the weather to be chilly like last year but it was slightly warmer. It's still chilly though, especially early morning and at night. Shopping at Chatuchak was probably the only time I actually sweated while in Bangkok. 

So Pan drove us to Hua Mak station and we took the train from there to Chatuchak Market.

Got a pineapple mojito for 50 baht omg, it's literally 2$ and it tastes so fucking good I don't even believe it

It was selling at 7 baby cacti for 100baht (4$)

After an entire day of crazy shopping, I got so fucking tired and restless that I was just laughing at every single stupid thing HAHA. In case any of you haven't been to chatuchak and is wondering how it's like, it's like an open outdoor market and it's huuuuuge. You can find lots of things that Singapore blogshops sell. The materials are all decent as well if you actually know how to look at clothings and stuff. That day, I spent about 100$ (2500 baht) on 4 shorts, 6 tops, 2 rompers, 2 bikinis and 1 pair of shoes. It's really fucking worth it.

I know it may not seem like it but I swear to god the police officer asked us for a photo. We found it super odd and weird, and Pan said she smelled alcohol on them. Tsk tsk

After shopping, we headed back to Hua Mak station where Pan drove us to a nice place for dinner, which I've been to last year! Except this year wasn't a very good experience for us. The food was good and all, and we also got a nice spot outdoors right at a corner that was peaceful and private. But the wind started getting stronger and many bees started flying into us and onto the table (none dropped into the food thank god). Then it started to drizzle a bit so we requested to shift indoors. While shifting, a bee actually flew into my hair and got stuck so I was trying to get it out and I think it stung my between my index and middle finger. God did it hurt like a mother fucker. My right palm was really red for awhile, but the staffs were really nice and applied some balm onto my hand. We continued eating indoors while many other customers who were initially seated outside scramble to find a seat indoors. We left after awhile.

Got back to Pan's place, showered and got changed then we headed to the theatre once more to catch A Million Ways To Die In The West. It was a fucking funny movie that delivers too much information but I guess that was what made it fucking hilarious. Two good movies in a row, and we were hoping the third one wouldn't spoil our good movies streak. 

 

Woke up pretty late the third day as Pan had something on in the morning and also I just realized I only have one photo taken. In the background is how Pan's house look like from the outside. Every member in his family owns at least one car, so does Pan, damn. Had our breakfast that her maid prepared and we set off to Chatuchak once more to make full use of our valuable weekend HAHA. It was kinda rushed because Chatuchak closes pretty early in the evening. We got there and it was like speed shopping. I still managed to get a lot of stuff in the end. Not to mention I spent 1000baht alone in a bikini shop HAHA fuck. 

We kinda forgot to have dinner outside maybe cos we were carrying so many shopping bags and were too lazy to carry them to an eating place. Also, we had quite a bit of street food along Chatuchak. OHHHHHH and I also walked fucking far just to get my banana pancake only to be served a banana pancake without fucking bananas. So all the auntie gave me was an empty pancake, with milk topping WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK RIGHT? I ranted about this on twitter that day but omg thinking about it now makes me fucking mad still. And she still had the fucking guts to charge us the same damn price, can you imagine my anger...hoping for a banana pancake only to get an empty pancake instead. WHO THE FUCK SELLS EMPTY PANCAKES AND WHO IN THE RIGHT MIND WOULD EVEN BUY IT FROM YOU YOU ASSHOLE AUNTY. I swear I almost set the booth on fire and wanted to throw the pancake at her so they can both burn together. God damn it, can't believe I actually paid for it but I couldn't stop whining throughout the trip back to Pan's place. So that left me really hungry when I reached her place and we decided to catch a movie at her theatre and order some delivery. We wanted to order Pizza from Pizza Company and guess what? WE WERE ONE FUCKING MINUTE LATE FOR DELIVERY. ONE FUCKING MINUTE walao you need to count until like that not tamade. So we ordered Macs instead and couldn't finish it in the end cos we ordered way too much but it was a good meal nonetheless. Except, we picked a fucking horrible movie to watch that left Pan sleeping 10 minutes into the movie. But I stayed awake throughout cos I have to know the fucking ending. I think the movie we watched was Machine Gun Preacher? It's about the KONY incident and how this dude helped the people there. I was expected some fucking plot twist or something but it never happened. It's based on a true story though that didn't make it any more exciting.

On the third day, we set off early afternoon to Terminal 21 for some shopping (again), food and movie! 

First, we went to the same place we went last year for lunch @ Tai Thai Terminal 21! I swear to God this is my all time favourite place to eat at in Bangkok. The food is so nice, the ambience is amazing and the service is great. I actually got to customize the mojito myself and I ordered Pineapple one, which really didn't taste as great as the one I had in Chatuchak but still. The prices there are similar to Singapore prices, but I feel that it's really worth it. Their pizzas are fucking amazing, and come in many unique flavours that I doubt other places sell. They have chicken basil pizza (which we ordered), vongole, carbonara and all sorts of pasta flavoured pizzas. We also ordered a Prawn burger to try it out and thought it'll be more like a side but it turned out huge, and not looking like a burger but it was so fucking good as well omg I'm craving for it right now. I think the meal was definitely worth the price taking into account the beautiful place, the food and all the awesome photos we got to take hahaha. 

Someone had to carry me onto this cute little red truck so I could have a photo with it hahaha

Was having serious craving for bananas after walking away from a cute 200baht banana cardigan that I'll probably never ever wear in this lifetime or the next but it's still fucking cute to me

Pan with her milk flavored icecream

To be honest, Terminal 21 didn't have much things that caught my eye. Most of them were too pricey and I remembered seeing the same item I got from Chatuchak being sold at a higher price there last year. So that kinda deterred me to buy things from there unless it's super cheap. I only managed to get a pair of hobo pants for 200baht. 

After walking around for awhile we went to have some Thai food on the upper levels, then caught Night At The Museum 3. I cried so much at the movie omg it's just super sad that it's the last one ever. Exactly how I felt after watching 22 Jumpstreet cos it was so fucking good. 

Such a cute little carton of thai milk tea I just had to take a photo with it haha, so whose cuter?
On a side note, Singapore needs to up their milk tea game man

Guess who went crazy at the family mart and cleared the shelves of potato snack?

On the 4th day, which was the day I slipped down the stairs at Pan's guest house (which resulted in a super huge blue black the next few days), we headed down to the town in Thailand, Siam. Our plan was to walk around Siam, Central World and Platinum. I guess we kinda spent way too much time at Central World shopping and eating Bon Chon that we didn't have much time to shop at Platinum. By the time we reached there (about 5-6pm), many shops were already closing so we decided to all split up and get our own things. It wasn't dangerous or anything since it's a shopping mall and it's pretty easy for us to find each other. Both of us were looking for the shoes section cos we both really wanted to buy shoes, and apparently we were in the wrong zone. Platinum has three zones, zone 1, 2 and 3. The shoes are in Zone 3 level 4. Damn so we missed the chance to get it cos all the shops were already closing. I managed to get some accessories that day from Platinum and that was it I guess. 

Intense gossiping session while queuing for our turn at Bon Chon HAHA

Bon Chon chicken!

After that, we walked around the mall for a bit and I saw this perfect red dress for Chinese New Year but it doesn't cover my tattoos ugh fuck

Then we went to get ice cream from Emack & Bolio's

Ice cream with melted marshmallows and fruit loops. Apparently a very popular place to have ice cream in Bangkok but I was too full from Bon Chon

And while waiting for Pan to get her ice cream...

Then finally we made our way to Platinum (obviously too late cos it closes early evening)

Along the streets of Bangkok

After shopping for only about an hour at Platinum, we went to chill at Starbucks for a bit to plan what to do for the night and also have some really retarded "photoshoot" HAHA

Can't recall what happened before this shot was taken. Damn, we looked like we were laughing our asses off HAHA

After that, we went around looking for a place we could sit down, chill with drinks and shisha but Bangkok is super strict that period of time so we couldn't get shisha anywhere!

After we went back that day, I was busy packing my luggages as we were checking into Rembrandt hotel the very next day. It was New Years' Eve so Pan had plans with her family and couldn't join us, so I'll be meeting Marz and Callum who are coming to Bangkok (from Phuket) that day and make plans for NYE! And then we'll be flying to Koh Samui on separate flights as Pan on 2nd Jan, so we had to pack our hand carry as well. I swear the schedule was really complicated at first but I'm super glad everything went so well.

Oh and here's a photo of my bruise cos I feel a need to justify that the fall left a great impact on my thigh and ON MY LIFE. This bruise took the rest of the entire trip to heal completely god damn it.

So in the morning the very next day, Pan drove us to get some breakfast at On Lok Yun which I chanced upon on @dreachong's instagram. It looked so good and many bloggers were raving about it so I really wanted to try it. It took god damn long for us to get to the place cos the GPS told us to turn right on a one way street, which was impossible. So we circled around the area looking for the nearest parking lot and when we finally found it, it's already afternoon but oh well. We used the GPS to get to the place and I swear the place didn't look like what I was expecting it to look like. From the looks of the photo of the food you'd think it's some fancy place, but it looks just like the a bak kut teh shop in Malaysia hahaha. But let's not judge a book by its cover cos the food did turn out to be super amazing and we ordered two rounds of toast. They also served us many many free drinks, and the meal was really cheap!!!

All time favourite drink in Bangkok is Thai milk tea!!!

After our hearty breakfast meal, we had a mini street photoshoot cos the lighting was so damn good. HAHA

Later, Marz, Callum and I checked into our hotel at Rembrandt, which is quite a fancy hotel and it's within walking distance to Terminal 21 which is fucking awesome. We initially planned to go to Platinum again to really finish our shopping in Bangkok but all we did was laze around in bed and watch horror movies. We went out for dinner at a place nearby our hotel, then went back to get changed and head to Asiatique for New Year countdown!!! 

It was fucking crowded at Asiatique and also not to mention I think we were a little late as there were actually plenty of shops there that sells really affordable clothings but they were all closed by the time we got there. And many people were already hogging all the good spots for the best fireworks view. Thank god we managed to squeeze through the crowd shamlessly and got quite a good view of the fireworks as well. They were amazing!!! I couldn't stop smiling while looking at them they just make me so incredibly happy. 

After all the fireworks were done, we went to chill at a bar which sells really horrible tasting cocktails.

Here's Marz and Callum having their sweet little moment

Finally got to have my banana pancake there before we left!!!

We cabbed back after drinking and chilling for awhile. Also I think cos we drank a bit before we left our hotel and we had alcohol left so we didn't wanna waste money on anymore drinks outside. My New Year celebration wasn't anything fancy, but I am really grateful to have spent it with the people I absolutely adore. 

The following day, we woke up bright and early and headed to Platinum for shopping!!! I know it's starting to sound boring isn't it, two days of chatuchak and another two days of platinum. Are there anymore interesting places to go in Bangkok? HAHA, the reason I go to Bangkok is for my bestfriend and to shop till I fucking drop haha. All of us kinda split and went separate ways to shop for different things. I spent about 3 hours walking only the first storey, and when I found out I've been missing out on the other levels, many shops were already closing HAHAHA. I bought soooo many things that a shop owner offered me a huge plastic bag to keep all my things. Thank god for that if not I really have no idea how I'm gonna survive carrying all those stuff together with my hand carry to the airport the very next day for Koh Samui. 

Looking really upset at the shoe store cos all the pretty shoes I wanted didn't have my size. My shoe size isn't even out of stock, they didn't have shoes my size cos they must be thinking no one on earth have such a big feet. My shoe size is usually 39, but in Bangkok somehow my shoe size is 41? I have no idea why either.

After Platinum closed, we walked all the way back to Siam Paragon to have After You dessert which all the bloggers were raving about on Instagram again. HAHA it apparently has many nicer outlets but I just really wanted to try how good it was. The queue was super fucking long so we decided to pack take away, which also required us to wait a good 15 mins. By the time our food was ready, we got a seat so everything was perfect. The food still looked good anyway, and omg it tasted sooooo good as well. The toast on the left was filled with melted butter, can you imagine it's like magic in my mouth. I'm craving for it right now damn. It's definitely worth a try. And the toast was too much for me to eat all by myself. This set will probably be perfect for like three people?

We went back to the hotel after that (we didn't bother taking the trains anymore cos the cabs there were so fucking cheap anyway, they never amounted to more than 400 baht even when the journey takes more than 30mins and splitting the cost with your friends makes it even cheaper) and finished up our alcohol and had some cup noodles for supper from the family mart opposite our hotel. Later, we packed our bags to get ready for our domestic fight to Koh Samui. We took transfer flights, so we had to take a plane, then a bus and then a ferry to get to Koh Samui. The direct flight which only takes 1 hour compared to our 7 hour journey costs 4x more, so I guess ours was pretty worth it eventhough we spent more time travelling. The transfer process wasn't tedious as well, it's actually quite enjoyable for me cos it feels like I'm on a long backpacking trip haha.

FINALLY REACHED KOH SAMUI!!!

So Pan reached there way before we even set off from Bangkok, and she got to head to the beach and chill with her friends first. We were all gonna stay at her friend's hotel, Freehouse Bungalow, right behind Lawana Hotel. Her friend is called Mak (pronounced as Mek) and he's gay and he's so funny and cute I swear. By the time we reached the hotel, which is super far inside from the main road and it's a dark long eerie stretch (I was wondering for a while if it was actually the right way but it was), it was already past dinner time. All of us settled for some food at the hotel itself. The hotel sells super good food at very affordable price. Mak didn't want us to pay for the food since he owns the hotel but we felt bad since he's opening the hotel for business anyway and we got the room for free.

After food, we just lazed around in our room for awhile and Mak drove us to Ark Bar at Chaweng Beach for shisha. Ark Bar is amazing!!! It's my favourite beach club forever omg you get to have a table to yourself, sit down and chill with shisha and drinks (drinks were sold in mini buckets, 700baht, which is quite worth the price compared to Singapore but many places sell a lot cheaper), and when the music is good you just stand on the benches and dance away. The music is actually really good which was why when we first got into Ark Bar we were dying to get a drink and have a seat but we had to wait for someone to clear the tables. 

The boys peeing in the sea HAHA

NUTELLA BANANA PANCAKE OMG BEST THING EVER

After Ark Bar, Pan was already puking her guts out and we were all drunk and tired so we headed back to our room to crash and get ready for our second day of adventure in Samui!

And behind the scenes of this selfie...

Callum and Marz on the hammock outside our room

Grilled salmon with basil leaves sauce at the hotel restaurant was so fucking good I had it twice 

All time favourite drink in Samui is Coconut Shake!!! We drink it whenever we can HAHA

Our first aim of the day was to play Go-Kart right across the street from our hotel. It was 700baht for 10mins, which is about 15 laps according to them. We tried to bargain but it's a fixed price so we just took it. We had to get dressed in proper head gear, jacket and shoes and off we gooooo!!! It was so fucking thrilling and I'm so proud to say I didn't crash at all! Marz crashed a few times and toppled all the tyres at the border cos she didn't know she could brake hahaha, it was quite funny but she suffered several bruises. I started off braking at every turn cos I didn't wanna crash, but then I realized I wouldn't topple no matter how steep the turn was so I just kept accelerating all the way and racing all my friends. It was soooo fucking fun!!!! I'm dying to try it again omg. 

that's me...

And that's Maria HAHAHA

Later we went to this place to shop around but everything was too pricey for us. Pan and I took a lot of photos there cos the place has really nice lightings and backdrops. Damn I can't remember what that place is called but it was kinda quiet when we went there cos it hasn't officially open yet. Mak's mom has a shop there and half the clothes there are all from Platinum and the people there sell them for about 400baht more omg. 

Here are some really nice photos that we took...

fuck my blue black...this would have turn out to be a really nice photo

PAN IS SO FREAKING GORGEOUS OMG I LOVE THIS PHOTO OF HER

After that, we all went to a Volleyball outdoor court to play a few matches of volleyball. My skills are soooo rusty from an entire year of not playing volleyball and not even exercising haha. We played about 2-3 sets and we lost terribly hahaha. It was fun nonetheless. 

We went back to our room to shower for a bit and get changed before heading to Hush! It's a bar before Ark Bar that we passed by the previous night cos they had very interesting cocktail names like Wet Pussy for 100baht and they had a one for one bucket offer before 12am so we really wanted to check it out. 

our writings on the chalk wall at Hush!

We asked the lady at the hotel reception for a ride to the area and got to sit at the trunk of a lorry omg I was so excited about it HAHA I felt like standing up and waving my arms around like a crazy woman, or maybe do a Perks of Being A Wallflower scene where "in this moment, I swear we were infinite" HAHAHA. CHEY CHEY. When we reached Ark Bar, Marz and Callum managed to get the one for one bucket housepour right on the dot and by the time it was our turn the offer was over wtf super niao, count the time until like that. There wasn't even a lot of people queueing for drinks. We went ahead with the cocktail drinks anyway and got two buckets for 500 baht each. Wet Pussy tastes super good. A lot better than the long island tea which was too strong for my liking. Ark Bar closes at 2am so we quickly finished up our drinks and headed down to Ark Bar. Nobody wanted to finish the Long Island Tea so I downed it all and got so fucking drunk I didn't party at all at Ark Bar. Pan and I were both dead and puking out guts out. I even dropped my phone and Pan lost her slippers. Thankfully, Ark Bar's people are super honest and nice. My friend went to the counter to ask if they found an iphone 5 and the person said he'll return to us if we can unlock the phone and show a photo of us. Super grateful for their honesty and excellent service that we tipped them. Pan got her slippers back from the counter as well. Ark Bar is awesome!!!

Also, meet my new friend, Natalie, from Czech Republic.

We woke up hungover as hell the following afternoon and didn't get to do much except go out for lunch and head back to the room to get ready for Full Moon Party at Koh Phangan! We had lunch at Lawana Resort and everything there is one for one. So we ordered tom yum soup and pizza and 2 coconut shakes which all doubled in numbers haha. And it was really affordable too! Except I don't think the food was all that fantastic, except the coconut shake which was exceptionally good maybe because it's served in the coconut itself, and the food took a really long time to come.

With Mak

On the speedboat to Koh Phangan!

We got to choose between taking a speedboat or a ferry and we chose the speedboat instead. Many people said the speedboat is dangerous and overcrowded and expensive even though it takes only about 30mins to get to Koh Phangan compared to the Ferry which takes about an hour plus. Usual speedboat prices are around 2000baht but we only got it at 900baht which was a special price offered by the people at the hotel. Our speedboat service was from AngThong company if I remember correctly. Service was good and the people took really good care of us and the other passengers. The speedboat wasn't overcrowded at all and everyone got a seat and a life vest. The ride there we were super excited and just singing the school song and doing other random stuff, but we slept throughout the trip back HAHA we were all so drunk and tired by then.

First thing we saw when we got out of the speedboat was this fancy uv body art painting. I got some silly and weird paintings like the one on my neck that's supposed to attract cute boys to lick my neck (but they soon got ruined after me being so restless to wait for it to dry) and the weed on my arm.

The entrance fee for Full Moon Party was merely 100baht and we got this tag that can be removed easily to pass to your friends outside and get them in for free but it's really pointless since the entrance fee was already so cheap. 

Koh Phangan is a really small island and they sell all sorts of things. It's like a mini street market. It's quite an interesting sight. We got a lot of food along the way before we started drinking. We didn't wanna get drunk before having the chance to explore the island so we just got a bucket each. 

Alcohols were all sold like this at about 350 baht per bucket. They have an entire mini bottle of alcohol for you and two mixers which is bloody cheap omg. I told this dude to pose for a photo haha look at how spontaneous he is!

Yup we drink from mini pails like this

There were so many interesting things there I just had to take photos of them! The people there were all really nice and crazy as well I love it!!!

Some guy who sold us drinks gave us rose rings made of straws. How sweet!

I think what made Full Moon Party so crazy is because of all these dangerous stunts. I was really amazed and I tried the fire mambo thing! HAHA, I just wanted to join in the fun but I was really scared my hair would get burnt so I just fell and crawled my way out of the crowd after I went under it HAHA. It was soooo fun!!! Also the fire skipping rope is really dangerous shit. Once the rope swung to the crowd and Pan's hair got burnt.

Yup after wanting to try it for ages, and being afraid of what the result might be I finally tried it (for 300baht)! Thankfully all the lady said were good things. She will spread all the cards in a semi circle and I will have to choose 10 cards. After choosing, she'll read my palm and tell my fortune, then go on and explain the cards. She predicted I'm gonna have 3 kids in future, which I hope she's right or she's wrong cos I want more. HAHA and that I'm gonna marry a good husband who will bring money back for me. She also said that I try to save but my money is easily gone (true) and that I had a bad past relationship (spot on or what).

I had a lot of fun at Full Moon as you can tell from all the photos. I still prefer Ark Bar even though the music at Full Moon was crazy good and we had a lot of fun dancing and screaming out hearts out at the lyrics. The DJ was amazing. It wasn't like how I expected it to be. I guess I was expecting it to be like ZoukOut with crazy amount of people at the dance floor but Full Moon wasn't like that. They had different dance floors for different genres of music, and the dancefloor wasn't that big and crowded. I guess we went there a bit too early as we crashed at a bar around 12am for shisha and drinks. Had 2 shishas and a drink each for 6 of us and the bill amounted to only 700baht. Everything was crazy cheap!!

Later we went to catch our speedboat back to Samui which comes every hour sharp. We were at the jetty about 240am and the dude told us we might have to catch the next one as it might not fit all of us, which means we had to wait till 4am. THANK GOD we managed to squeeze into the speedboat that came at 3am cos I didn't think we could last another hour just standing there and waiting.

Last day in Samui was spent walking along Chaweng beach and finally getting a massage at a nice fancy shop for only 200baht, and then rushing off to Tesco to catch a thai movie called Iron Ladies. The first part of the movie that I watched years ago was definitely a lot better than this but it was still good and funny even though I had to read the subtitles for every single line. 

Also we only realized on the very last day how cheap renting a bike and a car was. Renting a bike for an entire day was merely 250baht (10$) and a car was 1000baht (40$). It was super worth it in my opinion, but because we only realized it on the last day, we had no way to return the vehicle and we didn't rent it in the end. 

After that, we went to Ark Bar for the very last time to just chill with shisha and drinks and music. Two caucasians came to join us awhile later and they were such an entertainment. Oh also, two caucasians who were obviously too high on drugs climbed up to a high platform (where the people perform fire tricks on) to dance and refuse to get down. They were then taken away by the police, which I'm pretty sure can be bribed to get them out of trouble. 

Then we went back to our room to pack our bags as we have an early flight back to Bangkok to catch our flight back to SG (which we were almost late for cos of the damn Bangkok traffic).

I'm so sad to say this marks the end of my (almost) 2 weeks long vacation. Big thanks to Mak and his boyfriend, Um, for taking us around Samui. I will definitely come back here for Ark Bar and I will remember to rent a vehicle so we won't have to spend so much on transport there. Cabs there are a fucking rip off, it took us 200baht each to get to our hotel on the first day. 

Oh and in case any of you are wondering, I stayed a total of 12 days in Thailand and spent 1000$ in total excluding the tickets and hotel. It was pretty good in my opinion considering the fact that I did 4 entire days of crazy shopping and my luggage was about 19kg+ at the end of the trip. Also, we made sure to check and compare the currency rates everywhere we go and we heard from a friend that the rates in Thailand is much better than in SG, my dad says the same as well. Chatuchak JJ Mall offers the best rate. Of course the rate doesn't really matter if you're changing just a small amount, but 1000$ was quite a lot so we definitely benefitted. The rate at JJ Mall was about 24.61 if I still remember correctly, and the rate everywhere else was about 24.4ish. 

Also, it's just sadness all over again when I had to leave Pan. I wish I could stay longer. Having her by my side was so much better than talking to her through skype or any other platforms. I can never find a soul mate as true to me as she is and speaks her mind like she does. I love all the times we can just look at each other and know what both of us are thinking, then burst out laughing and have difficulties explaining to others what just happened. 

Till we meet again, best friend.