Trip trippety trip...

Day1
- Suvarnabhumi Airport
- Genting Heights, Malaysia(Genting Theme Park Airport)
- theme park-fogged out - I gotta say, what with all the fog, the resort looked like a pretty seedy place... But despite the rain and near zero visibility, we had loads of fun. We were considerably surprised to find that the indoor theme park wasn't just a few kiddy rides and a video game arcade. It was HUGE!! I figure they're dead-on when they say its the biggest in the world... There were all kinds of rides indoors, including several roller-coasters which moved along the ceiling. The only downside of the indoor park was that we finally figured out where all the people had disappeared to. We also checked out the casino(21 years and over-my sis couldn't go in but they didn't even think of asking me), which was located somewhere in the sprawling premises of the Genting First World Hotel, the largest hotel in the world, beating The MGM Grand, Las Vegas by a approx. 800 rooms... After starting the day thinking we'd be stuck indoors because of the rain, we ended it regretting that we didn't have the energy to explore the whole place...
- No tentacle-less food for my mom... Managed to find one veg item on menu at McDonald's... Of course, this was before we discovered the gazillion eating places in the indoor theme park. Not that it improved my mom's prospects. Pizza Hut beat McDonald's veggie selection by a whopping total of one item...

Day2
- drive to KL(Hotel Corus) - Less than a 100m from the Petronas Twin Towers.
- Batu caves - Basically a HUGE cave with a HUGE statue of Lord Muruga outside it and a small temple inside... Very nice...
- Tube ride, shopside

Day3
- More rain, worst floods in 37 years, trains cancelled
- boarded bus to singapore, bus stopped at border
- immigration control - found out my visa'd been misprinted...
visa validity - 14th Dec 2006 to 19th Dec 2006(everybody else's read 2007)
duration of stay in Singapore - 21st Dec 2006 to 26th Dec 2006
As you might imagine, the boys from the Immigration Control Authority were rather puzzled as to why i was even bothering to try and enter legally... Felt like a bloody fool i gotta tell ya... I wasn't reassured by the sight of the guy brought in in handcuffs. Obviously, it all worked out. Its immaterial, but the sight of all those people of South Indian(specifically Tamil) origin around was certainly reassuring. And i seemed to derive a strange satisfaction out of making them speak in Tamil, which wasn't easy as the ICA guys(esp.) tried damn hard to stick to their singapoean english...
- granted temporary visa for one day
- Bus left without waiting for us, hitched ride to singapore(Hotel New Park)
- explored little india and surroundings - And my aunt's descripton of the area was perfect. She said, "When you step out onto the street, there'll be a moment where you'll wonder whether you're in Maambalam or in singapore." :)
- My first Starbucks

Day4
- Went to the ICA building to reapply for visa
- Orchard street-the haven of the shopaholics, gross'est lunch ever
- Night Safari at the Singapore Zoo-the most "touristy" spot i've ever seen

Day5
- City Tour
- chinatown
- Evening at Clarke Quay, Mardi Gras

Day6
- arab street
- sentosa

Day7
- Jurong Bird Park
- Bugis Village

Day8
- Flight to Bangkok from Changi, Arrived at Suvarnabhumi
- Drove to Pattaya(Golden Beach Hotel)- Whatta sleazy place i say!!
- Tiffany's show(Oh gawd!!)

Day9
- Coral Island tour and watersports(Woohoo!!)
- Drive to Bangkok-Dead tired(Hotel Amari Atrium)
- Searched for a place to eat and against probability found the best italian joint ever!!- Met an honest-to-goodness original italian, accent and all(Pierluigi Melidoro)

Day10
- City and temple tour-spent 75% of the time in the car, 25% of the time sightseeing and 40% of the time cursing the annoying tour guide and Bangkok traffic(which as it turns out, is its main tourist attraction. This is because more people spend time in the traffic jam than anywhere else...)
- Saw the Golden Buddha, the Emerald Buddha and the Reclining Buddha
- MBK mall

Day11
- The Grand Palace of His Royal Highness King Bhumibol Adulyadej, Rama IX
- Pratunam market
- Back to the airport, flight to bombay

Day12
- Flight to chennai (travel time-16 hours)

I can't say that the trip was bad, but i certainly can't complain that it was boring... Something always seems to happen to me... Remind me to tell you of the time i nearly got arrested for smuggling in the mudumalai forests... ;) And please bear with me because i'll only fill in the individual details, intro and stuff when i have time... This is only so that i don't forget it all in my laziness... :)