Sawadeeka Bangkok! - Day Three

Only one destination on our Day Three, The Grand Palace.It served as the official residence of the Kings of Thailand from the 18th century onwards. Although the current king doesn't stay here anymore, this palace is very much in use mostly for royal ceremonies purpose i.e. coronation, royal funeral, marriage and state banquet. The Palace ground also contain the offices and buildings of the Bureau of the Royal Household, the Office of the Private Secretary to the King and Royal Institute of Thailand.




The golden stupa on the left is Phra Sri Rattana Chedi, one of the main pagodas that can clearly be seen from miles away. 



This painting on the wall is more than 100m in length. Restoration on the painting is always on going to maintain its beauty. My SIL jokingly said that when that guy in the picture has finished with that area he was working on, the other area would already be faded and needs re-touching. That means, being the illustrator/painter specifically for that wall is no joke. Non-stop working. :)




School goers doing their study trip at the Palace, learning their own history. That looked fun considering the magnificent structures and carving in and outside the palace that already tell stories.




A model of Angkor Wat (the most sacred of all Cambodian shrines)  was also built on the Upper Terrace.




Apsara, a female spirit of the clouds and waters.






Wat Phra Kaew also known as Temple of the Emerald Buddha where it resides the Emerald Buddha, the palladium of the kingdom of Thailand. Except for the Thai King, no other person is allowed to touch the statue. The King changes the cloak around the statue three times a year, corresponding to the summer, winter, and rainy seasons, an important ritual performed to usher good fortune to the country during each season.

On the left is one of the Garudas that hold the Nagas and on the right, us in front of the entrance of the Temple of Buddha. Camera is not allowed inside so no picture of the Emerald Buddha here.

Some amazing intricate details cladding the wall outside the Temple of Buddha.


Enthralling statues.



Office buildings for the government on the Palace ground.





Chakri Mahaprasat Hall.
Its architecture was influenced by Italian Renaissance with a touch of Thais. Initially, the roof was built domed cathedral-like but subsequently replaced with an elaborate, pointy-style Thai roof. To this day, the Thais refer to it as “the westerner in a Thai hat.”







On on our way back to the hotel, we saw this bunch of people camping outside the Ministry of Agriculture's building. Our tour guide told us, these were people from the rural areas that hold a silent protest to the government due to unfair economic distribution or something. I couldn't remember much. But with what have just happened in Bangkok (the Red and Yellow shirt war) recently, we were lucky to visit Bangkok when the country was in rather peaceful time.




We didn't have other things to do after visit to The Grand Palace and were left to roam Bangkok city all by ourselves. SIL and I (left the hubby to tend the kids at the hotel room) did what we women good at - SHOPPING! We went to Pratunam Whole Sale Market. No picture while doing our shopping activities to which I regret much now. Below are pictures I shot when we had our Thai fried rice at one of the stalls alongside the street of Bangkok.





Shopping experience in Bangkok was quite thrilling and definitely fun, especially when you have excellent bargaining skill. We didn't but we still enjoyed the bargaining experience we had with the local traders. There was this shopping complex that houses all the factory outlet products where one can buy in bulk and get huge discount. That made our heart jumping up and down. There's never a time before that we would think so much of others (Read: friends, friends of friends, friends of friends of friends).  We were like, " If I buy this, I can buy 9 more and sell them to dearest brother and his friend and his friend's friend and his friend's friend's friend, etc". You get me?

After shopping , we wanted to have our aching and tiring feet pampered but decided to put it on hold for the next day. So yeah, that's it for Day Three in Bangkok.

Stay tune for the final day in Bangkok!