Parks and Beaches

On arrival to Australia, we had four nights in Adelaide, staying in the city at the Country Comfort Motel on South Terrace. Adelaide is a quiet city. Although the population is about 1 million, the centre of the city is small and everyone is quite laid back (to the extent that the city is almost dead on weeknights and Sundays).

Staying on South Terrace, within 5 minutes walk of King William Street is great because there is a free tram running from South Terrace to North Terrace during the day. Most shopping, cultural and entertainment venues are near North Terrace. Some of the things we did while in Adelaide included:

• Shopping (or at least window shopping) in Rundle Mall
• Visited the South Australian Museum (free entry)
• Wandered down North Terrace admiring the statues and old majestic buildings, and through Adelaide University to the River Torrens
• Lunch and shopping in the Central Market, which includes Chinatown and some good Asian grocers
• Tram to Glenelg Beach
• Coopers Pale and Sparkling Ales, as well as red wines at the Austral and Exeter on Rundle Street
• Dinner at the Red Ochre Restaurant (see me separate review), as well as at pubs and restaurants around Adelaide

On Friday we borrowed Brentons Pajero and drove up to Cleland Wildlife Park. Here is a great collection of Australian animals, most of which you can get close to and feed. We saw: kangaroos, koalas, Tasmanian devils, emus, echidnas, bandicoots, wallabies, wombats and all sorts of birds. There is also a snake farm. Well worth a visit if you are in Adelaide.

On Saturday morning Mum and Dad arrived in Adelaide and we all went up to Barossa Valley for some wine tasting. The first stop was Chateau Barossa, a new winery built by the guy who owned Chateau Yaldara. The wines were not special, but the highlight was the large rose garden outside. It was opened by the Queen Elizabeth II on here previous visit to Australia. Lunch was at a snack shop in Tanunda (Wan tried a Hamburger with the lot and was full after 1/3 of it). Then on to Jacob's Creek Winery which had some nice wines.

Back on Adelaide we had dinner at the Gilbert Hotel. It was great food and atmosphere until I noticed the last couple of mouthfuls of my chicken schnitzel was uncooked. Not sure how much of it was uncooked but luckily there were no side effects the next day.

On Sunday we made our way to Mum and Dad's home in Kongorong near Mt Gambier (about 450km south of Adelaide).

On Constitution Day (10 December), I drove Ahe, Ann, Maew and Philippe to Safari World in the outskirts of Bangkok. We spent the entire day there, most of which was walking around the zoo and viewing the shows held throughout the day. Towards the end we drove around the open-air zoo. I had been to Safari World before, but only had time to do the open-air zoo then.

Although its a long day, I really enjoyed Safari World and recommend others take a visit. Being a public holiday, it was quite busy, but you only really noticed that when the shows were on. The shows we saw were: Sea lions, Dolphins and Beluga Whales, Cowboys, and the Bird Show. There were a couple that we missed as well. All the shows were entertaining and appeared very professional. In between the shows we wandered around looking at the large selection of animals.

Entry was a bit steep (420 Baht) but given the selection of shows, animals and the whole place was well-run, it was ok for a day of entertainment.

Photo Gallery

Wan was visiting Bangkok over the past week, so I took the opportunity to get out and about, both to some new places around Bangkok as well as back to some visited too long ago.

Photo Gallery

Wat Phra Keow

This area is the main tourist destination in Bangkok, and for good reason. Many excellent buildings, the emerald Buddha and royal palace. It was hot with plenty of tourists, but definitely worth a second visit.

Wat Pho

The giant reclining Buddha is the star attraction here, but I took more notice of the maze of pagodas and buildings around the complex this time. This is a good place to walk around for an hour or two (bring an umbrella), then eat across the road at one of the small street restaurants and finally get a massage.

The Wat Pho massage is well known, mainly because they have classes for learning how to massage. I had a body massage which was ok, but not as good as Hua Hin, nor Zeer Rangsit. At 360 Baht it is bit on the expensive side as well.

Saxophone: Jazz Bar and Restaurant

A few of my friends go to Saxophone quite often, so I figured I would check it out. Its a farang-oriented jazz place at Victory Monument. Its got a nice dark pub atmosphere (similar to English/Irish pubs in Australia), some ok food, good music and plenty of cocktails. As you may expect for this combination, its a bit pricey, but worth a visit. Apparently it gets very crowded after 10pm on Friday and Saturday nights.

Cowboy House

An outdoor pub/restaurant in Klong Luang, Pathumthani, about 5 minutes taxi ride from Thammasat Rangsit. Has some good food, beer and often a guy playing popular English songs on guitar. Almost opposite the nightclub/restaurant/live band place which I think is called Bang Pleeng.

Talad Thai

I have been 3 or 4 times already. This time we went about 6am and bought some prawns to cook for breakfast. I must go more often, as it takes about an hour (and 80 baht) to go there, buy some food and get back to my room. It will be even more convenient when I get my car ...

Buddhamonthon

Also known as Phutthamonthon, this is a large religious site and park in Nakhon Pathom, with the main attraction being the 16 metre standing bronze gold Buddha. The park is very nice, and there is supposed to be some excellent flower gardens somewhere (I think they had just been removed when I went). We caught a taxi there, which is a problem because its such a large park that you need a bicycle (there are none for hire) or car to cover all of it. Although there was a cafeteria, I recommend going with a picnic hamper.

Don Whai Riverside Market

After wandering around Buddhamonthon, we went to the nearby Don Whai Riverside Market. It was a very popular market, selling a mostly fresh food, snacks and small knick-knacks. We went on a 1 hour boat tour up the river, viewing some of the riverside homes (both old style and new three storey houses), eating fresh ice cream and feeding some fish. There are some restaurants on the river, and duck is a speciality.