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Mithun Divakaran

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Philippines: Visiting Manila after a gap of 8 years

By Mithun Divakaran
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Mar 06, 2023
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Philippines, Travel

Date: December 19, 2022

After nearly 3 years of COVID-19, I was itching to fly international again. I hadn’t seen my girlfriend in so long that when Philippines announced in May 2022, that they would re-open the country to tourism, I began my planning. I finally decided that I would fly before Christmas to spend the New Year and celebrate both our birthdays together in January.

But when it came time to plan and book my tickets, I realized many carriers hadn’t resumed their pre-COVID schedules. Options for daily connections were mostly limited to Thai Airways, Malaysia Airlines, and Singapore Airlines — and their return ticket prices were very high. Understandably so. After all, I was flying right before Christmas to a majority Catholic country and this was the year end.

So in order to save money, I booked my onward journey on Thai Airways and then split my return ticket with flights on Air Asia and IndiGo, flying back to Bangalore after a few days spent in Bangkok.

Upon arriving in Bangalore airport, I did run into an issue with security. After clearing immigration, I had to pass my bags through the scanners and the security staff marked my bags for inspection. Since I packed my drone in my carry on bag, the security personnel informed me that I cannot carry drones in my carry on — only check-in luggage! I told them the reason why I place it in my carry on is because I wished to declare it with customs, because that’s what I used to do pre-COVID. The security officer then informed me: “oh, actually customs has moved downstairs and you have to declare goods before you check-in bags”.

The whole experience was frustrating as they had to call a Thai Airways staff member, who had to herself clear security just to get to us, talk to customs, deal with security personnel… long story short, I got fed up and told her I will just place my drone in my check-in luggage (which Thai Airways staff had to retrieve). A lot of time was wasted on this but oh well, lesson learnt!

Fortunately I had plenty of time as my flight was slightly delayed. After boarding, I just watched some comedy shows until meal was served.

I had a fish curry meal and it was pretty good. I missed Thai Airways’ meals.

After having my preferred drink when flying – gin and tonic – I tried to get some sleep.

The camera view showed the airplane as it neared Bangkok at sunrise — I turned on the airplane view as it neared Bangkok at sunrise. TG325 was an Airbus A350.

Suvarnabhumi airport December 2022 — I was back in Suvarnabhumi airport (BKK) since my last trip in November 2019

Which also means traversing the many, many travelators Suvarnabhoomi airport has! — Suvarnabhumi means traversing the many, *many* travelators Thailand’s largest airport has!

Connecting flights transfer desk BKK airport — I had to move to a different concourse far away to get to my connecting flight to Manila

Once I got to the transfers area, I couldn’t find my Manila flight on the digital display. I went to the Thai Airways customer service desk who informed me of my gate but told me the connecting flight was also delayed. So I decided to use my Priority Pass card to access a lounge so that I could eat breakfast and sit somewhere properly.

Continue reading “Philippines: Visiting Manila after a gap of 8 years” »

MedConsult Clinic – a ‘cheaper’ private clinic to get RT-PCR test in Bangkok

By Mithun Divakaran
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Jan 21, 2023
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Bangkok, Thailand, Travel

Date: 21 January, 2023

I write this one day after taking my COVID test (my results came back negative) and the night before I head back to India. I was in the middle of my vacation in the Philippines when the news broke late December that the Indian government announced those visiting Thailand, would have to show a negative test results from an RT-PCR test and fill out the Air Suvidha form as a requisite before landing in India. (Children under 12 years of age are exempted; see rules)

Considering I was going to be spending 6 days in Bangkok — not transiting — I had no choice but to find a clinic from where I could get an RT-PCR test done. I thought of going to a government hospital but when I tried making some calls, the answers or voice recordings were only in Thai, so it didn’t help and I had little time to run around.

I was staying near Phrom Phong BTS station but the private clinics near me were charging obscene amounts of money for RT PCR tests. Pulse clinic, 3250 baht (Rs. 8k!), and Pathlab, 2800 baht (Rs. 6940). I had no inclination to spend that much for a COVID test, so I searched on Facebook and a few Indian travelers in some groups suggested a private clinic called MedConsult. And as my luck would have it, they were located just 1.2kms from my hotel!

Their website was advertising RT PCR test for 1000 baht (Rs. 2400). Still not as cheap as the prices we pay back in India for the same test but way better than paying three times more elsewhere.

Even though their promotion rate says 1000 baht until January 21st, as of this writing you can still book an appointment for the same rate

If you are taking the BTS metro service, you need to get off at Phrom Phong station.

It’s a 15 to 20 minute walk, or a short taxi ride

I decided to walk it after booking my appointment online. By the way, you don’t have to pay anything online. You only pay at the clinic on the day of your visit.

Continue reading “MedConsult Clinic – a ‘cheaper’ private clinic to get RT-PCR test in Bangkok” »

Sree Thrikkaikunnu Mahadeva temple drone view

Visiting Sree Thrikkaikkunnu Mahadeva Temple, Koothuparambu in Kannur, Kerala

By Mithun Divakaran
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Oct 30, 2022
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India, Kerala, Travel

Before I begin, I wanted to inform my readers that the below photos are from a visit I made to this temple back in 2020. I waited to post this after I was done with my Vietnam series… but then I forgot.

Anyway, I had heard about Sree Thrikkaikkunnu Mahadeva Temple from a relative who told me about how big it was. There weren’t too many blogs, articles or vlogs about the temple. I mean, it’s not a tourist attraction or a popular pilgrimage site, but despite its age and size, it doesn’t see as many visitors as Peralassery temple does — which I guess is mostly due to its famous step well which people of all faiths can see.

Sree Thrikkaikkunnu Mahadeva Temple is located in the town of Koothuparambu and is 23 kms from Kannur Railway station. The locality the temple is in is called Kottayam (not to be confused by the city of the same name in central Kerala).

This is the entrance one sees when getting on to the road off the main Koothuparambu highway

Sri Thrikkaikunnu Mahadeva temple koothuparambu — The grounds of the temple spans over 2 acres

The temple has two sreekovils (inner sanctum) and is dedicated to Lord Shiva. You can read about the mythology surrounding the temple on this website.

Sree Thrikkaikunnu mahadeva temple Kannur Kerala — The temple is hundreds of years old, but even the temple staff I spoke to couldn’t give me an approximate era

Rates Thrikkaikunnu Mahadeva temple Koothuparambu — Since this temple became a popular spot, they have rates for photography and filming

You have to pay Rs. 100 for photography and Rs. 300 for videography. But like with most temples, I was told I could not photograph inside the inner sanctums.

Sree Thrikkaikunnu Mahadev temple architecture Kannur — So I just stayed outside to be safe

I had come to the temple with my cousin sister, her husband, their daughter and a friend. They wanted to shoot some classical dance sequences for their daughter and my cousin’s husband, who is a music teacher, wanted to film a music video for his flute performance here.

Thrikkaikunnu Mahadev temple design Kannur Kerala — The temple is constructed using local red stones, which have gotten some modern upkeep over time

Sree Thrikkaikunnu Mahadev temple behind — From the back

Sree Thrikkaikunnu Mahadev temple Kannur Kerala — I know these photos may not give you a good indication of the size of the temple

So I decided to step out of the temple grounds to take out my drone.

Sree Thrikkaikunnu Mahadeva temple steps Kannur — These steps lead you to the adjoining lake

Lake sree Thrikkaikunnu Mahadeva temple Koothuparambu — It’s a pretty big man-made lake

Thrikkaikunnu Mahadeva temple lake Kannur — I took a drone shot of the lake

Temple lake mirage Kannur — This was around 5pm

Old tree Sree Thrikkaikunnu Mahadev temple Kannur — An old tree at the footsteps of the lake

Steps Thrikkaikunnu mahadeva temple Kerala — My cousin’s husband continued taking videos for their daughter’s dance

(Unfortunately, for reasons cited below, my cousin’s family was unable to obtain enough good shots to complete the dance performance)

Sree Thrikkaikunnu Mahadeva temple Kannur — This is a tighter crop

I was told I could not fly the drone above the temple and so I assured them I would limit the flight to just outside the gate.

Sree Thrikkaikunnu mahadev temple Kannur aerial view — If you want to see what the complete structure looks like (cropped in)

My cousin sister’s daughter and friend are the two green and red specks you see on the left side.

We had to end filming because some local guy who was sitting by the temple entrance objected to me flying the drone near the temple, just as I was done taking the final shot. He created a ruckus and accused all of us who had come for filming saying we were not allowed to film like this. Mind you, the actual temple staff member who we paid the filming fees to, had left the temple by now (it was a Sunday).

My cousin’s husband tried reasoning with the guy, but my cousin sister said he could be drunk. None of us wanted to create a scene on temple grounds, and my cousin’s young daughter also got scared. So we all left the temple rather upset after having our evening ruined.

So just be careful about such people if you are planning to visit this temple for photography or vlogging. If you get a receipt from the temple office after paying the fee, hold on to it until you leave the temple site.

If you want some more footage, Kerala Tourism has some glimpses of the temple exterior in their video:

My cousin sister’s husband managed to record his flute performance which uses most of the drone footage I could take (watch it in HD):