Sukhumvit road Bangkok traffic BTS Skytrain tracks

Thailand 2010: Arriving in Bangkok and preparing for Loi Krathong in Chiang Mai

By Mithun Divakaran
/
May 14, 2011
/
Bangkok, Thailand, Travel

Last November, I decided just a few weeks earlier to go back to Thailand. The main purpose of this trip was to witness the Loi Krathong (or Loy Krathong) festival, one of Thailand’s most beautiful festivals and one that I always wanted to cover. Although it’s a national festival, Thailand still doesn’t get a public holiday for it.

Usually falling in November, I first booked my flights in October via Cleartrip.com which had a really good offer: a return ticket from Thai Airways (direct flight) + 2,000 hotel voucher + 1,000 worth of credit for a Uniconnect Thailand SIM card + an entry to DreamWorld theme park… all for 16,742 ($375/€262). Awesome deal if you ask me!

But, one week prior departure, I won the chance to go see Linkin Park in Abu Dhabi! So I delayed my departure by a few days, and then again after I read Jay Park was going to be performing in Bangkok. I left for Dubai on a Friday early morning and returned to Bangalore late Sunday night. I then went to office on the following Monday and then left for the airport in the evening for my early morning flight on Tuesday!

Inside Thai Airways flight TG325 — The flight wasn’t full, so I had an entire row to myself

Thai Airways flight TG325 inflight chicken meal — The Thai chicken curry meal was yum

Unlike my first visit to Thailand, in which I tried to cover the entire country in 9 days (I did it, but I didn’t quite enjoy the experience), this time around I was only going to focus on North Thailand. Most of my time would be spent in Chiang Mai covering the Yi Ping Festival (as Loi Krathong is called in Chiang Mai), after which I planned to go to Chiang Rai & then a day in Pattaya before heading back to Bangkok.

Arriving Bangkok at dawn — Arrived in Bangkok at dawn

Inside Suvarnabhumi airport Thailand — Hello Suvarnabhumi!

Suvarnabhumi airport Thailand travelator — Sigh, the many travelators you have to cross…

Suvarnabhumi airport Thailand moving walkway — … to finally get to the visa-on-arrival section

Once I did get to the Visa-on-arrival counter, I submitted my form, showed them how much currency I was carrying and got my visa-on-arrival without having to pay the usual ฿1000. After that was customs and then collecting my bags. Last year, I took a taxi from the airport into Bangkok city which cost ฿320 but this time, I decided to take a shuttle bus.

Suvarnabhumi shuttle bus to Bangkok — The private bus going to Sukhumvit cost ฿150 (Rs. 222/$5/€3.5)

Suvarnabhumi airport from afar — That’s Suvarnabhumi airport

Sukhumvit from afar Bangkok Thailand — Getting near Sukhumvit took only 20 minutes

But then, Bangkok’s infamous traffic soon began. And my god did it last long! It took the bus nearly an hour just to get into Sukhumvit road.

I finally got dropped at Nana BTS station. I chose to stay at Thai House Inn, a place where I spent two nights at last year — because it’s 30 seconds walk from the metro station (literally) and its not far from all the malls. I needed to stay here because first on the list of things-to-do was to buy some camera equipment, so I had to have quick access to the shopping centers, especially MBK. Those whole followed my Singapore & Malaysia series must have read that I couldn’t pick up a good camera tripod while I was there. So this time, I just couldn’t go to Chiang Mai without it!

But first, I had to get some sleep! After a whirlwind trip to Dubai and then hopping on to another flight to get to Thailand, my body needed some proper rest.

I got up at lunch time, took the BTS SkyTrain and headed straight to MBK Center, one of my favourite malls in Bangkok.

MBK Center Mahboonkrong mall Bangkok — From Nana, the Siam station is only 3 stops away; costs ฿25

(Here is the map of the BTS service in Bangkok)

MBK houses Fotofile, the store from where I bought my Canon 7D and other accessories last year. Fotofile also manages the official Canon store and two other stores in MBK! List of things to buy included a 70-200 f2.8 lens, another 16GB card, an interval remote, and a good tripod. I went to all of Fotofile’s stores, a BIG Camera branch and jotted down the prices for all that I wanted.

MBK Bangkok food court — I had lunch from the food court which offers a lot of variety (though mostly Asian cuisine & fast food)

I left MBK and thought I’d check out some other stores.

Sukhumvit road Bangkok traffic — The traffic is like this from 8am to 8pm

Ratchaprasong skywalk Sukhumvit BTS bridge — The skywalk bridge connects to a lot of the malls along the Ratchaprasong area

Centralworld mall Bangkok Thailand — I didn’t even step into Centralworld last time

Ratchaprasong pavement Bangkok — I got down from the skywalk

I decided to head to the parallel Petchburi Road where Pantip Plaza is located.

Centralworld Bangkok mall — The side section of Centralworld Mall

Amari Watergate Hotel Bangkok Petchburi road Thailand — Amari Watergate Hotel is located on Petchburi Road

Platinum Fashion Mall shopping Petchburi road Bangkok — Right across Amari Watergate is Platinum Fashion Mall

Platinum Fashion mall Petchburi road Bangkok — Petchburi road is also famous for the Pratunam market area

Pantip Plaza is essentially Bangkok’s equivalent to Singapore’s Sim Lim Square and Kuala Lumpur’s Low Yat Plaza.

Pantip Plaza ground floor shop — Bangkok’s most famous IT mall

I came to Pantip Plaza because none of the camera stores in MBK (and the Siam malls) sold tripods from the brand Vanguard. I had a particular model in mind but even after stepping into pretty much every Pantip Plaza shop that sold camera equipment, none stocked products from Vanguard.

Pantip Plaza ground floor stores — I left Pantip Plaza disappointed

I wanted to try and buy everything I wanted from one store, so that I didn’t have to swipe my card three or four times and incur additional charges for each transactions.

Ratchathewi station empty land Bangkok — I decided to head back to Sukhumvit road

Ratchathewi station graffiti walls Petchburi Bangkok — It was nearing sunset and my body was telling me 4 hours of sleep wasn’t enough

Ratchathewi station platform BTS Bangkok — Ratchathewi station is at the far end of Petchburi road

Sukhumvit traditional Thai dance night — By the time I stepped out of the train, it was already dark. The sun sets rather quickly out here.

Sukhumvit Ratchaprasong skywalk lights Bangkok — I decided to check one last mall before heading back

Centralworld mall interior decor Bangkok Thailand — Centralworld is actually one of the biggest malls in Thailand

Unfortunately, Centralworld was quite badly damaged during last year’s ‘Red t-shirts’ protests and an entire section of the building was off limits because they were renovating it.

I looked up the store directory and saw that BIG Camera had a bigger branch here but unfortunately, it was in the part of the building which was under renovation.

After checking which ever stores were open, I left CentralWorld.

The one good thing I liked about the area I was in is that it’s actually full of Arab visitors, and therefore plenty of businesses exist catering to tourists from the Middle East and Africa.

Bangkok Nana Sukhumvit Arab restaurants — Which meant, plenty of Middle Eastern cuisine for me to eat!

Nana Sukhumvit Dubai center Bangkok Thailand — Yeah, it’s *that* Gulf-y!

I picked up a beef shawarma (฿50) and a drink from a 7-11 and made my way back to my room. I had kept the air conditioner on for a while to ventilate the room and rid it of the Bangkok ‘stench,’ which takes a little getting used to. (The ‘smell’ of Bangkok city is essentially the smell of fish sauce emanating in the air.)

I needed more sleep and I had to wake up early the next day. I assessed all the camera products and all the prices I made a note of. I had to pick up everything tomorrow itself and then leave early enough to get to Mo Chit bus terminal.

Next day

After waking up and breakfast at Au Bon Pain in MBK, I waited for the Fotofile stores to open.

MBK mall bags clothes small stores section Bangkok — Walked around the ‘street market’ stores on the 6th floor to pass time

Fotofile camera equipment store MBK Bangkok Thailand — I picked up an additional 16GB card, the interval remote and an extra battery for the Canon 7D from the Foto Thailand store on the 3rd floor

Fotofile MBK used lenses store Bangkok — Lots of second hand lenses for sale

The telephoto lens I was keen on picking up was the Canon 70-200 f2.8 IS Mark 1. Unfortunately, that model was recently replaced by the newer Mark 2, which was obscenely expensive and thus made finding the Mark 1 a challenge.

So I ended up picking up a brand new Canon 70-200 f2.8 non-IS lens and using the substantial savings to purchase a good tripod instead. I needed one anyway.

Official Canon store MBK collection display Bangkok — I picked up the lens from the official Canon store managed by Fotofile

Canon camera store MBK collection display Bangkok — None of these are for sale, just on display

The Canon store had a few Manfrotto tripods on sale and I considered the Manfrotto 055x Pro B but it was too pricey. I went down to the BIG Camera store and picked up a Sirui tripod for around 7k baht. The model was very good value for money and complimented my newly acquired 70-200 lens well.

With all my shopping done, I went to one of the two main food courts in MBK.

Fifth Food Avenue food court MBK mall Bangkok — Fifth Food Avenue is the name of this food court

Nasi Goreng MBK mall food court Bangkok — I was still on my Malaysia high, so I had Nasi Goreng (although they went overboard with the soy sauce) ฿160

After lunch, I still had some time to kill, so I went to Siam Paragon to find out where the Jay Park concert was going to be held.

Siam Discovery mall interior decor Bangkok — Siam Discovery, which is the older and slightly more wallet friendly mall

Strip Ministry of Waxing Siam Discovery mall Bangkok — Clever ad 🙂

Siam Paragon mall open area Bangkok — Siam Paragon mall is the more posh offering

Krungsri IMAX theatre Siam Paragon Bangkok Thailand — The Royal Paragon Hall was on the top most floor, near the cinemas

Cool gel attack Thai film cinema poster — Hmm, interesting

After finding out where Royal Paragon Hall was, I made my way out.

Audi showroom Siam Paragon Bangkok Thailand — Walked past the luxury car showrooms on the second floor

Lamborghini showroom Siam Paragon Bangkok Thailand — Last year, they had a ‘No Photographs’ sign on the glass

So this time, I went in and got up close to the Lamborghinis. You don’t realize just how big these sexy machines are until you stand next to them. I spoke to the sales girl and I asked her how much the import duties for these cars are and she told me it’s over 100-150%, including the many taxes on these luxuries… making them super-expensive in Thailand. She wouldn’t disclose how many they sell a year but at such prices, I’m guessing not many. I hardly ever saw one on the road in the two trips I’ve made to Thailand.

Once back in my room, I re-packed my bags and checked out. The lady who runs Thai House Inn asked me why I was leaving so early and assured me there would be plenty of buses, but I didn’t want to risk not getting a seat. Going to Chiang Mai early is what I essentially came for.

I took the BTS all the way to till last stop, Mo Chit station, and from there I took a moped taxi (to Mo Chit bus terminal, which caters to North Thailand).

But when I got to the terminal, a lot of the buses to Chiang Mai leaving that night were already full! Especially the luxury buses, and I had to go from one transport company to another to find available seats. Fortunately, I got a ticket in a regular push-back seat bus — it was their last for the night!

Last year I got a seat in a luxury bus which cost me ฿700, for which I just showed up at the station and got my ticket. Of course, the sold-out seats today were due to the Loi Krathong weekend rush. So word of advice, if you want the luxury buses during Loy Krathong weekend, buy the tickets in advance.

Not that the bus I got was bad or anything, it was just one of those regular buses used on overnight long distance journeys, in my case an 8-hour journey.

Bangkok to Chiang Mai bus night journey — A seat costs ฿403 (Rs. 597/$13/€9)

The bus made a rest stop for toilet break and for picking up dinner/snacks. In a few hours, I would arrive at Thailand’s second biggest city, and my second trip to Thailand officially begins!

Next few posts in this series:

Thailand 2010: First day in Chiang Mai for Loi Krathong; driving up Doi Suthep

Thailand 2010: Chiang Mai cooking class; Loi Krathong celebrations in Mae Jo, Sansai

Thailand 2010: Chiang Mai Loi Krathong celebrations; first Grand Parade

Thailand 2010: Chiang Mai Zoo (Day 4, Part 1)

Thailand 2010: Last day of Loi Krathong; Sunday Grand Parade (Day 4, Part 2)

Thailand 2010: Heading to Chiang Rai by bus, Wat Jedyod and Golden Clock Tower

Thailand 2010: Golden Triangle in Mae Sai; Chiang Rai’s White Temple (Wat Rong Khun)

Thailand 2010: Pattaya — Beach road, Viewpoint, Jomtien Beach, Walking Street

Thailand 2010: Back to Bangkok — Chinatown, Patpong, Platinum Mall and Chatuchak Market

Thailand 2010: Gurdwara Siri Guru Singh Sabha, Sampeng Market, JJ market (again)

Thailand 2010: Damnoen Saduak Floating Market tour, Cobra show… and leaving Bangkok

Two & half weeks in Philippines… a teaser

By Mithun Divakaran
/
May 08, 2011
/
Philippines, Travel

This past April, I embarked on another journey. Given the circumstances at office (which I’ll explain later), I decided to go somewhere ‘interesting’. This time, a country which upon researching last year, I realized offered so much more than I thought. I’ll go into the details as to why I took the plunge to go as far as Philippines when I begin this series 2 months from now, but until then, here a few of the 5000-plus photos I took from this 2 & 1/2 week long trip.

South China sea islands from plane — Flew over the South China sea for the first time -- very pretty (Taken on my cellphone)

Manila American Cemetery and Memorial sparrow on grave Philippines — First day of sight-seeing: The Manila American Cemetery and Memorial

Manila American Cemetery and Memorial graves — Where 17,202 soldiers, Filipino and American, are buried

Manila American Cemetery and Memorial rainbow sprinkler — A rainbow caused by the sprinkler and sunlight

Aimee Marie Autobus station Manila — Met my reader (& now friend) Aimee who helped me a LOT in Manila

Banaue view from People's Lodge Philippines — Arrive in Banaue the next day

Banaue hanging house Ifugao Philippines — Go on a tour by trike through a region quite prone to landslides

Batad steps down trekking Banaue Philippines — Embark on what became the toughest trek I ever did

Batad villagers pigs trek Banaue Philippines — Seeing these villagers carry livestock and kilos of grain for nearly a 1km through terrain that I found *incredibly* tiring even with hiking boots on, made me want to never complain about corporate life ever again. Listening to pigs squeal (& the resulting echo in the valley) for more than half-an-hour also made me not want to have pork... (that day)

Batad village rice terraces Banaue Philippines — After nearly 1 1/2 of trekking, the view I get in Batad. A village with no access via road and one that only got electricity recently.

Batad hide and seek village children Banaue Philippines — And since these children don't see new faces often (least of all an Indian), played with them for a bit as well

Batad trek landslide path Banaue Philippines — After a break, trek all the way back through tracks destroyed by landslides... but this time, with a local I hired to carry my bags. My body just couldn't take the load a second time.

Banaue rice terraces panorama Philippines — End the day with a view of the grand daddy of them all, the Banaue Rice Terraces

Banaue rice terrace farmers Philippines — The sheer size of the Banaue rice terraces are a bit hard to capture on photograph

North Luzon fugao village rice terraces Philippines — The next day, take two jeepneys to get to the small town of Sagada

Sagada rice terraces Luzon Philippines — A small, but beautiful town!

Sagada limestone cave water Philippines — Sagada is also famed for its limestone caves

Sagada limestone caves Luzon Philippines — Which was an amazing 'first' experience for me

Sagada Hanging coffins Echo Valley Philippines — Sagada is also famous for this, Echo Valley. People laid to rest for years on the side of a cliff.

Ifugao province farm Luzon Philippines — Leave the next day and drive through beautiful terrains to get to Baguio

San Fernando Pampanga Good Friday celebrations crosses — Then, on Good Friday, arrive in the town of San Fernando in Pampanga district for the main reason I chose to fly to Philippines at this time of the year.

San Fernando Pampanga praying — Warning: The next few photos are going to be graphic in nature.

San Fernando Pampanga Good Friday flagellation — I don't have to time explain what the rituals are about and why they celebrate it this way, but you can read about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Pedro_Cutud_Lenten_Rites

San Fernando Pampanga Easter Child — Mind you, it was scorching hot that day

Filipino Roman soldier San Pedro Cutud — "You want photo? One bottle!"

San Pedro Cutud re-enactment Good Friday — The famed annual re-enactment ceremony of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ

San Pedro Cutud Pampanga Christ crucifixion — People volunteer to be actually nailed to the cross

Good Friday Pampanga nailed hand — And in case you don't believe me...

San Pedro Cutud crucifixion nail leg — Taken on my cellphone because of number of people jostling to get a close up view

San Pedro Cutud Rites Pampanga Philippines — (Also taken on my cellphone)

San Fernando street children smiling Philippines — Street child: "Hey! One photo mister!" (grabs baby sister) (I start to click) Street child: (Oh, he's *actually* taking my photo?) ~shy~

San Fernando night mass parade Philippines — The night mass with beautiful floats of... erm, Christian characters from the bible(?)

Manila Chinatown purple fire engine — Arrive back in Manila for a guided tour by Aimee. The Manila Chinatown was nothing special, but their fire engines were!

Manila Cathedral panorama — Manila Cathedral in Intramuros

Manila mobile phone chicken — I get everything... except the 'chicken' part. As seen in Robinson's mall in Manila.

Cebu Cathedral ceiling — Arrived in Cebu to kick off the second leg of my journey. This was the ceiling at the oldest church in Cebu.

Chocolate Hills Bohol Philippines — Take a ferry to Bohol, hire a trike and drive one hour to see this: the Chocolate Hills

Chocolate Hills panorama Bohol Philippines — 1,776 hills that make for a phenomenal geographical formation

Tarsier Bohol Philippines — See Bohol's Tarsiers. An animal I think, became the inspiration for Dobby's appearance (from the Harry Potter films)

Sambang underground river Palawan Mithun in Philippines — Arrive in Sambang in Palawan island to visit the Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River National Park

Sambang Underground River boat going in — The underground river is a 8.2 kilometers long but tourists are only allowed 1.6kms in. The place is in contention for the 'New 7 Wonders of the World' contest.

Sambang Underground River caves — Another interesting and never-done-before experience for me! Also, quite a challenge holding the light *AND* clicking photos

Sambang underground river boat inside — Trust me, there's a LOT more photos from inside the cave but no time for me to work on all of them now.

Sambang beach coconut tree panorama — Once out, had lunch on Sambang beach.

Palawan dog stretching — Wake up early the next day, take the local bus to the Northern most town of El Nido

Sandwich bun ice cream Philippines — Have sandwich bun ice cream for breakfast (Rs. 15)

El Nido beach view Palawan Philippines — Arrive at my guesthouse in El Nido beach. Sit out, stare into what's right in front of me...and do little else. (Taken on my cellphone)

El Nido lagoon swimming Philippines — Go on an island-hopping tour the next day. Snorkel in a lagoon wearing a life jacket...

El Nido kayaking lagoon Philippines — ..and attempt kayaking for the first time. It was a lot easier than I thought! (Unfortunately no photos of me doing all this because I was afraid to get my valuable camera equipment wet. I've had previous bad experiences with salt water screwing up my equipment)

Palawan island spade-shaped rock — Stop on an island for lunch

BBQ lunch E Nido Philippines — Which was barbecued fish and pork

Coconut kid drinking Palawan — Kids on this island must be sick of drinking coconut water

Las Cabanas beach sunset Philippines — Watch the sunset on Las Cabanas beach

El Nido lobster dinner Philippines — Have a 'home-cooked' dinner of lobster soup, grilled lobsters, fried tuna and rice, all for Rs.250

Leaving El Nido dog on trike — Leave El Nido the next morning

Sunset Palawan flight Philippines — ... and leave the island of Palawan at sunset, thereby concluding my sightseeing around Philippines.

Needless to say, I have many more photos to share and plenty of experiences. This was without a doubt, the best trip I ever made in my life (so far)!

Read the entire series here:

Philippines 2011: Flying over South China Sea for the first time

Philippines 2011: Day 1 — Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, Fort Bonifacio

Philippines 2011: Day 2 – Banaue rice terraces; trekking to Batad village

Philippines 2011: Day 3 – Banaue town; heading to Sagada via Bontoc

Philippines 2011: Day 3 – Sagada’s Lumiang burial cave, Sumaguing cave, Hanging Coffins of Echo valley

Philippines 2011: Leaving Sagada for Baguio, and arriving in Angeles city (Days 4 & 5)

Philippines 2011: Day 6 – Good Friday in San Fernando, San Pedro Cutud Lenten Rites

Philippines 2011: Day 7 – Leaving Angeles City for Manila, Mall of Asia

Philippines 2011: Day 8 – Manila tour: Rizal Park, Intramuros, Manila Cathedral, China Town

Philippines 2011: Day 9 – Cebu: Fort San Pedro, Basilica of Santo Niño, Taoist Temple

Philippines 2011: Day 10 – Bohol tour: Chocolate Hills, Loboc river cruise, Tarsiers, churches

Philippines 2011: Day 11 – Arriving in Puerto Princesa, Palawan

Philippines 2011: Day 12 – Puerto Princesa Underground River tour, Palawan

Philippines 2011: Day 13 – Puerto Princesa to El Nido by bus

Philippines 2011: Day 14 – El Nido island hopping tour A and sunset at Las Cabanas beach, Palawan

Philippines 2011: Back to Manila, shopping, and my final thoughts about the country

Jay Park – ‘Take a Deeper Look’ album review: About time!

It’s finally here! Jay Park finally makes his solo debut!

2011 may only be into its fourth month, but with the deluge of idol groups hitting the Korean pop scene, the music has gotten pretty stale to me. Every time I heard the line “Check it out…” “…Brand new sound!” as the intro to some song from new idol groups, all I kept thinking was: “Nope, it’s the saaaame sound I heard yesterday from that other girl group who debuted!”.

There have been a few decent songs this year, but after being disappointed by the comeback offering from my second favourite girl group (first being SNSD), I had all my hopes pinned on Jay Park to actually bring something fresh to the K-pop scene.

I’ve been anticipating Jay Park’s solo debut for a while now. Ever since I heard “Demon” last year, I knew this dude was destined to be the next big star. Not a star like how Rain is popular as an ‘Asian star,’ but a star of Asian descent who will become a worldwide superstar!

For one, he has the advantage of being American (of Korean descent). Born in Seattle, Jay Park grew up dancing and performing, and his influences are deep in R&B and hip-hop — not cutesy idol pop. Not to mention his love for b-boying.

Since ~~leaving~~ getting kicked out of 2PM, Jay Park has been slowly whetting the appetite of his fans, a.k.a Jaywalkerz. A few YouTube covers later, he’s now out with his first album ‘Take a Deeper Look‘. He’s on his own now, so he has the freedom (I guess) to do the kind of music that he wants, not what ~~JYP~~ any labels wants him to do.

Which brings us to his first single “Abandoned”.

My review: “Abandoned,” if sung in English, would sound like a lot of the modern day R&B one would hear on radio. I love the chorus, the overall look of the sets, and the choreography by Andrew Baterina is slick! It’s not a ‘fresh new sound’ but a good track in the same vibe of many other good pop R&B tracks from artists such as Ne-Yo & Chris Brown. For a self-penned track, it’s a great effort — given how rare it is that K-pop stars make their own music. If I were to nit pick, it would be Jay looks so awkward from 0:05 to 0:07. Yeah he’s short, and quite shy in real life so I can imagine how awkward it may have been to do some of the scenes in this MV :). I hope he recorded an English version of the same. Or at least has a dance only version of the music video!

My rating – 4/5

As for the other tracks:

“Touch The Sky (Feat. The Quiett)” – Kicking the album off with a smooth hip-hop track, Jay Park straight away reminds listeners he can rap too. Love the beat and the retro loop music. (This track also reminded me of the late Nujabes) – (4/5)

“Tonight” – I’m guessing this was supposed to be the first single, but after BIG BANG released their hit “Tonight” a few weeks back, Jay Park and SidusHQ may have had second thoughts on pushing back this track for a second single release. It’s more fast-paced and only the pop-sounding track on the album. Not bad, but I’ll probably like it better with the video.

Update (11/05/2011): The MV is out!

Here’s my review:

I’m kinda disappointed :-/ When I watched the behind-the-scenes from a news interview a few months back, the concept seemed cool: dance all the way to a party. But seeing the final result, to me it comes off as a half-assed effort. Stepping out of the house, I would have thought Jay and the ‘public’ would be pulling off slick dance moves continuously and pulled along more people on the way to ‘the club’. At least that is what I thought the concept was. But instead, the dancers seem restricted by the set. Maybe, they should have stepped out and filmed this in the real world and on the streets. Another thing, it’s as though the camera cuts away every time the director felt Jay’s facial expressions (or acting) wasn’t good enough. (Jay’s really got to improve on his facial expressions!) Also, did Andrew Baterina work on the choreography for “Tonight” as well? Because some of the moves look recycled from “Abandoned“. Overall, it’s a cute video which his younger female fans will appreciate, but it really doesn’t improve the song much for me.

My rating – 3/5

“I Can’t Be Without You” (너 없이 안돼) – A slow-tempo R&B ballad. I don’t know, Jay’s vocals sound a bit off to me on this track. (2/5)

“Don’t Let Go” – Keeping the tempo, another smooth R&B ballad. Listening to the track, it makes you wonder if Jay writes a song in English and then translates it into Korean. (3/5)

“Level 1000” (Feat. Dok2) – Essentially a rap track with a gangsta vibe. Jay Park raps pretty well and is joined by his buddy Dok2, who also appeared on “Abandoned”. (3/5)

Update (14/05/2011): Even this track got a music video! (Although on a much, much lower budget)

“Bestie” – Essentially the Korean version of “Bestie,” an English track Jay Park released last year and performed at his fan meets. The chorus is concert-friendly and a fun track Jay performs with his AOM posse.

Listening to the album, you know Jay Park is striving to be a R&B star, and not a pop star per se. All the tracks, with the exception of “Tonight,” have a strong R&B/hip-hop vibe and I wonder if they would have sounded better had they been sung in English.

Overall, for a first mini-album, ‘Take a Deeper Look‘ is a solid effort from Jay Park. It’s not a ‘classic’ by any means. The production could use some improvement but regardless, you have to give credit where its due. Jay Park worked on this album by himself and his friends, mostly Cha Cha. Not with any industry big shots — and for that, ‘Take a Deeper Look‘ gets an overall rating of 4 out of 5 from me.

(By the way Jay, when is “Demon” getting an official release?!) Edit (05/09/2011): Well that just came out of nowhere! The “Demon” MV is released!

Hmmm, doesn’t look…erm, very good. Very poorly produced in my opinion. I know it has 3D sequences but anyway, even Jay himself tweeted about the MV:

Jay Park Demon MV tweet — Even he didn't know the MV was going to be released!

I agree with him. The sound in the MV doesn’t do the song justice. They should have just released the single.

(/end Edit)

Last November, I delayed my return journey from Bangkok just so I could see Jay Park live (you can read about my fan meet experience here). It was money well spent to see Jay’s talents at that stage in his career. He’s only going to get bigger now.

There’s still some awkwardness in his appearance, but I guess its got to do with his shyness and humble nature. He’ll probably grow more comfortable in front of the camera in due time. (Actually, act all hip & cool in music videos, I really get annoyed when people act like that in real life… so I hope he stays the same in real life). ‘Take a Deeper Look‘ is Jay Park’s first solo Korean album, but with his recent meetings with Will.I.Am and getting to perform as Ne-Yo’s concert opener, Jay’s slowly gearing up for his US debut.

I can only wonder how good his first English album will be!

I Can’t Be Without You (너 없이 안돼)