Thailand Adventures: Siam Carnival Funfair and a Hedgehog

02.15.2012

We noticed an awesome-looking carnival had been set up right next to one of our go-to department stores. We had to pay a visit!

10 baht to park, 10 baht to enter

We cringed every time we saw these two rides in action. There must have only been about a half foot of clearance between them!

Tilt-o-whirl or what they called a "merry-go-shell" hahaha

I am not sure what this ride is called, but I love it.

Ferris wheel!

Andy unintentionally showcasing his adam's apple.

From anywhere in town you can almost always see the Chedi

On the Merry-Go-Shell:

The next ride is called the "Tagada".

At first I thought it was a simple Gravitron ride, but boy, was I wrong. This one was actually pretty dangerous and would never be legal in the US.

This ride is a circular platform on a tilt with a row of slightly cushioned seats around the circumference all facing the inside of the circle. There were no seat belts, and no physical separations between the seats. You had to hold onto bars above the seat-backs.

The hydraulics underneath the platform would firstly bump straight up and down for a while. Doesn't sound that bad, right? Wrong. Our first ride on this (yes, we went twice) I started at the highest part of the tilted circle, and I really almost flew out of my seat. On several occasions, Brandon's persistent grip on me was the only thing keeping me from tumbling down to the lower end of the platform. Appendages were flying everywhere, people were screeching and holding onto the bars for dear life, it was complete chaos.

Then the thing stops bumping and starts spinning. This would make normal people scream, but it was comparatively relaxing. A breath of fresh air.

Then, of course, it starts bumping and spinning at the same time. It seemed as though there were no end to the madness.

Watching other people on this ride is almost as fun as being on the ride. On our second round on it I lost an earring and Brandon's watch broke. Seemed like a sufficient sacrifice for the amount of fun we had.

I need to go back to this carnival another night (it lasts until the 26th of Feb) just to take a video of other people on this ride.

Taking tickets.

An eager audience awaits our howls of pain and confusion. The girl in the middle of the picture seems to be a veteran of the Tagada, as she is ready with a firm grip on the bars before the ride even started.

We really didn't know what we were in for.

Then we checked out the game stands:

Win a fish!

After being so brave on the Tagada, I rewarded myself with a teddy bear I had been eying at our local stationary shop. Doesn't he look so derpy?! I love cute Asian characters. His name is Rilakkuma and he apparently loves to relax.

I got a little fancy and made a display for the rose Brandon gave me for Valentine's Day using wine bottle from Al's Christmas gift basket. I can be so resourceful!

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Yesterday at school I heard from Andy that one of his M5 students brought their pet hedgehog to class. We had to run and check it out!