November 9, 2008 at 11:23 pm · Filed under Culture, Thailand
Unlike most flamboyantly named locations, this one has real tigers and monks.
In 1999, the temple abbots claimed some villagers found an orphaned tiger cub and gave it to them. It died shortly after, but word of their wildlife compassion spread and soon more appeared on their doorstep.
Over the years 21 cubs have been born – with the total number of tigers around 12 adult tigers and 4 cubs when I was there.
Injured or orphaned wild boars, goats and deers are also taken in for care in their compound. Other than the tangerine robed monks, the place very closely resembles an open air zoo.
To mingle with the tigers however, you’ll need to pay 500 Baht.
Apparently the fees goes directly into the construction of a tiger sanctuary (the plans looks theme park-ish to me) as part of their greater “The Tiger Temple Forest Monastery” vision.
And MINGLE some did.
Reputedly the tigers having been raised by monks, are docile and no more harmless than a pussy cat. Fed on a diet of cooked chicken and cat food, they have never tasted blood nor hunted before.
This gutsy bloke even ventured as far as playing with the cub’s teeth.
Well tasty people like me is probably better off just strolling beside it. Next to the security of the head abbot of the temple, whom the cats noticeably listen to.
We all walked to a manmade canyon-like location where for more money you can have a closeup photo with the tiger of your choice.
It’s an offer that neither Western nor Asian tourists could resist.
To be honest, I can’t figure out why they’re so tame. I figured it’s either, they’re tranquilized (suspicious constant supply of bottled water) or it’s just the lazy time of the day after a full meal.
Maybe it’s really the mysterious calming aura of Theravada Buddhism monks’ chanting and meditation.
AHA! Caught the monk refraining this tiger cub – it was glaring at and ready to pounce over these (stupidly clueless) piglets !!!
I’m pretty damn sure, this little pussy wanted some pork chop. Yummy.
Burma Railway is a 415 km railway between Bangkok, Thailand and Rangoon, Myanmar – built by the Empire of Japan during World War II to support its forces in the Burma campaign.
The sea route, namely through Malaysia and Singapore, is patrolled by the reputable British navy, hence the construction of this very difficult route.
Much of the Death Railway isn’t particularly interesting because it looks like just any other ordinary railway track.
Occasionally you come across a section where you marvel at the engineering, and wonder how they pulled it off with rudimentary tools and starved labour.
The cliff here was excavated without explosives, and if I recall correctly, only using pick axes and sacks to carry rocks away.
Then tracks have to be constructed dramatically higher than the terrain to squeeze in between the cliff and river – with the same dodgy tools.
Forced labour was used in its construction. About 180,000 Asian labourers and 60,000 Allied prisoners of war (POWs) worked on the railway.
Of these, around 90,000 Asian labourers and 16,000 Allied POWs died as a direct result of the project.
Midway there’s a surprise cave temple which was not documented anywhere.
Can’t tell if it existed during WWII or after because like most cave temples, this one is remarkably well maintained for such a secluded spot.
There are no bicycle racks here, no posts, pipes or loops whatsoever to secure our bikes. So we got creative.
Upon arriving at the museum, you won’t be entirely convinced with the signage – given the proliferation of piracy in Thailand.
Inside, it’s not too shabby at all. Too bad no cameras are allowed, but there’s a plenty of models to help you wrap your head around how massive the Death Railway is/was.
There’s even an actual reconstruction of the Bridge over River Kwai (earlier wooden version) and even 1:1 models of the prisoners’ living conditions. Historical photographs are worth seeing too.
It’s rather abrupt to see such orderliness and cleanliness in a country like Thailand, but it shouldn’t be surprising given that it’s managed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
There are 6,982 POWs buried here mostly Australian, British and Dutch.
Having visited many World War II memorials sites, notably the ANZAC memorials in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra, as well as the Ranau War Memorial in Borneo – I can’t help but feel a sense of connection between all of them.
I guess war amplifies differences but ultimately makes the world smaller.
Kanchanaburi is a real nice quiet & small town, perfect for cycling. In the case of one of us, learning how to cycle.
You wouldn’t even suspect one of World War II’s little big epics is set here.
Have you ever read the novel, or seen the film “The Bridge on the River Kwai”? Here’s news for you, the plot is entirely fictitious.
The actual bridge over River Kwai however, is very real – as well as the deaths of forced slave labour used to build it, estimated to be 13,000 prisoners-of-war and 80,000 to 100,000 civilians from Malaya, Dutch East Indies, Siam and Burma.
WWII aficionados will appreciate that it is an integral part of the infamous Burma Death Railway and all the concrete and steel parts are intact since the war ended, a definite must-see site.
What I find more amusing is that the river was not originally called River Kwai. Before 1960, that is before the release of the novel and movie, it was called Mae Klong.
Typical of Hollywood foul ups, the novelist who inspired the movie never visited the bridge and assumed that, since the Burma Railway ran along most of the nearby River Kwai, the bridge must have crossed it.
A flood of misguided tourists showed up only to find there was no such bridge over River Kwai, and the authorities in Thailand subsequently renamed the river Kwai Yai (trans: แควใหญ่, thai for Big Tributary).
And bravo, history is changed to the delight and convenience of tourists. You won’t find this fact in travel brochures and sorts.
There’s a strange transition of scale between the end and mid-sections. The rounded arches appear larger than life, and the angular sections (the bit that got bombed by Allied forces, and thereafter rebuilt by the Japanese as “payment for their war crimes”) are much larger than expected.
For a bridge that’s declared “actively used today”, there’s really nothing on the other side. The one-carriage “train” that crosses holds about 10-12 passengers only, for a pathetic shuttle back and forth the river banks.
It puts pedestrians (like us) in a rather precarious position. If we can’t make it to the next platform in time, we have to sidestep and balance ourselves on a narrow 30 cm piece of something (eg. steel beam or timber board) about 4 metres above the swirling river.
Happened to me twice, must say it was utterly hair raising.
When night falls in Nakhon Pathom, a night market emerges underneath the twilight shadow of a great chedi. A lone man appears with his stall, unassuming at first but his unshakable aura of confidence – soon follows.
Reaching his usual spot at the market, he picks up his ice cream scoop. He looks around, searching and suddenly, makes eye contact with you. A wave of energy rushes forth from him and he SNAPS into his starting position!!
He looks you in the eye and bellows,
SATU, DUA, TIGAAAAAA – AN YOUNG HA SAY OHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! (안녕하세요 – Thanks Sae Hoon)
Whips out a red fan from nowhere – splays it above, below and next to him. Fan disappears. And in a split second – a blur of movements ensues, like a drunken martial arts master he assumes one contorted pose after another.
The master finishes his moves, final stance. Then slowly tilts his head up.
A PIECE OF ICE CREAM HAS BEEN LAUNCHED, IT’S FLYING IN THE AIR!!!
Time slows down, the silence became deafening, it sails across the air in a curve, slowing spinning along its trajectory … and it lands!
Perfectly in the cup held by his accomplice from the audience, 20 metres away!
The crowd erupts in applause!!! The master bows! Our minds, blown away!
And before you know it, another unmistakable wave of energy …
SATU, DUA, TIGAAAAAA – AN YOUNG HA SAY OHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!
December 24, 2007 at 8:53 pm · Filed under Culture, Thailand
Even cheapskates like us couldn’t afford to pass the opportunity to see the world famous Tiffany’s Show! This is the show that in the 70s started this whole trend of transsexual cabaret shows. Today they have a full blown theatrical production with 100+ performers performing in a state-of-the-art auditorium.
The ticket booth and building facade is unremarkable, if not incredibly tacky.
But once the show starts, you realise the incredible amount of effort they put in to try and make this a “world class” production. Moreover once we saw the transsexuals, I can hear Julius reeling from denial, “Can’t be, can’t be. She’s definitely a girl.”
No cameras permitted but he managed to snag a couple of good shots …
… but you have to mind the choice of subject though …
After the show is the well known routine of photographing with the trannies. My father mentioned it used to be free but if I recall correctly, they’re charging 1000 Baht per individual photo session now.
It also explains why the following photos are blurry, long range and framed with other people’s head and armpits.
As you can see, some of them are really jaw-droppingly beautiful. Even Marianne is reeling from denial after surveying them from head to toe, “But … they’re girls! They must be!!”
We did manage to get a few close-ups.
I know that Julius has the hots for this one below … !!
What I find most amusing is when we were walking around the streets of Pattaya later, the go-go bar girls looked more like trannies than those at Tiffany’s !!!
It is very odd to find a childhood memory that’s foreign is now localised in your adulthood. I’ve been to Tokyo Disneyland and I remember how freaky it was to hear Mickey Mouse speak Japanese. Now we’re going to hear Mickey speak Chinese.
At this point of time, the theme park is going to be officially opened in a month’s time. For now only the subway line and the area between the station and ticket booths are just opened. So I was surrounded by a lot of excited Hongkies.
Note the Mickey Mouse handrails.
It’s strange because you can’t go into the theme park yet, it’s 5:00pm and there’s practically nothing to do but buy bottled water here – but there’s heaps of people hanging out here! Why, Disney’s magic is alive and real.
I didn’t post a lot of stuff between the “signboard” and ticket booths as they are pleasant surprises.
The Rambla street extends into this development by the sea called the Rambla de Mar. Reminds me of Darling Harbour, with shopping, IMAX theatres and so forth.
This has to be a highlight. The actual Ictineo II built by Monturial in 1862, the first working submarine of the world !! It could dive as much as 90 feet and spend as long as 7.5 hours below water.
As a sidenote, note how the sky is darker in the background. Jeff and I affectionately refer to that as the Mordor effect. Consistently crops up everytime we take photos of landmarks throughout Europe! Backtrack if you don’t believe me!
Barcelona’s beach did not exist before the 1992 Olympics. After much hype, I must say the sand is really bad. Hard to explain, kinda like dusty and coarse at the same time.
We got off the seaport and tried to catch taxis. But EVERY single one of them just stopped and took off when we showed them the address. Am I going to a really seedy part of town?
Later a local explained that we arrived at 2PM sharp, which means lunchtime for them. NO ONE works during lunch time. From 2PM to 4PM, absolute standstill. The whole city just shuts down for two hours.
Our Hostel – Gat Xino Hostal
Really funky place. Feels queasy waking up in the morning, crawl your way to the toilet that’s totally GREEN.
The Famous La Rambla of Barcelona
Extremely lively street, feels like a carnival. Apparently the Rambla started off more than a main street, it’s also the main “drain” of the Old Historical centre.
So it was designed so that all branching streets will dump their water there.
This street performer made a full outfit just from plastic bottles. Very ecological …
July 11, 2005 at 5:39 pm · Filed under Culture, Turkey
Oh my gosh, my concept of FUN is really forever redefined. The Greeks I hung out were amazing. We attended the lectures at the conference during the day and then we were out almost the whole night, I was like only sleeping two hours each day. One minute we’ll be talking total nonsense, next minute we’ll be discussing philosophy. Incredible! I’ll introduce them to you …
From left to right, Dimitra “The Greek Goddess”, Stella “French Master”, Danai “The Blonde”, Alkis “The Stud”, Constantine “Cambridge Genius”, and Elena the hmmmm …. “The Weak” … hahahha just joking !!!! Okay, Elena “Of Troy” !!
Here you can see more, there’s George, Spiro and CONSTANTINE THE GREAT, my BROTHER !!!
And there’s more, like Gary “The Nargileh Master”, Jon “The *** Master”, Nikos, Mika, Christina, Vasilius “The Hagia Sophia Super Genius” (if I miss out someone, tell me!). All of which I did not take photos of. Please send them to me and I’ll put them up here !!!
Oh man, it was highlights all the way but I think there were three super ones. The first night out with them we went to Tophane where we smoked Nargileh which is like the LARGEST BONG MACHINE I’ve ever seen in my life. (HEY THESSALONIKI FRIENDS, if you have good photos of that night, please send it to me !!)
Later that night we decided to group up with a bunch of Turkish conference attendees. There was this guy who was like a total alternative rocker. We were speaking real bad english but ROCK transcended our barrier.
The final day has to be the funniest. We went for a “hamam” (Turkish bath) and unfortunately I can’t take my camera in. Anyway, we were fully getting slapped, bashed and wringed by big bellied moustache Turkish men. When we came out, one of the girls, Mika, just walked out of the women’s bath and explained that she fell unconscious !!! She stood up too fast in the sauna, knocked her forehead and was out cold for 2 minutes !!! And there were like bruises on some of the girls because of all that scrubbing and “massage”, how mad was that??
Constantine The Great definitely lived up to his name. He decided to collect (steal) the UIA World Congress of Architecture posters to take home. On our way to Taksim Square at probably like, 5am in the morning, he decided to try a really hard one. It was set back half a metre of a SPIKED FENCING, the spikes were like 20cm long. He went for it, got a puncture in his belly, and had to be taken to the hospital immediately. Found out next morning that his admission fee was TRL2000 (AUD2000, RM6000) and had to get stitches.
Crazy! I actually took a photo of that spike, I will upload it in the coming days!!
GIA SU TO MY GREEK FRIENDS, PLEASE SEND ME PHOTOS SO I CAN PUT THEM IN HERE !!! KEEP IN TOUCH, MAYBE I’LL RETIRE IN GREECE ONE DAY !!
Sorry for this super duper massive update. First of all, there’s no internet in Athens. Then we had to spend 24 hours (literally round the clock) to travel by train from Athens to Istanbul. And now that I’m here for the next 7 days at the UIA World Congress for Architecture in Istanbul, there’s just no time left in the day for blogging. So I figured I’ll put up as much reading material as possible until the conference is over by the next weekend. Also, I haven’t had tıme to read comments or reply, bear wıth me!
But I have to say I’m loving this crazy hectic schedule. Yesterday I went to lectures by Denise Scott Brown, Mario Botta, Glenn Murcutt and Zaha Hadid !!!! I just heard from Peter Eisenman, now going to Dominic Perrault and Hans Hollein. The coming days will include Tadao Ando, Robert Venturi, Shigeru Ban, Moshe Safdie, Ken Yeang (Malaysia Boleh!!) … MAN, the list goes on !!!! Truly a massive privilege to hear these people directly talking about their own work, all in one place.
Bad picture of Mario Botta.
Now’s a good time for those who just discovered my site, or those who skipped my videos to backtrack and vıew them. The latest videos are not up yet because last night Istanbul suffered a blackout, sigh. Anyway, you don’t have to register to leave comments!
Okay, hope you’ll be back to check out the vıdeos, and more frequent updates in a week’s time.
This is really cool for me because just ten months ago I had a tour of the “Silk Road” in China. Now I’m standing on the other end, it’s magical !
Gondolas
And their owners, business doesn’t seem to be too good …
The city is at least ten times more confusing, but it was actually fun getting lost! After an hour I got tired of it and decided to pull out the map, only to find that it was completely useless. And we’re not alone, every two or three corners we turn, there’s a bunch of people there trying to figure their maps out. Venice’s a tourist trap? Hell yeah.
After some Venetian Pac-Man, we miraculously found San Marco’s square.
