December 12, 2007 at 5:43 pm · Filed under Architecture, Thailand
What is this guy doing?? Trying to steal someone’s car?
This lady looks like she’s doing the same thing! Is the officer going to stop her??
Wait a minute … why is the officer helping the lady here …..
Ohhh … as it turns out. This is Bangkok’s brand of solving the double parking problem. Basically the allowance for parking in older carparks (like this one, near Jatujak market) is just impossible in today’s traffic load. So the solution is to allow cars to be parked LEGALLY in marked boxes with one rule … FREE YOUR HANDBRAKE.
So if you happened to be blocked by a car (or 2 or 3 or more), you just a play a GIANT game of Sokoban!
With officers in uniform to help you out! Brilliant!
December 8, 2007 at 9:03 am · Filed under Architecture, Thailand
I’ve once told a friend, “Don’t underestimate humanity’s ability to evolve original & completely workable solutions without professionals (ie. architects!),” adding that there are plenty of examples in Third World (or formerly 3W) countries. Jatujak market is one of those bizarre places where the market just kept growing … and growing … and growing.
The total area is IMMENSE, but the shops are like mini-stall size. So ..
Teeny Weeny Shops x Over Several Football Fields = Extreme Hardcore Intense Shopping
Look closely at the “solid grey” – they’re actually a tight series of alternating grey and white lines that indicate the lanes within the complex !! The map is useless because …
- Inside everything just looks the same, even to locals.
- The numbers are illogically numbered (you’ll discover later in this blog that this is a uniquely Indochinese trait)
As if the shops weren’t small enough, the environment has further packed the shelves to the 101% capacity.
I left very early to get some rest so I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. But Julius snapped this gem..
1:1 scale of Robocop?!?!
December 5, 2007 at 5:47 pm · Filed under Food, Thailand
I had the great pleasure of experiencing Thai hospitality first hand from Marianne’s Le Cordon Bleu classmate, Aummy (pronounced: Oo-Mee).
And this is her warm family – Aummy’s Mummy & Daddy …
Aummy and her Dad can speak English very well, but her mum can only speak Thai. Even so, language is hardly a factor in their generosity. The whole time I was stucked indoors (because of the allergy), her mum kept offering food all day to me with sign language !!
Speaking of food, the moment we arrived in Bangkok we were treated to an excellent authentic Thai dinner outside (we were surviving on street food, just to provide you contrast). Our stomachs were packed to the brim and just as when we thought it was over, we arrived at her home to see TONS of Thai desserts. It was like Hansel & Gretel’s “Exotic Asian” Gingerbread House.
These were the plates that could fit on the small coffee table. There were many more tubs of Thai pastries, cookies, “Khanom Bu Yong” and et cetera below the table.
Sticky Rice Mangoes
“Foi Thong” family of desserts – christened by its namesake, the noodle-looking ones. Round ones are Thong Yot. Cupcake ones are Thong Yip. They are all made of egg yolks and sugar, apparently a Portugese influence.
Umi if you are reading this, I told you I will try my best to remember the names !
I think at this point Julius suffered photographic overloaded and stopped snapping the other goodies.
December 4, 2007 at 6:13 pm · Filed under Architecture, Thailand
This city of 10 million people with the longest name in the Guiness Book of Records could have easily been one of my more interesting posts. Unfortunately two things happened …
1 – Allergic Contact Dermatitis
I checked into hospital twice!! Doctors say I’m the hundredth over foreigner who walked in with this for year 2007, postulating there must be some new kind of toxic insect in the Krabi and Phuket region. It took a full week before I began to look normal again.
So any of you hanging around those places, if you have a rash that is not reacting to anti-histamines, go see a doctor !!
2 – Because of my allergic reaction, I had to stay at home.
The rest of the Rat Pack still went out but in their eccentric brand of wisdom decided AGAINST visiting the Grand Palace and Wat Pho, despite never being there before!
When I later enquired, “Do you know coming to Bangkok and missing the Grand Palace is like going to Sydney and missing the Opera House?”.
The reply was a paltry … “Hmm, never thought about it that way.”
Astute readers will note that since my photographer decided to go AWOL, I’m left without photographs of Ko Ratanakosin. Flickr to the rescue again!
November 29, 2007 at 8:22 pm · Filed under Architecture, Thailand
If the airport I am heading to happens to be spanking new especially if it claims to be the biggest in Asia, I always put effort into arriving during daylight hours.
Sidenote: This odd behaviour can be explained by the gargantuan amount of airports completed in Asia during the last 10 years.
Sadly, we have to settle with a night flight to catch the Sapam Street Procession of the Phuket Vegetarian Festival. And sure enough the Great Cosmic Interference made sure we MISS the street procession(!!). Two missed opportunities … que sera sera~
I was impressed at the scale of the airport, but the quality of the finishes (especially the bare concrete) looks pretty dubious. And the steel frames are too coarse for my liking. Hmm, I guess that’s the furthest extent of my comments.
However, I am officially duly fully impressed with quality of photos on Flickr these days. I’ll find a way to integrate it into this blog soon …
EDIT:
Here you go! Magazine quality photos of Suvarnabhumi Airport !! Man, I love Web 2.0~
While I am still in this state of euphoria, I will add some Phuket Vegetarian Street Procession photos as well !
November 13, 2007 at 7:03 am · Filed under Food, Thailand, Unusual
For those not in the know, I’ve been reminding myself to be game enough to try “bugs” during this romp through Southeast Asia. Thinking it’ll most likely happen later in the trip, the Great Cosmic Interference has decided to bring the Bug Hawker to me during the Phuket Vegetarian Festival. How convenient, but really …. this is too soon!!
Agh !!! I could still remember the smell of it looking at the photo. There are four species here – caterpillars, silkworms, grasshoppers and crickets – or at least that’s what I think they are.
After a few bites, Ben and Marianne timed out. Julius and I pressed on, Piece by Piece … Bug by Bug !!! But even with half a bag finished in 5 minutes, it was too slow …. our gagging reflex was fast catching up with us – trying to knock some sense into us. There’s only one way to solve this ….. a BUG BINGEEEEEEEE !!
*BUrP*
In hindsight, it kind of tasted like really really crunchy deep fried prawn crackers in curry powder. But the thought of a cricket leg stuck in between my teeth … mmmm …
November 13, 2007 at 6:49 am · Filed under Trivia
Left to right: Green, Red, Grey, Blue
Left to right: D500, 6610, U600, D900
I knew at some point I won’t be able to update regularly so I’ve been saving this trivia as a filler whenever I cannot post consistently. The question is really simple, with two stages -
- Match the backpacks to their rightful owners.
- Match the handphones to the rightful owners.
Now since some of you readers have seen us carrying our respective backpacks, the second requirement should stump you! Please give the answer in the following format …
Person – Bag, Phone
So for example: “Jay Jun – Grey, U600″ and continue for the whole Rat Pack.
Let’s see how intuitive your sixth sense is …. muahaha …
November 13, 2007 at 6:45 am · Filed under Malaysia, Trivia
Da da dada dum! It is impossible to have video specials now because I’m not toting a laptop around. At first I wanted to make up for it by having at least one mini competition for each country that we visit. But my head was hurting from thinking of cheap but meaningful prizes, most especially on how I am going to distribute the prizes to potential winners in Australia or even *gasp* Europe.
So trivias will suffice! Hehe …
Chendol seems to be ubiquitious in West Malaysia, so much so that it’s too easy to indulge on a bowl on a hot day. And in tribute of Malaysian’s obsession with food, the question is …
How many chendols did the Rat Pack consume in the 6 days they were in Malaysia?
The answer is a double digit number. Try your luck by posting your answers in the Comments link below!
November 9, 2007 at 8:13 pm · Filed under Food, Thailand
The Vegetarian Festival now practiced wherever there’s Chinese in Thailand are started by the Hokkiens in Phuket a little more than a hundred years ago (or something like that). Phuket Town does look remarkably like an inland version of Georgetown except the vegetarian food is not really that appetizing.
The few Hokkiens I bump into cannot muster more than a few words of Hokkien, relegating Hokkien as their parents’ language, not theirs. In a strange twist, many Thais are happily adopted the Vegetarian Festival as their own custom. Things here are not as clear cut as Malaysia, which shows that people DO get along well if they want it to.
We went to Bang Niew Shrine to see the raising of the Lantern Pole, which was quite an thrilling experience. Everyone was staring at this massive pole (carved from a single tree!) occasionally slip a few times over a large crowd of people. More like hair-raising.
An aural experience as well, if you can mix in your head the sound of firecrackers, lion dance music, and 10 people trying to give orders to 5 other people.
November 9, 2007 at 8:08 pm · Filed under Food, Thailand
I know this doesn’t count as food but it’s definitely a gastronomical post. I saw these little buckets stacked with tiny bottles of spirits, which I thought was Thailand’s weird way of tagging liquor prices. Then we saw a bunch of people sipping from some strangely familiar buckets, hmm.
After some shopping around, we decide to settle for the 400 Baht – Ballantine’s Whiskey + Red Bull + Coca Cola combo!!
Looks awesome, huh. We were kinda of sipping it slowly until someone came up with the idea of a drinking game using Koo Chi Par (For you Singaporeans, Chi Par Koo) !!! Finished it in less than 5 minutes … brutal.
November 6, 2007 at 7:04 am · Filed under Nature, Thailand
The last place you expect big rocks for climbing is on an island … but Ko Phi Phi offers some of the best in the world. It’s an odd feeling walking on the beach with mountaineering gear.
We started off on a 5 climb (French difficulty rating) for 5 metres. She got so impressed at our pace that we got put on a 25 metre climb next !!
This looks easy right? Well, I placed this photo on the wrong side. Tilt your head 90 degrees to the right to see what we were actually going through !!! It’s mad!
November 6, 2007 at 6:47 am · Filed under Nature, Thailand
We went to Ko Phi Phi through Krabi. It’s hard to see what effect the tsunami had on this island because everything has already been rebuilt, even more than pre-tsunami I heard. There’s construction everywhere~
In terms of pure scenic value, I don’t think anything in Malaysia comes close, Ko Phi Phi is truly a paradise!! I’ve never seen water that green and blue before, with water so clean that the longtail boats seem to be floating midair.
Finally a group shot of the Rat Pack.
November 4, 2007 at 6:44 am · Filed under Architecture, Malaysia, Nature
Kuala Lumpur Batu Caves is the only worthwhile attraction near Kuala Lumpur (that surprisingly) a lot of Malaysians never make the effort to visit. Since we have to pass through KL to take a flight to Thailand, I decided to make sure I find my way there.
That golden statue of Lord Murugan, said to be the highest of this deity, is indeed very big. There are 272 steps to the top, which can be tiring if you rush yourself. It is also relatively steep so keep you should keep your head facing upwards.
By some weird cosmic coincidence (that my life always seem to attract), there was a troop of uniformed men at the top that day coordinating crowds around a filming session for some Bollywood movie. Which explains the baffling presence of this Styrofoam kavadi I saw on my way up … that will hardly break anyone’s sweat.
After making a way up the steps and squeezing past a few seconds of Bombay-like pedestrian activity, I can see why this place in “divinely” inspiring.
There’s a shrine at the end which you can place donations and get flowers as well as ash thumbed on your forehead in return. Tried chatting with the Hindu priest but he seems more concerned with doing his rituals thing.
November 4, 2007 at 6:36 am · Filed under Architecture, Malaysia
Kek Lok Si Temple is actual a complex of temples. The intensely unique pagoda is usually the main point of attraction (besides the really really big bronze Kuan Yin which I didn’t feel the urge to pay the entrance fee for).
I didn’t expect Kek Lok Si temple to be this big but this temple complex is HUGE … and it’s getting bigger! They have a very interesting way of raising donations for the building fund, but I don’t know if it’s traditionally “chinese” or not.
Everyone who gives a donation gets their name written on these roof tiles. I presume that when the roof gones on, these tiles get used, so your donation is then immortalised on the temple roof. Interesting …
November 4, 2007 at 6:32 am · Filed under Food, Malaysia
My personal rating of Must Try in this order …
- Char Kway Teow
- Loh Bak
- Hokkien Prawn Mee
- Assam Laksa
Bon appetit!
« Newer Posts —
Older Posts »
