two steps behind

It was weeks ago when I found “Hoklee Cafe” at the Dam Nuen Saduak floating market in Ratchaburi province. I was taking my grandma and mom to visit the floating market. However, we arrived there a little bit late in the afternoon and there were not much activities left at the floating market. So we simply looked for a place to just sit and relax. We just found the cafe by coincidence! Those that often travel with elderly people must know how often the elders use the restroom. For my grandma that is 78 years old, she uses the restroom every other hour! Because of that we ran into this awesome cafe the “Hoklee Cafe” at the Lao Tuk Luck, which is a section of the Dum Nuen Saduak floating market.

Based on the information I gathered from chatting with the owner of the cafe; the cafe was a house that was passed down from generations to generations. The house’s foundation and roof has been renovated but the interiors were kept un-touched to preserve its origins as much as possible. Currently the owner has turn the house into a cafe shop for a quick stop off point for the passers-by, either by foot travel or by boat. The owner and the community of Lao Tuk Luck  are trying to rejuvenate the livelihood of the community as it was seen years ago.

Check out the Lao Tuk Luck facebook for more information and photos of the community.

My grandma was really pleased with Hoklee Cafe as it was very peaceful, calm and breezy yet classic and elegant in its own way. Be sure to ask for the Lao Tuk Luck’s community when you visit the floating market.

Good morning Bangkok, it’s currently 5:45 am in Thailand. Good afternoon and good evening to everywhere else on earth.

First of all, I am so excited to hear about the news that one of my Bangkok photos was selected as part of the “35+ Most Beautiful Cityscape Photography From Around the World” Who would have thought that a photo taken while getting ready to visit Bali last year would be selected. Be sure to visit the link ” “35+ Most Beautiful Cityscape Photography From Around the World” because the blogger really put together a nice collection of cityscapes from around the world. So many places that I wish I’ll have a chance to visit in this lifetime. I’m sure that you  feel the same too.

This is the first time that I got a chance to post on the blog in a while. Boot camp is not over yet, as I still have a few months left. However, we are allowed to use computer and have internet access from time to time. Well, let’s talk about the boot camp at another time. Today, I am sharing one of the night views taken at Pattaya, from when I had a chance to visit a few weeks ago during our 10 days break from boot camp. It was the best 10 days off ever!

Pattaya, the famous night life city that is well-known around the world. And because of it’s fame, it is quite hard to find a calm and peaceful corner of the city. Normally I stay at the Holiday Inn Pattaya, but it was fully booked. So I gave “The Zign Hotel” a try which is just a few minutes away by car from Holiday Inn. The hotel provides an amazing views and a great swimming pool to float around under the nice blue sky.

Just relax…

The rest you’d just have to be there to know about it. Enjoy the views!

P.S. The panoramas were taken by PaHn. Such an amazing view isn’t it?

Merit-making has been part of the Thai culture for generation after generation, because they believe in karma and because they are Buddhist. Good karma is gained by doing good deeds, but if that is not enough, merit-making helps increase good karma as well.

Thais make merit here and there from daily worshiping the house’s shrine, also known as Thai spirit house, to weekly visits to a temple praying for health, wealth and protection. Aside from the daily and weekly merit-making, Thais would look for a chance to do “9 temples of merit-making in 1-day”.

9 temples of merit-making in 1-day is often done on special occasions such as international New Year or during the Songkran Festival (Thai New Year), praying for a new beginning for the year and year-round health and wealth protection.

My mother and grandmother are Buddhists as well, so I had the chance to plan a 9 temples of merit-making in 1-day trip for them. For many, they would plan the trip in Bangkok, Thailand where the great grand palace located along with many popular temples that is close by to each other. Doing a 9 temples of merit-making in 1-day trip in Bangkok involves a lot of walking, tuk-tuk riding and ferry crossing from one temple to the next, because it would be unwise to drive in Bangkok due to horrible traffic.

Instead, as I have an elderly person along, I planned the trip in Ayutthaya, the formal capital of Thailand that is just an hour or so drive from Bangkok, because it would be less walking for the elder as I could drive them around from one temple to the next and also have a chance to re-explore the formal capital.

The photos selected today are the different Buddha from the following temples:

1.     Wat Phananchoeng

2.     Wat Yaichaimongkol

3.     Wat Suwandararam

4.     Wihan Phramongkhonbophit

5.     Wat Thammikarad

6.     Wat Naphrameru

7.     Wat Choengthar

8.     Wat Kasattrathirat Worawiharn

9.     Wat Thagarong

At the end of the day, my mother and grandmother felt accomplished, anew with a peace of mind and are ready to take on another year ahead.

Be sure to include the 9 temples of merit-making in 1-day as part of your trip’s plan the next time you visit Thailand

1.     Wat Phananchoeng

2.     Wat Yaichaimongkol

3.     Wat Suwandararam

4.     Wihan Phramongkhonbophit

5.     Wat Thammikarad

6.     Wat Naphrameru

7.     Wat Choengthar

8.     Wat Kasattrathirat Worawiharn

9.     Wat Thagarong

A few months back, I had a chance to visit Palio, an Italian-style village mall and I felt as if I were in Europe. Even though it looks like an Italian village, the place is filled with a variety of international foods, shops and products along its narrow walkways. The Palio has become one of the weekend getaways that is only a few hours drive from Bangkok. It is also a good place to take photos. The place is doing so well that some of my co-workers actually quit her jobs and moved to Khao Yai to open an outlet there!

So, be sure to visit Palio if you ever come to Thailand.

The photo below was taken at the Palio, that only has one “object” identifying that it was taken in Thailand.

Looks can be deceiving!
The “object” is a small and white sign written in Thai in blue and an arrow pointing to the right in red.
[ ไปดูตูด -> ] guess what does it mean?

Let me translate it directly [go look at your butt ->] !!!!! However, it’s actually a restroom sign.

“Palio  Khao Yai”, New Walking Street Shopping Center in Italian-style village mall, located among the the distinctive and spectacular views adjacent to Khao Yai National Park. Here you would experience the passion of shopping excitement of various unique products, services, venues and specialty stores to fulfill your needs and discover Italy’s charms & romance amidst the Italian façade buildings.  (http://www.palio-khaoyai.com/)

Prabad Mountain is only open to the public once a year, sometime between February to April. Hundreds of thousands of people visit the site during the 3 month period to pay respect to the Buddha’s footprint. It took us hours before we got to the top of the mountain that is more than 1,000 meters above sea-level. More photos of this fun activity can be found at the facebook public album

Next year… I will try to go again. It is said that, we should make a total of 7 trips in a lifetime.

One of the activities anyone must try when visiting Thailand during February to April.

Family @ Khao Khitchakut on SUPER MOON night.
The Schedule:

Departed from Bangbon, Bangkok: 9:00 PM (Friday 18 March 2011)
Arrived to Chanthaburi: 1:20 AM (Saturday 19 March 2011)
Total of 4 hours 20 minutes for transportation

Buy ticket for 50 Baht per person (twice) and wait for the ride
Get on the Ride from the market to the temple Entrance: 2:50 AM
Arrived at the Entrance: 3:25 AM
Total of 35 minutes for the ride

… now we walk … hike our way up!
Arrived at the Buddha’s print: 5:00 AM
Total of 1 hour 35 minutes for the hike

… and here is the view from the top.

Departed from the Buddha’s print: 5:30 AM
Arrived at the temple Entrance: 6:25 AM
Total of 55 minutes for walking down

Buy ticket for 50 Baht per person (twice) and get on the ride (not much waiting)
Departed from the temple Entrance: 6:30 AM
Arrived at the market: 6:55 AM
Total of 25 minutes for the ride

… now we just relax and refresh ourselves at the market …

Departed from the market (Chanthaburi): 7:25 AM
Arrived at Baan Rabiangmai (Rayong): 10:25 AM
Total of 3 hours including a few stops for souvenirs along the way

Departed from Baan Rabiangmai: 11:40 AM
Arrived safely at Bangbon, Bangkok: 3:00 PM
Total of 3 hours 20 minutes including a few stops for etc.

18 hours of family fun activities

Having been off from work for less than a week, I have started to miss you, InterContinental Bangkok.

The photo today is the Grande Deluxe room that I had opportunities to stay in once in a while. I’m not much of a reviewer, so I’ll leave that job to trip advisor. All I remember was, I felt relaxed when I was working at the desk with the amazing view of Bangkok behind and a wide screen LED TV with movies in front. They also provide a complimentary fresh fruit bowl, which I eat the entirety of! But the most amazing part (for me) is the rain-shower cabin! Such memorable nights!

Grande Deluxe
A 45-square metre room offering fine views of bustling Bangkok. Available with one king-sized bed, two queen-sized beds or twin single beds all with Sealy Posturepedic mattresses. Along with daily replenishment of fresh fruits, guests receive amenities such as two phone lines, iPod® docking station, in-room entertainment system including LED TV and DVD player, in-room movies, laptop-sized safe as well as tea and coffee-making facilities. High-speed internet access is available. The finely marbled and tiled bathroom contains separate shower and tub. As in all Deluxe range rooms, connecting rooms are offered. A rollaway bed is available at an additional charge.

The bakery started when my cousins and I always wanted to eat cake and pastries. Back in 1992, a bakery wasn’t easy to find and if we could find one, they would be pretty costly. So my auntie started baking cakes, breads and cookies for us from time to time.

As simple as that, our love for eating cakes turned into a bakery shop.

The shop wasn’t fancy nor trendy but simple and homely. We have never done any advertisements before.  All of our loyal customers are through word of mouth.  As for this post, it is pretty much word of mouth as well as I hope that if any of our reader ever visit Bangkok, be sure to come visit us!

For more information and our address… click the image below to be taken to the Muangsiri Bakery (facebook page)
For our Thai readers, be sure to come by and try our simply delicious cakes, breads, cookies… etc!

Looking forward to serving you soon.

Once a year, our hotel will host for a Staff Party… the time that everyone is waiting for because of all the fun activities, the performance from different departments and the secret performance from our Executive Committees! The show wasn’t the only highlight of the party but there are prizes, awards and lucky draws.

The top prize this year is… a trip for 2 to “any” country in Europe, sponsored by Kuwait Airline! Imagine that…! Such an amazing prize! The runner up are 1 gold bar and an iPad!

Unfortunately… I didn’t win any of those prizes nor any at all from the party. But I get to be one of the 4 MCs at the party. I discovered that… speaking Thai properly isn’t easy at all. I was more comfortable to speak in English rather than in Thai.

Another good opportunity that I has was that, the Staff Party committee assigned me to get a shot of the hotel which then printed 6 meters wide and 3 meters tall!… THE BIGGEST print that any of my photos has ever been printed!

After all, the photo is just part of the party and was over shadowed by the fun and all the activities that night!

Another year has passed! That was quick wasn’t it? 

The very first post of the year, just can’t be anything but the fireworks from last night’s countdown…

3….

2..

1.

This post is all about Natt wants to show his photograph taken by his new wide-angle lenses. So he said I had to write something because this is a view from my balcony. Here we go!

Bangkok is called officially in Thai as “Krug Tep”. It means “the city of angels”.
That means “the heaven”, isn’t it?

***… and then she stop writing… (20 days later)
oh well… I guess if you want to know about Bangkok, you would need to do a little searching on the web yourselves

Bangkok… the place to be!

after a long… disappearance due to loads of work, I am back just to let you know that…
Well it’s all said right in the screen capture today!.

Long story short;

WE WON.

Thank you everyone for your support and your votes! Thank you very much.
Holiday Inn Resort Baruna Bali, HERE I COME!!!!!

^______^

Enjoying the local transportation.

Friends are a gift we give ourselves. But for our Bali trip, we need your help.

What a delight it is to be at Bali with your BFFs. Right? So feel free to vote for us. )

Humm… These are photos that we (InterContinental and Holiday Inn Bangkok’s Sales and Marketing team) have submitted for a shot at a trip to Bali! Of course not all of us would get to go, but we will work something out once we win it! (Positive thinking ^_^)

Well… I am not asking much at all… just a minute of your valuable time to vote for us, once a day… for 5 days. That is only 5 minutes total of your valuable time. Your vote matters as we are competing with everyone around the world. Well, hopefully a top 10 would be awesome!

Any clicks will help!
Simply click the images above to the FACEBOOK page and click “VOTE NOW”

Thank you all for your CLICKs.
(Maybe I’ll get to go to Bali and bring back memories to share with everyone here)

Hua Hin, a district 3 hours southwest of Bangkok, is a great get away place. There you will find many hidden spots for peacefulness that you won’t be able to find in Bangkok…

Really, there is not much to write about for this picture because…

all I remember was…
the peacefulness…
the happiness…
at the simplest moment.

Just a few weeks ago, my friends and I went on a trip to Kanchanaburi, a province  2-3 hours away west of Bangkok. Our main goal was to go visit a temple that allows for an amazing tiger experience! The destination was “Wat Pa Luangta Bua- www.tigertemple.org” where we can spend our time with TIGERS up close, REALLY CLOSE! I mean, you can literally hug, pat, take pictures or anything with these tigers. I won’t get much into detail of it because… we were 15 minutes too late and the gate keeper wouldn’t let us in. Oh well, maybe next time.
And for that, we went to the Elephant Village nearby instead. The 30 minutes ride was very down to earth… it felt much longer than 30 minutes and we were glad that we didn’t take the 60 minutes tour ride. It wasn’t bad, but it was very tiring to hang on to the seat on the elephant back. The tour started of with a walk through a small jungle, then to the elephant rider’s village and to finish the tour off by a dip into the river near by. A very fun trip indeed!

Try it for yourselves!

There were days when I had buckets full of cherry tomatoes while watching a movie back in the States. Those days are gone because it is so hard to find fresh and sweet cherry tomatoes for a good deal here in Bangkok, until 2 days ago when I found them at Grossi!

I took the photo of these cherry tomatoes during a photo shoot of Guy Grossi, the famous chef from Melbourne. It was amazing to be at the set during the shoot because I got to learn so many photographing techniques. Anyway, I was carried away taking pictures of the props at the set but after looking thru all of my photos taken that day (2 days ago) I found this picture, the cherry tomatoes resting on a marble table of the Grossi Trattoria & Wine Bar at Intercontinental Bangkok to be very refreshing.

I got to admit that… half of those cherry tomatoes disappeared… but I really don’t know what happened to them!
Yumm… Sweet… Juicy… Refreshing!..

Opse… don’t tell anyone

Feeling inspired by the idea of “constructing”

To construct something takes researching, understanding, planning, designing, engineering, refining,… the list goes on! To construct anything will definitely take time. Lots of time. However, the end result will definitely pay off nicely. IE, these men are spending days and nights to build a bridge for train tracks. Once the bridge is complete, the train then can go to many more places that it could before because of the river that prevented it.

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in ones favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe’s couplets: ‘Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it! Boldness has genius, magic, and power in it.’” –W.H. Murray, of the Scottish Himalayan Expedition

Dreams… are no different from the trains on tracks moving forward… Never backward.

photo taken during a boat trip at Chachoengsao, Thailand.

C’mon, I’m serious! These are flying foxes.

A one day family trip (about 120 of us!) last week was truly exhausting from simply eating, taking nasp on the bus and taking photos from time to time. For this trip, we went to Chaochoengsao, a city about an hours drive east of Bangkok.

We went to so many places in the city that by the end of the day I thought it was a 5 day trip! As for today’s post, one of the most interesting places that our family visit is at the Temple, Wat Pho because it is where theses flying foxes have resided for years.

I vaguely remember some of this information provided by our tour guide.

Full grown flying foxes can weight up to 800 grams and will fly for miles to find food, particularly fruit.  The legend goes that these flying foxes are really intelligent and sensitive (or so they say that these flying foxes can understand human language) as there was one time that the temple were trying to hold a 9 days festival. The villager kept saying that who would come to this temple with all these flying foxes since their smell is unbearable! For some unexplainable reason, these flying foxes flew away a day before the festival began, allowing the temple to clean up the place and returned to the temple a day after the festival ended. Not one of them was present during the festival time.

Another story is that, the flying foxes are very emotionally sensitive and attached to the abbot of the temple. During and after the funeral of the abbot, these flying foxes start to drop dead without cause. The story was told that the abbot invited these flying foxes to reside here in the temple years ago. So they believe that the cause of death could be… grieving to death.

When I heard that we are going to see the flying foxes, I thought of just a few of them hanging around the tree. But I couldn’t be more wrong, there were hundreds of them! Another interesting phenomena is that, these flying foxes will only reside within the walls of the temple. This place is just so cool!

More info about the city, please visit http://www.chachoengsao.go.th/th/

It’s must have been a few days since I had uploaded this picture, but I hardly had the time to post anything. Oh well, here I am with my 5 minutes of time to post this picture.

I ran into a field of sunflowers the other day when I went with my grandmother for her regular health check up. Taking pictures of flowers sure is hard. The hardest part is to make the flower come “alive” on the photo. Fortunately I was with my Canon 85 mm lens, hence the resulting pictures were taken. The bees… bring everything to life in this picture! The picture shown below is actually cropped from the other picture.

Macro photography is fun!!

It is confirmed that Zen, a section of the Central World Shopping Mall, has collapsed due to fire. The building was set on fire today by the anti-government protesters. This building is only one of many buildings that they set on fire!

Bangkok will never be the same after today. Many significant places and buildings were destroyed by terrorists. Hence, the curfew is being enforced between 8:00 PM – 6:00 AM until further notice.

What is happening to Thailand?

The picture was taken on May 13, 2010 just days before the civil unrest evolved into a full force military crash between the Thai government and the anti-government protesters. I don’t want to get into much detail about the issue. Please search online for more information regarding the event or you can try to check it out at http://www.nationmultimedia.com, a website that I often check for updates about the situation to know if it is safe or not to travel to certain parts of the city.

Oh well, I do believe that PEACE will prosper in Thailand once again.

photo by: PaHn
processed by: Natt

In Bangkok, people don’t really get to drive their car because of the tremendous amount of traffic. Sitting behind the steering wheel and pressing – releasing the break paddle can’t be considered as “driving”. It’s rare that we would go above 20 km/h in the city. Ironically, without traffic, people don’t know how to drive their car and often cause accidents; hence, more traffic occurs. That is simply the cycle of the Bangkok’s traffic.

This photo was taken while I was “not driving” but stuck in traffic on a hot day here in Bangkok. Having air conditioning on in the car helps mitigate the irritating and unbearable heat. However, this doesn’t seem to affect that maintenance man in the city’s service truck. I envy him, to be able to endure the heat, the sun, the traffic and the air/noise pollution. He should get a medal of honor or something.

One amazing man, indeed!

The temperature has reached 43 C in Bangkok during the past few days. One of the places I wish that I could go for a cool down would be at Aum Pha Wa. There are many resorts and home-stays provided for all kinds of tourists. If you are a luxurious or a simple ECO traveler… there will be place for you.

A little suggestion is to arrive early in the day to check out all the best rates and offers for staying along the Aum Pha Wa floating market which will also let you get the place of your choice.

The Wat Phra Prathom Chedi in Nakorn Phrathom is the house of the remains of the great Buddha since… I don’t really know when. After doing some research on the website, I am yet to find a solid history about the Temple (Wat). But I am certain that it was already build for at least 20 years because I remember visiting this place when I was about 7 years old. Then, I found this temple to be huge but now I found it to be amazingly ginormous.

I really wonder how long did it take and what method were used to build this temple. A curiosity that is best not to be understood by me… just so that I can keep my imagination going wild about it.

It was during a walk at Aum Pha Wa market some weeks ago that I found this little alley and this coffee shop. The use of space here is really amazing. As it seems, every inch of the space are use for one or more purpose!

Now imagine  you are in the alley and were walking where there is everything  imaginable to the left and right hand-side and even above of your head constantly everywhere you walk. Your eye will simply try to look at everything, but you won’t be able to unless you stop. The experience at the market was beyond explanation. I was there twice during the past few months, yet I couldn’t explore the entire market.

If you like to eat, here is the place for you
If you like to shop for souvenirs, here is the place for you
If you like to take photographs, here is the place for you
If you like to take a boat trip to see fire-flies, here is the place for you
If you like to “whatever it is”….
… Aum Pha Wa is the place for you

I Simply want to post the photo of the sunset at Wat Arun. Also, if you look closely at the temple, you can see the people that climbed up to (probably) take pictures.

I haven’t get the time to climb the temple yet. But when I do, I’ll be sure to share the picture of the view from the top of the the building.

A slight problem is… I suffer from a bit of acrophobia!

HOT… REALLY HOT! It’s 36 degree Celsius here in BANGKOK!

A day like this, makes me want to jump into the pool and just be cooled by the water. Or perhaps a nice boat trip in Chao Phra Ya river would be in order. A speed boat trip is one of the MUST DO thing in Bangkok. The trip normally includes visits to many different historical sites along the river. I, too, took the trip once a few years ago and was surprised by the amazing sites.

Really, anyone that comes to Bangkok must at least take a speed boat trip to experience the  city!

Too hot to write any further…

Another visit to Aum Pha Wa months later. The street is busy, the temperature is hot, the river is lively… but what is up with that man?

I just wonder what was he thinking about? Whatever it was, it seemed that the children were wondering as well. This was taken after a break with a nice chicken kebab in Aum Pha Wa during the Thai New Year, Songkran holiday.

Sometime, a day off from the reality is all we need to recharge ourselves and get right back to the reality with a clear mind. Perhaps, that is what the man is doing. He simply just needed a break.

The event takes place during an afternoon tea at the Meaklong train station.  (time 14:00hr)
Next train arrival at 14:15hr

Ring Ring Ring….(time 14:10hr)
The first announcement from the train station telling the awaiting passengers that their train is just minutes away.

Ring Ring Ring… (time 14:13hr)
The second announcement… the waiting passengers are still waiting patiently.

“But, wait a minute!” said me, “Where would the train come from? On the right hand side of the station is the Maeklong river while on the left hand side is a seafood market”

flip.. floop.. crank.. crink.. (time 14:14hr)
Sound of activities going on to the left side of the station. It seem that there are something going on inside the market.

“WHAT IS GOING ON?” I wondered
only to realize that…

The train is COMING THRU the market!!! (time 14:15hr)

-the end-

Venice? No. This is better than Venice!

It’s Aum Pha Wa Floating Market, one of the tourist attractions in Thailand. Finally I got to travel again during Songkran Festival (April 13, Traditional Thai New Year) It wasn’t anywhere far, it’s Aum Pha Wa… again! The last time we visited, we didn’t get to take many pictures, nor could we explore much of the market because it was already late.

Second times a charm! We were amazed at how many things were left unexplored the last time we visited. The picture selected today shows some of the interesting lifestyle that is hard to find elsewhere. Down to earth lifestyle or perhaps we can call it down to “canal” lifestyle!

Only later that I found out about the house in the picture is a home stay http://www.ruernsabay.com/ I guess the next time we visit, we should try to stay here. But my concern which is the loud noises in the area. On second thought, just a dinner in front of the house should be enough

Today, we have an honored guest, Dr Pahn Pintu-On to write today’s post. Dr Pahn always goes to Ratchburi, Thailand on the weekends to meet/see patients. She has been wanting to take pictures of this river after work, but due to the nature of her work she haven’t had the time to do so. I, on the other hand, accompanied her to the clinic and had a chance to take the pictures while I was waiting for her to get off work, but I really don’t know much about the place. So Dr Pahn would be the right person for it.

*note: we can visit her photo blog at http://pintuon.multiply.com/

By: Pahn

For all of my life, I hated “waiting”.  I don’t want to wait for anyone or anything because I have too many things to handle in a day. So letting time fly without doing anything is not something for the type of the person I am. That why I always run out of patience when I cannot do anything but wait.

However, sometimes we have to wait and something is worth looking forward to.
Have you ever heard “the right time” or “the perfect moment”? I believe that everything has its own perfect moment; not sooner, not later.  You can’t rush, force or do anything else but to wait and wait with patience. Holding your breath and let it happen on its own.

Like the way Natt took these pictures; the perfect moment to see “the colored pencils” in the river is just after the sunsets. If you want to capture this moment, you have to wait for it, wait for the right time. That why I haven’t had a chance to take pictures like these. Always too early, too late or too tired.

After waiting for an entire day, Natt finally captured “the perfect moment”. Look at these pictures, do you think that it was worth waiting for?

Yes, I think they are!!