Would like to wish all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Have a great year ahead and all the best in your understakings.
Photos taken in Central Shopping Complex, Chiang Mai during my recent trip there.
Thailand
Mae Salong is one of the beautiful scenic highlands in Thailand well known for its tea plantation and Yunan settlers. It is located near Chiang Rai and Mae Sai (the Thai-Burmese border). If you travel to Mae Salong, your trip will not be complete if you don’t make a stop at Sweet Mae Salong Café….especially if you are crazy about gourmet coffee like lattes and espressos, as well as cakes and pastries and miss those back home.
Why I want to write about Sweet Mae Salong café is because the owner is originally from Bangkok. He married a lady from the area and decided to set up his little humble café in Mae Salong.
If you have been visiting Thailand, you would notice that the electricity socket in Thailand is different from those in Malaysia. Whenever you plan to visit Thailand or any country, always bring a travel version of the mobile phone charger that uses 2-way pin instead of the usual 3-way pin. You can always ask for the travel version whenever you purchase a new mobile phone- that comes with automatically with a phone charger. If your entire family uses Nokia phone, for instance, and you are buying your 3rd Nokia phone, ask for the travel version of the phone charger. A few of my friends often bought their usual mobile phone charger that uses a 3-way pin that is totally not usable in Thailand.
I use a Sony mobile phone and I have a travel phone charger with me. The thing I don’t understand is why Sony choose to build their phone chargers differently than other brands- their phone charger consists of 2 very thin filaments that you connect to your mobile phone. Last year when I was travelling in Thailand from one town to the other, the filament of the charger- probably because it was just stuffed along with other stuff in my backpack. So I bought an inexpensive Sony mobile phone charger from a market in Chiang Mai and have been using it since.
When I came back to Malaysia, I found that the Thai version of the Sony mobile phone charger cannot be plugged into the power source in Malaysia because the 2-way pin is too narrow. Instead of buying a new charger, all you need to do is to buy an inexpensive adaptor from any shop selling electrical items:
When I was staying near a river in Thailand, I was often bitten by sandflies. For those who are not aware of what sandflies are… well, sandflies actually look like flies- except that they bite and the itch that follows after that is very bad- you’ve just got to scratch it. And once you stratch it, blood will come out from those little swollen skin. These sandflies are quite sneaky- when they bite you, often, you will not be aware of it- they travel up your sleeves and pants unnoticed.
If you do not take care of the bites immediately- they will leave a scar- in the form of black one or five cent coins. My friends who were bitten by sandflies would be busy applying lotions and stuff like that so that the itch goes off and the scar would be minimize.
But not me…. I will just scratch and scratch till the blood come out. Anyway, I noticed that the more stuff we apply, especially minyak angin on the skin, it’s like a neon sign to the sandflies that say, ‘bite me, bite me!’ -the more of these little fellas. I thought it was like other mosquitos bite that will come out.
Then one evening, while I was scatching my calves from the bites, my friend look one look, shook his head and simply said, ‘those scars will not come off, you know’. I thought about it and shrugged my shoulders and said, ‘it’s ok. Probably a sign that I can no longer wear miniskirts or shorts. I can live with that. I’ve had such good times living with nature- these scars will serve as a nice reminder’.
After I came back from Malaysia, I tried to be careful to hide from my mom by wearing long pants coz it will freak her out that her fair skinned daughter had got these scars. Things were going on well for a while. But in one unguarded moment while cleaning the house wearing shorts, I heard a loud gasp from my mom whose eyes were fixed on the little blue black dots, ‘what on earth happened to your legs?!! All those 50 cents coins. Oh no, don’t you know those scars ain’t coming off.’
Normally whenever I come back from Thailand, my face will be many tones darker than its original colour- because I never liked to use the umbrella or sun protective lotion- just go out in the sun. But after back in Malaysia and staying indoors, my skin will soon return to its original colour. So after a few times of that, the dark and sunburnt look no longer becomes an issue. But the scars, well, they’re another thing altogether.
Some friends had told me that treatment like skin pigmentation or consistently applying certain lotions from the pharmacy may work but I was not interested to try them.
Scars need not necessary means a bad thing. Sometimes, it reminds you of a good memories. I’ve had great times living in the wilds, experiencing life like a hill tribe person would have experienced it. And I brought back some ‘momentos’ as rememberence. These outward momentos will stick to my calves, just as the wonderful memories do in my heart, for life.
The simple guidelines below is taken from an old information board issued by the Tourist Authority of Thailand, pertaining the do and don’ts. These guidelines are similar in most Asia countries:
Do display polite behavior in places of worship
Don’t climb upon the Buddha image to take a photograph or do anything that might show a lack of respect
Acharn Chalermchai of Wat Rong Khun
Acharn Chalermchai Kositpipat is an extremely talented person who built Wat Rong Khun- a well known and must visit place if you travel to Chiang Rai, Thailand. If you go to Wat Rong Khun the absolute beauty and artwork will just take your breath away. I have great admiration for Acharn Chalermchai.
From young, Acharn Chalermchai was exceptionally talented in drawing from a very young age. He came from a poor family. But he grew up, he became extremely successful because of his unusual talents- his paintings tell a story in a very profound manner. I remembered the first time when I went to Wat Rong Khun, I had decided against to buy a large book containing pictures of his paintings. It was a decision I regreted- so when I went back again for the second time, I immediately brought the book. When I look at his paintings, I felt as if my mind just expands and growth. His paintings, especially those of the beautiful scenes of the heavens, really inspired me.
He was directly involved in the construction of Wat Rong Khun- the carvings and the design of the temple is so detailed thought out. He dedicated his life to continue with the construction so long as he is alive.
I remembered the first time when I was visiting the temple, we went to the main hall. As I came out and my friends were looking at the scenery, I found someone was doing a stuco of a dragon at the front. At the same time, the person looked up and I thought that I had seen his face somewhere before.
Beautiful carvings in Wat Rong Khun- handmade using stuco
Normally, when a foreigner enters Thailand via Suvarnabhumi airport, a 30 days stay is given. Because Thailand is such a great country to be in, many visitors, myself included, find ourselves going for what is termed as border hops/runs- ie go to the nearest Thai border, exit the country to a neighboring country (Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia or Malaysia), and then turn back and re-enter Thailand.
Previously, when we do that, we are given an additional 28 days (the 30 days is only valid by entry via airport). As I was in Northern part of Thailand last month (too far to travel back to Malaysia), I went to Mae Sai and exit to Myanmar to have my passport chopped, expecting another extension of 28 days.
Imagine my shock when I was given 15 days (the day I went is counted as Day 1- so I only consider that it is in actual fact, 14 days). Anyway for more information, please refer to ThaiVisa site, a site that contains great information for anything pertaining to Thai travel laws, visas, etc. It seems that this law had been effective since November 08 but many foreigners are still not aware of the ruling.
Amphawa district is located about 1.5hrs drive from Bangkok. It consists of lots of canals and surrounded by rivers. There is a river market located in the district. I am sorry as I do not know how to get there via public transportation, since on both the occassations I was taken there by my friend.
An painted picture of the canal is found on the wall of a temple located near the Amphawa river market:
One thing I love about the river market is that it is not very commercialised as the place is mostly frequented by locals- even though locals like my friends will bring foreigners like us to have a look. As such, the price of food is reasonable. You can choose to eat your food at restaurants located near the riverside or you can choose to order food from the boats. The price of food is reasonable.
I have been travelling actively since 2005, especially to Thailand. Previously, whenever I was overseas, I put my Malaysian phone on roaming. And the phone bill used to cost me a bomb. In the past when I took leave and visit Thailand, between 9 to 16 days per visit, my local phone bill used to cause almost RM300. Once, spending just 5 days in Sri Lanka and 3 days in India cause my phone bill to spike up to RM400 plus.
Then in July when I spent 2 months in Thailand, my friends there taught me to get a SIM card and an international calling card. With a local Thai SIM card, you can buy an additional International calling card that allows you to call home at a much lower rate.
Here’s how:
The obvious route will be by airplane. But I will like to share with you another 2 routes on how to travel from Bangkok (capital of Thailand) to Kuala Lumpur (capital of Malaysia). Distance: about 1200km.
1. The easiest route- by plane
To get from Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur, you can take a 2 hour flight from Suvarnabhumi airport. Normally budget travellers will use Air Asia- it is a very popular choice in Malaysia and tickets can easily be booked online. If you plan your trip early, you can get very low fare tickets. Bear in mind that even though you get free air fare, you will need to pay about somewhere 1500 baht (one way) for the price of fuel surcharge and airport tax. Still, if you managed to get free air fare or low air fare, the price will be almost the same as the 2 routes below. If you book late, the full fare (one way) could range about 3000 to 5000 baht.