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Visited the Thean Hou Temple just a week before Chinese New Year. As a popular spot for couples to officially registering their marriage, there were quite a few newly weds, each with their own entourage of paid photographers. 

1. Morning blue sky with Kuala Lumpur’s skyline as the backdrop.

2. The dragon plaque. I used to remember it as way, perhaps I was just a little kid back then.

Now, it looks way smaller than the recollection of my memory.

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6. The tiered rooftop.

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8. Lanterns galore. I think there would be more come Chinese New Year.

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11. Shadows of the overhanging chinese lanterns. Some formed Mickey Mouse motives.

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Just bought a complete lightstand unit (Manfrotto 001B NANO STAND BLK 5/8+3/8+ADP.1/4 + Manfrotto 026 LITE TITE SWIVEL+UMBRELLA ADPT + 40″ umbrella + carrying bag) for a paid assignment.

To test the new setup, I have to make do with my one and only available but less than willing model for a portrait shot. 

I was initially dumbfounded because my flash setup was lagging, it took some time between depressing the shutter and the firing of the speedlights. This resulted in a few missed and out of focused shots as the model was easily agitated. At the end of the test, only then I realised that my camera was set to red-eye reduction mode, which explains why the pre-flashes before the real flash. 

1. Hilux, the unwilling model. I decided to use my wall as the appropriate backdrop.

2. A straight forward portrait.

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7. The lucky shot turns out to be my favourite and unique shot. Particularly, I like the texture and pattern on the underside of her tongue.

8. Hilux: I wonder what my master is up to next? 

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10. The sit-up, when bribing her with duck meat treats.

Photographing pets involves lots of tricks to make them livelier and more interactive.

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12. A sleepy yawn.

13. The unique pattern on her forehead.

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Day 3: Late afternoon onwards

This is also the last leg of our stay in Bangkok. After coming back from Wat Pho and the Grand Palace, we were back at Khaosan Road. Our taxi this time was a bit desperate to beat the traffic jam, and as such ever so willing to use narrow back alleys as short-cuts. At one time, we had to reverse out as there was an incoming traffic from the other end of the alley. My friends got uncomfortable and requested to alight just before reaching Khaosan Road.

From there, we took a stroll towards our inn.

1. We had a simple lunch at one of the alley restaurant.

2. The alley leads to an open space.

3. The menu.

4. Our lunch, with a heavy dose of tamarind sauce.

5. Do not misinterpret this signboard! 

6. Khaosan Road, a major backpackers and tourists’ haven.

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8. One of the many food hawkers, and the stalls change throughout a day, as if the hawkers are taking shifts.

9. Tuk-tuk, avoid them like plague! Instead, hail a taxi and insist on using meter. The taxis are generally more reliable and most of them do use the meter.

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12. Interior of a spice store.

13. A cool scooter.

14. Grilled squid, tasted quite milky.

15. A hawker preparing juicy tamarind pork.

16. Roasted pork.

17. Dried cuttlefish, ready to be baked.

18. Baking dried fish over charcoal. This one tasted a bit chewy.

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20. Lights near Banglumpoo/Banglamphu.

We had an hour-long foot massage somewhere there, headed back to the inn to nap before heading towards the airport. We were rudely awaken by our transport who had had arrived too early (3 hours earlier), anticipating the notorious morning traffic jam.

Oh well, that’s the little coverage of my Bangkok trip. There were many lessons learned as a first time traveller, and certainly I shall do more research on the Net, particularly on sites such as wikitravel.org.

I will certainly visit Bangkok again, but this time, I shall be more prepared. 

Day 3: Afternoon

After touring Wat Arun, I met up with my friends at the inn for breakfast. Had a slight incident with the staff who seemed to be clueless about our breakfast orders.

Later, we encountered an interesting experience with our taxi. We hailed one at Khaosan Road, and I asked to have us brought to Wat Arun. However, our driver was having a bad case of diarrhoea, and had us circling the vicinity of Khaosan Road searching for a toilet! He shouldn’t have responded to our hail initially, as there were many other taxis besides him.

Anyway, after he had finished his business, we thought we were heading to Wat Arun. I made some passing remarks to my friend about another famous temple, Wat Pho. And what happened was, our driver got confused and brought us to Wat Pho instead.

Lesson number 4: Do not talk about your other planned destinations in the tax. The driver may get confused and send you to his own default destination. And don’t hail a taxi with a driver having bad diarrhoea! 

1. Wat Pho (its full name: Wat Phra Chettuphon Wimon Mangkhlaram Ratchaworamahawihan) is also known as the Temple of the Reclining Buddha.

This is the section that housed a huge statue of a Reclining Buddha.

2. Dimension: forty-six metres long and fifteen metres high.

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4. A bell tower (belfry).

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7. Rows of Buddha statues that housed ashes from the deceased.

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9. This is the principal Buddha statue (Phra Buddha Deva Patimakorn, Lord Buddha in the posture of concentration), located in the central main hall of Wat Pho. The ashes of King Rama I is kept under the pedestal.

The atmosphere in the hall was so serene, peaceful, and blissful. We sat there for some time to rest and to obtain some peace. If you arrive in the morning or evening, you may encounter monks performing prayers.

10. One thing that we have missed is to try out Wat Pho’s traditional Thai massage, as this temple is known as its birthplace. The price seems reasonable too.

11. After  Wat Pho, we went on a joyride circling around Bangkok (read: scamming tuk-tuk).

We were brought to various insignificant temples, and from one such temples one can see from afar the Golden Mount (Phu Khao Thong) atop Wat Saket (Wat Saket Ratcha Wora Maha Wihan). It’s a prominent structure among the skyscrapers of Bangkok, and it contains a Buddha’s relic.

12. By the time we reached the Grand Palace, my friends were already not in the mood to tour.

This is Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha), shot from the grounds of the Grand Palace.

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Lesson number 5: Bangkok Gem Scam (Link 1, Link 2)

It was an interesting encounter and experience. We did read about such scam in the passing but still we were caught off-guard. Anyway, we were too poor to be scammed, and were totally not interested in gems. My friends took the opportunity to get the remaining souvenirs to complete their list. And when the tuk-tuk tried to be funny, we threatened to call the Thai tourist police, which is 1111. 

Day 3: Morning

With my alarm set at 4:00 a.m., I ditched my tired and still sleeping friends, and took a cab to Wat Arun, also known as The Temple of the Dawn.

Initially, I had in mind to photograph Wat Pho and the Grand Palace from across the Chao Phraya River, with the rising morning Sun in the background. How wrong and disappointed I was when I noticed that these places are hidden by structures along the river bank. Left with no choice, I stayed and begun exploring around Wat Arun.

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2. At the temple compound.

3. The majestic central prang.

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9. The Hindu god Indra riding on Erawan.

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14. Such intricate details!

15. The Hindu god Indra riding on Erawan.

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18. Flower of Shorea robusta. One of the many flowering plant in the temple compound.

19. Scene of Monday morning traffic, on my way back to meet up with my friends.

Day 2: Evening

Next, we travelled to the other end of Bangkok (in fact we had to by-pass Bangkok) to the ancient city of Ayutthaya, which is another 2 1/2 hours. We reached there in the evening and were quite short of time to cover the many temple ruins scattered around the city.

Our taxi man were not familiar with the places, and instead brought us to the newer temples. Again, we had to repeat to him, ancient ruins, ancient ruins! After circling around the city for some time and a couple a misses, we reached what we thought was the right place.

Lesson number 3: Print out your Wikitravel guide!

1. A large reclining Buddha, covered in saffron robes. Wat Yai Chaimongkhon.

I doubt Burmese are keen to visit this temple, as each building sections was constructed to commemorate battle victories against the ancient kingdom of Burma. The Thais and the Burmese are like cats and dogs.

2. Note the accompanying hog statues. 

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7. Wat Phra Ram

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14. Sunset at a nearby temple, Wat Phra Si Sanphet.

As one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Ayutthaya is a MUST visit place. As my coverage was pretty much limited and still a lot more places to be explored, I certainly will be planning another longer trip to Ayutthaya in the near future. 

On our way back to Bangkok, we had a slight scare. 

Our taxi was running low on fuel and our stubborn driver was adamant to only fill up with liquified natural gas (LNG). He refused even after being repeated advised to fill up with ordinary petrol as temporary measure. As LNG stations are uncommon in Ayutthaya, our hearts were beating furiously, hoping that our taxi would not stall in the middle of nowhere out of Bangkok. Finally, we breathed relief when we spotted a LNG station and quickly had the taxi filled up.

We left our taxi and checked in at Sawasdee Bangkok Inn at Khaosan Road, a famous backpackers’ haunt. Filled with foreign tourists, Khaosan Road was always bustling with activities (shopping and drinking) round the clock.

Day 2

After having breakfast, we headed to the floating market. Initially we had wanted to go to the nearby Taling Chan Floating Market but we were mislead by our hotel’s receptionist to go to the Damnoen Saduak floating market, Ratchaburi.

Although the floating market at Damnoen Saduak is one of the oldest in Thailand, it has lost much of its traditional boat stalls and hence it presents a less authentic experience. Talk about the irony of tourism, which changes the novelty and uniqueness of place in order to attract more tourists. Furthermore, getting there out of Bangkok wasted our time, approximately 1 1/2 hours on the road!

Lesson number 2: Consult guides from Wikitravel and firmly stick with it!

The Thai locals are more interested in promoting well known default tourist spots (read: cut-throat areas) rather than introducing potential places that captures the authenticity of its own uniqueness.

1. Our taxi man stopped at his preferred boat service agency (read: he gets a commission), and we got on to our own boat. Although slightly more expensive (compared with boats chartered from the main market) and limited to 2 hours of ride, I quite enjoyed the initial journey down the quiet and narrow canals.

2. An overhang bamboo bridge connection across the canal.

3. Reaching the very first stall, a handicraft stall. More images here. Bargain is a must, with 50% in mind. 

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5. The more modern motorised boats. It’s still pretty difficult to manoeuvre as some parts of the canals and junctions can be quite narrow and the boats are pretty long.

6. Backyard of a house.

7. A fruit seller. Most of the boat traders are women.

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9. A Z pattern.

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11. Some of the souvenirs include woven bags, Thai silk, dolls, and paintings. Most have either elephant or Hindu epic motives.

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15. Ordered some form of sweet desserts, and this is how they pass your purchase across to your boat. Yes, you put your payment into the same basket.

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19. Some abandoned chedi (stupa).

20. Some puppies taking advantage of the shades on a hot afternoon.

21. Monetary offerings, literally, and from all over the world.

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23. Perhaps, this is a mailbox? 

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25. This is how they pile and park their boats.

26. A monitor lizard escaping from the banks.

As we alighted from our boat, the boat operator tried to sell us our photos (pasted on plates)  which they had taken when we first entered the boat. We rejected this offer outright. Why would we want our pictures taken and to purchase them as each of us carried our own dSLR cameras?

The Damnoen Saduak floating market should appeal to souvenir hunters, but less so to those who are more interested to experience traditional markets that involve real local activities.

Because of my work schedules, my long holidays are only confined to the last two weeks of December.

For 2008, I did a road trip around the northern states of Peninsular Malaysia (regrettably I have yet to blog about it ). I had longed to plan something different, so when a friend invited to join their trip to Bangkok,  I decided to tag along instantly. 

Being a real noob in travelling overseas, we made a lot of mistakes with our airline bookings.

We had overlooked the departure times from Malaysia and our return from Bangkok, and this diminished precious hours that we could have spent exploring more of Bangkok. In the end, we departed from Malaysia in late evening and returned from Bangkok in the wee hours of morning. Furthermore, MAS offered a better deal with slightly higher prices (but certainly with more comfortable and spacious seats, and better travelling experiences) right after we confirmed our airline tickets with AirAsia. 

Lesson number 1:

1. Do not plan your holiday in the hurry.
2. Check your departure times to make full use of the limited time travelling, and
3. Wait for some time after AirAsia has ended their promotions, MAS will usually offer something similar a few days after.

Bangkok (Night 1)

Arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport just before midnight, we hailed an unfriendly cab and headed to a hotel in Chinatown to check in our luggage. Still brimming with energy from the excitement, we explored the area around our hotel by walking along Yaowarat Road. We had seen some lights and eateries on our way to the hotel, and rightly decided to check them out.

Although it’s already past midnight, we managed to stumble upon a still bustling night market. It looked like a Thieves’ Market (Nakhon Kasem) as computers (desktops and laptops) and second-hand hand-phones and Ipods were sold openly by the roadsides.

Luckily nothing untoward happened to us although the scene was pretty intimidating and we did feel a bit insecure (I was carrying all my camera equipments along). Besides those questionable items, there were plenty of hawkers selling hardware, kitchenware, brassware, clothings, car accessories and spare parts, and even pedigree dogs. 

1. A stall selling DiY plastic lamps. Each product comes with a brochure to fold the individual plastic parts into the many varieties of pattern seen here.

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3. We also tried some hawker food. Coconut ice-cream, served with coconut shell. Tasted like our Malaysian cendol.

4. A hawker selling fried fish cakes.

5. Pedigree puppies for sale.

It was an interesting experience and pretty adventurous of us to explore this dodgy market during the midnight. Unfortunately, I did not snap the food we ordered (I was too hungry) nor did I get their names (majority of Thais do not speak English).

Continue to Bangkok Day 2.

The followings are some photos from my trip to Bangkok, Thailand last December 2009.

Film: Fujifilm Superia X-TRA ASA 400, badly expired.
The grains are too prominent in most shots, giving them a hazy and blizzard appearance.

1. At one of the many souvenir stalls of Damnoen Saduak floating market, Ratchaburi. Personally, this place is a bit too commercialised, and has somewhat lost its authentic appeal. I was seeking for and very much prefer the more traditional floating markets.

Being so far away from Bangkok town, we wasted quite a lot of time just travelling on the road, arriving 1 1/2 hours later.

2. One of the very few boat stalls that still depends on rowing by hands. This lady was selling honeys and types of biscuits to munch.

3. The arch at the start of the floating market. There are many access areas to this market, not just by boat.

A better way is by road and to arrive directly at the main market building where boat stalls congregate by the side, and charter your own boat ride from here on. The rate should be more reasonable here, as the various boat operators compete among themselves for tourists.

4. Rattan hat seller.

5. After Damnoen Saduak, we went the other corner end of outer Bangkok, Ayutthya. 151 km away from Damnoen Saduak floating market, the journey took around 2 1/2 hours.

A large reclining Buddha in saffron robes at Wat Yai Chaimongkhon.

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7. It was already late in the evening. We headed back to Bangkok on a tiring and arduous road.

8. Ditched my sleeping friends, I sneaked out before dawn to Wat Arun, also known as Temple of Dawn.

I had wrongly believed that I was able to photograph Wat Pho and the Grand Palace at the opposite side of the river bank from Wat Arun. I was so wrong, and was resigned to further explore Wat Arun.

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11. The central prang. Note the statue of Erawan, the three-headed elephant ridden by Indra.

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13. Zooming in on the marvelous and intricate details.

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Shall quickly edit my digital shots, hopefully it’s a better series. 

What was supposed to be another long year-end road trip turned out to be only a day trip to the Cameron Highlands.

It was a long journey, stopped by at Teluk Intan for breakfast but the Chee Cheong Fun stall was closed. Then, I accidentally took the old windy road up the Highlands because my phone’s GPS couldn’t lock on to proper satellite reception. On the way back closed to midnight, Hilux was kissed from behind, by an idiotic drunkard who drove a Harrier. What an uneventful day, almost 24 hours on the road with my students by the time I reached home! 

Film: Fujiflim Superia X-TRA 400, expired.

1. Socks, testing out the Diana F+, which I strongly opined to be just a toy camera.

2. Flower close-up at a bee farm. Not too bad on a manual focusing lens on the FM2n.

3. Bharat Boh Tea plantation. Stopped by the roadside, and took a few landscapes.

The weather was chilling due to slight drizzle every now and then, and the air was so fresh!

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5. Everyone had a camera to play with.

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7. Taken at the look-out point at Boh Tea Plantation. It was extremely misty as the rain had just stopped.