Little plant
I came across this wise story on the net:
A young man through the mountains came upon an old man who was busy planting a tiny almond tree.
Knowing that almond trees take many years to mature, the young man commented to the old man “It seems odd that a man of your advanced age would plant such a slow-growing tree!”.
The old man replied “I like to live my life based on two principles. One is that I will live forever. The other is that this is my last day.”
我在网上读到了这么个故事：
一个年轻人经过了山头，遇到了一位老者正在忙着种棵杏仁树。
年轻人知道杏仁树要很多年才会开花结果，就建议老者：“我很惊讶见到你这么大了年纪的人，竟然会种这么棵很慢成长的树。”
老者答到：“我生活喜欢基于两个原则；一、我将会永远活着。二、今天是我活着的最后一天。”
The scenic river, Chao Praya River
On the fourth day in Thailand, we went onboard for a river tour with an express boat along the Chao Phraya River tour from Grand Palace to our destination, Wat Arun. It was drizzling but it did not stop us from visiting the Chao Praya River of Thailand. We could feel the breeze, rainwater and river water on our face.
Boon-Huat (left) and Wee-Peng on the boat ride of Chao Praya River
Chao Phraya is a major river in Thailand and the largest river in Bangkok. Centuries ago, Bangkok waterways were the main routes of transportation, thus much of the Thai history can be traced along the banks of the river. Many canals have now been filled in to make ways for roads but the Chao Phraya River still runs through many Thai lives. Therefore, it became a must in our checklist to visit.
We were the only group on the small express boat. The boat driver could not speak English so we had to make our guess on the landmarks we saw. We had a great insight into a different perspective of Bangkok: hotels, temples, palaces, beautiful houses, run-down wooden houses and local line the banks. It was a very scenic ride.
The river itself is a hive of activities. We didn’t have the time to visit the real floating market of Damnoen Saduak which is located 110km from Bangkok, yet we could experience it right on this river: the traditional way of selling and buying fruits, vegetables, crafts, and other merchandises from small boats, and also the way people live and travel by boats. We purchased some jackfruit from a small boat which came to us, and enjoyed its sweetness on our journey.
There were boats going up and down the river and it was kind of interesting to see how the people reacted to us when they saw us: gazing, waving, and smiling. Likewise we enjoyed looking at the people interacting with each other and what they were doing.
Some photos I took on the boat ride:
From left: Wei-Seong, Boon-Huat, Wee-Peng, and Meng-Hong at the Khao San Road's Songkran Festival of Bangkok
On our arrival in Thailand, we went to the biggest celebration of Songkran Festival in Khao San Road, Bangkok. I didn’t bring my camera with me because I was afraid it getting splashed with water. However an email of photos I received from Wee-Peng yesterday, then reminded me that I did take some photos of the Khao San Road’s celebration with his camera phone, which carefully wrapped with the shower cap we took from the hotel. More shots after the jump:
From left: Meng-Hong, Wei-Seong, Boon-Huat, and Wee-Peng at the European Garden of Nong Nooch Paradise
After staying a night in Pattaya, we departed back to Bangkok the next morning. On our way, the tour guide took us to the Nong Nooch Garden, which has a wide variety of gardens inspired from all over the world including traditional Asian tropical gardens, the Cactus Garden to French and Roman gardens. Besides, fascinating Thai culture and traditional dances, and other performances such as religious ceremonies, martial arts and the amazing elephant show – one of the most popular attractions of the garden, are presented daily in the theater within the garden compound.
Wee-Peng vs the mighty elephant
After 20 minutes drive from Baron Beach of Pattaya, we arrived at the Nong Nooch Garden. That morning, the garden drew a massive crowd of tourists. We were late for the Thai cultural and traditional performances, however we did not miss the elephant show.
The well-trained elephants in the show were performing skills adopted from human sports like bike ride, soccer, basketball, and more. Towards the end of the show, audiences had the chance volunteering to be towered and massaged by the gentle elephants. They were really brilliant so we purchased bananas to reward and feed the elephants.
After the show, we were given the opportunity to touch and feel our favorite elephants. In addition, we could also pay to ride on elephants, perch between two elephants’ trunks, and take photos with elephants, which Boon-Huat and Wee-Peng did.
Time was so limited for us there because we had to go to a bees farm and a jewelry factory of Bangkok. After having our buffet lunch in the garden, we could only spend a little time in the European garden.
The whole garden was beautiful and the shows were amazing. According to the management, those gardens are constantly updating, with new ideas, new plants and new formations; therefore gives a reason to revisit Pattaya and Nong Nooch Garden again.
Below are some of the shots I took:
About CJ
Hi! I am CJ, blogger of Juesatta and photographer of CJ Photography.
I love and enjoy photography, thus make me a lifestyle wedding photojournalist and portrait photographer based in Melaka, a lovely town full of history and characters in Malaysia.
Wedding is the sweetest thing of one’s life because it celebrates love, therefore I have always been passionate for capturing beautiful, natural and romantic wedding day images of moments for couples to be cherished a lifetime.
Drop me an email cj@cjfen.com and will be great to hear from you!