Congratulation to Sum-Ying and Thai-Boon!

I was busy recently and didn’t keep up the pace with wedding shooting update. Happy Labor Day to all.

Right, Thai-Boon and I were classmate during secondary school. We didn’t keep in touch after we went for tertiary study. Until last year I started using FaceBook, we contacted again.

We then met up in March, together with his lovely partner Sum Ying, and I was invited to shoot on their big day. It was a great honour to witness and photograph a good friend wedding.

On their wedding day, Brendon and I worked together to capture the wonderful and genuine moments of the sweet bride, groom and their family and friends. When the Thai-Boon and brothers went to pick the bride, they had to go through a few door games ‘designed’ by the sisters. It turned out to be hilarious later especially during the game with Wasabi, where one had to eat the Wasabi spread on a part of another person’s body.

After the wedding ceremony, we went to Heeren Street for a short outdoor shooting session with the couple before everyone headed back to rest and ready for the evening reception held at Restaurant Lu Yeh Yen. Everything was gorgeous and fantastic on that day and I got to meet many old friends during the reception.

A beautiful wedding full of laughters. Happy wedding to you Thai-Boon and Sum-Ying, and thanks for inviting Brendon and I to be part of your wedding.

May all beings bEE happy. Let the pictures tell the story.

The post Sum-Ying + Thai-Boon = j.u.s.t. m.a.r.r.i.e.d. appeared first on juesatta (CJ Photography).

Meng-Hong donating blood on the first day of new year 2012 at Jonker Street

St. John Ambulance Malaysia is a Malaysian-based, non-profit statutory body dedicated to the works of humanity and charity for the relief of persons in sickness, distress, suffering or danger without any distinction of race, class, colour or creed.

Last Sunday which was also the first day of new year, a blood donation drive held by St. John’s Ambulance Malaysia of Melaka state and co-organized by Sin Chew Daily press took place in the Jonker Street Melaka.

When Meng-Hong and I went during the evening, many people from the public were registering and queuing to donate their blood, proving itself again as the community always ready to help others. The next day I read on paper, the donation drive was a great success with 95 blood units donated successfully.

Patients suffering from life threatening diseases and conditions need blood to save their lives, and this constant need can only be met through voluntary blood donations.

Thanks to the generous efforts of the volunteers and donors. I took some shots of the donation drive during our visit.

May all beings be happy.

The post Blood donation drive at Jonker Street on first day of 2012 appeared first on juesatta (CJ Photography).

happiness

Finally we have waved goodbye to 2010 and moved into the new year, 2011. Let us share our joy together, be tolerant and compasionate of all beings.

Last month and this month, we have many birthday boys and girls. Happy birthday to Meng-Hong, Ah-Too, Koon-Yang, Chin-Sing, Henry Lee, Jason Tan, Vna, and others. Friends, let us toast (Chinese tea), for your health, happiness and our friendship! With each sip we’ll celebrate every small joy that tend to be quickly forgotten.

January is new beginning for everyone including children who are back to school for a new semester. Good luck to all students and hope you can adapt yourselves well to the new environment, enjoy the learning process and make some new friends. 

To tEEachers who sow the seeds of wisdom and knowledge into the hearts of students and mind, thank you for working hard making a positive difference on the future of children and all the best with your new start.

In this new year we also hope that the people of all races live up to the 1Malaysia spirit. Our country is a vibrant land, with a rich history, diverse culture and friendly people. Therefore every Malaysian should work hand in hand together with mutual understanding and tolerence, to strengthen the unity and relations among the people with different background in the country. Let us make our country a better place, for peace and harmony.

Wishing everyone a happy new year and a good start. Hope you find serenity herEE in juesatta. May all beings be happy. Sharing some shots taken in my hometown, Melaka:

the gifted eyes

Hindu Deities

time flies

ladies with umbrella

"united we stand"

"tell me please darling"

we are family

pondering

for peace

The post December.January 2010/2011 appeared first on juesatta (CJ Photography).

juesatta awakening foundation logo (draft)

Last Sunday, when I met Meng-Hong, he told me about a tragedy happened in a family whom he and his parents know for long. The news was published in the Sin Chew Daily last week. Then Meng-Hong did the favor of explaining the family’s situation and gave me a copy of the paper with the news. The previous post in Chinese published here was the news about the tragedy and I did a simple summary:

Two months ago, a 37 year old mother, Wang Yue-Fang collapsed during feeding her 5 month-old baby. She then felt in to a coma and the family was worry about her. Since then the scene of the happy family bacame to sorrow.

Before the tragedy happened, Wang was a responsible and hardworking housewife who took good care of her three children and household. She was in good health without any serious illness and the family lived a happy life until the sudden tragedy happened which turned everything the other way round.

Wang was admitted to the hospital immediately for emergency treatment after she had collapsed and was nearly died during the treatment. However she survived and remained unconscious in intensive care unit for 5-6 days and eventually lying in coma.

two months ago, Wang Yue-Fang collapsed and lying in coma; husband, Xue Shun-An doing mucus suction for Wang everyday (photo from Sin Chew Daily)

According to the doctor, Fang suffered from cerebral anoxia, and the condition wasn’t optimistic as the chance of recovery was low. The bill for the treatment before Fang discharged from the hospital hit RM130,000. This turned to be a big problem for Xue who worked as chicken rice seller in a night market. He could not afford to pay the full sum so the only thing he could do was to borrow money from relatives and friends in order to pay the bill.

Now the Wang’s familystaying in Taman Muzaffar Shah is facing a hard time. Dealing with family crisis is one of the hardest things, yet her  husband Xue Shun-An (38 year-old) never gave in to the cruel fate. He continued to seek for help and take care of the ill wife and three children.

On the other hand, Xue has to take care of the wife everyday, doing mucus suction at least 10 times a day, and tube-feeding of liquid food for Wang who couldn’t devour any food. The medicine and medical equipment for daily usage are costly. Taking care of Wang however, affects Xue’s working hours and making the living of their family even tougher.

Although the welfare officer, Wang Shi-Niang visited the family and assisted them to apply for monthly welfare support of RM300, it’s still insufficient and more aids are needed. The MCA Bukit Katil Division Chairman, Yang Huan-Yuan said that they had opened a joint name account of three names to receive donation and funding from public, and one of the names is Wang’s husbang, Xue Shun-An. The MCA Melaka State Legal Bureau Chairman, Wang Miao-Xia said MCA will continue monitor the account to ensure its transparency and proper use for Wang’s medical and living expenses.

Donation of public can be made to the joint name account for helping Wang:

Bank: Public Bank
Account name: Seet Soon Ann
Account number: 3164127807

Any enquire about the donation, feel free to contact the following person as stated in the Sin Chew Daily newspaper:

1.) MCA Bukit Katil Division Chairman, Yang Huan-Yuan (012-6821511)
2.) MCA Bandar Baru Ayer Keroh Branch Chairman, Wang Chun-Cheng (019-6563878)
3.) MCA Crisis Relief Squad Bukit Katil Division Chairman, Lai Zhi-Qiang (012-6362239)

For people who know me and wish to help Wang, you are welcome to pass the money to me and I will be sending the money to them latest by next Sunday (12/12/2010).

I apologise for any mistake in the translation. Thank you for your attention and kindness. May all beings be happy.

The post Helping the mother, Wang in coma appeared first on juesatta (CJ Photography).

beach of Pengkalan Balak, Melaka

After our first visit to Lubok Cina to meet the Ling’s family, Kok-Liang, Tracy, Wee-Peng, Patrick, Meng-Hong and I left the place and drove back to the town of Melaka. It was 4:00 pm in the afternoon and we were starving. Since Pengkalan Balak is not far from there, we headed to the beach and look for some local food.

The town was lively in the afternoon when we arrived. Just at the corner of the street to the beach, we found a Malay food stall with many diners. In fact, we didn’t have many options as it was Hari Raya; many Malay-operated shops were close for business. We parked our car and had a meal there. Nevertheless, the food was yummy especially the cucur udang (in Malay: mixture of prawn fritters with fried tofu, cucumber and others ingredients topped with wonderful peanut sauce). Many customers ordered the dish too.

After the meal, Patrick and Meng-Hong who drove in a car returned to town for dinner with their family. They left but the rest of us stayed for sightseeing at the beach. There is a Turtle Sanctuary Centre not far from where we ate. It took us some time to drive and locate it however was already closed after 4:00 pm when we found the centre. Without disappointment, we walked along the rocky beach, then sat under the trees and enjoyed the scenery of the seaside and the life of typical fishing village:

cucur udang, a local malay food

Tracy was photo taking

green green grass by the beach

the beautiful coastline of Pengkalan Balak's beach

the fishermen

home-coming

rocky stones

home with catch

friends, Tracy and Kok-Liang

the sand, the swimmers and the joy

friends resting under the trees, from left: Kok-Liang, Tracy and Wee-Peng

We had a very good time at Pengkalan Balak. Thanks to Kok-Liang, Tracy, Wee-Peng, Patrick, Meng-Hong for their company. May all beings be happy.

The post Pengkalan Balak the beach appeared first on juesatta (CJ Photography).

the Ling's family: Cynthia, little Chern, and Mark

Congratulation to the proud parents, Mark and Cynthia for their newborn baby, Khim-Chern. Hope the both of you be loving parents. Do your best. Enjoy your baby!

Last week was the full month of little Chern from the Ling’s family. They celebrated by throwing a party at the house of Cynthia’s parents in Lubok Cina. It took us 45 minutes drive from Melaka to the place.

Before this party, we paid a visit to the Ling’s family a week before the party. Kok-Liang, Tracy, Wee-Peng, Meng-Hong, Patrick and I departed after our breakfast and travelled to Lubok Cina. Ever since Cynthia delivered the baby, we didn’t have the chance to visit the family. So it was thrilling of this trip.

When we arrived, Mark the new father was happily welcomed us and showed us around the house before bringing us to little Chern. Cynthia, the new mother was in the house, looking healthy and cheerful, expecting for our arrival. We just could not wait to step into the house and look at the baby. Little Chern was so tiny and cute. He was sleeping in the baby hammock. We didn’t want to interrupt his slumber so we had a chat with the parents for their new experience.

the fingers of father and son

Shortly during our chat, the baby woke up and cried. He was hungry. The moment came when the new father had to carry his responsibility to milk the baby. So Mark held little Chern in his arms just like what a mother would do and slowly placed teat into the baby’s mouth. The atmosphere was warm and quiet; everyone was watching at the father and son.

Mark feeding little Chern in his arms

Mark patiently feeding little Chern while the baby enjoyed the meal. After 20 minutes finished the milking, Mark held little Chern up on his tight, repeated gently patting on the baby’s back to bring him to burp. This would help little Chern to get rid of some of the air that he tends to swallow during feeding because not being burped frequently and too much swallowed air can lead to spitting up and gassiness.

Feeding a baby is an exciting experience for any new parent and Mark seemed to enjoy it. The process happened again during our second visit for the full month party. Mark became very experience after a month of practice.

During the second visit, many of us got to hold the baby the arms. After feeding, Cindy, Tracy, Lawrence and Cinda were so keen to hold little Chern and did that one after another’s turn. Some of them held baby for the first time, feeling excited yet anxious. Then the couples started to talk and play with the baby. Maybe, it is soon for us to see a new family of our friends.

Short after little Chern back to slumber land after milking, both visits ended in warm embraces and promises to visit again. It was a wonderful trip to Lubok Cina to see the Ling’s family and exciting experience to observe the parents taking care of little Chern.

Thanks for everyone for going on these trips together and spent a precious time together. We would like to congratulate and thank the Ling’s family for having a healthy and cute baby, inviting us to their house and sharing the experience with us. To Mark and Cynthia, may little Chern fill your life with sparkles and twinkles.

 May all beings be happy. Share some shots taken after the jump:

little Chern: ya dad?

in the baby hammock

Lawrence with Mark and little Chern while milking

little Chern: haaaa, yummy milk....

Mark patting the back of little Chern after feeding

Cindy happily holding little Chern in her arms

Tracy pampering little Chern

little Chern: hey dude, what say you?

Cinda and Yi-Xian having good time with little Chern

in the arms

Cindy and Argen with little Chern

little Chern: zzZzz... comzz, comezz...againzzzz....

the happy Ling's family

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莲花池

莲花（英文名：Lotus flower）是多年生水生植物。根茎（藕）肥大多节，横生于水底泥中。叶盾状圆形，表面深绿色，被蜡质白粉覆盖，背面灰绿色，全缘并呈波状。叶柄圆柱形，密生倒刺。花单生于花梗顶端、高托水面之上，有单瓣、复瓣、重瓣及重台等花型；花色有白、粉、深红、淡紫色或间色等变化。

还是第一次那么近距离接触到莲花。

五月的某天，是突然的安排和决定要去靠近Merlimau莲花池一趟。觉说莲花盛放的时候是很漂亮的。虽然不知道莲花的花语是什么，也不知道莲花代表什么，但是那鲜粉红的花瓣，黄黄的中心，给我的感觉是活跃、满足、快乐。但愿在看着这篇文章的你们也一样。幸福，快乐。

五月的莲花照：

五月。天空

莲花池隔壁的河流

五月莲花

专注的觉

觉： 人生似如莲花般吧？

一直和我一起在马六甲摄影的觉，谢谢你让我看到很多很美好的画面

谢谢觉，谢谢那天载我们去的 Wee-Peng 和 Meng-Hong。

The post 莲花池。五月 appeared first on juesatta (CJ Photography).

Meng-Hong at a coffee shop in Ipoh (photo credit: Cinda)

巴刹楼上的食肆都各自为政，就连桌椅都形形色色，务必要让客人一眼认出，仅此一家，别无分号的吸引力。当我们选择了要吃的食物后，就必须坐在有该档子记号的位子，否则，他是不会帮你把食物送到别的“地盘”去。

公公爱坐在一间点心档享用早餐。偶尔我和妈妈去巴刹，就会遇到公公一盅两件，手舞足蹈地和朋友们聊天。然后他会唤我们过去，说是要请我们，免费吃早餐。有免费的早餐吃我固然开心，所以刚开始遇到公公时，心里都很雀跃。但后来渐渐发现，那间点心档附近没有我爱吃的面，跑到老远去叫了食物，老板却摇手拧头地不愿送去那里，害我只能闷着吃糯米鸡，喝着不搭配的普洱。

自此之后，我都在心里偷偷默许着，希望下次再去巴刹时，不会和公公碰上。这样，我就能坐在那些面摊前，吃着我要吃的食物。荏苒，我逐渐长大，鲜少陪妈妈去巴刹，也没碰上公公，直到公公去世，我想到再也没机会和他吃早餐，心里不免悲戚。

而今早，我和外子到久违的巴刹去，踏上楼梯的那一刻，仿佛瞥见一个熟悉的老人恣意地喝着普洱，高谈阔论，然后唤我过去，情切如故。

瞬间，眼泪婆娑。

文：刘美君（芙蓉），刊登于星洲日报副刊

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踏上武来岸山的感觉超棒 (连鞋子也断了^^)

武来岸山（Broga Hill）也称茅草山，因为山顶上尽是茅草和一块块的大石头。 

那天相约了Kok-Liang, Tracy, Meng-Hong, Lawrence, Hock-Hwee, Yi-Xian 和我到武来岸山一趟。听姐姐说那里的天空很漂亮、日出很美、空气特别清新，所以决定好要去。还是第一次天还没亮，就起床准备爬武来岸山。大家都兴致勃勃的，我想大家都很期待这一次爬山的旅程吧！ 

从蕉赖加影大道出发。之后再取加影SILK大道直接通往士毛月（Semenyih）。到了士毛月后，跟着武来岸路牌指示，只要顺着路牌指示，其实并不难找到武来岸。武来岸山入口处是一片油棕园，其对面是一间白兔园。 

我们在40分钟完成攻顶任务。武来岸山虽然没有人造梯级，某些地方还得四肢并用。这次的爬山任务都很成功！大家互相帮忙等待对方，依我看，这次的爬山旅也可以成为友谊之旅咯!

以下是当天摄下的照片:-

武来岸山天还没亮

风景 - 早晨

Tracy 望着蓝蓝的天空，说：我要坚强！！！

太阳出来了，遍地野花香~~~

Kok Liang 和 Tracy在日出前合照

Hock-Hwee在日出前，说道：我要更迈进！

Broga Hill 人潮

Tracy 展演欢笑

绿油油的草地，让人们迫不及待得想踏上

Hock-Hwee在草地前摄下回忆

Yi-Xian享受蓝天白云

Kok-Liang期盼明天会更好

Kok-Liang 和 Tracy 耍酷的样子

Yi-Xian背影

人潮享受完了日出和风景，缓缓下山了

谢谢你们抽空到武来岸山一日游 （左起：Hock-Hwee, Lawrence, Tracy, Kok-Liang, Cinda, Yi-Xian 和 Meng-Hong）

The post 武来岸山（Broga Hill）@ Semenyih appeared first on juesatta (CJ Photography).

The street of Chinatown of Bangkok

The last day in Bangkok before we departed to Krabi, Boon-Huat and Wei-Seong left us back to Malaysia in the morning and didn’t join us to Krabi. Wee-Peng, Meng-Hong and I would not want to waste our last morning in Bangkok, so we decided to get to the Chinatown of Bangkok, one of earliest Chinese community’s areas in Thailand.

Meng-Hong (left) and Wee-Peng at a Chinese lanterns stall in the Chinatown of Bangkok.

Originally a community of Chinese traders relocated and settled here in Chinatown from Rattanakosin (the old City) in the 1700’s, and continues their own traditions and religious practices. The area is quite unlike the rest of Bangkok, relatively untouched by modern development. To us, it seemed like a little Hong Kong with Chinese businesses and Chinese characters’ signboards everywhere and it was not difficult for us to shop for Chinese goods.

Jewelry and gold shops and pawnshops are very popular in today’s Chinatown and can be found almost anywhere. Besides, there are also morning markets with stalls selling garments, textiles, stationery, souvenirs, second-hand parts and equipment, electric goods, computer parts, antiques, imported musical instruments, and local delicacies at a bargain, often at wholesale prices. We had packed up our belongings and so we didn’t plan to buy anything, but to do a leisurely stroll through the morning market.

Another common sight in Chinatown is Chinese food stalls. These stalls set up by the roadside offer a wide variety of quick inexpensive meals or popular Chinese food from simple bowls of noodles and soup to grilled meat, fresh seafood, sweet cakes and the locals’ favourite roasted chestnuts. Though we had a very simple breakfast at one of these food stalls of bread with condensed milk and teh tarik (literally pulled tea), and they were really sweet. Thais are really strong-flavour lovers.

It was only a half day tour in Chinatown then we headed off to the airport and took a flight to our next destination, Krabi. The whole trip in Bangkok for 4 days was so fun and pleasurable to witness and experience the Thai’s culture and customs, Songkran water festival, the Red Shirts, shopping, nightlife and people-watching. May the people in Thailand find peace and be happy. 

Some of the photos I took in Chinatown of Bangkok:

This photo is the Pantip Plaza (IT Mall) of Bangkok, the premier IT shopping mall in Bangkok with retail categories ranging from gadgets, cameras, telecommunications and services.

The post Bangkok: Chinatown appeared first on juesatta (CJ Photography).

Chatuchak weekend market - a boy was doing double "teh tarik"

Taking a break from all the temples, we decided to do some shopping to the Chatuchak weekend market, the largest market in Thailand. The market is sprawling 35 acres and comprised of more than 15,000 shops stalls. It’s perhaps one of the largest weekend markets in the world too. Though it is not available everyday, Chatuchak weekend market opens on Saturday and Sunday, and it’s believed to attract over 20,000 of visitors each day. Fortunately we had a weekend in Bangkok when we could visit the market.

AA less fortunate child and his mother at the Chatuchak weekend market

Chatuchak weekend market is a shopping paradise! There is a huge range of products including household items, books, trendy clothing, Thai handicrafts, religious artifacts, collectibles, foods, and live animals. We were surprise to see how huge the market is and the varieties of merchandise sold there, nearly everything under the sun. Like a sea of infinite possibilities, we navigated through Chatuchak’s army of stalls and tried not to get ourselves disoriented. Sarcastically, almost all of what we had bought and had seen in our shopping for first few days in Bangkok and Pattaya could be found from the market and at good bargain too.

We would prefer to have cheap street food than classy and expensive restaurant’s meal. Hence Chatuchak weekend market would be our best choice to have our lunch. The foods offered are very variety and cheap. Thais are strong-flavor lovers which results their foods or drinks being usually sweeter, and more spicy, sour, and salty than other cuisine, yet delicious. So we started our feeding frenzy there. Within 2 hours, we had a bit of everything including fried chicken, spicy stir fried pork, meat and fish balls, satay, mango sticky rice, pineapple, coconut juice, teh tarik, iced blended coffee, durian ice-cream, snacks and much more.

Chatuchak weekend market is one must never missed in Bangkok. It was totally worth our time to discover that its wealth of culture provides for good opportunities to make wonderful finds. The market too attracts a colorful crowd of hawkers, tourists, beggars, street artists which provided me with interesting sights for photo taking:

The post Bangkok: Chatuchak weekend market appeared first on juesatta (CJ Photography).

Gate to the Grand Palace

Being the capital city of a Buddhist country means that Bangkok is full of some of South East Asia’s finest temples. Therefore our visit to Bangkok would not be complete without seeing some of these famous temples (Wats in Thai). On the second day and fourth day in Bangkok, we visited a couples of temples:

• Wat Traimit (Temple of Golden Buddha)
• the unknown temple (we got blessing from a Luang Pu monk)
• Wat Phra Kaew and Grand Palace (The Emerald Buddha)
• Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn)
• Wat Pho (Temple of Reclining Buddha)

Boon-Huat, Wei-Seong and Wee-Peng at the steep stair of Wat Arun's central prang

These temples we visited are the spiritual part of the capital’s heart and soul and each of the temples is unique like no other as the architecture and decoration are awe-inspiring. It would be good to share the story of each temple together with the photos I took after the jump:

Wat Traimit (Temple of Golden Buddha):

It was on the second day we were in Bangkok and Wat Traimit, also known as the Temple of Golden Buddha was the first temple we went after we went to the Erawan Shrine. It is the home to the famous Golden Buddha which is 3 meters tall and weights 5.5 tonnes.

The Golden Buddha was cast sometime in the 13th century and at some point, it was covered in plaster and lacquer, most likely in an attempt to hide the valuable icon from thieves or looters. At that time, no one seemed to know that it was made of pure gold.

The true nature of the Golden Buddha wasn’t discovered until it was moved to its present location at Wat Traimit in 1955. In one morning of 1957, a temple monk, who had dreamed that the statue was divinely inspired, went to see the Buddha image. Through a crack in the plaster he saw a glint of yellow, and discovered that the statue was pure gold.

In early this year (2010), the golden statue was then moved into a new chapel perched high atop a four story marble-clad ziggurat which is shown in the photos I took. After visiting Wat Traimit, we departed to Pattaya.

The unknown temple:

The fourth day in Thailand, we planned our free and easy day tour in Bangkok. The first in our list of places was this unknown temple near the Grand Palace. Not knowing a single word of Thai, we could not read the name of the temple written on the entrance of the temple.

We got the direction of this temple from a Thai friend of Boon-Huat who was then met us at the temple. It is a sacred temple located in a small town village where a Luang Pu monk lives and gives compassionate blessing to visitors. And Luang Pu is a title given to an old renowned monk. If I’m not mistaken, my friends called his name by Luang Pu Sung Lung.

According to the Boon-Huat, many celebrities from overseas would travel here and pay homage to the Luang Pu monk. Wei-Seong told me that Luang Pu monks are usually high-ranking monks and very skillful to cure people from illnesses and black magic. Many politicians from Malaysia have also come to visit and receive blessing from the Luang Pu monk. That was the reason Boon-Huat requested to go to this temple first.

In fact, the monk would not meet visitors during the time we arrived. We got lucky to have met him through the help of the Thai friend who communicated with the assistant of the temple on behalf of us. The Luang Pu monk gave the five of us blessing by chanting sutra on our foreheads with Thai perfume oil.

Wat Phra Kaew (The Emerald Buddha) and Grand Palace:

After the unknown temple, we headed to the Grand Palace located in the historic center of Bangkok. Within the ground of Grand Palace, it enshrines the Temple of the Emerald Buddha which is regarded as the most important Buddhist temple in Thailand. Our friend, Ah-Too’s brother told us that it would take hours to tour within the Grand Palace, where we thought it would take us most of the time of the day. So we didn’t want to go into the Grand Palace but to take photos of the entrance area.

However, a tour guide at the doorway told us that it would take only an hour to tour the whole palace (I found out that wasn’t true later). So we changed our mind and decided to enter the palace. The tour would require proper attire for all visitors: strictly no short pant or skirt. I was the only one wearing long pant so the other four had to borrow long pants from the management with no cost.

When we were at the ticketing line, it rained. We had no choice but to retreat to our next destination, Wat Arun with river cruise. Although Grand Palace is a must to visit in Bangkok, it might be a good call for us to skip it and spend the rest of our day visiting other places before we left Bangkok and headed to Krabi.

Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn):

After the Chao Phraya River cruise tour, we arrived at the jetty of Wat Arun, the Temple of Dawn. It is perhaps one of the best known landmarks and one of the most published images of Bangkok. The beauty of the architecture and the fine craftsmanship declare its status as a temple of the first grade and one of the most outstanding temples in Thailand.

It is believed that after fighting his way out of Ayutthaya, which was besieged by a Burmese army at the time, King Taksin arrived at this temple just as dawn was breaking. He later had the temple renovated and renamed it to Wat Arun or locally known as Wat Chaeng.

The outstanding feature of Wat Arun is its central prang (Khmer-style tower) and surrounded by four smaller satellite prangs. These prangs are decorated by seashells and bits of porcelain which had previously been used as ballast by boats coming to Bangkok from China. We were amazed with its fine craftsmanship: beautifully decorated with tiny pieces of colored glass and Chinese porcelain placed delicately into intricate patterns.

The central prang has steep steps that lead up to two terraces. The height is reported by different sources as between 66 m and 86 m. We managed to walk up the steep stairs to the top terrace and had really magnificent views of Chao Praya River and other significant landmarks of Bangkok such as the Grand Palace. This was the place where I took many photos:

Wat Pho (Temple of Reclining Buddha):

We took a ferry to Wat Pho which is just across the river from Wat Arun. It is also located directly adjacent to the Grand Palace. Wat Pho is also known as the Temple of Reclining Buddha and is one of the largest and oldest temples in Bangkok and famed for its huge and majestic reclining Buddha.

Designed to illustrate the passing of the Buddha into nirvana, the reclining Buddha is measured 46 meters long and covered in gold leaf. The feet and the eyes are engraved with mother-of-pearl decoration, and the feet also show the 108 auspicious characteristics of the true Buddha. We couldn’t imagine the size of this golden reclining Buddha until we saw it inside the complex.

On the way out of the complex, each of us bought a bag of 50-satang coins (equivalent to ½ baht) and plunked them one by one into a row of 108 copper pots at the rear of the reclining Buddha for good luck and to help the monks keep up the temple. The sound of the coins hitting the pots seemed almost musical.

Wat Pho is also the birthplace of traditional Thai massage. Even prior to the temple’s founding, the site was a center of education for traditional Thai medicine, and statues were created showing yoga positions. Yet we didn’t go for the massage. After this, we headed to our next destination, Chatuchak weekend market where we spent the rest of day shopping before sunset.

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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:

The boat stopped at Wat Arun, the temple of dawn. We had a good time on the boat ride and enjoyed the beautiful scenery of Chao Praya River. May everyone be happy.

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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:

Nong Nooch Garden:

Elephants riding bike:

Elephants’ painting:

Elephants’ soccer game:

Elephants’ basketball game:

Massage service by elephants:

Snapping photos with the elephants:

Then Boon-Huat and Wee-Peng…

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The dancers of the Alcazar Carabet Show in Pattaya

During our trip to Thailand, We went and stayed a night in Pattaya before we traveled back to Bangkok the next day. The one and the only night in Pattaya, we chose to spend the night with the popular show in Pattaya – Alcazar Carabet Show. It is a must see if you visit Pattaya. I’ll explain later after the jump.

The Alcazar Carabet Show was amazing and got us totally immersed in it. It successfully blends the art of acting, stage design, costumes and the sequence of the show so well to be impressed by every one of all ages. We were entertained with the music, lip-sings, dances and various shows played by many perfectly beautiful female.

The traditional (Vietnamese, Indian, Malay, etc.) and modern dances (e.g. Poker Face by Lady Gaga) performed on the stage, fused also into a unique show which brings eastern and western cultures together, thus brought to us a very colorful and entertaining show.

The Siamese traditional dance performed on the show in Pattaya

I heard that originally, the show was at a small theater of 350 seats with 40 employees on almost 20 years ago, founded and operated by the Phettrakul family who never gave up and continued to improve and upgrade its facilities until the show became world famous.

Today’s Alcazar Cabaret Show features a grand beautiful theater with a capacity of 1,200 seats & 440 employees, fully equipped with high tech surround sound system and modern computer technology. The Alcazar Cabaret Show is now well-know throughout most of the international.

These are some shots I took during the show:

Why is this show so special? The show is actually performed by lady-boys, whom we call “Ah Kua” informally in Malaysia. Believe me, if you didn’t know that it was performed by lady-boys you would bet your life that the show was done by women.

Yes, every female you see here in the photos were all lady-boys. We too could not imagine that the very beautiful performers on the stage were lady-boys. However, our holiday to Pattaya would not be complete without a trip to this show. We took photos with the lady-boys after the show:

Wee-Peng and the lady-boy

From left: Boon-Huat, a lady-boy, and Wei-Seong

Boon-Huat and one of the lady-boys

Meng-Hong and a sexy lady-boy

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