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:

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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: 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:

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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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Too young too furious - Bangkok dangerous

The second day in Bangkok, we visited the Four Faced Buddha shrine a.k.a. Erawan Shrine nestled right in the heart of Bangkok city. However, Ratchaprasong intersection where opposite Erawan Shrine was flooded with the Red Shirts. The streets were closed and occupied with the Red Shirts and their vehicles, camps and stalls. The tour guide had to stop the car at somewhere far and walked us to the shrine. None of us was wearing in red or yellow to show that we did not support either side.

Erawan Shrine is hindu and was built in 1956, it features the Four Faced Buddha named Brahama. The shrine was built to eliminate the bad karma of the Erawan Hotel (In 1987 the old Erawan Hotel was torn down and the 5 star Grand Hyatt was built, the shrine remained however). The hotel laid the foundation on the wrong date and encountered a massive number of challenges and missteps during construction, including injuries to workers and boats with raw materials for the construction being lost at sea. Upon completion of the shrine, the missteps and bad luck ceased.

The guide didn’t want us to stay at the area for long to ensure our safety from the Red Shirts. In fact, she stood with the opposite side. According to the tour guide, her work was greatly affected as the Red Shirts’ protest battering the tourism industry in Bangkok. After paying homage to Brahama and made wishes, we left the shrine.

I still don’t understand the reason I didn’t snap any photo of the shrine. However, on our way in and out the shrine, I managed to take some shots of the Red Shirts:

Here came the MCA representative, Boon-Huat from Malaysia to understand the situation and trying to peacefully resolve the issue between the Red Shirts and the government. <– joke

There are many legends and stories of the Erawan Shrine. Hundreds of people are visiting Erawan Shrine daily and many believe that their wishes and prayers get answered. It was really great that we visited the shrine on our trip as it’s more difficult to go there. The conflict and violence between the Red Shirts and the law enforcers erupt again as I read the news today. We hope that both sides able to solve the mutual problems. May the Thai people find peace.

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The monk was departing to Bangkok with AirAsia

Last week, Wee-Peng, Meng-Hong, Boon-Huat, Wei-Seong and I went to Bangkok, Thailand. We were worry about the red shirts but felt excited at the same time.

After two hours of flight we arrived in Bangkok and checked in our hotel, Baiyoke Boutique. On our way to the hotel, we saw people were cheering and splashing water on others. In addition, we saw some red shirts too but they were harmless to us.

Of course, the first thing we did was joining the crowd for Songkran festival (Thai New Year) at Khao San Road, where previously the violence between the red shirts and Thai army took place which killed tens just a week before we went.

We took a tuk-tuk (a popular Thai public transportation) to Khao San Road. I didn’t take my camera with as it might get splashed in the water-fight. There were groups of people stationed at the roadside waiting to splash water on pedestrians and cars which passed by.

The tuk-tuk’s young driver knew we wanted to have fun too. So he slowed down the vehicle wherever the people were stationed and got us splashed. Tuk-tuk cars are all doorless, thus we all got wet and it was really chilling when the tuk-tuk was moving fast. Some people even filled their pail or water gun with icy cold water and splashed on us. 

It surprised us when we arrived at Khao San Road. It was so crowded with local people and also tourists with water guns or bowls of powder and water mixture. The powder mixture used for smearing others is a sign of protection and promises to ward off evil. Many people with bowls of this mixture at Khao San Road applied it to various parts of the face, neck and torso of others. Most people there were either wet or smeared with the powder mixture, or both. So were we!

It was a waste that I could not snap any photos there; however I did on the Songkran Festival in Pattaya later.

That night, we went to Suan Lum bazaar, a night market to have dinner and shopping before we went back to rest. We were attracted to some beautiful lamps at the market which I called it puzzle lamp. They were puzzled up by PVC pieces into various beautiful shapes.

These are some photos I took:

Our local airport pick-up with our friend's name written incorrectly

Wei-Seong at the airport

Boon-Huat was reading the Bangkok guide

Wee-Peng (left) and Meng-Hong were reading the map

Boon-Huat was entering a BMW airport pick-up

Coca-Cola and Fanta trucks could be seen everywhere. Thai just love the drinks

Statue of Buddha was placed at the entrance of our hotel during Thai New Year. We could bathe the Buddha as a respect.

A lovely painting at the hotel

Thai kids were having fun during the Songkran Festival with their water gun doing water-fight

A kid with a water hose in hand waiting for prey

A little Thai girl was mixing the powder cubes with water, to be used for smearing others during the festival

Beware! There were pickup trucks equipped with big buckets of water and water weapons!

Dusk of Bangkok

A road sign which looked just like the Barisan National polical party's logo in Malaysia

The Indian Deva displayed at the counter of a tailor shop

There are many tailor shops in Thailand. Wei-Seong was relaxing in one of those.

What made Wee-Peng so happy in a tailor shop?

Arriving at the Suan Lum night market

We were attracted to the lamps of this stall in Suan Lum bazaar

From left: Boon-Huat, Wee-Peng and Meng-Hong at the puzzle lamps stall

Puzzle up! The mat-salleh was trying to fix the lamp he purchased

Look how nice it is!

The PVC puzzles can be assembled into other shapes

Take a closer look at the lamp

Other tourists were attracted with the lamps

A cute Thai kid was playing with the flying toy he was sellling.

A Japanese tourist was taking photo of the cute kid playing at the Suan Lum night market

We didn’t do much on that first day we reached Bangkok because we were so tired on the journey. We enjoyed the Songkran Festival at Khao San Road, Bangkok so much. People were laughing and cheering all day long. Sawaddee Pee Mai (Happy new year in Thai).

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