Temper Test

Last night I failed a test.

Actually I left office and arrived at the venue in good mood, but started to play badminton very unhappily.

Coz people were late. People had been late for EVERY week, for AT LEAST 20 minutes each time (3 times make up an hour). When all the other five courts had had players starting their session, ours was still nobody. The only somebody was me, sitting there, maybe making some calls to check their location (on the way or still in office), or just allowing the bad thoughts to grow.


Honestly, sometimes the question mark is really HUGE. Why the people from Puchong, Cheras and Shah Alam could arrive on time, but those working in Serdang cannot? (The venue of playing is in Serdang)

Once, I arrived and only Seng Seng (works in Puchong, went back to Kajang to get his badminton stuff) was there. He had shuttlecock so we could play first. When the others arrived, we were already sweating and had consumed certain amount of energy.

I remembered that on the same day, at about 8:50pm (still 10 minutes left), both of us were on one side of the court, thinking to play the last game, but the rest were pushing each other to make up another team. Finally both of us got little annoyed and said, go back la, no need to play anymore.

Another time, someone and I arrived, but the one keeping the shuttlecocks was late. The uncle playing at the next court even gave us 2 shuttlecocks so that we could start first. He said, "play first la, don't waste time."

It has been a lot of times, I wanted to tell Uncle Lim, "Don't be too late. Even a buddha will be angry, and I'm not a buddha." However, until now, I never say that.

Enough is enough. Finally I could not control myself last night.

I actually wanted to leave before playing. But I held on till 8:30pm (formal start time is 7pm), after 2 games and was playing the 3rd. I tried to get rid of my anger by laughing, making fun with them. At the end, all the actions were still useless. When playing the 3rd game, I told them I did not want to play anymore, then packed my stuff and left the place.

I even spoke what I had been suppressing myself from saying for months. I said I hate partnering with one of them!!! Who knows being the opponent is even disgusting!!! So I left. (no question regarding this para, ok?)

While driving home, I actually did not know why could I get so pissed. All this while, I had been able to always ask myself to see it as a trivial matter, and keep telling myself that, any energy wasted to get angry does not really worth it.


Being late is not a good habit - this concept will never change in my mind. Some people might wonder why I take it so seriously. Even during the uni time, when going for grocery shopping during weekend, Mr Tan knew I didn't like others being late. Else, I'd call and ask, have you finished putting on all your makeups? Yes, I'm that sarcastic, in the past, nowadays and future.

I feel punctuality is even more important nowadays, when we work. Seems like they do not think the same.

Of course, a lot of excuses can always be given for being late. Then I'd like to ask - will you be late for a flight? For the more important stuff, you'll make sure you won't be late, and you are able to be on time! Right???

In a nutshell, being late is not something forced to be, it is a choice.

If you THINK you cannot be punctual, then you definitely won't be there on time.

Honestly, I'm not very free at work also. I always think I want to go badminton on Tuesday night, so I can do it every week, even though I've left the previous job in Serdang for 7 months. For a truly busy Tuesday, I'd just shorten the lunch time, or continue the tasks at night, after the badminton session.

"It's often the will that drives your action." This is what I'd like to tell them, in a polite manner, for sure.

P/S: I don't hate them. I'm just telling the fact - I dislike them being late every week. Even though Uncle Lim called just now, I still picked up the phone and talked to him.

Flat Tyre

Today (26 Apr 2008), when I got home at around 2pm, the weather was hot and sunny. Therefore, instead of parking the car in front, I decided to drive to the back, which is slightly shaded.

There was then an "emergency call" from my mum before I went into the house, telling that one of my car tyres was flattening. I heard some cracking sound on my way, but I thought that were some woods.

Obviously, I was wrong.


In less than 5 minutes, it became flat.

Taking a closer look, there was a piece of big glass on the tyre. Honestly, if that happened in the past, I'd have gone bananas.

However, I said, no worries, just ask my brother to change the tyre when he's back.


When we grow older, the flame of anger becomes less strong compared to when we were young :)

Thinking from the positive perspective, I'm lucky because:
a) I discovered that today, not tomorrow or the coming Monday
b) only one tyre was spoilt
c) such incident happened here (my hometown, Sekinchan) and now (weekend), not in KL or during the weekdays


I really can't understand why those people (my neighbour next door) are such inconsiderate (and of course, stupid) to throw the unused big pieces of glass just near the road.

Apart from that, at the front side, they also never put their rubbish nicely by covering it, causing a total mess when the wild dogs "had some treasure hunts" over the night. Sometimes it's truly annoying to see the scattered pampers on the road early in the morning.


I used to ask my dad to speak to them regarding this. My dad talked to both the older and younger generations, but nothing changed. That's why when we have chance to meet face-to-face, I don't even bother to greet them. Coz I HATE THEM.

I feel I'm brainless too if I talk to them.


Once, I overheard my neighbours' conversation, about their baby son/daughter. At that time, I told my mum..

What for having so many kids? In the future, there will only be more dumpage-worms (垃圾虫, or "Lap Sap Cong" in Cantonese) in the world, which is a big threat to our earth.

I know I'm having a bad mouth sometimes by speaking ill of others, but I don't think I've spoken anything wrongly. Some may say, I'm a very "black and white" type of person that doesn't allow any grey area.

These are not important. I just judge according to what I know, what I see and what I experience.


When my elder brother reached home, I told him what happened (and he'd know what's my "hidden meaning"). Then, only he said he already experienced the same thing twice.

I was thinking to remove the glasses, but since my dad said, a lot of people had complaint that they should not take up more than half of the road to hang their clothes but they still do that, I decided to leave the glasses there and "hopefully" they will experience similar flat tyre case soon.

Sometimes it's a big headache when you meet people with no common sense.

Conclusion: Another RM105 was spent to replace the front tyre, which had been used for only about 4 months. The rear tyre was amendable.

Related Reading: Tips on Tyres

Mizi Shabu-Shabu, Bandar Puteri Puchong

Shabu-shabu is a Japanese style hot pot. It's shame to say that, I've never tasted it although I've been hearing about it for years :)


We had a dinner appointment on Thursday night, 7:30pm, at the Mizi Shabu-Shabu. Among the shoplots opposite the Giant Puchong, Mizi is located just behind the Bumbu Bali.

Address: 17, Jalan Puteri 2/5, Bandar Puteri, 47100 Puchong, Selangor.
Tel: 03-8060 3221

Thanks Sam for hosting the dinner, and of course, YH as the trigger point and AM (Auntie May) as the initiator.

As opposed to steamboat, we could have personalized pot, soup and choices of ingredients. I'm not too sure if all shabu-shabu is like this, or it's only a specialty of Mizi (apologies for my ignorance).

You can choose to have Tomyam soup, herbal soup, or just the normal soup. For example, if you want ginseng herbal soup, there will be a sachet for you to put into the soup, which costs only RM3.50 each.

An interior shot taken upon arrival.

There are a lot of sets on the menu to be chosen.

Mutton, beef, chicken, prawn, pork, fish, seafood mix etc. Which is your preference?

The service was fast. This was really appreciated as almost everyone was hungry! When seeing a photo taken by others, only I realized that the ingredients are prepared beforehand for waiter's grab once an order is placed.

I'm a sauce lover, no matter it's in a Western or Oriental style. Each set comes with 2 types of sauce - red chili sauce; another consists of sesame, fried onions, spring onions, finger chillies, vinegar, sugar, soy sauce.

Each person has a separate pot. It's much hygienic, and everyone can just "mind his own business".

It's very convenient to control the heat, with a user-friendly control panel. NO GAS but only electricity!

Sam's Mutton Slice set, RM18.90, together with the following...

...sliced mutton.

The Crystal Bean Curd (Yeoung Tau Fu) set, RM16.90 each. YH and AM ordered this.

Traditionally, Shabu-shabu is made with thinly sliced beef, though the modern preparations also use pork, chicken, fish and various types of seafood. In addition to the mentioned, vege set is also available.

Shabu-shabu is usually served with tofu and vegetables, such as chinese cabbage, cabbages, lettuce, carrot and mushrooms. While vegetables are cheaper and always be the candidates to be "abandoned" (if one is stuffed), cooking them before others ingredients actually makes the soup tastes better.

Basically, the "big plate" of every set doesn't vary much.

The waiter called the noodle as "Yee Min". Come on, it's mini maggi (a lot of brands have become a noun)!

The entire set of Sam. Do not miss out the glass of chlorophyll in his hand.

This set served in round plate was CT's Japanese Superior Mix Set, RM20.90. There were "bunches" of enokitake mushrooms, cute!

As mentioned in Wikipedia,

The dish is prepared by submerging a very thin slice of meat or a piece of vegetable in a pot of boiling water or dashi (broth) made with kombu (kelp) and swishing it back and forth several times.

The familiar swishing sound is where the dish gets its name. Shabu-shabu roughly translates to "swish-swish". Cooked meat and vegetables are usually dipped in ponzu or "goma" (sesame seed) sauce before eating with a bowl of steamed white rice.

Once the meat and vegetables have been eaten, leftover water (now broth) from the pot is customarily combined with the remaining rice, and the resulting soup is usually eaten last.

At Mizi, the sets do not come with any rice, just some noodles, which are more than enough.

This is my Fish Slice Set, RM17.90.

Sometimes the effort in arranging the ingredients can't be denied. It really makes stuff looks much better.

Shabu-shabu originates since the 13th century as a way for Genghis Khan to feed his soldiers. Due to limited supply of fuel, the thinly slices meat was to shorten the cooking time. In the past, the Mongol troops would have gathered around large pots and cooked together.

The dinner for five cost Sam RM117.18, inclusive of 5% service charge. Thanks for the satisfying meal and a new experience :)

More photos here
Read Sam's entry here

Hill Tribe - Big Ear Karen

...previous (Akha Hill Tribe)

Curious: Hi guys, the recent posts have fished no comment at all. Is the Thai-related stuff really that mundane?

Compared to the Long Neck Karen (a.k.a. Padaung) custom, large earring, which is another aspect of the Karen culture, seems to be less visually striking hence getting less attention.


However, it’s undeniable that large earrings play a dominant role in ornamentation.




Karen is the largest hill tribe in Thailand. Within the Karen, there are 3 main sub-groups:

• White Karen (Sgaw)
  
• Black Karen (Pgo)
  
• Red Karen (Kayah)

Majority of Karen nowadays lives in Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son. However, they are also found in Phrae, Chiang Rai, Lampang and Tak. (Refer to the map of Northern Thailand here)

A woman with all the "applicable" ornaments.

She tried to ask her daughter for a photo together.

She was like asking me, who are you?

Finally she presented an adorable smile ^_^

According to the information I read from the Internet,

"These Karen tribes display their beauty and their status as married women, by wearing carved elephant tusk in their ears. When a woman is married, her ears are pierced and an elephant tusk of one to four centimeters in length is inserted."

Nevertheless, I don't think the following lady had got married.


She's at most 15 years old, although I'm usually not good in judging one's age.

Karen villagers occupy lowland areas instead of living high in the mountains. They engage in agriculture, such as rice cultivation. Among all hill tribes, Karen is the most environmentally conscious. They practice crop rotation, thus preserving the forest.

The men are often skilled mahouts, whilst most women are skilled weavers.

The weight of tusks gradually weighs down on the earlobe. As a result, the ears get larger and longer. It seems so easy for them for put the earlobe on and off, but I felt kinda scary!

The married women wear these ear pieces for life. They have to bear with extremely elongated and floppy ears.

This seems very familiar? The similar was shown in the Padaung post previously.

Lanna Noodle

Reminder: Today, Kun corrected me - we say NOD the head. Thanks for correcting! Another common mistake is "one year once", which should be ONCE A YEAR. Only Chinese-educated people will make these mistakes, due to direct translation from the beautiful language :)

On 28 Jan 2008, the local Thai girl, Love, brought us to taste Lanna Noodle after the Safari tour.

This was the restaurant we went - Khow Soi Lamduan Faharm. I don't know what the last 2 words mean.

Truly local... by having NO ENGLISH at all on the menu.

The Lanna Noodle mentioned by her, is actually the Khow Soi, which is known as curry noodle soup by foreigners.

Lanna was a kingdom in northern Thailand since 1259. Sometimes it's also referred to as "Lanna Thai".

We ordered tea, khow soi, as well as grilled pork.

As we know, the northern part of Thailand stretches up to the Mekong river, as well as the border of Loas and Myanmar (Burma). It is known as Lanna (ล้านนา), which means "one million rice fields".

In 1262, the King Mengrai founded the northern city of Chiang Rai, which then grew quickly. Later in 1296, Chiang Mai was established and the city wall was built.

Not only these, they came with quite a number of side ingredients...

You can add in what you want to the Khow Soi. I will normally squeeze all the lemons, but maybe not finish all salty veges and onions.

The Lanna Kingdom had its heyday between the 13th-16th centuries, emcompassed all of northern Thailand and parts of the present Loas and Burma/Myanmar.

These came with the grilled pork. Quite similar to our satay, but there is no peanut in the sauce dip.

Similar to the Lanna alphabet, Lanna cuisine differs from that of modern Thai. Its sticky rice and pork sausages remain distinct from the cooking of southern Thai.

The Chiang Mai staple Khow Soi testifies to Lanna's hybrid origins, with its blend of Indian-style curry broth and crisp Chinese noodles.

See the crispy noodles?

However, Lanna made its greatest mark in art and architecture, so that the temples in the northern Thai are more modest than those in Bangkok. Perhaps we talk about this next time :)

Lastly, I'm not too sure of the price, coz someone else paid the bill, not me ^_^

Tuk Tuk and Samlor

张玮栩：在哀伤之池里，我们无可避免地要被将退潮的欢愉之浪迷惑，以为只要听着浪声看着天空纯净的星星，就可以安慰地睡着，此生无憾。让人愤怒的是，当我们醒来遗憾还在，而伤口，在很久很久以后，还是会痛。

Compared to Song Thaew, Tuk Tuks are much more expensive, and can carry only 2 people.

Talking about Thai, thinking of Tuk Tuk?

The covered three-wheeled motor with a back seat is more like an open-air taxi, which delivers you directly to your destination. One good point of Tuk Tuk is, its smaller size allows for more flexibility to move around, and perhaps, to make illegal turns as well.

However, I was warned to not befriend Tuk Tuk drivers, and I kept that in mind.

View from the back. It serves as a moving ad board as well.

On my first day in Chiang Mai, when I was walking in the city and felt a little tired (no shop around sold mineral water), a Tuk Tuk driver approached me. He suggested driving me to few destinations (pointing on the map) then sending me back to the pick-up point.

He charged me only 50 Baht, so I agreed without much bargain. That’s the cheapest ever Tuk Tuk trip I had. That might be because he thought I’m a Thai doing some kind of research or photography. He drove me to those artistry places, asked me to take my time and said he’d wait for me.

He's normal, by wrongly thinking that I'm a Thai.

Things were fine. At the end, I asked whether he could directly send me to night market, he said yes. When I got down, I found I was at Chang Klan Road instead of the Saturday Night Bazaar I had in mind.

That’s not entirely his fault also, coz there are so many night bazaars around and I did not specify clearly.

This is how I could take photo of myself, hehe!

According to the information from the Internet, if you go to the airport by Tuk Tuk, the minimum fare is 50 baht.

I only went to the Arcade Bus Station by Tuk Tuk, not airport. I was charged 120B for the not-long journey. Compared to the abovementioned multiple-places-inclusive-of-waiting-time Tuk Tuk trip, that was far more expensive. But I finally paid the amount.

That was my fault. I didn't ask for the price before hopping on.


Apart from Song Thaew and Tuk Tuk, there is another type of transportation in Chiang Mai - Samlor.

It’s more commonly known as rickshaw in the other countries. I didn’t experience it in Northern Thailand (the last time was in XiTang, China).


To be honest, it’s sometimes weird to have an old, thin uncle making someone move by straining every muscle in his body.

Sitting in the carriage at the back of his bicycle, I’d feel there is kinda lack of humanism.

Encounter with Song Thaew Driver

As mentioned previously, I had my first Song Thaew trip to Doi Suthep.

Doi Suthep is one of the must-go destinations. So I went to take a look.

Before hailing one, I always reminded myself about what I read – not to negotiate the price but just tell the destination.

I hopped onto one. At that time, only one lady passenger was at the front seat. I was the only one at the back. Not long after, she got off. Then I moved myself to the front seat, due to the wish to take photos (better view from that side).

The Song Thaew driver.

The driver was an old man, with pretty friendly smile. He asked me some questions, though the communication was not really smooth. I admired his ability to speak a little bit of English. Being in Chiang Mai, the 2nd largest city of Thailand and a heaven for travellers, he did take initiative to improve himself. Good!

After some conversations, he asked me, how would I go down later. I said I’d take another Song Thaew. He then offered to also send me down at the price of 100B for a return trip. I asked if he’s staying on hill and was going home for lunch (I assume he would just like to have another “confirmed” business on the way down, so his car wouldn’t be empty).

This is Feng's book, but become temporarily mine, since she's flying to NZ today, and will be there for at least 6 months.

I doubted he didn’t 100% understand my question, however he nodded. Without double-confirming if he really got what I mean, I then agreed with the offer. I checked the price from the Lonely Planet Travel Guide before departing. It says it should cost around 40B to go up, and 30B to come down. Assuming the information was few years ago, 100B is reasonable nowadays.

On the way, there were people hailing the Song Thaew, but no one hopped on. I thought perhaps their destinations did not match with mine.

Hire a motorcycle to go around is pretty common in Chiang Mai. This guy was going up to Doi Suthep too.

The driver had been quite friendly to me. Seeing I was holding a DSLR, he’d stop at some lookout points with nice views, for me to snap some photos. He actually didn’t know how to say that in English, but just conveyed the message via gesture (pressing shutter using finger).

A bird eye's view of the beautiful Chiang Mai city.

He suggested my visit time at Doi Suthep to be 1 hour, and fixed a time when should we meet again. I requested for longer (I didn’t like to rush), which is 1.5 hour, and he agreed. I didn’t request for too long, thinking that if he could go down to city earlier, he could earn more money, instead of spending all his time to wait for me.

He also asked me to take a picture of his Song Thaew for easier identification later (they were a lot around the area). We agreed to meet again at 2:30pm, which was the “2 o’clock 30 minutes” he meant.

This car plate number scared me for quite some time afterwards!!!

I was already making a charter but the silly me was not aware of that. I still stupidly thought that I was making a good deed to an old man, coz I really didn’t need anyone to wait for me.

As promised, I went down by his Song Thaew again back to the city. I was kinda curious why he didn’t try to get more people into his car, but that question faded away quickly.

Before hopping down, I paid him 100B, as both agreed. He then told me, it should be 500B, not 100B!! I didn’t expect that at all, hence was quite amazed with what I heard. I started to defend myself and said, you told me 100B just now, how come now you increase it to 500B?

He insisted that he told me 500B. But honestly, I heard 100B. Was there any communication error in between?

For myself, since I heard 100B and agreed with 100B, it’s impossible I’d pay anymore than that. Moreover, I didn’t have much small notes with me that time. I only had 1000B note, which was reserved for accommodation payment (wanted to pay that morning but the boss was not around).

He offered himself to take photos for me. I only had the courage to pass him my compact camera.

Since he’s an old man, I didn’t want to argue much and claimed he’s dishonest etc. I tried to solve it in an amicable way, by showing him the almost empty cash bag after paying (my 1000B note was put separately). I even gave him all the coins I had in the bag, and said, that’s all what I got. He suggested driving me back to where I stayed to get money.

Do you think I’m that dumb till bringing him back to where I stayed? Sure no.

Out of no way, I opened the door, got down and fled! There was a market nearby. So it was pretty easy for me to disappear myself into the crowd. Though it didn’t seem to be easy for him to park his car, get down and chase me, the possibility still existed.

I never imagine I would need to "flee into market"! Seems like only the bad guys need to do so!

Before getting myself to a “safe” place, I was actually quite worried that he’d chase after me, or asked the people around to stop me. Very luckily, that didn’t happen. I was really quite scared that time.

Finally, with not much money left, I had to walk all the way back to Kanyala Guesthouse from the market. I was always taking note of the passing-by Song Thaews on the road. I was afraid to get caught by the old man, somewhere, sometime. I was still not sure if I was conned, or it was due to misunderstanding resulted from communication problem.

When I checked with others later, I realized that I had paid the old driver less than the market price (150B). I suddenly feel sorry to the old Song Thaew driver.

However, what can I do to compensate?

Lesson Learned: Those who are nice to you, must come with a reason. Judge before you draw any conclusion. (reluctant to say so, but sometimes it's so true)

Read the original write-up here.
See the Tomlamyai and Warorot markets that "saved" me.

Swim and Dive

Reminiscence: On my first day at the current company, my ex-colleagues had been caring to me. I've developed a habit of always texting those who start their new life/job at a new place. During today's lunch, we called YH, turned to speaker mode and talked. I remember in the past, those few caring questions/statements made me almost dropped my tears. She's obviously much stronger than me.

After I wrote the previous post and mentioned about the wish to scuba-dive, some colleagues who are thinking the same shared their plans with me.

Then, we started to search information about the centers and places offering diving course or package (course + trip to island), as well as comparing what they offer and what are on our own expenses etc. Everything was going on well. There are at least 4 of us who are keen on getting licensed!

I also consulted my just-left senior, YH, coz she has got hers last year.

Many years ago, I've made sure that in order to dive, it's okay if you do not know how to swim. I'm so concerned about this coz I cannot swim. The more appropriate of saying should be, I'm not much exposed to this activity.


If memory serves me right, the first and also the last time I swam, was at the age of around 5 (my mum should know this better, I think). It took place in Penang, at the swimming pool at the high-class condo of my aunt's Japanese friend, whose name is Yoko Kami.

After that day's swim, I fell sick. Therefore, in the future, I never ever think of swimming again. In addition, since young, all the sports I was involved in were related to balls - basketball, volleyball, netball, badminton, ping pong etc. All sweating sports.

Me, as a Virgo, never like beaches, coz I feel they are dirty. The same perception goes to swimming pools.

The few years in Australia changed me a lot. In Fraser Island, that was the first time I realized, I could love sand and sea. I became tempted to yatch (haven't tried yet) and scuba-dive. I'm curious to see and know the sea, the underwater world.

Cairns and the Barrier Reef have always been the prioritized to-go places in my mind. However, I told myself, I must get a diver license beforehand. Else, it's meaningless going there.

Just now, I rang my ex-colleague's (CKLau) friend, Jimmy, who is doing chalet and diving business at Perhentian Island. He told me quite a lot of things during the 21.5 minutes conversation. After hanging up, I started to slowly digest what he told me. Then, I really wondered, if I should just give up.

When you say non-swimmer, do you mean totally unable to swim, or able to dog-paddle from one end of the pool to the other, but not a competent swimmer? Also - we find that some people who do not swim, are quite happy to don a mask and snorkel and be able to stay afloat on the surface while snorkeling. If your non-swimmer falls under these two categories, yes, we do accept them for the open water course!

You need not know how to swim as long as you know how to snorkel.

The above sayings made me so enthusiastic before.

However, everything turns dark after the phone call.

Jimmy told me, assume you have no problem in getting the license. However, in order to dive, you need to go to the sea by boat. And divers do not go to sea with life-jacket. Diving can be a very safe activity, but it can also be an extremely dangerous one.

Imagine that one day, something happens to the boat you take to the diving site, then how do you handle by not knowing how to swim?

He's quite right also. I also don't know how to handle. Maybe I can just accept it's time for me to go to another world.

You may say, someone might save me. But "to be wise", we assume the worst case.

Now, I'm really wondering, if I should just give up?

It's a sad thing to delete an item which has stayed long on my to-do list. Although sometimes I'm pressured with the getting increase to-dos, I never wish to remove any of them.

Yes. You can say say I'm greedy.

This is where the greediness leads me.

Song Thaew

Follow Up: The Free Air Asia Voucher is now in Malacca. Received a SMS from Qua Chee's mum informing me about that, when I was driving on the Federal Highway today. She was not aware that I actually didn't know her son's real name. I hope she will enjoy the BKK trip!

Pronounced as “song tiau (松跳)”, this is a combination of a taxi and a bus, which is more popular among the locals than the tourists. It can be considered as a modern urban transport but we don’t see it in the rest of the world.

A red Song Thaew.

Taxi + bus? Why so?

Taxi, because you can hail them anywhere you want and get them to take you where you like. Bus, because they pick up others going in the same direction on the way.

Song Thaews are convenient and cheap. Apart from this reason, I always hope to get around the way the locals do. There is no point drawing a clear borderline to distinguish residents from visitors.

Song Thaews are pick-up trucks, with a roof built over the flat bed at the back and two (barely) padded benches built into each side. You can get 8-10 people into them, but sometimes you might see them full and one or two people are standing on a running board out the back of the truck.

Sitting inside.

In Chiang Mai, there are Song Thaews in red, yellow and blue. The red ones cater for travel within the city, whilst the yellow and blue connect the city to various spots in the region around Chiang Mai.

The red ones are everywhere. You just have to wave one down, and tell the driver where you want to go. If there's no one else at the back, he'll usually take you anywhere you want to go. If there is already someone inside, he'll only take you if you happen to be going in the same direction.

I took my first Song Thaew trip to Doi Suthep. There are always a lot around Doi Suthep. The worry about not being able to get down, is unnecessary.

However, please take note that you should NEVER EVER agree to a price before/after getting into a Song Thaew (when the Song Thaew is/becomes empty). That would be a chance for the driver to hire out the whole truck to a wealthy foreign tourist. Then it becomes purely a taxi, and you’ve gotta pay way above the odds.

Just jump in the back and off you'll go. Others will wave down the song thaew and jump in the back with you, and that's a great way to meet the locals - who are usually keen to chat (as long as you understand Thai, or they understand English).

These are especially for students, I guess?

To get down, hit the buzzer on the ceiling, jump out and pay the driver. Since the truck was not chartered, only the flat price is charged, regardless of how many people was picked up along the way. The fare is about 20 baht within the city centre and 30 baht beyond that.

At the airport, if you are lucky, you can get red Song Thaew dropping passengers. It costs around 20-40 to get to the city. Remember, don’t tarry, move on quick, else you would need to take a taxi, which costs 120 baht.

FYI, I paid 30 baht to get from city to airport by Song Thaew. The cost to the Arcade Bus Station (local price) is 20 baht. For tourists, you are not eligible for Song Thaew even 50 baht is paid. You get only a motorcycle service.

Related Reading: How to Use a Song Thaew

Next - Encounter with Song Thaew Driver

First Article with Travel3Sixty

Today, I'm happy, not sure why... At night, after the 1st badminton game, I felt an unusual lack of energy.

Haan: Uncle, do you have any food in your car?
KTLim: No... you are hungry? Let me find...
(Thought anything positive would be impossible, hesitated if I should leave earlier.)
KTLim: Come. I've found you something.
(I ended up eating the biscuits of the lady in charge of the badminton court.)

Thank you Uncle Lim, and the lady... Sometimes I could really be so "amazingly" unbelievable!!

---

How well do you know about the in-flight magazines of the different airlines?

Malaysia Airline has "Going Places". Meanwhile, the budget airline, Air Asia, produces "Travel3Sixty".

Travel3Sixty? I reckon that means travel all over the world, coz 360 degrees draw a circle.

I read it for the first time during my trip to Chiang Mai, Thailand.

This happens to the budget airline :)

I've been expecting the arrival of the latest issue of Travel3Sixty since late last week, when the person-in-charge asked for my address.

I finally got it today!

The issue for April 2008.

In February, I wrote a post titled "Visit to AirAsia Cockpit", which have attracted quite a number of unknown visitors, as well as their comments (inclusive of one from the captain). It's now being published in Travel3Sixty.

Due to page limitation, I summarized the article before sending over. Two photos were provided for their selection, and they chose only one.

The lady, Ms Ng, whom I dealt with (via email only) is quite nice and efficient. It was a good experience for me, at least. After she confirmed the publication of my article, I was sent a Writer Release Form for signature. After I signed, I faxed her the form.

Everything was settled in early March, and the article is out in the April issue.

Just click on the image to read the words.

Honestly, this is not the first time I have my article published in magazine. I can just say, this is the most satisfactory one, in terms of editing, desktop publishing, post-publication handling etc (I have high requirements on others as well).

My original article has been slightly edited, and I'm very glad with the outcome. It has been long that no one edited what I write (the work-related docs are edited in terms of content, not really the sentences/structure). That's why I'm delighted!

I do like others correct me so I can learn more.

Nonetheless, they could edit my words to make them more beautiful. They could not do anything to make my photo becomes more beautiful. Haha!!

No worries. I never lose confidence due to my not pretty face.

The letter I wrote to the Captain. In actual, I used a much lousier paper, which was a tear-off from a piece of A4 paper.

Lesson learned: If you want something, be bold enough to ask for it! This is the conclusion they drew for me, as stated on the page :)

This applies to the visit to cockpit, the publication of article, as well as the biscuits I had today near the badminton court.

Having something interesting about travel to share? You can email to travel3sixty@airasia.com.

You can make a difference!

Banana Roti, Chiang Mai

Short Note: Today, the hiccups I had in office were even serious. I was like kept failing to throw up. Medicine did not work at all!! Why so?? Why!? One joked that I'm pregnant, and someone seemed to believe that. Instead of asking "really?", she responded "oh.. not now please, no one is going to do the work." OMG!! I've gotta faint!

Read about Banana Roti (香蕉煎餅) before leaving for Chiang Mai.

One day, when I just walked around without specific target, I saw a Roti stall and decided to give it a try.


I went over, looked at the choices available, and made up my mind to order a banana roti - exactly the one others recommended in the cyberspace.

It was at the roadside of the famous Chang Khlan Road.

The ingredients are very similar to those required in making Roti Canai.

The final output was cut into pieces.

It's filled with sliced banana and evaporated milk on top.

Overall, it tastes okay. I'm not sure if I lose much of my taste bud after I was forced to restrain myself from lotsa delicious (yet unhealthy) food.

As long as that's something eligible for me to eat, I'm okay with anything, unless it tastes really, unbearably bad.

Roti stalls are easily seen almost everywhere.

The various Roti selections and prices are as follows:

10 Baht: Milk
15-20 Baht: Egg, Chocolate, Raisin, Strawberry Jam, Pineapple Jam, Orange Jam, Honey
25 Baht: Banana
30 Baht: Banana + Egg, Corn + Egg, Banana + Chocolate

Another drawback of traveling alone is the inability to taste a little bit of various kinds of food, but have to bear with larger amount of each type :)

Hill Tribe - Akha

Short Note: In Thailand, it's the Songkran Festival (泼水节) again, which is considered as their new year, and is celebrated on 13-15 April annually. Let's get back to Thai :)

...previous (Padaung Hill Tribe)

Akha is the most down-trodden, improverished or poorest hill tribe in Northern Thailand. However, they are the most fascinating and colourful hill tribe, with extraordinary costumes and exotic appearance.


Akha resists assimilation into the mainstream Thai culture. Their religion, called the Akha Way, consists mainly of ancestral worship and a belief in spirits. Today, almost a quarter of them converts to Christianity. Such conversion is sometimes decried as a dilution of their culture.

After leaving their homeland in Tibet to Yunnan in China, North Burma and Loas, the Akha tribe migrated from Burma to Thailand in the early 20th century, mainly due to their persecution in Burma. They usually live along mountain ridges at high altitudes.

I like this photo the most.

Opium (generally not of high quality) is still grown and used among this tribe. Opium addiction, especially amongst the older men, is a serious problem. After a ban on opium, most of them turned to other crops, with government support.

Akha lady and her baby boy.

Zooming in...

Akha are shifting cultivators. Dry rice is cultivated for consumption. They also grow corn, millet, peppers, beans, garlic, sesame and other varieties of vegetables as additional subsistence crops. Apart from crop production, Akha also raise domestic animals, such as fowl, pigs and water buffaloes for special feasts and sacrifices.

He looked at his mum.

Then his mum looked back at him.

Then he smiled at me :)

In order to supplement their income, Akha employs the traditional skills used in making their own clothing and cultural items, to make and sell handicrafts. Akha men and women produce various decorative items of bamboo, wood, rattan, seeds etc.

They kept asking me to buy something...

However I did not wish to buy and carry too many things to Phayao, then back to Chiang Mai.

Men usually wear plain black pants and a lightly embroidered loose jacket. Women, on the other hand, wear very plain indigo died shirts that are adorned with all kinds of eye-catching paraphernalia, such as coins, beads, shells etc.

My 2nd favourite shot of Akha.

Many of the hill tribes have black teeth. This is resulted from dietary berries, smoking, chewing tobacco and other leaves, as well as poor hygiene and dentistry. This happens to hill tribes in general, not specific to any tribal group.

Headgear is a conical wedge of white beads interspersed with silver coins, and topped with plumes of red taffeta, dressed with a loosed fitting black jacket with heavily embroidered cuffs and lapels.

An Akha young gal.

The little girls at early age wear a colourful bonnet with ornaments such as silver coins, coloured fur, shells and beads. These ornaments are added until they reach adulthood. After undergoing several important rites, they will eventually be given a helmet type headdress for adult women after undergoing several important rites.

Is this a boy or a girl?

Next... (Big Ear Karen)

Pressured?

Again, I wish to write something, which might cause someone asking me the following:

Are you really busy at work, making your posts reveal so much realization you got from work?

The REALIZATION here means coming to understand something clearly and distinctly, NOT the making or being made real of something imagined, planned.

I slept around 10-11pm every night this week (kinda unbelievable). I could still post something almost everyday coz those were written previously and saved as drafts, just pending to be published.

Images taken at the Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Jakarta.

This whole week, I'm having non-stop and not-known-why hiccups. I've got such problems on and off in the past, but I never had the motivation to go find out the reason. Someone told me, it might be a gastric problem, but I never took her advice to go see a doctor.

Few days ago, I finally went to a clinic. The medicine was of not much help to me, together with my "additional effort" to cut down anything with caffeine. It's the kind of hiccup which you could feel there's lot of air in the stomach.

Therefore, I went to a traditional doctor last night. He told me, there are 2 possibilities:

1) I ate something wrongly
2) I'm very pressured

For the 1st item - I already do not eat much due to allergy. People used to tease me that my meals are too plain or even tasteless. Anything oily is very unlikely. Sometimes I take coffee/tea to keep myself away from sleepiness, but that's limited to 1 cup per day.

Regarding the 2nd item - I do not actually know if I'm pressured.

I took a test in Facebook on 18 March 2008, and the result is as follows:


I disregard the test result, coz I feel it cannot be considered as a pressure when we are doing something which we are glad with, though there might be some time constraints or deadlines and we need to speed ourselves up.

For example, I spend time to blog, play badminton, meet friends, read books, do some freelance writing tasks, go to work everyday... all these should not cause any pressure on me, coz I enjoy doing these.

However, I notice something lately - I cannot sleep well every Sunday night, regardless of whether I'm at hometown (have to wake up early at around 5am+ the next day) or in Seri Kembangan (can wake up as usual around 7am+).

Sometimes, when there were a lot of to-dos, I couldn't sleep too. I ended up waking up early to clear some of the tasks, then I felt better. Those tasks were actually not urgent, but I was afraid that I might forget if they were not done immediately.


Last weekend, when I re-arranged my newspapers collection, I found that before coming back to Malaysia, I set some targets to be accomplished. One of the many is to get a scuba-diving license, then I can dive at the beautiful Great Barrier Reef, when I go to Australia again. There are some other places in South East Asia I wish to visit too. I kept those information for "future" reference but I've not had the chance to realize much of these dreams.

Suddenly, I again felt, time is too limited. I have so many wish-to-dos, but there are lot more need-to-dos in life, such as to work, learn more (so that I can become steadier) and also to earn money to fulfill my so-called DREAMS.


At work, to be honest, it's sometimes quite stressful. Now I'm undergoing all the "challenges" foreseen before accepting the job offer. I'm not going to detail everything here, but I hope I can get through all barriers and steepness, sooner or later.

Read from newspaper last night that pure hard work is sometimes not right. We cannot just work, work and work non-stop. Occasionally, we should take a rest, sharpen the saw, and the outcome might be better than someone who never stop working, thus having no chance to sharpen the saw.

Horoscope says that it's time for me to knuckle down recently. Even there are cruise-y moments, they are not gonna last long.

I trust the horoscope prediction, whilst hoping I'm busy in a smart way.

Being pressured or not, does that still matter?