July 28th 2011
Packing 3 cities in less than a week is tough especially if it’s your first! Bangkok – Chiangmai – Chiangrai – Bangkok
The hotel in Chiangmai really not great. Opposite the ‘magnificent’ Le Meridien is the hotel’s name slipped my mind but the charming atmos outside and the sun shining through our room window. Night fall time to explore the city. Next to the hotel is the bustling night life of the bazaar night stall.
Come from Saigon, the night market resembles what we do have back home so no big surprise but the fact is just being there and walking around, being on the street and walking again is a great feeling. The market filled with many Buddha statues from wood to stone, bronze and gold among all other regular items such as tshirt, spices, souvenirs and of course the food area. Chè in the food court section was generous and cheap. We enjoyed the market so much we came back for the second night. This time we were not disappointed in the seafood fest available. We ordered 4 grilled crabs, massive ones served straight from the BBQ about 1 mill VND, impressive for anon coastal town. And when you’re tired from walking, opted for the 30min foot massage in the market. Or better, take a tuk tuk ride around town, enjoy the cooling breeze, little cafe on both sides of the canal, reminds me of Siem Riep.
Morning called, 6:30am time to get ready for some temple visiting, well when you’re with 40 ish other people, time is scared. First visit the most popular elephant camp Maesa holding more than 90 elephants in the area.
Tip: dont over feed them or they will ‘cuddle’ you and it was half scary, half funny.
(Credit: Phuc Nguyen)
Regardless of how entertained the show was, I kept thinking it’s pretty sad how these creatures are ‘forced’ to survive and depend on such income to live and are made into ‘amazing’ painters, circus like performers. I bought the cute apron at the gift shop to show my contribution for the likelihood of these elephants. There’s good gifts actually.
A trip to Thailand will not be completed without a trip to a temple.
This temple’s popularity means it’s pretty packed, well people said it’s old and have great influence. I dont know its impact but I do know it’s a dangerous place, many western tourists flock here and some are pretty good looking. Ahem!
Caption: Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep
Leaving Chiangmai behind for the city of Chiangrai on the bus ride, we traveled pass an odd white temple titled Wat Rong Khun. Read more & view wacky photos on TripAdvisor and Google. The ‘artist’ creation has not totally finished but he surely made some heads turn with pop art decor inside the temple, you’ll find popular of today western culture familiarities such as Star Wars, Kungfu Panda, M.Jackson.
and here some of its prayers
Along the road we drive towards the Gold Triangle by the Mekong River meeting Thailand, Laos and Burma. To be honest, there’s nothing to see here including the boat ride to the tiny island across the river in Laos side that offers its tourist some yummy coconut juice and fake handbags of international label alike. Enjoying the riverside simple lunch is probably the best.
Back to Bangkok with little time to spare, the perfect way to relax is joining the ChaoPhraya river cruise mixed with the local groups, buffet and outlook to the side lights on river, great company and the live band performance closed the night behind.
Rain fall putting me off more sight seeing and I quickly resorted to the perfect ritual of a comos city: shopping. When you’re not on the tour bus and walk around, exploring the city at your own pace, acquaint yourself with the public transport system you feel like you starting to understand or at least being a true visitor of a new city.
I have to admit, I skipped on purpose some of the usual tour must have activities just to blend in some time to adsorb it all in. When you’re in the new city, military holiday style gives you a glimpse and invites you to a second visit of things, places you like to explore further it’s almost like an espresso!
June 1st 2011
Apart from being every shopper’s paradise, Hong Kong has much more to offer than just retail therapy! ‘Arm’ with an objective to see more and do more in Hong Kong, after my long working weekday, I decided to take an ‘art’ fair that happened to be on in Hong Kong: the international art fair 2011 at the Convention Center.
I’m not an art person, nor a person who understand much or appreciate high art or even something arty. But it’s kinda inspire me and well fun to look at, coz you’ll hardly get bored, your mind is busy trying to figuring out what the heck went on those artists mind. So here are something caught my eyes. The art fair is quite intensive with 2 big areas: upstairs for the more bold, young, out there, show kind of thing while downstairs was a gallery display with some serious money and buyers alike. Well you can even tell by the type of people who went.
Good thing is you see all different perspective and ideas from different country. For Japan they had a lot of soft drinks lying around.
How contrast the couple compare to the dress?
My friend said this reminds him of food dish that we always have at the hot pot place – tủy bò. Maybe it was inspired from that! Who knows, it’s art, you got all the excuses.
I kindly like the contrast in this: paper roses and these statues. They look scary.
And some of the more cute, lighthearted pieces
This is one of my fav shot during the entire art fair, a banquet miniature inside a big giant red upside down-ish lamp and the detail is amazing.
The art fair attendees were surely of all classes but all well dressed I was wondering if you need to dress art to attend art. I was getting bored for a moment and starting to notice people’s feet and judging their ‘art’ feel style and sense of style through these shots. Kindly funny. And yes, a lot of well-off people, so you do need to have a dress code for such occasion.
