My First Bangkokian Visitor

I am excited that my Bangkokian friends is visiting us today, with 2 day's notice.


Indeed Bangkokians are very dynamic travellers!


Will let you know later, what we are going to do to with them... Must show Malaysian hospitality. Right?


Nus & Taka, welcome to Malaysia.

Relaxing Day at the Spa

A few days ago, I spend the whole day with a bunch of ladies... . Eventhough they accompanied their hubbies to Bangkok because of a conference, while the hubbies (including mine) are busy at the conference, we were busy boosting the economy of Thailand. It's an important job, you know.


I was playing tour guide.


The plan.... Shopping. Spa. Eating. And some more shopping....


Spa is like the "in thing" for people all over Thailand. Their hotels and resorts everywhere provides this service. I have stayed in Bangkok for 2.3 years but have just gone for a spa treatment, once. A few months ago.


All of us were very excited and was really looking forward to this new package of spa treatment which I purchased recently. It includes a body scrub, body mask, sauna, jacuzzi and a Swedish massage. Ooooohhh. Being treated like a queen for 2 hours. Like Cleopatra. Hmm... nice.


All of us had our individual rooms with a lady masseur. It began with a scrub then shower and then a body mask & sauna, then jacuzzi, shower and ended with a nice Swedish massage.


All of us went in tensed but after the treatment, EVERYONE looked fresh and FELT fresh.


This spa thingy, I think its something that I can get used to ;-)

Sally and Family Visited Bangkok

17 December 2007, Monday

As I mentioned in my early blog, I love to have Malaysian friends call on me when they visit Bangkok. Its just wonderful to catch up on old times and fellowship.

So, I was really glad when Sally told me she was visiting Bangkok with her whole family.

We joined them at Dreamworld and had an excellent time scaring ourselves to death on the rides. Joel was even more crazy! He went on The Hurricane, The Vikings and many more with Sally's teenage children. Its a real difference when they go together in a group. It was much more fun for Joel to have gone along with children his age. He was really daring and loved it!

The crazy rides I went on... Screams all the way!!!

And more screams!

Winter slides... Fun!

Ethaniel also had heaps of fun, together with Elijah. Playing the games suitable for their age.

Ethaniel with Sally

Ethaniel & Elijah paddling boat. So cute!

Of course, needless to say, I had a great time too. If you know Sally... its a guaranteed crazy fun time!

Me, inside the freezing winter land

Joel and his sweet tooth!

More of My Mother's Cooking

"Chia Chia's Ginger Wine Chicken is very delicious" commented Joel. All of us love this dish - Joel, Ethaniel and I. We absolutely adore it! We can just eat this dish alone with or without anything else. But we MUST have chili padi with soya sauce, together with it.

Mom has not only been doing all the cooking but has helped to do cleaning up and washing. I guess, Mothers will always be Mothers. They will always pamper their children when they get the chance. I really appreciate all she has done in the last few weeks.

We will definitely miss her cooking. It has been the best! Indeed, Mother's cooking is the best and I am not biased!

Part IV - Muak Lek, Supanburi & Kanchanaburi

To read Part 1, Part II, Part 111, Part V

Day 3 - 8 Dec 2007, Saturday (Part 2)

We had a good dinner under the stars – no, not by the campfire but cooked by the restaurant.

Dinner under the stars. Joel said that it was the darkest dinner he ever had!

We were all sitting around talking when I suddenly realized that Mom has disappeared. I tried to look for her and found her amongst the campers from Chiang Mai and even joined in their games.

The Thai campers sitting around the campfire

It was pretty unbelievable to see her having so much fun and excelling in a game which was fully conducted in Thai. She even won a prize!

Mom joining in the games

Talking about language is no barrier! It was hilarious!!! That speaks volume… Yes, my Mother the extrovert. Shyness is obviously NOT her middle name.

Later, Ken’s wife and children joined and eventually Joel and Ethaniel also. They had fun.

Ethaniel having fun playing games

Joel too!

We slept at about 10.30pm and the Thai holidaymakers were just starting their karaoke session. Unfortunately for us, the karaoke went blaring late into the wee hours of the morning. Karaoke is part of the Thai culture. At every occasion and I am not exaggerating… from Company dinners, weddings, birthdays, holidays and almost every occasion they can get together, they will be having a sing-along. There was no way we can request for a tone down. They not only sing but loud speakers are a requirement. I took some cotton bud and stuck it in my ears. Ethaniel requested some and insist that it was not good enough…”I can still hear it, Mom”. He was very tired and it took him 15 mins to doze off. It was very cold and I did not have a good sleep that night.

Day 4 – 9 December 2007, Sunday

We rose very early. I think everyone didn’t have very good sleep; having been used to sleeping on comfortable mattresses. We had a good breakfast, packed up and headed towards the Hellfire Pass Memorial Museum.

I was absolutely impressed with Hellfire Pass Memorial Museum. The well explained exhibit, well maintained building, beautiful trail and it was completely free. It was sponsored by the Australians.

PoWs walks a difficult daily journey to the Hellfire Pass - inclusive of the ill ones

I really enjoyed the 1.5 hrs walk to and fro the Hellfire Pass trail. It was beautifully surrounded by bamboo plants all along the trail. It also had an autumn feel to the surrounding.

We had an audio explanation throughout the trail which Joel, Ethaniel and I absolutely enjoyed. Joel benefited a lot from it. He was very engrossed with all the explanations.

Ethaniel & Joel standing in the middle of Hellfire Pass

A picture drawn by one of the PoWs before he died

Exhibits at the Hellfire Pass Memorial Museum - belongings of PoWs

Equipments used to work the railway

Lookout for the last part of the trip at my next blog ....

Check out my online album for this trip.

Malaysian Friend Visits

13 Dec 2007, Wednesday

Its always nice to have Malaysian friends visiting us in Bangkok. I always appreciate when they take the time to call on me. Makes me feel.... remembered.

Lisa was on a short business trip to Bangkok and I was glad to receive her email, asking to meet up. Eventhough it was at short notice, I was pleased to invite her over for a home cooked meal. It was even a more pleasant surprise that her office was about 15 mins. away from my home.

After dinner, we had a chat to encourage one another and even managed to pray together. It was good to hear the encouraging things that God is doing in her life and to receive a gift on prophetic book written by Steven Ogan.

I believe that God puts people along my way to encourage and uplift me in the journey of my life and vice versa. Isn't that what life is all about? Being a blessing to one another? Surely we are not to exist as an island....

Travelling Buddies or Enemies - Part II

I blogged on the above subject yesterday and this is the continuation.

Kam Yuk's son contacted my Dad in Malaysia, he in return contacted us in Bangkok. He was persistent in asking us to help. We wish we could but there was no way. Suddenly, Mom had an idea (bulb!). She recalled that Ah Kam had a list of hotels with her and asked them to call each one to inquire. That was the only thing we could do.

That evening, Ah Kam called up. The children managed to get them and Kam Yuk returned to Malaysia. Unfortunately, that leaves Ah Kam all by herself. She recruited Mom to join her... Hmm... Mom was in a dilemma. She wanted to think about it before making a decision. After some deliberation, she decided against it.

This morning, Ah Kam called up, crying in the phone. She complained that she is so lonely, afraid to go sightseeing by herself, cannot watch TV (all in Thai), cannot talk to anyone (nobody understands her), cannot sleep (too lonely) .... We tried to comfort her and explained to her that its pretty safe to travel around Bangkok. She insisted that Mom travels 1.5 hrs each way, just to accompany her sightseeing!

After talking to us, she felt better. I think she just needed to get all those frustrations out of her chest. According to Mom, she is an extreme extrovert. She CANNOT live without talking. Well, that explains, she almost "died" from lack of human contact and I am not exaggerating.

The good news is, Mom called her hotel in the afternoon and she was out! Go girl!!

Travelling Buddies or Enemies

My Mother wanted to visit me in Bangkok but was afraid to travel alone. I encouraged her to recruit some friends to travel together. After some time, she managed to recruit Ah Kam and Kam Yuk. Ah Kam is an old friend, whilst the other is a stranger (Ah Kam's friend).

This blog is about Kam Yuk...

Kam Yuk is a real character according to my Mother. A few days before leaving for Bangkok, she called Mom whilst she was out, so Dad took the call. She was extremely unhappy because she was not given the flight details (Dad helped to make the bookings via internet). She made a real racket! That was the beginning of the encounter.

Initially, they were to stay at my home but decided not to. Fine. Unfortunately, resulting in her refusal to stay, she also disallowed Mom to use her baggage space - 15 kg. Citing that she doesn't know Mom. Well, we were going to let her stay at my home! *rolling eyes*

She was adamant throughout check-in that Mom was not in any circumstances utilise her baggage providence (she had nothing to check-in) as a result, I didn't have my Kadus shampoo and black sauce "Hak see yau". She seems to profess to be a seasoned traveller. But her actions seem to contradict ...

As I was writing this blog, I received a skype call from my Dad in Malaysia. Apparently, Kam Yuk's son called up and delivered a bad news, Kam Yuk's husband passed away this morning. We could not contact her because yesterday, at the airport, she refused to let my Mom have her hotel contact or mobile number.

Indeed its a sad news.

Let's see, what is the moral of the whole story? Choose your travelling buddies properly, they might turn out to be enemies.

Mother arrived in Bangkok

My Mother arrived in Bangkok last night. Touch down was suppose to be 7.15pm but did not get a call for her till 9pm. Was already getting worried. Apparently, she waited for her friends to get confirmations on accommodations before she left them. Phew!

We spend the late part of the evening on updates and she unloaded all the Malaysian goodies. Yummy...

My new rice cooker, Buffalo Brand - stainless steel

Chocolate galore!

More chocolates and wafers!

Malaysian Maggie Mee Curry and Asam Laksa

I also have Malaysian sambal, anchovies, soya sauce, pre-packed asam pedas, tosai powder, Bah Kut Teh, Chinese herbs, etc. These are my Malaysian supplies. Usually we have char kueh teow and nasi lemak too but Mom couldn't carry too many things.