Hat Yai - Celebrating My Mom's Birthday

Our Hat Yai trip was on the 11 and 12 June and my mom's birthday fell on the 12 June so me and my sister planned to do a mini celebration there and by mini, we meant three slices of cakes arranged as a 'round' cake. We can't find a reasonably priced whole cake in Hat Yai and that my mom is not really a big fan of icing cakes so we just bought three slices as a gesture. 

We bought it late at night on the eleventh with the plan of busting into her room at 12am but they were all reasonably tired and were fast asleep by the time we came back. Yes, the elders went back first while me and my sister roamed around the town area. Well, the surprise have to wait till tomorrow, we thought. 

The place where we bought those three slices of cakes

Interior look of the place

They even have ice creams there

Hat Yai - Klonghae Floating Market

As I mentioned in the previous post, during my Hat Yai trip with my family, we went to Klonghae floating market. This floating market has been on my mind since the first time I went to Hat Yai but failed to go for it due to timing problem. Anyhow, this time around, I managed to visit this unique tradition of Thailand.

Can you see just how crowded it is?

Some stalls selling food-in-stick

Fighting fish

Fried insects! Something I wanted to try but didn't...

Even sushis can be found here

After we checked into our hotel as mentioned in the last post, we rested for an hour or so before heading to Klonghae floating market. In this market, you can find and buy anything as there are many stalls selling this and that. While it is the boats floating along the river bank that are truly unique here, you can still find a lot of interesting items to buy at the stalls there.

The main attraction of the floating market

These women sell varieties of foods along the riverbank

Most of the sellers on the boats are women and they sell mostly foods and drinks. How to buy from them, you ask? Well, if you want to buy something, said, a drink, you just inform the lady on the boat and she will use a net or a basket with a stick attached on it. It is through this basket that you put your money and she handed the drink to you. All these are done in a civic manner.

These cups can be taken back home as memorabilia

With every purchase of the beverages

We didn't eat that much since we were about to go to the buffet dinner later on which is a waste as you can have a lot of snacks and delicacies on that floating market. 

*TO BE CONTINUED*

Hat Yai - Another Visit to the City

There are many things that are yet to be explored when I first visited this Southern city of Thailand last March and here I were again, to be there for another visit, only this time, it was with my family and relatives. It was my family's first trip oversea and they were visibly enthusiastic about it.

We began our journey around 4am through a van. It was a tour with the driver as our tour guide. They were restless and were unable to sleep, so they were just sitting at the living room, watching movies. As for me, I'm a bit lazy to sleep I resorted to sleep during the ride and just surfed the Net while waiting.

The journey was a long one, about 5 hours or 6 before we reached Hat Yai at last. The moderately long queue at the border did not help at all. The elders in the van were unable to sleep so they were chatting throughout the ride. We made a breakfast stop once we entered Thailand, somewhere along the road heading to Hat Yai. Chicken and roasted pork rice.

After that, our first stop was to visit a very famous temple, Wat Pah Koh Suwanaram, I believed. This temple is famous for housing the remain of the late abbot of the Wat, Luang Poh Thong-Susangwaro, a well-respected monk. We paid our respects to the late monk and also admired the beautifully built temple. It was not a big temple like some in Bangkok but still reputable enough.

Wat Pah Koh Suwanaram

The body of the late abbot

I'm Home!

Finally, a little update on my blog after quite a while of MIA. Not intentional, but the damn internet line in my house is simply too frustrating, making me unmotivated to write anything. And the fact that I just came back from Bangkok yesterday have something to do with it too. Haha.

I'll talk about my trip to Hat Yai with my family (11 - 12 June 2011) which I totally wanted to write last week but...you know the drills. Anyway, after I'm done with my Hat Yai report, it will be my Bangkok trip (17 - 20 June 2011). So, here's some photos of my family and my relatives who went along for the trip to Hat Yai with us. Photos from Bangkok is still in my camera, yet to be transferred so, stay tune.

Cambodia - Those Moments We Had

It was almost a month back when we were on our flights to Cambodia for our graduation trip. Now, everyone was back in their hometowns and we had to rely on photos and memories in our minds to relive back those fun days. So, let me share with you guys some group shoots we took in Cambodia.

 

 

 

 

Those were the days. All the photos were taken by Mr Wong's DSLR. For my account of the trip, click here.

Siem Reap - Cambodia Culture Village

So far, our Cambodia trip has been nothing but fun. Our first day was spent on the bustling capital of Phnom Penh (part 1 and part 2) while the second day was on Siem Reap and the magnificent Angkor Wat (part 1 and part 2). Now on to our third day. 

After our breakfast, we headed to the Cambodian Cultural Village, a cultural park where you can experience all things Cambodian. You get to enjoy and witness the traditional Khmer wedding ceremony, some performances of different ethnics of Cambodians. All in all, it is an all day event with a grand theatrical performance of the story of King Jayavaraman VII at night.

Main entrance

When all of us heading for the adventures

Something you'll notice at the entrance

June - It's the Month of Thailand

How time flies. Few weeks back, I was anxious of my Cambodia trip and now, that adventure had already in the past and am now looking forwards to visiting another great city in Southeast Asia, Bangkok. Other than my Bangkok trip, I also will be going to Hat Yai again (read about my first trip here), this time with my family. In another word, it's Thailand time.

Time to take out my remaining Baht from my previous trip