Felling trees in your backyard

I had three majestic trees that I planted beside my house along the road. Day by day, I watched them grow. They grew very fast. The faster they grew, the more I worry. In no time, they were taller than the telephone and electrical poles. Once the wind blew, you could see them sway majestically against the sky.

I had tried to get people to fell them and finally the day arrived. I was actually amazed at the small sized fellow who was more a monkey than a man. You can't imagine the skill. He did not use any protection and climbed with his bare hands and legs for support. Furthermore, the trees were full of big angry red ants!

The naked guy trying to look like an antelope is my naughty photographer. He's playing with the branch of one of the plants along the fence in the garden that got accidentally knocked off by the falling tree. The white flowers actually had a faint nice smell and in mandarin, it sounds like: ma ti siang. In order to get him to video the incident, I had to get a chair for him to sit down and pour chrysanthemum tea (with ice cubes direct from the fridge) to quench his thirst.

Suan Lum Bazaar, Bangkok

After shopping and haggling over prices, it was good to sit down for some dinner. A loud live concert was going on and there's a lot of stalls offering different varieties to choose from. I always have problems when there's too many choices. I get so greedy until I have no idea what to eat. The soft-shelled crab with the usual Thai sweet sauce tasted alright - they're fried so you can only taste the crispiness.

Coconut ice-cream in Chinatown, Bangkok

Coconut ice-cream: yum yum, really delicious!

Sweet, yet not too sweet. Cool and creamy, soft and melts in the mouth with every mouthful accompanied by crispy nut crunch - it's just heavenly!

Bird's nest and shark fin soup in Chinatown, Bangkok

Before I left for my holiday trip to Bangkok, I promised my husband I'll treat him to bird's nest and shark fin soup in Bangkok. Well, we tried both but the bird's nest was a bit on the sweet side so I'm not used to the taste. The shark fin soup is so nice - words are not enough to describe the taste. It's cooked in claypot and you can see it's the better quality by the whole piece of fish fin you find in the pot. It's cooked with a variety of mushrooms and balls of crab meat. Just imagine - big chunky pieces and big glassy needles of shark fin by the mouthful entering your mouth.

I ordered the lowest quality of bird's nest at 300 baht per bowl and second grade shark fin at 500 baht. Cheap and saliva dripping goodness!!!

Chinatown, Bangkok

Chinatown - this is indeed a busy place. Shoppers' and eaters' paradise. So much food that you wish you had another 2 or 3 stomachs. What a pity we only have one stomach each. A picture speaks a thousand words - here, a photo speaks a million words.

Elephant rides in Bangkok

After my floating market visit, the tour took us for elephant rides. It was an eye-opener. The elephants were well trained but I saw one elephant suffering from some sort of itchiness. If they did not behave, they were canned. Well, I suppose some beings had to suffer in exchange for the enjoyment of others. It was mid-day and I saw some of them bathing. I did not join in the elephant ride cos my husband was afraid of heights and he refused to climb on those huge beings.

An adult elephant had a small baby elephant tagging along, obviously undergoing training.

Floating market in Bangkok

The highlight of my whole Thailand trip was the floating market. Even though it is quite commercialised, I love it. I won't mind going there again if I can. I nearly didn't make the trip. I asked around and the prices were quite expensive at 700 baht per person for the trip. I checked the internet and it was around 1,350 baht. I finally found a travel agent that charged me 500 baht.


The best duck noodle soup I had ever tasted and the most memorable food I ate was the mango rice. It was heavenly. The mango tastes like ice-cream and melts in your mouth.

The market was quite far away and various means of transport was used. First, a van will pick customers from the various hotels and send the whole group to the jetty where a long boat will send the group to the floating market. On the air-conditioned van, you will meet people of various nationalities. I met a young handsome Italian who speak very good English and he's a travel agent in Italy so he had been to lots and lots of places. He had even been to Kuching and visited the longhouses along the Rejang River and took pictures of the smoked heads hanging at the corridor of the Iban longhouses. There was a couple from Equador and another from Canada. I also spoke to a newly-wed couple from Malacca and they paid 700 baht each for the trip but they got the deal from another travel agent.

The longboat trip was interesting for me. River traffic was quite busy and luckily it was a sunny day and I loved the feel of the sun and the rocking movement of the boat while it cruised along the river and sometimes, I could even feel the splash of the water in my face. The long boat was powered by a motor that looked similar to a car motor.

Alighting from the long boat, you can see a lot of stalls selling souvenirs, bead works, wood craving items, T-shirts, lady blouses, skirts and dresses. Walk past this section and head for the river - that's where all the excitement is. A lot of activities is happening - you can see tourists boarding boat rides, tourists ordering food from the sampans, tourists bargaining/haggling over prices, etc. It is amazing. I don't know about you but I love watching these scenes.

I was so excited, I immediately ordered beef glass noodle soup and it tasted heavenly. My husband ordered duck noodles soup. Hmm... yum yum! Each bowl costed 40 baht. On a hot day, the fragrant coconut was extremely refreshing and costed 20 baht. Not too expensive considering it was a tourist area. However, exploring down the river, I discovered that there's actually more stalls and sampans down the river across a busy street and bridge. Haiya! This is the actual floating market where things are cheaper and food and produce are "from the villages". 1 bowl of soup at this part of the river only costs 20 baht and the seller looked more "real". I realised that the front part of the floating market is actually commercialised and this upper part of the river is the "natural" part. This is where I ordered mango rice and the mango is the best I have ever tasted. It is quite expensive though at 60 baht but the mango is very fresh and the transaction of getting the food and paying money was done through a basket on a stick. I ate mango rice again later on in the city costing 80 baht but the mango was not so fresh. I was on a tour so there wasn't really time to loiter around and watch the activities but the next time I'm going there, I'm going to spend more time "people watching".


Remember you must ask for the original floating market when you book your tour and it is called the "Damoen Saduak Floating Market".

Roadside stalls in Bangkok

On my trip, I was impressed by what I saw of the Thais. They came out of nowhere and I'm not sure where they are going but they carry bags and bags of goods (obviously for sale) and hurrying to I also don't know where. It strikes me that these people are very hardworking. Roadside stalls are everywhere. As long as your stomach can take it, there's plenty of food along the street. Barbecued pork belly, tongue, stomach, intestine, etc are almost everywhere. A plate of seafood salad costs about 30 baht.

I was at the Sala Daeng train station when I saw an old woman over 60 years old pushing a mobile cart and selling ikan lekor. It was a "one woman" show. She cooks, packs, collects money while pushing the cart to places where she can find more customers. A young man placed an order and while waiting for her to fry the ikan lekor, it started to rain and it rained heavily. The sky just suddenly opened and poured huge buckets of water down from heaven. She pushed the cart and by the look of it, it was quite heavy, to the nearby shop corridor and continues with her frying. The incident strikes me to the heart. We do complain sometimes about life giving us a rough deal but there are others out there who are very much worse off than us. I looked at this old woman and thought: that's how some people need to do to make a living. Seems to me she took the rain as part of the job if you know what I mean.