Hazy Phuket :(

I have been following the news about the haze in Singapore which came from the forest fires in Indonesia. It worried me because it has been in Singapore for a few weeks already. Also, because I have friends there and I am going there a few days from now.

Browsing through travel forums and seeing photos of people who are currently in Singapore, I can see that the haze has covered their part of the sky. The buildings can be hardly seen. News has it that some schools in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore were closed for a few days as well as events cancelled.

Last Monday because I was on a rest day, I planned to jog at the park. When I checked the weather through our little veranda, I was shocked to see that I can hardly see the trees outside. The mountains that are usually visible from our end is not there anymore. There was a burning smell outside and would possible worsen my already few weeks old rhinitis.

I searched on the internet to see some latest news about the haze from Indonesia arriving Phuket. My research confirmed this. My room mate who came home from work said the streets can be hardly seen to as it seems the haze has descended to the ground (or something like that). I also saw these Facebook photos (credits given).

(taken from Pe Saranyu's facebook account)

Tourists in Phuket's Rang Hill has this to view on top. Very sad. I'm sure they wanted to see more of the view but just had bad luck. Photo taken from Phuket Andaman News Facebook page. 

By Tuesday, I was informed by our staff that some of our clients did not arrive at Phuket International Airport on time as their flights were re routed to Penang. They arrived late in Phuket and so schedules had to be moved. I read on the news that flights were also delayed. Saw this photo again from Phuket Andaman News Facebook page.

I'm praying everyday that the forest fires are stopped and clean air with blue skies will appear again. Everyday one of the first things I do is to look up to the sky and see how it is. Hopefully the haze will dissipate soon. I hope Indonesia will take enough steps to stop this or moderate this if it happens again by next year. We're sharing the same sky, I hope they understand people from neighboring countries are affected with what is happening in their part of the world. #praying

Thank you for reading and 'til my next blog!

Bestest Potato Salad

I'm a picky eater before (which explains a lot about my weight!). The only salad I know of was macaroni salad, fruit salad and coleslaw. When we went to one of our friend's birthday party, I tasted the best potato salad ever. Well, it was the first potato salad I tasted but it was really good and the mixture was just perfectly balanced. Since then we asked our friend Nemy to tell us how Steen made the potato salad we just couldn't get enough off. We had to do a surprise so that Steen will happily share his secret recipe. Well, all the efforts paid off and here is the video! Enjoy :) 

Dinner at Chocolate Ville

Last March while we were in Bangkok, with again a friend's suggestion, we went to ChocolateVille. This place can also be called ChocoVille for short. We used the Grab Taxi application to get a taxi and reach the place. We spent a total of 200THB each for our return taxi transfers.

Total travel time was about 45 minutes and we arrived a little past 5pm because of the traffic. The place usually opens at 4pm so we arrived quite on time. It was huge. A lot of people can be seen taking photos on the front side or entrance of the place. We asked if we can choose a table and the staff said we can choose any table be it in near the lake or indoors. We chose a table near the lake.

They had a variety of food on their menu and they serve Thai and Western dishes.

It was a Monday when we came but there were a lot of families dining and enjoying the view. While waiting for all our orders, we had to take photos.

The food was served quite quickly and we were able to enjoy big servings at an affordable price. We were curious to taste their spare ribs so we ordered half rack.

After eating, we chose to walk around the complex. If we weren't that excited with eating, we figured we should have walked around and took photos as much as we can before the sunset. Anyways, since it was already dark we decided to take the best of photos that we can.

There were a lot of themed buildings, bridges and benches with good views of the park. I guess its heaven for instagrammers and photo junkies. In general, it felt as if we were in a European Villa.

I've observed that most, if not all, theme parks/ themed restaurants here in Thailand has the word Love for photo opportunities. Anyways, it's a universal thing :)

The lights were awesome. Such a dreamy place to be in.

There is a light house in the middle of the complex. Guests are able to come up free of charge.

It offers a 360 degree view of the place.

Outside the place was a line of taxis for the customer's convenience. But still we used our Grab Taxi app to get one. While waiting, we took some more photos.

It was an awesome dinner and experience at Chocoville. I hope to come back soon.

Thank you for reading and 'til next blog! :)

Batu Caves

The first thing I wanted to visit in Kuala Lumpur is the Batu Caves. Batu Caves is a limestone hill which is made up of a series of caves and cave temples. Its name was taken from the Batu River which flows past the hill.

We woke up and got out of our guesthouse at around 8am. We then took the KTM Komuter train service from Plaza Rakyat Station  to Batu caves. I cannot remember anymore how much RM we paid to go and back. It was my second out of the country trip and I couldn't figure out trains and their routes yet. After a few mistakes and "deep" thinking (hahaha) we finally figured out what train to ride. It was a  total of 13 kilometer ride with 2 train changes.

Before going down from the train, we were greeted with this view.

We then entered a gate leading us to the grounds. It was a sunny day and it was almost 10am. There were a lot of tourists already ahead of us and so it was getting quite difficult to get photos. There was a huge statue looking like a guard from the gate. Also there was a shrine wherein you have to remove your shoes before you come up to it.

Batu Caves' main attraction is the large statue of the Hindu God at the entrance besides a steep 272 climb. The Hindu God is named as Lord Murugan. It stands proud at a height of  42.7 meters and is made of 250 tonnes of steel bar and 300 liters of gold paint.

There were a lot of pigeons on the grounds. People were feeding them or taking photos of them along with the stunning backdrop. After satisfying ourselves with photos of the view, we then set to climb the stairs. The keeper of the grounds stopped me as I was wearing a dress that did not cover my knees. I had to borrow my friend's scarf to cover my knees.

As we were climbing the steps, my friend was trying to look for fellow Filipinos visiting the place too. He kept on wishing he would hear a Filipino word from someone and meet a "kababayan". We also observed that there were monkeys everywhere. I have read beforehand that these monkeys would try to steal food or drinks from the visitors. We didn't have any but we still tried to get away from them from fear of being bitten. Some monkeys even have their babies with them.

Approaching the caves entrance.

We were able to see limestones and amazing rock formations even at the entrance of the cave. It is said that the limestone which forms the Batu Caves are as old as 400 million years old.

Going further inside, we saw a lot of temples and also stores that sold souvenirs. There was also sound of Hindu music or Hindu prayer all over the place.

The next thing we did was explore the Dark Cave. It was to the left of the larger cave and we found out that there is a Dark Cave Educational Tour.

I forgot how much we each paid for the tour but it was very educational. We had to set our camera to no flash so we can take photos. It really is aptly named as it was so dark inside. I can hear a lot of bats flying somewhere above us. The guide was fantastic and explained well on what species are living and thriving in the cave.

This is the view we were led to at the end of the tour.

After our tour, we went down from the caves and started looking for food. There were a lot of restaurants serving refreshments at the foot of the caves. We chose one establishment that sold pizza and sandwiches. To our surprise, the keeper of the store was a Filipino :) He told us that it was a great time that we visited because it was not the peak season nor the wet season. He also told us that most of the people come to the place to worship and offer to the Lord Murugan as he is famously generous. He asked us if we wished for something when we went up to the caves. Well, coincidence or not, my friend got his wish! 

Thank you and 'til my next blog.

Wandering at Hua Hin

Me and 4 of my friends went to another city last weekend. We left Phuket at 1 am of Saturday and drove a total of 650km towards Hua Hin.

Hua Hin is nearer to Bangkok and is situated less than 200km. It is one of Thailand's premiere beach resort towns making it one of the most popular weekend getaway destination for the city residents. A friend of ours stayed in this place for months and fell in love with it. She speaks highly of it and suggested that we go and visit the place.

Thailand mostly has wide and nice concrete roads because cheap transports are thru buses, mini vans and trains. On our trip, I saw that there were several gasoline stations every 10 kilometers and these are surrounded by convenience stores and food joints open for 24 hours. Although there were parts of the road which was very curvy or no streetlights and very foggy, the drive was pretty much ok. 

We arrived at Hua Hin at around 9am and as our hotel did not allow us to have an early check in (and the staff was quite rude), we went straight to see places we planned to visit while in there. So here's what we did while in Hua Hin:

1. Viewed the Railway Station
     Entrance fee: 0

This station is one of the oldest railway station in Thailand. It's most striking feature is the Royal Waiting Room in Thai architectural design. It stands adjacent to the station and is a favourite spot for picture taking for locals and tourists. The station itself and the place provides a Victorian like feel to anyone walking through the halls due to its concept and design.

Directly opposite the common waiting area is a display of a 305 Unit Baldwin Steam Locomotive. This might be what the first few trains looked like when the railway station was just starting.

This railway station is still active and while we were there we saw people waiting for the next train with their luggages. Bangkok to Hua Hin journey by train is 4 hours, longer than the usual bus but cheaper and with a bit of culture.  Unfortunately, we must have missed the earlier train when we went. I sat and waited patiently for it to come but it didn't. 

2. Had fun at Santorini Park
    Entrance fee: 150THB

Situated in Cha Am, Santorini Park provides the feel and vibe of the picture perfect Greek island. The place featured classic whitewashed buildings, stone paved paths and domed towers.

The buildings housed gift shops and restaurants which were fully air conditioned and a great way to beat the heat from the outside. The rides and games occupied the landscaped grounds. We saw a 40-metre high Ferris Wheel, G-Max reverse bungee and more. These rides had a separate fee. 

Aside from all the rides and (window) shopping, we had our fair share of photos from the picturesque designs and dainty features of the park.

3. Fed sheep at Swiss Sheep Farm
Entrance Fee: 120THB

Just a few kilometers from Santorini is another interesting place to visit: Swiss Sheep Farm. As the name says, it houses a lot of sheep as well as horses for the people to view and feed.

Other activities in the farm include horse (pony) back riding, bull fighting simulation, swing rides, archery and a lot more.

The walkways are not covered and while we were then the sun was burning so hot. I guess it would also be a problem when rain comes. Nevertheless, there were a lot of nice places to have good photos. 

4. Explored Plearnwan
Entrance fee: 0

Before going further, we ate lunch and rested in our hotel. After regaining our energies, we headed to Plearnwan.

Plearn Wan is a unique wooden brown building that has a two-storey courtyard style layout. It houses a lot of stores that offer either food, drinks, shirts or souvenirs. This is where we bought our gifts for our friends back in Phuket.

Aside from food and other stuffs, it also features some fun games which would get winners a chance to own some big and fluffy stuff toys. 

But as losers, still get a lollipop!

5. Shopped at Cicada market
    Parking fee: 0

The night was still young and so we headed to Cicada Market. It was a busy and big market full of trinkets for sale. It is said that this market is all about art, hand made crafts and good times.

I bought my kitty headband there and my friend found a cute casing for her phone.

We were busy taking a look at the different stalls and ended up getting a henna tattoo.

We were so busy and amused with all the market has to offer we didn't realize it was already near closing time. On our way out, we found local bands still playing their songs, artists displaying their artwork and this little boy who was able to make these bottles stand in difficult positions. 

I was not able to take a photo of the boy as he was busy making more of this bottle art.

6. Experienced Venezia

    Entrance fee: 180-480THB

It is another themed shopping mall which is a replica of Venice. It has St Mark's Square, the Bell Tower and gondolas. It was really sunny when we went there which was good for our photos. There was no big crowd when we were there so we had little or no photo bombers.

There were 3 packages to avail upon entrance. We chose package A which consisted of entrance to the mini zoo, mini train ride..

entrance to the 3D art Gallery, Mini Europe and Fontana Di Trevi Park and King + Queen Picture. I don't have a partner when I grabbed the queen's clothes, so this photo only shows me boredly waiting. (hahaha!)

7. Window shopped at FN Outlet Store

     Entrance fee: 0

This was not on our itinerary. The store had advertisements and banner all over the streets of Hua Hin telling people of discounts and low prices and this made us more curious. They offered a lot of brands: Roxy, FN, Quiksilver,Superdry and many more.

The place had 2 buildings and in between this was a bridge with some fountains on it. Feels like a forest in between a big shopping place.

8. Dined at the Beach
    Parking Fee: 20THB

We were hungry after the window shopping and on the way home we were looking for a restaurant on the road side. We tried to search for one and it brought us here in Hua Hin Beach. There were a lot of people and the tables were almost full as it was a Sunday. Lucky we got one table and we ate our hearts out with the delicious Thai food they served.

We had the tastiest Fried Rice with crabs and Tom Yam with chicken.

The atmosphere was so laid back and it would have been nice to lounge on the beach chairs.

There were still a lot on our list that we wanted to do however as we had responsibilities, we sadly bade goodbye to such a lovely and serene place. I hope to come back soon to see and enjoy more of Hua Hin. 

Thank you and 'til my next blog!