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Been a while.....

Been a while since I last posted on this blog....actually I have been updating my other 2 blogs: 'Accidental Singapore Tourist' blog at http://accidentalsingaporetourist.blogspot.com/ and 'Out of Norm Travels' blog http://outofnormtravels-magty.blogspot.com/ as they relate to my travels within and outside my home country, Singapore.

Well, besides travelling (which I absolutely LOVE), I have decided to embark on a different take to my photography by signing up with stock agencies to do stock photography as I am hoping to get some returns on my photography at canstockphoto (my link is 'MTY': http://www.canstockphoto.com/MTY). This is definitely something out of my comfort zone and I am happy to report that I am finding more joys in taking this path! Do hop over if you require some stock photos!

Besides this 'bold' venture of taking on stock photography, I have also decided to try my hand at photography retail. It all started with an order to OLLOCLIP (www.olloclip.com) which spurred me on to take a small box at Toy Outpost at Raffles Place MRT Singapore (www.toyoutpost.sg). Now besides the Olloclip, I am also retailing my own camera inspired items like postcards, stickers and luggage tags. Do drop by if you are around the area for some unique gift items! Click on this LINK to find out more!

Thanks for dropping by!

More stories about my travels in Thailand....

Story posted on Hua Hin Wine Country

Story posted on Farms in Thailand

Plearnwan - Hua Hin Bangkok

Who would have thought that a memory trip can be achieved in Bangkok - in no less than a place called "Plearnwan" in Hua Hin, just outside Bangkok. This place is frequented more by local Thais than tourists as almost everything is in Thai (that's the usual practice outside of Bangkok).

What makes this place special? Well, imagine a slice of 60s-70s re-created from the music, food and the furnishings. The entire place is constructed in wood, just like the ol' days. Here's a pic of the amazing entrance:

There are food stalls lines up waiting to satisfy your hunger pangs - although the food are still made in the traditional hand-made way (which means you have to wait a while for the food to be ready):

Sit-down eateries along the walkway also satisfy the taste-buds and stomachs of hungry travelers - this dish is essentially fried eggs (fried to crisp):

Memorabilia from the 60s dot the entire place with old promotional screens jostling for precious space with the old barber's chair:

Even old cups and food containers (tingkats) have their day to bask in the glory of the ol' 60s:

For those game for an overnighter, lodgings can be arranged at a motel that's conveniently located just above the main walkway:

Don't forget to bring back some souvenirs (how about some cool looking T-shirts or a handmade sugar rose) before heading back to never-sleeping Bangkok!

Have a fun day-trip there!

Pics from Santana Concert March 2011 (BKK)

Time flew by from July 2010 to Jan 2011....

Time has certainly flew by - I just realized that my blog has not been updated for the past few months from July 2010 all the way to what is now Jan 2011 (some 7 long months!)

What have I been up to all these months? Well, I believe the reason for my absence from this blog is my latest love, photography. Hopefully this love will last for a longer time compared to my jewelery & bellydance loves which are about 2 years + each. I have also completed my Basic and Advanced Level DSLR courses as well as the Travel photography course (all at Knowledge Bowl). Did some museum walks ranging from The National Museum, Asian Civilizations Museum, Singapore Art Museum, The Peranakan Museum, Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research (that was a mind-boggling expedition), Mint Museum of Toys to Singapore Philatelic Museum. Did some reservoir photos (mainly at MacRitchie & Seletar). Visited Bangkok 2x in Nov & Dec 10. Many of my escapes are blogged in http://accidentalsingaporetourist.blogspot.com/ or uploaded in http://jpgmag.com/people/magteoyong

iPad phenomenon

I got that iPad last Friday- actually hub went to q with a friend & ended up getting one as well :) I have been checking out the apps that I can put into my iPad & found that several of my fav apps (ie games) cannot be uploaded into my iPad as they aren't HD ready....the iPhone apps basically looks that same size when you upload it on the iPad. Here's a screenshot of my 2nd page iPad screen so far...

Considering that I have 12 pages of apps in my iPhone, 2 pages on the iPad is actually quoter manageable & with few HD ready apps, I actually uploaded apps that aren't in my iPhone e.g. Reuters, Forbes, BBC, Times etc...

What I LOVE about the iPad? Its weight wins hands down. It's even lighter than the usual book & even my net book & needless to say, my (ex) MacBook......it also wins for the screen size which is frankly much larger than the net books & of course less bulky with the option of landscape views....

What I dislike about my iPad? When I first got it, it was the fact that I had to upgrade my MacBook cos of the higher operating system required. But then my hub got an iMac so that dislike quickly went away once we got that beauty into the house on Sunday:) now, the peeve is the lack of accessories in the shops - specifically the camera kit. I gave up on the local stores getting it so I just went online. I can't wait for my camera kit to arrive from US so that I can try it out when doing my shots for my other blog "Accidental tourist in Singapore"....

Wish me luck!

Chinese Tingkat Tour 2010 (Singapore Food Festival)

Make your own free picture collage

Collage of the pictures taken on a Chinese bumboat taken last Friday to have a short boat ride along Singapore River. Part of the Singapore Food Festival activity where a menu of traditional Chinese Dialect food is served in a special container called "tingkat". The food sampled include nice little treats like Teochew Carrot Cake, Hainanese Chicken rice balls, Cantonese fu chok tong shui, Fried Hokkient mee & Hakka soon kueh.

Farewell to Bhutan

When I wrote this, I was sitting in Paro airport waiting to board the only flight out of Bhutan to Bangkok ETD 1150am.

My room-mate asked me this morning if I am happy to leave Bhutan. I replied that I am neither happy or sad to leave as although I have enjoyed my 8 full days of travelling in Bhutan, I am grateful for the experience yet thankful to be back home soon in Singapore.

My most memorable experience in Bhutan is the sight of Tiger's Nest or Taktshang Monastery in Paro. I opted for a horse ride up to the holy place which is some 45mins-1hr by walking. It was an enjoyable albeit sometimes nerve wreaking experience as the horse tended to trot along the cliff edge as it goes up the mountain side.

What was special for me to lay eyes on the monastery is that it has come to represent Bhutan to me. In almost every literature about Bhutan, a picture of this monastery will be shown. It really looks like it is etched along the cliff; perched precariously against it almost as if it was about to drop off the cliff side. I walked up to the 2nd viewpoint at 3140m to enjoy the view of the famous landmark before heading down to the cafeteria at 2940m for lunch. Here’s my fav pictures of the Taktshang Monastery:

After the walk downhill back to where the bus waits, the group decided to head down to Paro town for a quick 1.5hr shopping. I purchased some trinkets in the form of silver boxes, containers. I also managed to get some rare 3D stamps of the various festival masks used in Bhutan. This was an enjoyable little excursion for me.

After heading back to the hotel, I arranged for a relaxing hour of massage with the help of the guide, Tsenchou from one of the shop in town. It was definitely expensive at USD50 but I really needed some help with the pain in my calves!! I guess it is largely due to the non stop walking for the past few days especially the trekking part for close to 1000m.

What won't I miss about Bhutan? The flies or rather those that tend to fly into your nose/ mouth when you walk up to the monasteries or along the trek.

Save for the little peeve, Bhutan is a place that is just as I imagined - the rural untouched & gorgeously beautiful Shangri-la.

Bhutan Trek from days 5-7 in Bhutan i.e. 16-18 June 2010

The guidebook said that trekking in Bhutan offers the best opportunity to experience the “real Bhutan”. I cannot agree more although it was definitely the most challenging part for me personally for the whole trip. I think the altitude didn’t help with the “mini expedition”. I could hear the thumping of my heart throughout the entire 7 hours or so trek on the 1st day and will totally agree with my pre-trip assessment that this part of the trip is and will be a “once in lifetime experience” for me.

The trek started at Haa valley. This place is, according to the guidebook, only opened to tourists on 2001. We arrived in Haa valley after a drive through the Chele-la Pass from Paro which is also the highest drivable road in Bhutan at 3810m.

The town of Haa is essentially a training camp for Bhutan army by the Indian army. Wheat is grown here instead of rice as its elevation is higher than Paro at 2670m.

The start of the trek is from a place called Kajena where we met with our trekking crew of 8 including a 13 year-old (!!) horseman. The crew basically helps to set up camp, cook & serve meals. All the personal gear, tents, kitchen & foodie carried by 7 horses.

On the way to the camp, we stopped for lunch at a meadow that was a nice retreat from the heat that was unexpectedly accompanying me along the trek (together with the flies and little bugs). I discovered that I actually don't enjoy trekking as it is really tough on my body, legs, knees and breathing especially at high altitudes.

Even though camping is something I quite like (maybe from my guiding days), camping in the cold and staying awake because of the cold is really not any fun for me as well.

On the 2nd day of the trek, instead of another trek, I chose to stay in camp and didn't do anything much except sleeping away my headache. I only started to wander around 3 pm by taking about an hour's walk around the campsite area. Here’s the picks of the trek photos (mostly taken using PnS):

Me pointing to the location of the end of my trek - base camp!!

16Jun10_HaaValley_Luxury Tent

17Jun10_HaaValley_Campsite

17Jun10_HaaValley_CookTent

HaaValley_Campfire

What I love about the trek period was the silence and sitting around the fireplace at the evening after dinner. The food cooked by the chef was a good eat and welcoming especially in the cold.

I managed to see the Blue Poppy, the reason for the arduous trek on the evening of day 2 and a whole meadow filled with them on my way down from base camp back to Haa valley on day 3 (18 June 2010). It was a gorgeous sight. According to the guidebook, the Blue Poppy only grows in the altitude of 3500-5500m and only blooms after May and before July every year. Here’s my fav picture of Bhutan’s national flower.

HaaValley_BluePoppy

Bhutan trip 11-20 June 2010 - Days 3 & 4

Frankly, my 3rd day in Bhutan passed by in a blur. I recall visiting the Khamsum Yuelley Namgyal Chorten (Stupa) on the morning after a 1 hour or so hike. After that, we stopped over at the Punakha Dzong, reputedly one of the most famous dzongs in Bhutan before heading down to a temple dedicated to Drukpa Kunley, popularly known as the Divine Mad Man that spread Buddhism through unorthodox methods. People in that area usually have phalluses adorn their walls as a means of reminding themselves of him. My fav shots for each of the sights for Day 3:

14Jun10_Punakha_KhamsumYulleyNamgyalChorten

14Jun10_Punakha_KhamsumYulleyNamgyalChorten_WayUp_Padi

14Jun10_Punakha_Dzong

14Jun10_Punakha_Dzong_Monks

14Jun10_Punakha_ChimeLhakhang

14Jun10_Punakha_ChimeLhakhang_OntheWayUp_Lady

14Jun10_Punakha_DivineMadman_Shop_Way Up

Day 4 was not any better for me as I think I am still adjusting to the altitude differences in all the places that I was travelling to. From Punakha, we travelled back to Paro before heading for Haa Valley via the Chele-la pass, which at 3812m (although the itinerary said over 4000m) is the highlest drivable road in Bhutan. We stopped over at the National Institute for Zorig Chusum in Paro for a quick tour round the school who conducts classes for aspiring artisans. I cannot but be awed by their skill and patience as some take 6 years just to graduate from their art before they can venture out to practice their skill. Mind you, one false line drawn or wrong knock on the wood equates to a discarded item! Commendable!!

15Jun10_Thimphu_NatlInstChusum_Embroidery

15Jun10_Chele-laPass_Monks

Till the next post.....

Bhutan trip 11-20 June 2010 - Day 2

I woke up in Thimphu on day 2 in Bhutan. I took a walk along Thimphu town before morning breakfast and sighted many colorful Buddhist motifs (usually the 8 lucky symbols) painted on the pillars and buildings. I do think Bhutan has the prettiest petrol stations and bridges as even those are painted all over!! My fav shots with a monk walking along the painted bridge and the most beautiful petrol station...

Part of the Sunday morning was spent at the weekend market. I managed to get a nice scarf cum belt for US10. A bridge links between the handicraft and the wet market sections. All of Thimphu's residents purchase their fresh produce for the week at the wet market section. The fresh produce market gives a nice authentic feeling to the whole place to save it from being too touristy. Here are my fav shot (1) Lady I got my scarf cum belt from (2) Bridge the links the 2 sections

We had a quick stop at the Takin Preserve to take a look at the adult and baby Takin, the National Animal of Bhutan before continuing upwards to a scenic spot filled with prayer flags for a bird’s eye view over Thimphu. Frankly, the prayer flags is to me, what is unique about Bhutan and countries in the Himalayan regions as somehow when you see the prayer flags, I am reminded about the place and how its religion is inter-twined with the country. Here’s my fav shot of the prayer flags:

A quick stop-over at a nunnery dedicated to a Tibetan saint called “Iron Bridge Builder” before proceeding down to Punakha, another 3 hour drive from Thimphu. Along the way, we passed by Dochu-la which is at 3050m elevation. Had a tea stop near the 108 chortens where I tasted (and didn't like) butter milk tea. I will have 2 nights’ rest over at Meri Pusuam, a quaint little hotel on a hill at Punakha Valley.

That's the end of my 2nd day. Till my next blog entry!!

Bhutan trip 11-20 June 2010 - Day 1

I woke up at 3a.m. in Bangkok for a 3.50a.m. checkin for the 5.50a.m. flight using Bhutan’s national carrier, “Druk Air”, the only flight that travels from Bangkok to the only airport in Bhutan that is in the area of Paro. We touched down in Paro at 750a.m. Bhutan is 1 hour behind Bangkok i.e. 2 hours behind Singapore.

The touchdown was fairly exciting as the plane had to navigate through a maze of the mountains and valleys and flight path was almost in a zigzag manner. I managed to get exciting birds-eye view of the flight path.

For the first few moments after touchdown, passengers like me was busy taking photos of the exquisite airport with the intricate carvings and paintings. Immigration for 11 pax took some time as there was only 1 copy of the group visa for us to gain entry into the country. Here’s my fav shot of the airport.

According to the pilot in our group, the flight path to Paro including its runway is very special as it is very short and high using plain old visual flight rules i.e. pilot must be able to see the runway before landing and the surrounding hills before takeoff. This means that no flights can be operated at night or in poor visibility.

My first impression of Bhutan was that it was certainly a lovely country – filled with rolling mountains as far as the eye can see, clean crisp air (as long as the trucks do not blow their exhaust in your face), warm sunshine (although frankly, it was much hotter than I expected) and the bluest of sky.

Throughout the trip, I was guided by Mr. Tsencho who was impressive with his English speaking skills and knowledge of Bhutan. It was thus not surprising for me that I later found out that he is the representative of Bhutan’s travel agents and involved in discussions with the government covering tourism sector. His assistant (Pelden) also spoke English very well.

After stopping for some aerial shots of the Paro airport, we stopped by the National Museum of Bhutan. BTW no photography in the museums, dzongs, temples so I have no photos related to that…. I noticed all the walls and pillars (both outside & inside of the building) are adorned with carvings or paintings. The National Museum has an interesting collection of both mythical and historical items where items supposedly used by spirits, deities and those of more modern creations like famous Bhutanese philatelic collection stamps where 3D stamps, record playing stamps are displayed. I was so fascinated by their stamps that I got my own set of 3D stamps on the last day of my travels.

What was intriguing was that all the work is mainly done by hand i.e. the paintings on the houses were painted by artisans directly on its walls after using stencils to draw outline using white powder. Paintings (murals) on the temple walls were done on canvas 1st after measuring the size of the walls from top to bottom. In the early days, painting was done using natural dyes which needed to be repainted 10-12 years. In the past, paintings were only done on houses owned by wealthy folks but it gradually became more popular. Many of these artisans were trained by the National Institute.

Bhutan is located in the earthquake zone so there are regulations to state that houses cannot be higher than 3 floors. In other words, no high rise to block the spectacular views!

The guide explained that education is free for Bhutanese. English is learnt from young together with the Bhutanese language. Even the small children speak excellent English!

As I was holding onto my newly purchased DSLR, he advised us to ask for permission before taking a photo of a person by saying "kuzuzangbo la" or “hello” in Bhutanese & the “la” added as a sign of respect. I am pleasantly surprised that somehow, when I made the greeting, a smile will be reciprocated especially from a child. It appears that photography is very much still a novelty in Bhutan. To me, this is surprising as there really aren’t many countries that come to my mind when considering this. I am particularly intrigued by the children's faces as it is apparent that innocence can be seen in their faces. The guide also shared that Bhutan does not have aging issues as a normal family will generally have 3 children.

Here’s my favorite shot of the Bhutan children.

Here’s my favorite dog shot as r

oaming dogs are a common sight in Bhutan’s streets. I read that it is partly because Bhutanese, being devout Buddhists, do not believe in killing animals. They are generally seen everywhere sometimes in packs of 5-6 but there was never a time that I saw an aggressive dog in Bhutan. Perhaps the zen-ness of Buddhism got to them as well!

Another common sight is the prayer wheels. Some are even generated by hydraulics where water is used to turn the prayer wheel. You can hear the prayer wheel as it touches the bell whether due to human effort or water action…remembering the sound resonates of Bhutan….

Before a drive from Paro to Thimphu, we chanced upon an archery competition at the side. Archery is a national sport in this country with the young playing alongside the old. I saw quite a few Bhutanese undertaking archery throughout my trip. With the target at 140m away, it’s definitely not easy to hit the target! Nearby was a group of singers and dancers akin to cheerleaders for the team. I spent a delightful time watching the archery and here’s my favorite shot of an elderly archer.

The drive took me along the windy Bhutanese roads – unfortunately, the mode of transport for the next few days will be road as there is essentially no other means of going from one place to another....either that, or by foot…..

After a 2 hour drive, I checked into the headrest at Thimphu before heading down to the National Memorial Chorten (Thimphu) for some sightseeing. There were many elderly people chanting near the prayer wheel section. The guide explained that Buddhism believes in reincarnation and as such, the elderly (after the elderly are too old to work on the fields, they usually congregate at the chortens/ dzong (temple) to pray for the past, present and future for themselves and their family. He also explained that for Buddhists, one has to walk in a clockwise direction around the chorten or dzong as it is said to be a ritual that was conducted by the attendees of Buddha after he attained enlightenment. At the Memorial Chorten, I saw a few old ladies grinding their betel nuts. They exhibited great spirit and gamely offered some of their betel nuts for us to try. They were also very open and happy to allow us to take their photos. Here’s my favorite shot of the ladies.

That's the end of my 1st day. I will definitely come round to penning down other parts of my Bhutan trip...well then, till my next blog entry!!