Re-discovering Bangkok

It has been full 2 years since I last visited Bangkok with my buddy Kenneth staying at Khao San Road. I went elsewhere like Vietnam, Cambodia & Laos to explore new things, new inspirations. Took up some photography courses this year and aim to re-look at things differently, no longer using old lens. Visited Bangkok, City of Angels again during this year's Christmas - to re-discover Bangkok from a different angle, and also to visit Hua Hin - a place that I want to visit for a while liao....

Life in Hua Hin is simple and less crowded as compared to other popular beaches in Thailand. A five-hour train ride (or three-hour bus ride) brought me there. A small town, friendly people and beach boys and girls. Woke up at 5 am, standing by the sunrise at Hat Hua Hin, strolling to Fishing Port to catch activities of locals. Sand castles - seem to be "missing" from our beaches lately....guess the younger ones back here spend more time in front of squarish box than the nature.

Dogs are many in the streets especially near the fishing port. Gotta to be careful as they look fierce and unfriendly, not like snoopy. I am very wary of pack of dogs grouping at a corner...they have strong sense of territorial boundary, and I dun want to use my camera to defend myself... :P

Flower market has been one key attraction of Bangkok. Again, with my "buddy", I woke up early in the morning (not 6 o'clock), and rushed down to the market to see the local in action. Alighting at Memorial Bridge, I went around the streets, filtering scents from the bouquet of roses, lilies, and early fumes from vehicles. Probably it is still "wee hours", I cant help the urge to crawl back into my bed after spotting a fellow vendor sleeping by his booth :P.

Visiting local ferry piers is also one of my agenda this round. Many piers are well-known to travellers and the classic is Sapan Thaksin - the ticketing station. I decided to stay at other piers to catch sunset of Bangkok along Chao Phraya River. Actually, the views of other piers are quite beautiful too, seeing more of the locals, less of the tourists. It is this experience, the experience of encounter with locals that normally add the extra spices to the memories.

Amusing - I was standing by Wat Arun in the evening, trying to catch sunset from a different view point. I heard a lady (later I know she was Sarah from Croatia) running to and fro finding exit point. After my capture of shots, I realised the entrance/exit points have been LOCKED! So, end up, pairing Sarah finding the way out. We have to meander around the temple compound, asking whoever we have met the way out to the pier. (Take note: The door to pier closes around 1730hrs!!!) I felt like "role playing" computer games (Gosh, cant even remember the names of the Games I played....really), searching the way out with Sarah.



Already said it was supposed to be a Christmas trip in Bangkok...so I will add a Christmas tree to end this blog. "World Trade Centre" at BKK has been transformed since the last 2 years. Can or cant recognise? It was one of my buddies' fav spot when we visit BKK....but it was soon losing its charm to MBK and other centres until lately. Crowds are coming back, I guess, when I compared with the crowd 2 years ago when I was there.
Bangkok, it has been a common travelling place for my buddies and me. We went there many times, the first was with Thomas, Dave, Kenneth and myself, the 2nd was with Alex, Kenneth, Dave and myself, the 3rd was with Kenneth at Khao San Road....and this round it is only me....

Many buddies are married and going to get married (Patrick?), I guess I will still spend some time with my "wife" (my DSLR) before thinking, or really thinking of settling down. Travel Photography is just like a relationship, it takes efforts and much time to understand and observe, and discover the unseen beauty. You need to take care of the tools and equipment and make sure all the batteries and accessories are available in order to take the best shots. By the word "Travel", you need to move around and search....the right spot, the right picture, the right timing, the right ISO..... I like the quote from "Practical Photography" and I re-adapt "When I look at my beautiful girl, I think F8 at 1/125....."
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

十一月的阿里山 云海 日出

Nov 07 - Started my backpack to Taiwan. I have heard that going to Alishan is a must if one wants to announce that he has been to Taiwan.

I only heard of the famous Alishan Song but I have never seen pictures of the forest or even know how to get there. So, I have made it one of my key sites for this tour - have even extended to 3 days 2 nites to ensure I know the story of the famous Alishan.

阿里山, 网路都说要在祝山看日出，要看云海. I determined to catch 2-day sunrise (this means waking up at 4 am daily) in case of unpredictable weather. I was told some people travelled many times but have no chance to see the sunrise and sea of clouds.

A tour guide mentioned the difference about sunrise in Alishan - he explained that the colours of the sunrise are different during the four seasons. I have checked the website and found out that at Alishan " 一年四季日出的地點與時間都不同". Something that strikes me is the comment the guide mentioned. "Why do we want to catch the sunrise in Alishan?". While I was still trying to strain my memory cells on the "reasons" ranging from the Japanese occupation of Taiwan to the common saying of "jumping" sun during sunrise.... I wanted to capture the sunrise, capture what many people have been talking about the Alishan sunrise .......then I realise I am actually following the "crowd".

其实, 要拍好照片，　需要了解要去的地方，有了故事，　才能捕捉一般人看不到的东西．

Discovering Laos 了解寮国

I went backpacking again in Aug 07 to a new destination ~ Laos. Travelling to Laos currently is still not one of the popular places among the travel agencies here, but it is really a place worthy of a visit.

I used to have the impression of Laos as similar to rural parts of Vietnam and Thailand - bicycles, stray dogs and also Cambodia - these are the places that I have backpacked mah.

Discovering Laos, or more aptly, re-discovering Laos was really my fruits of this backpack trip. There are bikes, tuk-tuks, cars (foreign makes too) and well-groomed dogs roaming along the streets. People are pretty and friendly, greeting using "Sabai Dee" when you meet any one of them. The Laos language has some common terms in phassay thai too, but not totally same as some may perceive. Vientiane and Luang Prabang give me a very different feel. Vientiane is the capital, but really a quiet capital while Luang Prabang provides a wider range of activities including excursions to different places of interest. Peaceful, warm, relaxing - are the 3 keys words for me - and really fit to my backpacking itinerary. Food - "sticky rice" is something to try and it is like glutinous rice back here lor.

重新了解寮国. 重新认识她. 为了捕捉不一样的画面, 用SD/CF cards 说出寮国的故事, 我得research lor.

不在家的时间不长, 但对她的认识不少, 只要细心观察, 同样可以看出别人看不出的美, 记录不一样的人生经验.

攀龙胜梯田 - 十一月的梦

Went GuiLin & Yangshuo last year in Nov. A bit "retro" but was thinking of sharing today a passage that I submitted to "My Paper". It was a sort of travel diary which captured the thoughts of "travelling" - Not at Home kinda feelings.

山是龙的脊, 田是登天的梯.

十一月广西背包行程中, 我穿插了一游著名的金坑梯田的美梦. 对于从来没有亲身体验梯田的我, 最想拍下在烈日下发光的金黄色的稻田, 希望收割季节还没过, 能圆我的梦. 除此之外, 对与居住在那儿的壮族, 瑶族, 我也好不好奇.

龙胜金坑梯田有三个观景台, 一般得花两天时间攀爬, 沿途欣赏风景. 虽然收割已过, 梯田如链似带, 高低起伏, 小山似螺, 大山如塔, 还是令人难忘. 从高高的观景台望下, 梯田顶所形成的图案, 好像立体星图, 想象力强的背包者可以数数星星, 还可看到月亮. 据我们入宿红瑶族大寨的红瑶族[余阿姨]介绍，那儿叫七星伴月.

在龙胜梯田–吸收了不少新鲜空气,尝到了土生土长的稻米和蔬菜,感觉就好像吃到了刚捕到的海鲜酿成的日本寿司.听[余阿姨]数说耕田的过程与看到红瑶族姑娘们挑水种田的勤奋,令人更能体会[粒粒皆辛苦]的道理.

龙胜的开发,让不懂梯田的人了解梯田,也让生活在梯田的人,以拥有梯田为荣

徒步寒山寺枫桥

张继《枫桥夜泊》

月落乌啼霜满天，江枫渔火对愁眠。

姑苏城外寒山寺，夜半钟声到客船。

【枫桥】在江苏苏州市西枫桥镇　　

【对愁眠】舟中旅人相对难寐　　

【姑苏】苏州的别称

Not very good in Chinese Poems - However, the above poem has been one of my mum's favorite. In a way, got to know it during my CL1 class too. 一直以为寒山寺在高山上... 原来寒山是个人名. Interesting discovery =P, was still worried that the climb to the temple would take much efforts for my family, and it ended up an easy walk.

Tour guide corrected a mis-conception many people have about 江枫. The 枫 is the name of a bridge there, not related to a tree or even "wind" due to the same pronounciation.

My friend's wife J mentioned seeing my collection of Jiang Nan photos reminded her of this poem, as well as JJ's song. Didnt rem clearly the lyrics of JJ's song, so flipped through the web sites to take a look at the lyrics. A few portions did have a stronger impact ~

"风到这里就是粘, 粘住过客的思念

雨到了这里缠成线, 缠着我们流连人世间

....

你走得有多痛痛有多浓, 当梦被埋在江南烟雨中, 心碎了才懂"

JJ walked through several cities/towns before writing his album and this song. I rem at the West Lake Museum, some students were talking about how JJ wrote this song. I cant recall what exactly said, but I can agree that a trip to 江南 will be rewarding for its culture, its history, its romance...... appreciate the beauty of 江南.

Lunar New Year in Jiang Nan, China

江南 - 就想起水乡, 美景. 这次没有背包, 陪同社团, 不用安排, 也可放轻松. 一向不听导游说话, 只顾看风景的我, 这次有点不同.

他讲的故事, 顺口溜非常丰富又有趣 . 一则是有关牵手:

牵到情人的手，一阵温暧在心头。
牵到小姨子的手，后悔当初娶错婆。
牵到老婆的手, 就像左手摸右手，
一点感觉也没有。


Initially, I thought he might "offend" tour group - especially the loving couple. There is actually some rationale or "deep thoughts" behind this saying. "Air" or "Water" that we need - normally is so common or nothing special. But they carry gr8 value in our lives. Married couples, no matter how young or old, may become "common" after some time. However, just like water and air, they are in a way become unseparable or forming a loving and unbreakable bond.

Extracted from a passage I read in a blog ~ 夫妻就像两只手，左手和右手，他们一生朝夕相伴，也许没有浪漫，正如人对空气感觉不到它的存在，可你却离不开它。那是一种亲情的相依，那是一种平凡的美，失去了其中任何一只手，都不会是和谐完整的美，只有相互牵手，才是最美。

夫妻之间手拉手，就像左手牵右手；没有激情有踏实，平平淡淡到永久。