Every time we left the hotel it was  like playing a game of dice. We never really knew where we were heading or where we would end up.

Walking along the never ending walls of the grand palace along the busy road where old meets new.

We happen to chance upon the Ministry of Defence headquarter.

Further up was a huge empty and dirty looking field which I found out was the Royal field of Bangkok.

Seemed more like a Parsa Malam to me!

From there we took a tut-tut to Khao San Road

This stretch of road is rather similar to the famous Chatuchak weekend market except that it is opened every day from 7pm  onwards. This was also where we spent most of our evening and nights.

Shopping

Eating Phad Thai.This simple dish is nirvana.

Enjoying  cold drinks  at  the side of the street.

Pretending to be Tut-Tut drivers.

When I was young I remember turning on SCV and seeing this Ang Mo TV presenter eating fried insects and dog meat.

I told myself, “one day I’m going be like him.”

There were so much to choose from I told the vendor. Give me little of everything you had.

My snack for that night while Huda did her medicure. Fried Crickets, meal worms, Bettles and some bugs. Let just say I managed to finish one set of everything before I threw the whole bag away. What a bummer.

Through the weaving traffic and bustling streets we found ourself in Pratunum market which is located very near to the Baiyoke sky hotel.

While crossing one of the bridge pass a canal we saw another unique part of their daily commuting means, The long boats.

We actually hopped onto one thinking it was free because no one were paying anything  BUT just when the boat was moving off the boatman started collecting fares from everyone. We had no idea where we were heading and the signs were all in Thai with very limited english translation. Sensing that there was going to be a communication breakdown between the boatman and me. We hopped the hell out to avoid attracting too much attention. Phew!

Everything in the world has at least one  imitation in Bangkok.

And boy are they proud of it.

There was this one hotel which was so tall we could spot it from almost everywhere we went.

83 storey high up!! Damit I found out clara checked in this hotel recently while in BKK. Bloody hell. Its like saying  eh you pay money to come visit my place ah?  wahahhaaha

It was hard taking a nice and solid shot because the lighting was dope and the top was constantly revolving.

Part 3 will come in awhile. I need inspiration to write la….I’m sick + I’m busy working for my birthday trip to bali with Huda + 101reasons

ANGRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TYPING HALFWAY AND MOZILLA CRASH

KNNCBBBBBBBBB

AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Huda  needed a break from her hectic school and work schedule  while yours truly  needed a holiday for the sake of having one.  haha!

As a matter of fact we had planned this trips some time ago only to be disrupted by unforeseen circumstance(riots in bangkok and my enlistment date). When we finally got everything together that feeling was indescribable.  You know the feeling when you have that urgency to pee in the middle of your sleep but hesitate because you just feel so lazy and when you finally cannot take it and let it all out. that blast of emotions from down under to way up your head. Okay I could have just used the word “relieve” but relieve doesn’t justify the feeling of peeing. Okay nevermind….

Destination: Capital of Thailand, Bangkok

Touched down safely and we were greeted by Thai ladies giving out bags of Lychees in celebration of their fruit festival .

Had some trouble locating our designated driver to the hotel,  dialed some numbers end it with a few Sawadee Kaps and we were good to go. Our hotel the residence Rataeevee was located at Petchburi Rd, right smack in bangkoki itself.

After checking in we headed down to Pantip Plaza IT Mall which was just down the road from Petchaburi Road where our hotel was located.This IT mall is the Thai version of Sim Lim Square in SG.

Ahhh… Aircon plus a nice glass of root beer.

Did I mention the Thais are truely religious people?

Infront of every shopping mall, on top of every building, on the bumper sticker of every car, on the pendant of almost everyone and on the shelves of every single shop. There would be a Shrine, Pendant, Altar or Symbol of some sorts to mark their devotions to their God . Even pedestrian crossing the overhead bridge would stop and bow their head in respect.

With just a map in hand we walked from the hotel to the “orchard road” of Bangkok where Siam paragon, Central World Complex, MBK and Siam Discovery was located. In terms of variety, price range and customer service the thais are on par or slightly better then our local malls.

One thing you will realise after walking through their mall. That the place is huge.When I say Huge I meant huge huge kinda huge.

Imagine this, Vivocity our largest shopping  mall: Total Retail Floor Area of 1.04 Million square feet and Parking lot capacity of 2,179+-

I Googled central world complex and I got these figures : Total Retail Floor Area of 11 Million square feet and Parking lot capacity of 7000+-

BOY thats like asking you to shop around vivocity 11 times, that being said it is only one of the many shopping mall around. Now it make sense why  ladies there are fit like man.

The Thais will tell you, you need 2 red extinguishers and a mighty messy  hose for a sure fire good time

We wanted to discover and  experience  the real and modern  Thailand, not what tour agencies wants us to see.  Since our hotel was within walking distance from their sky train we mostly board the train at  Ratchathewi station and move on to where we wanted to go, fare range  from 10 to 40 baths which is roughly 50 cents to 2 dollars. Reasonable if you ask me.

Their BTS is very much similar from our MRT, infact they still use the old ticketing method we long upgraded ages ago, remember the paper thin red card which we used before EZ-link arrived on our shore.Even right down to the yellow marking on the floor used to direct people to give way and the train map. Sadly that is where the similarity ends. As  economically matured as we are, our social graciousness will hardly be on par with the Thais.

Huda and I were chatting and waiting for the train when  she looked around and started giggling and pulling me away. I realise at that point how tolerant and socially graceful the Thais are, actually standing patiently  in two line leaving the center free for passengers to alight before boarding. We felt so embarrassed, In SG we would normally abide by this rule even if some idiots blocks the center, but amidst our chatter,  this simple act slipped our mind.

Oyea, we were actually standing in between the two line before we realize how embarrassing it was and move on to another cabin.

I couldnt tell what huda was feeling but If I could this would probably be whatever that was going through her mind

Trashy

&  Shitty! (eh dun play skin colour! I lub her deep deep hor)

We  read about a forensic museum in BKK and  manage to pinpoint the location with a map and help from my bro in SG.

Took a Tuk Tuk  to the Chao Praya Ferry terminal

“AHHH TOO FAST!!!! SLOW DOWN!!! NOooooo…”

I seem to have left my smile in Singapore. Must have left it out in my “to bring” itinerary.

This is the clearest picture of all the 4 similar retakes with this damn delicious grilled sotong stall. You do the math and figure out whose photography skill this belong to. hahahha

The Forensic museum is located within the Siriraj Hospital which was behind a bazzaar of some sort.

The hospital was quite confusing and had limited English translated signs to guide us. We had to approach one of the staff for help who in the end brought us there personally.

Camera was forbidden but I accidentally turned it on in my bag and snapped a few pictures in my bag. Since the rule  was  broken, no point continuing abiding by it. I must stress I am a law abiding tourist. Plus I could’t make out the “no camera” sign because I was in Thailand and it could meant a tick instead of a red cross on the symbol which could totally mean YES CAMERA ALLOWED!

SO I took some pictures although the bad lightings and though of getting caught was always in my mind.

This museum is not  the usual museum you would want to visit on a daily basis. Trust me

The following sets of pictures are meant to scare you and make you squim like a girl. O well I did when I was there.

There were skulls injured in car accident by dragging along the road, injuries by burn, and another one suffered laceration from a sharp object. Hhuman hearts, tongues and spleens with gunshot wounds, and also intestines damaged by drinking acid. Gangster fights with slash to the head and M16 gun shots to the heart. All real human being preserved by chemicals.

This is a place for mentally sick people to seek solace. I remember watching clips of  real victims in car crash dying or live beheading by terrorist and ended up slightly paranoid. The Siriraj Forensic museum takes it one step further .

The one on the right only scary when you step on her toe or make fun of her.

Anthracosis of the lung, Coal miners, heavy smokers and RP students who smoke during presentation, a glimpse into your future

Liver stab wound, probably from a improvised toothbrush of sort.

Abortion due to car accident. Placenta still attached to fetus.

Cat got your tounge?

Actually I got caught by the staff  towards the end of my visit because my damn camera didn’t have a function to turn off the snapping sound.  The lady made me delete a  dozen more gruesome pictures from my camera in front of her eyes. While smoking my way pass her on why I didnt read the sign at the entrance I scrolled the opposite direction  in my camera album which shows the pictures taken earlier on at the airport. BAH! only manage to save 5 pictures.

However I just googled and manage to find a few photos of the exact same “subjects”  in the same museum I saw. These “exhibits” or deceased are real and not fake stuff up model. Look closely at their skin and wound laceration and you will know.

Babies who have died from both natural and un natural causes in plastic casing filled with liquid

Gunshot to the head.

Gun shot wound to the head

Severed Tattooed arm

Severed hand with tendon and bone still attached

They had a few more exhibits which are re enactment of the Tsunami victims and how the forensic team did their work.

The mock up were so realistic you would’tn know which was real until you read the description of the situation.

There was one mock up  which showed  life size corpse wrapped from head to top in white cloth which resemble the way deceased are wrapped during a traditional Malay funeral. When I pointed and got Huda’s attention to that. She freaked out and walked straight out of the museum.

I was trying to keep up with Huda  when I saw at the corner of the museum, these dehumidified corpses in a casings. It wrote “rapist, murderer, hanged and dehumidified”

One of them was Si Quey,  executed (by hanging) for the crimes of multiple murders and  multiple rapes. He was then mummified to server as a warning to potential offender.

Prayed to the shrine outside the hospital for good luck for the both of us since it was our first day in Bangkok and  inauspicious on many level to see so many unlucky things.

But truth be told. I did met something later that night that scared the fcuk outta me….

To be continued…

I volunteered myself as a guide for tourist and visitor at  Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve

Midway through Mandai road towards Kranji it started pouring and before long I go caught in a thunderstorm. Boy was it scary trying to evade those trucks in the down pour.

Thoughs of skipping the session went through my helmet and my mind”I could be home sleeping or at work earning money ” BUT  “I’m not in this for money, in fact i’ll only be paid transport fees if I’m lucky. I’m doing this for the fact I am passionate in the bio-diversity around me”

Manage to make my way to the centre and the guy at the counter looked at me and said “wouldnt be out in this weather if I were you”

I swear I would have stuffed my helmet in his mouth if he wasnt wearing the staff T-shirt.

Anyway we took a 3 hour lecture on the local fauna diversity in Sungei Buloh.  Saw a few sleepy heads yawning away. We then proceeded to the outdoor lesson with K.S. Wong, a Old timer and nature activist. He happens to be the only guy in the room to ride other then me. O yea he claims to be a herbivore(vegetarian) but I’m a totally different species, I’m a carnivore! by choice that is

K.S Wong giving us short info on the local mangrove fishes. Aiya I know already. I got fish blood! lai lai skip!

Muddy water at the dam due to torriential rain

Proceeding to cross the first bridge with the rest of the guides.

Sceneries from main hide

Stray dogs which I learn are pests  affecting the wildlife here at Sungei Buloh.

Low tide at platform 1. Conservation actions are already being implemented around here. Fences erected to keep debris  such as paper,plastic cups, clothes, shoes,MasSelamat, lightbulbs,bubble wraps and such from entering the mangroves.

These little bumps are actually common Nerita(mollusc) grazing on algae.

A cotton stainer bug which feeds only on seeds of sea hibiscus trying to act chio to attract me.

Happen to snap a groups of  Homo Sapiens as well.

Green grasshopper, I cant identify which species it belongs to. Can you?

Another ape with a matching body markings  to blend into it’s surroundings. Here you can see him stalking out his prey.

Can you spot the Atlas moth’s catapillar? It’s green and so it camouflages darn well, one of my female guide spotted it and it took me quite some time to spot it.

Fun fact: When adult, it’s wing span measures 12 inches tip to tip(roughly the length of 3  i phones )

This Green crested lizard is native to Singapore.Decided to made a rare appearance when everyone was leaving the area. Only  I manage to spot it in time and snapped this before alerting everyone who came and scare the poor fella off.

White breasted water hen running across the walkway. Funny name huh. Translated in Hokkien: Peh Nei Nei  Zhui kway

O yea when I was in the cubicle peeing I saw something slithering along the sides(the toilets are open concept). Turned out to be a Malayan monitor lizard. Fuuuckanaathannn scare the pee out of me.

After the debrief, where else but back home!

I have a small tank, so small it can fit barely fit a size S open face helmet. In the aquarium trade these tanks are known as Nano tank or cube tank, normally used to house small fishes and shrimps.

I’ve been rearing  Red cherries, Malayan and recently Crystal Red shrimps in the same tank with a  certain degree of success. Red cherries and Malayan are considered entry level shrimps and are not very fussy about the water conditions, Crystal red shrimps on the other hand are notorious for being sensitive to water  changes, PH level and temperature.

Breeders adopt the practice of culling bad genes and put these shrimps through generations of selective breeding resulting in many grades and mutations (aesthetically pleasing but weak) which can fetch high prices all over the world.Just a quick check on the local forum shows that people are willing to pay a neat sum for just a piece of shrimp. I’ve since given up my batch of Crystal red shrimps to Nic who has a dedicated tank to better house those critters as I feel they are simply not my kinda shrimp(weird but call it a hobbyist thing)

While browsing the local aquarium recently i happen to chance across another batch of shrimps,  Unlike their usual dull freshwater cousins, the ones I saw resembles those of the marines species. Colorful with eccentric designs and markings.

Shrimps lover and non shrimps lover alike will  fall in love with  their unique quality.

Did a search online on their whereabouts  and manage to find out that these shrimps are relatively new to the trade and not many hobbyist has manage to garner any success in keeping them alive pass a month much less breeding them in captivity. Price wise they are in the mid range costing around 7 odd dollars per shrimps.

Because these shrimps originated from several lakes of Sulawesi Indonesia. The  water which they lived in  are generally different from those in other parts of asia:

Slightly alkaline (PH): 7.5 to 8.2

General hardness(GH):6

Carbonate hardness(KH): 11

Temp: ranging from 26 to 29 degree Celsius

It got my attention and over the next few nights after the discovery of these shrimps I started to delve deeper and dig out whatever knowledge there is out there about these batch of shrimps. Most of the forummer speak of high death rates with regards to rearing these shrimps, I decided to jump in and take a shot anyway

-Bought fine river sand which is PH neutral

-Coral chips to buffer the GH,KH and PH level up

-Lava rocks to mimic it’s  natural habitat

-Bought API’s GH & KH test kit and borrowed Nic’s PH pen to cover the monitoring cycles

DAY 1-2

Tank’s parameters:

PH:7.3

GH:6

KH:4

Temp:29 degree Celsius

Remarks: cloudy water due to insufficient flow rate from hang on filter

DAY 3

-Hang on filter decided to break down(wear & tear)

-Replaced with BOYU external canister filter

-Original filter medium which was active carbon had been replaced with coral chips bit by bit(to prevent PH swing)

Tank’s parameters:

PH:8

GH:10

KH:6

Temp:29 degree Celsius

Remarks:Water visibility improved and parameters have gone up to desired values.

Added one Cardinal.sp to test the water since parameters shows that theoretically the GH,KH,PH,Temp is already quite close to its original habitat.

Able to spot the little critter?

Will continue to monitor the water and shrimp condition for a few weeks before I make my full commitment to rearing these shrimps

**Npark finally responded to my email and I’ll be going down this saturday to begin my orientation sesssion.woooo!

I was riding home as usual after finishing my morning shift at work.

  Feeling a little tired and bored I decided to check out farmway 3 fishing pond. Actually I was there to recky and evedrop on the regular patrons to learn where the hottest spot in the pond were. Saw a cute dalmatian(dog) walking around…hmmm maybe he was just a white dog with oil stain. Anway this tues night I’ll be down there again with nick and a old kaki to fish!! will bring along some oil busting detergent to clean some pirated doggy… 

Took  mental note of all the productive spots, techniques and types of bait used and boy was I ready to be on my way back home.Turned the airconditioning unit from my bike up to relive myself from the scorching heat. OOoo correction, throttle hard and travel above 90km/hr on the expressway to enjoy the “coolness” of sitting in front a industrial fan without actually sitting infront of one.

While negotiating my turn into Jalan Kayu via  TPE/PIE  this badass of a bike probably doing 110-120km/h  zoomed past me and a few other cars.  Looked to be a yamaha YZF-R6(top speed in the range of 250-270km/h)

After making my turn in and nearing a traffic light I saw the same  bloke waiting for the red light to turn green. I stopped behind him and admired this beauty of  a machine. He looked to his side mirror and I saw a smirk on his face behind his  fugly sunglasses.

light turned green and all i heard was the distinct sound of  clutch engaging,reving engine and screaming exhaust , he was gone leaving the  traffic behind.

While me on my erhem! humble bajaj pulsar(made in india)  just happily rolled along “insert fly me to the moon in slow melodius piano tune”

Rolling to a stop at the next traffic light, mr big bad biker was in front of me waiting for the lights to turn red again.  This time he saw me in the mirror and again gave that smirk. I minded my own business and again he sped off when the lights turned  green.

He took the left lane and was block by a van while I signal right and overtook them both, then suddenly crazy man swerve, overtook the van and sped past me again. I was thinking if I had a car I would have ran him down  

Being the patient person I am, I eased the throttle and again “insert fly me to the moon music”

Arriving at the third traffic light, there he was, the same biker who since exiting the expressway had been trying so hard to shake me off his tail and there he was being stopped by the same sets of traffic light!! I was thinking”omg omg so fun no matter how fast he is I am forever kissing his tail” 

This kept repeating for the next few traffic light, he  would speed off when the lights turned green and at the next traffic light I would see him again.

moral of the story: NEVER MESS WITH THE CHINESE GUY WITH A RED INDIA BIKE! FUYOOO!!! WATAA!!!

I had packed everything into my lagguage. Locks, passport, shampoos,facial wash, camera, clothing, and another 101 things to bring to thailand.

I was suppose to fly into the land of thousand smiles

I was suppose to be caught in a riot.

I was suppose to be where I have no absolute power .

I was suppose to be oggling at chicks with dicks.

I was suppose to snap pictures of army tank running over defiant protesters.

I was suppose to laugh at Huda haggling with aunties at chatuchak market.

I was prepared to get food poisoning from road side food hawker.

I WAS PREPARED FOR A GETAWAY, A TWISTED ADVENTURE WITH RIOTS! GUNS AND BOOZE BUT!!!!

The only thing  I was not prepared for was for a state of emergency.

Went through “international” hell trying to settle the air tickets and insurance for Huda and me.

why international? The people who man these hotlines are from all over the world. I spoke to an American, an Australian, a Phillipino and a  Japanese on seperate calls just to make changes to airline refund, cancellation and postponing the dates.

At least I got to speak to a authetic thai girl

While calling the thai agency to cancel my hotel stay…..

Ever since towards the end of  my poly life, My adventures and misadventures has been in a stalemate.

My life has totally no deadlines except for signing in on time for work. No test to study for, no gila friends to run silly aroud the school, no class politics and gossip. No chasing club member or being chased to be more productive and efficient.

That was what life was about and what I enjoyed the most. My faithful girlfriend(hehe angkat bolah abit lah), club mates, hobbies, friends and school work all mixed  into one hell of a sinful and mind blowing concoction.

On one hand I really want to work  full time and start my career but I guess I have 3 – 4 more months before I get enlisted so whats the point.

Part time work provide my monetary needs but the satisfaction from doing  somthing I love is no longer there.

I did the next best thing.

Satisfy myself!

Volunteered myself as a  guide to Npark  nature reserve. Has always been one in touch with nature,

Regretted not enrolling into the horticulture & landscape management course in NP.  Blame me and my ambitions with a bit of brainwashing by the media and relatives on thriving aviation sector.Fast forward few year, thriving my ass. Large airlines grounding planes and forcing staff to take no pay leaves, maintainence and overhaul sides seemed sluggish. knn even ground handler Swissport are ceasing operation.

Should have gone with my heart and not what I though would be good. Ah the irony, with that kinda though it just becomes a double edge sword.

Just a matter of which side cuts deeper.

Knn better let me through my love..

**singlish translation to keep its humourous content

23rd of june is a bad date

It is also brother’s(young men) elistment date

Waking up early in the morning to catch a cab

Ending up in CMPB(central man power base)

Aiyo aiyo aiaiyo ah Aiyo aiyo aiaiyo ah

Arriving at CMPB

Sergent confiscate our red card(ICs)

Asks me to go in and “check body”

Then he sents me to the ITD(infantry training depot)

Aiyo aiyo aiaiyo ah Aiyo aiyo aiaiyo ah

ITD is three stories high

It is also our bangalow

There is a chair, bed and cupboard

Army top and bottom(uniform) also have

Aiyo aiyo aiaiyo ah Aiyo aiyo aiaiyo ah

black black two stripes is called coporal

black black three stripes is called sergent

Black black three stripes plus a crab

That on is called CSM(COMMAND SGT MAJOR)

Aiyo aiyo aiaiyo ah Aiyo aiyo aiaiyo ah

If sgt has a bad temper

Upstair downstair run till you die

No 3 and No4(refering to the uniform attire)

For nothing you wil change here and there

Aiyo aiyo aiaiyo ah Aiyo aiyo aiaiyo ah

Break of dawn you will train till night

Dig holes pluck grass SOC(standard obstacle course)

The most jialat is running the 5km run

Sometime have to carry casualty

Aiyo aiyo aiaiyo ah Aiyo aiyo aiaiyo ah

One day in the army earn 3 dollars

Two days in the army earn 6 dollars

Three days in the army earn 9 dollars

Call chicken(prostitues) short of a dollars

Aiyo aiyo aiaiyo ah Aiyo aiyo aiaiyo…

Last night while minding my own business in the house I heard a frantic chirping call of a bird. Looked out of my window and I saw a cat with a baby bird underneath its paw.  Rushed out immediately to chase the cat away and manage to rescue this baby bird from turning into cat food.

My guess is that the recent pruning of trees by town council has cause this baby bird to fall from its nest which it survived and unfortunately attracted the local puss in boots. Could also be that it failed its first lesson of flight.

Anyway we decided to adopt this poor xiao niao and to do so we had to create a nest!

Chris made the “nest” while I did the tricky part of trapping the bird.Actually all i did was chase it into a plastic bag with a twig, heyyy for a bird brain like me that is pretty hard work!

Hope little birdie here recover soon and lives to fly in a few weeks to tells his birdy community how well we treated him and to stop stealing the little fishies in the pond outside my house.

Chris Suggested I start dressing up as a mother bird to avoid scaring the shit out of this baby bird.

Dun be so niao can!

I can safely say I can live without the internet. Infact the number of times I’ve logged on to my MSN, facebook, friendster, blog etc..  can be counted with all the dangling parts of my human anatomy(toes and fingers).

Partly the reason why is because personally I believe people who get too caught up being online, blogging,gaming or updating their online social network are too damn free.

Imagine freeing up all that time you spent in cyberworld, a huge chunk of that time could be spent somewhere else, on something that etches itself into your memories.

Maybe part of the reason why I am spending lesser time at home is because of this:

My new ride!

Maybe its the wind in your face or the torque and power beneath you as you twist the throttle round the bend. Whatever it is, its in my blood.

Actually almost everyone I spoke to was agaisnt me riding a bike.  Well Since I was a kid I have been a sucker for two wheelers. I practically grew up with bikes. My dad is a bike fanatic himself and has probably rode more bikes then the amount of underwear I changed.

Well, my riding stlye is pretty simple. Safety first and always arrive at your destination in one piece.

There is something else about riding your own bike. Responsibility of your life and that of others. Paying for your own petrol,getting your first summon, fetching your soulmate from work etc. It feels great. I actually flashed a smile and rushed back home to break the news that I got my first summon of $8 for parking without a valid coupon.

Just graduated with a diploma and currently waiting for NS, the ’stint’ at NDU was an eye opener and for all I know, not everyone has the privilege to join the ranks. Been working hard and playing pretty hard to make sure the last of my teenagers years are worth bragging about to my kids and grandchildren in the future.

Imaging sitting on your rocking chair telling your kids about how during your younger day you were part of a clan in WOW and you slashed a level 55 mage with a toothpick you found in the land of teletubbies and you played gunbound and some virtual pet game which you found a series of bug and exploited to gain points. Shudders

Till then cya!