Wishing all my Friends "Happy New Year 2010!"

As we live this last day of the year,

hopefully smiling from ear to ear.

Be it a year of tears or fears,

be it a year of happy cheers.

We've come to the last day of the year.

Seems like just a blink of eyes,

we talked about polar cap of melting ice.

See how time always flies,

just like the sea level will come to rise.

We've come to the last day of the year.

Good bye 2009, Welcome 2010!

This will be my special prayer,

to everyone of my visitor here.

May you be blessed with health & wealth,

may joy be around you & the ones you love.

Peace to the World of human race,

God save the Polar Bears too!

Please let the World be fill with Hope,

let there be nothing we cannot cope.

Happy New Year 2010!

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Wishing all my Friends a very joyous Christmas 2009!

Dear friends and visitors to my blog,

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who helped me make this a good year. Merry Christmas to you and your family! Cheers!

Remember..if you drink, don't drive! ;)

Mr Chiam See Tong celebrates 25 years as Member of Parliament

Yesterday evening, I attended a dinner to celebrate Mr Chiam's 25 years as an MP for Potong Pasir. My whole extended family lived in the squatters of Potong Pasir more than 30yrs ago and I had very vague memories of the zinc-roofed house with a large square well in front of it. We had moved out to Ang Mo Kio and I believe when I was about 9 years old, that was about the time Mr Chiam 1st became the Member of Parliament for Potong Pasir(and for 6 consecutive elections).

Workers' Party had at least a table for the event,but I went with my family members. I was there early and by the time I entered the function's location at 7.30pm,most of the more than 1000 seats at dinner tables were filled up.

There were the traditional Lion & Dragon dancers and also Malay dancers awaiting patiently for Mr Chiam's arrival. Initially there was a false alarm and everyone behind stood up to try to get a glimpse of Mr Chiam when they thought he had arrived.
As the minutes trickled past 8pm, my sense of anticipation grew and I could not sit still at my table anymore. Instead, I decided to go join the crowd that had formed up at the cul-de-sac to welcome the MP. Every vehicle that drove past was subjected to the full scrutiny of the crowd who were expecting to see a Volkswagen Beetle. The surprise for me came when I was told Mr Chiam was walking over. I can see a group approaching from about 300 metres from where I was standing and I just ran forward..

I was feeling a few mixed emotions when I saw the above scene:

Unlike other MPs who usually turn up at functions late in their posh cars,this MP made me feel like its worth the wait.

Unlike the moment when I saw him won the Potong Pasir seat when I was about 9 yrs old, now at 74 years of age, Mr Chiam looks older than his age..the 25 years on my dinner ticket is not just a mere number.

Unlike other MPs who may need to surround themselves grassroots people in case of kerosene attack(s), all Mr Chiam requires is his wife to hold his hand and walk the way with him..I also feel at that moment that should there be any crazy fellow approaching with kerosene,he'll have to talk to my fists 1st..

I felt like part of a paparazzi team when I squeezed the shutter amongst the many other photographers..but I made very sure that he got ample space to walk freely while I took the photos.

As Mr Chiam approached the cul-de-sac,the crowd of awaiting residents rushed forward to give him a warm welcome. This was also the moment the Lions & Dragon and dancers roared to live under the furious beats of drums. The whole situation just reminded me of a rally on the night before the last election day where his supporters followed him all the way from the rally to Potong Pasir Town Council chanting his name.

Since most of the guests are residents of Potong Pasir, you can feel how much love and respect the residents have for their MP for the past 25 years.

When he gave a 10 minute speech on the stage, what I was most impressed with was that he started thanking everybody,including the cooks in the kitchen preparing food for all the guests..For what he said,I went behind to the kitchen to snap a photo. Mr Chiam may be physically weaker and unable to express himself as fluently like when he was younger, but the residents and supporters who have seen the legacy he had built are willing to strain their ears to listen closer to him when he speaks.
The next highlight for the evening was when Mr Chiam invited the rest of the opposition leaders present amongst his guests on stage for a toast.
The celebration, besides the events I had described was in co-operated with a concert where Mr Chiam sang a segment of the song "Rong Shu Xia" to the applause of many present.

At one point in time, two younger friends of mine came by my table and commented that the programmes are quite boring.. I pondered for a while wondering why I did not feel the same? Am I really growing older than I think I had?

To me,the concert was just a backdrop. The subject of celebration was Mr Chiam and the past 25 years with him in my Singaporean life has been an exciting roller coaster of passionate, fiery display of concern for the political well-being of Singaporeans.

To those who were bored during the celebration, it's just a night out of the past 25 years..enjoy the moment.

To those who commented that Mr Chiam could not speak properly..I hope you don't grow old or suffer a stroke while you are at it.

To Mr Chiam, thank you for your selfless contribution to our nation for the past 25 years and thank you for still trying your best. I wish you the best of health and will power to carry on the fight!

Moon Watching

I have to send my aunty to the airport for her very early morning flight . Setting off at 4.30am,I was on my way back home by 5am. Along the way,I cannot help but keep looking at the moon.

I was totally mesmerized by the moon. There were no clouds in the sky and the moon on this 16th day of the lunar month was as bright as it could be. I was almost unable to keep my eyes on the road and I decided to get home as soon as possible to look at the moon before the sun takes over.

As soon as I was home,I quickly grabbed my camera and a glass of brandy..took a few pictures and enjoy my moon watching with sips of brandy. Looking at the moon bring back many flashes of memories..

Getting Married...(Wedding Dinner?)

About 5 months earlier, I made the decision to want to settle down and start a family with the girl that I love. My wedding date is set on 30th November 2009 and I thought I got all the time in the world to prepare for it.

Altough I had planned for a simple wedding, now with barely a month left,I seem to be running short of time. I have already more or less got the wedding album ready, finalized the wedding dinner location, got our wedding bands, contacted florist for all the flowers I need, getting to a photographer for the actual day..sounds like I am almost ready?

Maybe I should mention what needs to be done instead..

The guest list for the wedding dinner is quite difficult for me..I cannot just invite all the people I know. I want it to be a small simple event..in fact,a wedding dinner was not even on my plan originally. How did this idea took its roots on my wedding plan..? I think I probably can attribute it to a long-standing Chinese tradition to have a dinner to celebrate a wedding..hmm..why not just say its my mum's wish?

I started looking out for the smallest location I can find to hold a wedding dinner for my relatives and a few friends. After trying out a number of places..I thought I finally found the perfect location that can house the maximum of 15 tables..Peach Garden@ Novena Gardens. My mum violently objected to my proposal. Reason: no stage(for 15 tables)! Gosh..why do we need to have a stage for a wedding dinner?? Why can't I just sit and eat like everybody else?

The search is on again and I contact a friend of mine from the army whose father operate a restaurant: Beng Hiang Restaurant. I arranged for my family to go try it out during one of our dinners. The food is delicious, they can accommodate the small number of tables I requested and it's got a stage! Guess what? My mum complained that parking is inconvenient,have to walk through construction sites etc..etc..

I almost wanted to give up the idea(or rather my mother's idea) of holding a wedding dinner when one afternoon,while I was driving, this place suddenly popped up in my mind. It was a place that I frequented with my family since I was young, but stopped going in recent years since my grandparents passed away. I immediately told my friend beside me that we need to take a detour to go check out this place. This place is the same age as me,I already feel a certain affinity to it even before I reach it.

I arrived when they were having an afternoon break,but the captain wast there to answer my queries. I knew immediately that this is the location I want and should my mum reject my choice again, the dinner will be off my wedding plan. The only catch is that I need to get a minimum of 20 tables..well..my wedding plan just grew bigger :P

Anyway,allow me to be secretive about the location of this place until all my guest have receive their invitation cards..I promise I'll write about it later.

Let me move on to my guest list...and why its not so easy..

10 tables were assigned to my mum for all the relatives. So I need to plan for only 10 tables.. and I do so table by table..and it includes some of my collegues from Propnex, some senior agents from my ex-company McDowell Realty Network, Primary School friends, Secondary School friends, Junior College friends, Army friends, fellow Workers' Party members and also some friends whom we used to hang out a lot together.

It is very touching for me to have some of them replying my sms almost immediately with their address asking me not to forget to send them the invitation..etc etc..

Some replied asking me who I am because a few phone upgrades,they no longer had my number on their phones,but I called them back immediately and glad they recognize my voice still.

Some called back saying they cannot attend because they are getting married near my date(it is not auspicious for Chinese to attend weddings within say 3 months of their wedding date), or they are on overseas assignment.

Of course,there are some who have yet to reply. When I look at my list again,some tables are full,but some barely half filled and I don't intend to combine tables. .

Looks like I'll have to wait a few more days before I send out the invitation cards..

In the meantime, I'll have to look into the preparation of the Thailand side(my wife is a Thai)..and the furnitures, and the air-tickets,and the translator,and the upcoming visa application,alcohol purchase and 101 other things.

Special thanks to all my friends who offered their help..but a lot of the things that I require,I got to oversee them personally.

Yeah..I manage to keep up at least a blog update this month :)

F1 Singapore Night Race 25th-27th Sep 2009

My apologies for taking so much time to update my blog. I had wanted to strive to update my blog at least once a month and guess what? Today is the last day of the month..and updating my blog is not on my 'to-do' list!

If its not on my 'to-do' list and I do it,i'll consider it as 'fire-fighting'. Anyway,I have been busy being in direct participation in the recent F1 events and I would like to share with my readers what I saw behind the scenes. This,I believe even people who paid $5k for the sky suites tickets may not even get to see ;)

1st,the Pit Straight,one of the best locations especially if you want to look at the teams in the pit lanes. Being straight would also means the highest speeds is likely to be here(so is the start & end of the race)..one bad thing though..they were really so fast till you almost cannot see the cars when they zoom right past you. Here's a view of the Pit Straight from the Corporate suites.


Night view of the Pit Straight from the Sky Terrace..

Since this a night race,a lot of lighting are employed to illuminate the tracks..much more than last year. This is to ensure that its brighter to the video cameras(which is different to the human eye) covering the events for the world audiences. The following view is from Pit Entrance Grandstand.

In fact,the lights are so bright that they seemed to illuminate the whole town too..

One of the best places to watch the race from in hot weather Singapore is from the air-conditioned Club or Sky suites.From here,you have the option to go out thru a glass door onto the private outdoor grandstand should you wish to...

...if not,you can still enjoy your free-flow wines and champagne inside..you cannot bring any glasses out of the glass door for safety reasons..

Anyway,the original cost for a sky suite ticket was sgd$7500,but nearer the event,they did dropped the price to $5000. This makes the corporate suites very restricted in access due to the free-flow F&B.



The most restricted areas in this event is actually across the track on the opposite side: - The Paddock area.In this area, authorized people are issued a paddock pass and they will not care who you are,they will only recognize the pass. Security is especially tight in this area as the racing teams and their cars are located in the pits here.


The Paddock building at night..

Right beside the Paddock building behind the race offices,I came across 2 interesting areas. I always thought that they must have a gasoline station to supply fuel for the race cars,but I could not be more wrong. All these cars use very special fuel which is some what different from what our ordinary cars uses. They come in "200kg" steel oil drums and are stored inside air-conditioned containers..these rows of containers make up the Fuel Store.

Can anyone make a guess which is my favourite team?? :)


Next to the Fuel Store is this area known as the Gas Compound. Each team have their cylinders of gas ready.Nitrogen,Helium,Hydrogen..can you guess what they are used for?

When I heard that the cars arrived,I was so excited as I have never seen them for real so up close before..so I made a trip to the pits..

When I got there, my excitement was a bit dampened because the race cars are not unpacked yet :P


Anyway, the F1 night races in Singapore has been so far so good. The Singapore GP learned a lot from their maiden event last year and made improvements to this year's race.


I am very sure that the patrons to Singapore Night Race enjoyed themselves very much. Next year's F1 in Singapore could be the last time they will be using the Marina Bay Street circuit..I would like to invite you to come and soak up the atmosphere to get the full experience.
I am very glad to have the opportunity this year to go behind the scenes for the event; It makes me understand more how everything came together to make up this international event rather than just sit at home or at the grandstand to watch the race.

Happy Birthday Singapore!

T T Tan wishes Singapore and all its residents a Happy 44th National Day!

The run-up to Singapore's 44th Birthday.

Every 9th August is a significant date for my homeland..this little red dot on the map celebrates its 'birthday' on this date since 1965.

Visitors and residents alike will be able to feel this vibe in the air come August where a lot of households would hang the National Flag of Singapore on their public housing flats.

On top of the hanging of flags, you may have noticed that on the streets there are banners of different colour,shape and sizes to mark this yearly event. I still remember that when I was just a kid, this was how I 1st got to see the Singapore Emblem- the Coat of Arms.

The National Emblem was on almost all the banners hanging from lamp posts and also on the tiny triangular flags of various colours.

In recent years however(and I could not remember when it all started),probably due to the advance of technology and bigger and bigger budgets, the banners and even billboards put out to celebrate Singapore's National Day have all evolved to a point such that I would not be surprised if foriegn visitor should walk up to me and ask me if Singapore is going through General Election at this time!

Let's take a look at some of the banners/billboards you may see on the street this year..

We begin with the following banner I saw on a street near Kallang MRT: Dr Lee Boon Yang from Jalan Besar GRC,with little children from probably different races. Not a single word about Singapore,just focus on Jalan Besar GRC.



The banner I saw kind of makes me curious about what other banners I'll get to see, and especially in opposition wards too. The next estate I happen to visit: Potong Pasir (under MP Chiam See Tong)

The banner above has four adults and one child and no Mr Chiam See Tong on it. But the word 'Singapura' is on it..Then something else caught my attention. At the most central location in this little town, I saw this banner by Mr Sitoh Yih Pin:

hmm..or is it really by him?

Anyway, I thought that was all about banners I could see in Potong Pasir. However,as I was getting out,I managed to chance upon Mr Chiam's banner 'hidden' under a tree.He wishes all his residents a Happy 44th National Day.I was wondering why they do not place the MP's banner in the more central location..


After I seen the above,i was growing more curious and I head straight for Hougang.I entered Hougang from the swimming pool side and came across the billboard by Aljunied GRC(it sounds so much like election yah? :)
BTW,why is this blk 5XX in Hougang under "Bedok Reservoir Punggol"?

The MPs for Aljunied GRC with a lot of children(why do they prefer to place their photos besides children rather than ordinary adults?). Luckily,the bill board do state "Happy 44th National Day". I guess that is a form of wishing the resident bah'..

Right across the street,under opposition MP Mr Low Thia Kiang,this was exactly the kind of decoration i saw for National Day when I was a kid..no MP picture with many kids..My questions here are whether Hougang SMC has a tight budget(who pays for this kind of stuff anyway??) and wonder why Mr Low is not 'publicizing' himself like other MPs?

Banner of children(again) with no photo of Mr Low on it.


I went around the estate trying to find at least a banner with his face on it..but there just wasn't any.I did come across something interesting instead:

On the banner,also a Mr Low(but not the MP),wishes all residents a happy 44th National Day. If I do not know of Mr Low Thia Kiang, I may have thought that Mr Eric Low is the MP for Hougang instead!

Of course,I am sure many would be curious how PM's bill board may look like..


I wonder how AMK GRC can combine together with Yio Chu Kang SMC for such greetings..? Are they going to merge soon?Why not combine Aljunied GRC with Hougang SMC too? why not combine all estates in Singapore and make it a super big bill board?

Business trip to Shunde/Foshan, Guangzhou, China.

It is unusual for me to wake up early when I go on trips. Due to the long day ahead and the fact that we are taking the public transport to Foshan(佛山)in Guangzhou today, I woke earlier than usual.

1st,we take a public bus..

I noticed that every time the bus pulls into the last station,there will be cleaners cleaning up the exterior of the bus. Therefore even the air is more polluted,the bus still look cleaner as compared to Singapore..I wonder how often are our SBS buses given a wash..
The interior of the bus is clean and quite comfortable. No matter how far your destination,as long as you are on this route,you pay 2RMB..This is what I call "public" transport..

The bus interchange is at the famous Guangzhou Railway Station..I have never seen so many people walking about all together at the same time before I came here!

We had to take the inter-province' bus at the Provincial Bus Station nearby..

and arrived at Foshan Bus station..

and switched to take a taxi to get to Shunde..

In Shunde district is this approximately 10km(no,I did not type wrongly) stretch selling furniture..the Shunde Furniture Wholesale Market.

It looks something like this..many of them 3 to 5 times the size of Ikea Tampines stretching as far as the eye could see..

In fact, the interior of the furniture super-mall looks very posh and it was really out of my world to know that they are all selling furniture.

..and they classify each section by using the word "World"..not an over statement to me..

After ordering our furniture and confirming the delivery arrangements, we decided to make our way back using a different form of public transport: The Subway!

The thing that impresses me about the subway train service here is the free umbrella rental service. Riders who need an umbrella can rent it by placing a 20RMB deposit and can return it at any subway stations..seems like both bus and subway service is at least a notch above Singapore's "world class" transportation system..(note in the photo below inside the office the Chinese Characters "Service from the Heart"..can someone please teach SMRT these 4 words please?)


Anyway, this trip was finally concluded when all our orders were received and loaded into our waiting container at Nantian to ship back to Singapore..

Business trip to Haizhu, Guangzhou, China.

I have got some China friends here in Singapore. One of them wanted to open another branch for his eatery and wanted to go back to China to buy everything there as it is 5 times cheaper than if were to buy it in Singapore. All my China friends go back to buy due to this reason.

Out of curiousity,I decided to go with him to Guangzhou and we got the '2 to go' offer from Singapore Airlines to fly direct to Baiyun International Airport(白云机场). 

I was seriously not expecting the airport to be pretty modern,in fact, there were upgrading works going on when I was there.



We very quickly got to our hotel,just beside the Nan Tian(南天)Wholesale Market. The hotel is the only tall building in the vicinity named Guang Xuan Hotel(广轩大厦).
This is how my room looks like..

There is basically nothing much around there..Only the wholesale market..


And its really huge! Everything in China seems huge nowadays..

And from early morning to about 6pm..its always a hive of activities. People come from all parts of China and the world to buy China made products here.

Of course,our interest for this trip is in kitchen equipment and we spent a total of about 5 days shopping in this place.(i mean ladies..can you imagine guys shopping non-stop for 5 days??)

After Nan Tian, we also have to order furniture from another prefecture Foshan(佛山).

We decided to take the public transport so that we can compare if Singapore's public transport is really world class like what the operators have claimed.I shall share my report on the next posting.

A night of simple entertainment..

It was the eve of Vesak Day and I have been informed by friends in the drinking circle to 'fall-in' for a night of drinking at Good Cheers Pub.

Under normal circumstances,I would be very happy to oblige.. but I was still recovering from my illness and my body was loaded with a few kinds of medication, so I painfully declined the invitation.

Thus, my Friday evening started with a movie "the Ramen Girl"..it kind of tickled my funny bone such that my friend Alfred thought I was crazy. Straight after the movie, there was a very strong urge for me to eat ramen(you know,the other time alfred & myself saw a stingray swam past the screen,we had a strong urge to eat BBQ stingray too..and we did!), so me & my friend visited a Japanese Restaurant off Upp Thomson Road..Have not visited this place for a very long time, apparently, we over-ordered because we barely made it to 'last order'(..the group that came in after us was send back hungry..) and the irony was that we could not finish our 'ramen'.

After the 10pm dinner,we racked our brains thinking of any location(s) that we could go next without touching any alcohol. Seems to me like there are actually very limited night life in Singapore except drinking places. To cut it short, we ended up in Arab Street vicinity with the intention to smoke the shisha', carefully chose a Reis Turkish Cafe and was seated on a carpet inside.

Along came a 6yr old boy by the name Javier, still in his kindergarten uniform,sat himself down beside me and suggested playing a card came. Boy..his card game' is super boring & meaningless, but Alfred & myself took turns to entertain him while he kept telling us what is going to happen next in the movie on show(think he watched them many times over).My main concern was why Javier was hanging at a place like this since his schooling hours and why he was not tucked in bed yet(he sat with us till we left at almost 3am)? We later learned that his mum is the owner/operator/partner(something like that) of the cafe.

Javier is like a mascot of Reis Turkish Cafe, everybody seems to know him.When I saw Javier, I insisted Alfred to use his phone to snap a picture of Javier with me. He is a very nice kid, well behaved and well mannered..this some how brings out the 'fatherly nature' in me. It makes me feel like its about time for me to be a father! :P Well..I am still a few steps away..must find someone that I can marry 1st.

Maybe I should just make a trip down today to try the Turkish food..but hopefully i'll see Javier again.

Happy Vesak Day !

T T Tan wishes all Buddhists a Happy Vesak Day!

Bangkok- Friends (will you believe in friendship for life?)

People come and go in and out of your lives.

Well, I am certainly not referring to just any strangers because they always come & go anyway.

Does the word 'friend' mean anything to you? Are they just someone you approved to be added to your friend list on Facebook or friendster? What do you really look for in a friendship or rather I should say,who do you really consider your friends to be?

I'll leave you all to answer the questions yourself. For myself, a friend is somebody who had shared a certain part of my life experience with me in good faith,no matter how small that part may be. I may not be able to remember all my friends' name or everything about them,but it is the mutual attitude & respect towards each other that counts instead. They can be a familiar face at work, a neighbour you bump into, a drinking regular at a pub, a hawker at a stall you patronize regularly,a business partner or even someone you hate..the list goes on.

Since I had arrived in Bangkok by train, I definitely will take this opportunity to keep in contact with my friends there. Now that I try to recall,I have known them for years (how time flies) despite not having the opportunities to meet up too often.

P'Ja & Pui told me they are waiting at the MacDonald's at Siam Paragon..we got to learn from this meet-up that there are more than 1 MacDonald's in Siam Paragon because we were at different Mac and could not find each other. Luckily nowadays got mobile phones :P



We made appointment to do a tour of 7 temples in the old district with the rest of the gang..most of them are former school mates from Thammasat. I was very impressed that they took efforts to organize a trip like this to stay in touch so many years from school..Makes me feel like calling a class gathering too.





Another group of friends who have been my long time drinking buddies(our friendship started with a Singapore vs Thailand drinking competition on board a barge on a dam years back) and the meet up for this trip was at their company's Christmas/New Year event.

Just when i thought the party has ended(because we already drank quite some),Nong 'A asked me to abandon Aey and join her gang for disco.We squeezed into a cab and head to Ratchada 4. Got a surprise when we got of the cab and i turned around and counted 7 ladies..I was really shocked the taxi could allow 8 passengers in his cab..up til today,I am still scratching my head wondering how it could be possible..

I felt like i was a Guest of Honour attending their "Girls nite out" becoz they refused violently to let me pay for the bottle of whisky..I have confidence that our friendship will not end even if the drinking stops :) Cheers!

Next up is a group of pretty rude,but very humorous friends..P'Ti & P Aey..They are like my big brothers,always taking care of me,helping me..and they are super good drinkers! Only now I just heard P'Ti has been banned from drinking by his wife because of his poor health..I did not know that the last session we had could be the last 'drinking' session..



I believe in fate and destiny..how u got to know your friends among the billions of people in the world.
I take reference from my Bangkok friends here because these are the groups that even if I have not met them for a long time,when you meet up again,you can know that there is no distance between you.

How many of such friends can you count in your lifetime?
How many friends had you promised to stay in touch with over teary goodbyes when u left primary,secondary,college,army,reservist or even your last job? ..will you remember this friend when you bump into him/her on the streets or you try to look the other way because you cannot remember the name?
A true friend is willing to accept the imperfections you have because if he/she cannot,you may not be friends anymore. People come and go, its part of life.

So can friendships really be for life?

When you lose contact with your friends for whatever reasons, if you remember the happy days together..if you remember what good that he/she done for you..if you hold no grudges and come to terms with the concept of forgiving, friendship can really last forever in your heart for the duration of your life.

Even if there is really no God or heaven or hell and you know you will never get to see your friends again on your dying bed, you will still have good memories of good friends you made in your lifetime.

Today is not Friendship Day..its a normal day just like any other you may find on you calendar,but i'll pay a tribute to all my friends wherever you may be..Thank your participation in my life(in part or in full). Thank you for the friendship!

Of Trains and Stations

The train is often my least frequent mode of transport back home in Singapore(unless you are referring to the subway) and I do enjoy my time on a train. Time on a train is about the journey,it is not as fast as flying, it is noisy, and sometimes,the loo stinks..We could have flown back to Bangkok via Vientiane,but I planned for this train journey and got my friend in Bangkok to purchase the 1st class sleeper tickets way before the actual journey as they are usually sold out.

Hanging around the train station for half a day is really pointless,that I did not plan in advance.However,we observe some things that we normally would not think of..the train is a good cargo transporter judging by the amount of goods unloaded at this out of the way station.

My most distant memories of my 1st train ride were with my parents when i was still a kid.The journey must be to Malaysia..I mean where else can you 'train' to from Singapore?I think back then,the train must have looked like the below picture..non-air-con cabin.

One of my favourite part of the train..they always have a canteen' area where they serve food and drinks.I can barely remember eating an egg back then on the journey with my parents while watching the vegetation and the villages zoom you by.
Nice memories..but since now,since its about the journey,I am glad we were very comfortable in our sleeper cabin.

pardon my socks..I think my sister has got nicer ones.. :P

Nongkhai to Bangkok by train.

After a good night's rest..I was woken up by the sounds of drum beats and trumpets. The music came from a building a few blocks away,I assumed it must be a school band.

As I made my way down to scout around for a breakfast place,I noticed traffic was stopped at the small lanes and the music is drawing nearer..

It was actually some kind of celebration for a bank down the road and the band marched all the way across the town.
I decided to focus on the breakfast I mentioned earlier and came across what I deemed to be a suitable menu for breakfast that day: The Danish Baker.


This kind of reminds me of the Scandinavian Bakery the day before,only that this place is not as cool in weather and here,they offer 2 warm buns!

I also added to my order a chicken pie,since I have not had one for a long while.When the Chicken Pie came up after my 1st set..never did i expect it to be a set too! I thought it would just be a pie.

I took the brown gravy and poured it onto the pie.

The pie was pretty good..but maybe i was too full to really enjoy it.
12pm was the time to check out of our guest house,but our train schedule was at 6.30pm,and with our big bags and boxes of the the famous Vietnamese food,we decided to go super early to the train station and wait till our train is ready to move.


There were not many people there when we arrived..its like we have the whole station to ourselves..With so much time to wait out,we just go around taking pictures..



I did came across a staff napping on the stuffy cabin in the hot sun..


Thinking back..we must have been very bored spending so much time in waiting..

Crossing into Nongkhai, Thailand.

After crossing the border into Thai soil across the Friendship Bridge,my feeling back then was like finally returning to familiar grounds again.

Despite the tattered flag in the above photo,we were really glad to see it again. It signifies our completion of one part of the journey and coming back to a familiar part,altough none of us have ever been to Nongkhai before.

Of course,just like any parts of our journey before this on the trip,we did not manage to book any hotel here and thus,our 1st task in this border town is to look for a place to put up for the night.

Simple,clean air-con room with TV at only 400 baht a night..this place is known as Huan-Lai Apartment.

We only managed to find this place with the help of some very helpful tuk-tuk drivers that picked us up from the bus station. The tuk-tuks here are not like those from Bangkok,instead,they more influenced by the Laos type. Here's a photo of how it looks like..

After putting down our stuff at Huan Lai,we started to go around exploring the surrounding areas. A short walking distance away(about 8 minutes)there is a very huge market where you can find anything from clothing,toys,food and all other necessities.

Right beside this market,if you can find any pathways along the rows of shops or walk through any of the food shops that open up at the other side,you will actually come to a seemingly newly built walkway along the length of the river that overlook the other bank belonging to Laos.
We managed to take a rest right after the sun had set and soon,its time for dinner plans. Our plan back then was..we had no plans. We got a tuk-tuk(since they are so helpful and friendly) and asked him to bring us to the most famous restaurant in Nongkhai.We even asked for him to send us back after that because this restaurant is outside of the town.The price for the ride was 100 baht per trip,but there were really no regrets!
The food was really wonderful!I guess all of us enjoy Thai dishes more..
The 1st to come on the table..Tom Yum Gung..hot,spicy and full of ingredients..its better than what we had in Bangkok.

Then along came "Braised duck with mushroom"..

..and also our usual fried egg with minced pork(I still think this dish in Laos may taste better)..

Last but not least,deep fried shrimp cake..crispy on the outside,juicy and soft on the inside..the photo actually cannot do justice to this dish..

Everything about the dinner was right..the location,the cool weather,the hot food.I really wish to have dinner there again.

Travel to Vientaine, Laos PDR part 2

Dear all,

never did I imagine that when I broke off from my last post, it would actually be a more than one month break. I travelled to Guangzhou and had to clear a lot of backlog at work when I got back.

Now,to very quickly carry on..after the stupa That Luang visit, we moved on to the Patuxai as the sun was setting. 1st thing that caught my eye was a fountain right in front of the monument. It was actually a gift from the Chinese Government to Laos PDR. It makes me wonder if the Singapore Government have ever presented such a gift to their friends..



The tiny park surrounding the Patuxai also gave me the impression that people in Laos treasure their time to exercise more than people in Thailand.


To be honest with you,i personally feel that there is nothing really much to see over this part,maybe because the monument is already past closing time and we could not go up to see the surrounding view. However,since we travelled all the way here,a photo to prove it is indeed a must.



After that,we took a stroll around Vientiane city to look for our dinner. Just to show u a snap shot of how it looks like..

It looks just like any other town in Thailand,but not so much like Bangkok.
We managed to settle for a stall by the river overlooking the other side- Thailand..
There are 2 sections to this stall,one part with tables and chairs..the normal way to have dinner..this did not appeal to me very much..

We choose to sit on the floor by the low table and lay ourselves comfortably on the cushions.

The next morning, we have to make preparations to cross over to Thailand. We arrived at the bus station and it was a very crowded place.Still fascinated with the sandwich sellers on the streets..because over in Singapore,its a much more expensive version known as Subway'.



We have to quickly get the bus tickets..

It still proved to be a very long wait for the bus..

We managed to talk to some tuk tuk drivers who wanted to send us across the Thai-Laos Friendship Bridge for about 40 baht each..Its so different from last night a tuk tuk driver show us a price list of 95000 kips for the same journey! And I thought they did not try to anyhow charge us since they have a price list. Luckily we did not take up his offer.
The bus tickets only cost us 55 baht each..its much cheaper..Altough the tuk tuk is even cheaper,we still chose the bus because we do not know where the tuk tuk is going to drop us.

We managed to get to the border without any hiccups.Time to say good bye to Laos PDR!

Travel to Vientiane, Laos PDR (Part 1)

After a short flight,

we finally arrived at Wattay International Airport, Vientiane, the capital of Laos.



Welcome to Vientiane !

Of course,as usual,we did not managed to book a hotel in advance,so at the taxi counter,we were at a loss what to say when asked about our destination. I recalled a hotel name and got us right into the heart of the city,unfortunately,it was fully taken up for the evening.

The best solution out of this was simply to ask the reception if they have any other places nearby that they could recommend? The staff was really helpful and we managed to find it in the next street after 2 corners.

After dumping our bags in the room,we rushed out to explore the city for food. We were really famished and this place is bigger than Luang Prabang and its our 1st time in this unfamiliar place.

After walking about 20 mins in the relatively warmer weather(about 26-28 degrees celcius),we came across a western/oriental/indian fusion kind of restaurant and the name is East meets West.

I ordered curry chicken rice to see if the curry is any different from Singapore.



It is not as spicy,but the aroma is more intense and I really cleaned up my plate.
As for my sister,she got herself a plate of Pasta..I think it tasted great too..and when you are hungry,everything seems to taste very good :)



Looks delicious isn't it?



My Thai friend got his fried rice with pork..



My Singapore friend ordered rice noodles with pork. At first I was wondering what that was on the menu,but when it arrived,I realised that was what I would call 'bee hoon' in Singapore.



Now, my dear readers..Which one do you think is the most delicious of them all? :)


After the wonderful lunch, we decided to visit 2 places of attractions on that day itself altough it is already close to 4pm (It means we do not have much time left for the day!)

The 2 locations are the famous That Luang Stupa and the Patuxai' and we definitely did not have the time to walk there.As we were walking on the street towards the direction that we wanted to go,we saw a row of tuk tuks..the local 3 wheel motorised transport and they wasted no time to get us in. In fact,they actually have with them a price list with colour photos..however,we still thought it was pretty steep because initially they tried charging us per pax per destination.

After a bit of negotiation and showmanship on our part,we managed to lower the price because the 2 destinations are actually quite near to each other. Spend money to save time or spend time to save money? We did not have much time then.

We arrived at the That' Luang Stupa 1st..They were constructing a major road right in front of the entrance,so we have to walk a bit.



The entrance to the stupa seems to be surrounded by a man made park and its quite uplifting to the spirits to see kids play on the carpet grass fields. They have nothing much to play with..no swings or merry-go-round..only friends. How I miss my friends..


Anyway,the entrance was as far as we got to..the place was already closed for the day. I noticed the entrance fees here seems so much cheaper than Luang Prabang..even for foreigners!


This place was built in 1566AD..but I really do not know how long ago was that!
Read the history from the following photo if you got good eyesight :)


I think the golden stupa reflecting rays of the setting sun looks beautiful..Allow me to break today's post here with the next picture :)