Pai is a small town situated in Mae Hong Son, a province in the North of Thailand next to Chiang Mai. I went there last year, I returned again this year, bringing along my gf and 2 buddies.

This was taken when we were on the way to visit a WWII bridge. As soon as you get out of the main streets, all you can see around you is nature. And it feels great and peaceful to be surrounded by nothing but greenery.

A wooden post box nailed onto one of the trees. Simple but aesthetic, something that you’ll never get to see in our city.

Snapped this while taking a break from a ride to visit a natural hot spring (which we unfortunately didn’t get to see eventually due to time constraint). The sign there says 12 tonnes, but I’ve not idea what was it meant for.

I simply love Pai, especially in December when the weather is cold. 

Next post will be showing the night life in Pai.

P.S. Oh, i almost forgot.. Happy New Year to all! Have a great year aheaaad!

I’m back yet again! It was a thrilling experience riding motorbikes up the mountains and hot springs, but more on that later. The weather in Northern Thailand was really cool and refreshing, the natural landscape magnificent beyond words. I’ll be sharing my experiences with photos in the next few upcoming entries, but let me post up a couple of star trails shots in the mountains for the time being.

This is a composite HDR image made up of 8 pictures of about 5-minute exposure each. The streaks of white lines show the more visible stars, as the rest of the stars were unfortunately overwhelmed by the strong moonlight.

This is a single image taken at about 5.30am. Exposure time was 1127 seconds. More star streaks were seen here as the moon went hiding over at the other side. The brightness from the left shows the shine from the rising sun.

After a week in Chiang Rai, it was one more week in Genting. St Nics Band went there for a competition and achieved a Gold award (Top 3)! Anyway, I’m really relieved to be back home and rest. Long road journeys aren’t fun.

For the girls who want to view pics from the Chiang Rai trip, I’ve uploaded some small-sized pics here.

It was hard work loosening the soil, but the girls did a great job overall!

Farmer wannabes. Haha, sorry, Jolene. Pity I didn’t manage to capture the whole frame. 

All the pics were taken using my digital rangefinder. Those taken by Miss Dawn Lim using the 450D are not uploaded yet. I may burn a CD or 2 of the pics in larger resolutions to circulate among those who want them, when school reopens.

This is one of my last captures during the CIP trip with St Nics. Well, I’m missing you guys. It’s a shame the political crisis in Bangkok could hinder my trip to Thailand soon. But, I’ll definitely be back to see you lovely children in Wiang Kaen soon again. Cheers.

อยากมาหาแอ๊บอย่างเร็วที่สุดที่จะเร็วได้อ่ะ ><

The last day at Wiang Kaen

After 6 days of overseas CIP with the students, I’m finally back! It was such a fun and enriching experience over there, working in the farms as well as spending time with the children at the Catholic Mission Home of Wiang Kaen. Here are some previous entries (1, 2) from my previous trips there.

As much as I would like to post-process my pictures quickly, I won’t have time to do them so soon. So I’d just put up 3 group photos for you girls to download (all 3 are unedited, full-sized pics). It is a pity we didn’t have a pic with all the children at the home.

Hope the wonderful experience and memories from this trip will always be in our hearts!

Enjoy your holidays people!

So I went to Thailand again, and this time i visited Koh Chang.

Koh Chang is the second largest island of Thailand, located on the Thai east coast 310 km away from Bangkok and it is near the border to Cambodia. After about 6-7 hours of bus/pick-up/ferry, I finally reached my hut by the lagoon.

This is where I lodged. No aircon and not exactly of 5-star quality, but it’s a real cosy and relaxing place to stay in.

The view is superb, and the environment gives you a peaceful feeling at all times. What’s so good about this island is that it’s still not touristy and overcrowded with party animals yet. 

On my first day, it was just lazing around and strolling along the beach. It was the second day that I was really looking forward to.

Signed up for a whole day package for snorkelling, we set off early in the morning. We would island hop and snorkel at 4 different islands. I’m glad I borrowed my friend’s underwater casing + camera. Although I’m not proficient at taking under-water pictures, I managed to capture some sweet memories nevertheless.

It was my second time snorkelling (first time was in Kinabalu back in 2006), and a good experience it was. I’m not good at identifying the sea beauties though, so just enjoy the pictures yeah?

Oh! And feeding the fishes in the water was real fun! just grab hold to a piece of bread, and the fishes would shylessly swim towards you and bite the bread. Apparently, the hungry creatures got so excited that some didn’t aim well enough, and bit my hand instead.

It was really fun. I’m missing the moments right now.  

Well, time to continue to work hard for the next term, so that I can reward myself with trips in the June holidays!  

Byebyeee 

Long time didn’t post! Well, been busy recently and hence the lack of posts. In fact, I’m not supposed to post now either. But just to fill this place up with fresh stuff, I’ll show some pics that I’ve taken at Wat Arun (also known as the Temple of Dawn) during my Thailand trip last year.

Wat Arun is a buddhist temple in Bangkok. The temple is located in Bangkok Yai district, on the west bank of Chao Praya River.

We climbed up to the higher part of Wat Arun. The stairs are real steep….. ><

View from highest possible standing point of Wat Arun 

Another view, unobstructed

People say that Wat Arun looks much more beautiful at night. I couldn’t agree more.

Geez, I’ve not been blogging for quite a while. Well, was just looking through some photos from my last trip to Thailand, and decided to put a few pictures up to fill this space. Haha..

Sara and I took a mini-bus to Pai from Chiang Mai bus station, not sure of what to expect because we didn’t really do any research beforehand. We didn’t even book any guesthouse! (We realised later that it didn’t matter anyway, since there were many cheap guesthouses around).

It is a cozy little town that seems to occupy as many westerners as the Thais. The pace of life here is twice as slow as elsewhere. No wonder the westerners prefer to settle down here.

Weather was cool in December, and it was especially cold at night. Most people were seen wearing their beanies and scarves on top of their woollen jackets. It was kind of cool to see such dresscode all around the town. The only thing lacking was snow.

At night, westerners and other local tourists would gather at the pubs along the roads. Sara and I went to one that had live gipsy music performance. I liked it there. Good music and atmosphere!

Pai is quite high in altitude, but you can still see lots of mountainscape around it. I didn’t know I enjoy such mountainous view so much until I travelled to the Northern Thailand. It’s definitely more beautiful and calmer than having a dozen skyscrapers towering over you.

There are many minority hilltribes that live in Pai. They’re especially good in making handcrafted items such as knitted bags, pouches, clothes and beanies. While Sara and I were cycling uphill 15km (with great effort) to a waterfall, we passed by 2 of such hilltribes. Friendly people. We exchanged smiles with them everytime we cycled pass the locals.

We were impressed by the hospitality of the locals, really. At the waterfall, we decided to settle our lunch, and ordered spicy papaya salad and mango salad from a side stall tended by a young lady. When she saw both of us hunching down to eat the food (put on a stool), she immediately carried a table for us, put a blue table cloth over, and even got us a makeshift vase with fresh flowers!

This is why I love Thailand. You hardly see any angry people.  

After a long 23 days in Thailand, I’m back. It was really an enthralling experience backpacking in the North, and I was completely captivated by the beauty of our first destination, Phatang. Not exactly the right place for shopping or luxurious food, but the beautiful mountain scape and night sky blanketed with stars of all magnitudes more than made up for that.

Our guesthouse 

This is how it looks inside, bright and cozy! And there’s a television too! (the only lodging that had a television throughout my stay in Thailand. )

And the restaurant next to our guesthouse where we had breakfast every morning

Balcony view at the restaurant 

Many times, Sara and I would take walks up to the row of shophouses beside the foot of the mountain peaks. In the evening, the locals there were even kind enough to invite us to join them in their chit-chat sessions, accompanied with beer and roasted pork. Climbing up the mountains at night using torch light as the only source of light was equally exciting. Want to witness countless shooting stars in the skies? Phatang is the best place for it.

The row of shophouses selling handmade crafts, jades, and food 

Below are just some of the pictures I’ve taken on the mountain peaks. Some pictures are a little heavily processed, but the real thing is still as breath-taking. Enjoy viewing!

Sun rising through thick clouds

This is before sunset 

The purplish sky is real, straight from camera. Not re-coloured, I swear! 

Winding roads could be seen from the top 

Evening glow 

Sara on the left 

The end. I miss Phatang! 

After a trip to Phatang, I went to Wiang Kaen to visit the children once again. This time, my friend Sara tagged along too. It was really heart-warming to see the children again. Their politeness, innocence and smiling faces could just melt anyone’s heart. Even Sara was impressed by these good-natured kids immediately.

Coincidentally, some students from Catholic Junior College were there to do their overseas CIP. So, it was kind of lucky for us because the students had organised a lot of games and activities for the children, and we just joined in together. I also had the opportunity to enjoy yet another performance put up by the children (as well as the CJC students). Here are just a few pictures that I’ve snapped during the final night.

Like the previous time, it started off with the girls 

Traditional Thai dance in hilltribe costumes 

And the guys having a whole lot of fun! 

It was the CJC students’ time to perform. The children from the home sportingly waved their hands in unison as the students sang their number. 

Oh, and the CJC students discovered that the kids love to Hi-Five! So if you’re going there again in future, remember to hi-five them! 

At the end of the concert, the children were back in their rows. It would soon be the emotional moment again, as everyone thanked and hugged each other, with many having their tears flowing down uncontrollably.

I’m sure I will be returning again.