Thailand - Hat Yai 1996 (revisit)

Date : 2nd to 5th March 1996
This time we went in a group of total 13 people.
My Grandmother, Fathers, Uncles, Neighbours & Friends...
We took a tour bus from Singapore to Thailand.
The journey is about 13 hours, if I remember correctly.
It was a night time departure and I slept all the way.
So.. to me the journey is Fast... hee hee.
After checking in, everyone went separates ways.
For me, I went immediately to find Fried Chicken wings. ... yummy.
One of the nights, while making phonecalls using the public phone, I spotted a baby elephant.
It was Sooooooooo Cute.
The elephant was gentle and seemed to me he is smiling.
We can buy water melons from the elephant owners to feed his pet.











Got this 2 big stuff toy home. Call them Dong Dong & Du Du.
Couldn't get them into my luggage.
Had to carry them along and it was quite embrassing when checking into immgration custom.
I brought alot of Thailand Coke Bottles & Can home too.
Used to collect back then, but I don't collect Coke anymore.
Still have some left in my house but mostly is glass bottle.
Can't keep the can ones, they'll burst after some years.

Thinking back now, I have not visit Hat Yai for about 11 year now.
The Buddha I am wearing now is from Hat Yai.
A Monk gave it to me and I like it very much.
I made a little donation to him when I left.

Thailand - Phuket

Plus/Minus this date : 21 June 1994.
Think I was there for about 5 days.
I spent 1 hour everyday at the sea playing Jet Ski.
It was wonderful but expensive. I was still a student.
Almost all the momey I brought there was spent on this.
Aha..but it was worth it.
Not to mention I drank a LOT of seawater too.
Due to constant falling off the Jet Ski.
Additional reward is a bad sunburn because I did not bring any suntan lotion.
But it was really fun.







Did one time on parachuting.
It's not those sky diving type.
Rather safe, I would say.
You can see from the photo that there's some many ropes connecting to me !!
I was quite embarrassed as there were so many people setting up the parachute.
People at the beach were looking.
And I didn't know what to do, I just stood there like a log.
When all was done…
The parachute flew when the yatch power up and speed off.
Actually, one of the men did followed me up the sky.
He simply just hook up and sat on the ropes behind me.
He'll helped me to do the landing because I don't know how to land.
I was like …. Wah !!! Seems so easy to them.
It's an experience I won't forget.

About Phuket, Thailand
Located West coast of Southern Thailand in the Andaman Sea.
890km from Bangkok, Thailand
Thailand's largest Island at 550sq km
Climate / Temperature : 24 - 32 dc (November to March)
Time Zone : GMT/UTC + 07:00 hour
Currency : Thai baht
Country Telephone code / Area Code : 66-76
Electricity : 220-240V, 50 Hz. 220 volts, 50Hz. UK-style three-pin plugs are used.
Population: 313,955 (March 2007)
Ethnic Groups : Thai-Buddhists 71%, Malays 24% & others
Languages : Thai, English

Thailand - Hat Yai & Songkhla (Samila Beach)

Date : 12th to 16th April 1993.
First time on an aeroplane.
I was very nervous but I managed to eat the food on plane.
Mostly importantly, we landed safely.
Travelling together with my uncle, his wife and one aunt.
The food was good, the locals are also quite friendly.
Not many could speak English (In 1993).
But some could speak Hokkien dialect.
When buying on streets, it is a must to slash prices.
Bird nests deserts priced reasonably.
My favourite would be the road side stall chicken wings.
Fried Chicken Wings… yummy Yummy…
Thailand cotton candy floss is also one of my favourites even till now.





We had alot of fun at the water splashing festival too.
It's held annually in April.
So if you go to Thailand during this time, do check it out.
Trust me, please remember to leave your electronic stuffs in the hotel.
You'll definetly be soaking wet from head to toes.
Some also used baby poweder to wipe all over your face & turn you into "Instant Geisha."
One open backed lorry even drove in with huge bins containing ICE COLD water !!!
When they start to splash, everyone was screaming & running.
They were so high up in the lorry, we were unable to splash water at them.
Smart, right?
But the locals are smart too. They started to climb up the lorry.
Results...everyone got WET & Happy. No one was miss out.



We purchase some firecrackers at the temple.
The sound was very loud.
I thought I was going to be deaf.
But it's worth trying.
We are not allowed to play with fire crackers in Singapore.





Usually, when we donatation in a Temple.
We will strike the bell once.
I don't know the reason why. Anyone knows ?
That's my aunt stiking the Temple Bells. Gong.....Gong......





The famous temple beside the railway station.
I like this temple very much.
It's very big and just outside the temple there are many hawkers selling Thai coconut, Drinks & Fruits.
I love the coconut. It's very sweet and the juice is cooling.
Now Thai coconut is also common in Singapore. We can buy it at supermarkets or funfairs.



Okay, there is one temple I've visited and left me a great impression.
Maybe it's because it was built in caves.
Climbing up was no easy task too.
The above photo show a statue over looking the hills.
My only lead is that this temple in built high up on a hill.
There is a lot of buddha statues in the caves.
If anyone knows the name of this temple, please let me know. Thank You.



Lots of monkeys at the foot of the Temple hills. I like Monkeys.
We were able to purchase bananas from the locals to feed those Monkeys.

Songkhla - Samila Beach
Another worth mentioning is the sightseeing trip to Songkhla beach.
Samila Beach with their major landmark of the Golden Mermaid statue.
It became a prominent symbol of Songkhla.
When I was there, the mermaid wasn't golden.
It had mostly turned dark in colour.
Probably due to the sea exposure and tourist touching it.
I remember eating very good seafood at Songkhla beach too.
If you are in Hat Yai, you might want to consider visiting this place.



About Hat Yai, Thailand
Hat Yai is the Biggest city of the Songkhla Province.
On 24 April 1977, area of Hat Yai was enlarged to 21km square.
Hat Yai was declared as a city in 1995.
Climate / Temperature : 25 - 32 dc
Time Zone : GMT/UTC + 07:00 hour
Currency : Thai baht
Country Telephone code / Area Code : 66-74
Electricity : 220-240V, 50 Hz. 220 volts, 50Hz. UK-style three-pin plugs are used.
Population: 313,955 (March 2007)
Ethnic Groups : Thai 75%, Chinese 14%, other 11%.
Languages : Thai, English

About Songkhla - Samila Beach, Thailand
Songkhla and Hat Yai is approx. 30km apart.
From Bangkok, Songkhla is 950km away.
Occupy an area of 7,393 square kilometers
Songkhla is divided into 16 districts : Muang, Hat Yai, Chana, Ranode, Bangklam, Namom, Khlong Hoykhong, Nathawee, Thepha, Sabayoi, Sadao, Rattaphoom, Singha Nakhon, Khuanniang, Rattaphum, and Krasaesin.
Climate / Temperature : 25 - 32 dc
Time Zone : GMT/UTC + 07:00 hour
Currency : Thai baht
Country Telephone code / Area Code :
Electricity : 220-240V, 50 Hz. 220 volts, 50Hz. UK-style three-pin plugs are used.
Population: Whole province is 1,159,672
Ethnic Groups : Thai 75%, Chinese 14%, other 11%
Languages : Thai, English

Malaysia - Cameron Highlands

Date : 6 to 7 December 1989
This is all so blur now that I'll have to try to do some re-cap.
With my grandmother and some neighbours.
We went to Cameron Highlands and Melacca.
I can't remember how we went there, it's either by bus or car.
Monkeys left me a great impression.
There was plenty and they were really cute.
I was sitting on the staircase steps outside a cave??
They came rather close to me.
There's also plenty of tea plantations around.
Strawberries farms too. We were allowed to pluck them & pay accordingly to the weight.
I think I do have some photos somewhere...
...
...
...
Photos found and I've just posted this pictures on 22 Dec 2007.
It's a pity I don't have any on the strawberries farm.



This is a Temple but I don't know if it's in Malacca or Cameron.
I do like to hazing coldness there.












About Cameron Highlands, MALAYSIA :
Located 300 km from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Situated 1,500m above sea level and covering over 4,500 hectares.
Climate / Temperature : Cool mountain climate / 14 - 23 dc
Time Zone : GMT +8.
Currency : Malaysia Ringgit (RM)
Country Telephone code : 60
Electricity : 220-240V, 50 Hz. 220 volts, 50Hz. UK-style three-pin plugs are used.
Malaysia Population: 23,821,286 (July 2007)
Ethnic Groups : 50% Malay, 24% Chinese, 11% Indian & others
Languages : Malay, English, Mandarin, Tamil…