Chiang Mai 3

It's the final day of the trip... the 2nd day was kindda like a waste of time as the stupide tour guide were jus bringing us to those jeweller's factory so that he can earn some x-tra cash... but tat took the whole afternoon away! gosh!

well... the 3rd day is definiteleee a bz day... we got up earlier then before cause we gotta prepare for our road trip to Chiang Rai in order to visit the Golden Triangle... the infamous drug trading place during the past.. it got the name golden triangle instead of the triangle is because the trades were all done in gold bars... for the triangle... well it's obvious at tat point of the river connected 3 countries.. which is thailand, myanmar and laos... but juz a bit up north is china... tat explains why there are quiet some numbers of chinese immigrants in thailand.

the river that flows through all these countries is the mekong river... if we see from thailand, the land across the river is laos... the boat ride across the river cost around 300baht which is about RM30 but when u reach there... it's nothing much cause it's juz another tourists spots as all the stuffs sold are souveniors and they're all owned by the leader of the village but there's one thing tat reallee caught my eye.. tat is u can buy a post card there and send it back to your homeland for there has a reallee small post box for you to post your mails... that's kindda cute...

so our journey starts like about 7am we made a stop somewhere on the free road... the stop is unique as there's hot springs all over the place... again there's a lot of tourists mechandise like semi-precious stones... but the fun thing is there's old ladies walking around wif small bags of chicken eggs and also birds' eggs they're sold to the tourists in order to let them experience cooking the egg using the heat of the hotsprings... the eggs are put in a small basket and is then put intothe hot springs water by a bamboo stick. when we were done with the hot springs... we moved on wif our journey up north... i couldn't sleep later on as the heat is killing me! the bus is no longer cold and the sun... it's so bright and hot.. the bus is getting warmer and warmer as well... i was feeling kindda uneasy but soon.. something caught my eyes.. the view around is so beautiful tat i can't stop taking peektures of the view... the colors in the sky is juz spectacular... the major crops in thailand is rice... so there's juz so maneee padi fields tat's so beautiful as the color green is so so so rich! there's a lot of mountains as the background of the padi fields... the view is jus so... picturesque. there were oso some crops that i couldn't recognize wut they're planting they juz look like gigantic cocoons filling up the hills... which make the free way so much more interesting... after the immense journey, we finallee reached chiang rai... they were jus maps of the 4 countries every where... and buddhas too.. there's also a private casino there and it is said that the buddhas that're built there is to help the feng shui of the casino... that'll attract more customores to the place the most astonishing news is the cost of the stay at the casino's hotel is only 180baht which is extremeleee cheap... and if u want to get to the casino you'll hav to get on a speed boat ride that'll send you to the entrance of the casino.. again... there's a standing buddha leading the way to the casino...

after we went for the boat ride to laos, we went further to the north and then we got to the border of myanmar... tat's definiteleee a place of poverty... there's child beggars everywhere and they'll juz gonna tail u for as long as possible... and people were carrying big big bags on their back, cycling mostly juz by foot to cross the border... again... there's a surprise... one of the jade jewellers store had half of the shop turned into a cafe... the coffee beans that they use to blend those aromatic coffee is their local line of fine roasted coffee beans caled DOI CHANG and for their rich choclate drink, they use vochelle cocoa powder... that drink was heavenly~~~

later on, we went to the village of the famous long neck tribe known as palong tribe... but there's also another tribe tat's living in the same village, they're the aksha tribe.. these tribe members are actuallee paid to stay in the village in thailand... they have a monthly salary like about 6000baht and they're allow to stay there for 6 months and after that another family will come over to rake over the job... so it's like it's a good thing cause they get to earn some money for the tribe.. but it's kindda cruel to be treated like the animals in the zoo... anyhow, they've got to experience living their live with the tv which they don't get to in their original village... on the way to the village, they're police road block.. and boy... there's a reallee enormous black dog on a black truck... this is definiteleee the most tired day of the whole trip as we onlee got back to our hotel during midnight...

pdf magazine...

for those of u who have a liking for peekture books, betta check out these links... they offer free downloadable pdf magazines... the best part is they're peekture magazines.. lots of illustration, collage, graphics, photography juz about any form of art and design...

destructed magazine - http://www.destructed.info/about.php

maguila magazine by base V - http://www.base-v.org/maguilamag.htm

penang tour!~

been staying in KL for quiet some time i felt a bit foreign when i 1st came back to penang... it's kindda like.. i found out i onleee knew the rods around my old nighbourhood and my new neighbourhood and the town area where my parents shop are located.. the rest of the island? i have no idea to get from one place to another... and suddenleee my fon ringed.. onlee to find out tat one of my seniors from my previous college is in penang! and so i gotta plan the trip somehow... i only know tourists spots... seems like i'm quiet a tourist myself as i've been on the island tour for about 3 times since kindergarten.... anyway.. so she came and luckileee it pulled off quiet well... i took them to this temple called the kuan yin temple... the place is famous cause it's old and the space in front of the temple is always filled wif plenty and plenty and plenty of peigeons... but to my surprise... there weren't more than 20 pigeons when i was there... in fact the number of the beggars might be more than the pigeons... so.. my frens... they bought their set of praying materials and start doing their praying and for me... i stood at the entrance of the temple while waiting for them... suddenleee the beggars start bumping into me... i was furious... but i was afraid tat i'm gonna get attacked by them and so.. i moved aside... only to find out that there's a guy giving out RM1 note to the beggars so the beggars were trying to get to the man... i guess the man is doin so because of karma... if i'd not mistaken... i couldn't bear standing there anymore and so i moved away from the entrance to a tree outside the temple... again... somebodeee is giving out money! this time a lady! she got a bag in her hands... seems like she's giving out coins! surprisingly the beggars lined up not like before!~ hmmm...

anyway... we went to khoo kongsi... i haven't been there for ages but i could remember tat it's quiet an awesome place.. so we got there... we found a parking spot and walk towards khoo kongsi... we gotta pass back a small alley which i think they'd alreadee demolish the bottom part of the shophouse to form the alley to khoo kongsi... but the place is juz so quiet and calm.. when we got there... we were asked to pay for the entrance! tat's weird cause i never remember paying entrance fee when i was there... well they gotta do so as they have to mantain this historical site... the entrance fee is RM5 not costly... but we were able to get a discount... we only pay RM1 as we are still students!~ ehehehhe... so we went in the place... and whoa... the place is so much well mantained then before... so i'd say good job on the RM5 entrance fee... the carvings in the place is marvellous! remarkable! and the basment part has been turned into the museum of the khoo kongsi.. in the museum... we get to find out how the khoo familee landed in penang and formed the khoo kongsi.. whoa.. i was so proud when i read about the history and looking at the place as my mother, my grandpa are KHOOs... though my sur name's not khoo but part of me is! besides the museum is also filled with objects that were used in the olden days by the family... and they're actualleee donated items... bravo to those that are willing to bring out their collection and donate it to the museum so other people can hav a glimpse of them.

later on, we moved on to some other temples as we met up wif another fren of my fren. he's a realleee good praying guy... he knows all the temple... we went to chinese temple, siamese temple and burmese temple. another thing, definiteleee he's a good eater as he's always looking for food... but tat's wut penang is famous for!~ so we end the trip simply wif penang food...

so, i'll be saying goodbye to you with the male and female door guardian from the myanmar buddhist temple...!~

vegan pizza!~

for the past 10 days, those who worshipped the 9th emperor god wouldn hav been a pure vegan. pure vegan means there's no milk, no eggs, and the cutleries, pots and pans, cups, plates, bowls, anythin that carries the food must not been used to prepare meat. so most of the worshippers will be eating out as the vegetarian stalls mushrooms on the pavement throughout the island. some believe that if u obey the 10 day pure vegan law, then you'll be able to walk on coal with your barefeet.. i don't know if that's true or not.. but it's part of my culture!~ not all the worshippers turned into pure vegan for 10 days some for the final three days while some only for the final... every year at the end of this festival or worshipping period there wud b a parade to send the 9th emperor god away... anyway... today's the final day and my colleagues worships the 9th emperor god so.. i joined them for a vegan lunch today... and to my surprise, there's vegetarian hawaiian pizza!!! how kewl is tat huh?!~ so without any hesitation, i placed my order.. it cost me RM10.. but it's kindda interesting to find out how it taste like.. so it jas tomato sauce as the base, then they have vegetarian tuna fish, then they have vegetarian ham, vegetarian chicken chunks and pineapple! a hawaiian pizza can't be so hawaiian without the pineapple!~ but the most challenging part in creating the pizza would be the cheese part a pizza can't b a pizza without it... and yet.. they're able to come out wif cheese even without milk?! so.. i was reallee curious by it... the vegan pizza definiteleee do smell nice... but the cheese doesn't smell as strong as the real one... but i'll try to look up for information about tat cheese.. cause i realleee wonder how they make cheese without milk.. i thought cheese is fermented milk!~ well i guess if there's no alcohol beer there can be cheese without milk... anyway here's the picture of the pizza and one of the temple's preparation for the parade tonight!~

photographer jan von holleben

after viewing julian's werk of art.. here's another collection of werk which is with the similar concept as julian juz that his work is done by photography and the collection is called "dreams of flying"

Julian Beever the crazy super realistic pastel pavement artist!!!

we've heard or even seen pavement artists drawin on the pavements some they draw still life, some scribble, some portraits... but look at Julian's work and you'll b blown away.. cause u can't tell which is real and are you gonna fall if u step foot over there? anyway take a look at these peektures and you'll know wut i mean... the drawings are good for camera tricks.. very good..

http://users.skynet.be/J.Beever/index.html