6 Years Anniversary

It was Dec 31 2003 when I first left the States for Thailand. I pretty much celebrated the New Year on the plane and was excited about my new journey in this unfamiliar country. I got to Bangkok a little after midnight and I still remember the heat and polluted air I breath in the first thing I got to the carpark

I was all excited with the new experience but I was also suffering from not being able to understand a single Thai and not able to communicate with others. I'd go to the same place ordered the same food over and over just because I did not know what else they have. Not staying in the city nor close to any train station made it worse for me to get around.

It was the AUA that brought me to know some friends and learn some Thai, and getting a job in Kimberly Clark certainly helped me adapting to this place and feel attached. After I moved to the city, getting around wasn't any problem and English is commonly spoken in the city. I started exploring Bangkok more and found that I've love the cultures here and have adapted well in this beautiful land of smile. Sometimes we forget or do not appreciate things happen around us. The locals might not see any beauties in the everyday lives or the street vendors, the market sellers, monks and all.. Just like I never appreciate how beautiful Penang is when I stayed there until I went back many years after as a 'tourist'. It's important to change the view or role once in a while in our life to see things differently and feel differently of a certain thing.

I've started exploring Bangkok and other part of the cities after I've gotten my SLR camera, though I wish I've had more trips to the North or nearby cities. There are endless things to shoot and the pictures are almost certain to turn out nicely. The colors and activities along the streets, the wats and buildings with modern and antique architecture, delicious and eye catching food and ingredients and the list goes on...

I consider Thailand as one of the best places to stay in and definitely a place to retire. I've once considered Thailand as my home and even I have to leave, I'll still come back very often.

Pork Knuckles Rice - Kao Kamoo

I was thinking to create a food blog before posting this, but it doesn't seem to happen any time soon. Even my exisiting blog is staying still without much updates, I decided not to be so ambitious and just post it! :)

Kao Kamoo aka Pork Knuckles Rice, is one of the Thai local food you have to try when you come to Thailand. It's the food that locals eat daily, and can be easily found by the road side, food court of shopping malls or some local restaurants.



Kao Kamoo is actually a chinese food where they use soy sauce, cinnamon and some chinese herb to cook it for hours. Similar to beef stew, the meat is tendor and full of flavour.

A friend of mine has opened a nice little store selling the pork knuckle rice. When the store was first opened, it was simple and plain, they only sells pork knucle rice and pop water. After a few weeks they added home cook chrysanthemum tea and Roselle tea. Later, local ice cream was added. The trial and error has finally bring them to this unique Khao Kamoo and custom stir fry store.

The partner and the owner of the store are both music lovers. This little cozy place has become their guitar jamming place and the music has warmed up the whole place by this not so professional singing, strumming and laughters.

The whole atmosphere over in the store is good especially during this time of the year. Weather is nice and cooling, everyone is having this relaxed mood. The homey food and homey feeling they created draw me to the store almost a few times a week. Although it's not in town, it's not hard to find, tell the taxi to go to Sri Yan and mention my name and you might get some extra goodies :)




The store is call "Setanee Kamoo Sri Yan" or supposely "Sri Yan Pork **Knuckle** Station", but since they mispelled it, it has uniquely became "Sri Yan Pork Nugget Station"

Don't miss it!!

A Place I Call Home

Last trip to Penang was totally a spontaneous trip. It was a short 2 days trip but with a company of good friends and unplanned schedules, I enjoyed it very much. Penang has changed a lot however from the other point of view, we can also say that this place hasn't change much. The cultures, the traditions, the friendliness of the Penangites and the traditional buildings are well kept and preserved. I'm proud that Penang has earned the Best Heritage awards and this charming little town is a town where I was born and grew up in.

We went to Penang Road and started wandering around the area. Houses like this still remain the same. The design of the houses are very unique and even the tiles on the floor are well kept. I have never noticed all the architecture of the building when I was living there, nor I have walked around Penang acting like a tourist.

Khoo Kong Si, a very welknown Temple or house own by the Khoo family. Years ago, the Japanese wanted to buy this place but was refused even the offering price was high. This place is all hand crafted and I especially like this lamp hanging in front of the temple. I remember when I was a teenager, this was one of the famous places we went for portrait shooting. I too have some pictures taken there where I looked so young and shy :)

We then went to Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion. I didn't know this place before this trip. This mansion apparently was there for decades but it s a house of the rich. Recently it was repainted into this stricking blue and part of it was tranformed into a hotel. The rooms are very interesting, all of them have different themes and designs. I regretted that I didn't listen to my friend's advice to book a room there during my stay.

Penang is a nice little place where we can relax, get away from the crowded city life. There are many natural spots to explore to, from the beaches to the hills. This is a place I'll always go back to.

The Sun, the Sea and the Breeze

Nothing is better to go out to the ocean with bunch of nice friends, doing nothing except relaxing, listening to the wave and enjoy the sea breeze... It was a wonderful weekend, the sea was calm and blue, the stars were bright and crisp.

Thailand has countless beautiful beaches and islands with world-known dive sites. I'm a beginner diver, feeling nervous and tense still while diving. I do enjoy the underwater scene and the feel of freedom in the water, the company of good friends made the trip.

This is the 2nd time I'm in Koh Tao - an island 6 hours drive south of Bangkok. Although I should confess I can't really feel the different having only water around me, I guess it's the underwater that matters. This trip to Koh Tao, the sea was perfectly calm and clear, we can see nice fish and beautiful corals, the highlight was the false killer shark. Places like Pattaya or Rayong, I'm sure it's a bit polluted that make the diving a bit unpleasant.




Pictures always turn out nice by the beach, and the sea. The perfect natural colors from the sea, the sky and the full lighting make it so easy to take good pictures. I've had lots of pictures of friends with colorful dresses. It was such fun to photograph them.

I think I'll now make it a part time job as a photographer, whoever wants their pictures taken outside the studio, I'll take it. :)

Go Green!

It's the trend today, anything wirh "Green" suppose to mean "Save the World", Here I am, go with the crowd, for with the trend, go with the green!!