The Intricacies of Arnis

The Intricacies Of Arnis HAS MOVED

, by sinra

The Journey of the 5 Musketeers Exploring Bangkok City & its vicinity

Sawadee Ka.

It’s our first ever visit to Bangkok City, Thailand and we’ve decided to stay there for 3 nights (CNY holidays). We’ve booked our accommodation via AirBnB situated at Rangsit Road which takes like almost 30 minutes to the heart of Bangkok City.

Our AirBnB apartment

My main advice is to *never ever choose to stay at suburb areas as Bangkok traffic is quite bad especially during the rush hour*

Amongst the places of interest that we’ve visited during our short-stay at Bangkok City are:

1) Damnoen Saduak Floating Market

Took us almost 2 hours to reach there from Bangkok City and upon visiting this floating market, I felt extremely disappointed. The canals were completely congested with boats...some being paddled and some powered with long tail engines.

It was super congested

The boats could barely move and those that had engines were pushing the paddled boats around. The propellers on the engines were coming out of the water and came close to hitting the people in the other boats. It was a completely unsafe situation with total disorganisation. Many of the passengers were very distressed by the amount of exhaust fumes from the motor boats which blew directly into our faces. This was an unpleasant experience and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.

The image of this market that you are sold is quite a way from reality, it has long since lost it's beauty and authenticity it is now just a tourist trap.

The boat driver will stop you at souvenir shops along the way. It's okay to just look around and experience the boat ride but it's not advisable to buy stuffs from there (it's overpriced and you can see the water is very dirty, would you dare to eat food prepared in such conditions?)

Enjoying the over-priced mango sticky rice

If you enjoy being trapped in a small boat, choking on diesel fumes and surrounded by hundreds of fellow tourists while people try to sell you things you don’t want, then this is the place for you. Otherwise, don’t go. We can’t believe we did. Oh, and the boat hire is a total rip-off.

The River Kwai Bridge

2) Bridge Kwai And JEATH (Japan, England, Australia/USA, Thailand and Holland) Museum

This was a very moving and an eye opening experience. For so many people to have lost their lives during WW2 and makes us to ponder and think of the terrible time those poor Men had. The total death toll was enormous.

This bridge is obviously one of the reasons why you must come to Kanchanaburi. It’s a present days reminder of past days war cruelty. It’s perfectly restored (and in use by commercial trains), which brings up the question if everything always has to be perfect and pristine. Maybe leaving it in destroyed condition would have a greater impact and pays tribute to the people who suffered building it and how they suppressors were eventually defeated.

Inside the JEATH museum

I would definitely recommend to anyone to visit the bridge and the JEATH museum (nearby to the bridge). For 40Baht, you can tour the museum of the prison camp it was interesting not very big but worth the 40 Baht. That also gets you into the Thai history building. It was cool to be able to walk across the bridge.

What I would have liked to done is planned our trip a little better and taken the train from Bangkok to the River Kwai. You would be able to see more of the country side than the road ways. Plus who doesn't like a train ride.However it does require some planning which we didn't do. It's a day trip and you could make the day out of it.

Tourist selfie pose detected

3) Maeklong Railway Market in Bangkok

As part of a tour to the floating market, we stopped at the Maeklong Railway Train Market, there are far too many people there, it was quite an incredible experience.

Mad tourists waiting for the train to arrive

We walked through the covered stalls along the train lines, its mainly fruits, vegetables and fish so full of locals going about their shopping. When the train is coming...all the stall owners jump up and start taking in part of their stalls.

The train comes through and you can literally touch it. Such an amazing insight to the way of life compared to modern westernised countries. Definitely a bucket list experience.

4) Khao San Road

I have no idea why this street is being depicted via the internet as something special and popular. It’s full of traps and craps for tourists. Kitschy and I don't understand what the hype is all about. Maybe it's more fun at night time but in the day time when I went there, the area is dismally dirty and run down.

Enjoying my coconut ice cream

5) Chao Phraya River Cruise

You may take the long tailed boat ride around the canals off the main river. It’s a good experience cruising the river and can see the Grand Palace, some temples and cool Thai architectural buildings.

Overall, we had a great visit to Bangkok. I wouldn't intend to visit here again as its quite hard for us, Muslims to find Halal food.But its a memorable experience for us to visit this land of White Elephants!

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, by sinra

Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) - Bangkok's Contemporary Art Hub

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, by sinra

Lost in Chinatown- Lantern Hotel Review and Petaling Street

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, by sinra

Kellie’s Castle, Batu Gajah- The Ruins Of Kellie's Dream

If you are in Ipoh, you definitely have to make a trip to Kellie's Castle.

It gives you details on the history of the castle, how it was constructed this way, what happened to the owner and his family along the way and why it became a white elephant thereafter and etc.

This unfinished castle was built by a Scottish named William Kellie Smith as a Taj Mahal of sorts for his wife Agnes. Unfortunately Smith died of pneumonia while travelling in Lisbon, Portugal before the castle could be completed.

Part of the castle's uniqueness include secret tunnels, an unfinished indoor tennis court and a bucket lift structure. Smith apparently had brought in labourers from India to build this castle and the descendants of these labourers are still said to be living in this area. Although architecturally, the castle was probably way ahead of its time, the element that I found most profound was the love Smith had for his family.

Behind the castle is the Kellas House which was where the Smiths originally lived before the castle was built. Smith originally had rubber plantation in his estate but these are gone. Instead, now you can only see a small plot of sugar cane near the castle and palm oil plantations in the surrounding area.

Unfortunately the building was not well maintained so it seems a little haggard after eons. But it's a good historical building as your picture background if you wish to take photos of the castle.

It is rich in history and sufficiently documented to explain the history and person behind the castle but unfortunately it was not completed. But the sheer experience and sight of this castle is simply amazing.

No castle is complete without a haunting or two and Kellie's castle is no stranger to this phenomenon. There are claims of Smith's ghost being sighted wandering in the corridors and also of a little girl believed to be his daughter Helen. You will get to smell some unique scent.

It's about half an hour drive from Ipoh city and certainly worth the journey! The venue requires a bit of walking and climbing (stairs), so do wear good shoes! There's an entrance fee (RM5 for Malaysian adults, if not mistaken).

The ruins are impressive and very instagrammable - there are history boards with a brief background history of the building/rooms. The views from the top are simply breathtaking, so bring cameras or binoculars if you wish!

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, by sinra

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