The South Of Thailand (Final Part 3)

This will be the final post of my recent trip to Ha'adyai in South Thailand. You will see some assorted photos that captured my eyes at the exhibition where all the participants were young primary school kids! Next post, I will be blogging about the City God's Temple in Shanghai which I left out, not knowing that some bloggers had no opportunity to visit when they were there.

This is the exterior of the convention centre in Songkhla which looks impressive for a small town.

This beautiful peacock perched elegantly above with a long flowing tail that were made of orchid flowers! The young school children made those artificial orchid flowers by themselves!

Amazing Garlic Peeler - I was impressed by this invention of 2 young boys under 12 years old. They used wood to made a container which was inlaid with some synthetic rubber sheet. Just close the lid and turn them around. Bingo! All the garlic will be peeled in 1 minute!!!!!

This is another creation of blooming flower sprays which were made from recycled PVC tapes! Those PVC tapes were often used to bind the carton boxes which would be loaded into delivery trucks.

 

This is another set of impressive flowers made from recycled magazine pages!

These are the winning artworks by young primary school girls. They used various types of edible seeds and dried condiments to make beautiful pictures.

Lastly, the inter schools held dance competitions by the young school girls. They performed the traditional classical Thai dances on stage accompanied by a band of young boys as musicians.

 

Look at that! The lead dancer could twist and bend her body like rubber!

Hope you enjoyed the photos!

Tomorrow May Not Come

I have a true story to share about a dying patient. She is only 15 years old who has been diagnosed with a Stage 4 cancer. This girl's plight and willpower to live on, has inspired me to write this blog post. I was so moved and really touched to see her determination.

The NGO's admin called my wife who has been a long time volunteer and informed her about this young patient who is unable to attend school anymore. Her condition has deteriorated and walking unaided is almost impossible. She missed her school and all her friends so badly each day that prompted her mother to seek help from any teachers who could give their time and coach her darling daughter with home schooling. My wife is a very busy person now compared to me but she simply could not say no. Yesterday, she went to the patient's home and her heart sank to the floor on seeing the smiling young girl who is so frail and breathing heavily with whizzing sound through the tubes hooked to a machine on the floor. Who would not cry and weep at her painful sight? 

This child's health may be very weak and sickly but her heart and mind is still strong with determination to study until she graduates from university. Her mood and spirits swung back on knowing that she could now study at the comforts of her small flat. The happiness and positive mind is always essential to help many terminally ill patients recover besides taking medication and chemotherapy treatments. I really hope that she will recover as she has so many years of bright future ahead.

 

We are always swarmed by all our daily chores and working routines until we often forgot ourselves. Sometimes we just led our lives aimlessly and meaninglessly by living each day without any directions. We become out of focus and lost our mindfulness to deal with problems and pain. When the tragedy and disasters stuck, one might be jolted up to sense and point fingers besides uttering hurtful words. These problems are often just temporary like tides in the ocean. We humans have short memory and will end up going back into square one leading a mundane life.

I myself used to complain and compared with the other wealthier and more successful friends. This unhealthy thoughts will bring no goals and results but miseries if I don't start moving legs to work towards a goal in life. Ask yourself deeply. What is the only wish that you have in this life? Just focus on that one wish everyday and you will soon arrive at your destiny someday. I have learnt to stop comparing with others as there will be no ending to it and it is happier to be contented with what we have.

Our fate is always in our own hands. We created our own fate and only we alone can change our own fate for the better or for the worse.

I must learn to be contented with my life always. We should live happily and add excitement to spice up our lives and our loved ones too.

HAPPY WEEKEND TO YOU & SMALL KUCING!

The South Of Thailand (Part 2)

On the final day of my stay, my KL friend Mark and his lovely Thai fiancee Oi brought us to see the exhibits at the Songkhla Convention Centre. I was surprised to see all the Thai Arts & Crafts talent amongst the school students. What shocked me in disbelief was the students were all young primary school students!!! They are so skillful and creative at such young age. I will post their exhibits today and in the Final Part 3.

 

 Photo 1: The Songkhla Convention Centre is very big with a huge hall and foyers for exhibition. This development has certainly added a star to this once sleepy town.

Photo 2: That's Mark and his Thai darling admiring at the row of primary students' Mini Bonsai Gardens. I thought only old retired grandpas would make such gardens in China and Taiwan.

Photo 3: I was impressed by this young boy's patience and skills to carve the Honeydew fruit. His team won the First Prize and they had to be there to demo for the public to see. I remembered that he is around 11 years old.

 Photo 4: Look at the watermelon with blooming flowers! Amazing and beautiful!

Photo 5: This is a beautiful Golden Phoenix carved from raw pumpkins!!

Photo 6: The 1st Prize Vegetable and Fruit Carvings by Primary School students. I could not even carve anything when I was in Primary School.

 Photo 7: Now moving on, we can see the Thai female students whose ages are between 9-11 years and they are the winners of the Beautiful Floral arrangements.

Photo 8: Their floral arrangement is so pretty and neat with pleated leaves holding the various small flowers. This display is always used as offerings during religious and ceremonial functions.

Photo 9: This is another winning Thai Floral Display. This is so beautiful with candles and joss sticks being packed in nicely for the religious offerings ceremony.

 

 Photo 10: This one is a pretty garland that is made from fragrant rose buds and jasmines buds which is suitable for welcoming Royalties, VIPs and Bridal Couple. I thank Mark and his fiance Oi for bringing us there. He will be getting married soon and these garlands would be worn over their necks.

Do you want to see more exhibits? Stay tuned for Part 3.

The South Of Thailand (Part 1)

 I just got back from the South Of Thailand last Thursday. The LCCT airport was very packed like a can of sardines with so many holiday makers flying off on the first day of Hari Raya. I saw so many Malay families with small kids towing luggages, all dressed in their very best & colourful traditional clothes. It was a beautiful sight.

I will not be posting anything about the retreat where my wife stayed as no photography was allowed inside. All I can say is that it was a new retreat being set up by a well known nun and is being managed by several monks and many practitioners. The location is at the outskirts of Nakorn Si Thammarat which is an ancient Thai town with much history during the reign of the old Kingdom of Siam. It is almost 200 kilometers north of Haayai town. It took me almost 2 hours drive at neck breaking speed to reach there in my cousin's 4 wheel drive which has got the most damn powerful engines I had ever driven.

 Let me share some photos below.

  

Photo 1: I stayed at my cousin's hotel which he has inherited from his late father for free. My family has stayed at this old hotel for free since I was 7 years old.

 

Photo 2: I have been coming to Haayai since I was 2 months old and often lived at my grandfaher's home by the seaside near the famous Mermaid Statue in Songkhla. The town seems boring to me always. Luckily my cousin accompanied and chauffered me around in his brand new Mercedes Benz which cost him almost RM500K when the price of the cars are considered cheaper in Thailand than Malaysia.

 

Photo 3: They always have these huge AMAZING THAILAND's shopping icons all over the town and just changed the dates every season.

 

Photo 4: Their beloved King has been discharged from the hospital after 4 years. They have many arches along the streets all over the country to show their love for their King.

 

 Photo 5: This hotel is a famous and prominent landmark in town. It has been bombed by terrorists using car bombs not just once and killed many people. It also often got flooded until its basement carpark where tourists were drowned too. Humans have short memory indeed.

 

 Photo 6: Their market is very popular with Malaysians with hundreds of stalls inside selling clothes, bags, shoes and fake branded stuffs. I was surprised that they even have faked BONIA bags.

 

Photo 7: I walked across the whole town center in less than 2 hours and passed many food stalls that made me fatter. Here I bought the popular sweet mangoes with glutinous rice. (In Thai language  - Khao Niao Ma Muang)

 

Photo 8: I always loved to buy their sweet cakes that could turn you into a diabetic instantly.  The right boxes of orange coloured desserts made with duck's eggs into shreds is my ALL TIME FAVOURITE. Everyone in my family and friends hated the smell. One friend spat it out on the spot once! He was idiot and knows nothing about heavenly desserts. My favourite duck's eggs yummy is called "Foi Thong".

 

Photo 9: We also spotted the fried fishes which was so aromatic and irresistible. It costs only 100 bahts (RM9.90)  each! I bought one.

 

Photo 10: My cousin felt excited and decided to bring me to Songkhla to have lunch and to buy some Thai Native's Food Products to give my mother. This place is the square by the Samila Beach where the famous Mermaid sits on the rock.

 Photo 11: This is the special crab we had as appetizer. It is the signature dish that is only available in that restaurant where they sliced the flower crabs into think slices and stripped the claws too. You can just suck the crab meat and roe out easily.

Photo 12: I missed their famous coconut ice cream which I often ate from a hawker on bicycle when I was a small boy. So my cousin took me to a proper shop selling them as those old hawkers are no longer around.

Photo 13: We ate 4 bowls each! So yummy and Slurrpss!

A Blissful Holiday Retreat

I will be away for a while to a land faraway from the hustle & bustle of the city life here. My wife will be having her semester break and I gave her a list of vacation choices. Instead, she chose to go for a Buddhist Meditation Retreat in the most remote corner of Thailand. 

 

It has been her long time dream to spend days in solitary to meditate peacefully somewhere faraway where our mother nature's bliss and beauty lies.

There will be no unhealthy distractions of Facebook, WiFi, Candy Crush and Watsap.

I will be alone. I may be holed up in the next town's hotel reading books, eating, massage and shopping. 

I sound so sinful.