What's Wat?

A wat ?


" A wat is a temple . In Bangkok alone we have lots of temples , both big and small , " explained Nancy .

" Yes , she said ." ...I am a Buddhist . I have a Thai name . But now my name is Nancy .........In my company where I worked for .....all female guides are known as Nancy. Easy for tourists to call me ......." That explains it .


True as to what Nancy said ......Bangkok is full of temples ..both big and small ...you will be sure to find one at every nook and corners ...along the waterways too .........along the river banks .....in front of houses ..........its practically everywhere .


One of the temples that Nancy insisted we ought to visit was the golden Buddha . So of we went in the van ...weaving in and out of Bangkok's traffic .........going thru little lanes . We finally reached Wat Traimit ; the temple of the Golden Buddha . A bustling place ; located among some other buildings ...which one could easily missed .There were other tourists going in and out of the premise . There were vendors selling golden Buddha images as well as other souvenirs nearby .


Of course , to enter the place we need to pay the entrance fees at a litle kiosk ...about RM2 each . Walking up the stairs and the moment we walked in , we saw this impressive sight !





A gleaming statue ....a Buddha of solid gold ..all 3 meters high of it . Nancy said it was built during the Sukhotai era and was rediscovered about 50 years ago ....accidently . The Buddha used to be covered in mud or cement . About 250 to 300 years ago , Thailand was under attack from the Burmese . Afraid that the Burmese would reach the temple and took away the Golden Buddha for its gold , the Thai people covered this golden Buddha with mud .





For 2 hundred years nobody remembered about it . Until the day the authorities wanted to move this Buddha . One of the workers dropped something heavy on the mud statue and the outer covering chipped away........revealing the solid gold !!




Tourists walked in and out .......taking pictures ....some praying ...some leaving candles and offerings .


As for us that was a first time we saw a 5 tonne solid gold . Come to think of it , I didn't see any guard at the entrance of the temple ......perhaps they know nobody would be brave enough to steal that hugh statue and get away with it .

Up The Mighty River Flow

Outboard riding anyone ?

Bangkok as seen along its water ways .

That was what we did when we reached Bangkok . We deposited our bags at the hotel ; rested for a while ; and Nancy our tour guide was waiting for us by the time we got back downstairs . We were all rearing to go .

A first time for Amir and Uzair sitting in long boat .

The Chaopraya River .......a name which I used to hear when I was studying geography years ago at school. I can't believe I was there at the sides of its bank and about to scale a part of its length .

The few vegetation that broke away from shore .

The river is relatively clean and not of that muddy color . No other rubbish were seen strewn in the river . Though we spotted some kind of vegetation floating ......those that broke away from the river bank .

Grim faces ??

As for my children , it was their first experience in a long boat . I never did ask how they felt . Were they scared ? Taking into account all of us were not strong swimmers .......I bet I was the only one asking as to when they would pass us the life vests . We never did use any .......which hardly surprised me .

A boat ride that brought memories for mum in law.

The river is hugh ..and the water was choppy .....made worst when we encountered other vessels plying the water way too .

Here comes the waves ..hang on tight !!

Our long boat would slow down each time it encountered another vessel until the waves created by that vessel subsided . How the boat rocked ......plus its passengers . If there was more space in it , I would have rolled too .

What a feeling .......!!

How the boat bobbed up and down ...swaying on its side too .....and how the boatman tried his best to ensure the boat stayed upright and did not capsize . My God ...how these people took safety for granted .





I could only say my prayers ......and hope GOD would take care of us . I did not say anything to hubby but told him so when we reached the river bank . He said the life vests were there ...tucked way under the bow of the boat . Man!!!!!




From afar we could see modern high rise buidings dotting along the river front .

See how hugh the river is . Along this river lies other tributaries . We entered into one and had a close up view of Bangkok's dwellings and a peek into their life as well .




Most houses faces the river tributaries . As such almost all houses has their own little berthing area for small sampans and boats to berth along side ; for loading and unloading of things as well as its household members .




Some business transactions were conducted from boats . Very enterprising ......these Thais .



So who says business needs only to be conducted on dry land ? We saw this lady cooking food; could see the smoke billowing from her sampan . She cooked away and did not pause to look at the other vessels along the route ; nor was she bothered when her boat was not that steady on the water ..while the lady in the house was waiting patiently for the food she had ordered .


When we reached land ..I was a bit dizzy headed ; I recovered and was able to njoy the rest of the tour .

Elegant Elephant ?

Elegant elephant .....it certainly rhymes . The one that carried us on its back wasn't that elegant looking .


I fulfilled my desire to ride on one . It was scary to get on it as the elephant was not standing still as required .....but the guide was experienced enough to convince me that it was alright . " No scared , madam " he said .

A walk on jumbo along the jungle trial .

I honestly say it was not a comfortable 45 minutes journey . The elephant with me and my mum in law as guests and customers walked through a jungle trail ,

Remember to put your legs up high . Water is yucky !!

then through a pool of water which the elephant loved ....to cool itself off . I was apprehensive too...in case jumbo was high strung and decided to take revenge and sprayed us with water . You look carefully at the water .....its actually dirty and you could see little " poops " floating on the surface . I tried to ensure my shoes stayed dry .

Each photo taken costs us RM10 .

At the same time it gave an opportunity for the village's photographer to take a snap of us . I saw him running back to camp ....and what do you know ? When we reached base and alighted , the photos were ready and nicely packed . You don't have any choice but just had to buy your photo . Nobody else would be interested to buy .


For that ride it cost the whole family RM360 . And to think that my other family members were not that keen to join me in the first place .



Look ...who is grinning ?




And look at daughter Yasmin sitting elegantly in that pose of hers .




And hubby too was taking the opportunity to try his hand in how to guide jumbo .



However to say that I felt like a queen sitting high up on its back is an understatement . Nor was I that elegant in sitting on the hard chair and holding on to the chair bar for dear life .......I wouldn't want to slip out of the chair and trampled by those mighty foot . That would be a contribution to the news of " Today In History " ......for my personal history that is .


It was only when I saw the picture taken by hubby that I realised , the elephant that I sat on was skinny and undernourished . Worst she was hurt and had a deep wound on her forehead .



Ohhhh......so sad . I felt guilty too .

In Bangkok .....

Its hard to believe that just two weeks ago , we were in Bangkok . We planned our excursions with Nancy , our tourists guide whom we met at the airport . We tried to absorb as much of Bangkok as possible during the 4 days we were there .

My children in the plane .

It was like " move , move , move !! " We were in full gear ,with highly charged batteries , full of adrenalin . We don't expect any member of the family to complain and say they just want to laze at the hotel . No way !!

Bangkok from the air

The airport is modern and new . I must stress here I love our Kuala Lumpur International Airport better as it is much more beautiful .

The airport ......a mouthful to say its name

There were lots of other tourists plus us among them........so it takes a while to get through the Immigration authorities . None of the officers behind the counter smiled nor greeted us ; maybe they were not supposed to do so . Very stern looking that I can tell you . The airport have rows and rows of such counters to cater for people like us .

A modern airport ; clean and efficient

At the airport too was the first encounter I had with a country that uses its own alphabet and language ........a country that is proud of their culture ; so pure and rich . We did not wait long for our baggage .

Among the experiences that is so fresh in my mind was the elephant ride . Among the family , I was the only one who was so keen to take a ride on it . With our guide , Nancy ...we customized the tour to include this outing .


To get there , Nancy , our guide planned the journey to include a boat ride . But first we had to use a van which was about an hours drive from our hotel and anoher 30 minutes ride in a long boat . It was an experience for us going thru the 3 meters wide canals; passing Thai houses ; very much like our malaysian kampung dwellings .

Mum in law and Yasmin in the long boat .

The boat was narrow with numerous planks in it ; for us to seat on . Two people per plank . It certainly brought many memories for my mum in law as that was how she commuted in her village many many years ago . I heard her telling my daughter .......she had her own sampan and she rowed in it daily . That drew a gasp of astonishment from my daughter . In this case Yasmin did not get to hear the slapping sound of wooden oars hitting the water . This boat was equipped with a motor boat engine .


Of course the ride was loud .

Happy Father's Day

.


Sunday .........its a beautiful morning .Today too is Father's Day . We celebrated ours three days earlier . Eldest son just loved eating out . He's back at campus ; eager to start his practical training at the local goverment agency .


Lots of hugs to dear hubby ...........Happy Husband's Day to him .




This is for my dear father in Miri . Big bro in Miri smsed saying the Poli family is celebrating this occasion at the kampung . Ohhhhhhhhh.....how nice !! I'm missing all the fun .




Thank you Bapak for being there for all of us . Thank you to my brothers and family for making the effort to celebrate this day wth Bapak . Thank you too to dear hubby for loving me and the children .


Have a nice day everyone !!

Getting Ready For Bangkok

Bangkok .......its just not a name for the capital of Bangkok . I happened to know one who shared this name. He was my ex colleague at the company I used to worked for . I should have asked him .....why this name ? Were you born there ? But I never did get to ask ...out of sheer respect for him .


Yunno , we had always wanted to go to Bangkok . After all its just an hour and a half flight from Penang . So when hubby said , " Go ! " , just get yourself ready and don't ask any questions .


That's what I did . Hubby did all the calculations ....how much to burst ( the budget ) and how much to retain . He booked the flights and the hotel in Bangkok . He ensured that his mum be there too . So mum in law flew all the way from Mukah .....a coastal town in Sarawak to Penang . An achievement for a 72 years old grandmother .

Hubby And Mum In Law

It was a last minute application of passports for the children and for my mum in law as well . For a while it was a horrific moment as we almost could not get the passports done . It certainly taught us a lesson ; that is not to assume that all procedures are the same with regards to the application of passports . We were unaware of the difference in procedures involved more so when you are a Sarawakian and your first time in applying for one .





Thanks to friends in the Immigration Department ..both in Sg. Petani and Kuching and a brother who was an ex Immigration officer , we managed to get the approval and the Immigration Department in Sg. Petani proceeded in making the passports for my children .


Hubby and the children collected these the next day . Alhamdulillah ........

The Passports

For a while it had my children all tensed up knowing no passport , no trip and no Bangkok .

Welcoming June With A Gloom

Sorry folks for the long lapse . Such tardiness in updating my blog is unacceptable . My daughter Yasmin was pestering as to when am I going to update it .So here goes !!


Month of June is here . Welcome to you , June . A gloomy June indeed . With the recent hike in the price of petrol , I can feel the pinch on my purse strings . Gone are the days when I could fill up my little Kancil car with RM22 ........that's a full tank mind you and that was in 1999. Until two weeks ago , a full tank was about RM35 . Five days ago I pumped in RM50 worth of this precious black beauty .......and Sigh !! RM50 is only about 18 liters .


As for food ..........the price of chicken , beef and fish have soared up too . My consolation ..... the price of vegetables have so far maintained .




I should really be serious on this austerity drive thingy . Have to remind myself and the rest of the band to spend within our means . Limited outings too ........to Pizza Hut , my children's favorite haunt and other eatings out . Need to cut down on trips too .


Talking of trips.......yunno , I'm pretty glad we made the trip to Bangkok last May. If we had delayed it any further ..........I would never have gone at all .