I'm a newbie

Dear readers,

I have thought for a very very long time (more than 7 years) to have my own blog. However, today is my first day on blogger.com and now I don't know what to do, where to start, it's just my blog doesn't look exactly like what I want so I don't know what I should do first. I feel lost LOL! Now I'm writing here to see how my post will be like. And I hope the more I write, the more I know how to manage this blog.

This is actually my 2nd blog because the first blog isn't like what I thought after I posted the photos. I'm not so sure that I can do a lot here because it seems to have fewer functions than my first try on the 1st blog. Anyway, if I can work on my mainstream well here. You will definitely see me update it again and again, and again.

After this blog is built to be in a shape, I will publish this and I hope to hear from you no matter you like it or not. All comments and advices are welcome :-)

Thank you for visiting "Namrin on the Blog"
Namrin

Namrin in Japan for work and leisure

I'm in Japan again for work and leisure. However, the time is limited so not much to entertain myself.

One day is what I have and so, I took a day trip to Nikko with my Japanese friend, Hiromi. I met Hiromi in Sydney as a classmate. Hiromi visited Thailand 2 years ago and I was her guide taking her around BKK and Pattaya. Now it is her turn to take me around. It was great and Nikko is beautiful. It's the most perfect autumn I have ever had. You can see that leaves change their colours. I brought own my sunshine as usual.

http://s222.photobucket.com/albums/dd191/namrinb/Photo%202008/Tokyo%20and%20Nikko/

See ya soon.

Namrin in Pattaya for foam party and more

Hello,

I'm back. Actually this album should my SCUBA diving trip that I did in July but occasionally, I make an express way for my own favour lol. Surely next album will be underwater photos with sharks and more! Pls stay tune!

There are quite a lot of photos as it is 2-day activities. The main purpose to come to Pattaya this time is to go to the foam party at Hard Rock Hotel with Ploy (my friend who lives in Pattaya). Sound interesting, huh? But before we explore how the foam party like. Let's go through the story step by step.

I don't know what happened to my life but this is the second time in a month that I had to wait for my friend for a very long time. How long? It's only one and a half hour. The worst record was 2 hours and a bit!! My question is why it had to occur within a month? I try to think that it's time to pay back for myself being late a bit here and there to other people (if you believe in Karma). Colin, Ploy's boyfriend, drove me to Pattaya. Thanks Colin even though I had to wait for quite a long while but I'm not angry. We arrived at noon and went straight for lunch. After that, Ploy told me that she and her elder sister would like to go to the temple to release some fish and birds back to nature. It's a good deed Thai Buddists do. I don't know whether I have ever really done that as I'm not practically religious. Anyhow, I joined Ploy's sister and her sister's friends. I felt great after doing a good thing! We bought eels, a few types of fish and frogs or toads and free them in a big pond in a temple. I hope they are all fine and won't be fished back to the market :-)

Next stop, we passed the Silver Lake which is a grapes farm. They sell the grapes' products here and also built a resort for people who travels to Pattaya. It's mountaineous with a huge lake and nice flower garden. I didn't feel like I was in Pattaya which is a beach city. It's like I'm in North of Thailand, hahaha. Nice views with some pretty girls there!!

Then, our main activity is here! We went to Hard Rock Hotel where they hold the foam party every Saturday. It was really crazy and fabously fun. Dress Code: swimwear, bikinis, spaghetti tops, shorts, you get the idea, don't you? I don't remember how long we were in the foam pool but seemed like a few hours. It closed at 1AM and that was the time we left, hahaha! After the foam pool, we jump into a swimming pool to get rid of the foam from our bodies and then played water basketball with other hotel's guests. I did score one but Ploy, Colin and P' Kay (Ploy's friend) didn't see it! Oh, NOOO!!! That was my impressive shot! How could you guys miss it?? D'oh!! lol

It rainned in BKK and other provinces around but it didn't rain in Pattaya throughout this weekend. Told you I bring my own SUNSHINE! LOLOLOL ;-) It was great weather and kinda too hot actually. I woke up late after a long night. After lunch, we went to the go-kart circuit. This is also my call, lol. Something I fancy doing in Pattaya :-D To be honest, I'm not a master driver but you know the thing that you like doesn't need to go into the same direction as the thing you are good at. i.e. a big football fan doesn't have to play football brilliantly, right? Just like that :-D It was a great excitement when driving on the circuit. And when you hear the sound of go-kart engines, I just can't imagine how it would be if this was Formula 1 racing.....Feel good! I was not quite racing with my friends. There are a few other people driving in the same round too. And I have to say wow! They were fast and furious. Two are Westerners and 1 are Thai guy and one of the girls in our group, she drove very well too. Those were on a race lol. Ploy, Colin, I and if there were a few more, we just leisurely drove LOL but still didn't have time to enjoy the view of the trees and the pond. Everything seemed to be quick and I needed concentration, and we were so close to the ground!! And that is exciting and challenging you can feel!

That's all for now. Coming up next...let's go under water (go under me-Nam!! hehe :-P)

http://s222.photobucket.com/albums/dd191/namrinb/Photo%202008/Pattaya-Foam%20party/

SCUBA diving in Koh Tao: 16-18 Aug

I drop the diving story. I decided to not write the story about my SCUBA diving trip in Koh Tao. The reason is that I wanted to write about a friend who joined the trip but it's gonna be quite negative so I think I'd better not mention it. LOL! The trip was great as you see the from photos. And that's the important thing you need to know because if you have a chance to dive, don't miss Koh Tao.

Now I'm just lost and don't know what to do with this blog. I have to say I don't like the column "My Photos". It's good to have it all set in this blog but I can't manage the photos in the way that I want. I can't even re-organise or re-order the photos. That's my major disappointment. So I'm thinking about leaving this blog to another one which I'm not sure it will be like what I want or not but I will try. So if you see me here again, either it means the new one is not better or it is my last message on this blog. We will see...

I don't know whether you will have a chance to read this. If you have, thank you.

http://www.thoughts.com/Namrin/photos

http://www.thoughts.com/Namrin/photos/browse/cid/6358

http://www.thoughts.com/Namrin/photos/browse/cid/6674

Namrin with her friends-Koh Tao

Hello, everyone.

Due to a business call, Aom, my Thai friend decided to go back to Bangkok 1 day earlier. So you see, taking a long holiday leave in Thailand is not easy somehow. Sigh!

Koh Tao??? The first time when you think about Koh Tao, you think about turtle. The second time when you think about Koh Tao, you talk about SCUBA diving. The third time when you think about Koh Tao, you talk about snorkelling. The forth time when you think about Koh Tao, you think and talk about turtle, SCUBA diving and snorkelling. hahaha!

Those are what Koh Tao is all about. It's not your islands if you look for sandy beach. It's rocky beach here. But down under it has very nice underwater plants and animals that you will love to see. Further but around Koh Tao, there are many famous diving spots for SCUBA divers where you have a chance to see whale sharks or blue sharks.

Unfortunately, it's now very difficult to find turtles here. Koh Tao literally means Turtle Islands because this islands is famous for the place that sea turtles came to hatch their eggs. But now, I'm not sure whether it has become only a tale yet. Never heard of people talking about it for a loooong time.

For my own unlucky bit, I lost some photos because of sun exposure. The ones that can be used are in little blue tone. I used the half auto/half manual camera with waterproof case but I didn't know how to remove the film from the camera's case LOL. The photos underwater I posted are only parts of a film. If I could change a film, we would have more photos. We found a very big interesting fish down there too. But I don't know the name and didn't have a film left to take its photo :-(

Our schedule of that day is simple:

Got up in early morning. Picked up by a van that took us to a pier in Koh Samui

Light breakfast and got on the ferry. This boat is better and bigger than yesterday's one. It has air-con and hundreds of seats. You can tell this is a little longer distance.

Departed to Koh Tao
Arrived at 1st snorkelling spot: Go snorkelling

Lunch on board
Due to unpredictable weather (from past 3 days), we didn't go to Koh Nangyuan for our own safety:-(

Traveled to 2nd snorkellin spot: Go snorkelling
Then, headed back to Koh Samui

Tomorrow is the last day of my Gulf of Thailand trip

Namrin
PS. Actually it didn't rain that day. It's a shame we didn't stop by Koh Nangyuan. Therefore I have to go there again next year. lol

28 July 2008
http://s222.photobucket.com/albums/dd191/namrinb/Photo%202008/Thailand%20trip%20with%20Japanese%20friends%2017-31%20July/Koh%20Tao%2028%20July/

Namrin with her friends-Angthong National Marine Park

Hello, everyone.

Back to the beach. This was another day Aom and I travelled together. We went to Angthong National Marine Park which I think this is the biggest National Marine Park in Gulf of Thailand. Angthong National Marine Park consists of 42 of islands around.

There was a funny thing we observed when we arrived at the ferry. Actually it's rather pity. From the very first photo you may see that there were some Thai wearing office outfits on the boat. I and Oam thought we got on the wrong boat but later when more tourists (mainly foreigners) came on board, we knew we were on the right boat. One person from the office outfit group asked me what's there at Angthong Islands. I explained from what I knew. And then, we found out that her group were having the seminar but none of them had been informed that the trip to Angthong is the beach trip. So women wore cut-shoes or high-heeled shoes and men wore leather shoes. And of course, none of them have brought their swimwear! OH! How terrible! I guess the organiser who managed this seminar was not the boat otherwise he or she would receive complaints from morning until afternoon! hehe

I have to say this day trip is not the best for people who loves snorkeling because the snorkeling sites they took us are too sandy. Perhaps you can have a good snorkeling at the other sites but you would need a two-day trip I guess. However, if you are a beach lover, you will love it! We hit a very nice sandy beach at the main island-Koh Woa Ta Lab. Unfortunately it was cloudy so the photos may not be so great. But it was only cloudy really and nothing more. The sky didn't dare raining when I was there! It's all in control! HAHAHA!

As this is the Marine Park, 82% are sea but it also has rain forest area too. Unfortunately it rained a night before so it was too dangerous to climb to the top of Koh Woa Ta Lab. However, we took risk to go up for a bit to get some photos for you guys LOL. How nice I am!! And that was our first stop.

Our second stop was at Koh Mae Koh. I guess it means Mother of islands for literal translation. For about 10-15 mins of climbing up to get inside the mountain. Here Koh Mae Koh welcome you with a breathtaking view of locked sea or lagoon inside the mountains. In Thai, we call it Talae Nai. It was very beautiful! It's like the green lake rounded by mountains. I can't really describe more so you'd better check the photos below :-)

27 July 2008
http://s222.photobucket.com/albums/dd191/namrinb/Photo%202008/Thailand%20trip%20with%20Japanese%20friends%2017-31%20July/Angthong%20National%20Park%2027%20July/
Namrin

Namrin with her friends-Koh Pha-Ngan

Hello, all.

You may notice I don't say my Japanese friends in the subject because my Thai friend joined this tour too:-) I'm so proud to be a guide for my Thai mate! Manisa or for short, Aom, is my long-time friend since undergrad life. Actually we went to the same high school too but I didn't know her well at that time.

Some of you may need to learn a few Thai words. I hope you still remember; Wat = Temple
New words of today are
Koh or Ko (G sound) = Island(s)
Khao or Kao (K sound) = Mount or Mountains
Haad (similar to 'hard' sound) = Beach
And more importantly you should be able to say "Sawasdee krub" for men speakers or "Sawasdee ka" for women speakers. Sa-was-dee = Hello

Only Oam and I stayed at Koh Pha-Ngan. Before and during this time, Wakaho and Masa wanted to try Phuket so they were on their own for 3-4 days.

Our plan:
Thursday 24th
20.00: The VIP bus leaves the South Station to Koh Pha-Ngan


Friday 25th
12.00: Arrive at Koh Pha-Ngan.
We met a Western travellers who said that the storm is coming for next 5 days. I and Aom's faces were pale. To break the silence, I told Aom and said "don't worry, Aom. I bring my own sunshine. We are gonna be fine."

13.00: Check in at the bungalow

14.00: Lunch
I thought the beach was rather quiet. I told Aom that tonight it would have a half moon party I thought it was gonna be more crowded here. It seemed so different from the full moon party. And I told Aom that the beach we are staying, Haad Rin is the most famous beach of Koh Pha-Nga beacuse they hold the full moon party here. But the half moon party will be held in a jungle.

15.00: Beach time....take a nap, sunbath, read, play games, etc.
It was cloudy at first but finally the sun came out!) Like I said, I brought my own sunshine hahaha!

19.00: Dinner time

20.00: Go for Thai massage

22.00: Meet up with other travellers and the hotel boy drove us to the half moon party

23.00: Sitting boringly! It's NOT in the plan!!
Aom said this party was pretty quiet. She thought it's because of rainy reason. I told her I had no idea. We set the time that at midnight we would go back to the hotel. The floor had too much space. We didn't know where ppl were!

24.00: Midnight. I and Oam are leaving the party but apparently hundreds of ppl just arrived.
What the ??? And Oam and I laughed. So the party started midnight! It became packed now but since we were too early so we were tired! We got back to the hotel. Okay, I'm a terrible tour guide! But next time, I won't miss it! hahaha


Saturday 25th:
10.00: Breakfast at the bungalow
Oam and I observed one thing. We are the only 2 Thais at this bungalow if we don't count Thai staff!! We weren't sure we were still in Thailand LOL! On the bright side, good time to practise English! hehe

11.00: Sightsee at Haad Rin Nai which is the other side of Haad Rin (Nok) where we are staying.
Oh MY GOSH!! We were little shocked when we saw the beach because the beach is dirty. It's not full of human garbage but natural garbage. Lots of rotten branches, leaves, some dead shells, etc. The beach is longer than Haad Rin Nok but it was narrower and less clean. Luckily I didn't choose to stay here. We walked further to see the ferry pier. This is the place we would take the ferry to Koh Samui in the afternoon
Walkd back to our Haad Rin. Nicer but it was very cloudy now.

12.00: Prepare to check out
Oops! Heavy rain. Rain likes cats and dog. Is that the correct expression? We had to wait for nearly 2 hours before it became shower. We had late check-out!

15.30: Get on the ferry
As it was still storming, the waves were big. The ferry was turbulent so I was kinda have seasick. Thank Buddha! We haven't had lunch so nothing came out from my mouth. The other side of our seats there were two young Western ladies putting their head down. I spoke to Aom to look at them and said that they shouldn't have done so, they would throw up. After 30 seconds, they vomited on the ferry!! Yuck! I glanced at them and I had to turn my face away quickly because that stimulated me to do the same thing. I put my face up- I needed some fresh air! Help me!!

16.00: Arrive at Koh Samui
After a slight seasick I had, I got refreshed after stepping on the islands again, the pearl of the Gulf of Thailand, Koh Samui.

17.30: Check in at the hotel

19.00: Pick up Wakaho and Masa at the pier and had dinner

20.30: Come back to the hotel and go to bed

Tomorrow Oam and I will have a day tour to Angthong Islands National Park:-) Pls stay tune!

25-26 July 2008
http://s222.photobucket.com/albums/dd191/namrinb/Photo%202008/Thailand%20trip%20with%20Japanese%20friends%2017-31%20July/Koh%20Pha-Ngan%2025-26%20July/

Namrin with her Japanese friends-Ratchaburi

Hi, all

Ratchaburi is a quiet and small province which is 100 kms south of BKK. In fact, Ratchaburi is bigger than BKK at least twice but the downtown is very small so people consider it a small province.

I took Wakaho and Masa to the famous floating market. It's a worth visiting sightseeing if you have a chance to go out of BKK. We took a boat and had lunch there. And for what's more interesting here, I'll keep it secret because you have to come here by yourself, hahaha!

Next stop is actually Ratchaburi's Muang or the official downtown of the Muang Amphur. Amphur is sth in between province and district or maybe sth in between city and suburb. It's pretty difficult to explain as your countries may have used different systems so I assume you all understand it now. LOL! Muang is supposed to be the main amphur of the 7 amphur that belongs to Ratchaburi. In Muang amphur, there are many districts and Namuang is the central district of this Muang amphur. In conclusion, the relation is like this: Ratchaburi (Province) -> Muang (Amphur)-> Namuang (Tambol/District) -> downtown (Moo/Village).

The reason I took my friends to the downtown is to just try the best Tom Yam noodles in the country! LOL I drove around my parent's house and went to my primary school for a bit because we have a nice temple there! Unluckily there was a search for ancient stuff around the temple so we couldn't get in. Therefore, we only took the photo outside.

After that, we got out of downtown of Namuang to visit the stalactite/stalagmite cave. It's a huge one in Wakaho's opinion. I could show only a few photos because the rest should be revealed when you guys visit here, LOL!

Next stop which is the last stop of today tour is the bat cave. The official name is Tam Kangkao Wat Kao Chongpran or literally means the bat cave at Mount Chongpran temple. This is actually a natural phenomenon. You know we can't force the bats to go out from the cave. They come out when the sun sets. And even today it rainned, they still came out because they have to eat!! This sightseeing spot is very local. It's not in the Lonely Planet I already checked and I only saw a few foreigners apart from my JP friends and you bet, those foreigners came with their own Thai friends. So I have to say this is an exclusive tour;-)

That's all for today. After this, it's storm...very heavy rain for 6 hours all the way from Ratchaburi to BKK until we finished dinner in BKK and went back to the hotel, it's still pouring!! Sth that's hard to avoid during rainy season. You can only count on your luck! lol

See you on the beach ;-)

19th July 2008
http://s222.photobucket.com/albums/dd191/namrinb/Photo%202008/Thailand%20trip%20with%20Japanese%20friends%2017-31%20July/Ratchaburi%2019%20July/

Namrin with her Japanese friends-BKK tour

Hi, everyone.

I'm so lazy to write a travel diary LOL. I think hard to make it more entertaining but I think I would fail because I would write too long story again. I have an idea of a new way to present my travel diary. Just hope that it will work!?? Only you can tell though....

I have 2 friends from Japan visiting Thailand and me for their first time. I love it!

Namrin: Hi, Wakaho.
Wakaho: Hi, Namrin. It's so nice to see you. This is Masanobu.
Masanobu: Hi!
Namrin: Hi, Masanobu. Remember me? We met last year when I went to err...Takaasaki.
Masanobu: Yeah, yeah I remember you! (Laughing)
Wakaho: No, actually it's Gunma Prefecture. Takaasaki is the station you got off.
Namrin: Ah, right.. (hahaha)

N: OK, first stop we gonnaxz go to Vimanmek Mansion. Let's hail a taxi!

Arrived at Vimanmek Mansion
N: Oh! Hang on! I'll speak to the officials a bit.
(Speak Thai) N: What?!? It's closed today? But you open on the weekend, don't you?
Officials: Yes, 'Mam but Today is a public holiday. We open everyday including the weekend but we close on public holiday. Sorry.
Namrin turned to Wakaho.
N: Oh no... Sorry Wakaho. It's closed today. Today is a public holiday for government sector. I didn't know it closed on a public holiday.
W: Don't worry, Nam.
N: What a lousy guide I am! Sorry ...well we go to the temple then. I'll add another nice temple in, ok?
W: That sounds good, yeah. (Speak Japanese to M to explain what is going on)

--Transport time--
N: OK guys. Here we are at Benjamabopit Temple. In English you can call Marble Temple. You can see the main hall is made from white marble................
-- Photo time--
W: Oh, this is very nice. I love the red bridge. Let's take a picture together.
-- Photo time--
M: It's good here but hot (sweating)
N: Which means we have a good weather! LOL

--transport time--
N: This is Golden Mount. We have to climb up a bit to see why it's called like that. OK?
W: Yep. But Nam, it isn't that far, right?
N: No, no. It's really walkable!
W: (speak Japanese to M)
--walking time--
W: Finally !! Oh, this is so big so GOLD!
M: So hot too.
N: From here you can see BKK's view as well.. (Pointing in different directions). You know some ppl come here and they donate..................
-- Photo time--

N: Wakaho. Masanobu. From here we have to walk a bit to the next temple but it's very near. And from there you will see it clearly why this place is called Golden Mount.
--walking time--
-- Photo time--
N: Now we are in front of Ratchanatda Temple. This temple was built by King Rama III and ............ ....... Let's go inside!
W: This is cool. You know even when we're at the 3rd floor, I still feel like I'm on the first floor.
M: Yeah
N: That's because the way it was built and design I guess. It's like 2 buildings together, one covering another one inside. Look at this pole it's not.......................................
W: Hey, that's Golden Mount. Oh, it really looks like a mountain from here (Smiling)
M: I'll take you a photo.
-- Photo time--

N: Are you hungry?
W: yeah a bit. He's more hungry than me. (hehe)
N: Let's have lunch then.
--lunch time--

N: This is Wat Suthat (Wat = Temple) or the full name is Suthatwararam Temple. It has absorbed some influence of Chinese architecture but there are still many Thai works if we go inside the main hall.............
W: Nam, I like it here.
N: Really? Tell you what. This is not the best yet. LOL
-- Photo time--

--Transport time--
W: This is Wat Pho, right?
N: That's correct! Wat Pho is very important and it's just behind the Grand Palace and the temple of Emerald Buddha where we will go on Sunday. Wat Pho or the official name is Prachetuponwimonmangklaram Temple. It used to be...........................
-- Photo time--

--Dinner time--

Saturday in Ratchaburi
Sunday in BKK again

W: Oh, it's rainning.
M: Umbrella? We've got it!
N: Too bad but it's not too hot, you know. Great! Everyone dresses properly. Let's go!

At the Grand Palace and Emerald Buddha Temple
N: Actually, the King and the Queen don't stay here. They stay at Chitlada Palace that the taxi passed by this morning. However, they actually rotated their stay..................
W: Which King is in the throne now? sixth?
N: No, it's Ninth. King Rama IX. Oh, you have to pay for the entrance fee too. It's 300 baht per person?!! Oh, it's 50 baht increase from last year. Sorry about that. Two tickets, please.
W: How about you?
N: No worries. I'm a citizen. I have already paid tax. I don't have to pay again LOL!

While getting through the entrace, a male Westerner with his son was complaining to the officials.
A Thai official: Sorry, can't go! Wrong pants. Sorry. Please change.
A male Westerner: What? I cover my legs to toes. Why can't I get in?
A Thai official: Sorry, sorry. Wrong pants. No no!
A male Westerner: I don't understand. This is Sarong. Don't you know Sarong? What's wrong with you?
Namrin: Ahh... sorry about that. You can't wear Sarong. You need trousers.
A male Westerner: Why?
N: It's too casual. Sorry but we consider it inappropriate. This is the King's palace.
A male Westerner: But it covers my legs. This is strange! (Shaking his head and getting upset)
N: Yeah, it's strange. That's why you're here. Sarong wear is too casual. It looks like you go to the beach and it's not a Thai dress. It's Myanmar traditional dress. Sorry about that...
I didn't listen to what he said next because I just realised where were my tourists??!! LOL
-- Photo time--
-- Wandering around--
-- Photo time--

W: Can we go back to the hotel to get changed?
N: Sure! Then, we go for lunch.
M: Okay.

--Change to lighter clothes--
--Lunch time--

N: Chatuchak weekend market is not far from my place. We can walk to get there.
W: Oh, good!
M: Yeah, Okay!
--Walking time--
N: We will have one round around the market and walk until 6 O'clock. If you want anything, pls let me know. So we can negotiate the price. There are a lot of things and there are a lot of same and different things. If you want sth and the price is good, just buy it because we may not be able to come back to the same spot again! I experienced this before. There are thousands of shops here.
W: Wow! This is huge! I can spend a whole day here! (hahaha)
M: Yeah but it's very hot.
N: Use my fan, then. :-)
--shopping time--
--wandering time--

W: Have you got a call from your dad?
M: Yes, we will meet at the Silom Complex and go for dinner together
N: Sure! No problem. :-)
M's dad: Hi. Sorry I'm late. It's because of the bus was stopped by flooding in Laos.
N: Oh, really? Sorry about that. But you're here now. I hope you like the restaurant.
M's dad: Yes, I like it very much. It's very nice to meet you too. I appreciate that you..............................
W: .........
M: ...........
N: ..............
M's dad: ........
--chatting time--
--dinner time too--

--bed time--

See you in Ratchaburi!

18-20 July 2008
http://s222.photobucket.com/albums/dd191/namrinb/Photo%202008/Thailand%20trip%20with%20Japanese%20friends%2017-31%20July/Bangkok%2018%20n%2020%20July/

Magnifique Night

Dear all,

You are unique, you are magnifique.

Please be invite to join Lancome Magnifique Consumer & PR event as in the detail of invitation card attached.

Theme : “ The Night of Magnifique ”

Date & time : Wednesday 13^th August 2008

Place : The World Ballroom, 23th floor, Centara Grand 2 Central World

Time : 6:00 pm

Dress Code : Glamorous red & black

Check out the magnificent fragrance and fabulous photos here:

http://s222.photobucket.com/albums/dd191/namrinb/Photo%202008/Magnifique%20Night/

Namrin searched her soul in Seoul #4

Anyong Haseyo!

An-yong Ha-se-yo means hello or good morning/afternoon/and evening in Korean language. We have been here for 3 days. We're supposed to know it, right? :-D

I have 2 albums again. The major one is over all about day 4. The minor one is the view of Seoul from the direction to your city. It means if the world is flat, I will see your country of this angle. Check them out! I think I don't miss anyone's city, if it is not a part of my photos, probably means that it just wasn't stated on the window.

Our last day started with being very Korean by wearing a Korean traditional dress, Hanbok. It's very colourful when you see the photos. I could be a Korean, hey! After taking photos with friends, we changed to normal clothes and joined the kimchi class. We were at the kimchi school. I have recorded a video about how to do it too. You can see the third link I attache here.

After that, we went to see a Amethyst Jewelry shop. According to the guide, Amethyst is the popular jewelry for Korean and there is also a belief that it will bring you good luck too. Therefore, it is a good chance offered by a tour company to take us to this place. I'm sure the guides will get some commission from us if the shop could sell something to the tourists they brought. Majority of us just window shopped and so did I. In fact, I was not allowed to take the photos but I pretended I didn't understand English very well so I got 3 photos to show you how Amethyst looks like. LOL They can be used as a jewelry on rings and/or earrings and/or other accessories. The Amethyst in its shell that you see cost like USD 20000 or more...I started to forget the figures. Maybe I have to add one more zero!!!

Later on, we climbed up to see the city view of Seoul at N Tower. In detail, pls go to the "Views to your cities" album. Seoul from bird's eye view is beautiful. I'm impressed with its landscape. From different windows, you will see different views and on each window your city is noted. So it's like you are seeing Seoul from the direction of your city. I think it's a creative idea. I really like it :-)

Lunch time. We had a special meal, Chicken Porridge with ginseng. To explain this more clearly, we basically had one little chicken in our bowl and the chef put rice and small pieces of ginseng inside. Ginseng is something I don't like. The smell is too strong and even in a super hot rice soup like this. I can still smell and feels its taste. I finished it all because I told myself I was having a medicine. It will help me to look 5 years younger!!

The sightseeing is over. And now we moved on shopping part. We went to town and the guide gave 2 hours free time or so. We were dropped at Miangdon market. There are loads of things. Most of us, women, are interested in clothes, cosmetics, and women accessories. I think this place supplied us quite well. Korean fashion is quite popular for young Thai people nowadays since the invasion of Korean TV series/drama. For people who were not keen on that stuff, the guides also took them to the supermarket to buy different gifts and souvenirs.

At last, we arrived at Incheon airport which meant it was time to say good bye to South Korea . I personally wished it to be longer. I still wanted to travel more but tomorrow’s morning I have to work straight away so I could only wish.

Before ending South Korea trip, there are a few points I’d like to make. It’s what I observed and want to share with you. You may think it’s rubbish though, lol.

1. South Korea only process VISA on arrival. So you do not need to apply for VISA before you go. However, there’s a chance that you have to fly home right away after you arrive if the custom officials disapproved you. Oops!!
2. South Korea is one of developed countries. I said this because only developed countries that provide you toilet papers every where you visit. Need a proof? Japan , South Korea , Australia , and Singapore have the same practice. Thailand , China , Egypt , and Nepal share the similar practice--bring your own papers. My own theory though. You can advise me if I’m wrong. Hahaha!
3. I wonder whether Korean guys are more romantic than other East Asian guys or not. I’ve never been to Taiwan yet. But in Everland, there are MANY couples and families that wear the same top or the same pattern of t-shirts with different colours or sth like that. I know people in other countries do this too but here there are loads! It looks very sweet.
4. I observed that not many Western travelers in Seoul...and probably other parts of South Korea too. I hardly saw Westerners at the airports. I think there are more Asian tourists but not so many still. Therefore, don't worry if South Korea is not in your top list of travelling destinations. You are just like the other people from other parts of the world I guess, hahaha!

Namrin searched her soul in Seoul. She might not meet her soul mate or the truth of life during South Korea trip but those are her findings. Therefore, her journey will keep going. Next stop, we will be back on Namrin's track...a trip in Thailand :-)

Namrin
PS. There are 2 albums with 1 video clip.

Day 4
http://s222.photobucket.com/albums/dd191/namrinb/Photo%202008/South%20Korea%2013-16%20June/SK%20Day4/

Views to your cities
http://s222.photobucket.com/albums/dd191/namrinb/Photo%202008/South%20Korea%2013-16%20June/SK%20Day4/Views%20to%20your%20cities/

Video: How to make kimchi
http://s222.photobucket.com/albums/dd191/namrinb/Photo%202008/South%20Korea%2013-16%20June/SK%20Day4/Kimchi%20Class/

Namrin searched her soul in Seoul #3

South Korea TripHello everyone,

Now it's my day 3. First stop is Everland! Everland is everland! lol, the place that makes you feel younger or even become a child again. Similar to other major amusement parks, Everland is divided into 5-6 sections, American Adventure, European Adventure, Global Fair, Magic Land, Aesop's Village and Zoo-Topia. As we have limited time-2 hours, I only went for the ones that are most adventurous, and made me scream.....AAAAAAHHHHH..Woooo..it was very fun and excited.

The most exciting ride in my opinion is T-Xpress. It's the longest wooden coaster probably in the world. Hmm..ok let's say just Asia. It has the dramatic slope from the top to down at 70 degree to earth. Can you imagine that? If you can't, check out the photos, :-D After being in line for an hour, I survived from the ride. One round lasts shorter than 3 minutes but you know what it's worthwhile to wait especially if you like this kind of thing!

After that, we had lunch. This is one of my most favourite meals of the trip. We had kalbi which is the slide of pork or beef grilled on charcoals. They have several side dishes including kimchi. To have this kalbi properly, you have to take a piece of lettuce and then put a cutting piece of grill pork, put a small piece of garlic, add few pieces of bean sprout, put a piece of iceberg lettuce, and top with the Korean sauce...and the thing roll it and put in your mouth....slowly chew it....hmm.yumm...umm...yum yum...do you feel it? Your saliva is dripping now. LOL :-d

Then, we went to Ginseng Centre where they tried to sell us different type/menu of Ginseng but it's very expensive so only a few people were interested in. Even though Ginseng seems to be very useful for health, I personally think I don't need it now. (hopefully forever lol) The taste is too strong and smelly. I find it's hard to handle.

What's next? It's not quite a sightseeing as well. I went to see the show. It's called Jump show which seems to be the combination between Tae Kwan Do and martial arts mixed with stage play. Unfortunately it's not allowed to shoot a video or take a photo so I only had a few photos after the performance. Overall, the show was quite fun but it was little boring in the middle. Perhaps it was because of me didn't sleep enough last night. lol

At night, we had buffet dinner and our 2 General Managers (one from Operations Division and the other from Finance and Accounting Division) spoke their minds. Both are new GMs, the former was my senior supply chain manager (Thai woman), the latter was directly imported from France (French man). The foods were quite good. Many people enjoy eating and drinking. Still remember Soju? That's what we drank. If you do not know what it is, I suggest you to re-read the 2nd album, hahaha!

Oh..o tomorrow is the last day in Seoul and South Korea....

http://s222.photobucket.com/albums/dd191/namrinb/Photo%202008/South%20Korea%2013-16%20June/SK%20Day3/?albumview=link

Namrin searched her soul in Seoul #2

Hello all,

This album should have been sent since yesterday but I had a technical problem to upload the photos so here it comes-today! There are 2 albums. The main set is South Korea Day 2 album and its subset is "Flower from Herbland". If you have time to view my zoom-in photos and the beauty of flower, pls also visit the second album too.

My second day started with getting up at 5.30AM to be ready for the airport bus at 6.15AM and I supposed to reach Incheon airport at 7.30AM. I was in fact a bit too early and after a bit worried that my workmates could arrive earlier than the schedule like mine yesterday, then I would be left alone here. The first group came out...oh, I felt relieved. Thanks to VISA on arrival system in South Korea , it takes quite a while to get 100s people out from the airport. We got together and waited for the second group. I spent this waiting time on answering people what I did and visited yesterday. Well, you knew it, right? Pls don't let me repeat for the tenths time. lol

After getting on the coach, I listened to the guide briefing about South Korea and Seoul . Then, fell asleep. I and others woke up when we arrived at the Blue House. The Blue House is the Korean president's house. I don't quite understand why it's blue until the guide explained that the roof colour is blue in Korea . However, it's obviously greenish. I'm not sure whether this is a joke or not but the guide said in the past, Koreans didn't know green colour or perhaps did not have word for "green" so they called it blue. Until the country has opened up to other culture, they ultimately know the difference between blue and green. By the way, around the Blue House you will see Seoul Police in an interesting uniform, roller blade skates and shorts!!

Next stop was the Korean Museum (I don't remember the full name). It talked about Korean's life in the past from the day they are born until the day they die. It was rather small museum but it has the things you should see. Near the museum we walked to a remarkable stop which was the highlight of today, Kiangbokgung or Kiangbok Palace .

Kiangbokgung is grand. If you have to visit The Grand Palace and The Emerald Buddha Temple when you are in Bangkok , you have to visit Kiangbokgung when you are in Seoul . (For someone out there who didn't, tut tut tut, lol) However, both palaces are different as they were inspired by different architecture and arts. I think Kiangbokgung is located on larger area. There are several buildings for different purposes like Changdeokgung I visited yesterday.

However, I and a few workmates made a mistake. While I was enjoying taking photos, I was lost from the major group. I was with another 4 friends and they all thought the others have left the palace because they couldn't see them. I told them we have been here for less than an hour. How come we (they) left so quickly? Nobody could answer. Therefore, we headed to the Exit. Oh...o after a second we left, we found that the major group were still inside the palace and we (the minor group) were not allowed to get in again (except we pay for the entrance fee again). So now you can imagine we had to hang out for nearly an hour outside the palace. D'oh!!

Even though I couldn't get in, I still got a few photos for you. Just borrow those from other workmate who didn't get lost, hahaha. The featuring photo is the pavilion in the pond. Tut tut...I shouldn't have missed that one. I should have believed in my common sense!!! However, it's not the end of the Kiangbokgung yet. The "losters" (meaning people who get lost. My made-up word, lol) went to the front gate (we entered from the back gate) and here we saw Korean security guards standing at the front gate. The losters also heard the music instruments which meant it may have a march or a show behind the wall. Unfortunately I couldn't observe it.

We met the rest of the group when they came out from the palace and not for so long, we arrived at Jogyesa Temple . This is the only major temple in Seoul and there are only 3-4 temples in total. Since the change from monarchy to presidency system, the temple which is a symbol of Buddhism have been gone with the change. According to the guide, this seems to be a method to control people to believe in the new system and as Buddhism is related to the emperor's root, it must get out from the way. I think there are a few more reasons why temples were destroyed but I don't quite remember. I was half asleep half awake, lol. Maybe a communist thing?

Later, we had lunch, a typical fried pork seasoned with little sugar and soy sauce and of course, you have kimchi as one of your side dishes as usual. It's not very delicious for me, to be honest but it's unlimited refills! After a big meal, we just simply fell asleep. We were taken to out of Seoul . Maybe we were in another city but I forgot to ask the guide where we were. We visited a place called Herbland. This place is probably something the owner of this place, Dr. Lee, has something to do with our guides. The owner presented his place and his business and was trying to sell his energy water. Energy water is, in my opinion, drinking water with the smell and light flavour of herbs. There are chamomile, lavender, jasmine, mint, rosemary and a few more flavours. Then, we walked around herb land (garden) which should be better than this. It's nice but it's quite obvious that it's lack of proper attention. Perhaps the business has been down so there were some dying flowers and sunburned herbs here and there.

In the evening, we had a special meal. Bi Bim Bap with flower topping. I'm not kidding you. I (We) had eaten fresh flowers with rice and Korean sauce (and kimchi, of course!). When you look at the photos, you will think it looks very nice but the taste is slightly opposite. And this is why we usually use leaves of vegetables not flowers for cooking, right? :-D However, we could survive because Herbland also prepared normal foods for us after Flower Bi Bim Bap too.

At the end of the day, we stayed at a hotel outside of the city. It seems to be small but still developped. I and my workmates came out at night just for window shopping and found sth to eat (esp. me!) . Some of us actually bought something. Believe it or not-- it's cosmetics they bought. Korean brands here are much cheaper than the same Korean brands in Thailand. Fair enough. They just can't stop themselves, lol.

I had a stick of fish balls and a bottle of popular banana milk. And lastly, I got a pack of soju in a size of UHT milk. Very interesting packaging for me that they put alcohol drink in the same packaging of UHT milk. Alright, Soju is an alcohol drink. If you go to Japan, you try Sake (sa-ke), when you visit South Korea, you try Soju (So-ju or So-chu). However, soju and sake are not the same thing. Some people say the taste and the percentage of alcohol are different. I'm not an alcohol expert so I can't comment lol. I just knew that when I tried Soju,..............
it's sweet like Tequila.
I felt as if my lips were on fire.
It's like my tongue started burning from its tip to its most inner part.
The burn went through my throat and when it reached my stomach, it was hot and my body was slightly warmer.

I had only 3 sips. I didn't dare to try more to be honest. And now you should let me go to bed. Don't you think? (Yawning)

Day 3 is on its way.

Your guide, Namrin

http://s222.photobucket.com/albums/dd191/namrinb/Photo%202008/South%20Korea%2013-16%20June/SK%20Day2/?albumview=link

Namrin searched her soul in Seoul #1

Dear All,

It was South Korea trip, I just had. It was an incentive trip from the company I work for so I had to break my 2008 principle of travelling in Thailand . How could I say NO to a free trip? LOL

I spent 4 days there basically in Seoul and a bit in its adjacent towns. On the first day I was on my own, really. I was surprised that the other 100 workmates didn't want to go earlier than the official trip. It's just one day to take care of our own expense. I think it's very affordable. However, I know that about 6-8 people stay longer. Anyway, from this behaviour, I am considered by other workmates a self-confident girl. But from my point of view, I just think this is just something I should do for my life, for my own experience. In the same time, I wonder what other people are thinking. There should be more than 8 people staying longer in Korea in the case nobody wanted to stay earlier like I did. Or is it because this is South Korea , the country which has become more popular only for the past 5 years in terms of tourism? I’m not sure. Last year, when we visited Japan , there were more people stayed longer or went earlier than the official trip. That time, I went 3 days earlier.

Pls do not think that I always have a friend everywhere I go. In Korea , I don't. This is not my style to travel alone. I remember 4-5 years ago, once I was looking for a friend or friends to travel to Northeast of Australia with me. I was keen on Queensland , Whitsunday Islands and around. At one point when I asked one of my best friends whether he's interested in. He refused.

I told him "Even you! You can't go?"

And then he said, "Why don't you just go by yourself?"

Next thing I thought was I wanted to storm out from the room but I didn't. I said "That's so mean!! Why did you say that? You want me to take a photo of myself?!!! Don't you think that a women travelling alone could be in danger?"

It's not like women always win in an argument. My friend was kind of stun with my reaction while I didn't want to believe what he just said. :-D It's a clash of experience. By the way, this friend was not Thai.

Back to today, wandering around Seoul on my own for 1 DAY was acceptable. I just imagine that Seoul is Bangkok so I'm fine. lol I can do it. I made it! Even though it's just one day, I needed to prepare quite many things to make sure I could survive. I don't have a travel guide book like I usually do, I don't have a friend, and I've never been interested in South Korea before. Basically I have to start from the ground to gather all basic information. Internet, friends who had been there, and my L'Oreal counterparts in Korea all helped me so much to get this done. Together with a lovely weather, I had a great day in Seoul :-) I'm so grateful.

Let’s start our pre-day 1. Before day 1, oh! I had to show off a bit that I got upgraded to a business class. The flight attendant on the ground told me that the seats were fully booked so she upgraded me to a business class. Wow! I’m glad it’s fully booked. Hahaha! However, it’s late at night so I didn’t have time to check the seats in economy class whether they were all occupied. It doesn’t quite matter. I was in business class for the first time for international flight. My really first time was in Egypt but it’s on domestic flight and I had to take the business class because all seats were fully booked. Anyway, in Egypt you don’t quite feel any difference, to be honest. My flight to Incheon airport was at 11PM of Thursday 12^th to arrive at about 6.50AM of Friday 13th. Five-hour flight with 2 hours ahead of Thailand . Great seat 180 degree I could lie down! Good foods but the drinks are not so good when compare to Thai Airways. hehe

As the flight took only 5 hours to Incheon airport, I hardly slept. I haven’t had dinner so I had it on the plane which approximately I slept for only 3 hours. After we landed, I headed to grasp Seoul map and caught an airport bus to the guesthouse. It took about an hour and a bit to reach the Seoul city so I fell asleep. It was quite easy and I woke up just in time when the bus driver shouted that “This is Anguk Station”. I grabbed everything and got off the bus. After I got off and refreshed myself a bit. I found out I dropped my guesthouse map on the bus. Oh-o. The trouble came! The city map in my hand is a pretty rough and how would people know my cheap guesthouse!!! Since I arrived here earlier (even the airplane landed earlier than its schedule), it’s a sign of something –a sign to WASTE my time!! After I focused on the direct where I was (it is difficult at first because Koreans drive on a so-called “RIGHT” side of the road), I walked to the street I thought my guesthouse was located. It wasn’t. I couldn’t find one and thank god that the road was short so I could find out easily that I made a mistake. But on the negative side, I did need help.

I risked by asking working people on the street but you know it’s just a cheap guesthouse. No one knows!! And then, my little angel appeared! Not a policeman or a postman but he’s a newspaper man!! Ha ha! I was sure I was near Beewon Guesthouse but I didn’t take the right street apparently. As he’s a newspaper man, his English skill made me confused! He drew a map but it’s too rough. Therefore, I used my sense of direction to follow his rough map in my head (He drew a map on his newspaper so I couldn’t take it!!) until I got lost again but this time, I was lost in front of Crown Hotel. Hotel business is about service so I have to make use of it! I asked the receptionist whether I could use the internet or not. She said yes and it was free of charge!! I now believe South Korea is a developed country, hahaha. I searched and asked the receptionist again to point me out where I was and finally, I found the way to Beewon Guesthouse. Also, I found that initially I took the street which was paralleled with the street that the guesthouse was on.

Finally I found the place, oh kinda exhausted but still excited..it was probably 9AM I think. I couldn’t check in before noon so I left my suitcase at the guesthouse office and took a shower before starting a long day. While I was taking a shower, I thought about what my workmate spoke to me before I left the office that if this was my first trip by myself, perhaps something nice may happen like meeting my partner during a trip. “Ah…a romantic holiday, one of my friends had it. Yeah, it would be nice if it happened to me. Well, it’s just one day on my own so it’s impossible that it’s gonna last long. Anyway, I want one if there is no harm.” I smiled to myself :-) Done for shower!

I came down to the ground floor and walked towards the guesthouse office. There was a young man who was looking at me as if he was looking for something (in me). Lol As I came from a land of smile, I smiled back and said “Hi”.

“Are you a receptionist?” He asked.

“Ah..no, I’m a guest too” I answered. Now we know what he’s looking for, lol.

“I want to ask the receptionist whether I can leave my stuff in her office because I’m going out”. He said.

“Ah, yeah, I think you can. I left it there too. Just put it there I think.” I expressed my opinion.

Then, the receptionist came. He sorted out his things. Then, I asked him.

“Will you check in later?”

“No, I’m leaving today. This is my last day. So I wanna leave my luggage here. Then, I can go out, you know.”

“Ah..ha. How long have you been here? This is my first day. I can check in after noon so I put my luggage there too.”

“I just arrived yesterday” He replied and laughed.

“What?!? You stayed here just one day?” I was surprised

“Yeah, this is kinda like my transit so…just one day. It’s okay”

“Where are you from? Taiwan ?” I asked.

“I’m from Japan . And you?”

“Oh, really? Your English is pretty good. I’m impressed. I’m from Thailand . I’m Nam . Err..Namrin if you can see my name on the board… that one, with longest last name up there.” I told him and laughed.

“My English is okay. Thank you. My name is Yohei. Yohei Maruxxxx. (Not sure whether I should reveal all of conversation, hehe)

“Ok Yohei, where are you going today?” I asked a bit more.

“I’m going to Changdeokgung, the palace near the guesthouse”, said Yohei.

“Hey, I’m going to the same place and after that, I’m going to the er… Deoksugung. It’s the palace as well but not far from here. We can take a train for 2-3 stops and get off at City Hall station. Maybe we can go together”

“Yeah, sound good to me. But I have to come back here at 3. But it’s ok. It’s good to travel with someone”, said Yohei.

Have I ever told you that guys are easy? HAHAHA just kidding!

Then, he told me, “You know, I’m actually planning to go Thailand this year or next year. Do you have any advice?” See? I didn’t invite him at all. He said that by himself. So we continued our conversation about a few tips when travelling to Thailand as our first visit of the day began.

We arrived at Changdeokgung or you can call Changdeok Palace . (gung means palace). This is a very nice and big palace. It had been served for Joseon period (1392-1910). There are free English tour guide available at 11.30AM but we arrived there at 10.30. I was not keen on waiting really so we took the Japanese tour guide round. This meant Yohei would be my personal translator. To be honest, I was so into the history as I was not going to take any exam after this so I just enjoyed the buildings and the beauty of the garden. Moreover, there were about one hundred of Japanese in this tour round. That’s another reason we were not in touch with the Japanese-speaking Korean guide and the palace’s history. Check out the photos, please.

If you are from East Asia , you would find the buildings are having something in between Chinese and Japanese or let say Chinese. So it’s beautiful but to be honest, it’s not stunning. I didn’t mean to underestimate Koreans but that’s the way I feel. And I think this is why Korean tourism is not very strong. However, they have become a developed country with good economics so don’t worry about it.

Next we took the underground to City Hall station to go to Deoksugung ( Deoksu Palace ). But before that, we had lunch at a very local restaurant. It’s Bi Bim Bap, we ordered!! It’s a very nice rice bowl with different vegetables on top. Sometimes, they have egg and either fried beef or fried pork or fried octopus in it too. In English they may explain to you as rice salad. However, this is much MORE friendly than Kimchi (preserved cabbage in red sauce). Therefore, it’s a shame if you have never tried when you go to Korea or a Korean restaurant. I’m serious!

During lunch, we introduced ourselves to each other that what we are up to. Yohei is an undergrad student in Japan but this is his second time of studying. The first time he studied 2 years but then dropped out. However, apparently he’s years younger than me. Therefore, this is not a romantic holiday at all. I didn’t expect that, did I? LOL. He was surprised to know that I work. He didn’t explain further why he reacted so. Anyway, I interpreted that as a good sign meaning I look younger than I actually am, hahaha.

Deoksugung is nice but half smaller than Changdeokgung I think. The palace is in very downtown opposite to the Seoul City Hall . So when taking some photos, we had a high scrapers as background. It’s kinda funny. And in this palace, there are a couple of modern buildings in the same area. One is the art gallery and the other is Seoul Museum or something like that. So that’s a bit a major contrast. What I like most about Deoksugung is the guard rotation performance. They demonstrate how the security guard in the palace switched their shift. Everyone is in Korean soldier uniform so it is really cool :-)

After Deoksugung, I had to say goodbye to Yohei. It’s been a good day with him. Perhaps we could meet in Bangkok if he will visit here really. I also sent him off at the guesthouse. It’s not that I was so nice. The reason behind was I wanted to check in and take a NAP! I had only 3 hour sleep last night. And before I came here I slept only 5 hours a day for 4 days in a row plus tomorrow morning I had to get up early to meet my workmates at the airport at 7.30AM. Thus, I was sure I needed more rest. A nap lasted for 3 hours….zzzzzzz

It’s 7PM but it’s still bright. Brilliant!! I knew that the sunset at 8PM in this season. I walked to Insadong market which appeared to be a souvenir market. I had got in and out to different shops to check out stuff. Another good thing in Korea is everything has price tag. So you know the price and can compare it with another store easily. However, you can’t negotiate much here even it’s a street stall. It’s different from Egypt and Thailand . I’ve got a few things I wanted for my friends and family. Then, I headed to Cheonggyecheon Stream.

It’s quite a long way before reaching the city stream. I passed a shopping street I guess. It gave city feeling to me. So I hopped into a few shops along the way. Basically just window shopping but that took quite some time.

And about 10PM or so, I was now at Cheonggyecheon. It looked nice and clean and looked more like human made stream but it’s originally natural until the Seoul City has decided to develop it to be a meeting point and a new sightseeing. Then, concrete came along with the lights under the water. It also looked like a pool somehow. lol. But it’s nice. I wish you could be here with me.

I walked back to the guesthouse by using another street so I passed the pubs and bars area which was behind the shopping street. I was tempted to check out but as I was now alone and my watch showed 11PM so I could only walk through that 100 bars and I didn’t stop by any place. However, I got into 7-Eleven to buy a bottle of fruit juice and sushi roll for being my breakfast tomorrow EARLY morning.

I came back to the guesthouse safe and sound. Let’s a call it a great day! Oops it’s already a new day….nite nite….zzzzzz

Day 2 to come...
Namrin

Photos
http://s222.photobucket.com/albums/dd191/namrinb/Photo%202008/South%20Korea%2013-16%20June/?albumview=link

Namrin in Dance Show Case Party

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Welcome to Salsa Hacha Dance Show Case Party. It's to celebrate its 1st anniversary!!

As you may have heard I said this before, "Even though I don't like dancing, it doesn't mean I don't like watching people dancing". Last year, I had a chance to see the reality TV show called "So You Think You Can Dance". That inspired me to think that 'Hey, those moves are awesome and it's a good way to exercise." I'm probably 20 years too late to be a talented dancer but I can enjoy watching people dancing at any time, right?

So here we go tonight at Synn Bar. This is a Latin dance show case party featuring Salsa. There are many people I know joining this event and some of them also performed. Many performers just started dancing 5-6 months ago according to the instructors' speech. However, it was very impressive. You will see some of the performers in the photos and I also have the video clips. If you are interested in, pls let me know. I will tell you how to access them.

One of my friends was the MC of the party. Tell you what. He asked me whether I was interested in being his co-MC because they needed someone who speaks Thai. I told him I was shy and I'd rather write than speak. LOL In hindsight, it's not like I can't speak in public but being an MC needs more than that quality I think. The party host should appreciate me that I didn't work as an MC otherwise I might ruin everything, hahaha :-D

Party time!! (Hope you see the photos until the last one, hehe)

Namrin
PS. I found that 'grid version' provides low quality of photo resolution so I will use only 'link version' from now on. Pls click on the photo to see the full size.

http://s222.photobucket.com/albums/dd191/namrinb/Photo%202008/Salsa%20Hacha%201st%20Anniversary%20Party/?albumview=link

Namrin in Koh Chang for SCUBA diving and more (26-27 April)

Hello gals and guys,

Don't be surprised. Yep, I recently had another trip. Just like what I told you (or I think I told you) that I was going to travel around this country as often as possible. Since today is a public holiday, it's a good opportunity to share some moments with you guys.

This is more than just a diving. I have done a little good thing for the community too because the main purpose of these 2 dives is to cleanup the underwater It was my first dive without an instructor so definitely, I was excited. I had 4 travelmates. One is my friend who is also ex-workmate, one is her friend who doesn't dive, and the other 2, one guy and one girl, are her friends from a diving school. As we are from different diving schools, we exchanged a bit of tricks or how to work with things. The most interesting tip is how and where my friend and her friends keep their Octopus and diving gauge. Well, a bit too much about diving. You must be bored by now. Let's move on the photos from Koh Chang.

Koh Chang literally means Elephant Islands . As it's elephant, this means Koh Chang is huge. Yes, it is the second largest island in Thailand if I remember correctly. The largest island is the world famous, Phuket where is also a province not just an island. Koh Chang, categorised as a district/suburb, belongs to Trad province. It is located at the very east of East region of Thailand .

We arrived at Koh Chang very early in the morning to catch the first ferry. I think it was 6.30AM or so. Then, we drove to a hotel that held the openning ceremony of this community activity. I was surprised by the numbers of volunteers. When I received the agenda, I found that there would be like 8 boats going out around Koh Chang to different diving sites to pick up the garbage underwater. Each boat would have at least 25 people on so that would be about 200 people joining this activity. After the openning ceremony, we had to drive to another place to get on board and the pier is pretty far from the hotel. We wondered and were worried how to keep the schedule on time because we had to get on the boat at 9AM but the openning ceremony finished at 9!! However, the boat leader waited for us and other divers so we somehow made it. Wait! To get on the boat was not easy either. Everyone has to prepare their own diving equipment except tanks including weight & belt so everyone has at least one heavy backpack and from the parking lot to the boat pier is about 500 metre. I know it's not far but with this bloody heavy backpack....it was a very tough and super hot walk. I couldn't believe there was no facility to help us, especially for little girl like me! Imagine some girls walk by leaning to one side because of the HEAVY diving equipment bag. After moving our stuff to the boat and got them arranged, we found that the organiser of this activity has definitely not well-prepared. In about 15 mins to 11AM, we couldn't leave the pier because the (air) tanks were not enough!, lunch boxes were fewer than the number of divers!!, drinking water is not enough as well!!! What the???

I am not a very patient person as you may notice but this trip is free. We don't have to pay for 3 meals, tanks & boats and 1 night accommodation. Therefore, a little impediment and delay will keep our mouths shut! However, at the end of the trip, the organiser team let us fill out the comment forms. I and many people showed our sincerity by giving constructive comments how to make things better next time. Hope they will do.

Diving? Umm...little struggled to get down to be honest. Thus, I took longer time than other friends to go down. But after I reached the bottom, I was fine yeah. As this was not a fun dive, we didn't see many beautiful animals or corals. However, I found a few family of Nemo, lots of sea urchins and a pipe fish. The other 3 friends also saw seahorses but I missed it. And there a few types of fish but I don't know their names, hahaha.

The first dive went well until we came back to the water surface. I had held a net (bag) of garbage for a while, my left hand was tired so I swapped the bag to my right hand but I missed to grab the thin net holder. AHHH!!! I dropped it! I saw the net filled with garbage was slightly sinking to the sea ground. Oh!!! NO!! I nearly screamed. My friends came around and discussed a bit whether we should take it back or not. So two of them decided to go down while I and another friend were waiting (floating) at the water surface. The water visibility is about 10 metre or little less but the net is that big though and the current kept us moving. My friends couldn't find it. I was so sorry. I said it until you couldn't count how many times. Perhaps next year, a volunteer would find it. I'm sorry. It was an accident. :-(

Alright. I would make it up for the second dive but ....There was something with my diving equipment. After I put the regulator on the tank, the air was leak. A few people who seem to be experts came to check it out whether I did correctly or not. Hey, I wanted to tell them I didn't buy the license, man. I passed the test!! In conclusion, it was something wrong with the regulator and as everyone brought just one set of equipment, I can't get the replacement and there was not a proper tool can fix this too because the boat the organiser hired is actually for snorkelling. This means I had to skip the second dive.

Why would I stay on the boat just to breathe in and out while most of people dived? I was not me! I asked one of our friends who couldn't dive to snorkel. I asked the boat man about the current. He told me it was strong and its direction. Lesson No. 2 You should really believe the boat man. I believed him for only the second half. I couldn't see how strong it was until I swam.

There were 6 small rocks emerged from the sea that have coral reef around. The rocks line from south to north the same as the direction of the current. The boat stopped aside of the the rock line at about the 3rd rock but it was about 25 metres far or little less. I and my friend planned to swim to reach the 1st rock (most further south) then, we will let the current bring us to the 6th rock which sounds like drift snorkeling (dive). When we finish, we ask the boat to pick us up. Ok, we've got the plan. In reality, we swam to the 1st rock but after 5-10 minutes, I found myself was in the middle of the boat and rocks but hey, in front of me was not the 1st rock but the 5th rock and I was at the north of the boat. I looked at my friend. Oh my gosh!! She aligned with the 6th rock. I asked her whether she was ok. She said fine. I tried to slow down for about a minute. I checked her out again. She said she could still swim. However, I think we were slower than the speed of current. My sense of safety told me I was not going to do it. I think my friend was just 4 metres behind me but she didn’t seem to get the gap and I couldn’t stop swimming because the current will drag us too far away from the boat. So I decided that we should swim back to the boat. I called for a rope. A girl who was not a diver brought it but oops it was too short. I swam to grasp it and waited for my friend for a little while. Finally I told her to keep swimming and I’d go back to the boat and asked the boat to pick her up because I didn’t think she could reach the rope. In fact, she was little far away from the boat bit by bit. I got on the boat and told the organizer what was going on. She told me to wait for 10 mins because there were still a few divers around the boat. For safety, they should get on the boat first. Ten minutes passed by. I was looking for my friend keeping SWIMMING all the time!! Oh, my gosh, she may not consider me her friend anymore. This was the second time we met only. A few divers came back so I spoke to the organiser again. Oh shoo! We had to wait because the fishing boat came to pick the garbage from our 1^st dive. It seemed to be another 10 minutes. Good news! The fishing boat offered to pick my new friend up. Now, there were 3 groups of divers emerged from underwater. They were in front of another small ISLAND !!! Woah! The current took them very far. My friend joined the diver groups and got on boat finally!! The better news is we are still friend.

The moral of this story is when you travel with me, please do not expect me to rescue you. I am not a strong swimmer or experienced diver!

There was a little accident happened to my friend, Sri, who used to my workmate. While she peeled off the mango skin (it’s mango season, pals), she cut her finger!!! It was bleeding too much so the guy friend decided to take her to the hospital. Gee! Her finger was still on her hand but she felt that the knife almost reached her bone. It was quite serious because it was not slippery. She cut mango flesh with attention but she mistook mango’s anatomy!! lol

The moral of this story is even though you are born in the mango country and has eaten mangoes for more than 40 years, be careful when you peel off its skin or cut its flesh. Each mango is little different.

The fire dance show during the dinner party was one of the best things in this trip. I also attached one short video clip :-)

This email is very long and all story happened in a day only. Let’s skip the second day. There were no diving, just relaxing. Enjoy the photos :-D

Namrin
P.S. Some photos are little prone to my non-Thai friends.

Link Version
http://s222.photobucket.com/albums/dd191/namrinb/Photo%202008/Koh%20Chang%20SCUBA%20diving/?albumview=link

Namrin in my beloved GM farewell party

http://s222.photobucket.com/albums/dd191/namrinb/Photo%202008/Angel%20Night%20on%2029th%20April/


Our beloved General Manager of Finance and Operations Division is leaving Thailand to L'Oreal Taiwan. She will be missed surely. I admire her. Not only is she smart, but also good at people management. Hopefully one day I'll be as good as she is.

More: Namrin in Pattaya -SCUBA diving test 22-23 March

I forgot to conclude that I passed the diving test and I took the paper test last weekend and passed too. Everything is successfully accomplished, hahaha. Just waiting for a proper diving ID card....not sure how to call it. :#D

Love

Nam

Namrin in Pattaya -SCUBA diving test 22-23 March

Hello all

Finally, here it comes, the photo album that I really proudly present, Namrin in Pattaya -SCUBA diving test 22-23 March!

Pattaya is a city beach, about 150km away from East of Bangkok. Pattaya is popular for night life and how easy to access to the beaches so if you look for white-sand beaches and quiet atmosphere, pls don't go there. I have warned you. Pattaya city is crowded and somewhat developed. You can find everything here almost like a little 'Bangkok', and therefore it's popular place for many Western foreigners who are retired/early retired.

One of my closest friends lives and works in Pattaya so during this diving trip,we got free accommodation. The trip cost was included in my class fee so I didn't have to pay more except for transport cost and breakfast and dinner.

Let's get to the diving spots. We sailed to the islands near Pattaya beach, called Koh Laan. Laan in Thai has two meanings 1) bald and 2) million. From my own eyes, I think it should refer to bald. So Koh Laan would mean Bald Island(s) in English. Around Koh Laan, there are also smaller islands and we dived there. But as I didn't take note properly, today I can't tell which name belongs to which island. Just know that it's Koh Laan, LOL.

The visibility was bad. If I compare to the Rea Sea, I should say here is terrible! Of course not, I don't recommend you guys to dive here. My closed friend also said that from her 5-6 times experience diving here but there was only once that it was clear and the currency was still. The rest is probably like these 2 days about 5-6 metre visibility and strong currency. Therefore, Pattaya is not Thailand's favourite diving spots. Most of people come here for practice or just because they don't have enough time to go to further islands in South or very East of Thailand.

It's time to dive, my first official dive! I was so excited and delighted. I was ready with all equipment and jumped! Boom! Fine....I was okay. I caught the rope and preparedto dive. I found my buddy, Art. Give okay sign to each other, and then he dived first and I followed.

"Ughh...what is this? I can't go down." I thought.
Right, I had to release more air from the BCD (Bouyancy Control Device-the thing that looks like a jacket which connects a diver with a air tank). Then, I started to sink....but but remember what I'm scared the most? It's ear equalising. I grabbed the rope as I didn't want to go down too fast.

But before I tried to balance the air in ear (body) and the pressure from the sea. The water came into my mask. Of course, this is the second thing we learn in the pool class, how to clear the mask. I didn't know what happened. I couldn't get rid off the water like when I did in the pool. So I came to the water surface to clear my mask. Then, I went down again but just when I put my face into the sea. The water came into my mask again. I feel something wrong. I couldn't get rid off the water from the mask. I told myself "I'm not gonna start diving with full water in the mask" It's been little while so my buddy, Art, came back to ask me what was going on. I told him about the water. One of our instructors told my buddy to go first and waited for me at the ground of the sea. So I tried again and it happened exactly the same.

Now I realised that I was the last student left on the water surface. I thought to myself, "What am I doing here? You are going to ruin all the things that you have learned for 4 weekends. You wanna do that?" Definitely not. I gave myself another go but the water came in again. And this time I thought. "Hang on! Nam. The first rule of diving. You only dive when you feel safe." I didn't feel safe anymore and I knew that if I forced myself I would drown. Now I wanted to give up.

Another instructor who is also the owner of this diving school came to me and asked whether I was nervous. I told him I was a bit nervous but more importantly something wrong with my mask. He looked at my face and said my mask was too tight. Thus, he adjusted it. Now I felt more confident and tried again. BUT the water came in again.
"It happened again!" I told my instructor.
He asked me, "is this your own mask?"
"Yes, it is. But this is just the second time I used it. For the first time I used, the water came in too but it wasn't this bad. It was fine later." I replied.
"I see. Can you adjust it again to make sure it fits your face?" He told me. "I think it's little slipped off from your face"
I followed his advice. And just put my face into the water like snorkelling. I think it worked. I faced up to the air and my instructor pushed my mask on my face. "Ouch!" I felt the mask caught my face more tightly. Then, my instructor told me to follow him slowly and when I was under water, I had to keep pressing my mask on my face.

You know what, that really helped!!! It was just I had to keep pressing my mask when I dived down. When I reached the meeting point, I was fine. And then, I said 'cheese' to you guys :-D. And that's the most difficult part of the trip :#)

Even though the visibility is not good and the sea creatures are not as abundant as Sharm El Sheihk in Red Sea, there are still some underwater animals come out to "hi" to us. And I feel every single thing I found here is valuable because it's not easy to find. hahaha.

Hope you enjoy the photos and if you have any advice about the types of animals, pls feel free to correct me.

Namrin

Link Version
http://s222.photobucket.com/albums/dd191/namrinb/Photo%202008/Pattaya%20SCUBA%20diving%2022-23%20Mar/?albumview=link

Namrin in Khao Yai

Dear my friends around the globe,

If you remember, I just lost my camera. This trip was a week later from Maroon 5 concert so the photos during this trip are from my friends. (Thanks all).

I and another 10 friends (in fact, 9 adults and 1 kid) joined this green trip number..?? (nobody remembers but more than 10 for sure). They are my ex-workmates when I worked for a computer company. My ex-boss is the person who initiates the green trip. Therefore, he and his wife are like father and mother of the trip. He usually sets up a green trip to travel to many places in Thailand but mostly somewhere not too far from Bangkok. Our most popular destination is Pattaya but not this time. This trip we fancy forests and mountains, and the main activity apart from sightseeing is EATING! I had ice cream 3 times in 2 days ...until I had to refuse the 4th time.

What is Khao Yai? If you live in Thailand and you don't know it, you need a Primary-school book immediately or a Thai friend, maybe. For people who are not Thai or never live here, Khao Yai, literally meaning "great mountains", is the first titled national park and currently the third largest national park in Thailand which covers partly 4 provinces: Nakhon Ratchasima, Nakhon Nayok, Saraburi, and Prachinburi. It has been nominated as World Heritage Site as well. Khao Yai consists of complicated mountains and there are 5 main forest types: Dry Evergreen Forests, Dry Deciduous Forests, Tropical Moist Evergreen Forests (70% of all), Hill Evergreen Forests, and Grasslands. The highlights in Khao Yai are flora, fauna, and waterfalls.

Unfortunately, March is the beginning of summer and before this was cool (& dry) season so waterfalls are quite dry. Also, we didn't see any stunning flora because we didn't intend to search for it so the photos are likely to show the activities we've done and "animal planet" program.

The first thing I'd like to present is a steak restaurant we had for lunch. It's the most "hard core" restaurant that I have ever experienced in terms of its service. Pls let me translate to Thai. If you get a chance to pass by Khao Yai, you may want just to pass Lex's Restaurant (with no stop) LOL. (see the photo below.

Word by word
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Lex's Restaurant

Closed Monday (Except long weekend)
ditto (in Thai)

Suggestion: (Open 9.00Am - 18.00 PM) {they really say suggestion in Thai and write 18PM!!! which is 6PM)
As the restaurant provides service in American Style, all dishes will be served at the same time. Pls all of you in the same table order the foods at the same time because
CHEF will not switch his cooking to another table until yours is done except you order your own second dish. {pls tell me about the American style. i really wonder how it's like}

How to do steak:
Rare = 20%
Medium Rare = 40%
Medium = 70% (recommended)
Medium Well = 80%
Well Done =well done

We reserved the right to refuse service anyone.
We reserve our rights to refuse to serve anyone.

Extra plate (extra plate) 50 baht each {pricey! Normally the restaurant doesn't charge an extra plate}
(Only serve courses or sets in menu)

The rules above has been using since the first opening day (10 years +)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
All I can say is we felt that we were threatened by the restaurant. LOL. However, I think the steak is very good. I got a bite of beef and it 99% doesn't smell for me that is very impressive. However, when the waiters were away, we discussed that this restaurant may have a lot of one-time customers because their service is just unbelievably strict and unfriendly. It's hard to stand in this business without one-time customers. Also, we really wonder how about other restaurants nearby because they are about 10 steak restaurants within this 5 km radius on the same road. Anyway, we had to keep our doubt quietly because this meal already cost 1/3 of our budget!! (Very expensive) :-O and we were just at the beginning of day 1!!

After lunch, we had ice cream at Umm...Milk by ChokeChai Farm. It's the famous tourirm farm and their main business is to produce fresh milk so the ice cream is very milky. yum yum :-)

After arriving at Khoa Yai, we left our baggage at the accommodation which were 2 quite big semi-attached houses. It even has one servants' room as well. WOW! Then, we went to Haew Suwat Waterfall which means sth like Hell of Suwat (I'm not sure what Suwat refers to...it could be a name of hell in Buddha story) . After playing water, we had a light meal at another camp site where we found many deers walking around to eat grass (I think). We wandered around the camp site for about an hour. Then, ordered some foods for dinner. (Didn't we just eat?)

We came back to our accommodation, took shower and had a proper dinner altogether. It was about 7PM. We noticed that there was a big group of people partying near our place. Anyway, we didn't take it serious as it would be over before we went to bed for sure as this is a national park, not a club. At 8PM, we went to join the night safari by spotting the animals that came out at night. It was very dark and very fast so we had just a few photos. At 9PM, we came back. While we watched TV and chatted, 2 strangers knocked the door and said, "Today is Prachinburi's governor's birthday. We are sorry for the noise but we won't stay up late. Please join our dinner" And then, they brought 3 big foam containers fully filled with food inside. I think they thought we were relatives or children of a Minister because our places are called, House of Minister. You know what this meant. Yep, we had a late meal.

Next morning, we were willingly divided into 2 groups. The first group got up just before the sunrise and went out to wake up all the animals plus took some photos. The second group woke up when someone called "breakfast is ready!" hahaha, hmm...that included me :#) After breakfast, we just relaxed. At first, we planned to go for kayaking or rafting but it seemed that the river or the stream in this season is not quite suitable for those activities. So, we went to the viewpoint of Khao Yai, mainly covering Khao Kaew area (Green Mountains). It was a piece of cake to get there because it can be reached by cars. Not so long, it's noon....we had lunch and then, ice cream but this time we didn't go to the steak place so it's fairly cheap. We returned to BKK. And on the way back, half of our friends stopped by Umm...Milk again to have ice cream. But I had enough ....it was just too often. And this is why I wanted to call this trip, the eating trip! (When arriving at BKK, we also had dinner together. What a complete closure!)

Hope you enjoy the photos.

Namrin:-)

Link Version:
http://s222.photobucket.com/albums/dd191/namrinb/Photo%202008/Khao%20Yai%208-9%20Mar/?albumview=link