Big Boys Toy

Yes! My own Picoo-Z! With 20 AA batteries! Just need 6, but Carrefour had an offer for 20, so... :) I first saw it on Mr Brown, then saw the real thing on demo at Compass Point. Bought it on the same day at Carrefour while shopping for wine. I've been having lots of fun with it since. It was a bit tricky to fly initially. But after a few tries and a few re-charges, I think I'm starting to get the hang of it.

New Emo toy for Christmas!

Emo... for emotions?

Water water everywhere...

Look at my wet shoes. No, they weren't wet. They were thoroughly filled to the brim of every single pore with water. Like a cat, I hate getting my feet wet, especially when I still have to work. It's not only the shoes. I was wringing water from the legs of my jeans.

Gosh! It's midnight and it's still raining! It has been raining on and off (mostly on) since Sunday morning. This morning was the heaviest. I saw the floods in Thomson area on TV just now. Wow! Knee deep, to waist deep!

And boy, it didn't rain today. It was like a waterfall across the whole of Singapore! Just when you thought the clouds are drying up... the downpour starts again. History could be in the making if this continues. This will be the heaviest rainfall in 75 years!

Where's the Singapore Garden?

In my recent travel to Chiangmai and visit to the Royal Flora Ratchaphruek, I was looking for the Singapore Garden in the International Garden zone. But... we did not participate in this expo. How come? I thought we're the Garden City? Hmm... Maybe we're more interested to be known as the 1st world city state now. It's funny... I was speaking with a nice Englishman while I was having a massage near my guesthouse in Chiangmai and he asked me this question: do u know Singapore is a 1st world country now? Yes, of course I know. We've been repeatedly told of this fact by our government.

Oops. Back to the garden. Well, I did miss that Singapore didn't participate in the expo. But guess what? This weekend (or strictly speaking it's last weekend), the Singapore Garden Festival just opened at Suntec! Wow! So very Singapore ah! Can go see the gardens in indoor air-con comfort!

Well, I haven't been to the Suntec show. Will probably be very different from the Chiangmai one. More on gardening I guess.

Singapore nightlife - Dull or happening?

Today, 6 new clubs/bars open in Singapore.
This was Reuters' headline:
New clubs set to fire up dull Singapore scene

Hmm... Wait a minute... Didn't Singapore recently get ranked 2nd in the world for nightlife and dining, in the annual Country Brand Index 2006? How could #2 in the world be dull? To be honest, I was surprised to see the #2 ranking. Of course, I attribute my ignorance to being out of the clubbing scene for a long time. Maybe with the Crazy Horse and Ministry of Sound, we're suddenly propelled to #2?

Even with the biggest names in clubs right here in Singapore, the local scene is still dull. Must be the party crowd's fault then. Yeah... that must be it. Singaporeans must learn to party more. Hey, even our new young leaders are leading the way and partying!

So party on dudes!

What?

I saw something this morning that can only be described as strange. Well, I heard it 1st. There was this metallic clanging sound that came from the road while I waited for my bus. At 1st I thought it was from the engine of the lorry. Nope. Then I saw a MPV, on 3 wheels! Actually, 3 wheels with tyres and 1 without. The front left wheel was completely stripped of any rubber and was grinding along the road. That was where the metallic clang came from. It was amazing, because if it had been a flat tyre, there should still be some tyre left on the wheel. But no. Either all the rubber had been left on the road after god knows how far the car had travelled, or the tyre was removed intentionally.

I was too intrigued by this sight that I forgot to take a photo. Had a look at the driver: a man in his 30s. The car just continued its laboured and noisy journey. Wonder where he was going. Can't imagine what kind of damage he was doing to the car and the road.

While searching for blown tyre pics on the internet that looks similar to what I saw (didn't find any!), I came across some amazing photos here. This was another case of blown tyre, but on a F18 Superhornet (Fighter jet)! U got to see it!

Clueless@SG

U know, I was really excited about Wireless@SG (the islandwide free WiFi). I signed up for an account with QMax (twice) and ICell. Got my funny looking free webcam from QMax too. But I've to say, I've been rather disappointed with Wireless@SG so far.

My friend and I were at Raffles City last weekend, trying out the free WiFi. 1st stop: BK at the basement. Very poor network, could hardly detect it. 2nd stop: Starbucks at the ground floor. Same story. We tried many times to login but keep ending up in Singtel's signup page. Finally, we decided to try the CitiLink and stopped by O'Briens. "Free Wireless!", beamed the signboard outside the cafe. Took out my huge & heavy Dell Inspiron 6000. Connecting to Wireless@SG... Nothing. Sianz. Then tried our luck with ICellNetwork... and it worked! Hey! I didn't even need my Wireless@SG account. I guess it wasn't totally useless. At least I got my free webcam. :P

The Xbox Car!

Here's THE car for all u Xbox fans!
Saw this on the roads recently and the 1st thought that came to mind was: is Microsoft Xbox now making cars too? Hmm... maybe it's a promotional gimmick for some new driving game. But wait! As the car passed me, I saw its rear: Toyota Mark X. Looks pretty cool huh?

Hotel, Guesthouse & Travel Tips for Chiang Mai

Like to share my favourite accommodations in Chiang Mai:
1. Night Bazaar Inn
Tel: 053-818096
Class: Business hotel
Cost: 700-800Baht
Review: Good location (near the Night Bazaar). Comfortable clean rooms with decent toilet & shower room. Satellite TV, fridge. Friendly staff.

2. Nice Apartment
Tel: 053-210552, 053-218290
Class: Guesthouse/apartment
Cost: 200-350Baht for air-con. The longer u stay, the cheaper it gets.
Review: My fav for budget stays. With this price, you get a clean air-con room with toilet & hot shower, fridge and satellite TV! Value for money. Good location too! Near Thapae gate. Only 1 complaint: the toilet/shower is a bit small and rundown.

Tips for transport:
1. Airport transfers
If like me, you're a budget traveller, then cheapest way is to take the public bus # 13. Goes to the city and it's 15 baht. Do ask 1st before u board, as the routes may change.
U can also take the red songthaews. Need to bargain though. On average, a trip to the city is 50baht.

2. Trips within the city
I usually take the red songthaews. Used to be 10baht minimum for tourists and even Bangkokians (Chiangmai locals pay less than 10!). While I was there last month, I had to pay 15baht minimum! Kill man set fire! (Chinese proverb) That's a 50% inflation! Red songthaews are like a bus and taxi combo. U can get on one at anywhere if the driver is going your way. He usually has other passengers though. And sometimes, a 10min trip may turn into 30min!

Flowers & Orchids of Royal Flora

This is my most flowery post. All u bees out there come and get all these nectar! :)

Ok, this last photo is not a flower. This expo was not just about horticulture. It was also about agriculture technology and even biofuels! Lots to see and learn here. At times, I felt like I was back in school on a field trip to the Science Centre or Botanic Gardens.

Royal Flora Photos

L: Bus that I took. U can see Black Canyon Cafe in the background. U can either board the bus here, or outside Central Airport Plaza. R: The giant umbrella at the entrance to Royal Flora.

L: Tram. R: Paddy field

L: Chang! R: Tea?

L: Not cabbages and condoms. Cabbages and chilli! R: Runway to the pavilion

L:Christmas log! Nope. Belgium garden. R:Lovely Bhutan.

L:Holland, duh. R:Royal Pavilion

L: Royal Pavilion, inside. R: The Super Sandwich technology of cloud seeding, invented by the King. (See if u can spot the typo)

Blogger bug? Not! It was my fault!

Just managed to fix the problem I mentioned yesterday.
Here's how: by clearing my browser's cache.
I can post pics now! I must have surfed onto some website that messed up my blogger. My fault! :P

Royal Flora Ratchaphreuk 2006

Day 4
Time to see the Royal Flora expo. Woke up in the morning to see the overcast sky. Bummer. I've already bought the ticket in advance (it's double the price if u buy at the expo site) so didn't want to change my plans. The guesthouse staff told me these words that immediately brightened my day: "Maybe it's good luck!". That was so Thai and brought back memories 2 years ago when I 1st heard those words. And it was so true. It was good luck because I got to walk around the gardens comfortably without getting cooked by the sun. Well, at least for 2 hrs, then the sun came out and it was hot! Lucky me.

There were many ways to go to the expo, other than taxi:
1. By red songthaew (20B). Can get 1 from the Central Airport Plaza, I think.
2. By calling a private transport. Saw a number at some hotel with the flyer.
3. Public Bus #13 & 11. Both will pass by the Black Canyon Cafe at Thapae Gate.

I chose the 3rd as I wanted to try out the public bus system. It was quite new, probably only a few months old. The most popular transport in CM is still the songthaew. But I enjoyed the bus. It had air-con, and u can have a good view of the street. It's hard to see anything when inside a songthaew. Though you'll spend a longer time on the bus as it goes on its long and winding route around CM.

Finally reached the expo site and boy was I impressed. Very grand and you're welcomed along the road leading up to the site by big banners on the lamp posts. Feels like you're going into a big theme park like Disneyland.

The place is HUGE. Toured the entire grounds on foot, starting at 11am and finished at about 5pm. It was really tiring, and I skipped quite a number of areas. U can take a tram ride, but I didn't have time for that. Anyway, you'll have to get off the tram anyway if u want to see the gardens.

Here's a quick review of the zones:
1. Corporate Garden.
My 1st stop. Lots of greenery, ponds, waterfalls, flowers in these gardens. All beautifully done up.

2. Orchid Pavilion
Lots of them! Small ones, big ones, even smelly ones! Orchid landscaping too!

3. International Garden
Honestly, I was a little disappointed. Lots of concrete in most of these gardens. Belgium was unique. Japan was my fav.

4. Royal Pavilion
The pavilion was beautiful. Loved the architecture. And u can see nearly the entire expo site from here. Give a miss to the food hall next to the pavilion though. Operated by THAI (Airways). I felt like I was eating airline food at restaurant prices. It IS a good idea to bring your own food and picnic. Lots of nice scenic spots for u to picnic.

5. Thai Tropical Garden (final stop)
My favs were the air-con greenhouses. Cooling, and lots of flowers too!

My back was killing me by this time. Hopped onto a red songthaew going to the Central Airport Plaza as I didn't want to look for the public bus. Good thing they've excellent massage in CM.

PS: Hmmm... some problems with Blogger this weekend. Can't post my photos! I'll upload them once the problem is fixed.

More Loy Krathong Babes

Day 3
Giant Krathong parade. Just enjoy the photos. ;)

Chiang Mai (continued)

Sunday is Loy Krathong day(1st full moon of Nov). So every year a mini Krathong parade is held on this night. This is a preview to the Giant Krathong parade that will be held on the next day. So, you'll see a smaller scale of the brightly decorated trucks, floats and participants in costumes. Even so, they still draw a big crowd, especially near Thapae Gate. And as promised, here're the babes on the "krathongs".

This guy here is a chronic fire breather. He'll walk/dance a few steps, then spit his mouthful of oil, gasoline, whatever into the flame he's holding. (That's why I could catch this big fire!) And he had to do this for the whole length of the parade.




Other than launching krathongs on the river, u can also launch kom fy (hot air balloons). This is alot of fun, especially when u launch one with your friends. Holding the kom fy up together, waiting for the balloon to fill up with hot air, and then release and see the kom fy rise up into the sky. Every loy krathong, the night sky is lit up full of these kom fy and it's really a wonderful sight.



Accidents do occur, and quite frequently too. I was watching the Miss Yee Peng beauty contest. This kom fy came flying in at a very low altitude and landed right in front of the audience, and caught fire! Lucky the security personnel was well prepared and put it out quickly.


Oh, talking about beauties, here're some of my favs:



By the way, u can click on the photos for a bigger view.