重大决定

去年和今年所作的重大决定都与牙齿有关。去年为了健康和美观，就算忍受金钱和肉体上的疼痛，我义无反顾地决定矫正我的牙齿。虽然有点忧虑自己仅剩两年的二十代会以钢牙妹的形象渡过，但是为了更美好的未来……当然也只能这样说服自己。

朋友赞我很勇敢，可以忍受这种痛。老实说，自绑牙之后，我不知道有多少回埋怨自己“花钱受苦”。绑牙真的很痛，身心都痛。这一年以来，应该是我拍照片量最少的时候，因为我的笑容太别扭了。更冲击的是，妹妹竟然说我像 Ugly Betty （栽倒）。

当初牙医说我的状况不需要拔牙，我暗自庆幸。今年年初，他突然改口叫我把两颗智慧牙给拔掉，说这样绑牙的效果会更好。我的智慧牙好端端地，为了这样的理由被牺牲，真的是早知如此，何必当初……两个礼拜前，我坐上“手术椅”，成为牙医刀下的鱼肉，任由宰割。幸亏牙医手法高明，让我的疼痛有限。最大的恐惧反而是心理上的，手术进行中，脑海里不时重播小时候我在牙科室拔牙的噩梦；同时，我一直在向自己洗脑，朋友们生孩子更痛，这只是拔牙，我一定可以任过去的 （因为最近听过太多生孩子经验之谈）。手术后，医生给我五天的病假，我吃了足足一个星期的粥；伤口拆线后，牙医又把钢铁丝调得更紧，让我继续吃不得，所以呢，我会瘦也不是没有原因的。

如今，智慧牙没了，嘴巴里有些许的空洞，荷包也烧破了几个洞，我只能恳求这一切的付出和牺牲，最后会是值得的。

发发牢骚

被荒废了许久的部落格，今晚决定进来发发牢骚。

最近为了一个project，夜夜辗转难眠。项目本身不难，难搞的是客户。生意上最不能预测的variable，往往是人为因素（human factor）。这次给我遇上了一个“爱管”的客户，对于每项细节都要过问，而且一直改变要求，真是问题天天都多！ 

与此同时，公司里的气氛也让人有些沮丧。网速每况愈下，同时运行多个applications，电脑就会当机。老实说，公司合并后，为了要到达降低成本的目标，所有的设备都有被downgrade的感觉。其他部门已经有很多不好的传闻，客户方面也对于我们产品素质的下降有负面的评价。这就是“又要马儿跑，又要马儿不吃草”的代价。虽然业务持续增长，但人力方面已经有吃不消的现象 -- 这从员工的士气可以明显地观察到。

以前关于M&A的case study也有提到，合并过程最重要的是与各方面的沟通，尤其员工。人最怕的是"未知数（uncertainty）"，一旦没有明确的讯息，人就会通过各种管道揣测出各种传闻，而传闻十之八九都是不好的。公司最新传闻是澳洲和纽西兰裁员事件，现在搞到人心惶惶，东南亚区的运作会不会被开刀，有待揭晓。

唉，总觉得我的事业路程走的有点坎坷，还以为可以在这里待个两三年，看来又是时候另谋高就了。

Chiang Mai & Chiang Rai - Part 3 cont'd

Day 3 - Karen Long Neck Tribe Village

Before heading back to the Bamboo Nest, we decided to stop at the Karen Long Neck Tribe Village, despite that it is getting dark already (another bad decision we made in terms of time and money). Note that the village actually charged a 300 Baht per person admission fee; definitely not worth it for the short time we spent there.

The village was very quiet, a few long-neck ladies were sitting at the "verandah" weaving or knitting. There was minimal lighting which made it very hard to take good photos; but awkwardness seemed to be a greater a problem, as we were the only tourists there. It felt quite weird to treat these people like an attraction, and to ask them pose for the camera, as if they are animals in the zoo. And the controversial part is, it would probably feel ok to do so, if we are a part of a bigger group and everyone does the same thing.

There were very few men seen in the village, probably not yet back from work. They apparently live a more normal life than the women, as they are more exposed to the outer world, while the women are confined within the village. Interestingly, a long-neck tribe man can choose to marry a non long-neck lady if they fancy; but a long-neck lady has to marry a man of the same tribe (perhaps it is more difficult to find others who would appreciate this sort of beauty?). By the way, the Karen long-neck tribe are actually refugees from Myanmar, and does not have legal status in Thailand. Most of the family still send their children (especially the sons) back to Myanmar to receive education, because it was required for them to maintain their citizenship (according to Noi) - this probably explains the lack of males in the village. Anyhow, you can probably learn more about the Karen long-neck tribe from a wiki page :)

As an "outsider", I cannot help feeling pity for the girls I saw at the village; apart from the electricity and box-set TV they have, it seems they are still living the same way as their ancestors live decades ago. I am sure their interaction with the tourists expose them to some extent of the outside world, I wonder if they ever consider (or are allowed to consider) to live a normal life like other people?

Here is another more serious discussion of the long-neck people on CNNGO.

Chiang Mai & Chiang Rai - Part 3 cont'd

Day 3 - Mae Fah Luang garden

Mae Fah Luang means "Royal Mother from the Sky" in Thai language, and refers to the current Thai King's mother, also known as the Princess Mother. She passed away in 1995. According to Noi, she was nicknamed as such because she always visited the remote areas by a helicopter. 

The garden is located at the north of Chiang Rai city, on top of mount Doi Tung. It was part of a development project initiated by the Princess Mother to help local minority tribes to survive on a more sustainable livelihood (vegetable, fruit and flower farming) rather than planting opium, and sometimes having to sell their daughters to sex trade. At this destination, you can also visit the Royal Villa, which is the winter home of the Princess Mother, and the Hall of Inspiration which exhibits the history of the royal family and the Princess Mother's development project in the area. Click here for more info about the destination.

We arrived at the garden in the afternoon - not exactly the best time to visit as the place closes at 5pm (sharp), and we kind of had to rush through the visit. The preferred time is to arrive in the morning, when the weather is cooler, the sunlight milder, and you could probably take better pictures of the garden too. You can choose to visit the sites separately or together. Off course, the combo ticket that included the garden, the Royal Villa and the Hall of Inspiration was cheaper overall, and these sites are actually quite worth seeing.

I think the garden was quite impressive for Asian's standards. Apparently, they change the flowers every season. I was quite amazed by some of the wild orchids available at the garden, which I never seen before. If only we had more time to explore, I could probably enjoy the place more. Unfortunately, my time there felt like a whirlwind, and I was so kiasu snapping pictures here and there.

Main entrance to the Royal Villa

One of the wild orchid species

The "Tungs" on Doi Tung

Chiang Mai & Chiang Rai - Part 3

I can't believe that it has been more than a month since my trip to Thailand. And October being a busy period at work certainly makes it feel longer. Ok, back to the documentation of my trip before my memory becomes fuzzy.

Day 3 - The White Temple (Chiang Rai)

Early morning, we board a bus to Chiang Rai, which took about three hours. Green Bus was the company recommended by most online travel sites, and the service was very reliable. It cost 288 Baht per person for the VIP bus (24 seat) and included snacks and a bottle of water. We did not book in advance, and could not make it onto the first bus at 8am as it was full. Fortunately, there are many buses that go to Chiang Rai everyday, and we didn't have to wait too long for the next one (bus schedule).

Based on tripadvisor's recommendation, I decided to stay at Bamboo Nest, which was ranked #1 of Chiang Rai B&B and Inns. If you read most of the reviews, you would think "Wow, I must stay at this place!". Indeed, our stay at Bamboo Nest turned out to be quite a highlight of our trip - which definitely requires a separate post to talk about.

The lady who run the Bamboo Nest (Noi) picked us up the bus station. I signed up for a day tour with her for the sake of convenience, so she can just bring us back to the guesthouse at the end of the day. The day tour included traveling to the White Temple, the Black House and the Mae Fah Luang garden. Due to time constraint, we had to skip the Black House, but manage to visit it the next day.

The White Temple, known as Wat Rong Khun in Thai, was not like any of the temples you expect to see in Thailand. It was pure white all over with very intricate sculpting of religious figures and symbols. Its exterior was covered with fragments of mirror and shines like crazy especially in the afternoon. I went around noon time and almost got blinded (a sunglasses and a hat are a must if you are planning to visit in the afternoon). The White Temple was designed by a local artist named Chalermchai Kositpipat, and some people liken it to Gaudi's Sagrada Familia due to its complexity and the long time required to complete the project. It is currently a work in progress and is expected to be completed in 2070 (according to Wikipedia). Besides the nontraditional exterior appearance, what amazed me more was the interior of the main hall which was decorated with murals with references to modern pop culture such as the Matrix, Spiderman, Doraemon, Ultraman and even Michael Jackson. No camera was allowed inside, so I can only share a photo taken from a book about the temple.

Hands reaching out from hell

The guardian to the gate of heaven

Back of the temple - reserved for the monks to study and pray

The workshop for the craftsmen 

A "bodhi tree" with aluminium leaves, on which people wrote their wishes

The wishing well

The restrooms - the color chosen purposely to symbolize the color of human dung

A mural in the interior of the temple

Our next stop was the Mae Fah Luang garden at Doi Tung, which was the Princess Mother (mother of the current Thai King)'s garden.

*Stay tuned!* 

Chiang Mai & Chiang Rai - Part 2

Day 1 - continued

On our first night at Chiang Mai, we visited the Sunday Walking Street, which was supposed to be a good place to shop for handicrafts. I was quite amazed by the Thai people's creativity and craftsmanship. Although many stores sell similar stuffs, they were still quite unique by Malaysian standard. There was also one alley where many local artists gathered to sell their art pieces. Elephant and Buddhism were two recurring themes in many of the arts and handicrafts.

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I am adding this cute VW van onto my Wish List!

Another thing that Thailand was famous for was off course Thai massage! There were plenty of people offering cheap massage at the Sunday Walking Street. I thought it was quite funny seeing some tourists laying on the floor side by side getting their massage, looking like a bunch of salted fish left for dry. Mom also went for a foot massage which cost only 60 Baht per 30-minute. But, mom was quite unsatisfied with her masseuse, who (according to mom) was simply rubbing oil on her feet without exerting any strength.

Day 2

We joined a local tour through the hotel which would bring us to visit an elephant camp and some home industries. As it was low season, mom and I were the only visitors on the tour. Quite a good deal for us, as we get private tour treatment paying group price.

There are many elephant camps in Chiang Mai, probably because elephants are widely used in the area for logging purpose. The one that we went to was the Maesa Elephant Camp. All I can say is that the elephants there were very well-trained to entertain and make money. And off course, people are willing to pay, happily (including me). Each elephant has a dedicated trainer who controls the elephant using a tool that looks like a sickle, and through kicking and ear-pulling motion (based on my observation).

I had a somewhat scary encounter with one of the elephants. It happened during the elephants' bathing time. All the visitors were trying to make way for the elephants to walk towards the river from their sheds. At that time, I was carrying a bunch of bananas and sugar canes, which we planned to feed the elephants during the show or photo-taking session later. As I walk away from the elephant troop, suddenly, one mischievous elephant attacked from behind, its trunk aiming at the bananas and sugar canes in my hand. Boy, I was shrieking like a girl, shocked by a hairy long thing grabbing me from the back! Actually, I did try to pull back on the bananas and sugar canes, not wanting to waste them all on one greedy elephant. But off course, the elephant won, while I was left embarrassed at the scene ~_~|||

Here are some shots of the elephants in action:

The runaway elephant thief!

The very elephant that stole our bananas and sugar canes 

- luckily we managed to capture a shot as evidence!

Elephants pooping

Elephants bathing

Elephants very happy, swinging their trunks round and round

Elephants playing soccer

Elephants painting

Elephants playing basket ball

Elephants being friendly for bananas

The tour to the home industries was something that I kind of regretted. Rather than getting to know more about the local industries, it was more of a shopping trip. We were brought to a silk factory, silver factory, gemstone factory, honey factory, and umbrella factory. We bought stuffs at almost all of the outlets, except the silk and umbrella place, and it was a terrible decision, as we quickly run short of cash towards the end of our trip. My advice is to totally skip this tour and just go on a tour to the Doi Suthep temple instead.

Next stop - Chiang Rai!

*to be continued*

Chiang Mai & Chiang Rai - Part 1

The weather turned out to be unexpectedly nice when we were in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai. No thunder storms as predicted, but it did drizzled every now and then. For the most part, it was either sunny or slightly cloudy.

Learned a few important lessons from this trip which I will share with you in a moment. First of all, let me run you through our itinerary.

Day 1

On Saturday (15-Sep-2012), we flew from KL to Bangkok, and then catch a train from there to Chiang Mai. Due to time constraint, instead of departing from the main station in the city (Hua Lamphong), we decided to board the train at another station slightly out of town (Don Muang), which is conveniently close to the old airport (Don Mueang airport). There was a free shuttle bus that goes to the old airport every other hour, and the journey was about one-hour (taking into account traffic jam). Everything went according to plan - we got to the station with time to spare for dinner, and we didn't have to wait too long for the train (in SEA standard, this is considered very good).

Schedule of free shuttle bus between Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airport

We got ourselves two lower sleeping berths (second class), which was quite spacious compared to those of the Malaysian trains. In a Malaysian train, the berths are located along the left and right windows with a walkway in the center, and you are separated from other passengers just by the curtain of your berth; this, I feel, makes it easier to interact with other people on the train. In a Thai train,  four berths (two lower and two upper) are located in a "compartment" its own curtain, giving it more privacy.

Traveling on a train is always an interesting experience, although it may not be a good one. Our train ride to Chiang Mai had a not-so-good-ending. We ended up stuck in the train for an additional seven hours, making it a 20-hour train ride instead of the scheduled 13-hour. The train was slow and stopped frequently as it got closer to Chiang Mai (for no apparent reason to us). Whenever we asked the conductor when will we arrive, he just smiled and said "Soon, soon". No point for us to be angry really, because there was really nothing that we could be do about it. We passed by certain parts of the tracks which were allegedly destroyed by mudslides, they were repaired (crudely), but seemed pretty sturdy to me. We managed to see the sunrise, but it was nothing to kill for, and the scenery was just so-so (from a Malaysian's point of view), even though it may be something different for the Ang-Mos. Lesson #1 - don't rely on tripadvisor's review 100% because most of the time they are written by Ang-Mos for Ang-Mos. If you ask me for my suggestion, I will tell to NOT take the train to Chiang Mai, instead, you should either do a stop-over in Bangkok, or just take a direct flight to Chiang Mai. Period. 

Sunrise on the train

The positive outcomes of the train ride, perhaps, were that we got additional sleeping time, I made huge progress on my reading (The Tipping Point) and we acquainted ourselves with the girl on the upper berth. She was originally from HuBei, currently working in NanJing, was traveling solo, lost her hand-phone in Bangkok and spoke English quite well. I thought it was quite unusual to see a backpacker of Chinese nationality, as my impression of (mainland) Chinese tourists is that they always travel in group with a Chinese-speaking guide. But, I think the younger generations are now bolder and more confident to venture outside China due to their stronger English-speaking ability. 

We arrived in Chiang Mai around 5pm (instead of 10am),  just in time for the Sunday walking street. We parted ways with the Chinese girl at the old city gate and headed for our hotel. It took us quite some time to locate our hotel (Chompor Lanna Hotel), despite several phone calls to the hotel asking for directions. Although close to the Sunday walking street, the hotel was not visible from the main street at all. Luckily, the room did not disappoint us. However, I would actually advise one to stay either at Hotel M or Raming Lodge Hotel for the sake of convenience.

*to be continued*

September getaway

Will be leaving for Chiangmai for this weekend for a one week trip. This is a long needed getaway since my last vacation in April.

However, I made the mistake for not doing proper research before booking my tickets. Was "distracted' by cheap fares offered by Air Asia. Should have known that it is too good to be true. Only found out belatedly that September is the wettest month of the year, and it may even flood (it did last year September).

My plan is to fly to Bangkok, then take a night train to Chiangmai. I did get a lot of "whys" for this, but I was simply sold on the idea of doing something different, meeting people on the train and enjoying the scenery (early in the morning) just before arriving Chiangmai [ok, I might have romanticized it a bit in my mind].

Current weather forecast for Chiangmai looks like this:

And all my travel photos could possibly turn out like this:

Source: http://nyc4321.wordpress.com/category/uncategorized/page/7/

 or this:

How I wish I can do the "rain rain go away, come a again another day, in Chiangmai I want to play" thingy, and voila, sunny days for seven days straight! But I am a realistic person. I will be very happy as long as the rain is short, and there is no flood. 

Apparently, the Northern line to Chiangmai was shut down a few days ago because part of the rail tracks was damaged due to a mudslide somewhere along the route. Fortunately, State Railway of Thailand just stated that the line is re-opened as of today. Finger-crossed that it will stay strong until after I get my ass to Chiangmai.