Counting sheep

"Sheep? As is baa- baa, in Thailand?" That was my reaction when I heard about this farm/resort. I Googled it and it looked really nice. But pictures do lie don't they. So we decided to make a day trip out of it. Three families set off (seven adults, five children and one big dog).

It was a fairly pleasant two hour drive but I was still recovering from spending three days in the sun, so I was a little stoned (so to speak). This farm/hotel is located in the Ratchaburi province. It is called the Scenery Resort and it really had sheep like the ones we think Mary had. We paid our entrance fee (80 baht) and after putting on the apron (in case the sheep get excited and jump up) we went into the enclosed area with a big bunch of leaves.

Man, these animals may look all fluffy and cute but they were aggresive when it came to food. They pushed, they shoved and baa-ed really loudly while we held onto the leaves and tried not to get trampled on or fall on the grass that was strewn with little nuggets of poo. They had really thick coats of wool and I wonder how they survive in this heat. It was about 37C when we were there. They were pretty energetic and I even saw a few jump over the fence to get at the food.

There is a restaurant there that surprisingly has only one lamb dish (and it's NZ lamb) on its menu. Guess the sheep there are to add to the scenery only and not to feed the hungry hordes (people like me).

Only drawback is that becuse of the heat, there were loads of flies and the restaurant is open air. So if you don't fancy fighting with flies I would suggest that going there during the cool 'winter' months would be a better idea.

On the whole it was a nice way to spend a Sunday as we discovered yet another part to Thailand that we never did.

Part and parcel of life

This is what I face everyday on my way home from school.

Bangkok - City of Angels, place where Tom Yam originated from and also notorious for its traffic jams. After living here for so long, I have gotten quite used to the slow crawl of traffic. What makes it bearable is the fact that most of the drivers are fairly patient (you seldom hear honking) and drivers let you pass through or cut into their lanes. I guess if everyone figures they are in the same predicament, then hey, why sweat it.

So what does one do in a traffic jam? Well, it depends on the jam itself. There are what I call 'everyday' jams. These are where traffic slows down because you have five lanes that suddenly converge into two.

Or you have the case of the neverending traffic light. Traffic lights here can last up to three - four minutes. Doesn't sound long, right? Wait till you are in desperate need of the loo, then it becomes and eternity. My friend's son has had to pee in the bottle because he couldn't hold it in. There was an incident where the driver of the car fell asleep whilst waiting for the light to change. Had to get a motorbike boy to knock on the window to wake her up.

Then you have the jams caused by the 'side parkers'. These are the people who park to one side of a road that is already too narrow for two cars to pass. Amazingly, no matter how tight the squeeze, you will emerge on the other side without anyone cursing or flipping you the bird.

Another aspect of the 'side parkers' are the taxis that will screech to a sudden stop to pick up a fare. My favourite is when the would be passenger has a 'conversation' with the taxi driver. I'm guessing that they are talking about destination or how to find a place. The beauty of this is both taxi and passenger will ignore the growing queue of cars behind them.

The ultimate traffic jam is one that is caused by a political protest. I was fortunate (?) to be caught in one last year. It took me more than two hours to reach my destination (I could have flown to Singapore during that time). Why did I not turn back you may ask? Problem is there is a point of no return and once you passed it, you are stuck, stuck, stuck.

So, based on all these different jams, the question is "what does one do?" Many take the time to groom themselves ie make up, combing hair. I think if hairdryers could be plugged in, they would be used. You can almost finish reading the newspapers. Many take cat naps. But my favourite of all, is you can have your breakfast/lunch/dinner while in the car.

Summer is here!

View from the room. ALL rooms have sea veiw.

When the weather turns colder, people living in BKK head for the hills (Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Mae Hong Son etc). As it gets hotter, we head for the many beaches that are available. The nearest beach is actually Pattaya which is an hour's drive away. However, I don't like it as the beach is nothing to speak of as it is covered with beach chairs and vendors hawking their wares. Also, there are many pubs and discos that are pretty sleazy and not child appropriate.

Hua Hin is a little further (about 2 hour drive) but because the Thai Royal family has a residence there, there is an absence of go-go bars and strip joints. They still have stretches of beaches that are fairly secluded far away from the crowd.

Last week, as it was the school holidays, my friend and I decided to take the children to Hua Hin for a couple of days. We had heard that Marriot had opened a new hotel on Cha-Am beach (about 20 minutes from Hua Hin) that had a great rate for Thai residents (2,500 baht nett including breakfast). Being Singaporean, we couldn't pass up on a good deal, could we?

We had a blast. The hotel was very comfortable and NEW. There was a huge swimming pool with a slide which the children loved. Best of all, the beach was fairly quiet (it could be that it was a weekday) and safe enough that we could let the children go off by themselves to dig for crabs while we lounged nearby. They spent hours just digging and digging and digging. It was good to see them enjoy this very simple pleasure. And me? I was enjoying reading my book whilst stuffing my face with eclairs and chips :)

There was a huge Kid's Club which was one of the biggest I have seen. They have loads of things for children from toddler to teens to enjoy. There were Playstations, snooker tables, foosball tables, a mini movie theater and even cribs for naps! I escaped from the heat for a while and curled up in a chair to read. Niiiceee.

A holiday is not complete without good food. We went to our favourite coffee shop for dinner and it did not let us down. Only thing about this place is that there is only 1 cook. So when it gets a bit crowded, you have to wait up to an hour to get your meal.

The kitchen where all the goodies came from.



'Or Suan' or oysters with egg. Very generous portion of oysters with gooey egg.

I'm not much of a vegetable eater but I love this. Kanna with 'plah khem' (salted fish). There is a smoky flavour to the dish.

'Hua chor' . Never had it this way but it was very good as there was a lot of crab meat.

When it was time to leave, I wondered why I don't go to Hua Hin more often. It has changed over the years. There is even a (gasp) mall and cinema there now. It gets crowded on weekends because half of BKK heads there. But there are still pockets of beaches where you can lie back with a good book and forget about whatever is going on out in the world.

Fields of ......

During the months of December to February, the sunflower fields in the Lopburi and Saraburi areas (about an hour from BKK) bloom.

Towards Christmas since the weather was beautiful, we decided to take a day trip to visit the sunflower fields. Unfortunately, most of the flowers had bloomed and dried up already. We were lucky to stumble across one that still had its flowers in bloom. Being Thailand, the enterprising locals were selling the by-products of the sunflowers ie seeds that have been roasted and salted to perfection! Yuuummm...

Chinatown

Chinese are everywhere. Almost every country has a Chinatown. Bangkok is no exception and I love the Chinatown here as it reminds me of the Chinatown of my childhood ie an assault of noise, people and smells (and what a variety of smells)!

Chinatown here is called Yawarat. It is divided into a few sections and if you are taking a taxi, you have specify which part you want to go to. The 3 parts I normally go to are:

Samphaeng which is the wholesale side. They sell everything from hair-clips, cotton buds, pens, costume jewellery etc. The stalls there also sell festive items eg as it's nearing Halloween, there are loads of Halloween decorations for sale. I go there for party bags for birthdays, Christmases etc.

Typical scene where pedestrians, cars and delivery men hauling huge boxes jostle for space.

There is also a small section that sells dried food. It is there that I buy my dried shrimp, ikan bilis (small dried anchovy) , dried mushroom etc.

One of my favourite stalls in the wet market section. They sell all kinds of snacks,biscuits, sweets (all at wholesale price). Owner told me that lots of Singaporeans go there to buy chewing gum!

The wet market across from Samphaeng that has ingredients that have disappeared from the Singapore market scene (so my aunts claimed when I brought them there). It is there that I buy my crab meat (steamed, peeled and in beautiful chuncks), fresh ground pepper (there is a spice shop there that will grind it fresh for you) and chye poh galore (sweet,salty, chopped, chunky, whole pieces)

Wet market

Pahurat which is the textiles street and sells fabric of all kinds. Wonderful for people who can sew, have a good tailor or are creative. A friend found fabric to tailor a dress for a jungle themed party (it was slightly furry with a zebra stripes). Stalls selling trims, ribbons, buttons and bows also boggle my mind and I try to get the creative juices going when I am there, but to no avail.

In Chinatown you will find many Thai-Chinese (most are first or second generation here) and are of Teochew descent. So I get to practise my very, very rusty Teochew when they realise I'm Chinese.

It won't be Chinatown if you can't find the touristy cheongsam.

Chinatown here is synonymous with good food. Only thing is you have to brave the traffic (it is REALLY horrendous) and on occasion I have been stuck there because the taxis are in the midst of a change in shift and won't take passengers.

I always try to go in the early mornings as it's not so hot and crowded. The crowds can be overwhelming especially during hot weather. I sometimes feel like I'm going through an obstacle course that not only includes people but cars,carts and trolleys as well. Do I love it? Definitely, YES!