Photo taken in the National Monument of Jakarta, Indonesia
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Monday, December 13, 2010
The origin of GOU BU LI stuffed buns (狗不理包子）
The origin of Gou Bu Li steamed buns with stuffing (狗不理包子)
In China, there are 2 types of buns. Buns without stuffing are called Mantou (馒头)，while buns with stuffing, like meat, bean paste etc are called Baozi (包子)。 There is a meat stuffed buns called Gou Bu Li Baozi, which literally means “dog doesn’t care BAOZI”
Why are these stuffed buns have such funny names? There was a story behind it. Many years ago, in Beijing, there was an orphan called Xiao Gou Zi (小狗子) working in a restaurant selling stuffed buns. Xiao Gou Zi was very hard working and could bake delicious stuffed buns and his boss liked him very much. The restaurant became famous and many people lined up early in the morning to buy the stuffed buns. Business was so good that Xiao Gou Zi had no time to attend to some customers, who shouted “:Xiao Gou Zi, why don’t you care about us? We have been waiting for a long time”
Xiao Gou Zi literally means little dog. Some less educated Chinese use the name of animals like cow (A Niu), dog (A Gou) etc to call their children. Gradually, Xiao Gou Zi’s stuffed buns became famous and people called his buns as GOU BU LI BAO ZI. The poor orphan had good business and later became a successful businessman.
In China, there are 2 types of buns. Buns without stuffing are called Mantou (馒头)，while buns with stuffing, like meat, bean paste etc are called Baozi (包子)。 There is a meat stuffed buns called Gou Bu Li Baozi, which literally means “dog doesn’t care BAOZI”
Why are these stuffed buns have such funny names? There was a story behind it. Many years ago, in Beijing, there was an orphan called Xiao Gou Zi (小狗子) working in a restaurant selling stuffed buns. Xiao Gou Zi was very hard working and could bake delicious stuffed buns and his boss liked him very much. The restaurant became famous and many people lined up early in the morning to buy the stuffed buns. Business was so good that Xiao Gou Zi had no time to attend to some customers, who shouted “:Xiao Gou Zi, why don’t you care about us? We have been waiting for a long time”
Xiao Gou Zi literally means little dog. Some less educated Chinese use the name of animals like cow (A Niu), dog (A Gou) etc to call their children. Gradually, Xiao Gou Zi’s stuffed buns became famous and people called his buns as GOU BU LI BAO ZI. The poor orphan had good business and later became a successful businessman.
Some simple Thai conversation
Some simple Thai conversation
A: Sawadee krap, Sebaidee mai (How are you?)
B: Dee mark, korp kun krap (I am fine, thank you)
A: Kun cher arai krap (What is your name?)
B: Pom cher Romeo krap(My name is Romeo)
A: Kun kin aharn klang wan liao mai (Have you taken your lunch?)
B: Yang krap (not yet)
A: Puak rao by ran aharn Thai, dee mai? (We go to a Thai restaurant, OK?)
B: Dee mark, pom chorb aharn Thai (Very good, I like to take Thai food)
A: Borigon ying, mee raigan aharn mai (Waitress, do you have a menu?)
Waitres: Mee kah (Yes, we have)
Waitress: Kun ja deum arai kah?(What do you want to drink)
A: Pom au Pepsi Cola krap (I want a Pepsi Cola)
A: Aharn nee tao rai krap? (How much is the meal)
Waitress: Ha roy bhat kah (500 bhat please)
A: Thinee ha roy bhat krap (Here is 500 bhats)
Waitress: Korp kun kah (Thank you)
In Thai, when you speak to strangers or older people, if you are male you add "krap" at the back of the sentence, but if you are a female, you add "kah" (pronounced as car).There is no special meaning for krap and kah, it only shows your respect. In daily conversation with friends and family members, krap and kah may be omitted. Thus when you want to say Thank You you may say Kop Kun Krap if you are male and Kop Kun Kah if you are female.
A: Sawadee krap, Sebaidee mai (How are you?)
B: Dee mark, korp kun krap (I am fine, thank you)
A: Kun cher arai krap (What is your name?)
B: Pom cher Romeo krap(My name is Romeo)
A: Kun kin aharn klang wan liao mai (Have you taken your lunch?)
B: Yang krap (not yet)
A: Puak rao by ran aharn Thai, dee mai? (We go to a Thai restaurant, OK?)
B: Dee mark, pom chorb aharn Thai (Very good, I like to take Thai food)
A: Borigon ying, mee raigan aharn mai (Waitress, do you have a menu?)
Waitres: Mee kah (Yes, we have)
Waitress: Kun ja deum arai kah?(What do you want to drink)
A: Pom au Pepsi Cola krap (I want a Pepsi Cola)
A: Aharn nee tao rai krap? (How much is the meal)
Waitress: Ha roy bhat kah (500 bhat please)
A: Thinee ha roy bhat krap (Here is 500 bhats)
Waitress: Korp kun kah (Thank you)
In Thai, when you speak to strangers or older people, if you are male you add "krap" at the back of the sentence, but if you are a female, you add "kah" (pronounced as car).There is no special meaning for krap and kah, it only shows your respect. In daily conversation with friends and family members, krap and kah may be omitted. Thus when you want to say Thank You you may say Kop Kun Krap if you are male and Kop Kun Kah if you are female.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Mei Jia Wu Tea Garden of Hangzhou, China
梅家坞位于云栖西二公里的琅砀岭北麓的山坞里 , 四周青山环绕，茶山叠嶂；与龙井、狮峰一样，生产色绿、香郁、味醇、形美的龙井茶叶，赢得了国内外一致好评。曾接待过多位外国国家元首和政府首脑以及世界各地游客的参观与访问。
梅家坞茶文化村，正在以“十里梅坞”自然山水环境为依托，以茶文化为底蕴，成为杭州对外的一块“金字招牌”。穿过梅灵隧道，便见山上、田里处处是茶，路边茶社连着茶社，漂亮的房子在青山的衬托下，美得像一幅画。
背靠青山，环境清雅，经营地道的农家饭，菜色以农家特色为主，价格实惠。并且可以一品正宗的梅家坞龙井茶。适合单位活动和学生家庭聚会。
梅家坞原来是一个很不知名的小山村，现在人口大约为 500户人家左右，由于中国周恩来总理的五次来访使得梅家坞的名气大增，村里有五福桥为证，记得80年代，梅家坞虽是一个小山村，但是已经是很多国外宾客的来访之地，梅家坞村民的主要收入来源是漫山遍野的茶园，三四五月是梅家坞茶农最忙碌的时节，一般每户人家都要请三四个采茶工，茶地多的人家要请十几个，炒茶由于很需要技巧，一般没十几二十年的炒茶龄是炒不好的，现在这方面的技艺有点失传的可能性，因为年轻的一代对炒茶已经不屑一顾，倒是有很多的外来工来此学艺，茶忙这几个月他们的收入也是不菲的，更有一些手艺好的外来工，作为了梅家坞的上门女婿。
梅家坞龙井茶的产量是有限的，高档茶更是如此，假设平均每户人家高档茶的产量是 20公斤，那么500*20=10000公斤左右，总共大概为10吨左右，其实估计很多人家都是达不到这个量的，梅家坞龙井茶的产量也就那么一点，市场上到处充斥着梅家坞的茶叶，其实怎么可能会是出自梅家坞呢？对于梅家坞龙井茶，可以这么说，只要是正宗的，不管价格高低，如果是上300以上的茶叶，口感都是很好的，喝到口中嘴里很怡然的感觉，真正是一种茶味，当然还有一个前提是水也要好，最好是出自山水的矿泉水。如果你买的茶叶口感你觉得不怎么样，那肯定是假冒的。还有茶香是很重要的，真正的明前茶还带有一点糯米的清香，经好水一泡更是如此，龙井茶对器具的要求不是很严格，只要有玻璃杯就可以了。
2004年对梅家坞龙井茶来说是非常不幸的一年，茶叶总产量下降接近一半，一是由于去年的干旱，二是由于 3月8，9号的一阵霜降，使得很多在平地上的龙井遭遇一场寒流，一些冒出的嫩芽都被冻焦，并且天气后来都偏冷，使得茶叶一下子很难缓过劲来。所以今年的茶叶早的和晚的拉开了很长的时间距离，往年早的和晚的相差 5，6天就很多了，由于一些高山上的茶，霜打不到，还有一些山坳里的和一些大树下的。今年多的整整相差大半个月，所以说今年的明后龙井的口味较往年品质有所上升，其实就相当于往年的明前茶，并且茶价有所抬高。
今年的采茶工由于茶叶较少，也特别的清闲，她们的收入也会相应的减少，一般每户人家都雇几个，少的两三个，多的有十几个。她们也构成了梅家坞龙井茶不可或缺的一部分，大多数从山西和安徽一些偏远地方过来，一些好的炒茶工更是奇货可居，由于茶农的一些子弟，嫌炒茶太累，不愿学，使得这一门技艺有失传的可能，现在茶叶多的人家都要雇一到两个，因为炒制水平的高低对茶叶口味和色泽的影响很大，他们一般可以得到三千左右一个月的收入。农民是靠天吃饭，种茶也一样，天气对于茶农的收入起绝对性的作用，一般西湖龙井的出芽期是在三月初，如果这段时间气温可以保持在 10度以上的话，早发芽一些的茶叶可以普遍在 10号就可以开采，一般普遍可以开采，也就是茶忙，在20号左右开始，到一般清明可以有半个月左右的时间，这段时间制作出来的茶叶就叫做明前茶，然而天气是变化无常的，特别今年 2005年全球气候都偏冷，使得三月初的天气基本上还保持在 5到6，甚至到0度，使得发芽期推后，相对来说明前茶的日期就变短了，俗语道早采三天是个宝，迟采三天变成草，茶叶出来的早晚对于茶农的收入是起绝对性作用的。
西湖龙井的所有产地基本都是84年实行家庭联产责任承包子后承包到茶农个人的，所以很多网上所说的某个公司拥有多少亩茶叶生产基地的都是不正确的，他们想要获得正宗西湖龙井的话，也是必须从茶农那边来进行收购。关于品质来说，梅家坞龙井绝对是一流的，在近几年的评比中都是胜出的，狮峰山和梅家坞其实就是同一座棋盘上的两边山麓，并且狮峰山靠龙井村那边茶园不多，总的产量是很少的，市面上很多都说自己的是狮峰龙井，就更加不可能了。整个西湖龙井的茶叶产量最多还是梅家坞了。并且梅家坞人对茶园的打理，就像照顾自己的孩子一样，井井有条。
The tea garden is owned by a family with the surname of Mei(梅）. Most of the workers are also Mei's clansman. When I was in Hangzhou, I visited the tea garden and was happy to see so many people with the same surname as mine.
梅家坞茶文化村，正在以“十里梅坞”自然山水环境为依托，以茶文化为底蕴，成为杭州对外的一块“金字招牌”。穿过梅灵隧道，便见山上、田里处处是茶，路边茶社连着茶社，漂亮的房子在青山的衬托下，美得像一幅画。
背靠青山，环境清雅，经营地道的农家饭，菜色以农家特色为主，价格实惠。并且可以一品正宗的梅家坞龙井茶。适合单位活动和学生家庭聚会。
梅家坞原来是一个很不知名的小山村，现在人口大约为 500户人家左右，由于中国周恩来总理的五次来访使得梅家坞的名气大增，村里有五福桥为证，记得80年代，梅家坞虽是一个小山村，但是已经是很多国外宾客的来访之地，梅家坞村民的主要收入来源是漫山遍野的茶园，三四五月是梅家坞茶农最忙碌的时节，一般每户人家都要请三四个采茶工，茶地多的人家要请十几个，炒茶由于很需要技巧，一般没十几二十年的炒茶龄是炒不好的，现在这方面的技艺有点失传的可能性，因为年轻的一代对炒茶已经不屑一顾，倒是有很多的外来工来此学艺，茶忙这几个月他们的收入也是不菲的，更有一些手艺好的外来工，作为了梅家坞的上门女婿。
梅家坞龙井茶的产量是有限的，高档茶更是如此，假设平均每户人家高档茶的产量是 20公斤，那么500*20=10000公斤左右，总共大概为10吨左右，其实估计很多人家都是达不到这个量的，梅家坞龙井茶的产量也就那么一点，市场上到处充斥着梅家坞的茶叶，其实怎么可能会是出自梅家坞呢？对于梅家坞龙井茶，可以这么说，只要是正宗的，不管价格高低，如果是上300以上的茶叶，口感都是很好的，喝到口中嘴里很怡然的感觉，真正是一种茶味，当然还有一个前提是水也要好，最好是出自山水的矿泉水。如果你买的茶叶口感你觉得不怎么样，那肯定是假冒的。还有茶香是很重要的，真正的明前茶还带有一点糯米的清香，经好水一泡更是如此，龙井茶对器具的要求不是很严格，只要有玻璃杯就可以了。
2004年对梅家坞龙井茶来说是非常不幸的一年，茶叶总产量下降接近一半，一是由于去年的干旱，二是由于 3月8，9号的一阵霜降，使得很多在平地上的龙井遭遇一场寒流，一些冒出的嫩芽都被冻焦，并且天气后来都偏冷，使得茶叶一下子很难缓过劲来。所以今年的茶叶早的和晚的拉开了很长的时间距离，往年早的和晚的相差 5，6天就很多了，由于一些高山上的茶，霜打不到，还有一些山坳里的和一些大树下的。今年多的整整相差大半个月，所以说今年的明后龙井的口味较往年品质有所上升，其实就相当于往年的明前茶，并且茶价有所抬高。
今年的采茶工由于茶叶较少，也特别的清闲，她们的收入也会相应的减少，一般每户人家都雇几个，少的两三个，多的有十几个。她们也构成了梅家坞龙井茶不可或缺的一部分，大多数从山西和安徽一些偏远地方过来，一些好的炒茶工更是奇货可居，由于茶农的一些子弟，嫌炒茶太累，不愿学，使得这一门技艺有失传的可能，现在茶叶多的人家都要雇一到两个，因为炒制水平的高低对茶叶口味和色泽的影响很大，他们一般可以得到三千左右一个月的收入。农民是靠天吃饭，种茶也一样，天气对于茶农的收入起绝对性的作用，一般西湖龙井的出芽期是在三月初，如果这段时间气温可以保持在 10度以上的话，早发芽一些的茶叶可以普遍在 10号就可以开采，一般普遍可以开采，也就是茶忙，在20号左右开始，到一般清明可以有半个月左右的时间，这段时间制作出来的茶叶就叫做明前茶，然而天气是变化无常的，特别今年 2005年全球气候都偏冷，使得三月初的天气基本上还保持在 5到6，甚至到0度，使得发芽期推后，相对来说明前茶的日期就变短了，俗语道早采三天是个宝，迟采三天变成草，茶叶出来的早晚对于茶农的收入是起绝对性作用的。
西湖龙井的所有产地基本都是84年实行家庭联产责任承包子后承包到茶农个人的，所以很多网上所说的某个公司拥有多少亩茶叶生产基地的都是不正确的，他们想要获得正宗西湖龙井的话，也是必须从茶农那边来进行收购。关于品质来说，梅家坞龙井绝对是一流的，在近几年的评比中都是胜出的，狮峰山和梅家坞其实就是同一座棋盘上的两边山麓，并且狮峰山靠龙井村那边茶园不多，总的产量是很少的，市面上很多都说自己的是狮峰龙井，就更加不可能了。整个西湖龙井的茶叶产量最多还是梅家坞了。并且梅家坞人对茶园的打理，就像照顾自己的孩子一样，井井有条。
The tea garden is owned by a family with the surname of Mei(梅）. Most of the workers are also Mei's clansman. When I was in Hangzhou, I visited the tea garden and was happy to see so many people with the same surname as mine.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Tour of Shanghai, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Nanjing & Yiwu
Tour of Jiangnan (Shanghai, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Nanjing and Yiwu)
From 24th September to 1st October 2008 I joined a tour group organized by an exhibitor in the Matta Fair to Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing and Yiwu. The itinerary was as follows:
On the 24th, we gathered at LCCT. The tourist guide, Mr. Cheong who waited for us and helped us to process the check-in procedure.. There were 19 participants, including 2 kids. We took the Air Asia flight DZ2602 which departed at 8.10 a.m. and arrived Hangzhou Xiaoshan (萧山)Airport at about 1.00 p.m. The flight took about 5 hours. A tourist bus was waiting for us outside the airport and our China guide was Ah Liang who was tall and eloquent. He had experience of more than 10 years for guiding Malaysians. On the way to Hangzhou we saw a wide river by the name of Qiantang Jiang(钱塘江). Every year at a particular month, thousands of tourists come to see the great tidal movement. There was also a double-decked bridge built by the Kuomintang government across the river. The upper deck was for automobiles while the lower deck was for train. The bus took us to West Lake (Xihu) and we had a boat ride. Although there was a shower, the scenery was still picturesque. Beside the lake there were 2 pagodas, viz Baoshu Pagoda (保叔塔) and Leifeng Pagoda(雷峰塔). After the boat ride, the shower had stopped and we went to Huagang Guangyu (花港观鱼) Garden where there were many fishes in a pond. Later we went for an excellent stage show, Songcheng Qiangu Qing （宋城千古情）, where soldiers rode real horses on the stage during a war scene. Other scenes included Liang Shanbo yu Zhu Yingtai(梁山伯与祝英台), Madam White Snake （白蛇传） etc. The population of Hangzhou is 2 million and there are 10 universities. The West Lake and a large vicinity area are protected as park by the government and development like building houses is forbidden. However, there is a small area where bungalows were built and the owners included film stars like Lin Qing Xia, Liang Chao Wei and other celebrities. We put up at Wan Hao Wan Jia Hotel, near a bus station in Hangzhou.
On the 25th, we went to another part of West Lake where Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai had their “18 Li Farewell” (18 里相送). Liang and Zhu walked for about 18 Li (equivalent to about 9 km) to bid farewell because Zhu had been ordered by his father to go back home to marry a rich government official. This demonstrated how reluctant they were to part each other after such a long walk. Liang-Zhu is the Oriental version of Romeo And Juliet. Tourists rode a mini tram around that area of West Lake and the tram kept blaring the music of Liang-Zhu. Another fable of the West Lake is Madam White Snake . While Liang-Zhu was real, Madam White Snake was fictional. West Lake is not only surrounded by excellent sceneries, It is also amidst interesting stories and fables.
After we bid farewell to West Lake, we departed for Suzhou. The ancient name of Suzhou was Gusu (姑苏). When Marco Polo initially set feet on Suzhou, he saw many canals, just like his hometown, Venice. So, he called Suzhou “Venice of the East” where people traveled by boats instead of horse carts. There are thousands of bridges in Suzhou because of the number of canals. Most of the houses in old Suzhou are painted white while the roofs have black tiles. It is picturesque and looks like a Chinese-ink brush painting. Suzhou with a population of 8 million, has more old and historic building than Hangzhou. The modern section of Suzhou is an industrial area built by the Singaporeans. The Singaporeans built factories and apartments in New Suzhou where they had a 51% share but now have only 20%. Three years ago, New Suzhou was giving profits but the Singaporean almost completely retreated before profits were made and they considered their effort in Suzhou Industrial Area a failure. Singaporean presently only hold about 20% of the ownership of New Suzhou.. On arrival of Suzhou, we visited Qing He Fang Fang Gu Jie （清河坊仿古街）, which was an ancient street with shops selling souvenirs, tea, silk, painting, artifacts etc. Entering the street, we felt that we had the clock switched back to 900 years ago, because the street was just like ancient China. Later we visited Yu Yuan (豫园) which was the mansion of a very rich official in ancient China. The mansion was just beside a canal, because it was easy for him to travel by boat. We saw the different part of the building including the guest room, master room etc. There was also a garden with rock decoration. Later we got into a boat and traveled along the canal and viewed the picturesque scenery on both sides of the river.
In the morning on the 26th, we visited a silk factory because Suzhou was famous for its silk products. On arrival, we saw a silk attire fashion show in which beautiful models demonstrated their best silk attires, with accompanying music. After the fashion show we went to the showroom where we could buy silk products. Most of the people of our group bought silk pillows and silk blankets, which were supposed to be good for people who had allergy, asthma or migraine.
After lunch we proceeded to Nanjing which had been the capital of China for 6 dynasties. There were 5 cities which had become China’s capital in various dynasties. These cities were Kaifeng, Luoyang, Xian, Beijing and Nanjing. On arrival of Nanjing, we went to Gugong (故宫)Museum which was the third largest museum of China. The first and second largest museums of China are Beijing Gugong Museum and Taipei Gugong Museum. There was not much to be seen in Nanjing Gugong Museum because many artifacts had been taken to Beijing and a large portion of the artifacts had been transported to Taipei when Kuomintang was defeated by the Communist in 1948. Beside the Nanjing Museum, there was a wall which surround the old part of Nanjing. The wall which was built by Zhu Yuanzhang (朱元璋)has 18 entrances and every brick of the wall has a carving of the name and home town of the maker. Capital punishment might befall the bricks’ makers if the bricks’ quality was not up to the standard. We went up the wall and below was the Zhongshan (中山)Entrance where automobiles traveled in and out. Our back was the Nanjing City and if we saw afar it was the Zi Jin Hill （紫金山） where the mausoleum of Sun Yat Sun and the Ming Xiao Ling （明孝陵）were located.
The most historic figure in Nanjing was Zhu Yuanzhang who overthrown the Mongolian-ruled Yuan Dynasty and founded the Chinese ruled Ming Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang also had a dramatic life. He was a cowherd, but he butchered a cow for the poor and hungry peasants and was chased away by the owner. Without food, he became a monk but was chased away again because of his playful attitude. So, with nothing to eat he became a beggar. Later he joined the uprising forces against the Mongolian rulers and consequently he married the daughter of an uprising forces’general. His fate changed after the general died and he took over the leadership. Eventually he became the first king of the Ming Dynasty. A palace named Gu Gong (故宫) was built but it was later burnt down. The present Gu Gong in Beijing was a replica of the Nanjing Gu Gong. After Zhu Yuan Zhang passed away, one of his descendants move the capital from Nanjing to Beijing and many imperial cooks were brought to Beijing. Actually the famous Beijing Roasted Duck originated from Nanjing which still has a famous duck dish namely Nanjing Salty Duck (南京卤水鸭). Our tour group tried the later dish and it tasted like Malaysian Xian Ji (咸鸡). Nanjing is also known as Stone City or Shi Tou City (石头城), because General Zheng He (郑和) who made Nanjing as a base for his ships to travel to as far as Africa brought back many different types of stones, which was used to stabilized his ships when his ships became empty after he distributed all the goods in his ship to friendly countries. Surprisingly many stones from Burma contained jade. Nanjing today is still famous for its jade and jade carving.
Nanjing also had a river named Qin Huai River (秦淮河) which flowed through the city.. If we traveled further north it would be the famous Yangtze River.( 长江) On the morning of the fourth day, i.e. the 27th , the tourist bus took us to visit the Yangtze bridge, which is less majestic than the Penang Bridge. However, the bridge was designed in 1958 with the assistance of the defunct Soviet Union. Building started in 1960 and it was completed in 1968 and the cost of building the bridge was 2.8 billion Renminbi . We went around the southern starting point of the bridge. There was a shop selling souvenir with the bridge as a theme and a showroom showing the model of the bridge. When the Yangtze Bridge was completed, the Cultural Revolution was still going on and there was a sea of red colour because thousands of Red Guards were celebrating around the bridge area.
After that we proceed to Wuxi, where there was a beautiful Tai Hu Lake, the third largest lake in China after Dong Ting Lake and Bo Yang Lake. The original name of Wuxi (meaning no more tin ore) was Youxi (meaning there were tin ore).About 2000 years ago, in the era of Xihan (西汉) many people from other area came to Wuxi to mine and extract the tin and feud arose. Finally, there was no more tin ore and the Emperor declared that tin ore was exausted. A stone plaque with the writing “You Xi Bing,Tian Xia Zeng, Wu Xi Ning,Tian Xia Qing” (有锡兵,天下争,无锡宁,天下清)was erected. The meaning of the nine Chinese characters were "When there is tin ore, people fight for the ore. When tin ores are exausted, peace prevails." That was origin of the Wuxi City’s name. Tai Hu Lake looked like a sea and its area is 2 and a half times Hong Kong or 6 times Singapore Island. There is also a Li Lake but it was part of the Tai Hu Lake. Li Lake had connection with a historic figure Fan Li (范蠡) whose empire was usurped by his own distraction to a beauty called Xishi (西施). Later, Fan Li abandoned his kingdom and became a successful businessman. Prseently, 60% of the Tai Hu Lake was devoted to rearing fishes and pearl.
In the morning on the fifth day (28th), we visited Li Hu Garden, a garden beside the Li Hu Lake. The scenery was picturesque.Then we went to visit a pearl exhibition centre (清水园珍珠宫). The workers took a live clam and demonstrated how they extracted pearl from the clam. The female members of our tour group were more interested to the pearls than the male members. Before going to Shanghai, we visited a Zi Sha kettle exhibition hall (蠡湖紫砂壶馆). On arrival of Shanghai we immediately went to The Bund or Wai Tan (外滩) as called by the Shanghai citizenry. The Bund was made famous by a Hong Kong television series called Shang Hai Tan (上海滩) about 30 years ago. The Bund was the riverside of Huangpu (黄埔)River and there were throngs of tourists taking photographs or looking at the opposite side of the river where the Dong Fang Ming Zhu and many modern skyscrapers were located. Dong Fang Ming Zhu (东方明珠) is a communication tower of Shanghai. For dinner, we dined at Di Long Seafood Floating Restaurant (帝龙海鲜舫). The restaurant was on a large floating boat, anchored at the Huangpu River. You could see a large dragon head from the outside. Inside the restaurant, there was also a throne for tourists to take pictures.
After dinner we walked to a night market nearby and after that we went to Nanjing Road Bu Xing Jie (南京路步行街). There, we tasted the atmosphere of a densely populated city, by the large throngs of visitors. Before going back to the hotel, we visited Xin Tian Di (新天地) at the former French Settlement in Shanghai. Here we saw many Western tourist drinking beers and chatting.
In the morning of the 6th day (29.9.08) we visited Tong Ren Tang Herbal Medical Centre (同仁堂) where we had free foot massage. After that we departed for Yiwu (义乌). In Yiwu almost the whole town was doing wholesale business. We put up at Day’s Inn..
On the 7th day (30.9.09), our tour group was having a shopping spree in Yiwu, the centre of wholesale in Eastern China. Here, they also did retail business and we could buy many things from clothing to electrical goods. However, I found that things sold here were not as cheap as we thought. We visited Dong Yang Guo Ji Wu Liu Zhong Xin (东洋国际物流中心) where wooden carving and clothing were sold. We had our lunch at Yue Fu Restaurant (越府酒楼). After lunch, we proceed to Yi Wu International Trade Centre (义乌商贸城). There was a wide range of goods for you to choose. In the evening, we went back to Hangzhou. Before reaching the city centre of Hangzhou, we had our dinner at the hundred-year-old Shan Wai Shan Restaurant (山外山酒家). There were lots of greenery surrounding the restaurant because it was almost in a woods. Later, we proceed to Hangzhou city centre and we put up at Wan Hao Wan Jia Hotel (万好万家商务酒店)
On the 8th day (1.10.09), we had our breakfast at the hotel and made preparation to depart for Kuala Lumpur. Again, the tourist bus took us back to Xiaoshan Airport. The flight from Hangzhou to Kuala Lumpur took 5 hours. From KLIA, it was time for home sweet home.
Hotels which we had stayed
24/9 万好万家商务酒店(杭州)
25/9 嘉怡酒店
26/9 吉华花园酒店
27/9 金沙大酒店
28/9 金明大酒店(上海)
29/9 戴斯酒店(义乌)
30/9 万好万家商务酒店(杭州)
From 24th September to 1st October 2008 I joined a tour group organized by an exhibitor in the Matta Fair to Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing and Yiwu. The itinerary was as follows:
On the 24th, we gathered at LCCT. The tourist guide, Mr. Cheong who waited for us and helped us to process the check-in procedure.. There were 19 participants, including 2 kids. We took the Air Asia flight DZ2602 which departed at 8.10 a.m. and arrived Hangzhou Xiaoshan (萧山)Airport at about 1.00 p.m. The flight took about 5 hours. A tourist bus was waiting for us outside the airport and our China guide was Ah Liang who was tall and eloquent. He had experience of more than 10 years for guiding Malaysians. On the way to Hangzhou we saw a wide river by the name of Qiantang Jiang(钱塘江). Every year at a particular month, thousands of tourists come to see the great tidal movement. There was also a double-decked bridge built by the Kuomintang government across the river. The upper deck was for automobiles while the lower deck was for train. The bus took us to West Lake (Xihu) and we had a boat ride. Although there was a shower, the scenery was still picturesque. Beside the lake there were 2 pagodas, viz Baoshu Pagoda (保叔塔) and Leifeng Pagoda(雷峰塔). After the boat ride, the shower had stopped and we went to Huagang Guangyu (花港观鱼) Garden where there were many fishes in a pond. Later we went for an excellent stage show, Songcheng Qiangu Qing （宋城千古情）, where soldiers rode real horses on the stage during a war scene. Other scenes included Liang Shanbo yu Zhu Yingtai(梁山伯与祝英台), Madam White Snake （白蛇传） etc. The population of Hangzhou is 2 million and there are 10 universities. The West Lake and a large vicinity area are protected as park by the government and development like building houses is forbidden. However, there is a small area where bungalows were built and the owners included film stars like Lin Qing Xia, Liang Chao Wei and other celebrities. We put up at Wan Hao Wan Jia Hotel, near a bus station in Hangzhou.
On the 25th, we went to another part of West Lake where Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai had their “18 Li Farewell” (18 里相送). Liang and Zhu walked for about 18 Li (equivalent to about 9 km) to bid farewell because Zhu had been ordered by his father to go back home to marry a rich government official. This demonstrated how reluctant they were to part each other after such a long walk. Liang-Zhu is the Oriental version of Romeo And Juliet. Tourists rode a mini tram around that area of West Lake and the tram kept blaring the music of Liang-Zhu. Another fable of the West Lake is Madam White Snake . While Liang-Zhu was real, Madam White Snake was fictional. West Lake is not only surrounded by excellent sceneries, It is also amidst interesting stories and fables.
After we bid farewell to West Lake, we departed for Suzhou. The ancient name of Suzhou was Gusu (姑苏). When Marco Polo initially set feet on Suzhou, he saw many canals, just like his hometown, Venice. So, he called Suzhou “Venice of the East” where people traveled by boats instead of horse carts. There are thousands of bridges in Suzhou because of the number of canals. Most of the houses in old Suzhou are painted white while the roofs have black tiles. It is picturesque and looks like a Chinese-ink brush painting. Suzhou with a population of 8 million, has more old and historic building than Hangzhou. The modern section of Suzhou is an industrial area built by the Singaporeans. The Singaporeans built factories and apartments in New Suzhou where they had a 51% share but now have only 20%. Three years ago, New Suzhou was giving profits but the Singaporean almost completely retreated before profits were made and they considered their effort in Suzhou Industrial Area a failure. Singaporean presently only hold about 20% of the ownership of New Suzhou.. On arrival of Suzhou, we visited Qing He Fang Fang Gu Jie （清河坊仿古街）, which was an ancient street with shops selling souvenirs, tea, silk, painting, artifacts etc. Entering the street, we felt that we had the clock switched back to 900 years ago, because the street was just like ancient China. Later we visited Yu Yuan (豫园) which was the mansion of a very rich official in ancient China. The mansion was just beside a canal, because it was easy for him to travel by boat. We saw the different part of the building including the guest room, master room etc. There was also a garden with rock decoration. Later we got into a boat and traveled along the canal and viewed the picturesque scenery on both sides of the river.
In the morning on the 26th, we visited a silk factory because Suzhou was famous for its silk products. On arrival, we saw a silk attire fashion show in which beautiful models demonstrated their best silk attires, with accompanying music. After the fashion show we went to the showroom where we could buy silk products. Most of the people of our group bought silk pillows and silk blankets, which were supposed to be good for people who had allergy, asthma or migraine.
After lunch we proceeded to Nanjing which had been the capital of China for 6 dynasties. There were 5 cities which had become China’s capital in various dynasties. These cities were Kaifeng, Luoyang, Xian, Beijing and Nanjing. On arrival of Nanjing, we went to Gugong (故宫)Museum which was the third largest museum of China. The first and second largest museums of China are Beijing Gugong Museum and Taipei Gugong Museum. There was not much to be seen in Nanjing Gugong Museum because many artifacts had been taken to Beijing and a large portion of the artifacts had been transported to Taipei when Kuomintang was defeated by the Communist in 1948. Beside the Nanjing Museum, there was a wall which surround the old part of Nanjing. The wall which was built by Zhu Yuanzhang (朱元璋)has 18 entrances and every brick of the wall has a carving of the name and home town of the maker. Capital punishment might befall the bricks’ makers if the bricks’ quality was not up to the standard. We went up the wall and below was the Zhongshan (中山)Entrance where automobiles traveled in and out. Our back was the Nanjing City and if we saw afar it was the Zi Jin Hill （紫金山） where the mausoleum of Sun Yat Sun and the Ming Xiao Ling （明孝陵）were located.
The most historic figure in Nanjing was Zhu Yuanzhang who overthrown the Mongolian-ruled Yuan Dynasty and founded the Chinese ruled Ming Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang also had a dramatic life. He was a cowherd, but he butchered a cow for the poor and hungry peasants and was chased away by the owner. Without food, he became a monk but was chased away again because of his playful attitude. So, with nothing to eat he became a beggar. Later he joined the uprising forces against the Mongolian rulers and consequently he married the daughter of an uprising forces’general. His fate changed after the general died and he took over the leadership. Eventually he became the first king of the Ming Dynasty. A palace named Gu Gong (故宫) was built but it was later burnt down. The present Gu Gong in Beijing was a replica of the Nanjing Gu Gong. After Zhu Yuan Zhang passed away, one of his descendants move the capital from Nanjing to Beijing and many imperial cooks were brought to Beijing. Actually the famous Beijing Roasted Duck originated from Nanjing which still has a famous duck dish namely Nanjing Salty Duck (南京卤水鸭). Our tour group tried the later dish and it tasted like Malaysian Xian Ji (咸鸡). Nanjing is also known as Stone City or Shi Tou City (石头城), because General Zheng He (郑和) who made Nanjing as a base for his ships to travel to as far as Africa brought back many different types of stones, which was used to stabilized his ships when his ships became empty after he distributed all the goods in his ship to friendly countries. Surprisingly many stones from Burma contained jade. Nanjing today is still famous for its jade and jade carving.
Nanjing also had a river named Qin Huai River (秦淮河) which flowed through the city.. If we traveled further north it would be the famous Yangtze River.( 长江) On the morning of the fourth day, i.e. the 27th , the tourist bus took us to visit the Yangtze bridge, which is less majestic than the Penang Bridge. However, the bridge was designed in 1958 with the assistance of the defunct Soviet Union. Building started in 1960 and it was completed in 1968 and the cost of building the bridge was 2.8 billion Renminbi . We went around the southern starting point of the bridge. There was a shop selling souvenir with the bridge as a theme and a showroom showing the model of the bridge. When the Yangtze Bridge was completed, the Cultural Revolution was still going on and there was a sea of red colour because thousands of Red Guards were celebrating around the bridge area.
After that we proceed to Wuxi, where there was a beautiful Tai Hu Lake, the third largest lake in China after Dong Ting Lake and Bo Yang Lake. The original name of Wuxi (meaning no more tin ore) was Youxi (meaning there were tin ore).About 2000 years ago, in the era of Xihan (西汉) many people from other area came to Wuxi to mine and extract the tin and feud arose. Finally, there was no more tin ore and the Emperor declared that tin ore was exausted. A stone plaque with the writing “You Xi Bing,Tian Xia Zeng, Wu Xi Ning,Tian Xia Qing” (有锡兵,天下争,无锡宁,天下清)was erected. The meaning of the nine Chinese characters were "When there is tin ore, people fight for the ore. When tin ores are exausted, peace prevails." That was origin of the Wuxi City’s name. Tai Hu Lake looked like a sea and its area is 2 and a half times Hong Kong or 6 times Singapore Island. There is also a Li Lake but it was part of the Tai Hu Lake. Li Lake had connection with a historic figure Fan Li (范蠡) whose empire was usurped by his own distraction to a beauty called Xishi (西施). Later, Fan Li abandoned his kingdom and became a successful businessman. Prseently, 60% of the Tai Hu Lake was devoted to rearing fishes and pearl.
In the morning on the fifth day (28th), we visited Li Hu Garden, a garden beside the Li Hu Lake. The scenery was picturesque.Then we went to visit a pearl exhibition centre (清水园珍珠宫). The workers took a live clam and demonstrated how they extracted pearl from the clam. The female members of our tour group were more interested to the pearls than the male members. Before going to Shanghai, we visited a Zi Sha kettle exhibition hall (蠡湖紫砂壶馆). On arrival of Shanghai we immediately went to The Bund or Wai Tan (外滩) as called by the Shanghai citizenry. The Bund was made famous by a Hong Kong television series called Shang Hai Tan (上海滩) about 30 years ago. The Bund was the riverside of Huangpu (黄埔)River and there were throngs of tourists taking photographs or looking at the opposite side of the river where the Dong Fang Ming Zhu and many modern skyscrapers were located. Dong Fang Ming Zhu (东方明珠) is a communication tower of Shanghai. For dinner, we dined at Di Long Seafood Floating Restaurant (帝龙海鲜舫). The restaurant was on a large floating boat, anchored at the Huangpu River. You could see a large dragon head from the outside. Inside the restaurant, there was also a throne for tourists to take pictures.
After dinner we walked to a night market nearby and after that we went to Nanjing Road Bu Xing Jie (南京路步行街). There, we tasted the atmosphere of a densely populated city, by the large throngs of visitors. Before going back to the hotel, we visited Xin Tian Di (新天地) at the former French Settlement in Shanghai. Here we saw many Western tourist drinking beers and chatting.
In the morning of the 6th day (29.9.08) we visited Tong Ren Tang Herbal Medical Centre (同仁堂) where we had free foot massage. After that we departed for Yiwu (义乌). In Yiwu almost the whole town was doing wholesale business. We put up at Day’s Inn..
On the 7th day (30.9.09), our tour group was having a shopping spree in Yiwu, the centre of wholesale in Eastern China. Here, they also did retail business and we could buy many things from clothing to electrical goods. However, I found that things sold here were not as cheap as we thought. We visited Dong Yang Guo Ji Wu Liu Zhong Xin (东洋国际物流中心) where wooden carving and clothing were sold. We had our lunch at Yue Fu Restaurant (越府酒楼). After lunch, we proceed to Yi Wu International Trade Centre (义乌商贸城). There was a wide range of goods for you to choose. In the evening, we went back to Hangzhou. Before reaching the city centre of Hangzhou, we had our dinner at the hundred-year-old Shan Wai Shan Restaurant (山外山酒家). There were lots of greenery surrounding the restaurant because it was almost in a woods. Later, we proceed to Hangzhou city centre and we put up at Wan Hao Wan Jia Hotel (万好万家商务酒店)
On the 8th day (1.10.09), we had our breakfast at the hotel and made preparation to depart for Kuala Lumpur. Again, the tourist bus took us back to Xiaoshan Airport. The flight from Hangzhou to Kuala Lumpur took 5 hours. From KLIA, it was time for home sweet home.
Hotels which we had stayed
24/9 万好万家商务酒店(杭州)
25/9 嘉怡酒店
26/9 吉华花园酒店
27/9 金沙大酒店
28/9 金明大酒店(上海)
29/9 戴斯酒店(义乌)
30/9 万好万家商务酒店(杭州)
Friday, July 11, 2008
KHAOSAN, THE MECCA OF BACKPACKERS
Khaosan, the Mecca of backpackers
In Bangkok, there is a road of about 300 meter called Khaosan Road. Along the road, there are many guest houses, hotels, travel agents, café and bars for tourists. Most of the tourists are from America, Europe, Australia and very few are from Japan and Korea. However the majority of the tourists are backpackers who look for low cost accommodation and food.
The guest houses are really very low-cost, from RM18 (180 bahts) to RM 30 (300 bahts) For the cheapest room you have to use shared bathrooms and there is no air-condition. If you need a room without air condition but with attached bathroom it will cost you RM 25 and above. For air-conditioned room with television, you have to pay around RM 40 to RM 50 to stay in a hotel. Although the guest houses and hotels are cheap in Khaosan area, they are very clean and the services are excellent. However Khaosan Road is very noisy until midnight everyday and you may not be able to sleep at night. This is because there is a night market every night and cafes are crowded with Caucasians customers who drink and chit-chat until midnight. Some even danced on the road or show their skill with a basketball or other games, as the roads are closed to traffic every night from 7.00 p.m. onwards. Thus you can imagine, Khaosan Road is in the festival mood every night. The goods in the night market including T-shirts, bags, DVD, souvenirs etc. are very cheap.
If you want to have a good rest at night, better stay in guest houses opposite the Airport Bus Terminal, or the guest houses behind a Thai temple, because these places are quieter.
As there is an Airport Bus Terminal here, it is very easy to go to the airport or from the airport to Khaosan area. From the old Don Muang airport, it will cost you RM 10 but from the new airport you will have to pay RM 15. Air Asia flies to the new airport now. From the airport, look for the bus counter and tell the conductor you want to go to Khaosan. The airport buses there go to different places in Bangkok. To ensure you go up to the right bus look for the plate with the word Khaosan or Senam Luang. In Thailand the man on the street may not speak a word of English, but those in the travel services like bus conductors, taxi drivers and travel agents can speak English well or can at least understand what you want. Some travel agents and tourist guides can even speak English with an American accent.
Around Khaosan, there are many interesting places to visit like Democracy Monument, The Golden Mount Temple, Emerald Buddha Temple, National Museum, Senam Luang (The Royal Field) etc. The Democracy Monument looks like 2 birds spreading their wings. Senam Luang was the padi fields own by the royal family in the olden days. Nowadays, there is no more padi and it is only a large field for the tourist to visit. There are many pigeons and tourists like to feed them. The Emerald Buddha Temple is just beside the Royal Field and you have to buy a ticket for entrance.
From Khaosan, if you want to go to the nearest skytrain station (LRT or MRT) you can take a taxi and the fare is RM10 (100 bahts). The nearest skytrain station is National Stadium Station or Phaya Thai Station. If the taxi driver does not understand English, you can tell him “bai Chanchela Rotfai Far”. You can also take a boat (or water bus) from Phra Athit Pier at the Menam River which is within walking distance from Khaosan and alight at Taksin Pier. The boat fare is only RM1 (10 bahts). The Taksin Station is just about 100 meter from the Taksin Pier at Menam River.
There are so many travel agents in Khaosan area and they organize one-day trips to places like River Kwai, Rose Garden, Floating Market, Palace, Temples, Ruins of Ayuthaya (Thailand’s old capital destroyed by the Burmese) etc, The fare ranges from 400 bahts to 800 bahts and tourist guide, lunch and all transport are included. You can book a one-day tour from the travel agent one day earlier and the agent will pick you up with their van right from the door step of your hotel on the next day.
You can also book international tours from travel agents in Khaosan and bus ticket from Khaosan to neighbouring countries like Cambodia and Laos. You can travel from Khaosan directly to Siem Reap or Phnom Penh in Cambodia and also Vientiane in Laos. However you have to change bus at the border.
Khaosan, where everything is available is really the Mecca for backpackers and tourists.
Written by MOY KOK MING
In Bangkok, there is a road of about 300 meter called Khaosan Road. Along the road, there are many guest houses, hotels, travel agents, café and bars for tourists. Most of the tourists are from America, Europe, Australia and very few are from Japan and Korea. However the majority of the tourists are backpackers who look for low cost accommodation and food.
The guest houses are really very low-cost, from RM18 (180 bahts) to RM 30 (300 bahts) For the cheapest room you have to use shared bathrooms and there is no air-condition. If you need a room without air condition but with attached bathroom it will cost you RM 25 and above. For air-conditioned room with television, you have to pay around RM 40 to RM 50 to stay in a hotel. Although the guest houses and hotels are cheap in Khaosan area, they are very clean and the services are excellent. However Khaosan Road is very noisy until midnight everyday and you may not be able to sleep at night. This is because there is a night market every night and cafes are crowded with Caucasians customers who drink and chit-chat until midnight. Some even danced on the road or show their skill with a basketball or other games, as the roads are closed to traffic every night from 7.00 p.m. onwards. Thus you can imagine, Khaosan Road is in the festival mood every night. The goods in the night market including T-shirts, bags, DVD, souvenirs etc. are very cheap.
If you want to have a good rest at night, better stay in guest houses opposite the Airport Bus Terminal, or the guest houses behind a Thai temple, because these places are quieter.
As there is an Airport Bus Terminal here, it is very easy to go to the airport or from the airport to Khaosan area. From the old Don Muang airport, it will cost you RM 10 but from the new airport you will have to pay RM 15. Air Asia flies to the new airport now. From the airport, look for the bus counter and tell the conductor you want to go to Khaosan. The airport buses there go to different places in Bangkok. To ensure you go up to the right bus look for the plate with the word Khaosan or Senam Luang. In Thailand the man on the street may not speak a word of English, but those in the travel services like bus conductors, taxi drivers and travel agents can speak English well or can at least understand what you want. Some travel agents and tourist guides can even speak English with an American accent.
Around Khaosan, there are many interesting places to visit like Democracy Monument, The Golden Mount Temple, Emerald Buddha Temple, National Museum, Senam Luang (The Royal Field) etc. The Democracy Monument looks like 2 birds spreading their wings. Senam Luang was the padi fields own by the royal family in the olden days. Nowadays, there is no more padi and it is only a large field for the tourist to visit. There are many pigeons and tourists like to feed them. The Emerald Buddha Temple is just beside the Royal Field and you have to buy a ticket for entrance.
From Khaosan, if you want to go to the nearest skytrain station (LRT or MRT) you can take a taxi and the fare is RM10 (100 bahts). The nearest skytrain station is National Stadium Station or Phaya Thai Station. If the taxi driver does not understand English, you can tell him “bai Chanchela Rotfai Far”. You can also take a boat (or water bus) from Phra Athit Pier at the Menam River which is within walking distance from Khaosan and alight at Taksin Pier. The boat fare is only RM1 (10 bahts). The Taksin Station is just about 100 meter from the Taksin Pier at Menam River.
There are so many travel agents in Khaosan area and they organize one-day trips to places like River Kwai, Rose Garden, Floating Market, Palace, Temples, Ruins of Ayuthaya (Thailand’s old capital destroyed by the Burmese) etc, The fare ranges from 400 bahts to 800 bahts and tourist guide, lunch and all transport are included. You can book a one-day tour from the travel agent one day earlier and the agent will pick you up with their van right from the door step of your hotel on the next day.
You can also book international tours from travel agents in Khaosan and bus ticket from Khaosan to neighbouring countries like Cambodia and Laos. You can travel from Khaosan directly to Siem Reap or Phnom Penh in Cambodia and also Vientiane in Laos. However you have to change bus at the border.
Khaosan, where everything is available is really the Mecca for backpackers and tourists.
Written by MOY KOK MING
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Tour of the land of Menam River & Mekong River
双川之旅(湄南与湄公河)
最近，亚航大促销，我买到了从吉隆坡到曼谷的廉价机票，决定自行背包到泰国与寮国（又名老挝）旅行。我的行程很独特，完全没有旅行社举办过同样的行程，因为我旅游的目的地都在泰国湄南河与寮国湄公河流域中的城市。我的行程是从曼谷到清迈，清迈到湄公河畔，泰寮边境的昌功，再从昌功坐船到寮国换坐寮国的船到巴屏(需9个小时) ，从巴屏又坐船到世界文明的文化遗产城市銮勃拉邦(需6个小时) ，从銮勃拉邦到寮国首都永珍改为陆路，即巴士，行程需10小时。从永珍回曼谷也是坐巴士，只需5小时左右。我的有趣详细行程如下：
第一天早上，我从雪邦廉价机场坐亚航从吉隆坡直飞曼谷，到了曼谷机场，决定搭机场巴士到曼谷市内的考山(KHAOSAN) 背包旅游者中心。
住在考山好处可多了，因为附近就是皇家田(SENAM LUANG)
玉佛寺(WAT PRAKAEO) ，民主纪念碑，金山寺(WAT SAKET) ，拉玛三世纪念碑，国家博物馆，更有七八间大大小小的庙宇。其中一间庙，更有来自世界各地与各种族的和尚。假如您有兴趣的话也可报名做和尚，免费吃住几个月。
以前泰国皇帝也耕田的，他们的优良田地今天已经没有稻可看，已成为供游客旅游的一片大广场。不少游客在皇家田喂鸽子与拍照。在皇家田，遥远已经看见玉佛寺及其尖塔，拍了一些照片后，我就赶紧向玉佛寺走过去。买了票，建筑的宏伟与价值连城的玉佛就在眼前。佛教徒尊敬<佛，法，僧>，在寺庙里，泰国人遇见和尚，会停步站在一旁，让和尚先走过，才继续走路。我也入乡随俗。民主纪念碑有如四只鸟的巨大翅膀，博物馆的丰富资料，金山寺与拉玛三世纪念碑的宏伟令人叹为观止。我在一天内，只花脚力和入门票费用就游玩了这些令人难忘的名胜。
第二天，我决定了湄南河之旅。您只要买一张100B的票便可从早上游玩到傍晚，随时下码头与上码头，但只限从PHRA ATHIT码头到TAKSIN码头(又称CENTRAL PIER中央码头)。要到其他码头另计。最靠近考山的码头是PHRA ATHIT路的PHRA ATHIT 码头，走路就到。湄南河一满船一满船的金发游客，令我为自己国家的入境旅游业感得惭愧。上船后，一会儿船开行了在PHRA PIN KLAO桥下航行，我是先游船河，一直没下船，到了TAKSIN码头才下船，从TAKSIN 码头，我又坐船回到原点。河的两岸风景绝对一级棒，看到有现代化的摩天大楼，酒店，中国庙宇式的建筑物与郑王庙等。此次再由原点乘船，想到要参观郑王庙(WAT ARUN) ，便在THA TIEN码头下船，然后换船到郑王庙。下一个观光点是唐人街，在RATCHAWONGSE码头下船，再走一两条街便是华人集中的YAOWARAT街，我在该地到处逛逛，吃了一道中国餐，味道不错，也参观了湄南河旁的中国式庙宇。下午五点左右，我又坐船回考山。晚上，逛考山的夜市。此夜市人头汹涌，多数是金头发的洋人，还有少数日本人与韩国人。坐在酒吧喝酒谈天的也多数是洋人。
第三天是地铁游，从考山附近的PHRA ATHIT 码头坐船到TAKSIN码头只需10B，再走一百步左右便可从SAPHAN TAKSIN地铁站搭上地铁，BTS地铁有提供每天100B的无限制乘搭，只限从MO CHIT站到ON NUT站。另外两条地铁线需自费。我游玩了ROTFAI公园，SIRIKIT花园，CHATUCHAK花园，到处日本文招牌的日本人区，TESCO附近等。下午三时就回旅馆了因为晚上要乘搭巴士到清迈。晚上8时巴士启程，第二天早上七点到达清迈。我住进了NIGHT PLAZA一带的旅馆。由於在巴士上睡得不好，到了旅店倒下床便呼呼入睡，下午看电视，晚上才活动，去NIGHT PLAZA一带的夜市逛逛，这里东西便宜，特别是丝制产品。我买了几条丝制休闲短裤。也向旅行社报名第二天的清迈与清莱金三角一日游。
早上，旅游车便来酒店接我，先参观佛寺，下一个名胜地是温泉，看到一条会冒烟的小河，使人称奇。接下来往清莱(CHIANGRAI) 跑，到了金山角湄公河边，有少数民族儿童会为你唱歌和拍照，但是要付钱。在湄公河船游中，我们看到了缅甸的一间赌场和寮国的村庄，我们不可在缅甸登陆但可以在寮国村庄登陆，不必出示护照，村内都是卖土产与纪念品。游船河后，我们乘车往长颈村，长颈村的女性，大大小小都在颈部戴上很重的铜环，古代是为避免被猛兽咬脆弱的颈项，今日是为了美丽。去长颈村需登山越岭，但看到了她们的特殊风俗，非常值得。最后一游的是泰缅边境的美赛(MAESAI) 。多数国家进入缅甸都需签证，大马也不例外，不过，缅甸政府允许美赛的外国游客免签证进入该国一小时购物，因为美赛对面的缅甸境内有一个很大的市集。缅甸盛产玉，品质高，但购买要小心，以免被骗。这天，回到酒店已经是晚上七时多了。
在清迈第三天早上，旅游车又来载我去湄公河边的昌功(CHIANG KHONG) 了，同车的都是洋人，到了下午5时左右，我们才抵达昌功的旅馆，旅馆在湄公河畔，可看到对面的寮国。湄公河畔可跑步与散步，风景优美。晚上，为第二天去寮国准备，较早睡。
早上，旅游车又来接我们到码头了。坐船到了对岸的寮国，办理好了入境手续，我们便乘寮国船在湄公河往南航行，在中国境内称为澜沧江的湄公河之阔度大概有30条巴生河或近打河那么宽。两岸景色优美，航行了9个小时，终于抵达巴屏(PAKBENG) ，从码头到旅馆需走半公里。它是寮国境内的很小城市，只有一条街和一间菜市场。寮语和泰语接近，如泰语的KIN KOW(吃饭) SEBAIDEE MAI(你好吗) ，寮语也一样，但也有不同的词汇。寮国除了泰语通行，美金也通用。一碟炒饭只需一美元。
在巴屏住了一夜第二天早上，临乘船到銮勃拉邦前，我到菜市场看看，蔬菜水果种类并不多，但水果便宜，十点船开航了，两边风景和来的时候大同小异。大约下午四时，船抵达銮勃拉邦(LUANG PRABANG)了。河岸离河水位很高，有10米左右，但有梯级。河畔，已有很多旅馆代表与都都车在等游客。我接受了一家旅馆的服务，故坐都都车免费。旅馆每晚只需5美元，相当整洁。晚上，逛夜市和向旅行社报名第二天的活动，即参观湄公河畔的一间山洞庙宇和光西瀑布。
第二天早上，去山洞庙宇，需乘一小时的船，洞不深，只有怡保霹雳洞的三分之一，左边有梯级可以爬上高处远眺湄公河及周围的景色。参观后，我们又乘船到一个寮国人村庄参观，村人都会泰语。
下午，午餐后，去光西瀑布游玩。乘车需一个小时。此瀑布处於国家保护森林中，需徒步15分钟才抵达该瀑布。瀑布下有几个小湖，清澈见底，反映景物，可以说是一个迷你的九寨沟，乘车的疲劳，一扫而空。回途中，大家参观了一个称为HMONG的少数民族村庄，他们相当贫困，但不觉得有营养不良。回到旅馆，已经是晚上7时多了。我赶紧买了第二晚到永珍的巴士车票。
在銮勃拉邦的第三天，是靠双腿和都都车的自由行。早上，看到小学生的颈项都绑上红领巾，像中国小学生那样，不要忘了寮国仍奉行共产主义，只是现在较开放了。街上的建筑物都是法国式的，是受到保护的文化遗产。这里有一家中国市场，叫DALAT CHIN，卖的都是中国产品。店主都是从中国云南来的。这里有一特殊个景象，就是会看到从中国越境挂着中国车牌的云南车辆在街上跑。晚上7时，开始坐巴士前往永珍(也叫万象)
从銮勃拉邦到永珍的路是九曲十八弯的山路。早上6时就抵达永珍了。市中心有一个喷水池。吃了早餐，到9时旅行社开门了，马上买晚上7时回曼谷的巴士车票，并把行李寄放在旅行社里，然后自行到处逛。湄公河旁看见有华人庆祝神诞，热闹非凡，到处看到华文。我参观了模仿法国凯旋门的寮国凯旋门，云南人开的商店，古塔等就回旅行社等车回曼谷。从永珍到泰国边境是乘坐面包车，进入了泰境就有一辆双层豪华巴士等着我们。有从落后回到现代化的感觉。回到曼谷已经是半夜。我又回到考山同样的一间旅馆投宿。第二天才飞回吉隆坡。
美丽的风景，好客的人民与奇异的风俗，十天的水陆空旅程并不使我感到疲倦。
作者：梅国民MOY KOK MING
最近，亚航大促销，我买到了从吉隆坡到曼谷的廉价机票，决定自行背包到泰国与寮国（又名老挝）旅行。我的行程很独特，完全没有旅行社举办过同样的行程，因为我旅游的目的地都在泰国湄南河与寮国湄公河流域中的城市。我的行程是从曼谷到清迈，清迈到湄公河畔，泰寮边境的昌功，再从昌功坐船到寮国换坐寮国的船到巴屏(需9个小时) ，从巴屏又坐船到世界文明的文化遗产城市銮勃拉邦(需6个小时) ，从銮勃拉邦到寮国首都永珍改为陆路，即巴士，行程需10小时。从永珍回曼谷也是坐巴士，只需5小时左右。我的有趣详细行程如下：
第一天早上，我从雪邦廉价机场坐亚航从吉隆坡直飞曼谷，到了曼谷机场，决定搭机场巴士到曼谷市内的考山(KHAOSAN) 背包旅游者中心。
住在考山好处可多了，因为附近就是皇家田(SENAM LUANG)
玉佛寺(WAT PRAKAEO) ，民主纪念碑，金山寺(WAT SAKET) ，拉玛三世纪念碑，国家博物馆，更有七八间大大小小的庙宇。其中一间庙，更有来自世界各地与各种族的和尚。假如您有兴趣的话也可报名做和尚，免费吃住几个月。
以前泰国皇帝也耕田的，他们的优良田地今天已经没有稻可看，已成为供游客旅游的一片大广场。不少游客在皇家田喂鸽子与拍照。在皇家田，遥远已经看见玉佛寺及其尖塔，拍了一些照片后，我就赶紧向玉佛寺走过去。买了票，建筑的宏伟与价值连城的玉佛就在眼前。佛教徒尊敬<佛，法，僧>，在寺庙里，泰国人遇见和尚，会停步站在一旁，让和尚先走过，才继续走路。我也入乡随俗。民主纪念碑有如四只鸟的巨大翅膀，博物馆的丰富资料，金山寺与拉玛三世纪念碑的宏伟令人叹为观止。我在一天内，只花脚力和入门票费用就游玩了这些令人难忘的名胜。
第二天，我决定了湄南河之旅。您只要买一张100B的票便可从早上游玩到傍晚，随时下码头与上码头，但只限从PHRA ATHIT码头到TAKSIN码头(又称CENTRAL PIER中央码头)。要到其他码头另计。最靠近考山的码头是PHRA ATHIT路的PHRA ATHIT 码头，走路就到。湄南河一满船一满船的金发游客，令我为自己国家的入境旅游业感得惭愧。上船后，一会儿船开行了在PHRA PIN KLAO桥下航行，我是先游船河，一直没下船，到了TAKSIN码头才下船，从TAKSIN 码头，我又坐船回到原点。河的两岸风景绝对一级棒，看到有现代化的摩天大楼，酒店，中国庙宇式的建筑物与郑王庙等。此次再由原点乘船，想到要参观郑王庙(WAT ARUN) ，便在THA TIEN码头下船，然后换船到郑王庙。下一个观光点是唐人街，在RATCHAWONGSE码头下船，再走一两条街便是华人集中的YAOWARAT街，我在该地到处逛逛，吃了一道中国餐，味道不错，也参观了湄南河旁的中国式庙宇。下午五点左右，我又坐船回考山。晚上，逛考山的夜市。此夜市人头汹涌，多数是金头发的洋人，还有少数日本人与韩国人。坐在酒吧喝酒谈天的也多数是洋人。
第三天是地铁游，从考山附近的PHRA ATHIT 码头坐船到TAKSIN码头只需10B，再走一百步左右便可从SAPHAN TAKSIN地铁站搭上地铁，BTS地铁有提供每天100B的无限制乘搭，只限从MO CHIT站到ON NUT站。另外两条地铁线需自费。我游玩了ROTFAI公园，SIRIKIT花园，CHATUCHAK花园，到处日本文招牌的日本人区，TESCO附近等。下午三时就回旅馆了因为晚上要乘搭巴士到清迈。晚上8时巴士启程，第二天早上七点到达清迈。我住进了NIGHT PLAZA一带的旅馆。由於在巴士上睡得不好，到了旅店倒下床便呼呼入睡，下午看电视，晚上才活动，去NIGHT PLAZA一带的夜市逛逛，这里东西便宜，特别是丝制产品。我买了几条丝制休闲短裤。也向旅行社报名第二天的清迈与清莱金三角一日游。
早上，旅游车便来酒店接我，先参观佛寺，下一个名胜地是温泉，看到一条会冒烟的小河，使人称奇。接下来往清莱(CHIANGRAI) 跑，到了金山角湄公河边，有少数民族儿童会为你唱歌和拍照，但是要付钱。在湄公河船游中，我们看到了缅甸的一间赌场和寮国的村庄，我们不可在缅甸登陆但可以在寮国村庄登陆，不必出示护照，村内都是卖土产与纪念品。游船河后，我们乘车往长颈村，长颈村的女性，大大小小都在颈部戴上很重的铜环，古代是为避免被猛兽咬脆弱的颈项，今日是为了美丽。去长颈村需登山越岭，但看到了她们的特殊风俗，非常值得。最后一游的是泰缅边境的美赛(MAESAI) 。多数国家进入缅甸都需签证，大马也不例外，不过，缅甸政府允许美赛的外国游客免签证进入该国一小时购物，因为美赛对面的缅甸境内有一个很大的市集。缅甸盛产玉，品质高，但购买要小心，以免被骗。这天，回到酒店已经是晚上七时多了。
在清迈第三天早上，旅游车又来载我去湄公河边的昌功(CHIANG KHONG) 了，同车的都是洋人，到了下午5时左右，我们才抵达昌功的旅馆，旅馆在湄公河畔，可看到对面的寮国。湄公河畔可跑步与散步，风景优美。晚上，为第二天去寮国准备，较早睡。
早上，旅游车又来接我们到码头了。坐船到了对岸的寮国，办理好了入境手续，我们便乘寮国船在湄公河往南航行，在中国境内称为澜沧江的湄公河之阔度大概有30条巴生河或近打河那么宽。两岸景色优美，航行了9个小时，终于抵达巴屏(PAKBENG) ，从码头到旅馆需走半公里。它是寮国境内的很小城市，只有一条街和一间菜市场。寮语和泰语接近，如泰语的KIN KOW(吃饭) SEBAIDEE MAI(你好吗) ，寮语也一样，但也有不同的词汇。寮国除了泰语通行，美金也通用。一碟炒饭只需一美元。
在巴屏住了一夜第二天早上，临乘船到銮勃拉邦前，我到菜市场看看，蔬菜水果种类并不多，但水果便宜，十点船开航了，两边风景和来的时候大同小异。大约下午四时，船抵达銮勃拉邦(LUANG PRABANG)了。河岸离河水位很高，有10米左右，但有梯级。河畔，已有很多旅馆代表与都都车在等游客。我接受了一家旅馆的服务，故坐都都车免费。旅馆每晚只需5美元，相当整洁。晚上，逛夜市和向旅行社报名第二天的活动，即参观湄公河畔的一间山洞庙宇和光西瀑布。
第二天早上，去山洞庙宇，需乘一小时的船，洞不深，只有怡保霹雳洞的三分之一，左边有梯级可以爬上高处远眺湄公河及周围的景色。参观后，我们又乘船到一个寮国人村庄参观，村人都会泰语。
下午，午餐后，去光西瀑布游玩。乘车需一个小时。此瀑布处於国家保护森林中，需徒步15分钟才抵达该瀑布。瀑布下有几个小湖，清澈见底，反映景物，可以说是一个迷你的九寨沟，乘车的疲劳，一扫而空。回途中，大家参观了一个称为HMONG的少数民族村庄，他们相当贫困，但不觉得有营养不良。回到旅馆，已经是晚上7时多了。我赶紧买了第二晚到永珍的巴士车票。
在銮勃拉邦的第三天，是靠双腿和都都车的自由行。早上，看到小学生的颈项都绑上红领巾，像中国小学生那样，不要忘了寮国仍奉行共产主义，只是现在较开放了。街上的建筑物都是法国式的，是受到保护的文化遗产。这里有一家中国市场，叫DALAT CHIN，卖的都是中国产品。店主都是从中国云南来的。这里有一特殊个景象，就是会看到从中国越境挂着中国车牌的云南车辆在街上跑。晚上7时，开始坐巴士前往永珍(也叫万象)
从銮勃拉邦到永珍的路是九曲十八弯的山路。早上6时就抵达永珍了。市中心有一个喷水池。吃了早餐，到9时旅行社开门了，马上买晚上7时回曼谷的巴士车票，并把行李寄放在旅行社里，然后自行到处逛。湄公河旁看见有华人庆祝神诞，热闹非凡，到处看到华文。我参观了模仿法国凯旋门的寮国凯旋门，云南人开的商店，古塔等就回旅行社等车回曼谷。从永珍到泰国边境是乘坐面包车，进入了泰境就有一辆双层豪华巴士等着我们。有从落后回到现代化的感觉。回到曼谷已经是半夜。我又回到考山同样的一间旅馆投宿。第二天才飞回吉隆坡。
美丽的风景，好客的人民与奇异的风俗，十天的水陆空旅程并不使我感到疲倦。
作者：梅国民MOY KOK MING
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About Me
- moykokming
- BORN IN IPOH,I STUDIED IN SAM TET SECONDARY SCHOOL, IPOH AND LANGUAGE CENTRE, UNIVERSITY OF MALAYA, MAJORING IN TRANSLATION (ON JPA SCHOLARSHIP). I SERVED THE MALAYSIAN GOVERNMENT SINCE 1970 AND HAD MY OPTIONAL RETIREMENT IN 1997. AFTER THAT, I WORKED AS EXECUTIVE SECRETARY IN VARIOUS NGOs IN KL & KLANG VIZ TRADE & CULTURAL ASSOCIATIONS