Happy New Year!!

By: syulie | Sunday, December 31, 2006 at 5:00 pm
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ho... ho... ho... Merry Christmas!!!

By: syulie | Sunday, December 24, 2006 at 9:00 pm
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Sawasdee Ka... (Part 4)

Day 12 - 14 (Thu 21 - Sat 23 Dec 06)
Sorry... no interesting news in the last few days... I was just relaxing at home and didn't do much... other than playing with my computer and went shopping to nearby shopping centre...

That's all my holiday in Bangkok... I had so much fun... (as you can see from the photos!!... click here if you miss out last time)

Stay tune for my holiday in Bali...

Bye bye Bangkok, thank you for having me... I would like to come again...

Kob Kun Ka... (meaning: thank you in Thai)

By: syulie | Saturday, December 23, 2006 at 9:00 am
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Sawasdee Ka... (Part 3)

Day 7 (Sat 16 Dec 06)
Today's agenda is Chatuchak Weekend Market... but before the shopping begins, we had lunch at Ottoko market (I am not sure about the spelling but that's how it sounds)... this market is so interesting... they sell green groceries and cooked food also... the food are all delicious... I had some sweet pork satay, crispy roast pork and some thai noodle soup... all yummy...

The fruits... they are huge!! bigger than normal size... back in Indonesia, every time you heard some fruits are called 'bangkok ...' (eg. bangkok papaya, or bangkok durian) ... you can guess that the size must be big... well, in this market, those fruits live up to their name... we saw huge apple, huge durian... everything is huge!!... pity I don't have the photo to show you...

In this market, I think I was too hungry and too fascinated with the market that I forgot to take photos hahaha... this market although can be considered traditional market, was extremely clean... before we get there, I was expecting to see wet market... but this one is very comfortable and clean...

From here, we crossed the road and started the shopping journey in Chatuchak Weekend Market... again I bought some tops... the humidity and my feet condition reduced my shopping spirit a little bit hahaha... but my spirit is nothing compare to my sis... she can walk the whole day in heels, shopping!!! I definitely can't keep up with her...

With the weather being so hot and humid, it was nice to have some cold dessert... and we notice some dessert stalls selling this black jelly that you have with some syrup and palm sugar with crushed ice... I used to have this when I was a kid... love it!! In Indonesian, we call it 'cincau hitam'... sorry I don't think I can find the translation in English =)...


Finished shopping we try to get a taxi or tuk-tuk to go home... but none will take us!!... absolutely none... don't know why... at the end, guess what... we have to take a bus!! with no air condition!! to go home hahaha.....

Day 8 (Sun 17 Dec 06)
Today we went to see Thai puppet show in suam lum bazaar... very very interesting and entertaining... although the whole show is in Thai, they have English translation... this particular traditional Thai puppet is called 'Hun Lakorn Lek' in their local language... it is different to other Thai puppet show... one of this little puppet requires 3 puppeteers to operate one puppet... and they are so life-like... this is definitely one of tourist attraction I would recommend to people!!... a really good 1.5 hour of fun!!...


For dinner, we went to this spaghetti house... really nice food... quite different to the authentic Italian spaghetti but still taste nice... we ordered Pad Thai spaghetti, spicy tuna spaghetti (this one I really like) and spinach with garlic bacon and cheese... yumm...

Day 9 (Mon 18 Dec 06)
We are suppose to go to Chiang Mai by 10am but the flight was delayed until 12ish... by the time we get there it was already 3pm and we went straight to hotel and then to the Royal Flora Show... lucky it was open till 9pm... beautiful arrangement... was held to celebrate the King's 60th anniversary Accession to the Throne... only open from 1 Nov 06 to 31 Jan 07...




Night time we went to nearby Chiang Mai night bazaar and have dinner... mushroom tom yum and sticky rice with mango for dessert...

Day 10 (Tue 19 Dec 06)
Local market is our target today... we went to Warorot market... and you will notice the food area will sell lots of this crackers... it is something like pork cracklings, but thinner and crunchier... taste nice... the locals normally have it with green chili deep... apparently this is a unique Chiang Mai food... so if you come here, make sure you try them...



Interesting... in Chiang Mai, they don't have taxi... what they have is 'Song Taew'... their local taxi... very airy... hahaha... cause the window has no cover...


They also have this type of transportation... similar to this in Indonesian we call it 'becak'... I don't know what they call this in Thai... this is my transportation when I was in primary school in some 'kampung' (village) near Jakarta =)... the difference is this one passenger sit on the back, with mine passenger sit on the front...


For lunch we went to Good View restaurant by the Mae Ping River, again nice food... the pork knuckles (German food) that you eat with vinegar deep is the best!!

Day 11 (Wed 20 Dec 06)
Relaxing today... I intend not to go out at all and just play with my computer... so I don't think there will be any interesting stories to post...

see more photos on my album, if you're interested...

By: syulie | Wednesday, December 20, 2006 at 4:07 pm
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Sawasdee Ka... (Part 2)

Day 4 (Wed 13 Dec 06)
The day starts late again... I like it this way... no rush... just before lunch time we went out to get something to eat...

After lunch we took a cab and head to Health Land... this place is famous for its massage, especially traditional Thai massage... first I was not sure if this is safe for my injured ankle... but when she finished, oh... it feels good... i would recommend everyone to try... it is really a rejuvenating experience as it promises...

After my sis finished work, we took MRT to Suan lum Night Bazaar... another place you should visit... there are so many stalls selling souvenirs and clothing, including food...


Day 5 (Thu 14 Dec 06)
Today is relaxing day, I didn't go out much... went with my sis to her tailor in some market behind the Thai Airways office... interesting is that it looks like normal market but they have small stalls which has glass wall and door (so people can see what they are selling) and air condition!!


We also went to the nearby food court which has lots of traditional food... I had pork-leg stew with rice for lunch... I know, I know, I know... some of you will comment, "What the ...??"... but surprisingly, this dish seems to be quite common with Thai people cause this is not the first time I had it here, and the fact that you can actually find it in local market you can guess that this is even quite popular with local people... the queue is not short, you know... and my sis had tom yum noodle soup with pork ribs and thai-version of vegetable tempura...


That's all my activity for today... staying at home for the rest of the day and surfing the net... my parents however were a little more adventurous today... they took a bus!! to go downtown and chinatown... I don't think I could have followed them, the bus obviously do not have air condition hahaha...

Day 6 (Fri 15 Dec 06)
7am this morning, Chalerm (our tour guide for the day) collected us to go to floating market... on the way there, first stop was to see how Thai people make use everything from coconut tree... when I say everything it really means everything!!... this is not just for Thai people, but also for Indonesian and people from some other countries too... to find out more about this 'pokok seribu guna (in Malay)' or 'the tree of a thousand uses', click here... although the product itself is not new to me, to actually see the process of making palm sugar is very interesting...

the photo below shows the many products they can make from all parts of coconut... in this instance, the shell...


Floating market is the next destination, there are so many floating market in Thailand but we are going to Damnoen Saduak in Ratchaburi province... I really enjoyed this experience... people had warned you not to buy any souvenirs from here because it'll be a bit pricey, but you can still buy food... so interesting, they will cook it in the boat!! things like banana fritters, the seller will have this big wok for deep frying in the boat... and we tried kway teow soup also was cooked in the boat hahaha...




Next stop is handicraft centre... here they show you how they make all those woodcarving... all I can say is it requires huge amount of patience... because it takes months finish one medium size of piece... the one shown below definitely takes longer than 8 months!!


From handicraft centre, we visited wax museum...


Last one is called Rose Garden... but don't expect to see roses!! apparently a long time ago they use to have roses but now the roses had gone, they still keep the name... you can see interesting Thai cultural show... dances, thai boxing... it was a good one-hour entertainment... you can also ride an elephant here!!







We had so much fun today and it's time to go home now...

psstt... if you want to see more photos, have a look in my album...

By: syulie | Saturday, December 16, 2006 at 1:55 am
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Sawasdee Ka... (Part 1)

meaning: Greetings... in Thai

Day 1 (Sun 10 Dec 06)
We (my parents and I) arrived in Suvarnabhumi - Bangkok new airport at 4pm... it was good to see my lil sis again... similar to Jakarta, traffic congestion means everything takes longer than you have predicted... although it was a sunday... it was interesting to see that in many ways Thailand is similar to Indonesia... same climate... same time zone... similar culture... but yet so different... different food... different people... I might be biased because I am on holiday, but they seem friendlier than Indonesian hahaha...

Nothing much we can do in the evening, we managed to get good dinner before we went back to my sis' apartment... we went to this Sonboon restaurant having some delicious Thai food...

clockwise from left: tom yum koong, bitter melon leaves with garlic, pork spare ribs, crab meat with curry powder, pork and prawn balls, and hot and sour fish

Day 2 (Mon 11 Dec 06)
It's public holiday in Thailand so my sis can keep us company... we took a cab from my sis apartment to Mo Chit BTS Skytrain Station... got on the BTS Skytrain, changed at Siam Station, and got off at Saphan Taksin Station... from there, we took a boat along Chao Praya River to the Grand Palace...


As soon as we got off the boat, there is some traditional market selling local food so we had lunch there... I managed to try this interesting grilled bananas on skewer, covered with some syrup... I quite like it...


By then, the weather was really really hot and humid... walking about 50 metres to the Grand Palace feel like ages... once we got there, we just took photos hahaha... like other tourists... and that's it... I can't take the heat anymore...


So we decided to go to the closest shopping mall with air-condition... so off we went to MBK... I don't know if I can find a parallel for this in Australia... but in Jakarta, this is like 'Pasar Baru'... you can bargain, and it was fun!! I converted A$100 to Baht 2,576... after shopping the whole afternoon, buying some tops and some summer dresses I am still left with almost Baht 1,000!! Which means I only spent less than A$70!!

By sunset, my feet cannot take it anymore, they are killing me!!! So we went home...

Today, we saw so many people wearing yellow t-shirt on the street... apparently it is a symbol to respect their king... His Majesty King Bhumibol was born on a monday... and in Thailand the colour for monday is yellow... so for the whole year, to celebrate the King's 60th Anniversary of Accession to the Throne and the King's 80th Birthday, everyone will be wearing yellow t-shirt every monday... (but you will see later that because the people loves their King so much, they'll be wearing the yellow t-shirt any day!! not just on monday)

Day 3 (Tue 12 Dec 06)
It's my sis birthday today... this is the whole reason my dad insisted we have to arrive in Bangkok either Sunday or Monday... because we want to be here to celebrate together!!

Don't want to repeat yesterday experience, we tried to be less ambitious with our holiday schedule... so the day started later... we left home around 10ish and walked to the nearest shopping mall... the walking isn't too far but with the humid weather I guess we all get tired easily and walking in the heat seems like a torture hahaha...

I was a little disappointed because this shopping mall is just like other shopping mall in Melbourne or Jakarta where all items are expensive... I mean, making sense because they are selling imported goods... but I want local stuff, so I can buy more!!!

But the food isn't too bad... just outside the building they have a long line with food stall... lots of interesting food... I tried meat balls noodle soup... at a glance it looks like 'mie bakso', the one I used to have in Jakarta by the road side... but the taste is quite different... it has more Thai taste... a bit sour from the lime juice I think... later found out from my sis that it was Tom Yum Noodle Soup...


Unlucky in retail therapy today, we came home early and stayed cool with the air condition... and when my sis came home we went to have a simple dinner nearby... some steamboat (or some people know it as hot pot)...

Check out more photos here...

By: syulie | Wednesday, December 13, 2006 at 12:37 pm
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happy birthday...

to my dearest lil sis, Natalia...



Many happy returns and may your dreams come true...
Wish you all happiness in the world...

By: syulie | Tuesday, December 12, 2006 at 9:00 am
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Transit in Jakarta

Saturday afternoon I arrived in Jakarta after 1.5 hour flight from Singapore... although I only stayed for one night (I flew to Bangkok the very next morning), I will never miss the chance to eat nice food =)...

My parents went to get some 'martabak manis' for my sis... so I get the chance to taste it...

Martabak manis is some kind of spongey cake with fillings options of chocolate and nuts or grated cheese

And then we saw this old man selling 'ketupat sayur' passed by and my parents asked if I would like to have some... and the answer was definitely a yes hahaha... but they did not let me to have a lot, worried if my stomach could not take it because of the coconut milk... there are so much food I want to taste but I have to keep reminding myself to be gentle with my stomach...

Ketupat sayur is rice cake with vegetables and tofu curry, you can have boiled egg too if you want, with crackers

Last night I jumped on a scale and it says I have put on 3kg in only a week after I left Melbourne!!! Wait for more stories in Bangkok...

By: syulie | Monday, December 11, 2006 at 1:15 pm
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Uniquely Singapore

Day 1 (Wed 6 Dec 06)
Landed at 5.30am went straight to Wenry's... having had sleep the whole time from Melbourne to Singapore, I felt fresh and ready to start my holiday... Jolene met me at Clementi Road MRT Station then we went to have traditional breakfast... kaya toast, nasi lemak (malaysian coconut rice) and mee siam (malaysian/singaporean rice noodle soup)... with tea (they put condensed milk instead of normal milk)... they are sooo good...


After breakfast, we both went to Orchard Road... do some window shopping... and later in the afternoon we had some snacks... poppiah (vegetables rice paper rolls with unique paste)...

Then I decided to get a hair cut cause although hair cut is cheaper in Jakarta, I won't get a chance till early January, so I decided to get it done here... once there, the hair stylist talked me into perming my hair and get a new look... well, she managed to convince me... and there I was... first day in Singapore having a hair cut and perming... The hair salon was in Tiong Bahru... very close to Jolene's house...

What do you think of my new look? Hahaha... I know, you think there is no change at all...


After hair cut, Ira joined me and Jolene... the three of us went to dinner at Tiong Bahru's hawkers centre... we ordered sambal kangkong, deer meat with spring onion and ginger, and fish head curry... yumm...


Everywhere you go, food or shopping, the first reaction was "... oh so cheap!!..." hahaha... that's compared to Australia though...

Day 2 (Thu 7 Dec 06)
Meeting Klara at Vivocity, the new shopping centre... so big and nice... hey, I managed to get there myself by MRT!! hahaha... first day I was worried I can't find my way home!!

Again, so much nice food I want to eat I don't think my stomach can keep up with me... have some ice creams at Ben & Jerry's... chocolate fudge brownies and strawberry cheesecake... something different... they are nice... have cheesecake stick from Beard Papa Sweets and sotong onstick (squid on skewer) from Old Chang Kee... all nice food...


Dinner, Yocy joined me and Klara, we went to Boon Tong Kee restaurant, famous for its chicken rice... its so fragrant and tasty... nice, nice food...

Day 3 (Fri 8 Dec 06)
Went to Clementi hawkers centre to find the famous poppiah... the weather is unbelievably humid and hot... Wed and Thu were not too bad so today's weather was my first experience with the humidity... I guess I have to start getting used anyway... once I get to Jakarta, it will be the same or even worse...

Distracted by the humidity, I was not patient enough to find this famous poppiah so I just ordered from the first poppiah stand I could find... later found out that I ordered from the wrong one... hopefully tomorrow I can get a chance to try again before getting on the plane to Jakarta... I love poppiah... I can't tell you what I like about it but I think it's just nice...

After that I got on the bus to get to Orchard Road... walking around try to get some comfy shoes with Klara... finally found one pair from Marks & Spencer in Paragon...

Dinner time, Jolene, Klara, Wenry and I went to Geylang to try this famous frog-leg porridge... I know, I know... some of you will think what some weird stuff I eat... but this is nice really... it's not the big frog (what we know as toad)... it's little frog and the meat texture is not much different to chicken... and we also had beef kway teow (rice noodles)... they are all nice...


3 days in Singapore, all I had was good food... definitely will not be enough to try all...

Check out more photos here...

Tomorrow I am flying to Jakarta and next destination is Bangkok... so stay tuned for more news... =) from Syulie's holiday...

By: syulie | Friday, December 08, 2006 at 1:45 am
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i am coming home!!

i am flying out from melbourne tonight to start my holiday in singapore, bangkok and bali before settling in in jakarta... lots of memories here... i actually feel sad to leave...

leaving my apartment, my friends...



but also very excited to start a new chapter in my life...

so stay tuned, i will post more stories and photos from my holidays...

By: syulie | Tuesday, December 05, 2006 at 6:20 pm
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bye bye baby...

last friday i sold my car... my baby who had faithfully taken me everywhere i want to go... now has to go with the new owner... relieved but also very sad... i will never see it again...



bye bye car... i hope the new owner will take good care of you...

By: syulie | at 6:10 pm
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