Shopping in Hat Yai - Southern Thailand

It takes about approximately 2.5 hours to reach Hat Yai (Southern Thailand) by road from my home Penang, Malaysia, a day trip shopping will be sufficient.

This trip round, I only plan to get myself a backpack and an umbrella, this is important to set shopping target avoiding being over spend.

I slipped into Alzheimer's disease upon arrival, my lost of memory was proven below.

With the help from my Queen of Negotiator sister in law,

I managed to get the backpack hacked from 450 Bahts to 250 Bahts (approx. RM25),

the rest of 2 outfit are out of my list. Valued at 100 Bahts & 250 Bahts respectively

Irresistible purchase

promotion on socks at 100 Bahts for 5 pairs

Unknown cake or pastry that my taste buds love to try

Unknown Meat ball that I bought from Carrefour

Best Mooyang Chapohkij or "Satay" in Malaysia

Then, finally my 2 bags full of .... eh.... eh...

Purchases from 7-Eleven

More than 10 types of instant noodles

beside instant noodles

this was the overall view, coffee, sweets,

bubble gum, juices, crisps, tit bits, & etc

Finally, an alien bill was given

Oh yes, I left out my umbrella. Must include it in my list for the next trip.

http://wikitravel.org/en/Hat_Yai

Ricky

Ricky was 60 months old (or 36 yrs old in dog’s age), weighting around 80 kgs, with its golden shinning hair, he looks more like a lion than a dog. He loved to eat plain bread beside dog food.

Ricky was mighty strong & heavy, we were unable to get him move if he just sit there, the bread works wonder to get him move around with our wish. There was once that he sat on my feet and I had hard time to withdraw. I would close to fall if he accidentally bumps onto me.

Ricky was a busybody, he would come round to watch the happening at home, he would follow us where ever we go, trying to learn and participate our activities. He loved to bath, he would rendered help by bringing soap.

Yesterday was the day, Ricky was call to heaven, some said he got heart attacked, some said that he was ill, but the god up there said that they need Ricky to guard the heaven gate.

The children were sobbing with the looks of gold fish or constipated eyes, the little one could not understand and asked 5W + 1H questions, parent busy searching google, Wikipedia to get the answers.

Ricky, RIP and be good up there.

Sayonara ~~~ 8 am ~ 5:30 pm

Spending 20 years minus 3 months at the same place is not an easy attempt for me, prior to this I hopped like a flea, I landed with difference companies working for only 4 months, 6 months, 9 months…., and 11 months was the longest, higher pay check was the motivation for the hop.

Till now, I still haven’t got the clue for my faithful 2 decades services. This company transformed me to become parasite, holding tight on to the company pillar till the last breath. I will not leave unless the company asks me to. Honestly, I deserve loyalty award.

Too bad, the good old days has gone where the company no longer strong enough to foot anyone of us, I was gifted a big fat check to end my career life. 20 years of memories, 20 years of experiences, 20 years of gifts collections, which takes me almost a month to organize and bring home. It’s scared my kids to see me building up ‘office’ at home.

I love to say hello but hate to say goodbye, I am hiding myself from answering the phone. Still there were overseas callers managed to catch me at home to wish me luck. Customers, vendors and suppliers were giving me tons of advices to ensure that I don’t slip into depression at home.How touching and I could cry and flood the town.

There were a few that welcome me to their ‘world’ and ‘enjoy new life’, I am wondering where and how?

Anyhow, leaving didn’t seem as hard as it is, I learn to detach my feeling and everything went well without tear or heart breaking.

The following pictures were taken on the last day - 31 March 2010, just minutes before the door and lighting were officially closed and turn off.

Coming soon....

Dear readers,

I have got all your mails to check on my well being. I have got some thing up lately, shall be back on blog soon.

Thank you.

SC

Pulau Payar (Payar Island)

An unforgettable trip to Pulau Payar (Payar Island) Marine Park. The island is surrounded by well—protected coral reefs with abundant and colourful tropical marine life, it is one of the most beautiful and exotic marine parks in Malaysia.

The air cond ferry took us almost 2 hours from Penang Swettenham pier to reach Pulau Payar.

During my trip, I miss this picture, have to download from net, this was the huge Reef Platform that hosts the tourists, where the snorkelling & diving activities were carried out here. In front is the glass bottom boat

On the reef platform, all the snorkeling equipments were provided.

Fins & life jacket as well

Person in charge briefing on the day itinerary.

Look at those friendly fishes… can’t wait to jump in

Get ready now

Here we go swimming with the Nemo & Dori

On the other hand, the dive master was giving introduction to the new divers, looks at the oxygen tanks, those were heavy stuff, I shall fall behind if it piggy rides on my back.

This is the entry to meet Mermaid

This picture was taken in the underwater chamber, with the diving gears on, nobody can tell who you are, and you can actually tell your friends that this is you diving

A ‘so so’ Buffet lunch was provided on the Platform, and rides on the glass bottom boat was not as fun as snorkeling.

I shall return to Pulau Payar, not for the photos taking, but to enjoy snorkeling throughout.

Blackie Orange

Please meet Blackie the rooster.

Blackie & Orange the hen

Blackie crowing now and then
Orange sand bathing

Where ? In the flower pot

Dates to Remember :(

In our life, there have a lot of dates that we are forced to remember, no matter you like it or not. When you are young, you need to remember

1. Your own birthday
2. Parents birthday x 2
3. Sibling birthday x 2 (if you have 2 siblings)

When you grow up and in relationship, you need to add in

4. your lover’s birthday x 1
5. Valentine day x 1

When you got married, you ought to extend your list to include

6. Wedding anniversary x 1
7. Your parents in law birthday x 2
8. Your children birthday x 2 (if you have 2 kids)

The list has not come to end yet, some forgetful person that can’t remember their own parents’ birthday created Mother’s day and Father’s day for the world to celebrate, these two dates have been commercialized by the public, places like hotel, restaurant, souvenir shop, bakery shop, radio & TV broadcast have big time promotion, no way for you to pretend forgetful.

9. Mother’s day x 2
10. Father’s day x 2

Haha… based on the above, assume that you have 2 siblings, 2 children, parents & parents in law, the total celebration per year is 16 days, meaning that you need to prepare 16 gifts / treats for your beloved. Hmmmm…. That excludes Christmas gift or festive gift, well, well, beside wallet bleeds, your head will crack searching for gift and remembering it.

My very own FarmVille

Come n view my chilli 'farming', see the little bud

The Flower grow facing down

See the baby Chilli

Wao.... Red and perhap spicy

Oops... a bit over ride

sigh... withered harvest

Should work harder in Facebook FarmVille before the actual hand on.

Lost & Found

My hair stand up went I found things missing from my home, my blood pressure shoot up causing my hair curl and burnt when my kids said, “I don’t know, I never use.” I feel like juicing them and drink, or stuff them back into my stomach where their hometown was.

Obviously all these items do not have wings that make flying possible, neither do my kids have the ability to ‘David Copperfield’ it.

Giving up the idea of confronting the kids debating who took it, I ended up replacing all the missing items, storing them in highly confidential places where the kids shall have no clue to find the location. Can you imagine that I am turning my dressing table into tool table keeping screw drivers, test pen, measurement tape, meter, cellophane tapes, scissors, screwdriver, Uhu glue, etc. I ever think of getting a big safe box to keep things, especially scissors & nail clippers.

There was that ONE day, the sun rises from the North, the lightning strike on my head, which brought me the courage to do room cleaning for my kids, the scene wrecked by typhoon Ketsana and Tsunami, I am like the rescuer salvaging the property from the rubbles. My eyes blink blink, as I discovered my long lost nail clippers, my camera, my card reader, scissors, screwdriver, face cleanser, canister and more more... I am more joyful than slimming 5 kgs weight.

My kids earned themselves long winded nagging for at least 3 weeks.

In the mind of kid

My little Lu complaint that he only see white wall whenever he wakes in the morning. (I kind of feeling guilty, as I leave to work before he open his eyes)

With a piece of paper and a pen, he said he is going to put up something nice on the wall.

On the next morning, I found the piece of paper sticking on the wall

It merely had these 4 big words - "Play Yo-Yo Now"

T for Terry

Please meet my pet Terry (Terrapin - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrapin), 15 years ago, Terry was as small as 50 cents (1.5"diameter) now, and it has grown up to almost 1 foot long. Terry eats vegetable, shrimps and small fish.

One fine morning, my son Litter V walked Terry out for a stroll in the garden, little brain got short memory, and Terry never been seen again.

3 months later, we found Terry buried himself in the ground with only his head partially exposed, attracting us by making pssi..pssi…pssi sound. Overcome with joy, we bath Terry and found him smaller in size. Never ever Terry was invited for a stroll anymore.

In Feng Shui, tortoise & turtle symbolise longevity, stability, strength, support and endurance. We place Terry in North corner as an enhancer for career, with the hope that it attracts a smooth, grounding energy for business projects and promotions in career.

Boring All Girls' School

Brought up in single-sex school can be of different experience all together. Amongst girls, we were more carefree, we don’t need to behave and pretend like angel, we are what we are - no faking, original & beautiful. In class, we didn’t mind if anyone of us picking noise collecting gold, popping or squeezing pimples, plucking eyebrows, cleaning ears wax, ventilate feet by removed shoes or resting both feet in the desk drawer, in addition, lifting up pinafore skirt, slipped hand in and adjusted our inner white blouse were common scene.

All girls’ school came with strict discipline rules, short hair, kneel length 'A' shape skirts, short nails, and NO NO for all accessories like hair pins, hair band, earring and fancy spectacles. We all looked pretty much the same, confused teacher by calling us the wrong name, and due to the square and stone look, no guys would give us a second look, and we missed all the romantic relationship, thus making our parents the less worry parents on earth.

Since our exposures to guys were limited, we choose alternative – pen pal. (Readers, those days computer & handphone still in the mid of invention) Those days, the greatest person we look forward was Mr Postman, delivering our pen pals letters, with beautiful & scented writing pad, nice and neat handwriting gain the immediate attention, letters circulated in the class for reading, all girls chip in to draft the reply letters. Being innovative, some of us created fun by using toilet roll for writing letter, and in return we got Hell Bank Notes attached with a nasty letter. Keeping too many pen pals can be costly, we recycle our stamps by spreading thick glue on the surface, and the recipient would easily wash away the stamping ink for reused.

Those girls exposed to disco party, and occasionally fetch by boy friend became the central attention, she was the talk in the school, emerging her ‘grade’ higher than us. We were like ‘katak’ (frog) looking up from the well.

Spending years of school days, looking and seeing the same sex was very boring, and I presume our school should had contributed majority of spinsters’ population in the country.

Our ‘Can Think’ Cafeteria - Final

Continue from previous post....

For cost saving, some cranky ideas floated up, hiding the fish and chicken under the vegetable or rice, group 2 types of vegetables in one tray compartment, press and compact the dish, confuse the casher by piling up all dishes and rice into one big mountain heap, show Hollywood acting like poor & miserable and finally choose the ‘kind hearted’ casher that charges less.

After paying, we choose a nice cooling place to feed our stomach, here is the time where we can officially & openly talk face to face, in the office, we chat online or thru intercom.

We break-fast by asking how much is the food? Comparison on price and sizes, we were 10 times more ‘aunties’ and ‘uncles’ bargaining and calculative over every penny spent. Or was it a sense of victory for having to pay less?

Dining at the long McDonald-like table, seated closely facing each other. At times, the chicken drumstick or wing shall work on their kung-fu kick by flying to the opposite food tray. Fish bone remover by mouth is a no no, caused there is no bull eye for splitting and it would landed on neighbour hand or tray.

There was once, we brought our customer to dine in our cafeteria, we used to keep bones and other food residue in ‘our’ empty compartment instead of leaving & dirty it on the table, the customer observed and did the same thing - not in his tray but in our tray.

After meal, we need to clear our own tray by separating the utensil, food residue, glass and bowl, good practise just like schooling.

Our ‘Can Think’ Cafeteria

For lunch break, we are given 30 min Road Runner speed, walk to cafeteria, queue, pick up tray & cutlery, scoop dishes, pay, eat and back to office. Bip ! Bip !

Our cafeteria is equipped with air conditional, 2 food counters on left and right side each, >10 serving of food on each counter, array of chicken, fish, vegetable, egg, balls…oops, think straight, it is fish ball, meat ball and squid ball, free soup, free herbal drink to deter H1N1, hot & cold drinks, fruit juice, breads, cakes, biscuit, titbits & a special counter offering hawker delight. Dear readers, envy?

There will be no bell ringing to inform on break, each and every one of us knows our staggered schedule. Fussy diners acted more like QC inspectors at work, flipping tray by tray choosing the perfect piece base on the criteria of dry, clean, flat and dent free. (same method applies to choosing partner, divorce rate shall be reduced)

The hungry & hollow one would pile up their food like pyramid, the picky chooser causing the queue crawling, making the next waiting person hair pulling. The traffic flow in one way, but some make it u turn back, ‘Bang!’ trays accident, leaving the casualties dead on the floor (dear chicken & fish, RIP).

The caterer uncle is mending the casher machine, pretty women who call him ‘Ah Ko’ (Brother) will get a few cents waived. Ah Ko mental arithmetic never fail, but in front of ‘leng lui’ (pretty women) with naughty yak will cause his brain temporally damage. I deserve the leng lui privilege…. if I am 10 years younger. (Smirking)

To Be Continued….

"All you can Eat" Buffet

Some said that we were tortured on an expensive and extensive food, wolfing down the meals like starving hyenas. And some said that was a greed feast where we were practiced on the extensive of greediness.

I agreed with the description given. Our 'Kia Su' attitude (afraid of losing) reveals the ugly side of ourselves. Piling up Himalaya Mountain on our plates, but only consumes the size of ant portion, discard the whole plate which is enormously sufficient to provide 30 days food for a famine child.

Next round, if you are planning for a buffet feast, please consider the following suggestion:-

1. Preliminary Tour - scouting around every section, plan and make the best choices. Do not just go and grab food blindly

2. Food Tasting – take minimal portion, teaspoon or bit size portion, and possibly try all the items
- Soup - take only a couple of tablespoons instead of full bowl
- Cut portions into small piece, nothing wrong to leave half portion for others
- Do not afraid to ask the food server for a tiny slice “just to taste it”

3. Enjoy your selected Food – finally, you have tasted everything, and you should be able to identify the food that you like most, you can now go for a little bigger portion and enjoy the great meal

4. Desert - Ditto and follow step 1 ~ 3

Hope all of us remember when returning to buffet table, get rid of the overeating and wastage habits.

Bon Appetite!!