Wanting to catch one more sunrise on this trip, I left my accommodation at 6am and headed to Chaowu pier as I read from blogs that the sunrise at Chaowu pier is better than that at Shuishe pier.
I walked around, waited and it didn’t seem like there’s going to be any stunning sunrise for that day. I was about to leave, but told myself to maybe wait a little more. And unbelievably, what started off as a gloomy day turned out to be one of the most glorious sunrises that I’ve ever seen.
6:05am
7am
7:30am – some clouds seem to be forming.
Shot taken at 7:45am. So blessed to be able to catch such an amazing sunrise.
My friend gifted me a Young Living Sunrise Neubaliser and I did some ‘product shots’ for him (in return). Hahaa…
Really blessed to be able to catch such a beautiful sunrise at Sun Moon Lake.
I strolled over to Shuishe pier from my accommodation in less than 10 minutes and bought the NT 300 ferry ticket to get across the lake to the temples. The ferry ticket allows passengers to get across to 3 piers; from Shuishe pier to Xuanguang pier and from Xuanguang pier to Ita Thao pier, and from Ita Thao pier back to Shuishe pier. The banners at the ticket counter (in pic below) indicated that there are boats every 10 to 15 minutes and the boat timings were 9am, 9:20am and 9:40am. Thinking that the next boat will be at 9:40am, I hurriedly ran to the boat.
Banners and information do not correspond with what the boatman says.
Ferry ticket costs NT 300.
Bright and sunny day.
The ferry ticket covers three piers; from Shuishe pier to Xuanguang pier to Ita Thao pier back to Shuishe pier.
But apparently when I got to the boat and asked the boat man, he denies them and said that he only goes by the timings at the back of the ticket, which indicated a boat every 30 minutes, i.e. 9am, 9:30am, 10am, 10:30am etc. I felt rather cheated as that was not what the ticket counter had indicated. As I was reasoning with the boatman, a guy walked past and asked what the commotion was about. He too, was misled into thinking that the boat was leaving soon.
As the boatman refused to bulge, we had no choice but went back to the streets and bought some breakfast while waiting it out. It turned out that he was a fellow Singaporean and was here on a day trip on his own. And with that, we started our SML adventures together!
Xuanguang Pier
We took the 10am ferry from Shuishe pier to Xuanguang pier and visited the Xuanguang temple. We hiked to the next temple – Xuanzhang temple. And then to Cien pagoda.
Xuanguang temple.
“I was here” pic.
Hiked about 15 minutes to Xuanzhang temple.
Arrives Xuanzhang temple.
Xuanzhang temple.
We arrived at the foot of Cien pagoda, and saw the barricades and we were like… Omg… We had hiked about 30 minutes to get here and it was closed?!
Need to hike up 900m to reach the entrance of Cien pagoda.
After hiking up the 900m, we saw this and we were like….
Being rebellious Singaporeans, we decided to jump over the barricades and made our way up. And thankfully we did! We were greeted by this magnificent pagoda against the clear, blue sky. We made our way up the pagoda and came to this jaw dropping view of the entire Sun Moon Lake. This was definitely worth breaking the rules for.
Shhhh…. Don’t tell on us.
Greeted by this magnificent pagoda against the clear, blue sky.
Super stunning.
Come, lets hurry and climb up before anyone catches us.
Not sure how many storeys up, but it was pretty easy for both of us.
Scary when looking down.
Look at the antique door!
This jaw dropping view was definitely worth breaking the rules for. This picture really doesn’t do it justice.
Clear blue sky with crystal clear waters.
Hua Qun, a fellow Singaporean and my partner-in-crime, for the day. Hahaa…
Exploring Ita Thao
From Xuanguang pier, we took the ferry to Ita Thao pier. And here at Ita Thao, we ate, ate and ate!
We had minced meat rice and mian xian for lunch. Whilst strolling the streets, we were drawn to the long queue at the skewer stall. We had a stick of bbq chicken, a pork sausage, a pepper sausage and a cuttlefish sausage. That was not all. We continued with a Sun Moon Lake red tea ice cream, a millet wine smoothie, an assam milk tea tart and a chocolate wine tart.
Some of the stalls that we wanted to go were not opened. I think they probably only open at night as I read that the place comes alive from 3pm onwards.
Intrigued by the poster, we settled here for lunch.
Had a mince meat rice and a Mian Xian.
Saw a long queue at this stall and decided to try it too.
A large variety of sausages.
BBQ chicken.
Trying a pork sausage, a pepper sausage and a cuttlefish sausage (black).
Had an Assam milk tea tart and a chocolate wine tart.
Had a Sun Moon Lake red tea ice cream.
And lastly, a Millet wine smoothie.
Sunset at Wenwu temple
We strolled to the bus stop at the end of the food street and took the 3pm bus to Wenwu temple. The bus came at 3:08pm and we arrived Wenwu temple at about 3:23pm. We explored around the temple whilst waiting for the sunset. We started waiting at about 4:20pm and the sun began setting at about 4:45pm. By 4:55pm, the sun was almost gone from the horizon.
Took the bus to Wenwu temple.
Arrives at Wenwu temple.
Waiting for the sunset.
Sun setting soon.
Sun “setted”… Hahaa…
By now, the last bus to Shuishe pier had left. But thankfully, we managed to get an Uber to send us back to Shuishe pier. It costs THB 160 for the 5 minutes / 3km ride. Quite glad that we managed to get one, otherwise, we might need to walk 3km back to Shuishe pier.
Took a Tesla Uber back to Shuishe pier.
Our route for the day. Ferry from Shuishe pier to Xuanguang pier to Ita Thao pier, bus to Wenwu temple and Uber back to Shuishe pier.
We arrived back at Shuishe pier and had more street food before I sent my new friend off.
It was such an amazing, fun day with my new found friend, Hua Qun. We started off with breakfast at Shuishe pier, took the ferry across to Xuanguang pier, had tea leaves eggs, hiked up the temples, sneaked into Cien pagoda, had lots of street food at Ita Thao, took the bus to Wenwu temple where we caught an awesome sunset, took an Uber back to Shuishe pier where we had more street food (again!), before he got onto the 6:30pm bus back to Tai Chung.
Waving tata to my new found friend. See you in SG soon!
After catching my birthday sunrise at Alisan, I left Alisan on the 1pm bus and arrived Sun Moon Lake at about 4pm. The sun was setting soon, but yet this crazy-me wanted to try my luck to beat the sunset and cycle to the Xiangshang Visitor Centre which has a scenic outlook (viewing deck) where visitors could enjoy the beautiful views of Sun Moon Lake from the top. Sadly, not long after I started riding, it got too dark to see anything and hence, I headed back.
This crazy gal decided to just cycle to the viewing deck despite that it was turning dark soon.
Off I go…
There was still some day light when I set off.
There’s still some setting hues.
But soon, skies started getting darker.
On my way back, I lost my way. I was at a cross junction and couldn’t decide if I should go right where it was just pure darkness or go towards the left, which was a bright and lighted path on the road. I did not recall cycling on the roads at any point but yet was afraid to go on the dark path on the right side. It didn’t help that my mobile phone had only 7% juice remaining and my power bank had already been drained out after the intense sunrise shoot at Alisan.
Thankfully, I was “saved” by the two elderly uncles that I met at the viewing deck. I was happy to see them because I didn’t know my way and they were happy to see me because I had a flashlight! The one with the flashlight didn’t know the way and the ones that know the way didn’t have the flashlight. We were just like the perfect 3-legged race team. Hahaa…
The two elderly uncles became my “body guards”, one cycling in front of me and one cycling behind me. They chaperoned me back to my accommodation safe and sound before they went their way.
They chaperoned me back to my accommodation before they went back to theirs. So thankful to these two angels on wheels.
Was famished by the time I got back to my accommodation. Dropped off my stuffs and headed out for dinner. Had a Mapo Tofu set at NT 220. I even bought this little cake for myself and that ended my crazy birthday adventure for 2024 !
Had dinner at this eatery because there was Hainanese Chicken Rice on the menu, which is my number 1 favorite food.
They had ran out of the Hainanese Chicken Rice set and I ended up having this Mapo Tofu set instead.
I didn’t really realised I had documented quite a few of my birthday celebrations here over the last decade. Hopefully, I’ll get to do so every year, until the day I can’t.
I took a cab to Changi beach in an attempt to catch a sunrise. But it was a gloomy day and there was no awesome sunrise to shout about. Despite so, I was proud of myself for being able to drag myself out of bed to do so.
What better way to start off one’s birthday by waking up to a field of beautiful sunflowers and immersing in this gorgeous field from dawn to dusk? Last year, I took a cab to Changi to shoot the sunrise. This year, I upped the ante by taking a flight to Bangkok, and then a cab to Lopburi to do a sunrise on a sunflower field. I was anxious but excited. It was a gift from myself to myself. A gift of love and independence.
As I travelled on my own (a ‘little gal’ with a big bag), I met strangers who gave me a helping hand, strangers who gave me a lift, strangers who brought me around and strangers who bought me food! I am immensely thankful to the many locals who came forward to help me despite the language barriers. It is amazing how much I had been helped along the way.
This year, I trained 4 months to come climb Mt Kinabalu to do a sunrise on my birthday.
As I trekked up KK this morning at 2:30am, I fiddled around in the darkness, battled the strong cold winds, and I held on to ropes and trekked at the edge of the mountain. At one juncture, my mind just went blank. One slip and that was it – I was literally at the brim of death. This is the first time I came so close to death, and I can’t help but be reminded that every birthday is a blessing – a gift to be grateful for I have earned another year of my life and I still have what it takes to do what I like.
My travel buddy and I rode to the stupas in the wee hours with the use of our hand-held flashlight. I marveled at his sense of direction as I sat at the back of the e-bike, as a pillion rider. We were there for the first time ever, but yet he seemed to know his way around, just by his ‘gut feel’.
He was not a morning person, but he dragged himself out of the warm, comfortable bed and drove me, in the dark, in the cold, to do my yearly sunrise. Words can’t express how much gratitude I have, to have a friend like him.
2015 – Working at Suntec Convention Centre, Singapore
2015, Thursday, Suntec Convention Centre, Singapore
I was not able to go anywhere since I had to work, but I am still grateful to be able to have a job and an income, so that I could continue to do the things I loved.
I had a bad fall two months prior to my birthday and had to forgo my yoga retreat at Canggu in Bali. I took the advice of an eatery owner to catch a sunrise at Sanur beach instead. Although the sun wasn’t able to break through the thick clouds, it was still a spectacular, surreal sight which made my getting up at 4:30am and IDR 130,000 cab fare worth it.
2017 – Sunrise at Cameron Highlands, Malaysia
2017, Sunday, Cameron Highland, Malaysia
I am grateful to my friend (Johnny), who arrived at my hotel in Cameron at 3:30am, caught a few winks and accompanied me up to Cameron hilltop at 5:30am to try to get a sunrise shot. It was freaking cold, total darkness with no lights ahead and we had to meander the narrow, potholes road which was at the edge of the cliff. We finally managed to make it to the viewing point but alas, it started drizzling and we didn’t manage to catch any sunrise.
2018 – Sunrise at Koh Samed beach, Thailand
2018, Monday, Koh Samed, Thailand
Another year older, but don’t think I am any wiser.
Just thankful that another year has passed and I can still open my eyes, I can still smell, I can still hear, I can still eat, drink, walk, run and sleep. I still have a shelter over my head, food on the table, a job that gives me income and legs which I can still travel with.
Every year is a bonus, everyday is a privilege.
2019 – A visit to my alma mater, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia
2019, Tuesday, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia
I was here 20 years ago, I am back here again 20 years later! I graduated from Curtin University on 8-8-99 and this was my 20th year anniversary.
This is my first visit back to Perth since I graduated. I thought this would be just another trip down memory lane, but it turned out to be an emotional roller coaster ride. Everything was so familiar, but yet so unfamiliar.
Staying at the Uni hostel (Vickery House), I recalled how my housemate and I would travel 1 hour from our hostel to Perth City every Friday night just to chill at Fast Eddy’s, our favorite hangout, which had closed in early 2019 after more than 20 years of operations.
I went to Fremantle and ate at the same Fish and Chips stall that we used to go. I visited Cottesloe and caught a stunning sunset.
I visited the Uni campus and saw that so much has changed. They now have a stadium, a hockey field, a medical school, a bus station and even a bus terminal.
As I alighted from the bus, I didn’t quite recognise any of the buildings. As I walked on, I saw a familiar looking rooftop, which looked like my old hostel. When I went nearer.. Omg, it was indeed! You will not be able to imagine the excitement that I had seeing my old hostel again. I went around the hostel, the Uni, the bookstore, the Business building, the field etc.
Every single spot on this trip, especially the Uni and hostel brought back so much memories and I couldn’t help but well up in tears. I would have to say, that was one of the best year of my life, when I did my studies here. And with that, 20 years had just gone by in a twinkle of an eye. What have I achieved in the last 20 years? Nothing much. How many more 20 years would I have? I have no idea.
Nevertheless, everyday is a blessing and hopefully, I will still be able to come back to Perth again 20 years on. Goodbye Perth and thank you for the beautiful memories once again.
2020 – Sunrise at Marina Bay, Singapore (Pandemic Lockdown)
2020, Thursday, Marina Bay, Singapore (Pandemic Lockdown)
Every year on my birthday, I would scoot off somewhere to shoot a sunrise. This year has been an extraordinary year with many firsts for many of us; the first time that we have a lockdown and our borders were closed, the first time that we had to work-from-home (WFH) and do home-based-learning (HBL), the first time that we have to don on a mask the moment we step out of our homes, the first time that we have to curb leisure travelling for not 1, not 2, but a good 9 months and counting.
During this pandemic, many shops have closed down, many people got laid off and many suffered pay cuts etc.
My birthday wish for this year is that this COVID-19 pandemic could end soon, and that we could all get back to our ‘normal lives’, no longer a must to wear masks, no longer a need for safe entry or trace together and that we can all start leisure travelling once again.
2021 – Sunrise at Pulau Ubin, Singapore (Pandemic Lockdown)
2021, Friday, Pulau Ubin, Singapore (Pandemic Lockdown)
In a twinkle of an eye, the COVID-19 pandemic has inflicted us for almost 2 years, which also meant that it has been almost 2 years since many of us had travelled.
I managed to “travel overseas”, for my birthday this year. Hahaa… Lolz.
Thanks to the “gahmen’s” $100 voucher, I did a staycay at Changi Cove and walked over to Changi Ferry Terminal to catch a bum boat to Pulau Ubin on the morning of my birthday. I explored the island after the sunrise, and was so happy to walk around, breathe in nature and had some ‘mini adventures’.
I paused and froze when I saw a wild boar ran across my path. I saw some monkeys swinging in the trees. I hiked up Puaka Hill and was ‘attacked’ by a hornet. I was stranded on a bridge during the flood and had to take off my shoes and waddle barefoot across the waters and to wear back my shoes thereafter.
2022 – Sunrise at Koh Lipe Island beach, Thailand
2022, Friday, Koh Lipe Island, Thailand
2022 has been a year of ups and downs. After having gone through some bad weather, it is only then, that we began to appreciate the good weather better.
I did not get any good sunrise this morning, but it was ok. I got to soak in the crystal clear waters, enjoy a Thai milk tea, a choco banana roti, a magnum ice cream and a massage session amongst others.
Happiness is made of life’s simple pleasures and I am just grateful that I can and I am still able to do the things I enjoy, eat the things I want and go to places whenever I like.
A friend left… without saying goodbye. One month ago, we were still travelling together, and one month later, she was gone…. from this world.
It suddenly dawned on me that everything is impermanent and everything is transient. We can be here today, and gone tomorrow. As such, we should do whatever we want today, eat whatever we want today, go wherever we want today, and say whatever we want today, cos’ tomorrow may never come.
With every single passing year, we may encounter more and more of such incidences. Hence, it is time we live life to the fullest and celebrate every single day for each day is a blessing.
This year, I had wanted to climb up Alisan in the wee hours to catch the sunrise, but considering that it was dark and cold at 8 degrees celcius, I decided to take the easy way out by taking the train up instead, Hahaa…
As I get older, I get lazier and less inclined to think, plan and explore new adventures. I preferred visiting tried, tested and no-brainer places instead.
However, this trip reignited my sense of adventure and freedom again. I got to explore new places, talk to random strangers, tried new foods etc.
I hope I would still be able to continue exploring a new place for my birthday every year, for many more years to come.
It has been a long while since I got to do a sunrise on my birthday. I had always wanted to catch one at Alisan but never got a chance to, as I was pretty afraid of the cold winter in Taiwan during the December period.
However, in 2024, I decided to take the plunge and did it! Woohooo….
I flew in to Taiwan on 30 Nov 2024, Saturday and made a dash from Taoyuan Airport to Chiayi on the 9:34pm HSR (High Speed Rail). I arrived Chiayi close to midnight and checked out at 8am the next day and headed to Fenqihu. (Check out my Fenqihu adventures here.)
I arrived Alisan on 2 Dec 2024, Monday and spent the night at Alisan before trying to catch the sunrise at Alisan the next day. (Check out my Alisan adventures here.)
On 3 Dec 2024, Tuesday morning at 5:20am, I left the accommodation to catch the sunrise train to Chu San station. It was a freezing 8 degrees celcius out there.
Super duper cold at 8 degrees celcius. I was glad I didn’t do the hike up.
There is only 1 train timing (5:30am) from Alisan station to the Chu San station (sunrise spot). And 1 train timing (7:05am) from Chu San station (sunrise spot) back to Alisan station.
However, as there was a huge crowd waiting in line for the Sunrise train, they split it into two batches; one batch at 5:30am and the second batch at 5:40am. I was on the second batch and took the 5:40am train. Do try to go early because if you miss these 2 trains, there will be no more trains up to the Chu San station and you would need to hike up on your own, which might not be in time for the sunrise.
Lots of sunrise go-ers waiting in line to get onto the train. Do go early if you can.
Super duper cold at 8 degrees celcius. Bbbrrrr…
Apart from these timings, the train does not travel to the sunrise spot. You would have to walk or hike there on your own, should you want to do a recee the day prior.
I got on the 5:40am train and arrived Chu San station at 6:10am. The sunrise for that day was 6:48am. Since there was still time, I did a 15 minutes hike to Xiao Li Yu Shan view point. There were tons of people waiting at this viewpoint already!
Arrives Chu San station at about 6:10am.
Sunrise is at 6:48am – which is pretty accurate.
Took a 10 minutes stroll to Xiao Li Yu Shan view point.
The crowd waiting at Xiao Li Yu Shan view point.
Waiting patiently for the sunrise.
Love the hues and their layers.
At 6:48am sharp, we saw the first ray of sunlight coming through!
6:48am sharp : First ray of sunlight coming through!
Yes….!! Thankful to have been able to catch such a beautiful sunrise.
Within minutes, the sun was blazing.
Knowing that I am going to shoot a sunrise for my birthday, my friend gifted me this Young Living Sunrise Neubaliser.
By 6:53am, the sun was blazing fiercely. I sat and immersed in the glows of the sun and only started hiking down slowly at 7:30am. I met a photog on the way and we strolled down together.
Caught some really beautiful snapshots whilst hiking down slowly.
Trying to “steal” the same angle as the photog.
Chu chu train
Met Kelvin, a local photog who visits Alisan often to shoot. If any of you happen to know him, please help me say Hi to him.
We parted ways at Zhao Ping station and I hiked to Sisters Pond. It felt so liberating and at peace to just sit in nature amongst the trees.
Loved the tall slender trees at Alisan.
Immersing in nature.
An accidental remote control shot that turned out quite well.
Felt like an adventure of some sorts.
Sisters Pond.
Saw this red foliage outside Alisan Gou Hotel. So pretty!
Trying to get the same effect as the previous pic, but not as successful. Hahaa…
At 1pm, I took the bus from Alisan Bus Terminal and headed to Sun Moon Lake. I had pre-booked the bus seat online but you would only need to pay when you board the bus. Please be reminded to pre-book your seat, should you be looking at doing the same, as priority is given to those that had pre-booked their seats. Those who did not pre-book a seat may run the risk of not being able to board the bus if the seats are fully occupied. Click on the link above, download form and then email the form back to them. I know, its so archaic, right. Hahaa… Tell me about it.
Took this bus from Alisan bus terminal to Sun Moon Lake. Bus is not very big and seats are pretty crammed. Paid NT 148 using Taiwan’s Easycard.
I took the 11:40am bus from Fenqihu to Alisan. It was quite a scenic ride from Fenqihu to Alisan and I arrived Alisan 1 hour later, at about 12:40pm. It was pretty fast. Do remember to ask the bus driver for the bus ticket before alighting as this would help you save 50% for the entrance fees into Alisan.
Arrives Alisan bus terminal in about 1 hour at 12:40pm.
I’m here at Alisan!
Entrance to the Alisan area
Entrance fee to the Alisan Forest area costs NT 300 for adults, but it would only costs you NT 150 if you present your bus ticket.
Entrance to Alisan area. Fees for adults is NT 300. If you present your bus ticket, the entrance fees is NT 150.
About a 5 to 10 minutes walk uphill before arriving at the toilets area. After the toilets area, head downhill to the “hotels stretch”.
Train ticket to sunrise spot (Chu San station)
My main objective of coming to Alisan was to catch the sunrise on my birthday, which was the following day. However, as the mornings were pretty cold and dark and I wasn’t familiar with the routes, I decided to get a sunrise train ticket at NT 150 one way for the following day instead.
The train ride and sunrise timing defers from day to day. You would need to check the board at the ticketing counter to confirm the following day’s sunrise and train timing. Alternatively, you could check with your accommodation as the hotel that I stayed at, had the sunrise timing prominently displayed at their front desk.
Once you see this landmark, walk up the stairs on its left and go to the second level of the building to purchase the sunrise train ticket. They also sell train tickets to other stations as well.
The ticket counter on second level. The current temperature is 14 degrees celcius. The train ride for the following day is at 5:40am and the sunrise is at 6:48am.
Hiking around Alisan
After dropping off my luggage at the accommodation, I took the 2pm train to Shenmu station and started my hike.
If you didn’t manage to take the Alisan Forest Railway train from Chiayi to Alisan, you can try it here. It is pretty much the same, except for its seating orientation.
Took from Alisan main station to Shenmu station to start my hike.
Shenmu tree.
I came across an operational primary school with sounds of kids singing and laughing inside the Alisan Forest area.
An operational school and I could even hear kids laughing and singing.
Ci Yun Temple – You can’t really enter and could only shoot from the outside.
Hiked to Ci Yun temple.
Here at Ci Yun temple.
Could not enter the temple premise and could only shoot from the outside.
The garden at Ci Yun temple.
Hiked to No. 28 Luding giant tree too.
Lots of these tall, majestic trees in the forest.
No. 28 Luding giant tree behind me.
If you are intending to take their trains instead of hiking from point to point, do check out their train timings as the trains do not run on a high frequency and they end pretty early.
The last train from Shenmu station to Alisan station is at 4:10pm and the train journey is 7 minutes.
As I wanted to catch the 4:30pm sunset tour organized by the hotel, I took the 4:10pm last train and made a dash back to the hotel the moment I alighted.
The last train from Shenmu station to Alisan station is at 4:10pm.
Costs NT 100 for the one way ride.
Unlike the Alisan Forest Railway train from Chiayi to Alisan that has seats forward facing, this train has seats that faces each other.
Sunset at Alisan
The minivan was already waiting at the foyer when I got back to the hotel. Thankfully, I managed to make it in time for the sunset tour costing NT 100. We departed at 4:30pm and arrived at the sunset spot at 4:37pm. Once we had gotten our spots, we were advised not to move away, as it would soon get crowded with people shoveling from the back. It was a scorching sunny day and we managed to catch a glorious sunset.
Sun setting soon.
Sea of clouds.
5:13pm : The sun started dipping.
5:15pm (this pic) : The sun has dipped halfway.
5:18pm : The sun was totally gone from the horizon.
Dinner at Alisan
Before I headed for my dinner, the temperature was at 10 degrees celcius. When I came out after my dinner, the temperature had dropped to 9 degrees celcius.
As I was freezing cold, I settled for the nearest eatery which was a hotpot to warm me up. The set costs NT 350 (SGD 15) and it came with a few pieces of meat, 2 prawns, 2 slices of fish, a vegetable platter, free flow of rice, sauce, soup and drinks. Overall, the meal was quite sumptuous and definitely good value for money.
Temperature was at 10 degrees celcius before my dinner. After my dinner, the temperature dropped to 9 degrees celcius.
I had my dinner at this eatery which looked well-patronised.
The set meal NT 350 came with a vegetable platter, a few pieces of meat, 2 prawns, 2 slices of fish, free flow of rice, sauce, soup and drinks. Overall, I would say its pretty good value for money and the meal was sumptuous.
Accommodation at Alisan
I booked my accommodation at Gau Shan Ching hotel for the night. It costs SGD 105 per night and this was the cheapest hotel with the cheapest room rate that I could find at that point of booking. This hotel had a lift! Quite happy, as the last few (and next few) hotels that I stayed in didn’t have one and it was quite a hassle lugging the luggage up and down.
The room was ok and they even have a bath tub.
Stayed at this Gau Shan Ching Hotel that costs SGD 105. It was the cheapest hotel and the cheapest room rate at that point of booking. But it was the most expensive accommodation on my entire Taiwan trip.
They have a lift! Thankfully….
Can’t imagine lugging my luggage up to the 5th level if they didn’t have a lift.
Super cold at night as there isn’t a heater in the rooms.
Did not use the bath tub cos I just wanted to shower as quickly as I could as it was super duper cold.
I flew in to Taiwan on 30 Nov 2024, Saturday and made a dash from Taoyuan Airport to Chiayi on the 9:34pm HSR (High Speed Rail). I arrived Chiayi close to midnight and checked out at 8am the next day and headed to Fenqihu.
Landed in Taiwan at about 7:20pm. By the time I cleared customs is about 8:05pm.
8:10pm : Took the MRT from Tao Yuan airport to Tao Yuan HSR station.
Rushed and managed to catch the 9:34pm HSR from Tao Yuan HSR station to Chiayi HSR station.
Dropped dead tired from all the travelling and rush in a day.
10:54pm : Arrives Chiayi HSR station. Use the escalators to go down to Exit 2.
Use Exit 2, turn right to find the BRT (bus).
Bus to Chiayi railway train station. The railway train station and the High Speed Rail station are not the same and are about 30 minutes apart.
11:15pm : Bus arrives and departs Chiayi HSR station to go to Chiayi railway station. Free shuttle bus service for those that show the HSR ticket. Takes about 30 minutes.
11:45pm : Bus arrives Chiayi railway station.
Getting to Fenqihu
I read up quite a bit about the hiking trails and bamboo groves at Fenqihu and decided to swing by since it was en-route to Alisan.
I pre-booked and took the 9am Alisan Forest Railway Train from Chiayi railway station and arrived Fenqihu at about 11:30am. (You can pre-book Chiayi to Alisan tickets online, 15 days in advance. But for Chiayi to Fenqihu (mid-way), tickets would only be sold 3 days prior, if there are any leftover tickets from Chiayi to Alisan. I was lucky to get one of the ‘leftover tickets’ on the 28 Nov for my 1 Dec trip. If you are buying the Forest Railway ticket for Chiayi to Fenqihu, my advice would be to check for tickets daily on the last 5 days before your trip and to have a contingency plan if you do not manage to get any ‘leftover’ tickets.
Chiayi Railway Station facade. Bear was gone after I came back from Alisan.
Chiayi Railway Station.
Alisan Forest Railway ticket counter.
You can redeem your physical ticket here, if you had opted for a physical ticket instead of an online ticket.
The inside of Chiayi Railway station.
Once you enter the gates, turn right and walk all the way to the end to platform 10.
You should see this signage to know that you are waiting at the right place.
Platform 10
The Alisan Forest Railway train aka the red train. Arrived at 8:53am and departed at 9am sharp.
Cabin 5 – where my pre-booked seat was.
Arrives at Fenqihu station at about 11:27am.
Spending the day at Fenqihu
Bento Sets
Since I would be in Fenqihu for only a day, I decided to try the “famous” and most expensive bento set for lunch, costing NT 190. There were many other bento sets in the NT 120 to NT 150 price range.
I came to the most popular “old man” bento set and it was super crowded. The cheaper bento sets costing NT 170 and NT 180 were already sold out by the time I arrived at 1pm. They only had the NT 190 chicken thigh and meat bento set left. So, I ordered this and waited about 20 minutes before I got my order.
The bento set came in a metal casing and was piping hot. The serving was decent and the chicken meat was quite tender.
The most popular and most expensive “old man” bento set. Heard from the hotel owner that they actually uses a central kitchen instead of cooking on the spot.
Super crowded and waited 20 minutes for my order.
The cheaper bento sets were sold out by 1pm.
Ordered the NT 190 bento set instead.
Came in a metal casing that was piping hot. Soup was self-service and free flow.
There was a chicken thigh, meat and pickled vegetables.
Hiking around Fenqihu
After the hearty bento set, it was time to burn them off. I visited the Square Bamboo Forest, Taiwan Incense Cedar Wood Forest and Shinto Shrine Ruins. There were lots of bamboo trees along the way and they were so pretty!
The “shopping street” at Fenqihu.
Was super crowded in the afternoon.
The kind owner of this shop gave me advice on how and where to go to catch the fireflies at night.
Train Museum at the Railway station.
Square Bamboo Forest. The bamboo really does look squarish!
Bamboo grove.
Really pretty and can’t get enough of it!
Visited the Taiwan Incense Cedar Forest too.
Visiting few of the attractions.
Did a bit of hike to Shinto Shrine Ruins.
Shinto Shrine Ruins… – totally nothing left to see. Hahaa….
Donut Addiction
I passed by the donut shop which had super long queues in the afternoon. By now, the queues had waned and I decided to try the donut to see what’s the hype.
It tasted a little like croissant, but it was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. And it wasn’t too sweet either. I had imagined it to be as sweet as donuts, since they named them ‘donuts’. It was so addictive that I went on to try two other stalls the next day.
Long queues in the afternoon at this stall. By evening, the crowd had waned and I decided to give it a try to see what’s the hype.
Trying the sweet donut at the railway tracks whilst enjoying the sunset.
This stall had a 5m long queue in the afternoon on the previous day.
Its really getting addictive! Crispy on the outside. Soft and fluffy on the inside. And its not too sweet either!
Trying the third and last sweet donut before leaving Fenqihu.
This sweet donut comes with a slight tinge of chocolate flavour. Not as crispy and tasty as the previous one that I had though.
Spending the night at Fenqihu
I spent the night at Yeashow Villa which was right at the main “shopping street”. It looked pretty old from the outside but it was pretty decent on the inside. It costs TWD 1500 (SGD 60).
The hot showers are only available from 5pm to 10am, which the boss claims that it is the longest in town as the other hotels only offer hot showers from 5pm to 10pm. Not sure how true though. But I wouldn’t really want to try as the nights were super cold and it as definitely a blessing to have hot showers!
There is no lift here and I had to lug my suitcase up 3 levels to get to my room. I thought it was quite nice to have 2 windows but it got super chilly when night came.
The bathroom was rather old but huge where you can play hide and seek. Hahaa…
Was walking on “Old Street” and this was on a side alley. Went down the steps and found the accommodation.
Booked my accommodation at Fenqihu; Yeashow Villa for a night.
Looks old on the outside, but was pretty ok on the inside.
Hot showers from 5pm to 10am only. The boss claims that all the other accommodations in Fenqihu only have hot showers from 5pm to 10pm. Not sure how true though.
My room on the third level.
Pretty cold at night.
Huge but old bathroom.
Bus from Fenqihu to Alisan
I checked out of the accommodation and headed to the busstop at about 11am the next day. The bus came at 11:40am and it was a huge bus. It was quite a scenic ride from Fenqihu to Alisan.
Waited at this busstop for the bus to Alisan.
Bus arrived at 11:40am.
It was quite a huge bus and thankfully, there were plenty of seats.
Khao Yai has been gaining traction amongst local as well as foreign visitors in recent years. Approximately, 140km (2.5 to 3 hours ride) away from Bangkok. it is a quaint town that comes alive during November to January period.
My travel buddy and I did a 3 days, 2 nights trip to Khao Yai and we had such a blast.
In this blog post, I’ll be covering the adventures that we had on the second and third day (3rd and 4th December 2023).
Ban Tha Cha Spring
As we were staying pretty near to the Ban Tha Chang spring, we decided to walk over to the spring and gave our driver the morning off.
It was not a very big spring, but the water was so clean, clear and refreshing.
The water look so clear and inviting.
Can’t wait to get into the cascading waterfall.
Saw a huge gecko on the tree. Hahaa….
Look at how clear the water is! I could even see my own water shoes.
The water gushing down helps to relieve the aches and pains on the back for the last couple of days.
Primo Piazza
This Italy-inspired village houses Italian architecture buildings coupled with cobbled streets, green fields and farm animals. My main objective here was to feed the alpacas. But who knows, wherever I went, there were alpacas everywhere! Hahaa…
The entrance fee of THB 200 includes some grass to feed the sheep or alpacas.
Brought along the flower balloon sculpture because it’s my birthday! Heh Hehh…
Such a picturesque little village.
Loved the architecture they had here.
Thankfully, they were nice and friendly and didn’t spit on me.
Bonanza Exotic Zoo
Touted as an “Exotic Zoo” that had over 50 kinds of exotic animals, we needed to go see them for ourselves.
Was a little disappointed that there’s more farm animals than exotic animals here at this zoo. But the good thing was that, there were lots of feeding opportunities for the visitors though. The entrance fee of THB 200 includes a packet of carrots and a small packet of seeds.
Not sure if I missed the rest, but the only “exotic animal” that I saw here was an albino kangaroo.
Entrance fee of THB 200 includes a packet of carrots and a small packet of seeds.
I want his stylist!
Love the feeding sessions.
Really get to feed them up close.
The only “exotic animal” that I saw at this exotic park is the albino kangaroo.
Baan Mai Chay Nam
Moving towards Pak Chong area, we came to this riverside restaurant with a museum. The “museum” felt more like a junkyard of collectibles where there is almost everything and anything, from plates to bowls to clocks, lighters, books, miniatures, Mickey Mouse figurines etc.
Restaurant + museum.
Marilyn Monroe wanna-be
Italy have Leaning Tower of Pisa. Here, they have Tiffin Tower of Pak Chong. Hahaa…
The amount of items here is insane.
Dinner at Baan Mai Chay Nam
I thought it would be nice and cooling to have dinner here by the riverside. But sadly, I was not here for dinner, I was here AS dinner – for the mozzies! Hahahaa….
We had a Pad Thai THB 180, Chicken Wings THB 180, Stir Fried Vegetable THB 180 and a Tom Yum Soup THB 250.
Why did I think it was a good idea to have dinner by the riverside instead of the air-conditioned sitting? Hahaa…
Our dinner.
Pad Thai THB 180, Chicken Wings THB 180, Stir Fried Vegetable THB 180 and a Tom Yum Soup THB 250.
Accommodation
Baan Suan Noi Resort aka Hobbit House
Saw lots of reviews and pictures of the Hobbit House accommodation and they looked super cute! We had to make a booking from their website directly, as it was not available on any of the hotel aggregator sites (at that time of booking).
I had the room (M6) at THB 1000 (SG$40). It was pretty affordable considering that it is a theme hotel. The most unique part of the room was the circular room door and an arched ceiling in the room and the fact that we were staying in a Hobbit House!
It was almost 10pm when we arrived here at the Hobbit House.
Got the M6 room.
Super cute circular door like in the movies.
A queen bed, a couch, a TV, private bathroom and air-conditioning at about SG$40. I would say its quite a steal.
Bathroom with an arched door too.
Costume Play at Baan Suan Noi Resort
We got up pretty early, grabbed our breakfast at 7am, so that we could finish it up quickly and start our costume dress up.
We started at about 8am and only managed to change out three sets of costumes as we needed to head to the next destination at 10am.
There were lots of sets around the resort for camwhoring and there is even a replica of a Hobbit House for pictures and videos.
Castle setting.
The Throne.
Dragon’s throne.
Santorini setting.
The dining area where we had breakfast.
Harry Potter’s Room.
Hobbit House replica.
Interior of the Hobbit House.
Dining room of the Hobbit House.
It costs THB 150 for adults and THB 100 for kids. There is no time limit and there are no costume set limits as well. The costume room opens from 7am to 8pm.
The costume room is unmanned and you can just pick out any costumes you want and try on as many sets as you want. You just need to find the sizes that fit you. There were lots of hats, props, footwear etc.
Most of the dresses were way too long for me… Or rather, I guess I’m just way too short. Hahaa…
The men’s collection was much lesser than that for ladies… but heh… who says men could only fit into men’s outfits. Hahaa…
The Costume Room opens from 7am to 8pm.
Costs THB 150 for adults and THB 100 for kids.
No time limit and no limit on the outfits you can try on.
Kids outfits.
Heroes outfits!
Ladies outfits.
Men outfits.
Hats section.
Accessories section.
Fulfilling my Childhood Dream – Superman
I fulfilled my childhood dream of being a Superman!! I totally love the costume. And look at my travel bud! He totally “ate” the Snow White’s outfit. From the ribbon on his head to the Snow White shoes, he “drip”.
(GenZ slang : “she/he/they “ate that outfit” means someone did exceptionally well or looked flawlessly, particularly in the context of fashion or performance. “Drip” means having a cool, fashionable and stylish appearance, especially when it comes to clothing and accessories.)
Superman wanna-be.
The Superman pose!
I believe I can fly…
Me in a Superman outfit and my travel bud in a Snow White outfit! We had such a blast.
Every Gal’s Dream
I slipped my feet into one of these ballerina flats and guess what… they fitted perfectly – just like Cinderella!
Every gal’s dream of being a princess. Me tooooo….
Waiting for my prince to come.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer
The princess waited, waited and waited and her prince didn’t show up. She was full of sadness and anger and started turning evil, and became a witch – trying to come up with a concoction to find her prince.
They even have broom sticks as props.
Brewing the concoction to find my prince.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s stick.
Overall, we had soooooo muccchhhh fun at the Baan Suan Noi Resort costume dress up. This is definitely a must-visit for those who loved having fun and playing dress up. A place for the young and the young-at-heart!
Khao Yai Thiang Wind Turbine
Popped by this wind turbine since it was on the way back to Pak Chong area. Rather disappointed that the stretch of wind turbines were pretty far away. Would probably have to cycle or take a buggy to see them up close. Could and should have given this attraction a miss since we were tight on time.
Khao Yai National Park
Established in 1962, Khao Yai National Park is the first National Park in Thailand. It was declared an ASEAN Heritage Park in 1984 and listed as UNESCO’s 184th World Heritage Site in 2005.
Khao Yai National park is not exactly a “walk in the park”. Covering 2,166 km², you would not be able to cover the park on foot. You would need to be driven from point to point. We arrived at the entrance at 1:40pm and reached the first attraction 20 minutes later at 2pm!
Entrance fee costs THB 400 per adult. Vehicle fee (Sedan) = THB 30, Personal Fee = THB 40.
We reckon “Personal Fee” referred to “Driver / Guide Fees”, as we were charged a total of THB 870.
Dong Phayayen Forest Complex / View Point
Although this wasn’t in our itinerary, our driver stopped here so that we could get a “We are here” pic. Its like a first pit stop for all visitors.
First pit stop to get a “We are here” pic.
Breath taking view.
We came to this bridge which leads to Kong Kaeo Nature trail. It was a pity we didn’t really have time to hike the trails in the park. I think it is best to arrive here at 9am in the morning so that one can maximise the THB 400 entrance fees to explore the hiking trails as well as more of the park as the park is huge and getting from one attraction to another takes up quite a bit of time.
Our initial plans were to visit the below 3 attractions;
Heaw Suwat Waterfall
Pha Diao Dai Cliff
Haew Narok Waterfall
Unfortunately, as we were running out of time, we could only visit the second and third attractions and skip the first attraction; Heaw Suwat Waterfall – where Leonardo did the waterfall jump in The Beach.
Pha Diao Dai Cliff
It took us about 15 minutes to walk through a boardwalk before arriving at the Pha Diao Dai Cliff, where one can get a panoramic view of the National Park and its surrounding areas.
Entrance of the boardwalk to Pha Diao Dai Cliff.
Quite an easy and leisure 15 minutes walk on this boardwalk to the cliff.
Was quite scary looking down.
One missed step and sayonara… Hahaa…
Haew Narok Waterfall
As this was highly recommended by our driver, we made a dash here and arrived the entrance at 4:40pm. We had to hurry and walk fast as the park would be closing at 6pm. The last stretch to the waterfall was a very steep flight of steps and climbing up or down was a killer.
We doubled our speed and managed to get to the waterfall at 5pm. It was majestic no doubt but it wasn’t something that was out of the ordinary (imo).
I had some slight regrets of not being able to explore the first attraction as opposed to this third location.
Arrives at the entrance of Haew Narok Waterfall at 4:40pm. Had to walk really fast to get to the waterfall and back.
The famed Haew Narok Waterfall.
It was majestic, but nothing too out-of-the-world though.
Had a tough hike up and this marked our last attraction in Khao Yai.
Tips on travelling to Khao Yai
Period
The best time to visit Khao Yai is the November to January period. My travel bud went again (with his family) in May 2024 and the attractions were nothing like what we had in December. It was rainy and gloomy. The Ban Tha Chang spring was teh’ Tarik and the flower park was closed. Many of the other attractions were not opened as well.
Dec 2023 – Ban Tha Chang Spring with glass clear waters.
May 2024 – Ban Tha Chang Spring with Teh Tarik waters. (Photo credit: Darren Ng Facebook Page)
Safety
With the spate of scam syndicate abductions in recent months, we were petrified when we had to hire a driver. We set up a group chat that comprises the driver and our family members. We posted our ‘live location’ into the group chat and posted pictures constantly, so that our family members had access to our ‘live location’ should anything untoward happen to us.
Weather
Weather’s pretty warm during the day and chilly in the night. So, remember to bring along your sunscreen and jackets.
My two favorite attractions in Khao Yai :
Hokkaido Flower Park, Khao Yai – This attraction is really beautiful with all the different species and colours of flowers. Highly recommended!
Baan Suan Noi Resort – If you like dressing up and camwhoring, this is the place! We had a lot of fun playing dress up and taking pics with the different sets. Definitely a place to immerse in and go crazy with the outfits and all.
As like every other year, I’ll usually plan a trip to somewhere for my Birthday.
2023 was no exception.
I had contemplated on a few locations but settled for Khao Yai (about 140km North of Bangkok) with my travel buddy.
We got into Bangkok on 1 Dec 2023 (Friday) evening. On 2 Dec 2023 (Saturday) morning, we embarked on a 3 hours journey to Khao Yai. We had booked a driver prior and he picked us up from our Bangkok accommodation at 8am in the morning.
Mr Hlo (our driver) arrived punctually at 8am to pick us up from our accommodation in Bangkok.
After a grueling 2.5 hours ride, we had finally arrived in Khao Yai.
Suwan Corn Farm
We started the trip at Suwan Corn Farm as it was quite famed for its delicious corn milk. Read from the reviews that there were always long queues and customers buy them in bulk. Thankfully when we arrived at about 10:30am, the crowd has thinned. There were only a few persons ahead of me in the queue. And true enough, people were buying in bulk / cartons and even trolleys of it!
Bought a few bottles of the corn milk to try and gave some to our driver.
Some photo opps within the corn farm.
Look at that massive pile of corns.
They even have a cafe too!
Customers were buying trolleys of the corn milk. Thankfully, we managed to snag some too.
Dairy Home
We then headed to Dairy Home where I had one of the most delicious ice creams I’ve ever had in my entire life! The ice cream was chewy and milky and there were so many interesting flavours such as White wine and Lychee, Cherry and Brandy, Vodka Lemon Sorbet, Cappucino and Rum etc. I was lactose intolerant, and thankfully, I didn’t have the runs. But even if I did, it was totally worth it. Haahaa… Lolz….
Arrives Dairy Home.
1 scoop for THB 69 and 2 scoops for THB 90. There were lots of interesting flavours too.
We ordered the White wine and Lychee as well as Cherry and Brandy. Was one of the best ice cream I’ve ever had. So chewy and yummy.
Bought a bottle of Lactose-free milk to try too.
Lago Di Khao Yai
Read from reviews that this is a hidden gem and apparently, our driver has not been here either. Costs THB 100 to enter. It’s a very well-manicured garden with a pond that had lots of kois, waterfalls and green spaces. It was totally worth the THB 100.
Lago Di Khao Yai.
The European style architecture, ponds and lush greenery is a must-visit.
Was just so serene and relaxing in this garden.
Lots of photo opps as the place is really beautiful.
Every spot was just so clean and photogenic.
Can’t get enough of this space.
Hokkaido Flower Park Khao Yai
Ended off the day at Hokkaido Flower Park Khao Yai which was absolutely one of our favorite locations in Khao Yai! The flower park is so beautiful with all the blooming flowers. We had a good 2 hours camwhoring and it still wasn’t enough. Costs THB 120, where THB 20 can be used to purchase a drink.
Flower Park Khao Yai.
Entrance fee of THB 120, but THB 20 can be used to offset your drink purchase.
Sea of flowers.
There’s even Totoro here!
There were so many different species and colours of flowers here.
Dinner at Chocolate Factory
We chose this restaurant as it was pretty near to where we were staying and it was one of the few restaurants that were opened till late. Many of the other eateries were cafes and they closed pretty early. When we stepped in, we were bowled over. They had so many cute desserts! Omg… The meal was decent but the desserts looked so good! I had a little birthday celeb here since my birthday was the next day.
The Chocolate Factory restaurant in Khao Yai.
Ordered a grilled chicken to share.
Ordered a pineapple fried rice which came in a real pineapple.
Look at the beautiful mango dessert.
The lemon looked just like the real thing. I hope it doesn’t taste as sour though.
Bons bons of different shapes and sizes.
Too pretty!
Not sure how or if one actually eats this handbag and Cinderella heels chocolate. Its too pretty to be eaten!
My birthday dessert!
Thankful to my travel bud for everything.
Accommodation for the night
Montblanc Base Camp
Got a room on the ground level whilst my friend had a room in the opposite building on second level. Mine was a huge triple room that was spacious and clean, costing SGD 43.
Spending the first night at Montblanc Base Camp. Sounds rugged, but it was actually rather decent and unexpectedly nice.
Quite a pretty place.
They even have tents.
A waterfall in the gardens.
My room on the ground level. Pretty huge for a triple room at SGD 43.
My friend’s room on the second level in the opposite block. Costing SGD 52.
Loved this bear in his room.
As we had a long day starting from 8am in the morning, we got back to our rooms at about 10-ish and called it a night. As I was about to doze off, I heard a knocking on my room door. Who could it be at this wee hour?
The Birthday Surprise
When I opened the door, I had the biggest shock of my life. My friend was at my door with balloons, deco and all! From 10:30pm (after we returned to our rooms), not only did he not get any rest, he was busy learning how to do the flower and puppy balloon sculptures from Youtube! He broke 3 balloons in the process and I bet the twisting of the balloons was super painful for the fingers too.
At 11:30pm, he started setting up the deco outside my room and at 12:00 midnight sharp, he ringed my doorbell and came knocking with the birthday surprise he had prepared. It was such a lovely birthday surprise, and the sweetest thing that my friend ever did in our 14 years of friendship.
A birthday surprise came knocking on my door when the clock strike 12 midnight!
He got to make the flower and puppy balloon sculptures, fixed up the alphabets onto the wall, dressed up the table with the party curtains and placed the elements nicely onto the table. So much effort for a 1 minute surprise!
Love the balloon sculptures, deco and prezzie.
As friends, we often fight, quarrel, scold, yell and “kill” each other. But yet at the end of the day, we still remain as dear friends despite our irreconcilable differences. I am truly blessed by the friendship, the patience and the magnanimity of his forgiveness. I do not thank him often enough, but I am truly grateful to him, from the bottom of my heart for all these times.
We’ve seen scams every single day and in every single form. But, we didn’t think we will encounter one right here in SG, under an established, reputable group.
Gourmetz Order
My brother ordered a Happiness Reunion set costing about SG$340 (after taxes and delivery charges) from Gourmetz Catering, backed by Neo Group for our reunion dinner on 28 Jan 2025, Tuesday.
Gourmetz – one of the brands under Neo Group
The delivery was slated for 28 Jan 2025, Lunar New Year’s Eve from 615pm to 715pm.
No-show from Gourmetz
By 8pm, the food had still not arrived. We called umpteen times and there were no answers, no replies etc. We texted them on their Facebook page and there were no answers either. Within minutes of posting onto their Facebook page, comments started flooding in, with no-shows from customers all across the island.
By now, the elderlies and kids in our family were starving and grumbling. We couldn’t get an answer, and we couldn’t be waiting indefinitely.
Solving the problem on hand
We contemplated on ordering Grab food, Mac Donalds, KFC or Pizza Hut but we may probably need to wait another hour or so since it was a super peak delivery day.
One of the family members suggested driving to the nearest fast food chain to grab some food for the famished family members as well.
Ultimately, we decided on the fastest option, which was to dig out the steamboat pot from the storeroom and cook whatever there was in the fridge.
Fastest option : Dig out the steamboat pot, washed it and cooked whatever there was in the fridge.
A call from the delivery company
The delivery company Lalamove finally called at 915pm – 2 hours after the slated delivery time. By then, we had already finished our dinner and washed up. Told them we will ask for a refund instead
Stranded Customers
Going back to their Facebook page, we found many others who were in the same predicament as us. All of us were left stranded, playing the waiting game with no response from the company. Many had asked for refunds and compensation, and the messages went unanswered. It felt like a total scam, where they took all our monies and just disappeared.
Look at the slew of 138 comments.
Mishandling the situation
This has been a PR crisis and a PR nightmare for them. Coming from a marketing and PR background, as much as I want to emphatise with them for the stress they were going through, I cannot agree with how they handled or rather MIS-handled the situation.
If the company was not capable of handling so many orders on this super peak day, they should not have committed to so many orders in the first place, and exasperating so many customers in the process.
The least the company could do was to have someone pick up the calls and apologise, so that the customers could request for a refund and thereafer order their own food, rather than leaving the customers hanging in the air, not knowing if they should continue to wait or proceed to order something else.
If they had handled the situation well, not only were they able to redeem themselves, they were able to convert these angry customers to loyal customers.
But unfortunately, not only did they not redeem themselves, they went into a deeper crisis by deleting all the 1 star Google reviews from the already-very-unhappy customers.
There is obviously someone working, and working hard in fact – deleting the negative reviews and locking up their Facebook reviews section. But yet, they were not responding to customers calls, enquires and frustrations.
It just shows unprofessionalism and shirking of responsibilities from the management. With their knee jerk reaction of deleting all the 1 star Google reviews, they have just destroyed their chances of service recovery.
Lessons Learnt
This had been a hard lesson learnt on our end as well – to be more self reliant in times / days like these and to always have contingency plans cos we will never know what will happen to the order.
The safest option would be to have ready food instead of getting catered food on this super peak day. I guess this would probably be the first and last time that we order from this company or any other caterers in future for super peak days like these.
Update on 31 Jan 2025, Friday Chu 3 (first day of work) :
Not only did Gourmetz delete the 1 star Google reviews, they deleted ALL the CNY posts with comments in their Facebook to get rid of the evidence of their incompetent service and bad attitude. They had also hide off their reviews section in their Facebook account.
Update on 4 Feb 2025, Tuesday Chu 7 :
Gourmetz published an apology video to their Facebook page on 3 Feb 2025, Monday morning. I posted a comment on it and in the afternoon, they deleted / deactivated their Facebook page! Can’t believe a company will actually do something so cowardly, with no ethics and integrity.
An apology video posted on their Facebook page on 1 Feb 2025, Chu 3.
My comment on their apology video before they delete / deactivate their Facebook page altogether.
Nevertheless, they made a full refund to my brother and offered a $100 Gourmetz voucher and a $100 Chinggu voucher (a Korean restaurant at Seletar and Rochester) as compensation.
To me, the $100 Gourmetz voucher is a total joke. After all this, do you think we would ever use them again?! Of course not…!! Hence, the $100 voucher would just go directly into the bin. They have lost all our trust, respect with all the poor customer service management.
One of the days, I came across an article on CNA Lifestyle on how the writer went through a ‘life-changing’ 10-day silent meditation camp in Singapore. I was no stranger to meditation retreats as I did one sometime back in Chiangmai pre-pandemic. Hence, I was like, “Hmmm…. OK, Maybe I should give this a shot too.”
I clicked onto the link in the article and saw that there weren’t any available retreats in Singapore (back then) and it was unknown when the retreats would resume (in Singapore), since we were still in the infant stages of COVID-19-recovery. There was one in Johor, Saleng though and I decided to sign up for that.
Applications for the course were open one month prior to the retreat. The previous retreats had remarks such as “Women – Filling Up, Men – Closed” etc. Wowww… The course must be really good and popular and hence, in such a high demand! I decided to apply on the first day when they opened up for applications.
There was a long list of rules and regulations, such as not being able to use the phone for 10 days, not having meals after 12 noon, abiding by the 5 precepts, meditating for long hours etc. There was no leaving of the premise once we signed on the dotted line and this was reiterated again and again. I thought I knew what I was in for, but the reality was far harsher than I had imagined.
Check-in Day: 19 Oct 2022, Wednesday
D-day came and I took a train from Singapore Woodlands to Malaysia, Johor Bahru.
I had a sumptuous lunch at City Square Din Tai Fung before I headed over to the bus terminal below JB CIQ to take a bus to Saleng. I boarded the bus from Platform 9 at about 1:30pm. The fare costs RM3.10. As I was unsure where to alight, I sat right behind the bus driver and got him to alert me once we arrived at Saleng Petronas / TJ Mart.
Took the bus from the bus terminal below JB CIQ, at platform 9.
Costs RM 3.10 to get to Saleng.
Sat right behind the bus driver so that he could inform me when to alight.
Off I go….
Halfway through the journey, a young lady boarded the bus and sat next to me. She too asked the driver to alert her once we got to Saleng. Seeing her big backpack, I asked if she was heading to the same meditation retreat that I was going, and yes, she was! Ohh great, I’ve got company. Haahaa….
At about 2:05pm, we arrived at Saleng, got off the bus and headed for the KFC outlet where we were instructed to wait.
After about 35 minutes ride, ohhh…. I see Saleng signage….
The bus driver alighted us right at the T J Mart bus stop.
We bumped into 2 other participants whilst waiting for the pick up at the carpark near KFC. But come 2:45pm, there was still no sign of the pickup, and hence, we decided to book a Grab to the center instead since there were 4 of us. I think the Grab fare costs about RM5 or so.
Sharing the Grab with (can’t rembr her name) and Moon, the lady in the middle whom I met on the bus.
It took us about 15 minutes to get to the Saleng Meditation Centre on a rustic countryside path. Upon arrival at the centre, we had to do a swab test (again) to ensure that we were free of COVID-19 before we could proceed with the course.
It was a rustic, countryside path getting to the Meditation Centre.
But it was really pretty without much civilisation.
We did a check-in at the dining hall, where we had to surrender our mobile phones. Henceforth, for the next 10 days, there will be no phonecalls, no Whatsapps, no Teams messages, no emails, no Facebook, no Instagram, no Tik Tok, no alarm, no flash light etc. For the alarm, I actually bought and brought a physical alarm clock for the stay. I brought along my bike light to be used as a night light as well. (All images here were shot either upon checking in, or after we checked out on the last day.)
Females dining hall at the lower level and Females dorm at the upper level of the bungalow.
Ok… Signing off soon…
The Meditation Centre looks like a converted residential home that was once Balinese inspired.
We were assigned a number each. I was allocated F15 and this number dictated my seat at the dining hall and the bed. The female dorm was on the second level above the dining hall. There were 5 rooms, with an average of 4 to 6 beds/mattresses per room. There were only 2 bathrooms in this upper level to cater to the 28 ladies.
Climbing up and down the bungalow a few times a day.
The upper level of the bungalow was able to accommodate up to 28 ladies.
This is a room for 4 ladies. There were no beds in this room. Some of the rooms were equipped with beds whilst some were equipped with mattresses.
Another 4 ladies for the second room.
The ‘room’ that I was in. It wasn’t exactly a room per se, as it was more like a dining hall for the upper level.
Brought my queen size bed linen to lay on the single size mattress and used the remaining fabric as a blanket when the nights got chilly.
We were provided a set of cutleries each and this set of cutleries would be our only friend for the next 10 days.
We had all our meals at this dining hall.
Each of the seat was labelled with a number.
My cutlery set for the 10 days.
I managed to chat a little with my table of 3 ladies before we started our 10 days of silence. One of them was a return student, one was an elderly lady in her 70s, and the other lady was a secretary in a property firm. We did a short meditation session from 6pm to 7pm and then a discourse before we had the lights out at 9:30pm. We would be starting the program proper the following day.
Day 1: 20 Oct 2022, Thursday
4:30am to 7am
As the morning bell would go off at 4am, and everyone would be rushing to use the 2 bathrooms that we had at the upper level, I decided to drag myself out of bed at 3:30am to wash up instead.
There are 2 bathrooms on upper level and 4 bathrooms on level 1. There is no water heater for any of the bathrooms.
Come 4:30am, most participants would depart the dorm and head for the meditation hall although it was indicated as “Meditation in hall or dorm.”
The steps leading to the Meditation Hall.
We spent 10 hours and 45 minutes every day at this meditation hall.
We started the meditation at about 4:35am and we were taught to focus on OBSERVING OUR BREATHING; observe the air going in through the nostrils and the air going out. We were not allowed to have any imageries, chanting or counting of breath whilst doing the meditation. We were only allowed to OBSERVE and do nothing else. It was extremely difficult just observing the breathing without counting or verbalising “In, Out, In, Out” etc.
In less than 1 minute of observation, my monkey brain was already all over the place; thinking how hungry I was, how early 4:30am was etc. Before long, I started dozing off whilst seated in the meditation posture. My feet started to get numb, heavy and painful with pins and needles. It was sheer “torture”. We sat for about 1 hour before the bell went off. Omg… that was the longest 1 hour I’ve ever had in my entire life. We had a short 5 minutes toilet break to stretch out the legs before the next 1 hour meditation began.
We did another 1 hour of meditation from 5:30am to 6:30am. It did not get any easier. Every single second felt like an eternity. I was really happy when the bell went off at 6:30am, which meant breakfast time! I was feeling super hungry as the last meal that we had was at 5pm the day prior.
We headed for the dining area and queued up (like a buffet line) to get our breakfast. Breakfast was pretty sumptuous. There was bee hoon, porridge, three to four dishes and fruits on the main table. At the side table, there was butter, jam and even Nutella where you can spread onto the (toasted)/bread. There was also coffee, tea, milo, hot and cold water.
The side table with a wide range of spreads; butter, jams, peanut butter, nutella etc. You can even choose to toast your bread too.
There is also a hot and cold water dispenser as well.
After breakfast at about 7am, most of us would hurry back to our dorm to catch a few winks before the 8am meditation starts again.
8am to 11am
At 8am, the bell went off and we were back to the meditation hall for another 1 hour of group meditation, from 8am to 9am. From 9am to 11am, it was meditation in hall or dorm, though most would continue to stay in the hall.
At 11am, the bell went off and it was time for lunch! Yayyy…. It was one of my favorite times of the day. Similar to the breakfast, it was a buffet line and we actually had new, freshly cooked 5 or 6 items (different from what we had for breakfast!). I was really thankful to the few motherly ladies who toiled from 5am to 12 noon to prepare the yummy and healthy vegetarian meals for us.
One of the days, I realised that the motherly ladies actually had their meals after we had ours, consuming only the ‘left-overs’ after the students returned to the dorm. Usually at the end of the meal, most of the popular dishes were already wiped out and the motherly ladies only had rice with maybe one or two dishes. When I witnessed that, my heart sank. I was really touched and grateful for their big and generous hearts, having so little for themselves and giving us so much, happily and unconditionally.
After lunch, some students will go for their showers whilst others went back to the dorm to rest.
1pm to 5pm
At 1pm, the bell went off and it was time to head back to the meditation hall. We meditated, meditated, and meditated from 1pm to 2pm to 3pm to 4pm and to 5pm. It was almost 4 hours of meditation with a 5-minutes break every hour. My knees got so stiff and painful. I was fidgetty and tried to stretch my legs and twitched my body to relieve the pains and aches. I tried to peep to see if anyone else was like me, but everyone seemed to be sitting upright and staying focused. I began to wonder why did I sign up for this.
At 5pm, we headed for the dining hall. For the first-time students, we were allowed to have one / two slices of fruits, whist the return students were not allowed to consume any fruits, in line with the 8 precepts of not having any meals after 12 noon.
6pm to 9pm
After the quick snack, we headed back to the dorm to rest. At 6pm, the bell went off and back to the meditation hall we went. We did a 1 hour meditation and at 7pm, we had a discourse session. Some of the students who preferred the Mandarin version had to leave and attend the session in the next hall. The Mandarin discourse session was an audio playback, translated into Mandarin from the original video playback in English.
The English discourse session was a video recording by the founder Mr SN Goenka. It was like a debrief session. The discourse really resonated with what we were experiencing, and most of all, he had such a great sense of humour bringing out the concepts and practice. It became my favourite part of the day, for the fact that it was the end of the day as well as the content was really close to heart and hilarious.
Day 2: 21 Oct 2022, Friday
We had the same routine for the second day. Meditate, breakfast, meditate, lunch, meditate, snack, meditate, discourse… At this point, my knees were almost stiff with pain. I even contemplated to inform the management that I had contracted COVID-19, so that I could “escape” and be released from the retreat.
During the second day’s discourse, Mr SN Goenka related his first experience at a 10-day retreat with his teacher. At the end of the second day, he (too!) found that the course was too difficult, and went to pack his bags and wanted to leave the centre. His teacher asked him why did he want to leave, as he was doing very well and as it was only the second day, he has yet to experience any benefits from the sessions. He said it was way too difficult. Oh my god… That was exactly what I felt too, and I, too wanted to escape the centre exactly like what he did!
With that, I gritted my teeth and persevered on.
Day 4: 23 Oct 2023, Sunday
On day 4, we started to learn observation of the SENSATIONS. Now, this was getting more difficult. We had to scan the entire body from the head to the toe, part by part, for sensations that were in the body. It sounded easy, but it wasn’t so in reality.
As like the previous days, I would try my best to stay focus and to scan the body parts. I started from the head and as much as I tried, I usually do not get to the feet, cos my monkey brain would have wandered far away by then or I would have fallen asleep (again!).
Subsequently for the days down the road, there were some sessions which I managed to keep my focus for a slightly longer period (maybe a good 15 to 30 minutes), but I never once did manage to stay focused for a full 1 hour. Many times, I even wondered if the teacher had forgotten about us, or if the bell had spoilt and wondered why did the bell not go off. Haahaa…
Vipassana meditation in theory is to see things are they really are. It is secular and not associated with any religions or sects, as its main focus is observing one’s own breathing and sensations. By focusing on our own breathing, we increase our power of concentration, which in turn helps us in our daily lives, working lives and everyday activities.
By observing our own sensations and understanding the fact that these sensations will arise and pass away, we will ignore these sensations and over time, eliminate them. The aches and pains in my legs were excruciating, but at times (few and rare), when I kept my focus on my breathing and ignored them, the pains and aches slowly eroded away, without me realising! Understanding the fact that sensations will come and go, we will not be easily triggered by sensations; be it anger, a craving, a pain, happiness or an unhappiness. It is in fact an art of living, where we become at peace with one’s self.
This technique was taught in the prisons for the last 25 years. During one of the discourse, we saw the video of inmates beaming with happiness after their 10 days course. Many of them seemed to have found the solace and peace that they really needed deep down.
Seconds turn to minutes, minutes to hour and hour to days. And finally, after a few days of ‘intense struggle’ to ‘ignore’ the sensations, I finally got to Day 10…!!
Day 10: 29 Oct 2023, Saturday
After the discourse on Day 10, we were finally able to speak to each other again and shared what each of us experienced in the last 10 days. One of the ladies mentioned that she experienced a gush of energy that flowed from head to toe, exactly as like what was depicted in one of the discourses.
The lady who sat directly opposite me suddenly burst into tears one of the days. As we couldn’t speak then, we just let her be and gave her the space she needed. When we “regained our speech”, we asked her what happened. She said she had no idea either. Her tears just started flowing out of the blue.
For myself, I tried as hard as I could to stay still and focused all those sessions. I didn’t manage to achieve the gush of energy flow or peace that I had very much wanted, but I was impressed with my own perseverance and determination to have sat through the 10 days x 10 hours of meditation!
Checkout day: 30 Oct 2022, Sunday
We had our last morning meditation session from 4:30am to 5:30am and our last discourse from 5:30am to 6:30am. We got back our phones at 6:30am and I started shooting away, trying to capture as many pics as I could before our dismissal.
Signage at the dining hall.
This is the only ‘scenery’ that we see everyday, observing and counting the lotuses, fishes, frogs etc…
An aerial view of the pond from the second level of the bungalow.
Our laundry hanging area on the second level of the bungalow.
Bags packed, area cleaning done. Time to balek kampung…
Had a beautiful sunrise on our last day, just as we were leaving the centre.
We had a bun for breakfast as all cutleries had been kept away the night prior (except for mine, which I had left it on the table so that I could get a pic of it). After a quick breakfast, we were split into groups to perform our area cleaning duties.
We had buns on our last morning as all cutleries had been kept.
Area cleaning at the dining hall.
I did up the area cleaning and hitched a ride out with the female co-ordinator at 7:30am, as she was rushing to catch the 8:30am train back to Singapore.
Caught a beautiful sunrise on the way out.
Thank you for the awesome 10 days. It had been such a great detox and training session for the body and mind.
By 8am, I had arrived at JB Sentral, where I spent the day in JB, before catching the train back to Singapore in the evening.
DAILY SCHEDULE
4:00am : Morning Bell goes off
4:30am to 6:30am :Meditation in hall or dorm (2 hrs)
6:30am to 8:00am : Breakfast. Rest / Shower
8:00am to 9:00am:Group meditation in hall (1 hr)
9:00am to 11:00am :Meditation in hall or dorm (2 hrs)
11:00am to 11:30am : Lunch
12:00nn to 1:00pm : Seeking advice from teacher (optional). Rest / Shower
1:00pm to 2:30pm : Meditation in hall or dorm (1.5 hrs)
2:30pm to 3:30pm :Group meditation in hall (1 hr)
3:30pm to 5:00pm :Meditation in hall or dorm (1.5 hrs)
5:00pm to 5:30pm : Snack / Fruits for first-time students
5:30pm to 6:00pm :Rest / Shower
6:00pm to 7:00pm : Group meditation in hall (1 hr)
7:00pm to 8:15pm : Discourse
8:15pm to 9:00pm : Group meditation in hall (45 mins)
9:00pm to 9:30pm : Seeking advice from teacher (optional). Rest / Shower / Wash-up
10:00pm :Lights out
TOTAL MEDITATION HOURS PER DAY: 10 HOURS 45 MINUTES
Would I do it again? Perhaps…
It was tough no doubt, but I would say that it was really a good training for the mind and body. Not being able to speak for 10 days was one of the easiest commandments. Not having meals after 12 noon came relatively easy for me too. It was a little challenging not being able to communicate with family and friends and to be kept up to date of what had happened, but it was still bearable.
The number 1 killer (for me!) was trying to keep the body and mind focused and to ignore the many sensations in the body and legs – without dozing off. Maybe it might get better with more practice at home on my own. But to me, this was really a test of one’s own perseverance and determination to ‘survive’ through these 10 days, and I’m so glad I did it.
There are more than 200 Vipassana meditation centres all around the world and there are no charges for the course, not even to cover for the cost of food and accommodation. They run purely on a donation basis, by participants who have benefitted from the course and would wish to give others the opportunity to do so.
For those that are up for the challenge to train the body and mind and to learn the art of living, I would strongly encourage you to give this a go. I didn’t think I could do it after day 1, but YESSSS…. I ‘survived’ to tell my tale. And I’m sure you can too…. 🙂
I visited the Wat Pa Tam Wua Forest Monastery in 2018 but never got round to doing up a blog post for it until now. It has been a place that I missed quite dearly during the pandemic, as it brought a lot of peace and reprieve when I was there. Now that the borders are opened, I’m hoping to make a trip there again soon.
I flew in to Chiang Mai and took a Grab to the Arcade Bus Station to purchase a minivan bus ticket to the Forest Monastery for the next day.
Grab from the city centre to Arcade Bus Station = THB 76
Minivan ticket from Chiang Mai to Mae Hong Son (pass by Forest Monastery) = THB 250
Arcade Bus Station
Bought a THB 250 ticket for a seat on this minivan that travels from Chiangmai to Mae Hong Son
The next day, I wanted to try taking a tuk-tuk to the Arcade Bus Station, and the drivers wanted to charge me THB 150 and offered to give me a “discount”, at THB 100. Lolz… I ended up taking a Grab to Arcade Bus Station as like the previous day.
There are hourly departures from Chiangmai to Mae Hong Son, from 6:30am to 2:30pm.
There are also hourly departures from Mae Hong Son to Chiangmai from 7am to 3pm.
It would be best to take the earlier time slots as it takes about 6 hours if you’re travelling from one end to the other.
Prempracha Bus Transport runs hourly transport from Chiangmai to Pai (3 hours) and to Mae Hong Son (6 hours)
I took the 10:30am bus from Chiangmai to Mae Hong Son. The journey to the monastery is about 4 to 5 hours, whilst the journey to Mae Hong Son is about 5 to 6 hours. There isn’t a bus stop number for the Forest Monastery, hence, you would need to inform and remind the driver that you want to alight at Wat Pa Tam Wua Forest Monastery and he will shout out for you to alight when he arrives opposite the Monastery’s entrance.
The minivan driver shouted for me to alight and to cross the road to get to the Forest Monastery
I finally arrived at the Monastery at about 3:30pm (after 5 hours of puking my intestines out! I was wondering when, if ever I was going to reach. Haahaa…). From Chiangmai to Mae Hong Son, there are 1864 bends. Since the Forest Monastery is about one hour away from Mae Hong Son, we would have to go through about 1400 bends and curves!
I finally reached at the entrance of the Wat Pa Tam Wua Forest Monastery..!! Hohohooo…. So happy…. : D
Go in via the path
A nice little stroll on the sandy path whilst walking into the monastery
There’s a small provision store on the monastery premises. But I think it is open only in the mornings. I went at about 3pm on one of the days and it was already closed.
A small little provision store on the monastery premises
Walking to the hall / registration counter
Being a typical kiasu Singaporean, I had initially thought we would need to email them, make a reservation for the accommodation etc. But my friend told me there were no such procedures at the monastery (Pre-pandemic though. Not sure about now). All we need to do was just walk-in, register and they’ll find us an accommodation. I was like…. “Huhh… What if there’s no accommodation? Will it be fully booked or over-booked? Feeling a little apprehensive and insecure, I went ahead and just “walked-in” to the Monastery.
After registering and signing-in at the counter, I was brought to the laundry room to pick up three sets of white tops and bottoms.
After using the white tops and bottoms, we could return them to the laundry shed, where they would have staffs to do the laundry. Really so lucky and pampered cos in the past when my friend went, he had to do the laundry himself every other day.
After getting the 3 sets of tops and bottoms, a pillow, a mattress and 3 blankets, the volunteer brought me to the dormitory.
I stayed at the upper level of this huge dormitory (for the first night).
The mattress was placed on the floor. One pillow, one mattress, three blankets and three sets of apparel to start off my meditation retreat here.
There were not many ladies here on the first night.
Really chilly in the mornings at 5:30am.
The next day (and following days), I got up at 5:30am to prepare for the rice offering to the monks. Everyone waited patiently and eagerly for the rice offering session. Males would sit on the left side of the hall, whilst the ladies would take the right.
With a plate of rice in hand, we would need to divide/ration the rice into 12 portions (if there are 12 monks for that session), and offer them a scoop of rice each.
After the rice offering session, the Abbott would usually walk around and give us his greetings and blessings, before we head to the ‘buffet line’ for breakfast.
We would collect one of these plates and sit around the hall to wait for the monks to come around to receive their alms.
The ladies on the right side of the hall.
And the males on the other side of the hall.
The monks will start from the left side of the hall (males side), before they proceed to the right side of the hall (females side).
Preparing to offer the rice.
At the end of the alms giving session, the abbott will usually walk around to give his blessings and greetings.
Although the breakfast was scheduled for 7am to 8am, most of us would usually finish breakfast at about 7:15am / 7:20am, wash up our cutleries and head back to the dorm to rest or snuggle in cos it was really really coooollldddd out at the dining hall.
At 8am, the bell will go off and everyone would gather back at the dining hall.
After about 15 minutes of Dharma session, we will start doing a 1-hour walking meditation around the lake. Most would don their blankets as it was really cold out there.
1-hour walking meditation around the lake.
After the 1-hour walking meditation, there would be a 15 minutes sitting meditation and another 15 minutes of lying down meditation (My Favorite! cos it was always ‘bed-time’ for me…), and followed by another round of food offerings to the monks for lunch.
Reminded me so much of Harry Potter’s cloak…. Hahaa…
Everyone feeling cold and chilly.
The food offering session was a slightly different format from the morning session. The ladies will form rows of three paxs to offer the dishes to the Abbott who will then take a small portion for himself before passing it down to the rest of the monks. The males would then assist them in the shuffling of dishes from one monk to another.
The ladies would offer the cooked dishes to the Abbott, who would then take a small scoop for himself before passing it down to the rest of the monks.
A few males would assist in the transferring of the dishes from one monk to another.
Many of the nice yummy dishes that we would be having for our lunch as well.
Offering the cooked dish to the Abbott.
The monastery often receive donations-in-kind from the grateful village folks.
Receiving donations-in-kind from the village folks.
After lunch, we usually have about an hour of rest before we start the afternoon session. 12noon to 3pm were the best hours to soak up the sun and “defrost”.
There’s even a signage here for the monastery’s furry friend, Pui.
Pui, having his afternoon nap. He gets up at the same time as us everyday and practises the same routine as us too.
At 6:30am sharp when the bell goes off for the food offering session, he will howl to start the day.
I think he don’t like to take pics with me… Haahaa….
For the afternoon session after lunch, we will start off with a 1-hour walking meditation in the forest. Pui even joins us for the twice-a-day walking meditations. I think he might even achieve enlightenment earlier than any of us!
After the 1-hour of walking meditation, we would continue with a 30 minutes sitting meditation, followed by a 15 minutes lying-down meditation.
Pui joining us for the walking meditations.
Some even go barefoot for the walking meditations.
Sitting meditation
Lying down meditation
The session usually ends at 3pm and thereafter, we will have about an hour of rest before we start cleaning up the monastery grounds.
Enjoying the “defrosting session” at the lake.
Many little streams that were so peaceful and serene.
Picturesque mountain and lake
Really love and enjoy the serenity here. Would love to stay here for as long as I can.
At 4pm, the bell goes off, signalling for us to start cleaning up the monastery.
Cleaning up the monastery grounds to practice mindfulness.
I saw this huge pile of leaves under the tree and decided to clean it up.
Didn’t know it was such a back-breaking task.
At 7pm, the bell goes off, starting the night session. And by 7pm, it was starting to get chilly again.
Starting the 7pm night session.
Getting chilly again.
On the second night, we shifted to another dormitory as they needed to clean up the previous dorm for the arrival of a huge group.
Quite a number of us were crammed into this smaller dorm for the next couple of nights.
My little corner.
I made some new friends at the monastery. A good 80% of the visitors were foreigners. There’s a New Yorker in my dorm, a Chinese PRC, Taiwanese, Malaysians, a red-hair lady from Chille, an elderly guy from Austria, a Japanese lady etc…
I even met a fellow Singaporean on my last day / hour at the monastery.
It was really like a melting pot at the monastery.
Made two new friends; Panita, from Thailand but works in Singaporeand Stephan, from Russia.On my last morning at the monastery, the Abbott came by to chat with some of us. The Abott radiates so much love, kindness and compassion.
I took the yellow shuttle van, costing THB 50 to get to Soppong town, where I changed to another transport to get to Cave Lodge.
Took this yellow shuttle out to Sopong town, before changing to another vehicle to go Cave Lodge.
Goodbye Wat Pa Tam Wua Forest Monastery…
It had been such a great and wonderful experience.
Goodbye, Wat Pa Tam Wua Forest Monastery. Thank you for the great experience…. ; )
After a good 2 years, the borders are finally opened…!! I can’t believe that two years of the pandemic is finally over… or at least to a stage that we are very much co-existing with it.
I was running through my calendar on one of the days and realised that I had a medical appointment on the Friday just before a public holiday on Monday, and hence, voila, I decided to book my first trip out of Singapore and the easiest destination for a short trip was probably Bangkok. It was really exciting to be able to fly once again and I was really looking forward to the trip.
Come 8 July, I went straight to the airport after my medical appointment at 9:45am. The flight was at 2:05pm and by the time I got into Bangkok and to my accommodation, it was almost 5pm. I had dinner at one of my favourite eateries, MK restaurant before calling it a night as I had to be up quite early the next day.
Finally get a chance to travel again!
Silom Space Hostel at Sala Daeng BTS. This triple room costs S$28 per night, but I had it all for myself.
Having dinner at one of my favorite eateries – MK restaurant.
9 July 2022, Sat
Getting to Wongwian Yai railway station
Rise and shine at 5:45am in the morning before leaving the accommodation at 6:45am. I took a train from Sala Daeng BTS to Wongwian Yai BTS station, which was just 5 stations away. I managed to arrive Wongwian Yai BTS at about 7am. Thinking that the Wongwian Yai railway station was just nearby or within visible walking distance, I took the linkway and started strolling to the Taksin intersection.
Took the train from Sala Daeng BTS at 6:45am.
Arrived Wongwian Yai BTS station at 7:00am.
Used the linkway and started to stroll to Taksin Intersection.
I kept walking and walking and walking and walking, and it seemed almost like forever. By 7:15am, I got a little panicky as I knew I needed to catch the 7:40am train (otherwise, the next train would be one hour later). As it was pretty early at 7-ish in the morning, there wasn’t a single soul that I could ask. I didn’t think it was that far and kept looking out for railway tracks but I couldn’t see any. Ohhh… actually I was wrong. It wasn’t exactly that near.
I saw what looked like an intersection and decided to use the linkway on the right and went down the bridge. I smelt a whiff of food and saw the first shop selling donuts and tried to ask them for the directions to the Wongwian Yai railway station. They couldn’t really understand me so, I just bought a donut and ate as I went along. It looked and smelt so good, and the inside was so soft and fluffy too.
This looked like an intersection. So, I used the exit on my right and went down the steps.
Smelt this donut shop before I could see it. Tried to ask for directions, but they didnt quite understand me. So, I just bought a donut and went along my way.
I googled for the location. It was the same route that I was taking, but as I couldn’t see or hear any railway tracks, I kept second guessing myself and doubted that I was on the right track. I managed to spot a local on the streets and thankfully with the Thai translated name for Wongwian Yai railway station, he pointed me to walk straight ahead. I increased my pace and hurried along.
Saw these old run-down buildings from across the road.
Arrives at Wongwian Yai railway station
I reached a bustling alley with a bright yellow building on my left. I asked one of the passer-by and they told me that the Wongwian Yai railway station was inside. I kept thinking to myself, how could the railway station be inside? I went in and true enough…. The Wongwian Yai railway station was a terminal stop and hence, the train will do a turn-around when it arrives at this station. That was why the railway train tracks end here and did not cross onto the main road which I had imagined.
Came to this lane which I felt could possibly be where the train station is, though it totally didn’t look like one.
Couldn’t understand the road signage. Maybe it indicated the train station. But you’ll see this prominent huge yellow building on your left, and you’ll just need to walk further in from here.
You’ll get to this yellow waiting area with people sitting at the benches.
Walk further in and you’ll see the ticket counter to purchase the tickets from. Costs THB 10 for a one-hour train ride from Wongwian Yai station to Maha Chai station.
I took this pic just 1 minute before the train pulled in.
I finally got to Wongwian Yai railway station at about 7:25am. Some of the stalls were already opened for business. There was fried chicken stall, food stalls, bubble tea stall, apparels, daily necessities etc. I should probably have gotten some snacks here, as it was going to be a one-hour journey from Wongwian Yairailway station to Mahachai railway station.
Some of the shops were already opened at 7:30am.
Had wanted to buy this freshly deep-fried chicken, but didn’t cos it was way too early for breakfast. On second thoughts, I should have tar bao and had it for the one-hour long journey as it only costs THB 17 per piece.
The train pulled in at 7:30am and departed at 7:40am.
At 7:30am, the train pulled in and waited for 10 minutes until 7:40am. It left PUNCTUALLY at 7:40am… not one minute more and not one minute less…!! Don’t try your luck cos the train was quite punctual for all the four sectors that I took.
Journey from Wongwian Yai railway station to Mahachai railway station
The one-hour train ride from Wongwian Yai railway station to Mahachai railway station (terminal to terminal) costs THB 10. There were small houses, big houses, lots of trees, padi fields, plantations and rustic countryside along the route. It was a refreshing getaway from the city life and the skyscrapers that we see everyday.
Took the 7:40am train from Wongwian Yai to Mahachai.
The train was relatively quite empty when I took it at 7:40am.
I had both seats to myself most of the sectors.
Lots of greenery along the way.
Saw this really beautiful “autumn” tree too.
The timings for the train ride from Wongwian Yai railway station to Mahachai railway station are:
Wongwian Yai Railway Station > Maha Chai Railway Station
5:30am > 6:23am
6:25am > 7:27am
7:00am > 7:58am (Possible, but may be too early)
7:40am > 8:39am (Preferred train)
8:35am > 9:28am (Still possible, but may be too rush)
I arrived Mahachai railway station at about 8:40am and saw some hustle and bustle at the Mahachai market. I popped over to have a look before heading for the Mahachai pier. It was a wet market with lots of popping colours of food, fruits, vegetable, meats, seafood and people. Love the photo opps and the vibes of the bustling market.
Saw the Mahachai market when the train started to pull into the station.
Arrives at Mahachai railway station.
Lots of shops at the station were opened. I walked back to the market which I saw when the train pulled in.
Exited the Mahachai train station and walked around the market and towards the pier.
Lots of locals going about their daily marketing.
A huge variety of vegs.
Brinjals at THB 35/kg (I think?)
Didn’t know what these were, until I took a closer look. Ohhh goshh….
The passion and effort that went into arranging them so nicely.
Taking the ferry from Mahachai pier to ThaChalom pier
I walked around randomly and arrived at the Mahachai pier to take the ferry across the river to arrive at ThaChalom pier.
The ferry does not have a fixed timing. It just departs when it is more or less filled up. It takes about 15 to 20 minutes from buying of tickets to passengers disembarking, passengers embarking and then waiting for the boat to fill up and leave the pier. The actual boat ride from pier to pier is only about 5 minutes. The journey from Mahachai pier to ThaChalom pier costs THB 3. One could actually see the other pier cos it is so near (even nearer than from Changi ferry terminal to Pulau Ubin!)
Costs only THB 3 for the ferry ride.
The ferry was huge and it ferries passengers on foot as well as passengers on motorbikes. I saw this huge and majestic looking Buddha statue from afar but didn’t know where it was. The ferry departed Mahachai pier at 9:18am and arrived ThaChalom pier at 9:22am.
Waiting for the passengers to disembark before we embark onto the ferry.
Saw this huge majestic looking Buddha from afar, but had no idea where it was.
Passengers as well as passengers on motorbikes getting onto the ferry.
Ferry departed Mahachai pier at 9:18am.
And arrived ThaChalom pier at 9:22am. (A mere 5 minutes ferry ride).
Arrives at ThaChalom town
After getting off the ferry, I walked straight ahead and was greeted by this building with a huge Dragon wall mural. Following the signage, I turned right here and continued walking down the path. I passed by the ThaChalom visitor centre and popped in to have a look.
Once you exit the ferry terminal, you’ll see this building with this huge dragon wall mural. Turn right at this junction and walk straight ahead.
Just follow this signage and walk all the way to the end of this road. Should take less than 10 minutes if you are not waylaid by the nice buildings along the way.
Was waylaid into the Visitor Centre. Haahaa…
Couldn’t resist camwhoring even though I didn’t have much time left.
Walked past this structure too.
Without much time left, I continued my way. Down the road, there were a couple of temples, I peeped in and saw the majestic Buddha…!! Omg… this was the huge Buddha that I saw from afar. Though I was running behind time, I still ran in to have a look. It was really gorgeous, especially against the clear blue sky.
Passed by this temple and took a couple of pics.
Passed by the second temple and I peeped in and OMG… I saw the huge Buddha!
It was really breath-taking, especially against the beautiful blue sky.
Went up the pretty steps and came to a lookout point.
Ohhh… it was really magnificient.
I went up the steps and had a bird’s eye view of the surrounding area as well as the pier. Suddenly, I heard the ringing of the train! Ohhh noooo… I started to run down the steps frantically. A kind elderly man pointed me to a small path on the right side of the Buddha and told me to head that way.
Took the path on the right side of the Buddha as a shortcut to the Ban Laem railway station.
I don’t know if he knew where I was going and I don’t know if he could understand me. I ran halfway and didn’t see any train station and I ran back. He told me to go back again.
I asked “Ban Laem, Ban Laem”…?? He kept pointing the same direction so I just took his advice and ran back the path that he pointed. And true enough… It was a short cut. It only took me less than 1 minute to reach the Ban Laem railway station. If I had gone via the proper route from the front, it would probably take me about 5 minutes of run. I arrived at Ban Laem railway station at 9:55am. The Ban Laem railway station was actually just directly beside the majestic Buddha temple, Watlambsuwanaram.
From the shortcut, I came to the back of the Ban Laem railway station.
Journey from Ban Laem railway station to Mae Klong railway station
I bought the 10:10am train ticket from Ban Laem railway station to Mae Klong railway station. And again, this was a one-hour train ride from terminal to terminal. There are four timings to the train from Ban Laem railway station to Mae Klong railway station. If I missed this train, the next train would be at 1:30pm and I would only arrive Mae Klong at 2:30pm and the last train to depart Mae Klong is at 3:30pm. If so, I would probably have missed the activities at the Mae Klong market and the Amphawa Floating Market which I had wanted to visit.
Purchased the 10:10am train ticket from Ban Laem to Mae Klong.
Did not get to wait at the station cos the train arrived within one minute after I purchased the ticket.
The four timings from Ban Laem railway station to Mae Klong railway station are:
The train arrived at 10am and departed at 10:10am sharp. It costs THB 10 for this second one-hour ride.
Costs THB 10 for a one-hour train ride from Ban Laem railway station to Mae Klong railway station.
The nice landscapes on this segment of the route.
I dozed off not too long into the train ride. Suddenly, I heard lots of commotion and noise. I looked out and saw a hoard of tourists at the Ban Kralong station, which was about 6 stops before the Mae Klong market.
Suddenly, there was this huge influx of tourists coming onto the train.
They got up the train and filled up most of the seats on the train. I asked one of them and they told me that they had joined a tour agency.
The tour agency had picked them up in a minivan from Bangkok City and dropped them off here at this Ban Kralong railway station so that they could experience traveling into the Mae Klong market on this train.
Thereafter, the minivan will pick them up from Mae Klong market and drive them to Amphawa Floating Market before sending them back to Bangkok city. One of them said they paid 30 Euros or so and another paid about THB 1000 (which comes up to about the same price for both).
Nearing the Mae Klong railway market, everyone started standing up and sticking their hands and heads out of the windows. You’ll feel like a superstar when you are onboard the train to or from Mae Klong train station, cos, everyone will start waving at you, getting pictures of you and greeting you…!! Hahahaa…
You’ll feel like a superstar when you are on-board the train. Haahaa…
It was really quite an experience being on the train ride and you’ll get to see how tight the space was between the train and the stall holders.
Really tight and squeezy between the train and the stall holders.
And they had to do this everyday – 4 times a day.
Arrives at Mae Klong market
I got off the train at 11:10am and wondered around the Mae Klong market for a bit before preparing to shoot the train’s departure at 11:30am.
It was really crowded at 11am in the morning.
I scouted around for a good spot so that I can catch the stall holders closing and re-opening their tentages. The stall holders started packing and closing their tentages 5 minutes before the train departs.
Shooting the train departing Mae Klong railway station
At 11:30am sharp, the horn went off and the train started to depart. As soon as the train departs, you will see the stall holders fixing back their tentages. Frankly speaking, it wasn’t as dramatic as I thought it’ll be. Those videos that showed the stall holders closing and reopening their tentages in split seconds would probably have increased the speed of the video 10 folds to look as if they did it in milli-seconds. Nevertheless, it was still quite a sight no doubt.
Train leaving the Mae Klong railway station at 11:30am.
The four timings which the train departs from Mae Klong railway station are:
6:20am, 9:00am, 11:30am, 3:30pm
Getting to Amphawa Floating Market
After the train left, I loitered around for a while, had a coconut drink from a really vivacious coconut seller.
I also began asking around for directions to the 7-11. A kind lady at the bubble tea stall in front of the Mae Klong railway station even drew me a map with directions on how to get to 7-11.
If you are standing in front of the Mae Klong railway station, you’ll see a yellow building at your 11 o’clock direction. At the yellow building, you would need to go along the Kasemsukum Road and you will see 7-11 on your left. Outside 7-11, there are blue song teaws that you can catch to go to Amphawa Floating Market.
If you are standing in front of the Mae Klong railway station, you’ll see a yellow building at your 11 o’clock direction. Go towards this yellow building.
At the yellow building, you would need to go along the Kasemsukum Road and you will see 7-11 on your left.
Outside 7-11, there will be this blue song teaw that will bring passengers to Amphawa Floating Market.
Waited about 30 minutes for the song teaw to depart and then another 20 minutes for the journey.
However, the song teaws do not have a fixed departure time. The driver will wait till the song teaw is full before he departs. Hence, it is very much luck dependant. I thought he was leaving since there were already quite a number of people on it, but we kept on waiting. I waited for almost 30 minutes before he decided to leave. If I knew I needed to wait for so long, I would probably have chosen to take a tuk tuk or a motor taxi there on my own as I was running on quite a tight time schedule for that day.
It costs THB 10 for the song teaw and took about 20 mins. Do inform the driver or the local passengers to inform you when the song teaw has arrived at the Amphawa Floating Market, otherwise, if not, the driver will just continue driving and you will miss your stop.
Arrives at Amphawa Floating Market
I arrived at the Amphawa Floating Market at about 1:15pm. I had imagined that the floating market was on stilts but it was actually a market beside the river bank. Hahaa… I walked around the market, bought some stuffs and ended up at another part of the Amphawa Floating market.
Arrives at the Amphawa Floating Market.
The shops actually lined the surrounding roads and the river bank.
It was rather quiet on the day that I went.
THB 5 each for these cute lollipops!
Bee-approved Thai dessert.
Who in the world would use these hairclips?! Haahaa…
I didn’t know how to get back to where I dropped off and I wasn’t sure where to catch the song teaw either. And even if I found the song teaw, I wouldn’t know how long it would take for the song teaw to depart again. As these thoughts began flooding my mind, I saw a motor taxi parked outside a café! Ohhh… is this a sign…?!
Saw this motorbike parked outside a cafe and showed him a picture of the Mae Klong railway station. He quoted me THB 60. I negotiated it down to THB 50. But when we arrived, I paid him THB 100 and he only returned me 2 pieces of THB 20 and told me he did not have any more change. I didn’t feel that he was honest but I just let it slip since it was just THB 10.
Since I had pretty much finished the Amphawa Floating market, and the sky was getting dark, I decided to take the motor taxi back to Mae Klong railway station to shoot the incoming train at 2:30pm.
The driver quoted THB 60 and I negotiated it down to THB 50. Upon arrival at the Mae Klong railway station, I gave him a THB 100 note and he returned me two pieces of THB 20 notes and told me he didn’t have any more change. I didn’t think he was being honest, but I just let it go since it was only THB 10. Lesson learnt – To give the exact amount and then tip them only if you feel that it was worth the tip.
Shooting the incoming train at 2:30pm
I arrived back at Mae Klong market and came across this air-conditioned cafe beside the train tracks. I think the owners had really good foresight to get the cafe air-conditioned so that customers could eat and wait here in comfort for the train. They also had long benches for the customers to stand on, when the train comes by. It was really smart of them.
I got myself a chocolate banana toast at THB 30 and a Thai milk tea at THB 60. I even managed to charge my mobile phone here, cos by now, my mobile phone and the power bank were almost flat out.
Saw this air-conditioned cafe along the railway tracks and decided to go in for some food and a drink and to rest my poor tired feet.
Had a chocolate banana toast (THB 30) and a Thai iced milk tea (THB 60).
At about 2:10pm, I made my way to one of the benches and waited. Many of the stall holders were already closing their stalls and they seemed to be closing for the day, with no intention of re-opening after the train passes by after 2:30pm. I am not sure if it was because it was a rainy day and they decided to end the day early or was this their norm since they were a day market and the local customers do not patronise and make purchases at the stalls in the afternoon.
It was raining quite a bit and most of the shops opposite seemed to have closed for the day.
Nevertheless, the train arrived at 2:30pm. The experience was pretty similar to the 11:30am train when I was on the ground, except that at 11:30am, the train was leaving and at 2:30pm, the train was arriving. However, after the 2:30pm arriving train, there weren’t as many stall holders reopening their stalls now as compared to 11:30am.
The train arriving at 2:30pm.
Now, I’m waving at the superstars on-board the train.
The cafe owner re-opening his tentage after the train passes by.
Departing Mae Klong railway station
I took the last train that departed from Mae Klong at 3:30pm. I decided to buy the train ticket on the train instead, just to see how the ticket looked like. This ride from Mae Klong railway station to Ban Laem railway station costs THB 10 as well.
The last train departed at 3:30pm sharp. For the 3:30pm train, there was very much lesser crowd and many of the stall holders had also closed by then.
Taking one last shot before leaving. It was too crowded this morning to get a clean shot like this.
I bought the train tickets on-board the train just to see how the tickets looked like. It was actually two pieces of THB 5 tickets.
My last chance of being a superstar again. Haahaa…
The four timings from Mae Klong railway station to Ban Laem railway station are:
6:20am > 7:20am
9:00am > 10:00am
11:30am > 12:30pm
3:30pm > 4:30pm (MUST CATCH!)
Getting back to Maha Chai railway station
I arrived back at Ban Laem Railway station and walked back to the Tha Chalom pier.
Train arrives at Ban Laem railway station.
This time round, I went by the proper route instead of the shortcut just to see where the road was.
At the Tha Chalom pier, I took the ferry back to Maha Chai pier and similarly, the return journey also costs THB 3.
I arrived back at Maha Chai town at about 5pm, many of the stalls at the Maha Chai market were also closed by now. I was feeling a little hungry but couldn’t find any food stalls etc. Hence, I bought a second Thai milk tea to drink on the way.
All the shops were already closed when I returned at 5pm.
From Maha Chai railway station back to Wongwian Yai railway station
I took the 5:35pm train from Maha Chai railway station back to Wongwian Yai railway station. I bought the THB 10 train ticket on the train as well. The train ride was one hour and I arrived Wongwian Yai railway station at about 6:30pm.
The train pulling in at 5:30pm and departed at 5:35pm.
THB 10 for the one-hour train ride from Mahachai railway station back to Wongwian Yai railway station.
Maha Chai Railway Station > Wongwian Yai Railway (1 hour)
9:35am > 10:31am
10:40am > 11:38am
11:45am > 12:43pm
1:15pm > 2:13pm
2:25pm > 3:18pm
3:25pm > 4:19pm
4:00pm > 4:55pm
4:30pm > 5:28pm
5:35pm > 6:25pm (Can catch this train or the next 2 trains)
Walk from Wongwian Yai BTS linkway to Wongwian Yai railway station
Leg power
7:40am to 8:40am(Fixed timing)
1 hour
Train ride from Wongwian Yai railway station to Mahachai railway station.
THB 10
10 mins
Walk from Mahachai railway station to Mahachai pier (10 minutes if go direct and does not get waylaid).
Leg power
Ferry (No fixed timing)
20 mins
Ferry ride from Mahachai pier to Tha Chalom pier.
THB 3
10 mins
Walk from Tha Chalom pier to Ban Laem railway station (10 minutes if go direct and does not get waylaid).
Leg power
10:10am to 11:10am(Fixed timing)
1 hour
Train ride from Ban Laem railway station to Mae Klong railway station.
THB 10
10 mins
Walk to 7-11 to take song teaw to Amphawa Floating Market.
Leg power
Song Teaw (No fixed timing)
20 mins
Take song teaw (from 7-11 near Mae Klong market) to Amphawa Floating Market.
THB 10
Motor Taxi (No fixed timing)
10 mins
Take Motor Taxi from Amphawa Floating Market back to Mae Klong railway station.
THB 60
3:30pm to 4:30pm(Fixed timing. LAST TRAIN.)
1 hour
Train ride from Mae Klong railway station to Ban Laem railway station.
THB 10
10 mins
Walk from Ban Laem railway station to Tha Chalom pier.
Leg power
Ferry (No fixed timing)
20 mins
Ferry ride from Tha Chalom pier to Mahachai pier.
THB 3
10 mins
Walk from Mahachai pier to Mahachai railway station.
Leg power
5:35pm to 6:35pm(Fixed timing)
1 hour
Train ride from Mahachai railway station to Wongwian Yai railway station.
THB 10
After-thoughts
Personally, I felt that it was quite an adventure getting to Mae Klong market by the public transportation system. I didn’t think the trains would arrive and leave punctually as I took the train some years back and I waited 1 hour+ for the train.
The train was generally quite clean and empty most of the times. For the various sectors, I sat on my own mainly and I didn’t have anyone sitting beside me, opposite me or standing (except when the hoard of tourists came onboard).
It was quite scenic and windy along the route with lots of padi fields, trees and plantations etc.
However, it can be quite hectic and cumbersome with the changing of train to ferry and then back to train. The trains were extremely punctual, and I had to ensure that I get to the train station on time for all the various sectors. Do check out the train timings and plan your time and route before heading out. Do also ensure that you have a contingency plan should you miss the train and have to wait another hour for it.
The first part at the Mae Klong market was good, as it was early in the morning. After lunch, the hustle and bustle seemed to have died down a little and quite a number of stall holders were packing and closing for the day.
My suggestion would be to do Mae Klong market before lunch and then visit the Amphawa Floating Market after 12pm. If you have gotten the pics, videos and experience that you had wanted from the 11:10am arrival train and the 11:30am departure train, I think that would be good enough, as the next arrival train at 2:30pm and 3:30pm departure train would be similar to the experience at 11:10am and 11:30am.
You could then spend more time at Amphawa Floating Market but would still need to get back to Mae Klong railway station for the 3:30pm last train if you are intending to take the train back.
I had wanted to explore taking a cab / Grab from Mae Klong railway station to Bangkok city, but I’m not sure how easy or viable that would be since it is quite far from Bangkok city. I found the below rates off the net, but I suspect that the cab drivers may charge the passenger double the rate since they would have to send the passenger to Bangkok city and return on an empty vehicle.
Below are some of the rates that I found:
Mae Klong Market to Wongwian Yai ~ 70.4km, 1hr 1 min
Taxi: USD 15 to USD 18 (SGD 21 to SGD 25)
Grab: THB 661 (SGD 26)
Mae Klong Market to Silom ~ 77.5km, 1hr 4 mins
Taxi: USD 16 to USD 20 (SGD 22 to SGD 28)
Grab: THB 731 (SGD 29)
Below are some links which I found useful when I was planning the day trip:
With all my social media channels flooded with snippets, videos, articles, memes, games etc on the Squid Game, almost everyone I know has watched the show. Premiered 3 weeks ago on 17 Sept 2021, it has very swiftly climbed to the number 1 position on Netflix in 90 countries; including Qatar, Oman, Ecuador, Bolivia, Bangladesh, Brazil and many others, bagging the ‘most-watched-series-ever’ title !
Screengrab from Netflix, Squid Game.
Revolving around 456 debt-laden individuals, all they need to do was to play ‘some games’ and stand a chance to win an astronomical prize: 45.6 billion won (S$52 million). Sadly to say, the catch was that only ONE contestant would be able to win that big prize and all the rest would have to die along the way. And yes, DIE…!!
Screengrab from Netflix, Squid Game.
Well… playing ‘some games’ sounds easy, isn’t? I mean, how difficult could children games be? And frankly speaking, I believe many of us could resonate with some of these seemingly-easy, childhood games;-
First game: Red Light, Green Light > We played this during our childhood in Singapore as well. Commonly known as A-E-I-O-U, where we will run and freeze when the host finishes shouting ‘U’. Those that moves will ‘die’ – but in this show, it is for real.
Second game: Dalgona Candy > We didn’t have this in Singapore though. And it wasn’t a game in Korea either. It was a candy whereby they added a game element to it.
Third game: Tug of War > Commonly played during our orientation camps, school camps or camp fires, our best strategy was a synchronised PULL effort from all the team members at the command of the leader.
Fourth game: Marbles > I never did play with marbles when I was a kid, but I reckon most of my guy friends did.
Game of Marbles
Fifth game: Glass Bridge > The only one we played was ‘London Bridge’. Haahaa…. Nahh…. it wasn’t anything close to this glass bridge game.
Attempting to cross the glass bridge. Screengrab from Netflix, Squid Game.
Sixth game: Squid Game > Sounds like a merger between hopscotch and baseball, as the attacker would have to hop past the defense and then run to the home base to win the game.
Squid game played in Korea. Screengrab from Netflix, Squid Game.
Though I hated the fact that it was a cruel and violent show, there were quite a number of scenes that got me thinking hard…
Selfishness VS Selflessness
Being in the corporate world, we were akin to the participants playing in the games. It was a survival of the fittest. To each their own and everyone had to fend for themselves. My biggest takeaway from the show was that anybody and everybody can turn selfish when it comes to survival. This was apparent in many of the games such as shoving the co-participants during the first game of Red Light, Green Light or pushing their team members off the glass bridge during the fifth game.
Shoving his friend off to get to the first spot. Screengrab from Netflix, Squid Game.
But the one that hit me the hardest was that even your closest friend or ‘bestest’ friend could turn their back on you one day. Cho Sang-Woo #218 (Park Hae-Soo) had deduced that it was a dalgona candy and selected the easiest shape. He could have, but chose not to share the information with his closest / childhood friend Seong Gi-Hun #456 (Lee Jung-Jae), in the hopes of eliminating one more participant.
Getting the shape out from the Dalgona candy. Screengrab from Netflix, Squid Game.
At the end of that game, Gi-Hun #456 went on to defend Sang-Woo #218, giving him the benefit of doubt that he didn’t know about the game.
In reality, anyone and everyone, even the person you had deemed closest to you! could turn selfish for their own survival. Treating the person as your closest friend may or may not get reciprocated.
The sense of guilt and betrayal. Screengrab from Netflix, Squid Game.
Despite so, there were also some selfless / self-sacrificial exceptions such as Ji-Yeong #240 (Lee Yoo-Mi) who gave up her marbles for Kang Sae-Byeok #067 (Jung Ho-Yeon), and Gi-Hun #456 who gave up the prize money to return with Sang-Woo #218. Those were few but moments that really touched me.
Ji-Yeong #240 (Lee Yoo-Mi) who gave up her marbles for Kang Sae-Byeok #067 (Jung Ho-Yeon), as she found no good reason to leave that place. Screengrab from Netflix, Squid Game.
Trusting VS Naive
My heart ached when Abdul Ali #199 (Tripathi Anupam) lost his marbles. Was he too trusting or was he too naive? Sang-Woo #218 came up with a tall story and instructed him to go around the premise to suss out the age categories of the other couples so that they could beat them together, and he did. With too much trust in mankind, he lost all his marbles and ended up paying the price for it.
Ali #199 who was cheated of all his marbles by Sang-Woo #218. Screengrab from Netflix, Squid Game.
I could very well relate to his story as I was a victim of kindness myself. Being taken advantaged of by my kindness, I have lost all faith and trust in mankind now. Perhaps, I was too trusting or naive or both, I will no longer place my trust on anyone else. I didn’t die like Ali, but I have become cynical and skeptical whenever a similar situation occurs.
Thinking on your feet (Literally!)
I didn’t think there was a strategy to Tug of War. Back in our orientation camp days, we would lined up the strongest men at the front and back and the weaker ones in the middle. At the command of our leader, we would do a synchronised ‘PULL’, ‘PULL’, ‘PULL’. Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose. There were many factors contributing to the outcome; our team members, the opponent team members, a bit of luck etc.
In this game, I thought it was a good strategy when they lined up the strongest at the front and back, organised the members on alternate sides of the rope, legs forward, rope under the armpits and to lean as far back as possible. It was a good strategy and they managed to get an upper hand for the first part of the tugging.
Quite a good Tug of War strategy. Screengrab from Netflix, Squid Game.
When they started losing their momentum and going forward, I was sitting upright in my chair and grabbing the handlebars in anticipation. In a desperate last attempt to salvage themselves from falling into the pit, we hear Sang-Woo #218, giving instructions to the team members to move forward so as to trip the opponents and thereafter to make a strong comeback by pulling them over. I thought it was a rather brilliant idea, albeit a risky one. They could have move forward too much and fallen over themselves. I was curling my toes by now and it really didn’t help when the episode had to end at this cliff-hanging juncture…!! Haahaa… 🙂
As per Sang-Woo #212’s idea, the opponents tripped, fell and got pulled over. When the chopper came down, I was drowned with mixed reactions. I was quite happy that their idea worked and they survived, but also with the fact that their idea had to come with sacrifices.
Its either they die or their opponents die. There was no way out. Screengrab from Netflix, Squid Game.
As much as we often think that our strategy is the best and flawless, we need to constantly think on our feet, adapt and make changes when the strategy is not working. This really speaks to me and in many situations that occur in our daily lives.
Although the show was gory and a little too violent, I felt that there were a lot of life lessons embedded in there if one looks closely enough. There are also times when we would need to read between the lines to decipher the underlying meaning behind it too.
If you have not watched the show, I would encourage you to have a go at it.
If you have watched the show, maybe you would like to share with me, what are some of the lessons that hit you hard?
I saw an article two weeks ago on a group helping to pick up trash on our beaches and decided to join their telegram channel #eastcoastbeachplan. The group has about 3,000+ members and growing. It is very active with messages or new members popping in every single day! Some would even bring their kids along and get them to help out, which I think is really a great and meaningful way to educate the kids on keeping our environment clean and giving back to Mother Nature. Their passion is so contagious and infectious that many of them would check in with their “stash” collected.
I checked if anyone in the group was keen to do a cleanup at Punggol beach since it was near home and I cycle there almost every other weekend (mostly Sunday evenings) just to watch the sun set at the beach. Elias responded and here we are…!!
Whilst we were doing the cleanup, I looked up to the skies and saw this spectacular sight. Such an amazing work of nature to end Phase 2 Heightened Alert.
We did a 1.5 hours cleanup at Punggol beach from about 5:15pm to 6:45pm and collected 4 bags of trash between us. Most of the trash were mineral water bottles, styrofoam boxes, food packagings, reuseable masks, disposable masks amongst many others.
The following week, I was out hiking at Springleaf Nature Park on my own and found myself carrying a trash bag and a glove. I have started picking up trash even on my hikes too.
Masks, bottled water and yes, I did pick up the tissue paper by the bin as well.
At times, I wonder… Why should we pick up the trash, whilst others just do not bother and even litter the grounds. It may seem silly of us. But just like the guy who constantly picks up starfishes and throw them back into the sea, he may not be able to save all the starfishes, but he managed to save a good handful of them. It is the same when we pick up trash… We may not be able to pick up all the trash on the beach / hiking paths, but knowing that we have managed to clean up a small portion and contributed 0.000000000001% to help save Mother Earth, our hearts are filled.
If you happen to be reading this and would like to do your part to help clean up our environment and living spaces, below are some tips that might be helpful to get you started.
Check weather forecast. Be it hiking, beach cleanup or any outdoor activities, it might be good to do a check before leaving the house.
Check tide timings before you head out if you intend to do a beach cleanup. Avoid high tide for your own safety.
Slap on more sunblock / Put on your cap, sunshades if needed.
Picking up trash is a back-breaking task! Hence, would be advisable to use a longer pair of tongs.
Double bag your trash bags as it may tear easily due to the heavy weight from the sandy items.
If there are any hooks or glasses that may tear the trash bag, would be good to pack them in newspapers or hook them onto styrofoam pieces (found amidst trash).
If you are doing your hikes, it may not be as viable to bring along a pair of tongs. I would suggest a plastic bag and a pair of rubber gloves.
Last Words?
Personally, I felt it was quite embarrassing to be picking up trash. I reckon the beach goers were wondering, what was this crazy gal doing?! I felt rather shy and tried not to look them in their eyes. Thankfully, I was all masked up and that really did help. But at the end of the day, I think the little embarrassment is really worth it and it is really meaningful knowing that we have made a very very small little difference to help our environment.
Has been a long while since I updated. Didn’t get to go anywhere new, but had quite an adventure… at home. Nothing naughty… though I wish there was. Haahaa…
I’ve been busy… SETTING UP A STORE! Not a physical store per se, but an online dropshipping store. And guess what, it’s a bicycle accessories store! Something that I am really passionate about and close to my heart. Heh heh hehh…
It was a lot of work, but I had so much fun… Really…!! There were lots of pain as well, but it just kept my adrenalin going. I just wished that I could work on it everyday and not need to go to work. (Until that day, when it earns enough to take over the income from my full-time job!)
I named it Happy Wheels cos no matter how bad a day is, once you get on your wheels, it gonna be such an awesome happy day. And hopefully, everyone that gets on their wheels would be nice and happy, with no angry cyclists or the vicious cycle of ‘pedestrian-cyclist-driver’ hatred.
Exploring the Options
I attended almost 15 different e-commerce sessions trying to find something that I was keen to work on. Since it was the pandemic, all the e-commerce sessions were held online (thankfully!) and that I didn’t need to travel nor be physically present at their classes.
Frankly speaking, I was quite uncomfortable for most of the sessions. Many of the sessions that I attended felt a little ‘cult’-ish. The host would go, “How many of you would like to xxx, please type 1 into the chatbox. And everyone would start spamming the chatbox. Thereafter, they would end off with some sob story or some super huge offer that slashes from S$4,000 to S$1,000 trying to get the attendees to sign up a course with them.
2 screenshots that I took at one of the E-commerce sessions. Will not be naming them here.
Analysing the Options
There were quite a few options ranging from affiliate marketing to ‘copy and paste’ method of writing a book etc. I found most of them quite gimmicky, unreliable and too good to be true. After some thought, I decided to hop onto the dropshipping band wagon thinking that it should be easy with low risk and low cost of entry. But I guess I was wrong… it wasn’t as easy as I thought it’ll be, but ultimately, it was something that I liked to do and I had a lot of fun in the process.
The Process
I did not take up any of the courses from the talks that I attended and started from zero on my own, using online sources. I researched on the categories that were high on search volume using Google trends. From the categories, I zoomed into the products that people were looking for. I started searching for vendors that supplied the products. I analysed the vendors and chose the products that I would want to buy as a customer. Once I have decided on the products, I had to pull them into the store and set the pricing. Thereafter, I had to copywrite some of the product descriptions. I went into creating artworks and videos for the products using Canva and Vimeo. And finally last week, I put up a Facebook Ad and set the store running…!!
A screenshot of my first Facebook ad.
Although I haven’t had much success as yet (not a single sale till date ☹), but I really did enjoy the learning process! It was almost like stitching my entire life experiences and story together. I did merchandising in my younger days and had to research on the products to buy and prices to set. I did marketing in my later years and had to come up with the pitch, artworks and videos. I did a Specialist Diploma in Social Media Marketing recently and was able to put my Facebook ads skills to use. It was quite incredible seeing it all come together.
I’ve spent the last couple of months working on the store. I’m not sure if it’ll take off but I certainly do hope that one day it will…. 😊
If you have a couple of minutes to spare, I would be grateful if you could pop by my store in the link below and let me have your views; the good, the bad, any advice, any experiences that you would want to share with me. Would be immensely grateful too if you could help share the link to any of your friends if they do need something…
Spreading happiness on wheels, one bike at a time…. was inspired by an act that I did some years back. I bought some bicycle lights and helped installed it on one of the migrant workers bike that I met at the park connector. It gained some popularity and media coverage back then, but I wasn’t too caught up with the attention. I was just glad that I was able to make a difference to one bike out there.
With this e-shop, I hope that I could do more; be it wearing the Superman jersey and making the on-coming cyclist smile or be it being a gracious cyclist and lighting up your bike when it gets dark or even just a simple act of smiling, waving, nodding your head or yelling a ‘Thank You’ when someone gives way to you. These are very simple and basic acts of kindness which I think any and every cyclist out there could do. I believe these simple acts of kindness will make a small difference to the other person’s day or life and you’ll never know the ripple effect that you had caused.
Just like this colourful bridge, I hope that we could all add some colours to another person’s life or day….
With the Covid-19 measures tightened just two weeks before the Lunar New Year, I was secretly feeling happy and elated because I could now “officially” not go to any relatives homes since I was the 9th person in the family. It was an escape from all those incessant irritating questions and remarks. Confirm a HAPPY NIU YEAR even before the Lunar New Year starts…!! Haahaa….
Here’s wishing all of you a HAPPY LUNAR NIU YEAR…!!! Mooooo…. 🙂
With that, I had a bit more time for myself and decided to embark on a new exploration. One of the destinations in my bucket list (apart from doing a Round-Island someday….) was to get to Seletar Rocket Tower at Mandai area (sounds really far from my home). Many of the members in the cycling groups that I was in, had pictures of it, but there weren’t any concrete directions on how to get there. Nevertheless, I decided to just go ahead and do it on the second and third day of the Lunar New Year.
I did a trip there on the second day but the sky got fierce with looming dark clouds and I decided to turn back without reaching the destination. Feeling indignant, I decided to attempt again on the third day of Lunar New Year, setting off earlier at mid-day this time round.
I cycled along the Seletar North Link and came across this little oasis. Really pretty.
Though its not the first time that I come here, I still love the serenity of it.
I cycled on the entire stretch of Seletar North Link. The left side was still full of construction works. I wonder when will they ever finish with it…. At certain parts, the pedestrian path was so narrow and bumpy that I had to cycle onto the roads. Was really worried whenever I cycle onto the roads as I was not a proficient and fast cyclist. And I needed to constantly be on high alert and vigilant as many times, accidents can happen in just milli-seconds.
Towards the end of the Seletar North Link, I caught some rooftops at the corner of my eye. Wondering what they were, I crossed over the road and came across the “Singapore Last Fishing Village” as I found out after I googled for it. Wowww…. I didn’t even know there was this “last fishing village” right here on Singapore mainland.
Singapore Last Fishing Village. Looks stayed in. Wondering how does the inside looks like.
There is even a “jetty”…??!!
Turning right and rounding the corner, I arrived at Yishun Dam. Quite surreal that there is a beach on the right side and yet heavy traffic on the left. Didn’t quite like the bumpy concrete slabs path but it was definitely a huge and spacious path. At the end of the Yishun Dam, I had to cycle straight ahead until I hit a traffic junction to get onto Yishun Ave 1. Hence, I reckon I could cycle on the Rower’s Bay side since it was a direct path to Yishun Ave 1. Bammm… Not such a great idea afterall cos the path on Rower’s Bay side was only a very narrow lane and the strong winds from the sea and the traffic may cause one to lose balance and tip over if not careful.
Yishun Dam. Beach on the right side and heavy traffic on the left.
Enjoying the tranquility and peace.
Go straight ahead until I hit the first traffic junction.
Rower’s bay side with only a very narrow path. Not easy to cycle on this side. On second thoughts, I think I’ll stay on the Yishun Dam side.
As I got to the first traffic junction going along Yishun Ave 1, it was a cycling path! Awesome… I kept going on and on and at some point, I crossed the road to the Orchid Country Club side, before I hit the Lower Seletar Reservoir.
I arrived at the traffic junction and crossed the road to cycle on the entire stretch of Yishun Ave 1.
Cycling path….!! Yayyy… Awesome.
Saw these ‘fruit’ blocks. There’s ‘Ong Lai’. Huattt Ahhhh…..
Crossed the road and got to Singapore Orchid Country Club.
Less than 5mins away, I arrived at Lower Seletar Reservoir Park.
Saw this nice canopy but couldn’t go over as bikes were not allowed…. : (
I cycled inside the Lower Seletar Reservoir for a while and got out and went across the road and was about to head to Sembawang Road. Decided to ask a Grab cyclist the way as I had a feeling I was not going in the right direction and I was right…!! Haahaa… I backtracked and went back into the Lower Seletar Reservoir and went along the park connector.
This is where it got a little tricky. I had to exit the park connector and went along Lentor Avenue and get to a ramp beside Busstop #59019 and go down the ramp and go along the Springleaf park connector. It was like doing a figure of 6.
Cycled on the Lower Seletar Reservoir park connector that is beside Lentor Avenue.
Exit the PCN by going up this ramp.
Cycled about 200m and saw this busstop with a ramp going down.
If you can’t find the ramp, you can try searching for this busstop # 59019.
Go down the ramp.
Go under the flyovers.
Go straight all the way on this Springleaf park connector that runs beside a stream.
After coming to the end of the Springleaf park connector, I was at a ‘cross-road’. I didn’t know whether to turn left, turn right or go straight. I decided to try my luck and turn right onto Nee Soon Road after looking at the map. Thankfully, I was on the right track. Once I got to the end of Nee Soon Road, at my 10 o’clock direction, I saw a signage that points towards Mandai Road and I decided to head towards it. Cycled the entire stretch of Mandai Road until I came to Mandai Road Track 7 and turn left and went under the flyover. I cycled all the way in and came to Carpark B and headed up the tough slope…!!! By now, I was quite punctured already and hence got off the bike to push it up the slope. Haahaa….
At the road junction of Springleaf park connector, turn right onto Nee Soon Road.
At the end of Nee Soon Road, there is a Mandai Road signage at the 10 o’clock direction.
Cross the road and head towards Mandai Road.
Cycled the entire stretch of Mandai Road until I came to Mandai Road Track 7 and turn left and went under the flyover.
Cycled all the way in and came to carpark B and it was quite a tough climb up…!!! By the time I arrived here, I was quite punctured liaoz and hence got off the bike to push the bike up the slope.
I finally arrived at the Seletar Rocket Tower…!! It was a big sense of accomplishment (at least for me!)… not so much for the distance, but for the fact that I did not really know my way there and had to ask my way around, got lost, backtracked and continued to persevere and just pushed on…
I’m finally here….!! Hohohooo… : D
The infamous Seletar Rocket Tower !
Even went up to the top of the Rocket Tower to oversee the entire area.
So serene and peaceful…
I cycled to the end of the road too… just to see what was there. Haahaa…. :”)
On my return journey, I decided to try using the Upper Thomson Road to Yio Chu Kang Road to Sengkang West instead, since I was pretty familiar with this route. And true enough, this route only took me about 1hr 15 mins or so at about 12km.
This is the route that I did from Sengkang to Seletar Rocket Tower. Red denotes my journey from Sengkang to Seletar Rocket Tower and Pink denotes the return journey.
Onward Journey: (Took about 2hrs 45mins, 18km)
Seletar North Link -> Seletar West Link -> Yishun Dam -> Yishun Ave 1 -> Lentor Ave -> Springleaf park connector ->
Burnt 740 calories…!! Yayyyy…. Can eat two more pineapple tarts liaoz. Heh heh hehh… ; )
If you’re keen to cycle the same route as well, do remember to have your helmet and bike lights (if you’re cycling into the night). These are the two most important items that I constantly advocate for. Always be vigilant, keep safe and have a good ride wherever you’re cycling to… 🙂
Cycled with Leslie to Changi Village sometime ago and by the time we returned, it was nightfall. We cycled on the park connector from Changi Village to Loyang Avenue to Pasir Ris. Whilst we were on the Loyang Avenue park connector, it was super pitch dark and I could barely see anything more than 1m ahead of me. Thankfully, Leslie’s bike light was so strong and managed to lit up the road in front of me…!! Especially so, considering that he was cycling about 3m to 4m behind me. I think his light was about 800 lumens or so.
I resolute to get myself a new bike light and hunted around for one… I finally settled for a Rockbros bike light seeing the good reviews and recommendations in the cycling groups that I was in.
Made an online order for it and when it finally arrived, I can’t wait to test it out.
Its finally here…!! So excited…
I thought bike lights should be ‘idiot-proof’. Need instructions as well? Haahaa… :”) Love that it came so well-protected.
Its quite simple to insert into the holder and clasp it onto the handlebar…!! If Xia can do it, so can you.. : D
Best part was that it is rechargeable. So I could actually charge it a night before my ride and it could last my entire ride. (Disclaimer: my ride is not RTI lahh…. I just cycle a couple of hours per ride.)
Had been a long while since I cycled to Soek Seng Cafe and decided to make my way there to enjoy the nice sunset and watch the planes fly past cos it has been almost one year since we haven’t gotten on one…. Siggghhh….. : (
Such a gorgeous sunset… : D
Was a scorching evening and I caught a really awesome sunset at the entrance going into Soek Seng cafe.
Soon, it got dark and it was time to head home.
Was cycling along Seletar Aerospace and there were some parts which were really dark. I was so glad that I have gotten the new bike light that managed to light up my path since I was cycling alone that night. Am really quite happy with the new bike light and I think it was a small investment totally worth every penny… 🙂
Left: Bike light I got from Happy Wheels. So much stronger and cheaper. Right: A-not-so-cheap bike light that I got from a huge sports shop at Somerset. Quite disappointed that I paid so much to get a lower quality bike light : (
I would say I’m pretty happy with the new bike light and would recommend you to get yourself one (a good one!) if you do not currently own one. I felt so much safer and more confident when I had this stronger bike light as compared to my previous bike lights.
Ultimately, I reckon the most important part was to cycle safe and get home in one piece : D
霞女之旅 
