Pattaya Day 2: Wat Phra Yai, Koh Larn Island & Walking Street

Link to:
Pattaya Day 1: Pattaya Night Bazaar

(19/12/2016) On our second day in Pattaya, we go touristy and went for city tour. The city tour was a last minute decision with no plans or bookings from travel agents, we hopped on songtaew or mini bus for THB 2000. The tour is about 2 hours and we get to choose where we wanted to go. Our first stop was at Wat Phra Yai also known as the Big Buddha Temple. Greeted visitors that are on their way up the hill is Goddess of Mercy, Guan Yin statue. It is astonishingly beautiful.

Image courtesy from Google

 

We bought some birds to release at the entrance of the temple. I am awed to see such a big Buddha statue. The scorching noon sun did not stop us from admiring the serenity of the place. In such religious place, it is important to dress respectful. As this was an impromptu visit, we were all dressed in shorts. There are sarongs provided. The two golden colored dragons that flanked the stairways at each side give an extremely grand atmosphere. It said that it takes 1000 steps to reach the top.

 

At the bottom of the staircase, 7 headed mythical snakes emerged from the mouth of the dragons.  

 

On the top of Pratumnak Hill, the enormous 18 meter high big Buddha, built in 1977 is surrounded by 7 smaller Buddha images. Here, we released the birds and hoped for a good karma in return. There are about 3 birds in the small cage so we released a total of 18 birds that day. Bigger cage that cost THB 60 would have about 7-8 birds.

 

Each of us holding onto our birds.

 

My brother all grown up

I hope as he grow older, he would understand more principles in life and be more understanding.

 

I am hoping for a smooth sailing 2017.

Better health, luck and some love

A quick shot of Danny and Ma

We were taking shade from the scorching afternoon sun

 

 Notes of 20 were inserted into containers according to zodiac signs

 

Brother solo shot by me

 

We had our late lunch at Pattaya Floating Market. I have always wanted to bring my brothers to the floating market. Mommy and the girls including me had visited Bangkok Floating Market last few years but not the boys. The entrance fee into the market comes with few options. Tourists can either opt to just walk which is THB 200 or THB 800 to take a boat ride to see animals and the floating market. This floating market is more commercialized that it looks fake with only few boats around. Most shops are accessible by foot. 

 

This place is packed with tourists from China

 

An authentic boat noodle for THB 40 right from the floating market

 

After lunch, we headed back to our hotel to get dressed for island tour. We booked a private speedboat at THB 2500 for all 11 of us. Towels and snorkeling gears are provided at extra cost. We were out to the sea at 3 pm. Waves are bigger at noon time making our ride bumpy yet exciting. We stopped by Coral Island where it is the famous for sea walking. We did not manage to try this time round as some of us were not interested. The sea walking cost about THB 2500 per person for 20-30 minutes. We will definitely come back for this to check it off our list.



The area with float is where you will be doing sea walking

 

There will be guides around all time. Our tourist guide also assure us that there are no sea urchins around. Corals here are very much less compare to the ones we seen in Krabi.

 

Sights of parasailers greeted us at Koh Larn Island.

We stopped here for a dip in the therapeutic sea water.

 

Heading back to the mainland.

The sunset here cannot beat the sunset in Krabi.

I miss Krabi already!

 

At night, we visted the famous Walking Street.

Over crowded with tourists looking for bars and entertainment.

 

There so many bars along the street. Here's one.

 

Pattaya has been a wonderful getaway before the shopping craziness take over in Bangkok. There are actually many attractions in Pattaya that we yet to discover. Frankly speaking, going to Pattaya is an eye-opener. Quoting from my lecturer, "Be careful if you have spouse or boyfriend that is going to Pattaya. If they do, you must accompany them". We left Pattaya for Bangkok the next day by renting a mini van that cost us THB 1800. The journey to Bangkok was 2 hours. This ends our trip in Pattaya.



 

Thank you for reading.

See you guys in 2017!

Pattaya Day 1: Pattaya Night Bazaar

(18/12/2016) With a two hour flight from Kuala Lumpur, we landed in Pattaya. It would be home for 11 of us for the next 3 days.  The word 'Pattaya' and 'Entertainment' are words that go hand in hand. With hundreds of beer bars, massage parlors and clubs, this city only lives at night. We decided to ditch the comfort of staying in an airbnb and opt for a budget hotel nearer to the beach. Located at Soi 8, Beach Road, Sunshine Hotel & Residences is the perfect choice. With 7eleven right in front of the doorsteps, bars on left and right, we are totally in the center of everything.

Comfortably fit 2

 

Basic amenities

 

Toilet area

 

After freshen up, we headed straight for food since it was about 7 o'clock in the evening when we reached. On our walk, we filled our growling tummy with some delicious kebab selling in food cart by the roadside.

 

The kebab is too good that we had it everyday

 

We had our early dinner at a Chinese restaurant. The food is great and so is the pricing. Too bad that I do not remember the restaurant name. After dinner, we travelled on foot to Pattaya Night Bazaar which is directly opposite CentralFestival Pattaya Beach, Asia's largest beachfront shopping mall. It is air-conditioned. In other words, it is an atas night market. There are stalls selling fake jerseys, sport shoes, backpacks, bags etc. DIY lovers would love coming here for the hand-made souvenirs.

 

Accessories like necklaces, bangles, earrings are cheap

 

 

Nike. Adidas to brands like MCM, Gucci

They have it all

 

Cute travel suitcase for those that over buying souvenirs to bring back

 

Right after the night market, we entered CentralFestival mall to buy our next day breakfast. Food from the Central Court is all good. Fruits are very pricey with an apple cost THB 300, imported grapes, strawberry and many more. Totally worth checking out. This ends our day 1 in Pattaya. Follow closely for day 2.

 

Link to:

Pattaya Day 2: Wat Phra Yai, Koh Larn Island & Walking Street

 

Thank you for reading.

Have a nice day

 

 

Social Networking Experiment: WeChat & Child Sexual Abuse

This entry has been long overdue. I always find myself occupied while trying to properly sit down and finish up an entry. I feel compel to finish this today (it must be today) to show support for the RAGE campaign on child sexual grooming. I, myself knew how much of a disaster social networking can bring to someone. Especially after attended Sex Education exhibition this afternoon, I feel like teenagers and child should be taught how to properly protect themselves against predators that are lurking around.

It is very common for children today to have a smartphone. While smartphones are making communication easier, it can get out of control if it is unsupervised. I am sure that in your phone(s), there must be at least one social networking whether it is Whatapps, WeChat, Viber etc. I am particularly more interested in WeChat, a popular social networking app downloaded by millions of users. Available on Android, IPhone, Blackberry and Windows phones.

It is a mobile text and voice messages communication service released by a company in China in January 2011. With WeChat, users are given free subscription for life. WeChat offers users voice and video calls across the globe and besides text messages, WeChat also comes with voice message, walkie talkie and stickers features for their users. Aside from that, WeChat also allow users to make new friends across the globe with their "Shake", "People Nearby" and "Friend Radar" functions.

It is clearly known that I have insufficient storage problem due to Wattpad ( #firstworldproblem ) and the fact that Whatapps always renew my subscription, I do not have the need to try other social networking apps like WeChat or Viber (as of this is written, Whatapps has offer their users free subscription for life. Thank you) Besides, my family members and friends all are Whatapps users. Recently, I have downloaded WeChat for easier communication. From my experience, I would say that WeChat is a combination of Facebook, where it allows users to share their photos and status and Whatapps, where users can send text messages and make free voice and video calls.

I am particularly interested in the "Shake" function where users shake their phones and it connects you with users that also shake their phone at the same time. I had created a profile for myself in the 18 days duration. Since I have been to Thailand lots of time and believe that Thailand is my second home, I disguised as a Thai. I started my profile with a photo of the sexy Britney Spears. It was later on that I changed it to a more conservative picture of an Asian girl and then photo of a Chinese girl without makeup on.

 Profile pictures

 

 Personal background

From what I can see, there are lots of guys responded with the intention of having sex chats or video calls. Some of them are very straight forward while others may go round in circles. Most of them are from India and Dubai. Out of almost 100 greetings, only ONE user noticed that it is Britney Spears. Conversation started quite straight forward to wanting another picture of me to confirm my identity or with GIFs of sexual activities. I am also surprised to have greetings from female wanting to have sex chats, which feels a little weird, I would say. Some even went as far as asking another naked/ sexy picture.

As a 22 year old sales girl in a boring bookstore, nothing much can be said. The conversation was very straightforward. Almost 99% of my respondents are in their 20s. While chatting, almost all of the guys said that they are single. During the conversation, I felt some showed a dominance side of them when being ignored or simply when I refused to give another picture. It ended mostly when I refused to send them another picture of myself or block their incoming video calls. I noticed that the guys that I chatted with felt very open to sending pictures of themselves.

Do you know that you can actually turn off the video calls function in WeChat?

When I set my profile picture as a pretty young lady, greetings come from mostly men some with intention of having sex while others, surprisingly wanted to have a real relationship. While most greetings came from India, Dubai and Iraq, there are some from United States, Australia, Taiwan, Indonesia, Cambodia, New Zealand, Russia and Malaysia. Nature of conversation started with admiration of 'my' beauty and my activity at time of conversation which usually 'on bed, ready to sleep'. With this decent and acceptable profile picture, there are guys that really want to have a normal conversation.

"I" got proposed on WeChat from an Indian guy

That say so much about my love life ( #sadcase ) Joke aside, with the girl without makeup on, number of greetings are much lesser and are very straight forward to sexual topic. Probably because the girl in the picture is not as attractive as the other two but there are still sweet greetings from polite users.

Conclusion that I can make is that I actually chatted with people of different professions and it is very refreshing aside from the sexual remarks. I chatted with an athlete in swimming from Dubai, a fresh graduate gynecologist and a fitness trainer from India. It is actually amazing to come across people from different walks of life if it is for other reason. The fitness coach went to as far as to provide me with tips to lose weight since I am the desperate fat lady who enjoys eating all day long. His tips is to drink lemon with honey or green tea in the morning. Our conversation ended when he asked for more personal questions on my body measurement and a full photo of myself in order to determine the right work out for me. I quitted the conversation as I felt it goes way to far and I am not looking forward to share anything about myself.

I was also being offered to be in a secret relationship with a fat belly guy from Dubai. Though it seems like I am fooling around, I do not have the intention to destroy someone marriage/relationship by agreeing to be in a secret relationship. It comes very straight forward like,

 

 "Are you interested in secret relationship?"

with a fat bellied guy as a profile picture. I strongly believe it is against my moral values even if the profile picture has someone as handsome and charming as Zac Efron or Liam Hemsworth and I, myself despised third parties that destroy people's family.

I knew this fooling around have to stop when I became obsessive with chatting with strangers. Through this period, though I never shared any of my personal details to anyone but I have this feeling that if I am in this any longer, I would slipped something. It is also a waste of time since I spent every 4 hours daily chatting with strangers when I would feel much happier resuming my business or baking or even better spending time with Xiao Ai.

The feeling of being loved, wanted and needed by someone I literally do not have a clue about started to scare me.

Personally, I felt it is very dangerous for teenagers especially those of age of 13-16 or those with troubled family background as they have a higher chances of seeking comfort through chatting. Besides, it is also easier for these sex crazed guys to manipulate them for a sex chat or a sex video calls. Furthermore, I also did some background checks when I realized some of them are in a relationship but still seeking other girl (which in this case is me) for sexual relief. So girls, do not introduce WeChat to your boyfriends or either way be careful.

When I imposed as a 7 year old innocent girl, a 24 year old guy responded to my shake. He approached by asking personal questions like name, age, family background before he went to more sexual related questions like if I am aware of sex, do I watched pornography and have I ever seen a cock?

"Do you want to see my cock?

You have cock? Do you chickens too?"

This can be consider as child sexual grooming where sex predators are teaching children to sexual related stuffs. Sex predators actually approached children as a friend to establish a relationship before proceeding to their goals. I do not think that at the age as young as 7, children should be exposed to words like 'masturbate', 'cocks', 'sex' etc. I hope there would be laws against child sexual abuse to protect our innocent children against exploitation of these activities.

My draft entry actually ended with,

[ I actually wanted to continue with a profile of a handsome guy, finding girls (thou I think it is tough as mostly only guys are using the Shake function. Horny guys to be specific) but decided against it as Chinese New Year is coming in 3 weeks time. If I don't publish this now, I think I would never share this out. (but I did now) My semester commence right after Chinese New Year. I will be in my busy and hectic schedule again. Besides, I have lots of spring cleaning to do and baking waiting for me. I cannot promise when I will be back for the next entry but this entry on WeChat is actually quite meaningful to mark my 200th post and 10,000 views.

A quick update on what is going on. I actually obtained a 2.33 CGPA for my Year 1 Semester 1. It is expected but nevertheless, I am still quite disappointed. For Microbiology, I managed to score a C which is a sad news but I did struggled with it. On 2016, I vowed to continue losing weight to 60 kg which is another 8 kg more to go and study harder to obtain a better CGPA for my second semester. ]

I have done my part to reach out to Members of the Parliament for laws against child sexual abuse and hope you can too. You can do a part by clicking on http://www.predator.my/ and influence your MP vote against sexual grooming.  I am ending this entry with a screenshot of a recent news which is quite related with our topic. So, DO IT NOW!

Thanks for dropping by

See you very soon



A Year In Training

It is almost 3 weeks into my semester break. I have been eating like nobody business and being a couch potato. Basically, I have not do anything useful since coming back except from finishing the leftover food on the dining table every evening. I actually have a lot of plans for my semester break. One, I want to update the blog more frequently and of course, do some editing on the previous entries. Secondly, I want to bake and cook more. I have like a zillions recipes waiting for me in my FB. I target at least 25 different recipes to try out. Next, I plan to contribute some oxygen by planting more trees around the house's compound.

A year being a Pharmacy student. The verdict is that time management must be very good. At the end of every semester, I always find myself juggling with assignments, lab reports, quizzes and revision for the final. During semester 1, we were taught basic knowledge, errr something like biology. The course taken was Microbiology, General Chemistry, Physiology on human body and communication skills. In second semester, I was suddenly being thrown with various drug names like allopurinol, penicillin, cyclosporine etc. And then, there are various clinical lab test, mechanism on organic chemistry and the list goes on.

Being an OCD myself, I actually having difficulty in organizing my lectures notes. The extra information given during the lectures, I have to write neatly, properly in a straight line in my lecture notes. Knowing myself very well, I started managing my lecture notes very early into the semester. However, in the middle of the semester when things got really hectic, I tend to finding excuses for myself. Even after the semester ends, I still bring back the lecture notes back home to finish it. I pride myself for being an organized person. So after I am done with each semester, I filed properly my lecture notes and keep them just in case I might need them in the future. Also, do not be surprise if I say that I still keep my high school workbook.

I have completed my Year 1 with much joy, happiness and blessing. Not forgetting also the stress, doubts and worries along the way. No retake nor supplementary paper which I am very grateful for. Hopefully, this continues until I graduate. Along the way, I acquired new life lessons, make new friends and most importantly, learn how to live independently. Despite being an introvert, I am making more friends with those who actually care. I always believe in quality and not quantity. That being said, here are the photos with a group of friends during semester 1 and semester 2.

Photo with my run buddies in October

After our marathon run on ABC Day in March

During February 19 to 21, I signed myself up to be part of the 9th Team Building Camp, organized by UCSIUPSA. It was at Kingfisher Campsite in Hulu Langat, Selangor which is about 45 minutes drive from the campus. I actually signed up alone without Ah Hwi. Frankly speaking, before the camp, I actually regretted for signing up because I am actually going alone without knowing anyone from my year. I was dreading and even thought about ways to withdraw myself. Then again, I decided to pull up my big girl panties and deal with it.

We arrived at the campsite at 12 noon, just in time for lunch. After lunch, we were assigned into respective groups. Like any other team building camps you have been before, the next 3 hours were spent on creating our group's name and slogan. Beauty 'N' the Beast is the name we have chosen. The ladies are the beast and the guys are the beauty. Thanks to the 2 talented beauties in the group for their amazing drawing and creativity.

Revamped the fairytale of Beauty and the Beast

Ladies: We are Beauty

Guys: We are the Beast

Together: We are Beauty and the Beast!

 

This is the "Be Swift Like A Snake" group

 

Monkey King group with their members

 

A group of ducklings from the Quack group

 

Ev3rest with their slogan, "You maybe tall, but we are taller".

 

Lion King's members with "Always Win" as slogan

They did indeed won

 

Right after tea time, we were ready to go for treasure hunting under the scorching afternoon sun.

 

At the "Guess the Movie" station. DZheng is doing a hair joining thing

The answer was Avatar. Applause for you if you guessed it right.

 

 

The sad face was for trying to figure out how am I suppose to do "In the Heart of the Sea"

Our lousy attempt in trying to get the coins in the bottle

 

Sin Yee was trying to find the perfect note for Mary Had A Little Lamb

 

It was a very difficult treasure to hunt and we ain't pirates. With a very bloated tummy after dinner, we went for another run of night running for "Who's the Killer" game.

 

Listened attentively to the instruction given by the game master

 

This is my "looking bored and do not know what is happening" face

 

In the attempt to balance 9 nails in one nails

A mission impossible for clueless people like me

 

At this station, we were required to join the missing pieces and built dominos with at least 2 turns

 

The ball must released from the top and knocked off all the dominos in order to succeed

 

Figuring out the given clues by counting the squares and circles

 

The killer was caught at the end of the day. After spending another hour to discuss our sketch for our cultural night, we were ready to tune in for the night. Breakfast was scheduled at 7 o'clock in the morning but everyone was still perfectly tucked under their comfortable blanket until almost 8 am. After breakfast, around 9 we did some team building activities which consist of human bridge and human knot.

 

Seniors in charge were doing demonstration for us

 

A perfect circle from the Lion King's members

 

Twist and turn those lazy muscles in the attempt to resolve the knot

 

After a hearty meal, we went for another round of running and more team building games.

 

Clearly, I am not ready for a photo

 

Here we were trying to build the highest paper tower for our delicate egg



 

Dinner was barbeque chicken with fried rice that night. It was a hearty meal after the strenuous exercise in the afternoon.

Mama Ben showing some of her modeling skills before the group performances

 

Another group photo after the performance

 

The memories singing and dancing around the campfire will forever be cherished

 

We walk to the left,

And we walk to the right,

And we walk, and we walk,

And we walk all night.

 

On the heels, on the toes,

And a half way round,

On the heels, on the toes,

And a new friend found.

 

Since it is still Chinese New Year, we were given Kongming lanterns

On it, we wrote our wishes and released it to the sky, hoping for a dream come true

 

8 members of the Beauty and the Beast

 

Seconds before releasing it to the air

 

It was our last night so we took the opportunity to have fun. Some preferred to test the water by gambling, others wanted to chit-chat and I was too tired for all that so I went to bed early that night. After some water activity in the morning, we packed and were ready to go back to civilization. 3 days and 2 night without access to the internet is the longest I can live.

 

 

A group photos for our closing ceremony

 

Though initially I regretted for signing myself up for this, towards the end of the camp, I am glad that to be part of it. Along with the fun and joy, I make new friends along the way. I am also very thankful and glad to be a part of the Beauty and the Beast team. My team members are sporting, fun and full loads of humors. The memories created will always be special. May the 10th team Building Camp be more fun, exciting and a little bit of adrenaline rush. I feel that it is a waste for not going jungle trekking. It would definitely be fun with a little bit of sight-seeing around.

 

This actually sum up my Year 1. With doubts and worries along the way, I can never be glad enough to be part of this. May the second year be better with more friends, better grades and less worries.

 

Thank you for being in this journey with me.