Tho Teng Yun Chinese Temple,Brunei

Located in the city centre of Bandar Seri Begawan,KH Soon Services and Rest House is the only cheap guesthouses to be found along Jalan Pemancha.

The room price noted is Brunei Dollar 30 per night. It's just a 5 minutes walk to the central bus terminal,less than 5 minutes walk to Tamu Kianggeh morning market,10 minutes walk to the boat pier and 10 minutes walk to Sultan Omar Ali Saifudeen grand mosque and one stop Yayasan Bolkiah Shopping Complex.

During the weekend,the shopping complex area is swarmed with migrant workers from Philippines,Thailand,Bangladesh and Indonesia.
There were Thais operating mini markets next to the bus terminal building on the 1st floor and this should be a good platform to promote Thai products beyond the shores.

In the Yayasan Bolkiah Complex,one local artist displayed his creativity in painting the Kampung Ayer.(Water Village)

 This water colour painting reflects the daily life of the waterfront village people travelling to and fro with the speed boat taxis.

 Way back in September of 1998, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of Britain made a tour of the Kampung Ayer and there's a pier named after Her Majesty.

A visitor to Kampung Ayer will be amazed by the good infrastructure within this community.In addition to houses, there are mosques, restaurants, shops,schools and even a kareoke lounge on stilts over the water

Just a short distance from the Tamu Kianggeh morning market is a Taoist Chinese temple.

The temple is called "Tho Teng Yun"(Temple of Flying Clouds).
Most of the Hokkien dialect speaking Chinese lives around the town centre.

Tao means path,a belief in living in harmony with nature and hence with the cosmos and the Universe. The ‘Three Jewels of Tao’:- 1) compassion, kindness, love 2) moderation, simplicity, frugality 3 ) humility, modesty At the main altar were three main deities.They are actually ancient legendary heroes.

A pig is being offered on thanksgiving day ritual.

A goat makes a good pair.

This festival tribute was further enhanced with prayer paraphernalia such as the paper sedan chair for the emperor god and joss papers which will later be burnt as offerings.

On both side of the temple's wall tiles were paintings of pictures of ancient Chinese warriors history.
 This is something very unique and very educational for those who want to learn about ancient China.
The paintings were just like an abstract from a history book.

Haadyai Kim Yong market

After 13 hours of journey from Bangkok,the bus finally reached Haadyai bus terminal closed to 10:30pm.

 Haadyai is the 3rd largest city in Thailand and a more popular weekend destination for both Malaysian and Singaporean travellers.

Hardly do you see westerners(thai people will call "falang") except those on transit to Phuket or Penang spending their time in Haadyai.

Haadyai bus terminal(off Sripoowanart Road) is about 6km from town and is about 3km walking distance to DIANA shopping centre.
Another 1km straight ahead is the Florida Hotel,cross the road and you'll be near to town centre.

Just beside the DIANA complex is a man-made lake where during weekends there is an open air food bazzar surrounding the lake with live entertainment by local popular singers and is usually packed.
Most of the local people prefer to shop at this complex leaving those in town to the tourists.
DIANA complex is also a more popular hangout for the youngsters.

Haadyai Railway Station is just right in the middle of town and very convenient to all travelers.

If you were to stay at Cathay Guesthouse,it's just less than a kilometre walk.
 Hat Yai Train Station is the southernmost Major Rail 'Hub', Depot, and Junction on Thai Railways Southern Line for both passenger and Freight trains.

 The State Railways of Thailand's International Express leaves Hat Yai for Butterworth near Penang daily at 05:50, going via Padang Besar.

In the other direction, trains leave Butterworth at 13:15 and arrive in Hat Yai at 17:30.
The train then continues to Bangkok.

Kim Yong market(thai:"talad")is also in the town centre and a very busy morning market.
One can witness interesting activities ongoing and also savor some of the cheap food in the area.

Inside the building on the left were many stalls selling all sorts of items be it the wet market categories,groceries,footwears,garment,electronics and lots more.

It's quite a large market and a shoppers paradise to hunt for good quality made-in-thailand products.
 If you love stainless steel and silverware cooking utensils with the popular brand "ZEBRA",you need to cross the road to the otherside where there is another wholesale market(less than 2km away).

Thai vegetables name:-onion(hua hom),white onion(hua hom yai),carrot(hua phak kat daeng),cabbage(ga lam),basil leaf(bai gra phao),ginger(khing),chilli(prik),lettuce(phak gaat haawn),cucumber(dtaaeng gwaa),bean sprout(thua ngaawk),sweet potato(man thaeht)

 



The beautiful garland called"dookmalai" is part of the Thai society.
Each and every household on the prayers altar,temple statues and even in cars or buses will hang the garland which depict good luck.

Flowers are traditional at Thai Weddings as well as Western Weddings and make the big day very colourful and special.
They make the room, garden or hotel in which you have the ceremony, dinner and party very attractive and fragrant flowers can fill the area with a lovely smell. If you would like to get some artificial dook malai as souvenirs,there are small ones that cost 25baht

In fact dook malai(phuang malai) is a charming way to honor any festivals or occassions.

One of the most commonly used flowers are the yellow chrysanthemum which are skillfully tied with a banana stem fibres and some red ribbons.

White jasmine flowers with its sweet scented aroma adds to its transquility.
 Thai street vendor is selling her homemade delicious cakes like eggtart ,pineappletart,Thai milk cake,Thai mango cake and some exotic cake pudding.There is also the Thai cake(pui fai),a kind of wheat flour made dessert cake where the chinese also used to make as offering to chinese gods at the altar.


Inside the building ,the market stalls are plenty with a variety of stocks to cater to the masses.

Bargaining is a necessity here.The passageway are very narrow so you need to squeeze through.

Muslim traders seemed to be many here dealing with a variety of businesses.They were very hardworking and have a good sense of entrepreneurship.

This is the place to get fresh sea harvest which were very cheap.

A Muslim shopper walking pass the pork stalls. Thai Muslims also respect other religion rights and have a great degree of understanding. 

Muslim chicken vendor stall beside a pork stall.
This is something very unique to be found in Thailand where no other countries in Southeast Asia ever has such harmonious citizens interacting and mixing freely among themselves without the need to talk about religious segregation.

Though Thailand is a predominantly Buddhist country with multi-cultural and multi-ethnic population,Muslims conservatives are found all over Thailand and there are also mosque in every provinces.

The only exceptions are those hardcore deviantionist who thought that they have a big brother in a neighbouring country in the south where the present ruling leaders will sponsor their mischief by putting on a mask and pretending to be peace brokers...read here.

There were couple of pork(thai:muu) seller stalls around this huge Kim Yong market. The Chinese like to eat pork especially the famous dish called "bak kut teh" (meat bone tea).

It consists of meaty pork ribs simmered in a complex broth of herbs and spices for hours.
Bak kut teh is usually eaten with rice or noodles and often served with youtiao / cha kueh [yau char kwai] (strips of fried dough) for dipping into the soup. For lunch menu,maybe can try 'rice with barbeque pork on top' (thai:khaao muu daaeng), pork chops(thai:chin neuua muu),minced pork soup(thai:ba chaaw),sliced pork(thai:muu phaen),pork fried rice(thai:khaao phat muu)





Monks on morning alms round near Kim Yong Market.
It was the 3rd day of the Thai New Year(Songkran) and tourists can witness  this street scene.
 Buddhist monks and novice on morning alms round chanting video

Rice and dried food are normally being offered as alms.
This has been a Buddhist custom which has sustained for thousand of years. The person who offers the morning alms will get the effects as follow.
1. He will reborn during the Buddhist time every lifetime.
2. He will have a lot of properties.
3. His properties will not be ruin by any disaster.
 4. Most people will love him.
5. He will have many good friends.
6. He will be well–known from his good deeds.
7. He will have self–confident in public.
8. When he passes away, he will go to the fortunate realm.
9. He will attain Nirvana easily.

A newly refurbished temple monastery near the market.There was a small shrine on the 3rd floor near the roof top and this building has quite similarity in architectural design to those seen in Ho Chi Minh City,Vietnam.

Sai Tai Mai buses to central and southern Thailand.

A minibus ride  from Yaowarat Road drop me off near an expressway exit road near another 300metres from the main entrance to the bus terminal.

The front building is the SC Plaza and that's where on the 3rd floor were all the long-distance buses ticketing counters.

The washroom(thai called "hung nam")here is free to use except those outside the building where it will be 3baht and 10baht if you wish to have a bath("up nam")

Towards the left along a pathway are the taxis outside the fenced terminal while the local provincial buses will be on queue at the respective platforms.

To get buses and minivans to Bangkok area,you need to walk along the fence perimeter close to the inner building and walk through a narrow gate.

The local Bangkok buses are not within view if you're first timer here,it's across the fence. This terminal in Thai language is called "Sa-ta-nee Bau-Kor-sau Sai Tai" but the locals called it "Sai Tai".

Buses to Damnoen Saduak Floating Market are only available in the morning near the platforms between the terminal building.The floating market is 80 km away in Samut Sangkhram Ratchaburi province.

The front of the terminal faces Borommmarat Chonnani Road with an overhead expressway bridge that connects to Bang Bua Thong and Nakhon Pathom.

Bang Bua Thong(*18km) in central Thailand is one of the 6 district of Nonthaburi apart from Muang(city), Pak Kret(10km), Bang Kruai(27km), Bang Yai(18km) and Sai Noi(30km).(*distance from Nonthaburi city)

As Nonthaburi is only 20 km from Bangkok and both cities lie on the Chao Phraya River, the best way to get to Nonthaburi is via boat, though it is also accessible by car, taxi, or bus.

 Bang Bua Thong is notably a great place for long stay visitors in the suburb of Bangkok with a mix of modern housing estates and industrial areas.
Nakhon Pathom,an old ancient city 36km from Nonthaburi and 58km by road from Bangkok.

It was well known as a center of cultural development and prosperity due to the existence of historical and archaeological findings such as the Phra Pathom Chedi, the world's tallest Buddhist monument.
The 380-foot-chedi dominates the provincial capital and marks the spot where, it is believed, Buddhism was introduced to the Thailand-to-be more than 2,000 years ago.
 The orange-tiled chedi dates from the mid-1850s, and encases an earlier chedi attracts Buddhist pilgrims from all over the world, and hosts each November a ten-day fair which combines merriment and traditional entertainment with solemn religious merit making

.Aircon buses 83 and 997 leave from the Bangkok's Southern Bus Terminal(in Thonburi) for Nakhon Pathom, buses go every 10 minutes from 4:10AM until 9:30PM.

 Buses to River Kwai in Kanchanburi are quite irregular but also available in the morning.In the event can't get it,another option is to get a bus to Nakhon Pathom and get a local connection there.
Minivans is another alternative.

This is the inner building facing the long distance buses platforms.
The blue buses are run by private companies as well as the government.
They are air-conditioned, don’t stop as often except for lunch break or dinner break and are more comfortable.
They go to bigger cities. First class blue buses have toilets while the others don’t.

Finally, there are “VIP” buses. They are recommended for longer trips and have better legroom.
VIP buses fares will include lunch coupon as per ticket,mineral water and a piece of snack.
At the end of trip will be provided with cool facial paper towel.

 On your bus ticket will be printed the platform number.
Only ticket holders will be allowed into the waiting platforms. On the way near the exit of the building are about 3 stalls selling food,snacks, drinks and packed rice with simple dishes for 25baht.
 The waiting hall is an open concept and user friendly conducive environment.

Since the waiting area is out of bound to non-ticket travelers,you'll find the atmosphere here very relaxing Bus destinations available in Sat-tha-nee Tai Mai:

 Phanga(12 hrs) Ranong(8 hrs) Phuket(11 hrs) Krabi(12 hrs) Nakhon Si Thammarat(11 hrs) Trang(11 hrs) Yala (14 hrs) Satun (12 hrs) Koh Samui (11 hrs) Koh Phangan(11 half hrs) Haadyai(12 hrs) Songkhla(12 half hrs) Sungai Kolok(15 hrs) Narathiwat(14 hrs) Lang Suan(9 hrs) Surathani(10 hrs)




The local bus platform to surrounding Bangkok. Normally for buses to Southern Thailand,the VIP and 1st class category are either early morning or late in the evening whereas the 2nd class buses can be available 3 times a day.(early,mid & night) Bus on the way out of the terminal.

 The serthanee(bus station) Sai Tai has been upgraded as at mid 2012 so there's no more open air rest area for those thinking of spending an overnight here at the benches.

Individual push cart stalls have been phased out including restaurants only to be replaced by fast food outlets and the ususal 7-eleven store.

Seating areas have now been limited.


Connecting Lines to the Southern bus terminal:  19, 124, 125, 127, 146, 149, 511, 515, 516, 556