Tourist In Paradise

Welcome to my Travelog!

2009-05-01T07:00:00.003+08:00

Sunrise at Phu Chi Fa near the Thai-Laos border

Rodney is a guy from Malaysia who studied in Singapore. He currently shuttles between several cities in Southeast Asia for work and play. This website is a collection of his travel journals and random thoughts.

Travelogs

North Thailand: Chiang Mai - Chiang Rai (Dec 2005)	The Netherlands: Amsterdam (Sep 2005)
Australia: Perth (Jul 2005)	Yokoso! Japan: 8 days in Central Honshu (Apr 2005)
Andaman Islands: Koh Ngai / Trang (Nov 2004)	Italy: Milan & Lake Como (Aug 2002)

Events

Ferry & Jeni's ROM Ceremony
(Jul 2005)

Anime / Now Watching

Gunbuster 2 / Aim for the Top 2!
(Feb 2006)

Honey and Clover
(Feb 2006)

Articles

Linksys WRT54GL Performance (Apr 2008)	Nokia N80: Changing Fonts (Jun 2006)
Enhanced Pitch Shifter for ReClock (Apr 2009)

If you would like to view my "guestbook" or leave me a message, please click the comments link below.

Phase-Coherent Pitch Shifter for ReClock

2009-04-16T23:23:00.059+08:00

This article is for Home Theather and AV enthusiasts who use a computer as the playback device for High Definition video.

A software called ReClock is often used with HTPCs to ensure perfectly smooth video playback and also correct the sound pitch of 25fps PAL movies which have been sped up by 4% from their original 24fps.

Some people, myself included, use ReClock to speed up 24fps movies to 25fps, so that they can be displayed without any 3:2 motion judder on HDTVs which support only 50Hz/60Hz refresh rates. In this case, ReClock can also perform pitch-correction of the audio.

The Problem

Unfortunately, the default pitch-shifting library included in ReClock has some drawbacks when used to pitch-shift multichannel 5.1 or 7.1 PCM audio:

The phase is not coherent between the different channels. This means that the Left and Right channel might be slightly out of phase, which ruins the stereo effect.
The parameters used in the pitch-shifting algorithm are not optimal for movie sound quality. The subwoofer channel and low frequencies may be weakened, and some pitch-shifting artefacts may be heard in the sound.

ReClock uses the open-source SoundTouch library for pitch-shifting.

The Fix

I have modified the pitch-shifting DLL to fix the problems for 5.1/7.1 PCM audio:

The phase will be coherent between the L-R channels. This preserves the stereo effect and enchances the overall sound.
C and LFE channels should be mostly in-phase with L-R channels.
Optimized the parameters used in the SoundTouch algorithm, so that the subwoofer channel and low frequencies are preserved, and to decrease the pitch-shifting artefacts.

The overall result is much improved sound quality if pitch-shifting for 5.1/7.1 audio is used in ReClock.

How to install it

Updated 25-Jun-09: Updated parameters

Download and install the latest ReClock from here.
Download the enhanced DLL here:
(a) Standard version (best quality) or
(b) Standard version with lower CPU usage
Alternatively, if you use the AC3 Encoder function of ReClock and experience sound dropouts or A/V sync problems, try this version instead:
(a) AC3 Encoder version (best quality) or
(b) AC3 Encoder version with lower CPU usage
Extract and copy the timestretch.dll file to the C:\Program Files\ReClock\ folder, replacing the original file. You may back up the original timestretch.dll file if you wish.
If you experience sound drop-outs, you can try this: open the "Configure ReClock" application, and increase the setting of "Sound pre-buffer size" to 1000ms (default is 500ms). The "Max latency for PCM audio" should be about 10% to 20% (default is 20%).

Have fun, and hope you enjoy the difference it makes!

Additional tips

There are still some more things you can do to reduce the clicking sounds that can sometimes be heard when timestretching is used.

Set your sound codec (ffdshow audio, etc.) to output at 32-bit INTEGER PCM only (and set ReClock to output at whatever bit-depth your soundcard supports)
Also, if using ffdshow, in the "Processing" menu, under "Allowed sample formats for sound processing", chose ONLY "32 bit integer"

The above are some of the optimum settings I've found after a lot of experimenting.

More technical jargon about what I actually did

ReClock uses the SoundTouch library to do time stretching. SoundTouch uses WSOLA-like time-stretching routines to do this. Basically WSOLA is splitting the sound in chunks, then finding the optimal point to join the chunks back into a longer/shorter waveform depending on how much you want to stretch/shrink the sound. SoundTouch takes in several parameters which can be adjusted to optimize the WSOLA. For more information, check out http://www.surina.net/soundtouch/README.html. In my DLL, I have optimized these paratemers to obtain better sound for movies.

The other thing I did was to fix the phase coherency. SoundTouch can only process sound samples in mono or stereo. In stereo mode, SoundTouch preserves the phase coherency between the 2 channels. For 5.1 channel audio, ReClock actually creates 6 mono channels for SoundTouch to process. So, SoundTouch cuts the sound up different for every channel, and so every channel is slightly out of sync (out of phase). But in my DLL, I use multiple stereo channel processing in SoundTouch, matching up the Left-Right, etc. This pretty much ensures that the stereo imaging is still preserved.

Linksys WRT54GL Routers: Improving Performance

2008-04-25T21:26:00.066+08:00

If you have a shared broadband (DSL, cable) connection at home, then I'm sure it is a common occurence that you find that your Internet connection becomes very slow or unusable if somebody in your home is running P2P software (BitTorrent, Kazaa, eMule, eDonkey, etc.).

This is most likely because the router that "shares" your internet connection is being overloaded by the huge number of connections that P2P softwares make. Most home routers in their default configuration, cannot meet the connection demands of P2P software.

IMHO, the best and also cheapest option for a home router is to buy a router which is capable of being updated to 3rd party Linux firmware. A few of the more popular routers which meet this criteria are the Linksys WRT54GL and the Buffalo WHR-HP-G54. I recommend the new Buffalo WHR-G125 which has a faster CPU than the older models (240Mhz vs 200Mhz) and a better WiFi chipset.

As for which 3rd party Linux firmware to use, I highly recommend the Tomato firmware, which is both easy to use and powerful. Downloads, installation instructions and source code available at http://www.polarcloud.com/tomato.

Tomato SpeedMod

Aside from just using Tomato, I have also been working on tweaking the stock Tomato firmware to gain higher performance from the router. These are some of the changes that I've made to the stock firmware:

1. Patched ip_conntrack to increase NAT hashtable size and optimized conntrack hash bucket selection filter from modulo to bitwise AND.

2. Increased the IP route cache hashtable to speed up routing when there are many connections (>4000).

3. Added fixes for network hash exploits in Linux 2.4.20 (SpeedMod 110).

4. Patched ip_conntrack_core to Linux 2.4.29 (SpeedMod 112).

5. Replaced Jenkins' lookup3 hash with MurmurHash 2.0 which is faster, this should improve overall speed (SpeedMod 117).

With these changes, these little routers should be able to handle thousands of connections and still remain responsive. I've been in contact with Jon (author of the Tomato firmware) and he may integrate some or all these changes into the stock firmware in the future.

DOWNLOADS (Updated 30-Aug-09) Tomato 1.25 + SpeedMod 118:

Click HERE to download SpeedMod-patched Tomato 1.25 firmware for:

Buffalo WHR-HP-G54 / WHR-G54S
Linksys WRT54GL / WRT54G v1-v4
Linksys WRT54GS v1-v3
Linksys WRT54GS v4
Linksys WRTSL54GS
Motorola WR850G

Click HERE to download SpeedMod-patched Tomato 1.25 New Driver for:

Buffalo WHR-G125 and Asus WL-520GU
Linksys WRT54GL / WRT54G v4 / WRT54GS v1-v4 (experimental)

Click HERE to download current SpeedMod source code.

OLD VERSIONS:

Click HERE to download Tomato 1.23 SpeedMod
Click HERE to download Tomato 1.23 ND SpeedMod
Click HERE to download Tomato 1.22 SpeedMod
Click HERE to download Tomato 1.22 ND SpeedMod
Click HERE to download Tomato 1.21 SpeedMod
Click HERE to download Tomato 1.21 ND SpeedMod
Click HERE to download Tomato 1.19 SpeedMod
Click HERE to download Tomato 1.19 ND SpeedMod
Click HERE to download the old SpeedMod source (used in 1.21 and 1.19)

Not sure which version WRT54G/GS you have? Click here to check.

These patched versions were built from the Tomato sources with my patches on top. They work on my WRT54GL and WHR-HP-G54. Try them at your own risk, no guarantees!

For the geeks, if you want to recompile the Tomato source code yourself and implement my patches, download the source and follow the procedures to recompile Tomato, then untar my patches over the source directory.

With these patches, in the web admin page Advanced > Conntrack > Maximum Connections you should be able to increase the value to around 8192 (for 16MB RAM routers) and still get good response from the router. Be careful when increasing this value, because the router might run out of RAM, depending on which other features of Tomato you use.

TIP: Fix for ND versions and Intel 2200BG cards:

Telnet into the router, and issue the following commands:

nvram set wl_reg_mode=off
nvram set wl0_reg_mode=off
nvram commit
reboot

UPDATE: QOS SFQ vs PFIFO

I no longer recommend using the PFIFO qdisc for QOS, and recommend using the (default) SFQ qdisc. If you have previously used the hidden setting to enable PFIFO, you can disable it by:

nvram unset qos_pfifo
nvram commit
reboot

Nokia N80: How to change fonts

2006-05-15T11:44:00.000+08:00

This is a guide on how to change the system font of the newer Nokia Series 60 3rd Edition phones like the N80 and E series. The old procedure for changing fonts on the older Series 60 phones no longer works on these new devices.

The main differences are:

The font name has changed (language-specific)
The font type has changed (CCC or TTF)
The font location has changed

Summary

If you are an experienced font hacker, then the short story of how to change the fonts is:

1. Create a TTF font, and change the "full font name" embedded in the TTF font to "Sans MT 936_S60". You need a TrueType Font editor to do this, like this one. Note that this font name applies to Chinese-input version of the phones. It is likely that English-only phones will use a different font name.

2. Copy the TTF font file to your memory card, and place it in the directory "\Resources\Fonts\". Create the directory if it does not exist.

3. Reboot the phone and it should use your new font.

4. If you want to change back to the default font, just delete the new font file from your memory card "\Resources\Fonts\".

P.S. I have since sold my N80 so no more updates on this article.

Honey and Clover

2006-02-26T22:24:00.000+08:00

Anime Review: Honey and Clover (Hatchimitsu to Clover)

Honey & Clover is an anime based on a manga by Chika Umino. The story revolves around the daily lives of a group of eccentric art school students in Tokyo. This is however, not your average highschool romance anime.

The storyline spans several years, and follows the ups and downs of the gang's college and working lives, balancing just the right amount of comedy and reality. College students and young working adults will easily relate to the characters and situations in this series.

Being an anime about art school students, the animation, artwork and music are top-notch. A lot of attention is paid to the details - the artwork, the timing of the cuts and the soundtrack are all excellent.

Highly recommended.

More information at anidb.net.

Aim for the Top 2!

2006-02-21T00:39:00.000+08:00

Anime Review: Aim for the Top 2! (Gunbuster 2!)

Plot-wise, TOP2 brings nothing new to the mecha / action anime. Elite squad of pilots consisting of teenage kids control big robots to battle against alien monsters. Elite squad discovers cute girl who's curiously clumsy and apparently has no skill. (Possibly, cute girl ends up saving the day?) Nothing new, but by no means a bad storyline. I still haven't completed watching the series yet (2 more episodes to go) so I'll reserve judgement of the plot until then.

Animation and sound however, are top-notch. The voice-acting and animation style reminds me of FLCL, but not so over-the-top. Even the name of the elite squadron is "Fraternity". Being a 6 episode series, it's more style than substance. But the style is in excellent GAINAX tradition - fluid action, great animation, quirky plotline, abundant fan service. Worth watching.

More information at AniDB.net.

Milan & Lake Como: Part 2

2006-02-18T00:49:00.000+08:00

Lake Como

During the one weekend that I was in Milan, I managed to make a half-day trip to nearby Lake Como. After some preliminary research, I found out that Lake Como was an inverted-Y shaped mountain lake surrounded by numerous towns.

The lake town of Como was the nearest to Milan. Como was a quick 45 minute train ride from Cardona station in Milan.

Image copyright DigitalGlobe & Google

Como

Never having been to a mountain lake before, I didn't know what to expect. Right after stepping out of the Como train station, I was blown away by what I saw.

Lake Como was collosal! It looked more like a sea, and this was just the tip of one of the lake's "legs"!

Numerous ferries plied the lake, shuttling people and vehicles between the many lake towns. I took a ride that brought me to Varenna, via a stopover at Menaggio.

Above: Ferry to Varenna, docking at Menaggio.

Above: Menaggio.

Above: Crossing the middle of Lake Como. A little piece of heaven?

Above: The pier at Varenna.

Varenna

Amazingly beautiful town of Varenna, situated near the central portion of lake Como.

My plan was to catch a train from Varenna that would take me back to Milan via a different route. I started walking along this road that I thought would take me to the train station... but the road kept on going and going...

At the point where I took the photo above, it started to drizzle. I realized then that I had taken the wrong road, and was probably now mid-way to the next town. This would mean that I had to walk another 3km along a mountain-side road with speeding Italian cars, dark tunnels, and no shelter from the rain that was getting heavier.

I got quite worried... what if I got lost? what if I missed the last train to Milan? what if some old lady driver runs me down? I actually said a silent prayer before continuing.

Two local cyclists cheered me on as they sped past, probably thinking "crazy Asian guy, walking along the main road". Eventually, I ran into civilization again. A few houses at first, then some shops, more buildings... and finally, a road junction with a sight to behold...

Truly it must have been a sign from God! The rain actually stopped, and the train station turned out to be right next to the road pictured above. I managed to catch the last train back to Milan.

The train ride took about an hour, passing through the town of Lecco and ending up at the Stazione Centrale in Milan.

This day trip ended up being more exciting that I had bargained for, but was worth it.

Back to Part 1

Milan & Lake Como: Part 1

2006-02-18T00:11:00.000+08:00

Introduction

My first trip to Europe was in August 2002, when I worked in Milan, Italy for 2 weeks. Milan is situated in the northern Lombardy region of Italy, not too far from the Swiss border.

Image copyright MDA Earthsat & Google

My weekdays were spent at work, and the weeknights dining and partying in town. One of the hangouts me and my colleagues frequented was a bar we called "the Lola". Wonder if its still there...

Milan

Most fo my colleagues had been living in Milan for months already, and a few of them were kind enough to take us visitors on a small walking tour of the town.

Image copyright DigitalGlobe & Google

Milan's city layout was very orderly, centering around an old castle, Castello Sforzesco (top left of the satellite map above).

Above: Photos from Piazza del Duomo, a large open area just outside the famous Duomo cathedral and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele.

Above: Tram tracks on the streets of Milan.

Above: Making our way to Castello Sforzesco.

Above: Inside the castle, checking out the city map.

Above: One Frenchman, one Dutch, one Dutch Chinese and one Malaysian Chinese wandering through Milan's Chinatown.

Continue to Part 2

Australia - Perth: Part 2

2006-02-05T15:48:00.000+08:00

Burswood Park & Swan River

Satellite view of the area...

Image copyright Google and DigitalGlobe

Holiday Inn at Burswood Park...

Lucky duck...

Burswood Park...

Swan River...

Parting shots from the aeroplane...

Above: Swan River leading to Perth.

Above: Just outside Perth, towards Mount Gungin.

Back to Part 1 / Back to Introduction

Australia - Perth: Part 1

2006-02-05T15:45:00.000+08:00

Perth City

Photos taken on a Sunday afternoon stroll though Perth City.
Satellite view of the area...

Image copyright Google and DigitalGlobe

Area around the Supreme Court Gardens...

Near the Barrack Street Jetties...

Around Barrack Square...

The Swan Bell Tower...

Between the Supreme Court Gardens & Alf Curlewis Gardens...

Walking back to Murray Street...

Murray Street & Hay Street...

Continue to Part 2 / Back to Introduction

Australia - Perth: Introduction

2006-02-05T15:18:00.000+08:00

I made my first trip to Australia in July 2005, when I went to Perth to attend a conference. Didn't have much time to spare touring, as it was only a 3 day trip.

I stayed at the Holiday Inn Hotel at Burswood Park, which was across the Swan River from east Perth.

Here are some pictures:

Continue to Part 1

The Netherlands - Amsterdam: Part 2

2006-02-05T03:08:00.000+08:00

Canal cruise

Amsterdam's Hard Rock Cafe right opposite the Canal Cruise station.

Above: View of Central Station from the river.

Back at the "Dam"...

Besides Amsterdam

During the one week that I was working in the Netherlands, I had the chance to visit a few other small towns and hang out with some colleagues I'd previously only known by telephone. All in, quite a nice but packed trip.

Here's a view from the Schiphol airport departure terminal...

Back to Part 1 / Back to Introduction

The Netherlands - Amsterdam: Part 1

2006-02-05T02:47:00.000+08:00

Walking the city

The Amsterdam Central Station is where the city's train station is. I started my walk there, and headed towards the famous "Dam" area.

A canal boat terminal right outside Central Station.

At the "Dam"...

After a short walk to the west...

Chilling out zone...

Italian hot-dogs.

Continue to Part 2 / Back to Introduction

The Netherlands - Amsterdam: Introduction

2006-02-05T02:31:00.000+08:00

In September 2005, I went on my first trip to the Netherlands for a global meeting at the division HQ.

Accomodation was a hotel at Utrecht city, but work was at a nearby town called Nieuwegein. I didn't manage to take photos of Utrecht or Nieuwegein, but I did spend an afternoon in Amsterdam.

Transportation between towns was via the excellent rail network.

Here are the pictures:

Continue to Part 1

Andaman Islands - Koh Ngai: Day 3

2006-01-28T22:55:00.000+08:00

After a hearty breakfast, we packed our bags and took a ferry back to the mainland.

Amazing how those guys manage to transport that cupboard without the boat tipping over.

The ferry dropped us off at Pak Meng pier. One of the gang lost his backpack which was "checked-in" before we boarded the ferry. Unfortunately, we never found it.

Tham Kao Khop

Aside from the beautiful beaches and islands, Trang province also has some magnificent caves. We paid of them, "Tham Kao Khop", a visit. It started to drizzle a little, but that didn't stop us.

The tour started off with a boat ride along a narrow stream that lead into the caves. Inside, there were some impressive stalactities and stalagmites, and the caves were really huge.

The tour ended off with an exciting boat ride through a cave with a very very low ceiling. Everybody in the boat had to lie flat on their backs while the boatman used his hands to guide the boat through the cave and out the exit. Quite an experience, staring at stalactites passing centimeters above your face.

One Tambom One Product

After the boat ride, we went to the OTOP shop. OTOP stands for "One Tambon One Product", an initiative to develop local produce and self sufficiency.

Many hand-made souvenirs were for sale. There were lots of statues of dugongs, but we didn't actually see any live ones by the beach.

Back to Trang

We stopped for lunch at a restaurant seemingly in the middle of nowhere, but with excellent food.

We had just enough time to check out one of the nearby waterfalls before heading back to town.

We ended off our trip with evening tea at a cafe beside the train station.

Epilogue

Our trip to Koh Ngai started on 26 Nov 2004. Exactly one month later on Dec 26, the Andaman coast of Thailand was struck by the deadly Indian Ocean tsunami.

When I read about the people being trapped in the same Emerald Cave, and the tourists who were lost and unaccounted for, it struck me just how unexpected and precious life is. I can only hope that our guide and the locals on Koh Ngai survived the disaster.

Back to Day 2 / Back to Prologue

Andaman Islands - Koh Ngai: Day 2

2006-01-28T21:54:00.000+08:00

Boat Ride to Koh Rok Nai

We started off the morning with a boat ride to another snorkeling site: the twin islands of Koh Rok Nai and Koh Rok Nok.

The islands were quite a distance from Koh Ngai, and the boat trip took more than 1 hour.

The ride across open sea gave us a good view of the ocean as a provider of life.

Man eats fish. Fisherman preparing / collecting his traps for the day.

Birds eats fish. Once in a while we would come across a flock of birds hovering around what must be the day's breakfast.

Snorkeling @ Koh Rok Nai

The sea off Koh Rok Nai looks like something out of a TV advertisement. "Mild Seven Seafarer's Club" came to mind.

Again, words cannot do the view justice. The sea was so clear that we could see the colourful corals underwater.

Koh Kradan

Our next stop was Koh Kradan, one of the more developed islands nearby.

The left-most boat was our ferry.

Packed fried rice for lunch. The hunger made even the simplest food taste good.

The beach was great for swimming. The water was crystal clear, and just about 15 metres off the coast we could see hundreds of starfish on the ocean floor. Our local guide dove down and brought a few of them up for us to see. They were huge and so alive! The starfish at the Sentosa Underwater World look like toys in comparison.

Koh Ngai

After lunch, we headed back to Koh Ngai to wash up, and spent the rest of the afternoon chilling out and taking photos.

Checking out the beach!

Sunset at Koh Ngai

Continue to Day 3 / Back to Day 1 / Back to Prologue

Andaman Islands - Koh Ngai: Day 1

2006-01-28T20:00:00.001+08:00

The trip started off with an overnight train ride from Bangkok.

We had sleeper bunks and went to bed after a decent dinner.

We arrived at the small town of Trang, and proceeded to check out the local morning market.

Eels anybody? Yummy. :)

Coincidentally, we arrived in Trang on the day of the Thai "Loy Kratong" festival. During this festival, Thais will release handmade "kratongs" (pictured above) into a body of water.

After the short trip to the market, we headed off in a chartered van to Baan Pak Meng, a small village near the pier that is the gateway to the islands off the coast.

Several small shops offered us the chance of last minute shopping for beach amenities.

Koh Ngai

After a short ride on a speedboat from Pak Meng pier, we arrived at Koh Ngai.

The beach and the emerald sea were among the most beautiful that I had seen. The resort at Koh Ngai was also nice. I started getting the feeling that this was going to be a well deserved real holiday. Thoughts of "Fantasy Island" came to mind.

Emerald Cave

After unloading our bags into the chalets, we started on our first island hop. The ferry boat ride presented many photo-taking opportunities.

The Emerald Cave is an amazing creation of nature. Located on the west coast of Koh Muuk, its entrance is at the bottom of some high cliffs.

The cave is dark, narrow and winding. We swam through the cave, a distance of about 80 metres and found ourselves in a beached valley with beautiful white sand.

Supposedly, once the tide comes in it is impossible to get out of the valley and cave.

Snorkeling

Next stop was a small coral island to do some snorkeling.

I had my first taste of open sea snorkeling. The sea was full of colourful fish, which were more than eager to nibble at bread crumbs thrown by us tourists. Actually, it can be a little scary if some clueless tourist decides to throw some fish food nearby to where you happen to be swimming. The fishes show no restraint in going for the goodies.

The underwater view was amazing, with fantastic views of the living corals. Too bad I didn't have a waterproof camera case.

Sunset and Loy Kratong

After dinner at the resort, we celebrated the Thai festival of Loy Kratong. Guests were given complimentary Kratongs. The ideal plan was to take a boat ride out to the nearby island to release the Kratongs into the sea. Unfortunately for us, the weather started to turn windy, so we decided to just Loy our Kratongs in the resort's pond.

The resort staff lead the celebrations, complete with the "Loy Kratong beauty", music and dancing under the full moon. A very nice way to end the day.

Continue to Day 2 / Back to Prologue

Andaman Islands - Koh Ngai: Prologue

2006-01-28T19:50:00.000+08:00

I went on my first island trip in Thailand in November 2004 with Tirak, her sister and friends. Our destination was Koh Ngai, an island in the Andaman sea, off Trang province.

Our plan was to stay at a resort in Koh Ngai for 2 nights, do some snorkeling and enjoy the sand, the sea and the beautiful views.

Continue to Day 1

Chiang Mai - Chiang Rai: Day 4

2006-01-07T21:16:00.000+08:00

We woke up at 4am again today, and headed to the peak of Phu Chi Fa to catch the sunrise. The intention was to walk there, but about a quarter-way through, we found the climb too steep to comfortably walk. Most of us chickened out and flagged down a pickup.

Sunrise at Phu Chi Fa

Phu Chi Fa is an amazing place, at the edge of the Thai-Laos border. The top part of the cliff is on the Thai side of the border, and the drop-off leads into the mountains of Laos.

Looking east, the heat from the rising sun is causing the mist to move towards us on the Thai side.

"Waterfall"

The gang went photo-crazy, while I set up my tripod to catch some shots.

Just before the sun crossed the horizon.

There she is! Good morning Thailand!

Mountains of the Luang Prabang range on the Laotian side.

Sunshine on the mountains on the Thai side.

My very own tripod girl! :)

The entire gang.

Phu Chi Fa literally means "mountain pointing to the sky".

After a short walk down to the waiting area, we headed back to the little huts where we spent the night before.

We managed to squeeze 4 people into each of these huts, but there were only 2 vacant units, so 2 of us had to sleep in a tent. Judging from the snoring coming from the huts, the tent might have been the better option. :p

We packed our stuff and headed off, byebye Phu Chi Fa! We had a long ride back to Chiang Mai ahead of us.

Wat Rong Khun

On our way back to Chiang Mai, we stopped over at Wat Rong Khun, one of the most unique temples in Thailand.

This temple is different because it was designed, financed and is still being built by a famous artist named Chalermchai Kositpipat.

Supposedly, the artist is an extreme character and quite a drama queen. It shows in his designs.

The temple houses one of the most beautiful hand-painted Buddha images in Thailand.

Lunch at Chiang Mai - Khao Soi

After a few hours' drive, we were back in Chiang Mai. Anyone who visits Chiang Mai has to try out one of the famous local delicacies - "Khao Soi" - egg noodles in a coconut curry type of soup. I first tried the dish in Bangkok many years ago, but the Chiang Mai one is much more aroy!

Award winning stuff (I presume)!

Shopping in Chiang Mai

We had a few hours to go before our train was scheduled to depart, so the van driver dropped us off at one of the markets near Chinatown for some last-minute shopping.

Train Station

Our journey had come to an end, and we headed back to Bangkok by overnight train. The ride was surprisingly comfortable since we had sleeping bunks. I slept all the way till morning. A perfect end to 4 wonderfully packed days.

Back to Day 3 / Back to Prologue

Chiang Mai - Chiang Rai: Day 3

2006-01-07T16:57:00.000+08:00

We started the morning with breakfast at a coffeeshop, then headed off to check out the nearby hilltribe villages. A serene morning mist enveloped most of the mountain, creating a dream-like atmosphere.

Thailand-Myanmar Border

Our first destination was the Thai-Burmese border.

The gate you see behind us supposedly leads to the no-man-zone between Thailand and Myanmar.

Hilltribe Village

Next stop was a hilltribe village, where some children and a very persistant old lady tried to sell us handicrafts. Here you see bargain-hunting Bangkokians negotiating with an innocent little village girl.

Thanathon Orange Orchard

It was going to be a long ride to our next destination, so on the way we stopped at an orange orchard not far from the town of Fang.

The Thanathon Orchard people were so proud of their work that they offered a guided tour, complete with tour-boat! The tour-boat had "Thanathon Orchard" jingles playing over the speakers - I kid you not!

I had at least 2 glasses of fresh orange juice, good for building up resistance against any flu bugs that might have been going round. We had lunch at the orchard (more sticky rice for me).

Doi Tung: Royal Villa

Many Thais call Doi Tung "Switzerland in Thailand" because of the cool weather and visible mountains. A villa was built for the late Princess Mother, who lived a large part of her life in Switzerland. These days, the villa has become a well maintained and popular tourist attraction.

Photography was not allowed inside the villa.

Views from the varendah.

View from the garden, looking down onto the plains.

Garden at the entrace to the villa.

The "Tung", a small roundabout at Doi Tung. Surprisingly, the temperature at Doi Tung was not as cold as we expected, but still cooler than normal.

Mae Fah Luang Garden

A beautiful garden filled with decorative flowering plants, located on the hillside just below the Royal Villa.

Long Ride to Phu Chi Fa

We could not stay as long as we wanted to at Doi Tung, because we had a long ride ahead of us to Phu Chi Fa at the eastern end of Chiang Rai province.

Some pictures of the usual suspects inside our van:

Phu Chi Fa

We reached our destination - a small town near the peak of Phu Chi Fa - after sunset. We had dinner and rested there for the night. This town had the coldest climate so far.

Even the man from the land of cold winters was shivering. Actually, he was supposedly feeling colder than the rest of us...

We somehow managed to find a stall selling roti! The owner said he was from Pakistan! Wow, from Pakistan all the way to Doi Tung on the border of Thailand and Laos. Thats a long way to go to sell roti!

Continue to Day 4 /Back to Day 2 / Back to Prologue

Chiang Mai - Chiang Rai: Day 2

2006-01-07T13:57:00.000+08:00

Had a surprisingly good night's sleep. We were up by 4am and headed to Doi Kiew Lom to watch the sun rise. Poor Tirak had motion sickness during the 1-hour van ride, but she was able to pull through it.

Sunrise @ Doi Kew Lom

We arrived about an hour before sunrise. The stars were out in full force in the night sky, creating a magnificent backdrop for the sea of clouds below us.

Obligatory tourist photo with one of Tirak's trademark poses.

While setting up for a group photo, we were in for a little morning adrenaline rush. The log fence which the gang was sitting on very suddenly collapsed! Tirak and another person fell down the slope, and I got quite worried. Thankfully, they didn't fall far and had no injuries. Beware of old log fences!

Sun rising over the sea of clouds.

The flying mist.

The peak of nearby Doi Luang Chiang Dao is visible just above the sea of clouds.

Scenic views make people happy. :)

After the sunrise, we headed back to our chalet for breakfast. Our next stop would be Doi Angkhang, near the Thai-Burmese border.

Shopping for packed lunch at one of the markets along the way.

Doi Angkhang

After a few hours' drive along some really steep and winding roads, we arrived at Doi Angkhang. The mountain is home to a large agricultural research facility and several hill tribe villages.

We checked into a pre-booked inn and dug into our yummy lunch.

The gang at Angkhang town, a very small aggregation of shops and restaurants. There's also an Amari hotel located just outside the town.

Group photo just outside the entrance to the agricultural station.

Inside a greenhouse which was filled with exotic flowers and plants.

Monsieur Guy (or should it be Khun Guy?), our French 'farang' friend.

Tea anyone?

Lots of photo-taking and flower-admiring opportunities here!

Royal Agricultural Station

The greenhouse was just one of the attractions in the agricultural station. There were plantations, 'dry climate' plants, flower gardens, etc. all within walking distance.

We ended the day with dinner at Angkhang town, followed by some tea tasting.

I have to say that there must have been something wrong with the roosters in Angkhang. I was woken up several times at around 3am by the roosters' crowing. Crazy chickens, don't they know they're only supposed to crow when the sun rises?

Continue to Day 3 / Back to Day 1 / Back to Prologue

Chiang Mai - Chiang Rai: Day 1

2006-01-07T12:32:00.000+08:00

Tirak and I arrived in Chiang Mai by overnight bus from Bangkok. Our chartered van driver met us at the bus station, and we proceeded to the railway station to pick up the rest of the gang who came by train.

We had a great breakfast at a "chook" or congee restaurant in Chiang Mai. The rice bits were much more fine (smaller) compared to normal Cantonese chook, but nevertheless the meal was excellent! We also made a short stop at a temple before heading off.

Mok Fa Waterfall

Our first stop of the trip was at Mok Fa waterfall, located at Doi Suthep-Doi Pui National Park.

We packed some food along the way, and so had a nice picnic by the stream. It's during times like these that I realize how useful sticky rice is - you can pack it, eat it with your hands while on the move - so convenient but so tasty.

The rocks are more slippery than they look. Yours truly slipped several times, saved only by some breakdance-like moves. After lunch, we took a short hike through a bamboo forest before heading back to the van.

Pong Duad Pa Pae Hotspring

Our destination for the day was a resort near the Pong Duad Pa Pae hotspring, located in the Huay Nam Dang national park.

Being my first visit to a hotspring, I was awed by the sheer power of nature - a never-stopping stream of hot water gushing out from the ground.

Ah, natural hot water does have it uses! ;) The water was really hot - even hotter than the very-hot bath showers that I'm used to. Later on, some of us tried the hotspring bath. It was probably the closest way to experience what meatballs in an MK hotpot felt like. But once we got used to the temperature, it felt great!

We spent the night in the comfort of one of the chalets, after a filling meal (which got cold far too quickly). Amazingly, all 10 of us were able to fit into one house. The world being as unfair as it is, us 4 guys got the floor while the 6 girls shared the beds.

Continue to Day 2 / Back to Prologue

Chiang Mai - Chiang Rai: Prologue

2006-01-07T00:36:00.000+08:00

This is a journal of my first trip with Tirak and friends to the north of Thailand, where we spent 4 days touring the mountainous provinces of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai.

Vehicle of choice:

Now on to the adventures! Click on the links below for more.

Continue to Day 1

Ferry & Jeni's ROM

2005-07-11T00:22:00.000+08:00

Photos from the Registration-Of-Marriage ceremony of soon-to-be-ex-housemate Ferry.

Yokoso! Japan: Day 08

2005-06-01T21:00:00.000+08:00

Tokyo Station

After checking out of the hotel, the first order of the day was to walk over to the Tokyo station and dump my bag in a locker.

Trains, buses and taxis. The colour of Tokyo's streets. I saw a nice 1980's-generation Toyota Supra all polished and looking brand spankin' new too.

Here's a curious little tricycle. Notice how the glove is conveniently fixed to the handlebar.

Navigate this! Last look at Tokyo Station.

Good Morning Tokyo!

Feeling pretty satisfied after managing to squeeze my backpack into a small-sized locker (the big ones were all taken), I headed by foot towards the Imperial Palace.

Some skaterboys and skatergals along the way. Could Sunday be hobby day?

Ater a short walk, I reached what I presumed to be the main entrance to the Imperial Palace Outer Garden. Its a huge park.

Old Japanese dude trying to get some pictures of the fountain at the park entrance. Hmm, wonder if I'll end up like that some day.

Imperial Palace

The picture pretty much says it. No entry. The Imperial Palace in Tokyo is still the actual residence of the Emperor.

Smile everybody! The backdrop of their photo would be the view below.

The bridge leading to the main gate of the palace.

Imperial Palace Outer Garden

The place where the citizens of Tokyo get to have a change of pace. This large open space was a sight to behold.

Cycling is big in Japan. No need for fancy sub-10kg titanium-framed bikes with 28 gear ratios. All it takes are a few "ah pek" bicycles and a relaxing ride in the park for the family is possible.

This scene triggered another "I wish Tirak was here" moment.

It was time to head back to the train station. My parting view of the Outer Garden. Byebye happy cycling people of Tokyo.

Sunday really is hobby day!

My, what small wheels you have. Okay, at that moment I was wishing I had my trusty Kona with me.

Artist painting "Tokyo Station Hotel".

Harajuku

I had barely an hour to take a quick walk through Harajuku. The place is famous for cosplay artistes and wannabes. Didn't really see that many though.

Did come across one of the very-cool carpark systems. Its like something out of the movie "I-Robot", where the car is driven onto a machine which lifts it up and inside the building like a ferris wheel.

The latest teenage fad in Tokyo seems to be crepes. All the crepe shops I came across had a queue outside.

On the way back, I came across a protest march. The only thing I understood was "NO WAR!". Way to go, dudes! Peace!

The long line of protestors walking down the main road outside the Harajuku JR station. For a moment, I was reminded of the pro-democracy march in HK last year. But this one was much quieter and smaller.

Last minute shopping & Sayonara

After lunch, I picked up my backpack from the locker in Tokyo Station and caught the Narita Express to the airport. The queue at the Thai Airways check-in counter was extremely long, and I could not find the premium traveller entrance. Right on queue, one of the airport staff came out holding a sign for Gold, Business or First class travellers. Great!

I love travelling free on frequent flyer miles *and* getting premium service on top. It makes me feel like I got one-up on the airlines, although in reality they probably made so much money from my flights that this would be but a drop in the bucket for them.

I had about 45 mins to do my gift shopping. The duty free shops in Narita Airport were one of the most comprehensive I've seen. They had a complete selection of souvenir-food from all over Japan. Perfect for the backpacker not wanting to lug around gifts throughout his/her holiday.

The flight back from Tokyo to Bangkok was a bit different than usual. For the first time, I got a seat on the middle row of the plane and had 3 Japanese tourists as neighbours. It was interesting hearing them refer to the airline meal chilli as "Thai curry".

Thinking about the great time in Bangkok those Japenese guys would be having, it suddenly dawned on me that this was the start of their holiday and the end of mine. "Not bad for my first real holiday", I thought. I'm gonna miss that feeling. Hope I don't get addicted to it.

Click here for more pictures from Tokyo

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