Monday, August 31, 2009

Stalls at Jonker Street Night Market, Malacca (Melaka)

The photos in this post are the familiar stalls & shops you will see them every time you visit Jonker Walk (Jalan Hang Jebat) night market at Malacca.
The crowded Jonker Street night market is available on every Friday, Saturday. Sunday & Public Holiday. The culture is unique and created chances for us to visit and for others to survive.

Crowded as normal...

The Masks are fashion!

Don't be surprise, they are selling swords too!

I love to see the way they way did it! It's a good souvenir!

The top left : Geographer Cafe (I can't stop myself to snap on the colonial structure everytime I pass by....
The bottom left : This shop selling many handicraft ship (I bought one Portugal War Ship from here)

Bottom left : She was demo & explain how the 'Magic' Umbrella works.

History photos, just like a Time Machine when you look at it.

Colourful Sandals & Slippers.

Beside the stalls above selling those unique items, there are also some local foods stalls available along the Jonker Street. Below are some of the photos...

Top left : Famous 'Knock-knock' Candy. You can hear the knocking sound even 150 meters away. It's located close to Geographer Cafe.

There is one very old building which is the Hokkien Association (Hokkien Huay Kuan in Hokkien dialect) located somewhere along the street. I love to see the architecture slowly every time I walk pass. This building has a Karaoke session for the seniors during the night.




The audiences and performers of the night.

Almost at the end of the street, there are some outdoor performance by senior to entertain the visitors and tourist of the night market.

The performers on the stage...

The audiences...

We parked our car just opposite the Fire Station for MYR3.00 per entry. When we wanna leave, there was alarm trigger and the Fire Brigade on ACTION!!

The night market will close on 12 midnight. The stalls will pack everything and the street will be silent after 1am.....


Related post :-
* Jonker Walk Night Market, Malacca (Melaka)
* Dinner at Jonker Street, Malacca 2009





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Monday, August 24, 2009

Please Support "Jamie's Phuket" - Spread The Word!

Help the Blog!

The first posts on this blog were back in 2006, and also 5 years that I've been doing the Phuket Weather blog. The "Jamie's Phuket" blog started as a means of showing "my" Phuket. As a family we tend to not do the "touristy" things.. yeh sometimes, but more often we prefer quieter places. I figure there are people looking for another side to Phuket, away from the main beaches, away from the tailors, tuk tuks, fast food and fast women. There's plenty of information online and in guidebooks about all the normal things to do in Phuket. I still try to focus on the other Phuket, although for sure there is some crossover, but recent posts such as kayaking in the mangroves and the Kathu village festival show that Phuket has way more to offer than the obvious attractions. It is my intention to keep the blog focused on the Phuket that exists off the beaten track, although it has been pointed out to me that a few posts on nightlife, ladyboys and bars might be welcome at some point!

Now and then, I get a bit stuck on what to write. I'm normally working 6 days per week, so blogging time is at a premium, and time to explore even more so. Nevertheless, I have been encouraged over the last year by increasing numbers of visitors to the blog, a growing Facebook group and plenty of comments on the blog and emails to say thanks for the information. Keep them coming!

This little post is to ask your help. Please spread the word. If you like this blog, please do tell others, please do add a link onto your own blog or website, please do Retweet or Stumble this blog.... Here's a bunch of ways to help:

1. Link to the Blog!. Please do add a link to Jamie's Phuket or add this blog to your "Blogroll". The blog url is http://jamie-monk.blogspot.com, or you can use http://www.jamiesphuket.com. If you have a "Blogger" blog, it's easy to add a link. Maybe you know some html and can do it yourself easily, or if not, just follow the instructions on the Help page, or this useful Dummies guide. For Wordpress, all the information on linking is here. Please link!

2. Bookmarks! At the bottom of every blog post you'll see some links to social bookmarking sites including Twitter, StumbleUpon, Delicious, Digg, and Facebook. If you have signed up for social sites you can click these links to share that page with other users or bookmark it yourself for future reference. Stumbling and Tweeting are apparently quite trendy these days!

3. Facebook - if you are on Facebook, please do join the Jamie's Phuket group - there are over 800 members already, there's an active wall - please do ask questions! You can also post your Phuket photos or videos or add links. See you there! If you are not on Facebook, join! It's harmless!

4. Donate! If you really like this blog, found the information useful, discovered something in Phuket that you otherwise would not have known about... please do Click here to Donate a little something via PayPal to help the blog grow. Just a few dollars, a couple of Euro... Pretty please with sugar on top? Hey, if enough people do that, maybe this can be a full time blog with much more information!

5. Twitter - OK, well Twitter is something that some people just don't "get". Not sure if I do either, but personally I follow some bloggers and newsy people who post interesting things about Thailand. I tweet most days, maybe adding some links to the blogs, maybe commenting on the weather if I have not already updated the weather blog. More than 900 people are following my tweets already. So if you are a Twit, please do follow me here: Jamie on Twitter.

6. Help to improve the blog! As I said, sometimes I feel a bit stuck.. what to blog next? I do intend to try some new restaurants in the next few months, I think tips on eating out are important, but if there is something you'd like to see on this blog, please add a comment below, or on the Facebook group.

7. Keep reading! There is normally something new here every 5 - 7 days. Wish it was more often, but... time is limited. Please do bookmark this blog and come back! Use the social bookmark tools below to help.

8. If you are reading this blog and you work for Lonely Planet or Rough Guides or the BBC or Nat Geo or the Travel Channel or if your name is Paul Theroux or if you are Michael Palin and you're considering a Thailand trip... do get in touch!

9. COME TO PHUKET! See you here!

:)

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Cultural Street Festival in Kathu Village

A couple of weeks ago there happened one of those local events that (for me) makes Phuket special. The area of Phuket where we live is called Kathu, located between Patong Beach and Phuket Town. It's a big residential area with lots of sub districts (Tung Tong, Ket Ho, Bang Tong etc). We live close to the Baan Kathu area, the old village of Kathu. A walk around this area reveals an older, traditional side to Phuket and a mixture of cultures as demonstrated by the Buddhist temple and the Chinese shrine in Kathu. The area was the center of the tin mining industry which was very important in Phuket from the early 19th century up until recent years.

Street Culture Sign

Anyways, in the last week of July I saw this sign (above) in several places in the locality at main road junctions. I am sure many other people saw the signs too. So on 5th August in the early evening I headed to the village to see what was going on. The answer? Plenty going on. On that evening only, there was a street procession through the village celebrating the history of Kathu, in particular the Chinese influence and the tin mining industry that made the area rich. The procession started with some kids from the Baan Kathu school (see photo below), but then was held up as everyone was waiting for a visiting dignitary to arrive and officially open the festival.

School kids in Kathu village Phuket street procession

While waiting I was able to wander around the painted faces and costumes of the people taking part, and I have to say I was not expecting such amazing costumes! There were quite a few people around taking photos, but I was very surprised that during the whole event I did not see one single other foreigner. I think probably most of the people from Kathu village were there, though!

Here are some of the faces. The elaborate Chinese style face painting and costumes are in the style of old Chinese opera. It was back in 1825 that a Chinese opera troupe came to Kathu and became sick. They healed themselves by strict adherence to a special vegetarian diet, and thus began the Phuket vegetarian festival.

Local ladies at the festival

Painted faces

Amazing Chinese Opera costumes

We kept waiting for local top dog to turn up and set the procession on it's way. Meanwhile, dark clouds gathered and we all hoped it would not rain. Local kids were waiting too...





The long wait for the "official" start to the 3 day festival meant I had more time to take photos of the participant in the procession. Good thing I had gone that evening as the procession was a one off event. These local events are so easy to miss. You have to keep eyes open for signs and posters or just be in the right place at the right time.



This boy was trying very hard to be patient, waiting for the procession to start so he could put on his mask. The girl below was one of half a dozen dressed as "coolies" - Chinese tin mining workers.



(below) These costumes and painted faces were great. Must have taken a lot of time and effort to create the effect, which is quite stunning.



Finally the top brass arrived, by which time it was getting rather late. A couple of speeches followed and a ceremonial cutting of the ribbon. This local event had attracted a number of photographers and a TV news crew too. I think the photo below gives the idea. Lots of cameras for the opening ceremony.



And after all that.... the procession did not last long, only walking about half a kilometer past the Chinese Shrine and to a field at the local health center. Was getting a bit dark for decent photos. I was glad to have had the time to mingle with the people all dressed up. Planned to go back next day to see more of the street stalls, but had no time. It was rather odd to have the festival mid week!





I followed the procession along the road lined with food stalls and stalls with information about the history of the Kathu area. The local school band (above) were playing with dark skies behind them. The rain somehow held off. I love this kind of local festival, full of colour and history. Anyone who thinks Phuket has no culture... well, think again. When I started this blog 3 years ago, part of the idea was to show something different. The "other" Phuket, not just bars, beaches and shopping. Phuket has way more to offer, but you do have to get out and explore. If you sit on a sunlounger, the local culture is not going to come to you. It's "out there" waiting to be found. Sometimes not far at all... Kathu village is only 10 minutes drive from Patong Beach.

Bei Zhan Restaurant at Malacca

Bei Zhan Restaurant (N2°11.666' E102°14.261') is located at Jalan Kota Laksamana 2/17, Kota Laksamana, Malacca (Melaka). The restaurant is easily spotted from Jalan Syed Abdul Aziz. Business hour for the restaurant is 11am - 2pm & 6pm - 10pm. It has three storey and 3rd & M floor is for reservation.

We were there around 6.30pm (Saturday). During that time, the restaurant was almost full at the ground floor, so we proceed to the 1st floor.

Ground floor - Bei Zhan Restaurant

This restaurant is big! The cozy environment really makes you relax basically is because of the warm lighting, unlike some typical Chinese restaurant which is using the white daylight flouresent. We were lucky to have the table which is almost the end of the restaurant...

First floor - Bei Zhan Restaurant

Our order :-
1) Assam Garupa Fish Fillet (Fish head will taste better but tToo bad 2 of us cannot finish)
2) Spice and sweet Fried Seafood
3) Honey Glazed Boneless Chicken
4) Brocoli with crab meat

The foods serve in 10 minutes!!

Assam Garoupa Fish Fillet

Spice and sweet Fried Seafood

Honey Glazed Boneless Chicken

Brocoli with crab meat

Overall, we were VERY satisfied with the dishes! Especially the Assam Fish was different from Muar famous Assam Fish. Others are really delicious, you will definitely Love it! I will strongly recommend to all my friend to try it!

The Damage : MYR66.00 (For 2 adults & 1 child). Worth visit again!

The restaurant is well organize and foods are Delicious! Environment is clean and employee are friendly, and especially with a economy price!
I will advise you make a reservation if you are visit the restaurant on Saturday, Sunday or public holiday!

Bei Zhan Restaurant
43, Jalan Kota Laksamana 2/17, Taman Kota Laksamana, Malacca.
Tel : +606-2812684
Fax : +606-2865068



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Sunday, August 16, 2009

PIKOM PC Fair at Pesada Johor Bahru

The fair was held at the same usual place - JICC (Pesada) (N1°27.690' E103°45.670').The crowd as usual....

This round I can see many LCD TV Manufacturer participated like Samsung, Panasonic & others....The booth which selling GPS (Global Positioning System) also increase! And yes, there were in the price war!

Garmin Nuvi 205 & 205W are the popular models where most of them promote it. The price are from MYR590.00 to MYR1,250.00. Others than Garmin, many China brand also available...

Booths where selling backpack also increase, even my friend which own a computer shop also selling 'Backpack' now.... Everyone fight for surviving....!

My purpose here was to get a notebook computer for my brother in-law, so I did not stay too long because of the huge crowd!

At the right of the main hall, there were all the Telco heavy promoting their 3G & Broadband services! The Green Packet (P1) booth had the most customer (at that moment) maybe because of the 2 pretty models! :)
And also many Bank promoting their Credit Card which I always ignore!

Pretty models from P1 booth

After I settled the notebook computer, we went to the KFC behind the Conventional Centre for a drink and it's so pack with peoples!! It took me about 30 minutes for me to queue to the counter!

Anyway, PIKOM PC Fair is the Computer Fair everyone waiting for. And so far it's the biggest Computer Fair for the moment at Johor Bahru.


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Click on the map above for navigation to the Johor International Convention Center - Pesada.






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Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Kayaks in the Mangroves

Phuket is bigger than most people realise. The island of Phuket covers well over 500 square kilometers, is nearly 50km from north to south and, as I hope this blog shows, there is so much more to Phuket than beaches, bars, shopping and the usual tourist activities. Fair enough, some people do come here just for beaches and bitches; some come here to eat and shop and "go home with a tan", which suits me fine, since it means that many of the parts of Phuket that I like stay nice and quiet! But there are plenty of independent tourists out there who like to explore, and if you explore you can find places like Bang Rong.

Bang Rong is a small Muslim community in the northeast of Phuket. We have been many times to eat at a small floating restaurant, and also to get the ferry to the island of Koh Yao Noi. Last year at the restaurant we noticed they had some kayaks, and small groups of tourists were being taken on short trips up the mangrove creek as part of a trip run by Bang Pae Safari which also includes elephant trekking near Bang Pae Waterfall which is just a few km from Bang Rong.

Last week, on a nice sunny day, we decided to do a little kayak adventure (the word adventure being based on having 2 young kids). When you drive down to Bang Rong, there is an entry gate. You do not need to pay any parking fee unless you are getting the ferry. You can park wherever you find space, and then look around for monkeys that come out of the mangroves...

 

The restaurant is a short walk along a wooden walkway. We decided to kayak first and eat later. The use of the kayaks is very cheap. Just 150 Baht each, add 50 Baht if you want someone to paddle for you. I think that was an hourly rate - we had no plans for a long trip! My wife paddled one kayak, my daughter got a paddler in hers and I decided to get someone to paddle for me so I could take photos. Some friends were in another kayak, so we had 4 in all. The restaurant is already in the mangroves, with a view of open sea, but within 50 meters you are round a bend and in another world. Yes, this is still Phuket.

Kayaking at Bang Rong, Phuket

Kayaks in the magroves, Phuket

My kayak driver stayed with my daughters kayak. She enjoyed being a "big girl" (ie she did not have to sit with mum or dad) and our drivers kept close to the shore so we could see crabs and mudskippers. It was a very peaceful paddle upstream, not even any longtail boats up here. I think it was a National Geographic moment for my daughter.. and me too!

Checking out crabs in the mud

Kayaking up river, Bang Rong, Phuket

And here's the guy paddling my kayak. My wife said I was lazy, but honestly I just wanted hands free to take pictures. Maybe next time we'll hire the kayaks for longer and I will paddle myself. We went less than 1km up the creek, but checking on Google Earth I can see that (at high tide) you can go well over 2km and there are little side streams to explore too. Sure we're going to do this again sometime.

My paddler

High tide might be best to go a long way upstream, but low tide better if you want to get out onto a sandbank, which we did. We all then proceeded to dig for shellfish and dug up a healthy supply which we donated to the local guys doing the paddling. The Bang Rong community is based on fishing, is still very traditional and is trying to make a bit of extra money with this kind of activity. It's all very low key, and with kayak rental being so cheap they are not making a huge amount of money.. but I appreciate the fact that they are not being tempted to charge rip off prices.

Digging for shellfish

My daughter with freshly caught seafood!

After messing around on the sandbank for a while, digging for shells, watching one of our kayaks floating off and waiting for one of the guys to retrieve it, we set off back to the restaurant (downstream with the tide) for some light lunch. They have lots of fresh seafood, but we often just have simple dishes. Fried rice might seem like a cliche, but the fried rice at this restaurant is very good!

My wife paddling back to the restaurant with our son and her sister

Fried rice at the Bang Rong restaurant

Local smiles at Bang Rong

The restaurant is family run and friendly. They remember us and remember the kids names even if we've not been for months. The friendliness and the peacefulness of the area appeals to us.. just do note that the restaurant does not serve alcohol as this is a Muslim area. A nice spot for lunch before or after a bit of kayaking. Just a few km away, as well as Bang Pae waterfall, is the gibbon rehabilitation center. Plenty to see in this part of Phuket.

Getting there - Bang Rong is along the road that heads east from the Heroine's Monument (road number 4027 on the maps). The side road to Bang Rong is on the right about 2km after the turn off to Bang Pae Waterfall. Here's the location on Google Earth. Best to have your own vehicle if you are exploring around the area, though I guess you could make a deal with a driver too. Phuket is out there waiting to be explored. Sure the beaches are nice, but there are many sides to Phuket. It may take some effort to get out and find these places, but (for me) it's worth the effort.