Mixed Crumbs

This has got to be the single post with the most shots of me in it.
The poser. It’s great to be able to put my photoshop knowledge to good use.

Tonsai Beach.
Eat when you are hungry.
Sleep when you are tired.
Climb when you want to.
No one wears a watch here except one of our friend in our group. Duh.


Dead pufferfish. Did not dare go up close. Afraid that it will pop.
Grigri on me.

Grigri on table.




On our way for breakfast.

Watching JH climb. The one with the Le Petit Prince tattoo.

Top rope on Lion King

This should be Luke doing bouldering on the beach.
Silhouette of Grigri.

Third pitch. Waiting to going over to rappelling station.

View from third pitch.

Rappelling down… think it was about 60-70 meters
SC… familiar pose?

Mingling at Freedom Bar, Tonsai Beach.
Favorite pastime. Lie down and watch.



Taro is nice.

Home made ice cream. It has barley and some other nuts buried underneath.
Local breakfast. Very nice.

Here is a small portion of photos taken by me. We have four cameras and it’s gonna take a long while before I get through them. Most are taken in Railey. Figured I post some pictures that would not bore the crap out of you guys. More to come…



Sunset on Pranang Beach, Railay

Downtown Railay… Real Coffee? Am not too sure of the name.

This is the rock overlooking Freedom Bar on Tonsai Beach.
First meal on Tonsai. Some spicy beef thing.



Recognize any of the brands?

Tuna Melt.

Muesli with fresh fruit and yogurt.

Lie down, watch people climb, read, sunbath… do whatever you want.

Doubt any of you, or most, noticed that I have been gone for a week. A full week off work. Oh… it feels so so nice. Went off to Thailand on a Sunday morning and got back on Friday afternoon. Though it’s only an hour and a half journey away but aaa… I feel so at home. Well, it was actually after 2 days before I felt right at home.

I was in Krabi. On an island where Railay and Tonsai beach are. Surrounded by magnificent formation of limestone with trees stretching out to the clouds. Gentle sea breeze with warm sunshine. Great local food paired with delicious fresh fruit juices for the day and cold smooth refreshing Singha at night. The feeling of waking up to the friendly Sa-wa-dee-kaap of locals and Hi-Hello’s of the foreigners are simply wonderful. Since it is low season now… the crowd is much smaller and recognizing faces are so much easier. After a day in Tonsai beach, we kind of know the people there. Which is the best place to eat, which stalls serves the best pancakes, where to see fireshow, where to get our daily fix of tuna melt and muesli with fresh fruits and yoghurt and even where to huddle together for some tv time while sharing drinks and a joint.

We wasted 2 nights on Railay beach… pardon me but I am a climber so Railay is a definite no no for me. It’s more of a tourist place. Where people go to have a sun tan, walk around on the beach ogling at female and male bodies alike, waiting for sunrise/sunset, wondering what to do after 2 days on the beach… hitting the bars with high hopes of meeting some other intellectual being… yeah I know. It’s their way of unwinding. But for us, climbers, our way of enjoying the views there are being at least 30-40 meters high up while clinging on to some stalactite. Climbing hard and celebrating it with cold beers and great music when the day is over. I am really amazed that they play a whale load of nice music. Really nice ones.

I missed it before I even left my footprints on the island. I missed Tonsai. Will continue when I find time. I got one week of work to catch up. Hoo hoo. Loads of photos to choose to post up. Expect some shameless semi nude ones.

Pop-gan-mai-kaap

As I am sitting alone here in the living room looking at Crumbs, can’t help but to listen to my dear bro and dear YF squabbling. Those two fellows are going on a holiday and at 12am, no bags are packed yet. Their flight is 14 hours from now. What’s even more commendable is that they have not gone to a money changer to get some Taiwan Dollar. And being first timers on such a long way from home… they really amazes me. But somehow their last minuteness adds to the excitement. The adrenaline rush thats gradually building up to the moment their airplane takes off. Racing against time to get everything packed will surely ignite their imagination. Well, it works that way for me at least. I would spend a good hour or two wondering what I would be experiencing, which will get me exhilarated and eyes wide shut. Kubrick movie title. Yup.

Suddenly the silence dawns on me. The din those two holidaymakers were making earlier seemed to have died out. Let me steal a look. Hang on.

Reporting in.
YF is busy packing while my brother, the hero is sitting in front of the computer. What audacity. Well he might be doing some research for his trip and all but hey, with me adding spices to the situation, it makes this post more blog worthy. Guess they won’t have time to check on my blog tonight and by the time they are reading this… haha… it’s already published.

My brother just beckoned me over. To see a forwarded email attached with some tattooed puff dragon… damn… and at this hour. It’s confirmed my brother is not doing anything but hey, the efficiency rate is damn high. In under 20minutes they have already packed what they wanted. Bravo!

I am tired. Need to wash up and rest. A full day tomorrow.

I blogged about them before but for those of you who don’t know what it is about… here:

Reflection Room is, at its heart, an Art project. Its concept is to wed artistic expression, living space and material recycling. The tone is always colorful, fun, kitsch and accessible to everyone. Each room is inspired by the individuality of Thai artists, freedom of expression and recycling for meaningful urban lifestyle. Reflections Rooms is a friendly boutique for guests who love Art and Fantasy, and desire a different and out-of-ordinary experience staying in Bangkok.

Reflection Room has 17 unique rooms, each specially designed by talented Thai artists, commissioned by art impresario and owner Anusorn Ngernyuang. The artists also create innovative products for everyday use which are on sale. Their expressive paintings and objects are on display at the funky gallery-restaurant, combining artistic soul, great food, and the buzz of Bangkok street life.

In July last year they temporarily closed for renovation but reopened early this year for reservation. But they actually relocated to a new area, a lot more nearer to the weekend market Chatuchak. Currently they have completed 17 rooms but the expected units will be 44. They even introduced 4 news rates ranging from 1850 baht to 3450 baht. You can read about the designer and concept behind the room too. Wanted to stay here but since they were close, the people in Reflection recommended me LUXX Hotel instead. I still prefer Reflection Room after all.

Room 211 - Grey Day

Room  305 - Listen (more…)

I have been wanting to go and try conquering Mt. Kinabalu for a few years now. Listened to stories told by friends and most of them are of beautiful greens and captivating sunrise. How excited I am now… to have found another alternative route that leads up to the summit. It’s going through the Iron Road / Via Ferrata up to Mount Kinabalu.

What the crap is Via Ferrata?
Via ferrata, or iron road, is a mountaineering sport that originated in Italy during World War 1. It is a mountain route equipped with fixed rungs, rails, cables, stemples (crossbars and supports), ladders and bridges.
It makes otherwise isolated routes accessible to people with a wide range of climbing abilities. The sport is popular all over Europe.

Mount Kinabalu’s via ferrata is the highest in the world, starting at 3,200 metres and ending at 3,800m above sea level. The next highest is in Italy, ending at 3,600m.

Statement by Tok, an experienced rock climber of 20 years.
“Doing the via ferrata route, a climber will experience the mountain through the eyes of a rock climber. The views, the terrain and the experience is unrivalled.”

Fuuuuuuuuuuuh…..

I am so psyched about this thing that my feet can’t stop shaking. I went through the gallery and hell, it looks damn inviting. Am sure a lot of my fellow climbers will be damn interested to have a go at this. I want to take The Low’s Peak Circuit route. Ale! Ale!

The Low’s Peak Circuit
Hike up to Low’s Peak, Mt Kinabalu’s highest point at 4,095m. On descent, take a via ferrata detour to see stunning views and explore hidden corners of the mountain plateau.
Who is it for?
Physically demanding, for those who are sure-footed, not fearful of heights, want to scale Southeast Asia’s highest point and the World’s highest via ferrata.
Grading : Intermediate - Everyone between 10 to 70
Duration : 4 - 6hrs over 2 days (Walk the Torq included)

One can also do some sport climbing at the roof of Borneo.

I think I have to start saving up for my Via Ferrata fund. Seeing the picture really does get my adrenaline going. And it sucks that I won’t be climbing this week, one - my unlimited pass has expired, two - I am going to Ipoh for a wedding this weekend. Argh…

Bee sent me this info. Thank you for making my jaws drop.

Definitely must-see
Mountain Torq
NST news

Ok, I know. It’s way overdue but in actual fact the pictures were uploaded for a week now but I never published it. I actually had to remove quite a number of pictures for the sake of loading and scrolling. Enough said… here are the pictures taken from our day two (2) in Bangkok, Thailand. Click here for Bangkok Part 1.
First helping. Forgot about taking my second and third helping. I think there was a fourth.
Skip and we are now at Chatuchak Weekend Market, again.
My fave pic.

There are loads of students trying to make some extra income. Our guitar friend here is one of them.


Me, mountie ranger. Nah, I did not buy this although it’s quite cheap.
100 baht for seven (7) pairs of earring.

Silly photos taken while waiting to negotiate price on t-shirts. If I had a uniform on, gf said I could pass of for some Viet or Burmese. Do I?

Yeah, Firefox supporter.

Dessert time.

Lunch time. More like “snack” time to me.
Hoho… free hugs! You see the guy in costume. There are two (2) of them actually. Those two bigfoots are the ones giving free hugs. My gf went for it but the pictures did not turn out well because it was like a madhouse… they just charged over and gave hugs and cameras went snap snap. It was a funny moment. Hahaha… *zip*

We walked about 15 minutes before we reached LUXX Hotel. It’s located at Patpong area.



Creative way of shadow playing. That’s our room number.

Related stuff :
Bangkok Pixs Part 1
Sawadee, Bangkok… soon
Luxx Hotel

Here’s the first day of my Bangkok trip in pictures. Just a few chosen ones. Happy scrolling.

The girls at LCCT departure hall.




We had several coconuts to drink. Yum…

I bought salted fish and dried cuttlefish here. Very fresh and nice. Wee… Will be making soup this weekend.
It’s hot and stuffy inside Chatuchak Market so best if you go in short pants and tshirts.

I saw a lot of students singing and urging public to make some donation or something. Sorry I had to save my baht.

I love their beef noodles. The meat are sliced thinly and the beef balls are chewy. Spicy soup… One of the many reasons why I am still coughing my lungs out.

One would be spoilt for choice at the pets section. Many animals were on sale. Be it husky to tortoise…
When we saw these bunnies, we just can’t help to think of Bit Bit. Look at them… aww…

Could not resist getting some roast pork here. Crunchy!

Cam-whoring at the MRT station.

Second round of shopping at Suan Lum.


My masseur of the day. Gave her RM2 tips. But the experience was nice. My virgin foot massage. Cha-ku-chee

She was enjoying every moment of hers. Damn… wished I had her masseur. Hers was the prettiest. Hehe…

Oh, if any of you wanted to get to your hotel from the airport try walking down and asking the taxis there instead of wasting 400baht for convenience sake when you ask for the limo service available at the arrival gates. We paid 400baht instead of 800baht and we even got the same driver to fetch us back to the airport for the same fee. Talk about saving our time and money.

Bangkok Pix Part 2

Less than two months away, I will be going over to Bangkok again. Was there with a couple of friends last year. This time round, it will be a much different feel. *blink*

My experience and impression of Bangkok has been wonderful. The people, the culture, the food, the shopping and design is very different although it is only around 2 hours of flight away from us. Am planning to snoop around their famous shopping haunts and will try to look for some food. Food4Thot said will enlighten me a little on where to look for it. Overall the food I tasted in Bangkok has been all right. Although I can take spicy food, but I tried to limit my intake of it. Would hate to be curling up on the bed in agony and feeling the wrath of a fiery dragon coming out from my you-know-where.

My previous visit there I manage to spend a night at a cool designer hotel by the name Reflections-Rooms Bangkok. Wanted to drop by again this trip but sadly they will be closing for renovation until further notice starting today, the 20th July 2007.

In their own words on Reflections-Rooms.
Art Hotel with 30 rooms for the individual and intellectual world traveler. Each of the distinct rooms are designed by celebrated and honored Thai and international designers. Deco, style and spirit reflect the taste of the fantasyful creative temper of each designer and will definitive satisfy art lovers.

The small Art Hotel includes Pool and stylish Restaurants with large opener area to relax and enjoy Asian and seafood and also Japanese kitchen.A place away from the contemporary global style ·a place for fantasy and make your dreams come true.

Alas, fear not, the staff at Reflections were kind enough to give me several recommendation for hotels, though none were as flamboyant as they were, my heart had to go with Luxx.
Check their website here : LUXX Hotel

They pride themselves by being one of the smallest hotel in Bangkok with only a mere 13 rooms. Here is what they say on their site:

One of Bangkok’s Smallest Hotels
With only 13 rooms, the unique LUXX Hotel is one of Bangkok’s smallest hotels. It’s also one of the city’s best-kept hospitality secrets, and breathes new life into the clichéd home-away-from-home concept. Powerful doses after all come in small packages. What it lacks in size, the exclusive LUXX certainly makes up for with style, and location.

I have got my reservation confirmation for Luxx today.