Coup/Curfew 政变/宵禁

Thailand - Bangkok (May 22, 2014 - May 25, 2014)

泰国 － 曼谷 （2014年5月22日 － 2014年5月25日）

Visited Bangkok during Thailand political unrest period, was to settle some urgent matter.

在泰国动荡时期去曼谷是为了解决一些事项。

Suvarnabhumi Airport was basically quite empty.

素万那普机场可算空荡荡。

Even the always lively Erawan Shrine was quiet.

就连一向热闹、香火鼎盛的四面佛也冷清清。

May 22, 2014, military coup occurred at around 5pm, followed by promulgation of martial law and a curfew from 10pm to 5am the next morning.

2014年5月22日，军人政变发生在下午5点左右，紧跟着颁布戒严令及实施宵禁从晚上10点至隔天早上5点。

BTS and MRT stopped operation at 9pm, everyone rushed home before 10pm.

BTS 和 MRT 在晚上9点停止运作，每个人都赶在晚上10点前回家。

All television programme ceased telecast.

所有电视节目停止播出。

Soldiers could be seen on the road.

街道上可以看到军人。

There were even soldiers outside MBK.

甚至MBK外都有军人。

Like what the local says, life still the same in Bangkok.

就像当地人说的，曼谷生活一切如常。

P/S: Before travelling, it is still advisable to check the development of the local situation.

注：出行前，最好还是关注一下当地的局势发展。

有妈妈真好

China - Xiamen

中国 － 厦门

又是早起赶车的旅程。

有读过我的部落格的读者应该知道我不习惯早起。

从厦门搭动车到深圳，整个行程大概四小时。

坐我前座的是一对母子。

儿子应该不超过二十岁，妈妈大概也只五十来岁。

为什么会写他们呢？

因为他们实在“吵得”太凶，把我的好奇心给唤醒！

那对母子

事因这位妈妈去拿水（动车上有免费提供冷、热水），然后糊里糊涂地走过自己的座位没察觉。

儿子看到了，把妈妈给唤了回来。

以下就是他们的闽南语对话。

儿子：拜托，出门可以带眼睛吗！

妈妈：什么啦？我也没走失啊！

儿子：什么没走失？如果我没叫妳，妳早走失了好吗！

妈妈：那我现在有走失吗？

儿子：又不是没读书、不识字，干嘛好像游魂！

妈妈：你说什么啦！

儿子：不喜欢跟你出门就是这样！每次都添麻烦！

妈妈：好啦，你就最厉害、高高在上哦！我跟朋友出去都有说有笑，跟你就从头被骂到尾！

儿子：不是我要说你，出门都没带脑，整个头都空的！

妈妈：啊，你对老人就不能宽容点吗？好啦，静啦！我不想和你讲话啦！

儿子还继续在唠叨。

如果看官们以为这儿子怎么那么不孝，那你们错了。

下车时，他可是主动帮妈妈提行李箱。（大家赶着下车所以没机会拍到照片）

整件事的出发点是因为对母亲的爱，只是年轻人的表现方法比较“另类”吧。

饮水机

餐厅

我妈妈曾中风过两次及昏迷过两天。

她第一次中风是四十多岁，那是我人生中第一次真正了解什么是心痛的感觉。

我妈妈五十八岁那年在救护车抵达医院时断气四分多钟（医生说五分钟就脑死），所以导致昏迷。

当时医生说如果两天还不苏醒就拔管。

我曾经几乎失去我妈妈。

医生说就算苏醒也可能成为植物人。

我当时祈求上苍把妈妈还我，就算是植物人。

最后，我妈妈终于苏醒也没成为植物人。

每次说到这些我都会落泪。

我妈妈最怕给人添麻烦，是那种处处都为别人设想的传统女人。

她就像电影《新难兄难弟》里梁家辉常说的“我为人人”的那种人。

我妈妈每次都会问我，她是不是累赘、拖累人？

如果嫌她拖累是累赘，就不会跟上苍承诺，无论我妈妈成为什么样我都会尽心照顾好她。

切记，妈妈的唠叨是她关心你的表示。

有看过漠不关心的人唠叨吗？

大家不要等到失去了才来后悔，那就后悔莫及了！

祝愿天底下所有的妈妈“母亲节快乐”！

Phallus Shrine

Thailand - Bangkok (Chao Mae Tuptim)

In Thailand one can find a lot of places for worship.

Other than the famous Erawan Shrine, this shrine is not so commonly known to tourists.

Chao Mae Tuptim is located behind the Swissôtel Bangkok Hotel near the bank of the Khlong Saen Saep.

To go there, you can take BTS to Phloen Chit Station.

Walk towards the direction of the Home Pro Plus building.

If you need direction from the locals, do ask them to point to you where Swissôtel Bangkok Hotel is and not the shrine.

Base on experience, not all locals know where Chao Mae Tuptim is located.

When you found Swissôtel Bangkok Hotel, ask the friendly car park attendant for the exact location of the shrine.

Do not enter from the hotel main entrance, as the shrine is situated at a very remote area behind the hotel.

You have to navigate through the car park to reach Chao Mae Tuptim.

In Thailand, the phallus is considered to be a symbol of good luck and also a representative of fertility.

If you are observant enough, you may notice that most of the shops and stalls you have patronised in Bangkok may have displayed a phallus at their cash registers.

Authenti-City?

China - Shenzhen

中国 － 深圳

Shenzhen, a well known city for counterfeit products.

Anything range from high-end stuff to food can be fake.

The food mall at D.M.D. (东门町) Fashion Shopping Plaza has a lot of self-proclaimed authentic food stalls.

Even the name Dong Men Ding (东门町) is a copycat of Taiwan famous Xi Men Ding (西门町).

Found this Hong Kong cuisine stall very interesting.

Other than selling Hong Kong Dim Sum, it sells "Bo-Bo-Cha-Cha".

The stall claims that Bo-Bo-Cha-Cha is an authentic Thai Royal dessert.

Bo-Bo-Cha-Cha is a Peranakan dessert.

In Thailand, no one is supposed to post Thai King and Queen to "advertise" for their stalls as it is regarded as lèse-majesté.

Penalty for lèse-majesté in Thailand is imprisonment of three to fifteen years.

Bo-Bo-Cha-Cha

Bo-Bo-Cha-Cha

A popular Nyonya dessert in Singapore and Malaysia, make of coconut milk together with sweet potatoes, yam (taro) and colourful tapioca cubes.

It can be eaten either in cold or warm.

Tub Tim Grob (Thai name)
Suong Sa Hot Luu (Vietnames name)

Tub Tim Grob

(Vietnam has a similar dessert, Suong Sa Hot Luu)

Red Ruby in coconut milk, is made of water chestnuts, tapioca flour and red colouring.

It is best served in cold.

Ruam Mit

Ruam Mit

Mixed fruit in coconut milk as "Ruam" in Thai means "get together".

It is refreshing when served chill.

Look familiar?

This is MaiKenJi fast food restaurant.

"Hybrid" of McDonald's & KFC.

After a bite, I refused to sink my teeth into the filet.

Basically there was not much fish but a lot of bones.

Guess how do companies make sure that their products are not regarded as fake?

Paste a "GENUIN" sticker.


The ventilator, thought to be a Japanese product as "正野" suggested "Masano".

Eventually found out that "正野" in Cantonese means genuine.

Gentle reminder:

In China, if you are a foreigner, especially Caucasian, do keep your benevolence to yourself.

Unless you are a multi-millionaire, and do not mind "donating" your money, the last thing you want to get yourself into is a lawsuit filed against you for helping that someone who falls on the street.

Due to the high medical expenses, some sick people will go to the extreme to fake a fall in public area.

They will choose to fall either on bus or street where there are a lot of people around them.

They wait for that compassionate person to help them.

What comes next is that the person who helps will be accused for causing them to fall.

They will demand that person to bring them to hospital and eventually pay for all their medical bills and reserve their rights to pursue for further claim.

News had reported such cases.

I had seen an old man fell on the street and none of the Chinese helped him.

Kind of shocked, but decided not to take the picture, for the dignity of human kind.

Happy 1st Birthday 1岁生日快乐

Singapore

新加坡

North-South-Dong-Xi is ONE year old!

Thank you all for your past year support.

In addition, I want to thank a good friend - Ah Tong.

He knows that I like travelling and photography,  so he encourages me to create a blog to share my travel experience and photographs.

Initially when planning the name for this blog, I thought North-South-East-West made a suitable name as it symbolised the compass and map, just like travelling.

Coincidently East-West in Chinese reads as Dong-Xi and dongxi means thing.

This is how North-South-Dong-Xi was born, as this blog is all about the travelling things I had experienced.

It was quite a hard time to consider whether which language should be used to write this blog.

Shall it be mono or mix languages?

Finally, decided to go with the feel.

Do drop a line or two to tell me what you want to know or read in my blog.

Hope that North-South-Dong-Xi has years to keep everyone company.

~*Happy Birthday North-South-Dong-Xi*~

《North-South-东-西》一岁了！

谢谢大家这一年来的支持。

更要感谢一位好朋友 － 阿东。

事因他知道我喜欢旅行及摄影，便鼓励我把旅程所闻及照片写在部落格跟大家分享。

当初为部落格取名时，想到 North-South-East-West 会是个恰当的名因为它象征指南针、地图里的大江南北，就像旅行。

恰巧 East-West 中文是东、西，而thing不正是东西吗 。

所以《North-South-东-西》就此诞生，因为这部落格就是写些旅行时的东西及经历。

当初很纠结到底应该用什么语文来写这部落格。

该用单一或混合语文？

最终，还是决定随性吧。

请留言让我知道在这部落格里你想懂或读的文章。

希望在未来的时间里《North-South-东-西》可以一直陪伴大家。

～＊《North-South-东-西》生日快乐＊～

2月14日

每年的2月14日是西方的情人节。

今年2014年2月14日刚好是农历正月十五元宵节。

元宵节也是东方情人节。

要东、西方情人节在同一天的巧遇，十九年才会遇上一次。

上个十九年可能你还小，下个十九年肯定你不再年轻。

所以还在等什么？

马上行动啊！

X          X          X          X          X          X          X          X          X          X          X          X          X

爱到底是什么呢？

父母对子女的爱、兄弟姐妹的爱、夫妻之爱、朋友间的爱等等。

可怜天下父母心，为人子女的可曾想过为了照顾我们而年华老去的父母恩？

只因父母给予子女的是无私、不求回报的爱，并不代表子女就能理所当然的忘了感恩。

本是同根生，相煎何太急？

切记兄弟姐妹是有今生没来世的手足，血浓于水。

夫妻本是同林鸟，大难临头各自飞？

莫忘夫妻可是千年修得共枕眠，更何况伴侣是当初自己选的。

两肋插刀，背后插刀？

朋友是日久见人心的友谊，大家将心比心。

X          X          X          X          X          X          X          X          X          X          X          X          X

人一旦被感动了，就会迅速爱上对方。

要知道浪漫、嘘寒问暖、陪聊都不是爱！

了不起也只是泡人的手段。

那真爱究竟是什么？

两人生活在一起就会有问题。

为了要生活下去，必然就有人开始做出牺牲。

这牺牲包括性格改变、容忍、妥协等等。

这时就有人会开始问，为什么牺牲的人总是我？

答案很简单，就因为爱。

没有谁和谁是天生就注定在一起的。

真正的爱，是必须彼此珍惜、经营的。

X          X          X          X          X          X          X          X          X          X          X          X          X

有人说过：

爱情，就像三国演义，合久必分，分久必合；

爱情，也像西游记，九九八十一难，方才修得正果；

爱情，更像红楼梦，总有一群人把它奉为圭臬，耗费毕生研究它；

爱情，最像的还是水浒传，管你有多轰轰烈烈，最终都得被生活招安。

送上番茄切成的“一番心意”

祝愿全天下所有有情人终成眷属。

别忘了在这爱的季节里给自己的父母献上祝福。

更别忘了趁这爱的季节对所爱的人说声“我爱你”！

马年贺岁

Singapore - Floating Platform @ Marina Bay (River Hongbao 2014)

新加坡 － 滨海浮动舞台（春到河畔2014）

新加坡人口比例虽然以华族为主，但严格来说新加坡人在某种程度上算是挺西化的。

新加坡除了曾经是英国殖民地的历史，更因为是个多元种族的国家，所以其教育也一直把英文列为必修科。

这样一来不管你是什么族群，大家都有共同的语言。

因为有了共同的语言，各族便可以更了解彼此，大家就得以和睦共处。

虽说新加坡西化，但其政府也大力提倡各族保留自己的传统文化。

正因如此，春到河畔活动才得以一年接一年的办。

今年春到河畔已迈入了第28个年头。

春到河畔也从当初庆祝农历新年演变成了今天各族及旅客参与的年度活动。

春到河畔的庆典曾经是面向鱼尾狮，而今也换成以金沙综合娱乐城为背景。

舞台也从陆地（新加坡河畔）延伸到水里（浮动舞台）。

所谓水为财，希望大家遇水即发吧！

主办单位邀请中国四川工匠打造栩栩如生的十二生肖、财神爷及《三国演义》的刘备、关羽与张飞等的灯饰。

歌舞表演也请来了中国云南及台湾的表演者为春到河畔增添了新年气氛。

在这送给每位读者这张“马上财神”照，恭祝各位看官“马上发财”！

再送大家一首新“发现”的贺年老歌《恭喜发财》

统统统抢    统统统抢

统统统抢同抢统统抢

统统统抢    统统统抢

统统统抢同抢统统抢

恭喜呀恭喜   发呀发大财

好运当头   坏运呀永离开

恭喜呀大家   黄金装满袋

眉开眼笑   得意呀又开怀

祝愿大家把好运、财运、事业运、健康运统统抢回家。

从年头一直发到年尾、发到不清不楚、发到万紫千红。