Travel Information of Chiang Mai, Thailand - Sept 2013

Chiang Mai is a relatively cheap place to visit comparing with Bangkok. It is also safe. Nobody actually attempted to con travelers as in Vietnam. The 3 important thing to remember is bargain, bargain and bargain for anything you need to pay for except accommodation.

The cost of the trip from Chiang Mai Airport to Seriwongse Hotel was about 120 baht by legal cab that you could pay at the airport. The journey was probably less than 30 minutes. Very convenient indeed.

Throughout my trip I was staying in Seriwongse Hotel (somehow the locals called it "Seriwong" by eliminating the "se"). Don't ask me what is the meaning of "se". The hotel was located near the famous nightly night market. The carpet in the room was slightly old but I had no issue with that. The room was generally good and the service was good as well. The staff were friendly and helpful. When my mobile phone failed to reach a local cab driver's mobile phone, one of the female staff even called him on her personal mobile phone for me without charging me any fee.

It was a relaxing slow pace trip for me. So, the first day, I basically did nothing except for exploring the night market.

On the second day I went to the following places:

Tiger Kingdom - you have the option to choose big tigers, medium tigers and small tigers to hang around with. I decided to pick big tigers as it was cheaper but higher risk I supposed. Anyway, I am still alive today. It costs 420 baht per person.

Maesa Elephant Camp - Entrance fee was 120 baht. 800 baht for 30 minutes elephant ride. 1200 baht for an hour elephant ride. 

Note:
The above 2 places are nearby. So you could take a half day trip there by cab. I took the risk by taking illegal cab which cost me about 150 baht. He took me to some factories which was not part of then plan but I didn't mind. It was a norm for illegal cab drivers to do so in Thailand to obtain some sponsorship I supposed.

The following 2 places which I visited near Measa should be avoided especially the long neck Karen village:

Long neck village - It cost 500 baht to see some Karen vendors. Yes, vendors! There was no village. I personally think it's a rip-off. Yes, the dressed up in their native costumes but you would be very disappointed if you expected a village. I am still wondering where is the actual village.

Mae Rim Monkey School - It cost 200 baht. I was not that amazed as it was nothing unusual for me to watch a monkey show.

On  the third day, I went to the white temple which was about 3 hours drive from Chiang Mai. You can skip the hot spring on the way there as it's just a resting place. The white temple was amazing though. There was no entrance fee. The journey cost me about 460 baht for two way by van. The driver took us to a honey factory which was not part of my plan but again I didn't mind.


On the forth day, I went to Doi Suthep which was relatively far from the town. There was Wat Phra That Doi Suthep which was located on a hill. It was the same temple that my grandparents visited decades ago as I could recall the photo I saw when I was a kid. The climb was very pleasant comparing to other temples I had visited in Laos and Cambodia. It was not too high. So forget about taking the cable car unless you are too old or have heart problem. There were some food, clothes and art vendors nearby. The prices were surprisingly not too costly unlike many tourism spots that rip off tourists. The journey cost around 200 baht. The old man (cab driver) didn't take me to any places I did not plan to go. The trip was about 1 hour plus from town.

The rest of the days, I was just loitering around the old city of Chiang Mai by walking from the hotel. The places I visited were:

Three Kings Monument

Wat Phra Chao Mengrai

Wat Chedi Luang

Wat Phan Tao

Wat Chiang Man

Wat Phra Singh

There are 2 walking streets that are worth checking out if you're into shopping:

Saturday walking street - also called Wualai Walking Street which occurs on every Saturday night.

Sunday walking street - it ran along Ratchadamnoen Road at the old town.

The following markets are also worth visiting if you are curious about local markets:

Somphet Market - It's located in the old city near Tha Phae Gate. Basically, you can purchase some local food, fruits, vegetables, etc.

Warorot Market - It's located near Seriwongse Hotel. You could purchase local food, fruits, clothes, etc here.

The following are some prices of various items for budget purpose:

Fried rice - I managed to find a food stall with good food near Night Bazaar. It cost around 30 baht for fried rice.

Fried chicken wing - It cost around 10 baht for a fried chicken wing. You must try fried chicken/pork in Chiang Mai as they are delicious. Forget about KFC which sucks!

Khao soi - It looks like curry noodle served with pork or chicken in Chiang Mai style. It cost me around 30 baht.

Shorts - It cost me around 150 baht for a pair of military shorts.

T-shirt - It cost me around 140 - 150 baht for a t-shirt. 140 baht one was located in Night Bazaar not far from the place I had my fried rice.

Additional Info added on 22 March 2015:
Based on information I have gathered in 2015 after 2 years of my previous trip, the prices do not seem to have hiked. So, it is still a good place to visit comparing with Krabi which I won't go back again. In fact I got some information from my friends who are familiar with Thailand to avoid places like Phuket & Krabi which are too commercialised. 

To those who are keen to know when is the right time to visit Chiang Mai, I was told to avoid the months of February, March, April & May due to the haze caused by burning of paddy fields during dry season. 

Between May to October which is the rainy season, it's not too bad to visit because it normally does not rain the entire day. You can always rest in the hotel when it rains and go out when the rain stops. The weather is cooler with the rain. More often you will get rain at night which is very pleasant to sleep. It's not so crowded and everything could be cheaper because it's not peak season. My trip to Chiang Mai in 2013 was during this season and I don't mind the rainy season at all. Based on my experience, sometimes it rained pretty heavy in the late afternoon but the rain took only about 30 minutes. I would encourage you to have a rain coat ready, wearing shorts and sandals if you're traveling during rainy season - you may get a bit wet and flash flood may occur.

November, December and January are the winter months. I have been told that the weather is colder. Temperature may drop to 10 degree Celsius. This is the peak season when price of everything is likely to hike and you are likely to compete with the crowded tourists wherever you go. Probably this is the season I wish to experience in the future but I dislike that it is the peak season.

If I ever visit Chiang Mai again, I would really love to spend more time at Chiang Rai. I would be interested to spend some time at the villages of the hill tribes such as Karen, Hmong, etc. Mae Hong Son & Pai are some of the places I hope to visit.

Travel Information of Laos in June 2013

Laos is a safe country. I personally feel that it's safer than Malaysia/Thailand/Vietnam although I've heard about a German lady being a victim of attempted robbery at Luang Prabang. Everyone seems to be not in a rush. There's a joke that Laos PDR actually stands for Laos Please Don't Rush. Food is not cheap in this country comparing with other South-East Asian countries. Each meal costs minimum about 15,000 kip (about RM6) without any drinks. If you are worried about flies, you will be starving in Laos. So far I have never fallen sick by eating their street food despite of the flies. The Laotians are generally friendly although there are some not so friendly ones too - the unfriendly ones are minorities anyway. I encountered more beggars than my previous trip - it kept me wondering whether they were parts of the syndicates seen in Malaysia as well. It is a country that you can easily travel on your own without any tourist guide especially you don't mind hot sun and walking long distance. The waterfalls and Hmong Village are reachable by tuk tuk. Remember to negotiate for the price before spending your money in Laos, especially taxi/tuktuk and during shopping.

Places of Interest

Vientiane

Chao Anouvong (statue)
King Srisavangvong statue
Wat Sisaket - not so impressive in my opinion
Ho Pra Keo (old temple)
Chao Fa Ngum statue
Patouxay monument - must visit
That Dam stupa
That Luang stupa - must visit
Revolutionary monument
National Museum (near That Luang stupa)
Wat That Foun
Night market at river side at night (varieties are less than Luang Prabang but sometimes cheaper)

Luang Phrabang

Wat Visoun
Wat Aham
Royal Palace Museum
Phousi Hill/That Chomsi (wat)
Night market
Wat Xiengthong
Wat Sene
Kuang Si waterfall
Hmong Village (on the way to Kuang Si waterfall)
Tad Sae waterfall (rainy season only - best time is August to September) - I missed it due to lack of water at the waterfall
Pak Ou Cave - I didn't visit this due to lack of personal interest
 

Language

The language of Laotian is very similar to Thai with minor differences. The following are some useful Laotian words:

hello - sabaidee
thank you - kwop jai
how are you? - sabaidee baw?
yes - maen leeo
no - baw
goodbye & take care - sohk dee deuh
how much is this? - anee tor dai?
expensive -phaeng
cheap - tuke
soap - saabuu
shampoo - saapom
pen - bik
writing paper - jiia
0 - soon
1 - neung
2 - song
3 - saam
4 - sii
5 - haa
6 - huk
7 - chit
8 - paet
9 - kao
10 - sip
11 - sip et
12 - sip song
20 - sao
21 - sao et
22 - sao song
30 - saam sip
40 - sii sip
50 - haa sip
100 - loi
200 - song loi
300 - saam loi
1000 - phan
2000 - song phan
10,000 - meun OR sip phan
100,000 - saen OR loi phan
1,000,000 - laan
1,000,000,000 - teu OR phan laan
1,000,000,000,000 - laan laan
number (train, bus, etc) - nam boe
half - kheung
less - nawy kwaa
more - iik
now - diow nee
later - lai gon
morning - dthawn sao
afternoon - ton tang
evening - ton lang
night - kaang keun
today - meuh nii
yesterday - meuh wan nii
tomorrow - meuh euhn
this week - aa thit nii
last week - thit laeow
next week - thit naa
sunday - wan aa thit
monday - wan jan
tuesday - wan ang khaan
wednesday - wan phuut
thursday - wan pha hat
friday - wan suk
saturday - wan sao
red - sii daeng
orange (colour) - sii som
yellow - sii lueang
green - sii khiao
blue - sii faa
purple - sii muang
brown - sii nam taan
gray - sii ke thao
black - sii dum
white - sii khao
pink - sii bua
chicken - gai
pork - moo
fish - bpaa
naam - water
warm water - naam yen
eggs - khai
rice - khao
bread - khao jii
rice noodle - pho
wheat noodle - ba mii
coffee - khaa feh
hot tea - saa hawn
juice - naam mak mai



Accommodation

In Vientiane, I stayed in:

• Family Hotel at 39, Pang Kham Road - Friendly & helpful employees. Free wifi in the room. The breakfast is reasonably good - even noodle is served. Nearer to Patouxay Monument but further from night market. This hotel has improved a lot since my last visit. It has an elevator now. Pain in the ass to climb the stairs at the entrance of the hotel if you have a heavy luggage.
• Sinnakhone Hotel, Francois Ngin Road - Not so friendly & helpful employees. Free wifi in the room but my netbook failed to connect to their wifi. Breakfast is nothing to shout about - just 2 slices of toast with margarine & jam with self prepared Boh tea or coffee. The room is larger than Family Hotel.

In Luang Prabang, I stayed in:

• Villa Suan Maak, 92, Noradeth Road, Ban That Luang - Very friendly & helpful employees. It's a family run guesthouse. They treated visitors like family members if you're not stuck-up. The staff even turned my sister into a model and used their office as a photo studio. I am amazed! The chicken crowing in the neighbourhood at 4am may annoy you. It may be further from the town centre and you may be concern about the windows in the toilet that can be seen from a coconut tree/rooftop if someone climbs up but this is a typical village life that I miss in my own country. Breakfast is simple baguette with butter & jam, egg (scrambled, fried, boiled or omelette) with green tea, Boh tea or coffee.

Expenses

It is advisable to look out for banks for exchanging currency as the rate is better. You may change the currency at the airport too as the rate is better than private currency exchange companies. You can only exchange to Laotian currency in Laos. Exchange the currency as you see the need to use them. You will get better rate for the notes of USD50 and USD100. Dirty and old notes are not acceptable. The currency rate was between 7681 kip to 7692 kip per USD during my visit.

Currency conversion rate as of 09 June 2013:

USD1 = 7681 kip = RM4.04

The following are some hints to assist you with your expenses estimation when traveling to Laos - to be more specific Vientiane and Luang Prabang. The information provided is dated June 2013.

Vientiane

• Airport to hotel in Vientiane (purchase taxi coupon at the airport)  - 60,000 kip (4 persons)
• Hotel in Vientiane to airport (got a tuk tuk/taxi at the roadside by negotiating the price) -  50,000 kip (4 persons)
• Admission fee to Sisaket Museum - 5,000 kip
• Admission fee to Ho Phra Keo Museum - 5,000 kip
• Admission fee to Phra That Laung Museum - 5,000 kip
• Rice with chicken/pork - 15,000 kip
• Woman's silk scarf - 40,000 kip 
• Tigerhead drinking water 1.5 litre - 5,000 kip
• Tigerhead drinking water small bottle - 300 kip
• Cheap t-shirt - 15,000 kip
• Places I missed out:  Buddha Park, National Museum near That Luang Museum (Note: there are 2 national museums), King Srisavangvong Statue

 
Luang Prabang

• Airport to hotel in Luang Prabang (purchase taxi coupon at the airport) - USD6.50 (4 persons)
• Hotel in Luang Prabang to airport (got a tuk tuk at the roadside by negotiating the price) - 50,000kip (4 persons)
• Hand made queen sized blanket (took 8-10 months to make 1 blanket. Purchased at the night market from a friendly couple in their late 20s or early 30s at a stall facing a massage parlour at the right hand side [2nd row on the right side]) - 400,000 kip
• Less complicated queen sized blanket (Purchased at the night market from two ladies at the left side [2nd row]) - 160,000 kip 
• Tuk tuk to Kuang Si Falls & Hmong Village - 170,000 kip (4 persons, 2 ways + 3 hours at the waterfalls [exclude traveling time])
• Admission fee to Kuang Si waterfall - 20,000 kip
• Admission fee to Phousi Hill - 20,000 kip
• Tuk tuk to Tak Sae waterfall (best time is August - September) - 150,000 kip (I didn't go due to lack of water at the waterfall)
• Tigerhead drinking water 1.5 litre - 5,000 kip
• Fried rice 20,000 kip
• Cheap t-shirt - 15,000 kip 
• Woman's simple bag - 3 for 80,000 kip
• Native's purse (medium size) - 3 for 40,000 kip, 1 for 15,000 kip
• Native's purse (small size - not the super small one) - 1 for 10,000 kip
• Vegetarian dinner buffet style at Night Food Street - 10,000 kip regardless of the amount you take to fill up a plate
• Laotian rice noodle with pork floss, peanuts, lots of vegetables (similar to laksa) at Night Food Street during lunch hour - 7,000 kip

 

• Tiny packet of shampoo at the end of Night Food Street - 1,000 kip
• Place I missed out: Tad Sae Waterfall

DIY Pond Filter

Thanks to the following site for giving me ideas to build my own pond filter:

http://www.interall.co.il/filter.html

I had been unhappy with the lousy pond filter designed by the crappy contractor because it didn't filter the water properly. The damn guy just partitioned a small section of the pond with a piece of plastic and pump the water into it and expected the water to be filtered. In reality the plastic kept falling apart letting all the debris escaping back into the main pond.

Please take from my experience not to trust any contractor to design a pond. Make sure you have personally done your own research on building a pond with proper filter. Design it yourself and ask the contractor to build it. Fire him if he refuses to follow your design. DO NOT ever trust any contractor!

I have decided to build my own DIY pond filter with some ideas gained from the website stated above on Christmas eve. The duration to build one took a few hours - most of the time was "drilling" holes on a plastic container purchased from Tesco. It is an easy task even for a DIY noob like myself. Just have to be careful not to melt the holes too big at the plastic container or burn yourself with the soldering gun.

Tools:

1. Soldering gun - I use this to melt the plastic container to "drill" holes. You could use a drill for the same purpose.Soldering gun costs less than RM30.
2. Old cloth soaked with water or old newspaper for wiping plastic sticking on soldering gun. Costs RM0.

Components:

1. A square plastic container. Costs RM6+.
2. Three PVC bulkheads - one for water to flow in, one for water to flow out and another for overflow. Costs RM1.50 each.
4. One PVC "hose connector". Costs RM1.50 each.
5. One PVC adapters to join my hose connector and bulkhead that have different diameters. Costs RM1.50 each.
6. Water hose that fits your "hose connector" for water to flow into your filter. I use 2 types of hose to fit the powerhead and the PVC bulkhead. Costs RM2 per meter.
7. Filter media you wish to put inside your filter. The cost depends on what you put.
8. Powerhead. Costs RM0 because I re-use old one.

PVC bulkhead:

PVC "hose connector":

PVC adapter:

Here are the steps to build the filter:


1. Mark the diameter of bulkhead by drawing circles on the plastic container. One circle for water inflow (near the top of the container). One circle at the bottom of the container for water outflow. Another circle slightly lower than the water inflow circle for overflow. The overflow circle could be at the side of the container or any place you want (depending on your requirement). The overflow is optional but it is good to overcome water overflowing in case the outflow is blocked.

2. Melt the plastic container where it is marked with the circles with soldering gun. You may want to wear a mask. You may need an old newspaper or old cloth to wipe off the plastic sticking on the soldering gun every now and then.

3. Install the bulkheads into the holes.

4. At the bulkhead of the water inflow, connect the PVC adapter and hose connector. Your filter is completed!

5. Test the filter by filling in water to test for any leakage at the bulkheads. Fix it if necessary.

6. Connect one end of the water hose to the powerhead and the other end to the water inflow bulkhead.

7. Add the filter media into the plastic container aka your new filter box.

8. Turn on the powerhead when it's placed in the pond to test run the filter.

My DIY Pond Filter:

Internal Section of The DIY Pond Filter:

Love-Hate Affair With Britpop

Looking out of the window, I saw haze that reminded me of the mist of England in 1996-1997 era when I was there. Upon stepping on the soil of England, it was like being in heaven with the ability to tune in to the good old BBC Radio 1 (outside London, I didn't have XFM's radio reception) to be able to listen to alternative music bands rather frequently. Malaysia had Time Highway Radio (THR) playing a bit of those stuff then but they were insufficient.

After 3 months I began to feel sick of day-in day-out listening to something they called Britpop especially bands such as Oasis, Blur and Pulp (the sequence is based on my hate priority) that I would not hesitate to turn off the volume whenever I heard them on the radio. You could hear these bands on the airwave more than 10 times per day. To make the situation worse, sometimes the same songs were being repeated multiple times per day. Soon, the Britpop phenomena turned worse as Oasis and Blur started their stupid childish verbal wars on each other. These news were all over the media (radio, newspaper & music magazines) in England. Soon, I added bands such as Suede, Echobelly, Menswear, Dodgy, Sleeper, Supergrass, Ocean Colour Scene, Cast, The Verve, etc into my hate list. Manic Street Preachers, Elastica and Ash were not in my hate list because Manic had that American rock sound and the other two bands had the punk sound as well as the right punk attitude. The Boo Radleys also escaped my hate list because they sound very refreshing, catchy and unique in their own way despite being labeled as Britpop. Those days I missed non-typical British sound so badly. So bands like The Cardigans, The Wannadies, Sepultura, Smashing Pumpkins, 3D's, The Fall, etc were very refreshing to me.

Today, I don't hate Britpop as I used to anymore due to the fact that I have started to miss my former number one hated bands Oasis and Blur after returning to Malaysia for more than a decade. I guess when you have been overfed with similar sounding music, you tend to choke, vomit and tend to stay away from them. As you take them away for decades, you may start to miss what you have not heard for a long period.

List of Aquarium Plants I Have Experienced

Carpet plants:
Echinodorus tenellus (old name)/Elianthium tenellum (new name) - widely known as tenellus, fast growing
Japanese hair grass - somehow slow growth based on my experience
Common hair grass - somehow slow growth based on my experience
Lileaopsis brasiliensis - submerged - died. Emersed - successful but slow growth
Glosso - all dead with NPT - could be insufficient light
Hydrocotyle verticillata- melted or stunted in NPT. Successful in a tank with ADA Amazonia soil and CO2 supplied
Marsilea hirsuta - easy but slow growth
Cryptocoryne parva - died in submerged form but slow growth in emersed form

Mid ground:
Blyxa japonica - reasonably easy to grow but may die off out of a sudden if something goes wrong (i.e. being messed by fishes...digging)
Various Cryptocoryne wendtii (such as green gecko)  - easy
Bacopa monnieri - not looking good. Dump to emersed setup for testing
Bacopa caroliniana - easy but got bored of it
Marsilea quadrifolia - very easy but seems to be killed by plants disease now
Hemianthus micranthemoides - supposed to be easy but mine melted due to lack of light. Still testing after replacing the lighting.
Cryptocoryne pontederiifolia - easy

Background:
Potamogeton gayi - easy to grow but sensitive to Seachem Excel
Corkscrew vallisneria - easy to grow
Cyperus helferi - killed by what I believe is plant disease
Tonina sp. 'Belem' - initially quite easy but disappeared from the tank after a while. Alien abduction?
Green rotala - melted in NPT but growing relatively easy floating in an outdoor pail & emersed form
Limnophila sp. "Vietnam" - melted
Ludwigia repens - easy
Hygrophila polysperma - grew too awful in NPT
Sagittaria subulata - easy
Cryptocoryne balansae - relatively easy initially but went missing now
Water wisteria - very easy but it's too big
Pogostemon sp Babien Laos - easy
Limnophila sp. Vietnam - melted
Myriophyllum mattogrossense - easy
Myriophyllum tuberculatum - slow growth
Limnophila aromatica - melted
Vallisneria nana - died
Vallisneria spiralis - easy
Cryptocoryne spiralis - easy but went missing
Pogostemon stellatus 'Octopus' - very easy
Hygrophila polysperma 'Ceylon' - very easy

Hygrophila pinnatifida - easy but slow growth

Floating:
Elodea/Egeria densa - good for fry
Hornwort - good for fry
Duckweed - truly a weed, could be annoying
Cabomba - annoying as it keeps breaking off
Salvinia natans - truly a weed, could be annoying but not as annoying as duckweed
Water lettuce/Pistia stratiotes - very easy

Attached to driftwood/rocks:
Spiky moss - easy but beware of hair algae
Christmas moss - easy but beware of hair algae
Taiwan moss - easy but beware of hair algae
Java moss - easy but beware of hair algae
Weeping moss - Growth is too slow. 2nd attempt seems successful
Riccia - annoying as it kept floating every now and then
Anubias nana - eaten by Kribs
Anubias nana 'petite'  - eaten by Kribs
Java fern - needs colder temperature
Mini Java fern -  needs colder temperature
Philippines fern - needs colder temperature
Windelov - needs colder temperature
Narrow leaf fern - died
Bolbotis - died during my first 3-4 attempts. Currently trying again and it seems to be growing.
Subwassertang - very easy

Aquarium Fan Review

Jebo (small one) - very noisy since day one. Powerful? Well, I can accept it but as it becomes older, it's so noisy that I have to send it for retirement permanently after several attempts to clean & oil it.



Jebo (twin fans) - very quiet compare with the single fan one. I find it not powerful and getting worse as it gets old. I have 2 of these. After several years....1st set got a damaged fan (meaning only 1 of the twin fans is working). 2nd set is working but totally not powerful.
Ista (small one) - Very powerful - will beat Jebo anytime. Very noisy...it's very obvious at night.


Mr. Aqua Super Tornado Cooling Fan - In terms of noise level, this is the best option so far - very quiet indeed. It's so quiet that I thought it was not turned on. It's not as powerful as Ista's but in comparison with Jebo's, it's very good. It's rather bulky and heavy though.



Dymax fan - I was told by the LFS that the quality is uncertain. It may last only 3-4 months if you're unlucky. I did not bother to check it out after hearing such comment from the LFS.

I have tried another fans which I cannot remember the brand - it is white colour and the box has Japanese words. It is totally not powerful at all.

Useful Simple Techniques In Aquascaping

Some simple useful techniques used in aquascaping and fish keeping:

1. Before pouring water, place a clean plastic bag or even the plastic bag of aquarium soil to cover your plants and soil. Pour the water onto the bag to avoid messing up the new plants and soil.

2. Create a slope that is higher at the back and lower at the foreground to create depth.

3. To prevent landslide, use rocks to block the soil.

4. Cheaper way of creating a higher slope at the back of the tank is by using lava rocks underneath - save the cost of aquarium soil.

5. Since most of us don't use any hood for the planted tanks to prevent heat being trapped in the tank leading to higher temperature (not good for the plants), if you have jumpy fish, place cards (old credit cards, points collection cards, etc), the green dishwasher pads, etc to cover up 4 corners of the tank to reduce suicidal cases of fishes. Not proven with Hatchet fish though.

6. Cannot find driftwood of the shape you want? Use aluminium wire tied to a driftwood to create fake branches. Cover the aluminium wire with black filter wool tied to the aluminium wire to cover up the wire. You may tied some moss over the fake branches after that. Don't over do it! Otherwise the tank will look very unnatural.

7. Algae growing on plants? Turn off your filter. You can try shooting Seachem Excel onto the affected areas with a shringe and leave it for about 30 minutes before turning on the filter again. Some sensitive plants will die as well. I have done that with Cryptocoryne wendtii, Anubias nana and Echinodorus tenellus. Don't try it on Vallisneria sp. Very useful to fight BBA.

Beware of Highway Con Men

When driving at Federal Highway, beware of some Indian men offering to help if your car breaks down. One of them is around late 40s/early 50s and another one is late 30s/early 40s.

Here's my first hand encounter. 1 motorcyclist passing by pointing at my tyre. 2nd bike (Indian man) passing by also pointing at my tyre. I came down from my car and saw my tyre full of pink coloured oil with some smoke. 2 Indian men on a bike offered to help. When trying to drive the car, I realised the brake was not working. Thinking it's a minor issue, I let them help. They took the tyre out saying the brake disc needed to be sent to the workshop to be checked. The partially bald Indian guy stayed back with me. The younger one went to the workshop. I received a call via the handphone of the bald Indian man from a Chinese lady asking for my car model in order to get the right replacement part. The younger Indian guy came back with the parts and the bill was over RM1900. They asked me to pay on the spot with additional workmanship cost. I had not enough cash and no ATM card. I paid them RM100 after some argument. They left and left behind a handphone number for me to contact them if I wanted to pay up. The phone number is 016-9192917 (owner is VJ/Dewa/a complicated Indian name). I sent the car to my personal mechanic. My mechanic told me it was a con job and the car replacement part was not so costly - I was the second victim among his customers. The first victim encountered the same scenerio.

The bald man told me his name was Suresh. The younger one he said was Dewa but when I asked the younger guy for his name, he gave me a complicated Indian name. Then he shortened it to VJ. I believe no real names were revealed. The workshop's receipt was in Segambut but it took less than 30 minutes for the younger guy to reach back Federal Highway (near Mid Valley) - this is fishy. I think this is a con job collaborated among Indians and Chinese.

After sitting down to analyse the Indian men, I realised there are a lot of fishy matters about them. The bald guy told me they worked with Petronas but later in the conversation he switched to Shell. So I asked him whether it's Shell or Petronas. He said his Chinese boss owned Petronas and Shell gas/petrol station.

Fishy Issue # 1: Neither of them were wearing Petronas or Shell uniform.

Fishy item #2: If I were a big boss of Shell or Petronas, I would kick the hell out of their Chinese boss for collaborating with the competitor.

Fishy item #3: I don't think there's any Chinese owning Petronas gas station.

They don't dare to accept cheque and online banking transfer. They only dare to accept cash, so they cannot be traced.

The con men probably took my original brake disc for trade in and got the re-con one for me.

The men claimed they're originated from Penang island but working in Brickfields and stayed in Bangsar. Now I am looking out for any suspicious looking Indian men around me in case they come for revenge...

CO2 Cylinder Refill/Purchase - Syarikat City Corporation

For those who are into aquascaping, the best location to refill CO2 and purchase CO2 cylinder is:

Syarikat City Corporation,
30, Jalan 13/108C,
Taman Sungai Besi,
57100 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 03-79836366 or 03-79833214
Fax: 03-79813344

The company opens at 9am daily (except Sunday). Please take note that they work half day on Saturday.

The price is lower than any of the local fish shops. The waiting period is also faster than any of the fish shops as you get the refill on the spot. No waiting period of a few hours or even days.

Recently I have found out that the cost of refilling CO2 has increased. It used to be RM10 for any sizes of CO2 cylinders but that's no longer the case now. Here's the CO2 refill price list:

5 lbs - RM12
10 lbs - RM22

The price of CO2 cylinder has gone up too. It used to be RM120 for 5 lbs CO2 cylinder and RM150 for 10 lbs CO2 cylinder if I am not mistaken. The current price list of CO2 cylinder with gas is:

5 lbs - RM140
10 lbs - RM160

Laos - Jewel Of The Mekong

It's not so common for travelers to visit Laos comparing with the rest of South-East Asian countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, etc. I personally only aware of two friends who have visited Laos - a Malaysian and a French. One of them gave me some good pointers about the country that was totally unknown to me. Yes, I had a sense of insecurity.

Kuang Si Waterfall:
A Very Friendly Hmong Lady Who Let Us Visited Her House:
Hmong Village:

The noodle I love:

Street of Luang Prabang:

It's good for me to find out by myself that Laos is in fact safer than my own country. I did not see any criminal activities there. Nobody will try to cheat you like the Vietnamese or Chinese. Yes, they may hike up the price knowing that you're a foreigner but you can bargain all the way down to the price you're happy - this is a pretty common practice in South-East Asia. The living standard has gone up in recent years due to the hike of petrol price. I could no longer get 50,000 kip taxi ride to the airport. Instead it cost me 70, 000 kip. T-shirts cost around 15,000 kip. Lao coffee powder was purchased at Luang Prabang for 50, 000 kip a bag but later found out they were available at 32,000 kip in Vientiane. Currency exchange to kip can only be done in Laos. Thai baht and US dollar are widely acceptable. 10,000 kip is about USD1 or RM4.

Tuk Tuk - The Main Transportation In Laos:


A Stupa At A Temple In Luang Prabang:

Bring along a torch light if you are afraid of the dark because their electricity availability is inconsistent. You may encounter sudden black out while walking half way on the street in total darkness, but it would last only a few seconds.

A Temple In Luang Prabang (Forgot The Name):

My trip basically covered the UNESCO site, Luang Prabang, and Vientiane. Luang Prabang is ideal for nature lovers especially if you fancy waterfalls (i.e. Kuang Si waterfall and Tad Sae waterfalls). Just bear in mind that there's no water at Tad Sae during dry season. I skipped Tad Sae waterfall. I decided to skip the cave because I did not know how to appreciate caves. I also skipped the cruise at the Mekong river because to me it's just another muddy river. There were plenty of temples to visit such as Wat Xieng Thong, Wat Visoune, etc. Try searching via Google and you will find plenty of temples in Laos. In Luang Prabang, you can climb Phousi Hill to have a good view of the city by following a stairway path. There's a temple on top of the hill.

Shophouses along Mekong riverside:


Hawker At Mekong Riverside:
The people are generally friendly and helpful. They speak better English than Vietnamese. It's comparable to Cambodians. It's always useful to learn some basic Lao as you travel in this country. If you know Thai you will obviously know how to count 1 to 10 already because they're the same. Their language has some similarities with Thai. Knowing simple Lao helped me to bargain and seek for help easier. The following are some of the list of words I find useful:

Hello - sa bai dee
Thank you - khawp jai
zero -soon
one - neung
two - song
three - saam
four - si
five - ha
six - hok
seven - jet
eight - paet
nine - kao
ten - sip
eleven - sip neung
twelve - sip song
thirteen - sip saam
twenty - song sip
twenty one - song sip neung
twenty two - song sip song
thirty - saam sip
1,000 - phan
10, 000 - sip phan
100,000 - loi phan
now - diow nee
later - la gon
afternoon - tiang
morning - dthawn sao
evening - ton lang
night - kaang keun
today - meuh nii
tomorrow - meuh euhn
black - sii dum
white - sii khao
blue - sii faa
green - sii khiao
red - sii daeng
gray - sii ke thao
brown - sii nam taan
chicken - gai
beef - neua
fish - pbaa
shrimp - goong
egg - khai
vegetables - phaak
fruit - maak mai
bread - khao jii
rice - khao
rice noodle - pho
coffee - khaafeh
water - naam
juice - nam mak mai
hot tea - saa hawn
soap - saabuu
shampoo - saapom
pen - bik
how much is this? - anee tor dai?
I don't want it - khoy bor yak ow
no - baw
yes - maen laeow
please -kalunaa
I don't understand - khawy baw khao jai

In Vientiane, forget about Kao Lao Restaurant if you're seeking for cultural show and local food. The food was made for Westerner's taste and they taste awful for South-East Asian's taste. The cultural show is just 3 musicians playing their local musical instruments accompanied by one or two dancers with limited space for them to move. One of the hotel staff mentioned to me, "That's not true Laotian". It's not worth the money you have to spend for it. Look for other better option to spend your money. If you want to taste the real local food, try their street food if you dare. It's not very hygienic based on the way they hold the food with bare hands and I had stomach upset once but I believe it's not as bad as India.

It's a very relaxing and slow pace journey comparing with Bangkok or Hanoi. No traffic congestion. No rat race. Don't expect any huge shopping complex in Laos either. However there are some luxury hotels if you have money to burn. Night market and morning market are the places for shopping. Most of the stuff sold are cloth related handcraft and t-shirts. It is one of the lowest cost trips I have come across.

Vietnam - The Land of Dishonesty?

The trip to Vietnam is an eye-opener that everyone is trying to con you. The taxi drivers, the hotel owners and the hawkers are all trying to con foreigners that visit their country. I don't mind them hiking up the price but they way they try to cheat foreigners is so obvious and it clearly shows that they're not honest. Here are some personal experience:

1. Hotel Democracy's employee in Hanoi did not properly replace the bottles of mineral water and beer in my hotel room's fridge after the previous client left. The amount of the items listed on the door of the fridge was in Vietnamese that foreigners could not understand. On the last day, the hotel's management charged me for the mineral water that I did not consume. Luckily they did not charge me for the 3 missing cans of beer.

2. I bought some Vietnamese oranges that was supposed to be juicy and sweet as the one the hawker let me tasted. However, the ones I bought was different quality. They're juicy but not sweet at all. Even the colour of the flesh of the oranges looked different from the one I tasted.

3. A taxi driver in Hue tried to give all kinds of excuse to charge us extra even though the taxi fare had been agreed upon before we took his taxi. This proved that he was very dishonest and did not keep to his word.

4. The cheap Vietnamese t-shirts I purchased had all the colour faded and spreaded on all parts of the t-shirt. For the same price in Cambodia, I could get better quality ones. At least the Cambodians are more honest to tell me the difference between good quality and bad quality ones, even though the bad quality ones are not as bad as Vietnamese ones.

5. Roadside food vendors tried to sell large amount of food I did not need. It's an opportunity for them to make quick money by selling a lot to foreigners who could not speak Vietnamese. They would show you the unhappy face if you rejected the large amount of food and insisted on paying less for smaller quantity. I felt like walking away from such vendors a few times.

Generally, the Vietnamese are not honest. I am not saying all Vietnamese are not honest but the number of them that try to con you exceed the honest ones. I am not looking forward to visit this country again. I'd rather visit Cambodia.

There are also other elements that are not very positive about Vietnam:

1. Lack of public toilets. Men and women are very likely to end up doing their "business" in the bushes if you're traveling on a long distance public transport. Don't be surprise if you catch someone doing "business" in the middle of a field, even in Hanoi.

2. The beds on the train are filthy. I saw blood stain on the bed I was sleeping.

3. The toilet on the train is filthy but at least there's a toilet. There's no toilet if you travel by bus.

4. Drivers of public transport are reckless and drive very dangerously as well as speeding.

5. Public transport tend to be overloaded. You will notice passengers sleeping and sitting on the floor eventually as the driver try to make more profit.

6. The price of food is not cheap in Vietnam. They could be more costly than Malaysia sometimes especially when they try to rip you off. A restaurant tried to rip us off by charging us 100,000 Dong (~ RM15) per dish in a small town. Luckily, I decided to walk out of the restaurant.

7. All the food taste the same eventually. Malaysian food is still the best due to the influence from multi-culture.

MBPJ Strikes Again! FAS Tunnel Closure!

I have no doubt that MBPJ is run by idiots and morons. I have been trying to give them some credit but so far I can't find anything that they deserve to be credited. They can't plan. They can't solve any problem. That's ok! Unfortunately, they create more problems in the name of solving problems.

In Ara Jaya, these idiots have decided to close FAS tunnel because of large amount of traffic passing by that area. In other countries, they don't close any roads to ease traffic congestion. They build more roads to solve the problem. I doubt these government organisation ever looks East or West. They just look into their pants.

First, these idiots turned the old tunnel to Ara Jaya into one way and re-routed the traffic from LDP heading for Ara Jaya into FAS tunnel. Now FAS is going to be closed and all the traffic has to go through a longer route via old Subang Airport road. Do you see their idiotic idea solves any problem? Absolutely not! They're going to create more traffic congestion in Subang and more petrol will be burnt.

Is Malaysian authority being environment friendly? Yes, they're friendly in generating more CO2 to kill Mother Earth.

I am very disappointed by the relevant authority in this country that wastes the tax payers' hard earned money with all their brainless projects such as building roads to be closed or building tunnels to be closed.

Somebody please fire these idiots from their jobs! I don't mind if they sleep on their jobs but please don't destroy our lives and country!


--------------

Latest Update:

Email is sent to MBPJ based on the email address posted on the notice board in Crimson but the result is:

"Delivery to the following recipient failed permanently:

mroslan@mbpj.gov.com

Technical details of permanent failure:
Google tried to deliver your message, but it was rejected by the recipient domain. We recommend contacting the other email provider for further information about the cause of this error. The error that the other server returned was: 550 550 5.7.1 <mroslan@mbpj.gov.com>... Relaying denied. Proper authentication required. (state 14)."


There is a massive traffic congestion in Jalan PJU 1A/41 and the old tunnel because of the FAS tunnel closure now at 8.00am on 22nd Apr, 2011.

Cryptocoryne From Aqua Fair 2010

Bought some unidentified Cryptocoryne from Aqua Fair as follows.


Crypt 1:
It is believed to be Cryptocoryne pontederiifolia.


Crypt 2:
It is believed to be a variety of Cryptocoryne wendtii.

Plants I Have Tried

Just to keep track of aquatic plants I have tried planting regardless I have successful or failed.

1. Egeria densa - grows like weed in the outdoor tank.

2. Hornwort - grows like weed in the outdoor tank.

3. Salvinia - grows like weed in the outdoor tank.

4. Water lettuce - grows like weed in the outdoor tank.

5. Rotala Green - rot at the bottom part in the indoor tank but growing well outdoor and partially immersed.

6. Cryptocoryne Wendtii - Growing but very slow.

7. Subwassertang - growing like weeds indoor.

8. Christmas moss - growing fine until hit by hair algae. So they went to the bin.

9. Taiwan moss - growing fine until hit by hair algae. So they went to the bin.

10. Spiky moss - growing fine until hit by hair algae. So they went to the bin.

11. Java moss - growing fine until hit by hair algae. So they went to the bin. Still have a bit of escapees in the tank.

12. Weeping moss - growing very slow and eventually hit by hair algae. So they went to the bin.

13. Java ferns - growing well in one tank but dying in another tank.

14. Narrow leaf ferns - growing well but in miniature form. However they slowly turn bald. Temperature may be too high.

15. Java fern windelov - growing well in one tank but dying in another tank.

16. Potamogeton gayi - growing like weeds.

17. Water wisteria (2 species) - growing well outdoor.

18. Marsilea (two species) - growing well but the short foreground one is slow. The tall one grows like weed.

19. Hairgrass - still testing. Successfully planted immersed.

20. Sagittaria subulata - growing like weeds and flowering.

21. Anubias Nana Petite - Alive but stunted.

22. Anubias Nana - eaten by Kribensis. Trying again in a different tank.

23. Philippines fern - growing well but covered by subwassertang and went missing.

24. Riccia fluitans - growing like weeds but end up in the bin.

25. Bolbitis - stunted. Water temperature is too high.

26. Duckweed - truly weeds. So, end up in the bin.

27. Cryptocoryne balansae - growing reasonably well.

28. Crytocoryne spiralis - growing slowly.

29. Cabomba - disintegrated and died.

30. Bacopa - alive but covered by BBA easily.

31. Hydrocotyle sp - growing slowly.

32. Limnophila aromatica - died in NPT.

33. Blyxa Japonica - eaten and destroyed by Kribensis. Otherwise growing well in NPT.

34. Echinodorus tenellus - growing well.

35. Eleocharis vivipara - growing well but have to trim too regularly. So, end up in the bin.

36. Hygrophila polysperma - overtook by BBA in NPT. So end up in the bin.

37. Corkscrew Vallisneria - growing well.

38. Vallisneria Nana - died.

39. Vallisneria americana - growing well.

40. Cyperus Helferi - growing well initially but slowly losing the leaves after 1 year.

Excellent DIY Aquarium Stuff

Throughout the years, I have come across some amazing DIY aquarium stuff in forums. However, some of the threads in the forum was removed after several years. Sometimes the link to a website was no longer valid. So, there's no way I can locate them back. In order not to loss them, I have decided to collect some of the interesting DIY aquarium stuff that I have encountered recently in my own blog.


DIY Acrylic Tube:

The first one is a DIY acrylic tube by Paul aka Jedishrimp from APC (Aquatic Plant Central) forum. With the right tool, it seems like a pretty simple DIY project. Here's some sample acrylic tubes he has made:


The most crucial part of this project is bending the tube. If not done carefully, the tube may break or simply looks ugly. You need some patience to heat up the acrylic and turn it around. Then bend it a little bit. Keep repeating the heating and bending process until it has turned into the shape you want. Have a look at the Paul's excellent video on the technique of bending the tube by clicking the link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSj2c0lR-wc


DIY Aquarium Background:

In APC forum, I have also encountered another great DIY project by an Italian named Stefano aka Dabolox. Basically, the DIY aquarium background make use of some of the readily available material from your own backyard such as soil, dry branches and dry dead leaves. It looks very beautiful and natural too especially if you're keen in setting up a black water tank that imitates the nature.

The following are some of the items used by Stefano:



He also created a hidden compartment for filter and heater as follows:


From the ingredients above, he created the following aquarium background. The roots he used are grapevine roots. You may try other alternative roots as long as it's non-toxic to the fishes and plants.


After he moved the aquarium background into the tank, here's how it looks like at various stages:



To read about Stefano's original article with more detailed information, you can check out the following link:

http://www.acquarionline.it/acquari/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=22&Itemid=1

Cleaning Impeller of Eheim Classic Filter

Cleaning of canister filter's impeller is often a pain because the instruction is not mentioned in the filter's manual. I am not referring to made in China filters only. The same issue applies to German made Eheim filters. Basically the manual is a junk to me as it normally does not contain information you need but contains all the information you already know.

Thanks to some aquarium forums that I have managed to figure out how to clean it although the information is incomplete. Therefore I have decided to write the instruction myself. In my instruction I will use Eheim Classic as an example because it's the only canister filter I have.

Before you start removing the parts, please make sure that you remember how you remove them, so that you will know how to fix them back. You may shoot some photos in the process if you have a poor memory or poor observation.

1. After removal of the filter cover, you will notice the most important section of the filter as below. First, you have to unlock the lock that protects the impeller by turning it anti-clock wise. Then pull the lock upward. Be careful not to break the impeller when pulling up the lock.


2. After the lock has been removed, You will see the impeller partially in hole of the middle section.


3. The next step is to remove the cover of the impeller as follows:


4. After removing the cover of the impeller, you will notice the impeller. Pull the impeller upwards to remove it. Be careful not to break it. There is a magnet holding the impeller in case you're wondering why it's not loose. Once you have removed the impeller, you can brush the dirt on the impeller and the filter with tooth brush. There may be some holes you cannot reach with a tooth brush. You can use a cotton bud to clean the unreachable areas. Then rinse them with running tap water.


5. Don't forget to remove the hoses of the inlet and outlet for cleaning as well. The hose may clogged leading to poor water current in the tank. Just place the hose connected to a water tap and let the strong tap water current push all the dirt out if you're too lazy to brush the entire internal part of the hose. You will need a special brush to clean the internal part of the hose. Since it will be tedious without a proper brush, I will skip the brushing.

6. Don't forget to wash the media of the filter with your existing tank's water to avoid losing beneficial bacteria. I will not cover this aspect of the cleaning process as the information is widely available on the internet.

Testing Web Radio

This is for testing web radio.

Music genre:
Alternative music genre such as punk, hardcore, indie, lo-fi, garage rock, metal, goth, industrial, electronica, danc-rock, grunge, classic rock, reggae, ska, surf rock, glam rock, new wave, no wave, progressive rock, psychedelic rock, dream pop, noise pop, folk rock, americana, alternative country, rap rock, electro-pop, trip hop, art rock, math rock, rockabilly, experimental rock, krautrock, Southern rock, space rock, stoner rock, grindcore, darkwave, riot grrrl, twee pop, etc.

Aquatics International Fish Farm Visit

Visited Aquatics International during the weekend. I was having difficulties capturing the photos as most of the fishes I intended to shoot were fast swimmers and the lighting was poor. So, you are now looking at some crappy photos with very bad quality.

A view of the farm:






Some kind of a barb:


Madagascar Rainbow:


Lampeye Killie:


Golden Wonder Panchax:


Unknown species (labeled as "Pink Tea Charasin" - the label is suspicious to me. Combination of wrong spelling and poor handwriting do not help. Should be Pink Tailed Characin I believe):


Unknown species: