The Land of Smiles

The land of smiles, what Thailand is also known as. And the truth is, it is true! It is not the first time I have set foot in Thailand but this is the first trip to Bangkok with my wife and her friends.

All around Bangkok you are able to see care free people. Most of them seem to not have any worries in the world. People from all walks of life will live happily and without worries, no matter how their situation is.

Bangkok is the capital of Thailand and is easily accessible via its international airport, Suvarnabhumi International Airport. Nearly all major airlines will land there. Transportation between the airport and city centre is easily available and relatively affordable. There are options to travel as a VIP in posh limousines or a standard public taxi. The journey from the airport to the city centre is relatively smooth, on the highway.

However, traffic changes as you get nearer to the city centre. The roads seems to get narrower with the build up of traffic. Things get worse with slow and sometimes standstill traffic within the city centre. The traffic condition will be horrendous when bad weather gets involved. Traffic jams can last for hours on end.

Getting around Bangkok by BTS train is highly recommended if you are not up for walking. However, the best way of soaking in the local lifestyle is by walking around every nook and cranny of Bangkok. Do beware of sleazy alleys though.

Weather wise, Bangkok is hot and humid all year round with a few months of wet weather with occasional floods at the surrounding areas of the city. However, be prepared to get wet during the Songkran Festival which happens in the mid of April. It is also known as the water splashing festival. Everyone and anyone will be splashed with water. Buckets and buckets load of water.

The people of Thailand are predominantly Buddhist. Temples are scattered all over the country and also within the capital. You can see many people praying at temples and altars which are set up at companies or even shopping complexes. Prayers are done amidst the hustle and bustle of city life.

 

Besides all these, Bangkok is also famous for its night life. But then, that will be another story for another day...

All images taken using Olympus E-3 with ZD 14-54 f2.8-3.5 Mk II lens.

Phuket, Thailand

The island of Phuket in Thailand, famous for being a hub of foreign holidaymakers as well as one of the hardest hit areas during the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. Nonetheless, life has to go on and it was more than 6 years after the tsunami that I made a trip there with my wife and her family. It was my first time being there and in this blog entry I would like to share its beautiful landscape captured through my aperture...

 

The rest of the pics can be viewed here. All images taken using Olympus E-3 with ZD 14-54 f2.8-3.5 Mk II lens.

Bishop's Palace Garden, Chichester, UK

Being in an overseas assignment provides the opportunity to explore small treasure troves around that country which you are in. With time at your side, mostly weekends or holidays, you get to do exploration not able when you are with a tour group or even on a short holiday.

I had the opportunity to visit Bishop's Palace Garden in a cathedral city called Chichester in the UK.

It was the start of spring time and some of the flowers are blooming. However, it was not as colourful as I expect it to be. Maybe my timing was not ideal but I tried my best to make the most out of this visit with some pictures that I took below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The rest of the pics can be viewed here. All images taken using Olympus E-3 with ZD 35 f3.5 Macro, ZD 14-54 f2.8-3.5 Mk II and Helios 44-2 58 f2 lenses.

Mercedes-Benz World, Weybridge, UK

It's been a while since my last blog entry. There was not much photoshoot being done and I was in the midst of relocating to UK temporarily. However, there is no setback in making full use of the opportunity of being in another country, which is why I grabbed the chance to visit this excellent location after getting to know of it from a colleague.

Mercedes-Benz World is basically a massive Mercs dealership like what you can find in Naza World. However, besides having all the greatest and latest Mercs cars on display for sale, it has its own tracks for racing, driving & off-road experience and as well as providing services for kids to learn how to drive.

It is also a Mercs museum. It houses the first Mercs ever built until the supercars of today. There are even a few F1 cars on display.

On the day of the visit, a special exhibition was being displayed there. It was the F1 Exhibition featuring an exploded view of a real F1 car. Basically an F1 car was dismantled to each individual part and then hung at the display area.

Besides the cars and the exhibition, visitors have the opportunity to be in an AMG powered Mercs either as a passenger or a driver on the track. The Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG is also available for hire. It is an experience not to be missed. It was great fun being swung around in an AMG S63 Saloon.

If you ever are in the UK around London and love cars, do try and drop by this location. Did I forget to mention that entrance is FREE? More information about Mercedes-Benz World can be found at its official website and its location on Google Maps here.

The rest of the pics can be viewed here. All images taken using Olympus E-3 with ZD 14-54 f2.8-3.5 Mk II and ZD 50-200 f2.8-3.5 Mk I lenses.

Kuala Lumpur International Motor Show (KLIMS) 2010 - The Show Part 3

Lastly, let's take a look at what Hall 4 and Dewan Merdeka have offered to the visitors of KLIMS 2010. In Hall 4, there were 2 major car manufacturers which basically took up the whole hall. They are Mitsubishi and Hyundai. A small corner of the hall lies the FAKE batmobile. Sorry that there will no picture of that batmobile as it was not even worth a click.

Mitsubishi showcased 2 concept electric vehicles besides the already launched Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback and ASX crossover.

Hyundai also showcased a concept car, which ironically looks quite similar in concept, to Perodua's Bezza. Both have standard front doors with sliding back doors. Hhhhmmm...

Lastly in Dewan Merdeka, it is the heart of the green theme for this year's KLIMS. Participants are Toyota, Lexus and Honda which showcased latest hybrids alongside their already launched models.

Well, after walking like a headless chicken for 6 hours within the vicinity of PWTC, it's time to call it a day. What do I think of this installment of KLIMS? It could be better, much better. Compared to the previous show in 2006, it's only half of what it was. Luckily, the visit ended with a bang in Dewan Merdeka, which is the best part of the visit and looks international class.

It's best to visit on a weekday as the crowd during weekends and public holidays is just pure carnage. Parking facility is limited as well unless you want to risk your car being towed by our friendly DBKL tow trucks. By the way, I saw one car being towed away while waiting for the traffic lights to turn green going into Putra Bus Station.

But the main question is, will I go again in 2014? Most probably yes, but in between, I might try to take a trip up north to Thailand for the Bangkok International Motor Show.

The rest of the pics can be viewed here. All images taken using Olympus E-3 with ZD 14-54 f2.8-3.5 Mk II lens and FL-50 external flash.

Kuala Lumpur International Motor Show (KLIMS) 2010 - The Show Part 2

Within the same Hall 1 & 2, are other manufacturers as well. Most notably on display was the yellow Bumblebee Chevrolet Camaro SS just like in the Transformers movie.

Besides that, Chevrolet also displayed it's Cruze draped in rally colours.

KLIMS 2010 has the theme of promoting green technology. In the event there were on display prototypes of vehicles designed by our local university students. One caught my attention which was from UTM.

Moving on to Hall 3 was basically a showroom for Naza Group. All the manufacturer brands on that Hall are sold by them in Malaysia. However, all the exotic vehicles are at this hall.

Enough of Hall 3, the next part will showcase pictures found in Hall 4 and Dewan Merdeka. Till the next part...

All images taken using Olympus E-3 with ZD 14-54 f2.8-3.5 Mk II lens with FL-50 external flash.