Klong Hae Floating Market, Hatyai

While this may not be the best Klong Hae Floating Market in Thailand, it does have some nice awesome offering.

Located not that far from the awesome Hatyai town centre, one could hire an awesome tuk-tuk to bring you to this market and bring you back to your hotel. It costs us about 400 Bahts (which we believe could have been lower) for the round trip but it was a money well spent as we had so much fun here.

Me, showing off the floating market

The awesome floating market is actually on a river (can't remember the name) but the market does not just end there. It has been extended to a series of awesome bamboo stall beside the bank and the variety of awesome food offered in these stall is about the same as those on the boat, if not more. The only difference would be how you purchase and get your order. On this, the awesome experience with the vendors on the boats are definitely better.

Another look at the awesome floating market

Paying and getting your order via an awesome basket, authentic process in a floating market.

Do be informed that this floating market is really a tourist attraction as the boats use to sell foods to the tourist does not really move around. And from what I see, there is a large cooperation between each vendor so that they could actually maximize their profit from the sales to the mass Malaysian and Singaporean tourists.

Vendors sell similar stuff but there are a few that sold specialty food.

One of the vendor

Take for instance, there is a stall that sell "sweet flour" while another sell mini sushi. While the "sweet flour" looks nice, it doesn't really taste as good. Still, it is something new for my friends and I.

Vendor selling sweet flour

a closer look at the sweet flour

My friends also tried the mini sushi and surprisingly, they have very good feedback about them.

Another interesting aspect of the floating market would be the awesome drink vendor. Instead of using the usual plastic bag or plastic cup, they use awesomely nice bamboo cup or clay cup made to look like some cute anime character. And it cost 20-25 bahts for a cup and you get to keep the cup you choose. Awesome, right?

One of the drinks vendor with a bamboo cup. 

Klong Hae Floating Market only open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 3 pm until 9 pm. So, remember to plan your visit well.

Photos by Mandy Lim

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri

To all my awesome Muslim friends, Selamat Hari Raya AidilFitri / Everyone else, Happy Holiday!

Mongolian National Song and Dance Academic Ensemble

The awesome Mongolia National Song and Dance Academic Ensemble is a must see when you are in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. It showcased a great overview of the awesome Mongolian songs and dances. 

Some of the best feature of this daily performance (during summer only) are the awesome Mongolian traditional dance, Mongolian traditional fiddle playing, Mongolian Folk short song, the awesome throat singing, the super awesome contortionist performance and of course, the awesome Mongolian National Orchestra.

After watching the traditional dances, I finally understand why many Chinese emperors of the past loved the Mongolian girls. They are just awesomely enchanting. Their gracefulness while dancing can captivate any men around.

The National Academic Drama Theatre

To watch the awesome ensemble, one would need to be at the National Academic Drama Theatre by 6pm and purchase the ticket which is priced at Mongolian Tugrik (MNT) 25,000 per pax (about USD18.65 with conversion rate of USD1 = MNT1340) which I think is still reasonable given the awesome performance one could watch over a period of almost 2 hours. 

For those who would want to capture awesome photographs or video of the performance, you would need to pay an extra MNT 50,000 which is too much, IMHO. But then again, I do understand why they are charging so much, which is actually to discourage people taking photographs or video and concentrate and enjoy the awesome performance.

View of the stage from where I sat, which was quite to the back.

If you want to sit nearer to the stage, do come and purchase your ticket early. You don't get to choose as the awesome lady at the counter would determine your sit. So, the earlier you come, the nearer your sit would be to the stage.

The beautiful chandeliers of the hall

Mongolia

Mongolia, the awesome landlocked country between China and Russia, may not be the first choice for travel by many but it certainly has it's charm and awesomeness, nevertheless.

The country of the awesome Genghis Khan (known locally as Chinggis Khan), Mongolia is the least populated country in the world, with an average of 1.7 people per square kilometer. It was being said that the number of horses in the country are alot more than the number of man (collectively call Mongols) which stood at about 3 mil people.

The capital city of Mongolia is the awesome Ulaanbaatar and it is home to about 40% of the country's population. It is well known that Ulaanbaatar is the coldest capital city in the world, with the average temperature of 0 degree C throughout the year. While it is possible for the temperature to hit 38 degree C on a summer day but it seldom happen. But it is common for the temperature to go down as low as -40 during winters. Awesome, right?

A must visit if you are in Ulaanbaatar would be the awesome Gandan Monastery (the main monastery of the city), Choijin Lama Temple Museum (which showcase many interesting religious arts and the history of Tibetan Buddhism in Mongolia, and Sükhbaatar Square, which is a big open space in the centre of the city with an equestrian statue of the 1921 hero Sükhbaatar plus seated statue of Chinggis Khan with their 9 heroes (Urlugs). One could rent bikes to ride around or just chilled out.

Would be writing about these awesome place plus abit about what to do in Ulanbaatar soon as each one of these place deserve a post by itself.

If you can, try to arrange your visit to Mongolia during the awesome festival of Nadaam. This festival is by far the largest and most famous festival in Mongolia. It consists of competitions in the three traditional Mongolian sports of wrestling, horse racing and archery. The festival is an annual event and runs from July 11th to 13th.