Tour of South Thailand III - Day 2 (13/04) Thailand Biggest Bird Sanctuary

Initially we were skeptical as to whether we could get food early in the morning and moreover it was Songkran festival day. But we were lucky we could smell good food from a distance away as we were about to reach the small town of Thale Noi. True enough the fresh and warm local food was absolutely delicious.

Our main purpose of the day was to visit Thailand biggest water bird sanctuary at Thale Noi. The sanctuary is actually situated in the town itself and we were able to park our bicycles next at the entrance.

I do not have the slightest idea of what we will be seeing in this "bird park" and mind you the lake is really huge. This is seen from the entrance to the water world.

The boat that we will be sitting on it for the next 1 hour plus and had to pay 450baht for the cruise but it was all worth it.

Red lilies are seen every where in the lake never in my life I have seen such a massive and beautiful flowers floating on the water and at close range.

It was a good idea to visit the lake early in the morning we enjoyed seeing the sun rises and slowly more and more boats appearing on the water ferrying visitors.

Miles after miles this can be seen as the boat takes us further out in the water.....

The rising sun enhances the beauty of the surrounding and changing the landscape as it rises.

Apparently there are many migrating birds moving from north south direction on a seasonal basis and if you come in the right time of the year you could probably see more of them.

Birds of many species are seen unfortunately I am not a true bird enthusiast but I enjoyed seeing them at these marshy areas. 

Traps to bait fresh water fishes and no kidding many locals are depending on these resources for their livelihoods.

The foldies on a boat ride somewhere on the surface of Thale Noi Lake.

This waterway looks like a road highway, I guess it's cut and formed by the boats travelling everyday.

I found out that this elevated road is one of the most expensive road projects in Thailand amounting to 700 million baht and covering a distant of 17.5km.

It's back to the sanctuary center, what a gorgeous ride we had and a truly amazing experience at this bird sanctuary.

Tour of South Thailand III - Day 1 (12/04) Making Our Way to Ban Thale Noi

9.30am we arrived at border after a train journey of 12 hours.

After clearing the immigration departments we took a simple breakfast at the train station. The train then continued the ride at 11.00am.

My ticket for a berth KL - Hatyai.

12.20pm we reached Hatyai Junction. Patric Yee joined us from here, he made his own way to Hatyai by bus and it was faster travelling by bus than a train.

Sam Cheong immediately purchased tickets for the next train ride to Pak Khalong. 21Baht each for the fare.

A data plan 299Baht of this sort is highly recommended in a foreign land and really makes you a happy tourist when you are able to be connected with the cyber world ....hence our facebook-ing continues ... hehehe.

Basically I am a light weight traveller my stuff weighs 20kg (15kg for the bike and 5kg for the panniers).

This Officer charged us an additional 900Baht each for our bicycles more than 4 times the price of the train ticket... Interestingly this coach is partially built with timber such as the partition walls, seats and windows. And it is naturally ventilated.

Majority of the passengers were local people. I enjoyed the scenery from the window openings. There were many stopovers with enchanting characteristics of a small train station.

At last we reached Pak Khalong and that ended our long 18 hours of rock and roll in the trains. I just could not wait to pedal. 

The full team at Pak Khalong train station with the Roger who came a day earlier.

Immediately we set up our bicycles & rode to Pak Khalong for a light refreshment. 

Let's go and check into Talay Noi Resort which Roger has made a prior arrangement.

Individual chalet for around RM50 per night.

After a quick laundry and shower we headed to Thale Noi town, a small town but with attractive lighting decorations in conjunction with Songkran water festival and tomorrow is Songkran Day.

We visited a local food fair in the town itself.

Thailand food is very interesting and it was time for us to explore their food. In fact it was food food and food most of the time.

Hooray!!! it's dinner time.

Some of the foods we tried in this restaurant.

Tomorrow is going to be another interesting day .... Cheers!!!

Tour of South Thailand III 2014 - Day 0 Heading to Siam

A day before Day 1, I left my house around 6.15pm I decided to cycle to the train station instead of getting a lift from my wife. Taking an LRT to KL Sentral would be as equally bad during rush hour and on a Friday evening.

After a simple & nice dinner at Soong Kee, I made my way to KL Sentral and was there around 7.40pm. Sam & Michelle were already at McDonald's.

Andrew arrived about the same time and we ready to board a train to Hatyai.

My space for RM54.00 for an upper berth Andrew paid RM60.00 for his' below.

The train "Senandung Langkawi" looks pretty old and it is going to be a 12 hours rocking before we could get into the land of smiles.

Thanks to Sam & Eddie for getting the tickets for us. The berths were all full, it seems everyone on board were heading to Thailand to get wet for Songkran Festival.

Restoran Tua Huat Ulu Yam Loh Mee Petaling Jaya Section 19

I was first introduced to this place by a working associate Andrew for a lunch and after a couple of weeks I brought my in-laws for a dinner. Everyone has good remarks for Tua Huat. 

It is located nearby SS2 Petaling Jaya in Section 19. The shop opens from 9 in the morning to 8.30 in the evening. Tua Huat have been providing decent and good noodle in this area for the last 11 years..

The Hakka braised pork with black fungus (Char Yuk) was not consistent the one I took during lunch was good not when I had it during dinner time.

Thai fried Tofu was perfect - everyone of us vouched for it.

Simple stir fried tapioca leaves (Fan Shi Miu)

I love soup and I like this alcohol flavoured chicken soup...lot of ginger & wine, the meat was tender and delicious.

Szeto said "it's better than KFC he will give his son here". It was piping hot and had to eat slowly.

Below were the order we took for dinner with my in-laws, overall everyone was satisfied with the food and it was fun eating with a group of 12 persons. I think we have tried almost of all the signature noodles in this shop.

Stewed Pork Bee Hoon 扣肉米粉 - The family loves this first dish, 12 of us dug into it and were absolutely satisfied with it . The only complaint was the sliced braised pork belly was not sufficient but the tasty bihun noodle with nice aroma did the magic.

Tua Huat's signature Loh Mee  with a few drops of vinegar it was awesome. 

Clay pot yam pork ribs noodles 瓦煲芋头排骨伊面 a portion for 3 and I would suggest that this dish to be eaten when it is hot.

Soft and tender spring roll 五香春卷 (lobak look alike) was awesome too.

One of the best "Saito" fish cake 西刀鱼片 (ikan parang) I have ever tasted springy and delicious.

Most of us love this Chinese wine chicken soup we had eggs added into it and it was truly awesome. It also brought memories of confinement time for some.

Restoran Tua Huat

50G, Jalan 19/3, Petaling Jaya 

46300 Selangor
GPS : 3.120000, 101.629350

Contact ☎ 019-664 8711 / 012-309 2834 / 012-3092835

Business Hours: 9am- 8.30pm (Daily) 9am- 3pm (Tuesday)