Elene, we bid you farewell

Pagi² lagi hubby dah siapkan makanan nih...

Fussili with wild mushroom and slices of baked chicken & carbonara sauce

Yup, they are for our mini farewell celebration to the Operation Manager, Elene.. She joined in 2006, and was brought in by the former CEO. Those who are not close to her might label her as an outspoken but once you get to know her, you might say she has split personality, hehehe.. Anyway, we were known to be closed though there are tons of times where we just couldn't stand each other. When we were together, no words are required to express what was on our mind. We were like, mind readers.. Only towards each other ya~ That's what keep us clicking! Hihihi.. We were able to convey messages with just a stare, smile or tiny gesture and keep on making people wonder, "what the heck is going on in between of us?" Ooo.. I miss those moment now.. huhuhu~

Western lunch in the office y'all!

Minah mengandung nih la yang sibuk je ngidam nak makan carbonara..

Ismail & Ayu yang bakal menyusul.. They have both sent in their resignation~

Bab ambik gambar, tak yah nak comment~

Wajah² gumbira dapat makan.. Hooray!!

Did the farewell at the abandoned 2nd floor

Elene, I'm touch by your note!

Northern Eco & Adventure Travel Mart 2009, Chiang Mai - Day 03

On the 3rd day, it was all business matters. Very early in the morning we headed to Royal Flora Ratchaphruek Expo. That was where the Travel Mart was held. It is almost similar to our Matta Fair except they are more well known towards travel agent rather than public. But, still it was very much open to the public; though the venue is faaaaarrr away from the city. Plus the theme for the travel mart was eco & adventure.

One thing that I don't fancy Thais is because they hardly have any English signboard. How on earth were we going to understand the programme?

One of the many booths opened - Hilltribes

The rest of the group with Khun Billy our dearie guide

Opening ceremony

Booths including hotels and agents

Sempat lagi menyelit for complimentary shoulder massage kat booth Prince Khum Paya Resort & Spa

Our lunch. Mushroom, fish (macam masak asam), kerabu mangga, lemang pulut, jagung bakar.

While waiting for the next agenda, we explore the park by tram

One of the stops we'd made, the Royal Pavilion

They really look up to their King

After half day spent at the park, we then proceed for hotels inspection. We were scheduled to inspect 3 hotels (boutique resorts). In this hotel inspection, we'd basically just check the rooms, the amenities & facilities that the hotels have. It's a pretty tiring process and boring.. for me la~

Our first hotel was the Sirilanna Chiangmai.

I can't remember what's the name of the 2nd hotel we went to, but will update you the soonest I found out. Aparaaa...~

Hah! The 3rd and the last hotel I ingat, it's Mae Jo Golf Resort.

After a thoroughly inspection, we had dinner there. But still, they didn't provide halal meals and so we had once again become a vegetarian. Tuh yg balik jadi slim melim nih.. Hua perasan x sudah~

But the highlight of the inspection was hot air balloon session after dinner. Next to the terrace we'd got to light up some hot air balloon.

Highly advisable as it'll be such a release! One kind of theraphy nih kan?

Northern Eco & Adventure Travel Mart 2009, Chiang Mai - Day 02

Fuh.. I know if I delay this a bit longer, I'll end up not doing it at all~

Anyway, cut things short, on day 2 we initially have nothing in schedule but then, what's the point of FAM Trip if there's nothing to see or do right?  And so we'd persuade Kak Noor to bring us around Chiang Mai so that we could know Chiang Mai better.  Further more, all of us had never been to Chiang Mai before (except for Azli; well he's a travel journalist and so.. you know what I mean~).  Hey, it's all sponsored by TAT!

Our first destination of the day was Maesa Elephant Camp.

Me and Kak Lily

     
You can buy fruits (banana and sugar cane) to be given to the elephant or as Alya says "Efefent"

     

They were well trained~

     

It's shower time! Owh just look at them.. they're having fun! And if you compare them to elephant far in the village, these elephant is far more clean!

     

Body wash plus massage, some got facial wash.. and some also got...

Manicure! or is it pedicure?

After the "bath" session, we went to the see the elephant show.

     

They showed various of ways for the "rider" to climb and get down from an elephant.  And even some musical and dance show from the elephant itself.

     

They can play soccer and not to mention, a great artist themselves; seriously!

And that wraps a story at Maesa Elephant Camp

We then headed to Bhubing Palace up further at Doi Suthep.  We're supposed to go there on day 1 but due to tight schedule, we brought it forward.  After the crooked 1 hour journey (and others vomit), only to find the Palace was close for lunch hour.  Hampeh tol.  To fill in the lunch hour, we took the chance to go to one hilltribe village, Hmong Village.

Owh, if you ever go to Chiang Mai, you HAVE to visit Hmong Village.  But mind you, it's far further up taw.  The route is worst than Cameron Highland, honestly.  But anyway, it's worth it.  We've got to do some shopping for real handmade crafts and silk for cheaper rate and greater value.  Had lunch at  one of the halal stall there.  It's the best beef noodle sup I'd ever taste.  Be the soup, the noodle (even bought it), and the chillis.  Since we'd love it so much, the owner even gave us some of the chillis; that we brought everywhere, even to the hotel~  And the price is also cheap!!

Our halal stall.. Thanks to Khun Ismail

     

Nih baru pose kat luar Palace, blom masuk lagi.  We all kan camera freak~

To go around the Palace you can either choose by buggy or by feet.  And of course, our choice would be, buggy!!  It's a huge huge place, ok?  And so, we took 3 buggies and mine shared with Kak Noor TAT, and our deary guide, Khun Billy.

This Palace is close in December till January as that's when the royal family usually go there.  Since Chiang Mai is on the northern part of Thailand, the weather follows the 4 seasons and end of the year means winter.  But ever since the King of Thailand is not feeling that well, they haven't came here for quite some times already.  Still, the Palace need to be well-maintain...

     

 @ Royal Rose Garden.  The queen loves roses and they've quite a number of roses

Inside the Palace, there are a lot more palaces for the Prince, Princess and not to forget for the Queen's mother.  All of these are situated a bit far from each other.  There are also a separate building for kitchen, for the staffs, and for the army or guard.

     

Group photos @ The King and Queen's Palace.

My funny, nerdy guide, Khun Billy

This is where the royal family loves to eat.  Macam dalam hutan sket...

     

     

A place where the royals usually hang out, the park..  skang diorg dh commercialize the place by opening up a cafe for visitors.

     

@ one of the huge bamboo in the Palace.  With my informative cutie buggy driver.

Went back to hotel and we have 1 hour and half for us to get ready for the welcome dinner.  Still I sempat gi swimming pool since I love to swim.  Tp, spend there for about 30 mins je sbb xde geng.  The rest nak berehat sbb pening.  Our welcome dinner was held at Centara Duangtawan Hotel, about 10 mins drive from my hotel.

     
Drinks anyone?  Jus rozel je pown~

At the dinner we've got to mingle around with other travel agents.  Such a good exposure as we've got to widen up our contacts kan.

After the dinner, supposedly it's the end of the event for that day.  But then, we all decided to watch a cabaret show @ Playhouse.  They had just open on 3rd November and we all had the chance to watch it for FREE!  It's a melo-drama which still needs a lot of more practice but still pretty entertaining.  Though there's one lady-boy yg obviously x chantek langsung tp control cun.  Hangin sungguh kitorg sbb rasa cam die lah yg buat potong show nih.