Wat Pho - The Temple of Reclining Buddha

A little note from the blogger: You must be wondering, "WHAT?! Still updating on your graduation trip?! I thought it's long over already.

FYI, this is only slightly less than half of what I had blogged. Still got lots more to go... =)

8 June 2008 @ Bangkok, Thailand

The four of us started our third day in Bangkok with a cup of Milo. LeongKee had to take Ovaltine because the 7-11 shop sold out on Milo.



Our first destination of the day is, Wat Pho, also known as the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. It is the largest and oldest temple in Bangkok, built around 200 years before Bangkok became the capital go Thailand.

Kuan, MinBee, LeongKee and Me

50 baht for entrance fee. Once you get in there, you can see many many stupas. (or chedis) Big and small.


If you look closely, they're quite colourful.


Basically, all the architectures in the temple are similar to the picture below. They have this tail-like thingy at the edges of the roof. And using a lot of bling bling. [you'll know what I mean further down the post]


The main attraction in this temple is the largest reclining buddha statue in Thailand. The grand gold-plated statue is 46 metres long and 15 metres in height.


All the visitors were required to take off their shoes and respect the buddha i.e. ladies were not supposed to go in there with a sleeveless shirt and etc.

the feet shows the 108 auspicious characteristics of true Buddha

It is BIG!

While walking around the statue, we noticed the interior of the temple hall is decorated with a lot of arts and carvings. I think the arts are the resemblance of the people in the olden days.


Here's a very nice carving of the golden peacock.


At the back of the statue, you can buy coins and drop them at the long line of pots, then make your wish. I think I saw this in one of the episodes in Amazing Race, no?


After that, we explored the other side of the temple compound. No doubt it has the most number of Buddha images in it. Everywhere we go, we can see statues of Buddha.


Next, we entered another temple hall and saw the shimmering golf Buddha statue.

In this area, we can sit down and take our time to enjoy the beautiful statue of Buddha. But we're not allowed to sit in the centre facing the Buddha directly, it's impolite to do so.


The buildings here are mostly decorated with gold and bright colours.


Suddenly, something caught my eyes, the golden roof reflects the sunlight! And it's happening to other roofs as well.


Every Sunday, there will be students learning the traditional Thai dance and music. We were lucky to be able to see that.


Then, there was an area for people to write down their wish on a piece of roof tile and donate some money for the restoration and maintenance of the temple. Kuan and MinBee wished for "world peace". =)


Besides the Buddha statues, there are also other statues showing the yoga positions around the compound.


This temple is also famous for being Thailand's first university - a school for traditional medicine and massage.


So if you're tired walking around, drop by at Wat Pho for a true traditional Thai massage. We didn't take the massage as we had to move on to our next destination - The Grand Palace. Billy, out.

Previous post: Muay Thai - Lumpini Stadium
Next post: The Grand Palace & National Museum

Bolt, Speak!

24 November 2008 @ TGV, 1 Utama

Once again, I was lucky enough to get myself a couple of free tickets, to watch the premiere screening of the latest animation by Walt Disney, BOLT.


The story revolves around a cute little white doggie by the name of Bolt, who "has" superpowers like super strength, laser eye, lighting speed and the ultimate SuperBark! But he got separated from his person whom he thought was kidnapped by the green-eyed-man.


Mitten, the bad cat turns out to be Bolt's best friend and taught him a lot of things, including how to beg for food using the innocent-doggie-look. Ha!


Rhino, the hamster lives in the world of idiot box and he's a big fan of Bolt. He knows every single super-moves of Bolt and his dream is to see the live action of Bolt's SuperBark.


That's Bolt and his person. Bolt is devoted to protect his person for the rest of his life until he forgot how to live his doggie life.

ChiaPoh, me and Shaz [xFresh FM DJ]

What will happen to the superdog, Bolt? And how Mitten help Bolt in finding the truth? Will Rhino be able to see the real SuperBark? Catch all these in this exciting and funny movie, Bolt at your nearest cinema now!

Thanks Shaz for inviting me for the premiere screening. Billy, out.

Long Time No See

25 November 2008 @ McDonalds, Bukit Rahman Putra, Sg. Buloh

It's been a long long looooooong time since I met them. Though all of us stay near to each other, we never had the chance to meet.

I called LihJiun, she called LiFang and YeeFong, YeeFong called JuneSiang. We met at the McDonald's nearby.

Me, YeeFong, LiFang, LihJiun, JuneSiang

I've not seen YeeFong and LiFang since... SPM?!! LihJiun and JuneSiang also a couple of years didn't meet them already.

All of them were from my secondary school and coincidentally, LihJiun, LiFang and JuneSiang were in the same primary school as I am.

There were so many things to catch up with them since we parted to walk our own path after SPM.

It was great to be able to meet them again after so many years. Wish YeeFong and LihJiun all the best in their studies, JuneSiang to be able to pass his bar test or something (I'm not good in legal stuffs) and congrats to LiFang for her engagement!

Keep in touch ya. Billy, out.