VISIT TO THE VIHARNRA SIEN

The Viharnra Sien, built by the Chinese-Thai community, is located 15km south of Pattaya. This three – storey Chinese style building, next to a lake, is a fascinating repository of arts, artifacts and statues. It is also a temple for worshipping Chinese Gods. It was opened in 1993 by H.M. the King, bestowing the name of Anek Kusala Sala (‘Multipurpose Pavilion’).

Originally I was not keen to visit the interior as the sunshine was too strong and I was tired. I was even reluctant to walk upstairs while inside as the ground floor was stuffy and I was really tired and thus lazy. My friends encouraged me to walk up and assured me that I would not regret it.

Once I reached the large open area on the 2nd floor, I thanked God that the sun was already hidden behind the clouds. The open air and assortment of statues made me feel lively again. There are statues of Chinese gods, well-known Chinese historical figures and shaolin monks in 18 different martial arts positions. According to the caretaker, each of the shaolin monk statues is sculptured according to a real person and some of the monks are still alive today. All of the statues are lifelike.

I was glad to see all these statues of great Chinese historical figures which I studied during high school, especially the great emperors of the Tang and Song dynasty because I am related to them. :)

Chinese surnames come from dynasty. My surname “Li” (transliteration)which is the most common surnams in the world, was the royal surname of the Tang Dynasty. About 15 different emperors had the Li surname. My middle name “song” (transliteration) is also a common surname (e.g. the Soong sister) derives from Song Dynasty. Under the reign of both the emperors, China enjoyed a period of economic growth coupled with great artistic, cultural and intellectual achievement.

I am glad that my ancestors are great emperors and that both of them are quite handsome and manly! : )

The temple grounds of the royal temple Wat Yanasangwararam covers a total area of 146 acres. It comprises a mondop (four gable pavilion), a large stupa, the Phra Yanaretwihan, international pavilion etc. Due to time constraint we could only drive one round after visiting Viharnra Sien and then had to say bye bye!
Statues of the great emperors of Tang & Song Dynasty

The royal temple ground

VISIT TO SRIRACHA TIGER ZOO

On the way to Pattaya for a meeting, I visited Sriracha Tiger Zoo in Chonburi. In Chinese it is called “Long Hu Yuan”, literally means ” Dragon and Tiger Zoo”. Why is crocodile classified as dragon? Well, dinosaurs belong to the “dragon” species and crocodile belongs to dinosaur family, that’s how the Chinese name of the zoo originated. The zoo is located on a 100-acre piece of land, consisting of more than 200 Bengal tigers, 100,000 crocodiles and various kinds of animals.

As my friend knows the owner of the zoo, once we arrived, we were welcomed and escorted by the manager to the restaurant for lunch. It was raining and we were led to a room with a glass window wall, so that we could see the tigers down below. We were served with crocodile delicacies including crocodile reproductive organ’s soup, dragon (crocodile) palm stick, fried crocodile meat with bun, fried crocodile tongue etc. I am not that adventurous with non-traditional livestock meat, so I was a little uneasy to try…though I did finally. Crocodile meat is a white meat, akin to fish in both appearance and texture. It has a delicate flavor, tastes more like chicken.

Dragon palm stick/Fried coconut meat with bun

Fried crocodile tongue, one whole crocodile for one small plate/Exciting crocodile show

According to the manager, the whole crocodile has value, from head to tail and from the outer skin to the internal organs. The crocodile meat is low in fat and high in protein. It is also a traditional remedy for asthma and can increase kidney and liver efficiency. During the bird flu tragedy a few years ago, 147 tigers were killed as they were fed with chickens. However, not a single crocodile was affected, meaning it has a very very strong immune system. Believe it or not, the manager looked at least 15 years younger than his real age and he attributed his youth looking to the eating of crocodile meat.

We had a quick tour of the zoo after lunch. It was a fruitful learning experience for me. During the visit, I didn’t notice a zoo worker standing besides me holding a baby crocodile in his arms. While I turned back and saw him, I was scared and screamed loud. I am very scared of crocodiles and feel disgusted if I watch them for too long…however, I did enjoy the crocodile show!

Sow feeding tiger cubs/Beautiful big cats

THAI DELEGATION VISITING NINGXIA HALAL FOOD FESTIVAL

Some of the participants visiting China Muslim Cultural Muzeum

Held by Ningxia Investment Bureau, the 2nd Ningxia International Halal Food/Muslim Commodities Festival and the Investment & Trade Fair was held from 16th to 19th August, 2007 in Yinchuan city, China. There were more than 140 delegates from Thailand participating in the event, out of which over 40 were from the five Southern Provinces namely, Yala, Narathiwat, Pattani, Songkhla and Satun. The delegation was led by the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Center (SBPAC) and those participating included governors, entrepreneurs, media and officials from the relevant agencies.

Ningxia is part of the Autonomous Region in China and is the home to five million Muslims. At the same time, more than 80 percent of the population in the three southern most border districts are Muslims. Therefore, according to Director-General of SBPAC Mr. Pranai Suwannarat, the main objective of the delegation was to explore the halal food market in China and to create more distribution channels for Thai halal food.

The opening ceremony/Serving free Thai delicacies and desserts

The dialogue session, mostly Thai delegates

The four days program included tours, opening ceremony, exhibition, dialogue, factory visiting, cultural performances and a grand banquet. We were really treated very well in terms of food, all of the meals were sumptuous and delicious. Compared to the Muslim food in Malaysia and Southern Thailand which were mostly yellow or orange in colours ( curry and spicy) and heavy taste, the Muslim food served in China had much more variety and had a lighter taste. I really enjoyed the Chinese Muslim food very much, especially the different types of lamb dishes. Yummy!!

The exhibition started on 16th after the opening ceremony. Thai halal food and other products had drawn a good attraction at the exhibition. Thai delicacies and desserts were served free during the exhibition and the response was very encouraging.

There was also a dialogue of economy and trade cooperation between Thailand and Ningxia. However, it was more of a speech session rather than interaction. SPBAC Director-General is a humorous guy and good at public speaking. However, since he did not speak according to the script, the Chinese translator had a hard time translating and made a lot of mistakes. The funniest thing was that Southern Thailand was said to be only one hour from Singapore!

I have joined a few Thai delegations visiting China; I find that one of the problems is the communication barrier. Not many Chinese in China speak English and even if they do, not many Thai delegates understand. Having said this, if the relevant authorities took seriously about helping the southerners whose living have been negatively affected by the violence for years and really took the effort to study and practically work towards the objectives, nothing can be a barrier! Yeah!

Buffet dinner/Cultural performance

Hui (Muslim) girl singing/My new Korean friends at the banquet