Khao Yai - Secret Art Garden

As mentioned in my previous post, the trip to Bangkok was organized for a maiden trip for 12 members from my CG. So to foster even closer bonding than we already had, we took on the idea of buying a group tee from one of the night markets in BKK prior to this 1-day road trip to Khao Yai.

Khao Yai is a town that is about 3 hours drive from Bangkok. It would definitely be a great break from the usual traffic and crowd of BKK streets and into the lush and relaxed of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Thailand’s third largest national parks.

But with just less than 8 hours to explore Khao Yai, we did the most touristy itinerary – to visit the most popular places recommended on the internet.

Secret Art Garden

As you entered this garden, you can almost understand immediately why the name. The garden and art pieces “littered” all over the place gives a whimsical feel of stepping into a fairy playground.

 

Don’t quite understand the language, but open to your own translation.
”No turning back in love”

The garden has its art rooms and sections open for public to tried painting and creating your own art piece, suitable for both adults and children. In fact, for adults it would be a great opportunity to just release that child-like creativity you may have lost in the busy working life.
Be messy, be yourself!

As a typical Singaporean or maybe a city person, one thought that crosses my mind was the lack of management of the place, maybe a bit more clean up or more publicity would do no harm. However, as I quietly walk around the garden (thankfully we were the only group at that time), I realized that the garden was just maintained in its most natural way. The owner allowed nature to grow and simply weave the art naturally into the environment. After a while, I fully appreciate what the owner has or has not done.

 

A photo taken by the youngest member of the trip.

There is a restaurant in this place but we didn’t get to try the food. But you can imagine having your breakfast or afternoon tea here.

 

The couples in the group happened to walk together for the last hour and we almost stopped at every single art piece for some couple or group photo.

Time to go … If we ever visit Khao Yai again, I will surely be back here another time.
Enjoy the rest of the photos!

 

 

Bangkok Trip with CG

Who have not been to BKK before?
Out of my sincere surprise, 3-4 people in my cell group raised their hands. After another round of talk, we realized that a few others’ last trip to Bangkok was almost 20 years ago.

Therefore, an initial plan to celebrate Kless’ birthday in BKK has now changed to a maiden CG overseas trip to BKK. A group of 11 adults + 1 child, booking our air tickets separately, sourcing for affordable hotel for 12. The planning already promised much fun!

Sitting there at the airport, it dawned upon us that the last trip we had with Serene (our friend for more than 20 years) was also to Bangkok and that was when Joey was only 2 years old (10 year back)! Wow! We have come a long way! Now she is already married and no longer travel as a single!

Taking the early flight means one thing. We are in time to have the most awesome breakfast in BKK!

Sabx2 Wanton Mee the “Soi 19” Bangkok Pratunum Wanton Noodles.

This place is perpetually crowded for the awesome wanton mee and pig trotter’s rice!

Photo as proof!

No joke, I ate both the wanton mee and rice for my day 1 breakfast.

We visited the usual places like the Platinum Mall, Pratunum Market, Chatuchak Market, Central World, Big C, etc.
The things are still the same, but with a bigger group and different people this time round, the feeling was very different. For some reasons, we were really comfortable with one another, some choose to shop, some choose to eat, some choose to just sit down and rest. We were in-sync for the entire trip.

One night market we have not visited in the previous trips was Rod Fai Night Market (Srinakarin Train Market). And it was here, we finally tried the famous “salt grilled fish” seen almost in all night markets or street vendors (in the past).

The Man Of The House (MOTHs) enjoying our time off from wives and children!

Rod Fai is indeed the BEST night market in BKK! If you have not visited this place before, you have to. And be sure to give enough time (in my opinion, at least 4-5 hours) for food, shopping, and most importantly, to chill for the night!

The difference between husbands and wives.

And the 6 of us totally took over the quiet streets in Rod Fai and painted it with our Singaporean “embarrassing” poses and loud laughers!

We are young!

And the wives are pretty!

The night is young and there is still time for drip coffee at 11pm =)

All thanks to the ladies who did their homework well, we visited this awesome Karmakamet Diner restaurant. Although the food was awesome, the most instagrammable item was this Rainbow Cotton Candy dessert.

But the highlight in this place turned out to be nothing related to the food.

Presenting to you, the Cheok-Kuan Summit!
Kim Cheok vs Trump Kuan

 

We met in Bangkok to sign the Woodlands Peace Treaty.

“The Cheoks & the Kuans hereby promise to uphold peace in Woodlands and eat prata and drink Teh Tarik for the next 40 years.”

 

And it was a wrap, thanks to Bangkok for hosting us. The cost was less than 200 Baht.

It was a great trip! We had so much fun!

Eating and shopping non-stop!

Nightly massages for everyone, even my wife who hates massages joined in and did her nightly 1 hour foot massages. Breakthrough!

Squeezing in Tuk Tuk rides!

Good times are always short, but I’m sure it won’t be the last trip for us!

PS. look out for my posts on Khao Yai, a town 2.5 hours away from the bustling BKK.

KAPAP Kids & Family

Being a dad with 2 daughters, sometimes I will wonder are my girls able to protect themselves against bullies or bad guys on the streets. I was indeed tempted to send them to learn some martial arts or classes like Taekwondo, Karate, Kendo, etc.

Thank God for listening to my prayers, one day I was introduced to KAPAP which is the acronym for Krav Panim el Panim, translating as face-to-face combat. Now the girls have a chance to understand more about self-defense.
Cadre Academy is KAPAP’s  home for Asia Pacific.
The main difference between KAPAP and the other martial art lessons is that KAPAP focuses on principles and concepts, rather than techniques. This is a program adopted by many Special Forces around the world, like the famous elite Israeli Special Forces.
It doesn’t just teaches you the moves or actions, it is more like a concept-based lesson which makes it easier for learners to remember, retain and apply in real-life situations.

Cadre Academy is the only authorized center in Singapore to teach KAPAP. Master Leon Koh who is the Principal Coach is the lead representative that is trained and appointed by the Grandmaster Avi Nardia to represent KAPAP with the permission to use the name, trademarks and logos in the Asia Pacific region. Master Leon Koh was also the National Taekwondo Coach that brought us the recent 28th SEA Games Taekwondo Gold Medalists.

We were invited for a combined introductory session for both adults and family. By the way, KAPAP is suitable for kids as young as 5 years old. Kids can build a strong foundation in their cardiovascular endurance, balance, strength, flexibility and mental alertness which are all vital to self-defense knowledge.

Master Leon brought us through a series of warm ups, tips on stretching, and even fun games to help us understand the difference in performance martial arts and street self-defense moves.

We played a game of kicking the ball to hit the opponent team, catch is … we are not allowed to stand up and only to move on all fours.

A great game of learning and bonding with the kids!

End up I had some abrasions on both my knees as we played the game, because I was dragging my legs instead of moving with my legs up. Lesson learnt – in real “street fights” the ground would not be cushioned like we had at the studio, it would be worst than just abrasions. Hence, learning the correct concept of body movements like this would already be very useful. All through just the opening game. Nice!

Next we were taught how to fall and rise up in the correct posture. This simple move really tested our abs and Joey was pretty good as you can see in her excellent pose.

How to apply this move in the streets? When we are down and the attacker is coming towards us, we can be in this position and get ready to defend and break the attacker’s move. Easier said than done, but the repetition lessons are designed for students to remember the steps and the body will follow in times of emergency.

   

As Master Leon demonstrated, in this position even as so many of us are piling on top of him, he is still able to talk normal and not crushed under our combined weight. Quite amazing I must say.

When you face an imminent danger, will your fist be clenched or opened?
Most of us would likely be clenching our fists and getting ready to throw a punch or block the attack. But do you know that in KAPAP, you will be taught to always keep your fists open? Because this is pose of lesser threat to the person standing opposite you as compared to a clenched fist ready to fight. More than just a pose of lesser threat, an opened fist presents greater strength of resistance to a clenched fist. Don’t just take my word for it, try it like the pose below.

When your fist is clenched, it is easier for the other person to pull down the out-stretched arm. When the fist is opened, the resistance level is much higher, even when it is Jayne doing in on Kless. Important tips for ladies.

   

It was a great time of fun and different learning for me and the girls.

KAPAP Family forges a spirit of bonding not in the usual comfortable moments, but also in the tough real life situations. It’s a great way for kids to learn hand-to-hand battle skills, to stay strong and fit in a fun setting, and learn to stay calm and confident in the face of dangers.

GIVEAWAY!

All thanks to Cadre Academy, I’ll be giving away 2 sessions of Family KAPAP to 2 winners!
Which means you and your family (2 Adults + 2 or 3 Kids) can enjoy 2 free sessions together.

Follow the instructions below and stand a chance to win.
The giveaway will run from today till 28 Feb 2018, 10pm. All the best!

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