Mosques and Halal Food in Chiang Mai

This posting is meant for the Muslim travellers who perhaps wish to visit Chiang Mai in the future. I hope you will find this posting useful.

There are a few mosques in Chiang Mai. I have counted at least four: 1) in the city Changklan Road-Charoen Prathet 1,  2) 2.5km south of Hidayatul Mosque at Changklan road near Farook Hotel, 3) near Chang Phuak Road, 4) near the stadium in the northern part of the city.

Hidayatul Mosque at Changklan Road in the city centre.

However, the mosque that is located in the city centre is Hidayatul Mosque at Changklan Road-Charoen Prathet 1. This mosque is quite big and has offices and religious school.

As far as the halal restaurant or food stall is concern, the Sophia restaurant in front of Hidayatul Mosque serves Malay and Thai dishes. The Le Spice  next lane close to Kilare Night Bazaar serves north Indian and Thai dishes.

At the Anusarn Night Bazaar, there are many stalls and restaurants that serve seafood, Arab food and rotee, simple burger and fried me.

Halal Restaurant at Anusarn Night Bazaar.

Around the mosque at the south of Changklan road near Farook Hotel, there are a few stalls and restaurants operate by the Muslims there.

Happy traveling.

Kalarie Night Bazaar, Chiang Mai : A Must Visit

This night bazaar is located at Chang Klan  Road (near Charoen Prathat 1), opens daily from 5 pm till 11 pm. I found this bazaar interesting as it has good food stalls (you use coupons to buy food and drinks), performing stage (where you can enjoy people performing on stage like singing, fashion show etc), travel agent, t-shirts stalls, handicraft stalls, clothes and tailor shop and even has a budget hotel (kalarie guest house).This bazaar is close to city hotels like Dusit, Le Meridien, Royal Lanna, and Downtown Inn.

Night singers performing on stage.

Tourists and patrons enjoying the performance.

You can see the signboard of this bazaar from Changklan Road itself. Once you walk in, it will lead you to the food court and the numerous stalls or kiosks. The walkway is nicely paved. The decorative lights and all buntings make it colorful and make the visit memorable.

Beautiful lighting attracts people to experience the atmosphere here.

 

 

 

 

 

Colorful lanterns being hung at strategic places to give certain mood to the area.

As usual, when you shop around, you must bargain. English is widely spoken here as this bazaar is targeted for the foreigners or tourists. Locals normally frequent other areas.

For those who like to stay at its guest house upstairs can book at the reception desk or online via agoda.com. The rate is around 500 baht per room per night(this may change over time). It does not serve breakfast.

Happy travelling.

Chiang Mai, the northern city of Thailand: A nice city to visit

Chiang Mai is located at the mountainous northern province of Thailand near the Myanmar and Laos borders. Chiang Mai is not a big city compare to Bangkok. The word Chiang Mai means a new city.

  

The moat from the south east.

Well, old Chiang Mai city (square in shape) was surrounded by a moat until today. As time goes on, the city spreads outside the moat. It is interesting to visit this city  as it is close to the mountains and forest where you can enjoy nature, farms, animal sanctuary (elephants), zoo and night zoo, etc.

I took the opportunity to visit this city in March  2012 and enjoy the cheap flight ticket which I booked 4 months back. I booked a city hotel from Agoda.com, Royal Lanna knowing that I do not have to worry about transport much as I intend to  explore the city by walking. Once I reach the airport, I took a taxi which cost me 120 baht. It is about 25 minute drive to the city centre. Most roads in Chiang Mai are one way. This is  to avoid congestion, I suppose.

Those who like temples and nature, certainty they will find this city and its surrounding something to offer. There are many temples in the old city boundary and famous temple, Doi Suthep is on the outskirt, west of the city; other attractions include hill tribes (especially Hmongs) and  their plantation; elephant sanctuary, Bo Sang Craft Village (umbrella) and of course its wildlife park.

For the Muslim visitors, you do not have to worry, there are many mosques that you can visit or perform your prayer. The Hidayatul Mosque (Ban Haw) is centrally located in the city at Changklan Road (Charoen Prathet 1) near the Kalare Night Bazaar. This mosque is a walking distance to hotels like Royal Lanna, Le Meridien, Dusit, Downtown Inn, etc.

  

Hidayatul Mosque at Charoen Prathet 1 and Changklan Road.

  

Changklan Road, near the Night Bazaar.

The halal restaurants and stalls too are available in the city centre next to this mosque (e.g. Sophia Restaurant) and the nearby Anusarn Market. Even along the streets near the Night Bazaar, you can find Muslim ladies selling "rotee" or roti chanai and others.

Anusarn Night Bazaar.

  

Shopping in this city, certainly you need to bargain. However you have to be careful on how you bargain. Do not bargain for the sake of bargaining. If they agreed on your proposal (the price you ask for), you have to take it.

  

Examples of Crafts sold at Anusarn Night Market

Chiang Mai too has many massage shops and spas, almost on every road. They occupy shop houses and mostly located in quiet alleys.  Services include reflexology and many types of body massages. Be extra careful when you opt for full body massage especially massage by men for men. Tell them what you want from the massage and perhaps your taboo. If not, they will give the "ones" that you may not like.

If you like to visit other parts of the province such as Chang Rai, you can book your trip at your hotel, the numerous travel agents or at the Tourist Information Centre. Booking has to be made  a day earlier. A lot of travel packages originated from Chiang Mai are offered to the tourists at a  fee. Example, a half day trip to Soi Suthep and Doi Pui Village in the western part of the city will cost you 500 baht. Going to Chiang Rai will cost you more.It is better to book here, as you will see better option based on your liking. You do not have to pay to the place you do not like to visit. For the city visit, you need 3 days and 2 nights. This is to cover city tour, shopping and rural and mountain sight seeing.

For those who like to buy souvenirs especially the crafts, Chiang Mai has lots to offer. However, when I went to the market, I like to buy dried longan. It is cheap. I bought for friends too. A lot of happenings occur around Changklan Road near Night Bazaar and this attract tourists to the area.

Happy travelling.

A Day Trip to Singapore

I visited Singapore many times. This time, my visit is a day trip with a few friends. We took a chartered bus from Johor Bahru. After clearing the immigration, we moved straight to the town centre. With us, is a tourist guide from Singapore. I was told  it is wrong to tour the city without a qualified tourist guide. With that, I made sure we don't break their rule....

Singapore is a clean and with lots of greens. Once you enter Singapore (from Johor Bahru, Malaysia), you can feel that Singapore is really  modern, cool and clean. The transportation is efficient. You can take a MRT, LRT (trains), bus or taxi. All towns are connected with MRT.  I must admit that this is one of world's tropical cities that you must visit.

We toured the city and made a few stops while in Singapore. First, at the Urban Renewal Authority at Maxwell Road, right in the town centre. The centre champions the goodness of urban planning. Many physical models of Singapore are displayed and you can buy planning report of Singapore here. Visiting this centre, you need to budget at least one hour or more  if you want to learn Singapore's planning. We enjoy this visit. That took half a day of our time.

  


  



  

For the next half day, it is time for praying and lunch. For Muslims, you can pray at Masjid Jamik at Mosque Road  nearby.  We performed our prayer at this mosque. Then took our lunch in Geylang. A double storey terrace shop houses Hajjah Maimunah's restaurant. It offers a good food to our liking....

  

The restaurant occupies a terrace double storey shop.

  

After lunch, some of us wish to visit Mustaffa Centre, the so called 'cheap' emporium at  Syed Alwi Road, off Serangoon Road. This emporium is popular among tourists especially from India. The show case Singapore's shopping precinct is really at Orchard Road, 2 km south.

Next visit is the Merlion Park at Fullerton Road near the Nicoll Highway. Strolling around the area brings freshness and happy mood when you see the Esplanade bridge is full of color. The Merlion statue gushes out a strong jet of sea water for the visitors to feel and enjoy. A few tall buildings were seen nearby with  roof top swimming pool....

  

Merlion Park... a must visit.

  

  

  

Late evening we stopped at Masjid Sultan at Arab Street for prayer and had dinner at the adjacent shop. Beriani rice and Murtabak Singapore and syrup were the menu of the day... We ended our trip after dinner passing the town centre and moved back to JB via Tuas, the second crossing on the nort-west before reaching JB at 11.00pm.

Those those who wish to visit Singapore from JB, you have other alternative transport. Take a bus from JB and stop at Queen St. in Singapore. Then walk to to MRT station nearby, there...you are on your own to explore Singapore. You need a good map and a compass or GPS... Happy travelling....

Swiflet Business: A shop in Kota Bharu Malaysia does it well

When I visited Kota Bharu recently, I came across a shop which manufactured swiflet saliva for health drink. They processed bird's saliva into many flavoured drink: longan, lycees, honey and rock sugar. This drink is sought after by many people. The price is not that cheap due to scarcity of the ingredient.

When I entered the shop the owner, Mr.Siong Hwa  greeted  me, briefed me on the products, showed me the mock-up bird nest and showed me how his workers cleaned the saliva and dried them. I was so impressed to know that the processed saliva or bird's nest can be sold as far as RM13,000 per kilogram.

The products.

The mock bird nest and house.

The drink slow cooker.

Cleaning the saliva by the workers using the water.

The drying area.

 

The dried processed bird's saliva.

If you happen to be in Kota Bharu, you can visit Tean Siong Trading, Sabrina Court (Tel 609-7416999), Jalan Padang Garong. It is next to the Pizza Hut  restaurant (It is located on first floor).

Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur: Where the happenings

Bukit Bintang is a place in Kuala Lumpur where there are many hotels, shopping archades (up-markets), eating bazaars, massage services, electronic products etc. You can shop from the cheap items to thousands of dollars.

Enclave in Jalan Bukit Bintang and adjacents areas, this area is famous for many reasons. There are many shopping complexes here and they include Pavilion, Berjaya Times Square, Sungai Wang Plaza, Bukit Bintang Plaza, Low Yat (computer and cameras) etc.

Jalan Bukit Bintang where they are many shops..

Bukit Bintang at night.

Bukit Bintang from the top.

Night market and eating place at Jalan Alor near Bukit Bintang.

Visit at night is more challenging since there any many touts to attract or lure you to their services. This area is serviced by bus, taxis and monorail. Monorail service ends by 11.00pm.

Happy exploring.

Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Kuala Lumpur where most shoppers do their shopping.

Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman is a long one-way road (formerful known as Batu Road) in Kuala Lumpur. The area where most shoppers go is around Sogo, Pertama Complex, MARA and Maju Junction. Several hotels are found here.

Here most shops are old shops but were  refurbished and becomes textile shops. This road section, you can call textile road as most shops are selling textiles.

Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman at Sogo.

Textile is the trade of the day...

Many bookshops are here.

Shops selling fabrics and textile.

A big emporium formerly known as Globe Silk Store now as Sarah Hughes.

Sogo Supermarket located near here always sell at reasonable price. Occasionally, SOGO gives discount more than 50 percent especially during holiday seasons. I advise, if  there is a sale in SOGO, go and get it. It is cheaper.

To reach this area, you can get LRT (Bandaraya) or Masjid Jamek or buses.

Happy shopping.