230415 day 4

Day 4

Breakfast then we depart to Phobjikha at 830am. We dropped by at Dochula Pass. I forgot to bring out my phone so I relied on JA to take most of the photos. The story goes because there was a battle against the Indians' illegal immigrants in Bhutan, the former king's wife, built Dochula 108 stupa and put in precious relics and gunpowder to protect the army in their fight. 

There are also artificial caves built for meditation. I did one under the God of Wisdom. Here we also saw a beautiful green colored bird which I definitely do not know the name (But Tandin does!) 

It was also a foggy day. On a clear day we could see all the highest mountains in Bhutan, that forms part of the Himalayan range. 

We continued our journey to Phobjikha and stopped at Kuenphen for lunch. I tell you, this is the best lunch I had in Bhutan. The fried squash, the fried chicken, the eggplants were all fabulous! 

When we reached the Gangtey monastery, we went off for Gangteg nature trail. It was a beautiful hike down with amazing scenery. Feels very movie esque countryside view. With the pine trees setting the background. 

The place is surrounded by cypress and pine trees. We walked through it and reach a view point over looking the valley. Woah. I cannot imagine how it is like when in winter to see the bird migration (then again it will also be effing cold then.) 

We then visited the black necked crane information center to learn a bit more about the bird and manage to see two big ones that were injured and they were caring for them. The male crane was protecting the female crane from a playful dog outside the cage.

Tandin also gave us the local donut to try. It was bland.. 😅 Haha I wish there were more flavor/spice or sugar lol... 

We then head to our hotel in the village area. Sooooo scenic! We had some tea before adjourning to our room. The room is huge! JA got the queen bed. 

For dinner, we had a other delicious local meal. They have the oyster mushroom, snowpea cheese etc.. 😅 

Tandin and Mr Phub taught me Chae Namey Samey Jaring Du which means you are beautiful. I said that to the waitress and I think she got shocked 😂. 

230414 day 3

Day 3

Day 3 started off with a breakfast and packing as we are moving town from Paro to Thimphu. The drive was mostly along the mountains where you can look down into the valleys and rivers. We stopped by and take photo at this bridge made from iron, made by this famous builder back in the days. However, the iron bridge is no longer usable due to the corrosion and rusting. We took some photos here and continued our journey. 

We also stopped at the bridge that connects 4 districts, Thimphu, ha, Paro and one more.. 

When we finally reach Thimphu, it looked very different from Paro. There are so much more buildings, roads and cars. I saw car showrooms and their football stadium. Our  first stop here is Jungshi handmade paper factory.

Then we went to see the view of the fortress, monastery, national assembly, national council, palace and supreme court. To identify these important buildings, 

After that we checked into Pelyang Boutique hotel. Very nice modern hotel. We went out for a walk around the main city area, where the clock tower is located, bought a few books and relaxed at a Cafe. After that we say goodbye to Tandin and Mr Phub while we continue to shop ourselves. I bought local deep fried corn and beetroot crackers. We went back to hotel for dinner which is predominantly Indian food catered more towards their Indian guests. 

After dinner, I went out for a stroll around the town. There are many interesting shops, like how they have MiniSo shop, foreign restaurants like Vietnamese, Korean,... karaoke.

230413: Day 2

After Taktsang, we went for a one hour hot stone bath. They drop hot stones at the other side of the room directly into the bath. I asked for three times before the water was actually hot enough that I started sweating. It was very good. I only wish the shape of the bath was catered to us to sleep/lie down.

After hot stone bath, we had some Ara wine and butter tea. According to guide, they have butter even before milk. 🤷. We also tried the local puff rice which is served as a snack.

The Ara wine taste like homemade strong hard liquor. Not for me. 😂

We chatted we an American stastician from Wyoming. He's been to many places in asia, but Malaysia is not one of them.

We went to rest for abit before got eddy to head out. For the dinner, we had it at Paro Penlop house, currently live by his descendants.

Paro Penlop. Paro is the place, Penlop means the leader. So Paro Penlop means the leader of Paro. We went to the former Paro Penlop leader's house for dinner.

On the way to pick up Tandin, Mr Phub told us stories abt Paro Penlop. There used to be war between states in Bhutan before the monarchy in 1907.

The place is huge. You can tell this is a rich person house just by judging the size of the house. Aside using as a home by the descendants, they also use it as a hotel and restaurant.

We had dinner together, highlight of the meal is probably the pork (thinly sliced siu yuk). We also got to try the local pancake made from buckwheat. I have to say this was not to my taste, somewhat bitter taste. 

After the dinner we went down to the reception and saw a photo of the royal family. I think I asked Mr Phub whether if the princesses are all single to which he answered they are all married... 😅 I was told differently by Tandin earlier at the Cafe at Taktsang! 

We also got to try dried persimmons. Not bad. Kinda like it but there was a tinge of funny taste. 

230413: Day 2: Taktsang

We had breakfast and left around 8am to Taktsang. We started at the parking lot area where it was covered with pine trees. Really beautiful. 

There was the option, if we want, to go for pony ride up to half way point. We didn't. 

if you zoom in, you can see there is a white building in the middle mountain that looks like a bump. That's Taktsang. 

It wasn't easy, the hike up. But it was definitely fun. 😂 

Up and down took about 6hrs for us hand we were told by Tandin that he can reach the top around 1hours and 10mins.

We get to rest and take some photos at the halfway point they have a cafe. We took some photos from there. 

After like 15mins we resumed or journey up. And it was not long after that we got this view. 

We hiked down, and up again to reach the  tiger's nest. 

No camera is allowed so we couldn't take any photos. 

Inside there are many rooms or houses. Each rooms functions as a different temple that pray to a different Buddha related deity. The one that I can remember if the God of power, Second Buddha and the speaking Buddha. 😅 There is also a God of Wealth holding a mongoose (that act as a wallet). 

We did the posturalization (praying technique), drank some holy water, meditate on one of the room. 

We also went down into a small cave, whereby you need to go down using three different types of ladders. It was quite daunting. Some may turn away from this. 

So this spot, a small place, it's believed to be where the second Buddha meditated. 

Towards the end, there was also a stupa room. According to Tandin, in olden days, stupas are along the road to protect the travelers using the road from evil spirits. 

Stupas, inside them, usually contains precious items to the builder. Whether it be of wealth or sentimental value, otherwise it wouldn't be able to function. This stupa inside Taktsang contains the ashes of a monk who died in India/ Nepal, and the ashes was brought back here to Bhutan to build the stupa. 

After that,  we rested for abit before we track back down to the Cafe for lunch. Here, we had Bhutan famous chilli cheese. There are also dal, ferro head, hard boiled eggs, and curry with mixed vegetables (potatoes, carrots, bitter gourd) 

I wanted to take one of the pine cone for xh but couldn't find a nice one. 

230412: Bhutan Day 1

Hello!

Sharing with myself, the day 1 of my trip with JA to Bhutan.

We left BKK hotel at 230am, got some Mcd corn and pineapple pie (and realised I brought the expired Bigpay card).

The flight was pleasant. I slept most of the way there except during the meal. the food was good. I had sausage, omelette and roasted potatoes.

After collecting our luggage and exit the hall, we immediately got into outdoor side of the arrival building. We were greeted by Mr Tandin and Mr Phub.

We got into the car and head to the hotel, Village Lodge. We had some tea before we left to our next destination: the national museum. 

National museum was previously a watchtower and part of it was burnt (i could be wrong). Due to the fire, they move some of the items into the office building for display. No phones are allowed here so you just have to come and see for yourself. 

We were introduced to the different masks for different characters and ceremony. And for them, the Bhutanese celebrate some kind of mask festival, whereby each state have their own mask festival dates. 

After that we were told stories about the first king , King wangchuck 1907. How Bhutan became a country etc. 

Then we were showed the flora and fauna of Bhutan. They have a variety of species due to their land cover different altitude 

I particularly took a liking in rofous necked hornbill because how the lines on the beam mark/indicate the age of the hornbill. 

They also have glaciers in Bhutan

And various hiking treks!

After the office, we went and visit the other part of the museum which is now inside the watchtower. 

This part is interesting as aside from the civilization aspect, the Buddhism stuff is very interesting. How they have 4 different sects which are somewhat different yet have so many similarities..

Tandin continued to tell us the stories about the history as well as folklores.

We then went for lunch. It was a buffet. There were chicken? Roasted or grilled eggplant, mixed salad, fruit (watermelon?) 

The town of paro is very simple and small 

After lunch we went to try on their local traditional costumes which they still use today.  Gho and Kira. We then took some photos around the monastery/ former fortress. 

photo with Mr Phub

Then we sight see the local fresh market before heading for a drink at Namgay Artisanal Brewery. Tried their local beer. I think their red rice is nice. Enjoyed that and the dark ale and one more (couldn't remember the name) 

we had a sampler set for 150 ngoltrum

After that we went back to our hotel, ordered our dinner and rested. When it read time we had down for dinner. Most of the time at this hotel, we didn't see much of the other guests or even manage to converse with them. 

The dinner was spinach soup, beef ball homemade, roasted vegetables, spinach, cheesy mushroom, rice, rice noodles (like pasta and it was spicy!) and bread pudding for dessert. 

Went back to room. Slept. Woke up. Shower. Sleep. End of Day1

230402

Going to meet Mun Leng for brunch later

Trying out analog and baking xperiment

Tried pilates yesterday with danny and tseyee

Good stretch! 😂 

Started to play d3 again and my gawd, it was a bad decision. Time waster. The logical me should undesatand that playing it is a waste of time. However..... 

Went lunch with finance team in Friday. Had goobne and inside scoop. Goobne soso nia. Not great but not too bad. 

What else? I need to organize outing with chew and diyana. 

Things to do next week

Finish the loan agreement

Stock side... Recovered. Will continue trading my futures.