Currently, there are three Soi 47 Mookata locations to choose from, you can now enjoy authentic charcoal grill Thai Mookata with your family, loved ones, relatives and friends. There is a wide selection of dishes to choose from, or you can go with the 2 pax set menu that they have specially prepared for you, priced at S$29.90, this is a value for money 2 pax set menu. Therefore you won’t have a headache on which dishes to choose from. If your foodie eating group prefers to order Ala Carte, the minimum order is S$30, that is not likely to be an issue when you have 3 to 5 pax or more people eating together. 

My cousin Brandon, his wife Sharon and myself went to Soi 47 Mookata at Ang Mo Kio, they are located inside the Food Loft kopitiam. This block is located beside Mayflower TEL MRT station, it’s pretty accessible by a number of bus services plying that area.

Whether you are going for the 2 pax set meal menu, or Ala Carte, the first step to choose your soup base, Tom Yum Soup or Collagen Soup, followed by your order, and you are good to go ahead and enjoy your charcoal grill Thai Mookata! The three of us decided to go for the collagen soup base! 

On the Soi 47 Mookata 2 pax set meal menu, these items, garlic pork sliced, garlic chicken sliced, tom yum chicken sliced, pork belly sliced and pork collar are my favourite dishes. If you like to add more items to your 2 pax set menu, go ahead and add them to your orders! Personally, I like the home made pork patties and moo ping items, therefore, I highly recommend those 2 items!

There are 4 Thai Chilli dipping sauce for you to choose from, Sour Chilli, Sour Sweet, Sweet Chilli, Extra Spicy. For Thai spices/chilli food lovers who can take spicy food, ask for the Chef’s recommendation on how they can make it more spicy for you!

While using charcoal to grill and cook your Thai Mookata is slower and you can’t control the fire, the taste of charcoal grilled food is superb, the wok hey taste, aroma, feel and atmosphere, win it hands down. Grilling the Thai Mookata dishes over charcoal fire, taking the time to relax, enjoy and have a good foodie gathering time at Soi 47 Mookata.

If you have been searching for a delicious, authentic charcoal grilled Thai Mookata with your family, loved ones and friends, Soi 47 Mookata is the Thai Mu Kratha that you are looking for! Visit the Soi 47 Mookata location near you, have a wonderful time at Soi 47 Mookata! 

Locations

Blk 324 Bukit Batok Street 33, #01-31 Singapore 650324

Blk 5 Tanjong Pagar Plaza #02-04/05 Singapore 081005

Blk 107 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4 Singapore 560107

Opening hours: 5pm to 10pm 

Follow Soi 47 Thai Food on social media!

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/soi47mookata/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soi47thaifood/ 

Thanks to Soi 47 Mookata for hosting us! We had a great time enjoying authentic charcoal grill Thai Mookata! 

The post Soi 47 Mookata – Authentic Charcoal Grill Mu Kratha appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.

Inspired by Fernando Gros “How to choose a Yearly Theme”, this is my 3rd year writing a Yearly Theme (you can check out my 2020 Yearly Theme and 2021 Yearly Theme), an approach that I personally feel that it’s more forward looking for a new future, a new era of working, thinking and how we connect as an individual, as a collective, society and the world. It’s not that goal settings or setting resolutions are no longer popular or useful, they still have a purpose and it still works for some people or industries. I also published a Yearly Theme 2022 (Technology, Business and Personal) on my other website TGH Technology and Business Portal/Blog. 

Let me introduce my Yearly Theme 2022 for my photography and travel: “Onward”.

Theme for Year 2022 (Photography and Travel) – Onward

Onward – What is the reason behind this theme?

Why “Onward”? This is actually my alma mater school motto. Let me introduce my alma mater, Gan Eng Seng School (founded in 1885), I am also an old boy from the Gan Eng Seng Dragon Scout Group (founded in 1922) where I spent some of my best and fun years learning Scouting skills, knowledge, in the the great outdoors, life skills and camaraderie. 

Dragon Scout Group (DSG) is celebrating its centenary milestone in Year 2022, this is no mean feat! The DSG extended family is going to celebrate DSG100 Years in Scouting! 

Onward – Strive forward as we work our way out from this ongoing global pandemic mess, it’s not just an economic and financial crisis, the world is facing other crisis in the areas of healthcare, mental health, emotional health, psychological and sociological issues.

The whole world is trying its best to move forward, with setbacks and hiccups that are going to be a common sight for this year 2022. Hopefully, our lessons learnt in Year 2020 and 2021 would come in handy for us as the world move Onward in the journey to recovery. Let’s hope the world can really start to see the true light at the end of the tunnel. 

Photography – Goals and Plans

This is not the usual way of doing goal settings that you would normally learn or see in your job/training. What I am doing is a bit of a hybrid format sharing of my goals and plans for my photography segment. 

Photography (Business)

Year 2021 provided me huge business lessons, adapting, pivoting and changing my commercial photography services portfolio. It’s not immediate, taking a bit longer than I am expected. In this Year 2022, I hope to grow those few segments below in a very competitive field, through my networks and connections. 

– Portraiture: Individual / Family / Corporate 

– Pre-Wedding/AD wedding 

NFT/Digital Arts

A new segment that I am entering into, I mentioned about this in Q4 2021. This is a field that I would be threading with caution while optimistic on its potential and viability for creatives such as photographers like myself. 

Digital Marketing + Social Media Marketing + Photography + Videography 

A digital agency or social media agency format of doing business, going to work/pitch for campaigns/projects and commissioned work. Although I established TGH Digital Studio in 2021, I wasn’t able to kickstart it properly, the time is now.

Year 2022 also marks the start of TGH Digital Studio with a new gig in the food industry. Hope this paves the way for further opportunities in other industries such as travel, tourism and hospitality,  as well as heritage, history and culture.

Photography (Personal/Leisure)

Away from my business/commercial photography, I must, and I need my time and space for my personal photography and leisure/fun photography. In Year 2022, I have some ideas and plans for my personal photography, videography and creative projects.

New photographer profile photos as well as new photographer in action theme shoots are on my plans too. 

If you are not a good photographer or find something missing in your photos you can always rely on some travel photograph editing to enhance your photos.

Personal projects 

– Complement and support my alma mater DSG100 Years in Scouting celebrations

– A new zine or a new photography book? Or both? 

– Building up my videography/filmmaking for both personal and commercial segments. Follow my YouTube channel for more updates on this segment!  

Travel – Goals and Plans

We all miss our travels, whether it’s to short-haul or long haul destinations. This ongoing global pandemic has thrown the world travel, tourism, hospitality and aviation industries under the bus for a very prolonged time, and maybe 1-2 more years of downtime. 

International 

I have no plans for now, I would review this in Q3 2022, keeping my fingers crossed. I am just being cautious, I am also not setting any expectations, I don’t wish to be badly disappointed  and get hurt again. 

When can we restart tourism, I am looking into this area, networking and chatting with travel and tourism networks of friends around the world, with a follow up on this area in my 3rd instalment article on the topic of “Restart Tourism”. 

This quote, shared with me by Sonja, one of the co-hosts of TTOT (Travel Talk on Twitter) Chat community every Tuesday, that “Travel can be a privilege”. During this ongoing global pandemic situation, it’s even more evident and true. 

Domestic / Local / Explore your own backyard 

Since traveling out for a holiday still has its challenges, fears, concerns and restrictions. This is actually a good time to explore your own backyard again for me. I am going to continue re-exploring my local neighbourhoods, with an emphasis on green spaces / places that might/will be gone soon.

I always have a strong interest and passion in those fields, documenting the changes and losses over time due to changes in national development, growth and renewal.  

Last but not least – Onward in Year 2022

Last but not least – Onward in Year 2022. After some harsh lessons from Year 2021, I decided to be cautious, not fearful, be brave, Be Prepared, ready to take on more challenges, hiccups and changes as I trek my way Onward in Year 2022. 

I really hope this Year 2022 would truly be the year where we can see some light at the end of the tunnel. 

The post Yearly Theme 2022 (Photography and Travel) appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.

My first introduction and visit to Soi47 Thai Food was at their King George Avenue outlet in January 2021, I was treated to a fun and delicious birthday dinner by my cousin Brandon. The food was really delicious and it’s authentically cooked, I still remembered this particular Soi47 Thai Food dish- Steam Seabass with Thai Lime Sauce, upon tasting this Thai dish, it was just like having local Thai food in Thailand! 

Soi47 Thai Food recently opened a new outlet at Clarke Quay Central, they also have two other locations at King George Avenue and Lorong 6 Toa Payoh. My cousin Brandon brought me down to check out Soi47 Thai Food new outlet at Clarke Quay Central. Located at the second floor of Clarke Quay Central, you can spot them when you are at the lobby after alighting at the drop-off point.  

Upon entering Soi47 Thai Food at Clarke Quay, it has a cosy ambience, lively and well suited for families and group of friends looking to have a good Thai food experience and time there. They have a balcony space for outdoor dining too! It’s overlooking Singapore River, the feel of dining by the river might be attractive to some of you especially during the evening and night time.

Authentic and Delicious Thai Food at Soi47

When you flip through the menu at Soi47, you would be spoilt for choices, which Thai dishes should I choose to have? 

While some might choose to share Soi47 favourites/chef recommendations, I decided to do a different approach this time and share my selection of Thai dishes on the menu that I personally like a lot.

First and foremost, let’s start off with some yummy appetisers before heading into the main course meals!

Mango Salad

For someone that doesn’t really like to eat mango, when it comes to Thai Mango Salad, I would eat it! This is a very refreshing and delicious appetiser before your Thai food main course meals. I also found out from their menu that they have other varieties such as Mango Salad with Seafood and Mango Salad with Prawns, maybe I should try them next time.

Deep Fried Drumsticks with Garlic 

When my cousin WK and myself were there at Soi47 Clarke Quay, we found this dish Deep Fried Drumsticks with Garlic and we decided to order it. This is an excellent appetiser, highly recommended, delicious and addictive! This dish brought me back memories of my night street markets foodie adventures in Thailand!

Phad Thai with Chicken

My favourite Thai dish, it’s like my staple Thai food that I must have whenever I have the opportunity whether I am in Thailand or in Singapore eating Thai food. I really like the Chef’s Pad Thai cooking style, not too wet and not too dry too. Different regions in Thailand cook their Phad Thai slightly differently, thus I would give my favourite Thai dish that extra attention. 

Green Curry with Chicken 

This is an another well-known Thai dish, it’s well-liked by many Thai food fans I reckon. This soup base is creamy and fragrant, ddd. Pair up a bowl of Thai fragrant rice with this Green Curry with Chicken, just as wonderful for an individual meal or one of the many Thai dishes that you can share when you are out for communal dining with your family, relatives or friends.

Thai Basil Pork with Rice

A Thai food favourite that may not get the attention it deserves, this is like my alternate staple Thai food that I would have when I am not having Phad Thai or Thai Green Curry. More than just an authentic Thai food, it warms my heart and soul, as well as love for Thai food.  

Tom Yam Soup (Clear Style) with Seafood 

There are not too many places here in Singapore that serve Tom Yam Soup (Clear Style), the cream style Tom Yam Soup probably gets more attention and appeal. I missed this clear style Tom Yam Soup, it wasn’t too spicy for me, therefore this would suit diners who can’t take too spicy Tom Yam Soup (Clear Style).

Tom Yam Soup (Cream Style) with Seafood 

This is a well-known Thai dish, it’s well-liked by many Thai food fans I reckon. This soup base is creamy and fragrant, filled with fresh seafood and I really like their deep-fried fish slices. Pair up a bowl of Thai fragrant rice with this Tom Yam Soup (Cream Style) with Seafood, absolutely wonderful for an individual meal or one of the many Thai dishes that you can share when you are out for communal dining with your family, relatives or friends. 

Thai Iced Tea 

This is another of my favourite Thai food, I would always get a Thai Iced Tea, just like my staple Thai food Phad Thai. Their Thai Iced Tea is fragrant and wonderful, just like having an authentic Thai Iced Tea in Thailand. 

Soi47 Chef Recommendations

Soi47 Thai Food does have its favourites/chef recommendations, you definitely have to try them or have a few of them in your selections when you visit them with your family, relatives, loved ones and friends. 

Soi47 Thai Food @ Clarke Quay Central

Address: 6 Eu Tong Seng Street, Clarke Quay Central, #02-78 Singapore 059817

Opening Hours: Monday – Sunday 11:30am to 3:00pm (last order 2:30pm) and 5:30pm to 10:00pm (last order 9:30pm)

Do visit, check out and follow Soi47 social media channels for more information and updates!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/soi47thaifood/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soi47thaifood/ 

Coming soon! Part 2 of my Soi47 Thai Food Adventure!

Coming soon, in part 2 of my Soi47 Thai food adventure, I would share another round of delicious Thai food from Soi47 as I return to celebrate my January birthday at Soi47 Thai Food, the stories behind Soi47 Thai Food and what are some of the Thai cuisine that you and your family can plan to have for a Chinese New Year Reunion Dinner at Soi47 Thai Food. 

That are still many more delicious and authentic Thai food dishes at Soi47 Thai Food for me to taste and enjoy, this would be a great time to gather family, relatives and friends for a good catchup over food at Soi47 Thai Food.

If you are a Thai food lover like myself, do visit Soi47 Thai Food outlets at Clarke Quay, King George Avenue or Toa Payoh and have a wonderful Thai food feasting time there!

** I would like to thank Soi47 Thai Food for hosting this food tasting opportunity. **

The post Authentic and Delicious Thai Food at Soi47 Clarke Quay appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.

Before I visited Kin Hoi at their Holland Close outlet, I checked them out on their website and Instagram. They have a good spread of different Thai cuisine on their menu, it looks really delicious and tempting. What did I have when I visited Kin Hoi? 

Now, let me bring you through my foodie adventure – Taste of Authentic Thai Food at Kin Hoi.

Honey grilled pork 

A Thai street market food, grilled to perfection without overcooking the pork, that’s how high their cooking skills and experience that Kin Hoi possess. Dip it with their signature Thai Chilli Sauce, you might feel that you are brought back into the local Thai street market. 

Just a gentle friendly reminder that it’s so delicious that you might find it addictive and wanting to order another round of honey grilled pork. 

Melting beef 

For those who love beef, Kin Hoi’s melting beef is going to bring you into another world! It’s fried and grilled, very tasty, well marinated, absolutely delicious and delightful! Oh yes, this melting beef goes very well with their Kin Hoi Thai signature chilli sauce! 

Just like their honey grilled pork, you might find yourself wanting to order another round of the melting beef, it’s so delicious, so addictive! Kin Hoi don’t name this dish, “Melting Beef” for nothing, this beef dish really melts in your mouth! 

Thai crab meat omelette 

Another Thai food favourite, the rich, flavourful Wok Hei omelette is going to be well-liked by the customers too. Ideal for sharing with a group of family, relatives and friends. They are generous with their crab meat, inside and on top of the omelette. 

Fried Tung Hoon 

For Thai food lovers, their fried tung hoon is not just a popular Thai dish. It may be a simple Thai dish, it’s authentic Thai street food that warms your heart, mind, soul and taste buds. This fried tung hoon goes really well with other Thai dishes together. Oh yes, don’t miss the pork lard on the fried tung hoon! 

It’s not just having good quality ingredients, the skill and experience in cooking the fried tung hoon can be seen, felt and tasted. Try their fried tung hoon and you would know why. 

Must try! Cannot miss this!

Thai signature chilli sauce – co-founder home chilli recipe from her mum. Your tastebuds would go like this, starting off from sour, sweet and lastly a spicy feel with fish sauce that is not overpowering.

If you are a fan of Thai chilli and spices, I reckon you would like Kin Hoi’s signature chilli sauce. A must try, you cannot miss this, it’s perfect for Kin Hoi’s dishes on their menu. 

New dish on the block!

Thai Duck Noodle Soup – chewy noodles (authentic Thai ingredients, not commonly seen in Singapore). Herbs, soup brewed from duck bones. Their soup is not those heavy body flavoured type duck soup that we might be used to in Singapore. Thus, you can feel and taste the herbs and flavour when you try their Thai Duck Noodle Soup.  

It’s currently only available at their Holland Close outlet, I reckon this would a lunch crowd favourite, and you can add on their other dishes to go along with your lunch break buddy. 

More than just shellfish and cockles at Kin Hoi

While shellfish and cockles are the first few dishes on their menu when Kin Hoi first launched their food business, they are more than just shellfish and cockles at Kin Hoi. They have a good wide spread of authentic Thai cuisine on their menu.

There are many more dishes on Kin Hoi’s menu that I have yet to try, I hope to return back again with my friends and try the other dishes on their menu. 

Q&A with Daniel Teo

During my visit to Kin Hoi, I also met with Daniel Teo, one of the co-founders of Kin Hoi at their Holland Close outlet, who took precious time off from running his Kin Hoi food business operations to sit down and have a chat with me. 

1. What inspired you to start Kin Hoi?

My co-founder is Thai, she’s a Singapore PR, she cooks at home and she has her home made Thai signature chilli sauce. 

We both come from corporate backgrounds, starting off from home based food business. As the home based food business started to grow, we decided to take the plunge, starting off at Holland Close Blk 6 with half a stall, eventually taking on the full stall.

We slowed down our home delivery business to establish the stall. Once it has stabilised, we reinvested in your own delivery system, our in-house delivery, followed by a central kitchen for delivery that also allow bigger menu selection. 

Now we have two outlets, one at Holland Close, the other outlet is at Toa Payoh, both for dine in and takeaway.     

2. What are your favourite dishes? What dishes are most commonly ordered by your customers?

For myself, street style Fried Tung Hoon, egg omelette with crab, honey grilled pork, gong gong, a must with the signature chilli sauce.

As for my customers, it’s shellfish/cockle, Fried Tung Hoon with honey grilled pork or melting beef

3. How would you describe the style of your cuisine? Do you have a cooking philosophy?

More of an authentic home cooked Thai style. We do not wish to specialise in a few Thai dishes. They are some of my favourite dishes with the Thai signature chilli. We are more than just Thai seafood with our Thai cuisine menu on offer. 

My philosophy is, all the food on my menu must be delicious/good, the choice lies with the customer which dish they like. We placed great importance on our customer service. 

4. What can customers expect from your kitchen in the near future?

Yes, we are looking at expanding our Thai cuisine menu on offer, some of the dishes we are looking at are Wok hey crab fried rice, Thai fried kway Teow (not Phad Thai).

5. How has the recent Phase 2 Heightened Alert (P2HA) and the cluster from the fishery operations at Jurong Port affected your business? 

P2HA has affected the business a lot. For our Thai dishes, it’s best to sit down, eat it hot when served and with a group of family, relatives or friends.

One of the suppliers at Jurong Port was affected, the price of our ingredients increased, however we absorbed the additional costs. During this time, we looked out for alternative suppliers and found more to get our ingredients from. 

6. You have two outlets – Holland Close and Toa Payoh – at the moment. Will we be seeing more outlets in Singapore?

As for future expansion, we are looking at Jurong region for the west side and another in the east side. Holland Close takes care of the south side of Singapore while Toa Payoh takes care of north and north-east side of Singapore. A bigger expansion is on the cards down the road. 

We have set a goal for ourselves to be best food delivery in Singapore.

7. How would you describe Kin Hoi’s Singapore foodie journey over the past one year?

In November 2020, we open our first outlet at Holland Close,  it had been a roller coaster ride of blood, sweat and tears. The amount of stress and pressure in running a business can be overwhelming at times.

A taste of authentic Thai food at Kin Hoi

For all Thai food lovers out here in Singapore, you can get a taste of authentic Thai food at Kin Hoi. Not just authentic Thai food, it’s the warmth and homely Thai cuisine that makes foodies love and appreciate Thai food that much. 

You can always feel the deep passion, love, pride, standards and quality of a cuisine through their cooking. At Kin Hoi, that’s what you are going to receive and enjoy when you taste their authentic and home feel Thai food. 

Kin Hoi’s menu are perfect for group dining with their widespread choices of Thai cuisine on their menu, eating it hot and freshly cooked from the stall to your table at the kopitiam. However, due to the current safety measures restrictions imposed on dining out due to the ongoing global pandemic, we can’t eat as much variety of Kin Hoi’s Thai food on offer with just 2 person dining out. When dining out restrictions are gradually lifted down the road and we can have more than 2 person dining at kopitiam, get your family, loved ones, relatives and friends to join you to have a taste of authentic Thai food at Kin Hoi.

Meanwhile, you can still order online from Kin Hoi’s website, deliver it to your home and enjoy it from the comfort of your home too. However, I still personally prefer to eat it hot and freshly cooked from the stove, served to the dining table at the kopitiam.

In my conversation with Daniel, I can feel and relate to his time, commitment and passion that he invested into Kin Hoi, coming from a small photography business owner myself. Operating a business during this global pandemic is no mean feat, small and medium business owners like Kin Hoi and like myself are some of those that have been hit badly. 

A new age food business owner that took the plunge and made the switch from a corporate world, displaying his entrepreneurial spirit, leadership and courage during this global pandemic crisis period. Daniel’s passion and commitment can be felt at/seen through Kin Hoi, their amazing and delicious authentic Thai food, social media platforms and care for the staff working at Kin Hoi. 

For Thai food lovers in Singapore, you have to visit Kin Hoi and have a taste of authentic Thai food at Kin Hoi for yourself, it’s just like a foodie trip down your favourite Thai street/home cooked food. 

Information on Kin Hoi 

Outlet locations

Holland Close outlet – Block 6 Holland Close S271006

Toa Payoh outlet – Block 168 Lorong 1 Toa Payoh S310168

Website: https://kinhoi.sg/ 

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/kinhoi.sg/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kinhoi.sg/ 

Last but not least, I would like to thank Daniel of Kin Hoi for taking his precious time from running his business operations to sit down and have a chat with me, for his warm hospitality and tasting a few of their delicious Thai cuisine. I would also like to thank Saltine Communications for facilitating this food visit and interview. 

The post Taste of Authentic Thai Food at Kin Hoi appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.

Say Sawasdee to the tastes of Thailand anytime, anywhere

It’s time to Say Sawasdee to the tastes of Thailand anytime, anywhere, with 7-Eleven’s new menu of iconic Thai-inspired dishes, including the five classic dishes below:

7-SELECT Thai Boat Noodles (U.P $4.50) This authentic Thai signature street food features beef balls, beansprouts, morning glory, and thin rice noodles in a meaty savoury broth garnished with fragrant fried garlic and spicy chilli flakes. A perfect blend of aromatic flavours, this is comfort food that tastes as good as it looks.

7-SELECT Thai Red Curry Chicken with Rice (U.P $4.50) This dish is fragrant, creamy, sweet and spicy, packed with flavours of dried chilli, garlic, lemongrass, shallots, ginger and coconut milk with a generous serving of long beans, brinjal and chicken. Spicy, creamy and oh so scrumptious!

7-SELECT Phad Thai (U.P $4.00) This crowd-pleasing Thai dish boasts a new and improved recipe. The rice noodles are now more al dente, coated with a distinctly sweet and sour sauce containing tamarind and Thai fish sauce that is now even more flavourful. Talk about the perfect balance of taste and texture!

7-SELECT Thai Glass Noodle Salad (U.P $2.90) A refreshing and spicy salad made with shallots, lemon, and garlic on a bed of vermicelli and minced chicken, the aromas and textures complement each other perfectly, making it the ideal appetiser before you dig into the mains!

7-SELECT Tom Yum Soup (U.P $3.00) No Thai meal is complete without a bowl of hot Tom Yum Soup, arguably the most famous dish in Thai cuisine. This flavoursome soup features juicy prawns, fish and mushrooms whilst the broth is seasoned with fresh lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, coriander, galangal, fish sauce, and chilli.

There are also other Thai-inspired delights available at 7-Eleven:

• 7-SELECT Thai Basil Chicken with Rice
• Fresh Coconut
• First Brew Lemongrass Drink
• Alfredo Tom Yum Goong Pizza Slice

From 18 Aug – 14 Sep 2021, enjoy $0.50 off 7-SELECT Thai Glass Noodle Salad or Tom Yum Soup when you buy some of the 7-SELECT Thai items!

Cool down with our new and refreshing limited-edition Mr Softee flavour and Thai Milk Teas

There is a Mr Softee Coconut (U.P $1.50). inspired by the must-try coconut ice cream at Chatuchak Market, the brand new soft serve variety concocted as a cherry on top of all the Thai food to be devoured.

7-Eleven has also introduced a new range of thirst-quenching 7CAFÉ Thai Milk Teas (Hot $2.40, Iced $3). each cup, comprising an authentic blend of Assam tea direct from India, is brewed to smooth perfection! Looking for a stronger caffeine kick? Try the 7CAFÉ Iced Thai Coffee Milk Tea (U.P $3.50) – a tasty and energising start to the day!

Do share this wonderful Thai food delights by 7-Eleven with your family, loved ones, relatives and friends, especially those who love Thai food! Pay-It-Forward and Pass-It-On! Sharing is Caring!

* Information and picture courtesy of 7-Eleven Singapore and Media Outreach *

The post Grab a Taste of Thailand at 7-Eleven appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.

Searching various websites from Thailand Tourism Authority, Thai National Parks, TripAdviser, travel blogs etc etc … I discovered that there were a number of National Parks in Northern Thailand, all these information got me excited as I am an outdoors person and love a trek in the nature areas! Two national parks highly recommended and not too far away from Chiang Mai came up, Doi Inthanon and Doi Suthep-Pui National Parks.

I put forward my suggestions, Doi Inthanon and Doi Suthep, to Tiffany, the person who liaised most of the travel planning and discussions with the respective travel, tourism and hospitality companies for our Chiang Mai trip. When she came back to me that, Chiang Mai Local Tours was going to host us, bringing us on their local tours to Doi Inthanon (Full day tour) and Doi Suthep (Half day tour), I was very excited!

Doi Inthanon National Park (Full Day Tour)

On the second day of our Chiangmai adventure, we began our adventure to Doi Inthanon National Park! Chiang Mai Local Tours met us at our hotel lobby in the morning, Team EpiphanyGoChiangMai was greeted with the warmest hospitality from the friendly tour guides of Chiang Mai Local Tours. After a short introduction and chat between both parties, we went onboard their cosy and comfortable mini bus, beginning our driving journey to Doi Inthanon National Park.

The journey from our Baisiri Maya Hotel to Doi Inthanon National Park took approximately two hours. We continued chatting with our very friendly and hospitalable travel guides during the drive to Doi Inthanon National Park. From the ground level to driving up the mountain range, I knew we were getting closer to our destination. Soon, we arrived at our first destination in Doi Inthanon National Park

Phra Mahathat Naphamethanidon and Nophamethanidon

Upon alighting from the mini bus, we saw a packed parking space and many people visiting this grand destination. The weather was awesome, clear blue sky with cool air! As I looked up into the sky, there are two Buddhist stupas, Phra Mahathat Naphamethanidon and Nophamethanidon, Buddhist palces of worship containing the Lord Buddha’s relics.

Naphamethinidon was built in 1987 to honour the 60th birthday aniversary of King Bhumibol Adulyadej while Naphaphonphumisiri was built in 1992 to honour the 60th birthday anniversary of Queen Sirikit. Our tour guides shared a lot about this Phra Mahathat Naphamethanidon and Nophamethanidon with us when we walked up to the stupa and toured this religious destination. Naphamethanidon and Nophamethanidon each has their own garden and visitors love it!

Although Naphamethanidon and Nophamethanidon are not at the summit of Doi Inthanon, their location is not far away from it. This destination has a vast and wide view of Chiangmai and Mae Hong Son, the view from there is magnificent, a destination landscape photographers will love!

While Team #EpiphanyGoChiangMai was busy touring, learning and enjoying their visit to Phra Mahathat Naphamethanidon and Nophamethanidon, we were also busy with our respective roles, Travel hosts – Tiffany and Peps , videographer – Valentino and photographer – me! You can check out my Flickr album on some of the behind the scenes photos of them in action with our guides from Chiangmai Local Tours!

Summit of Doi Inthanon

We said goodbye to Naphamethanidon and Nophamethanidon, continued with a short drive uphill to the highest peak in Thailand, at a height of 2565m above sea level! Alighting from the mini bus, our travel guides took us to the entrance of the path leading up to the summit of Doi Inthanon. It was a short walk up to the summit of Doi Inthanon and we made it to the highest peak in Thailand!

King Inthanon Memorial Shrine

At the summit of Doi Inthanon, there is a pagoda with offerings in front of it. Our guide shared with us on its history and significance. This is known as the King Inthanon Memorial Shrine.

I bowed and said a prayer at the shrine, paying my respect, before I continued taking photos of the surroundings, video interviews conducted by my fellow travel hosts and videographer with our guides. We walked down from the summit, took a break and getting ready for our delicious local Thai food lunch!

Local Thai food lunch

Before I proceed further, I would like to confess that I am a big fan of Thai food, I love their spices, herbs, sweet and sour flavours! Some of my friends would always notice a few particular Thai dishes that I regularly order, can you guess which are my few favourite Thai dishes?

We went for a lunch break near to the summit of Doi Inthanon, a pit stop for both locals and tourists, with their open space carpark and food stalls. Thanks to our friends from Chiang Mai Local Tours, we don’t have to worry about ordering local Thai food! They ordered different types of local Thai food for us to eat and enjoy! As much as I would love to describe each and every dish, my whole article would become too lengthy, therefore, I let my Thai food photos do the talking!

Since we were having lunch, I took the opportunity to know more about the different Thai cuisines from various parts of Thailand, such as Northern Thailand e.g. Chiang Mai versus Southern Thailand e.g. Bangkok, what are the key differences in cooking style and tastes between the two regions. Listening to them sharing on Thai food, it was definitely a great learning experience from this trip!

Kaew Mae Pan Nature Trail

After a hearty and delicious local Thai food lunch, we had to burn our calories off. Our next adventure at Doi Inthanon National Park began by walking across the carpark to a nice cottage, the entrance to a nature trail that totally blew me away, I was in awe of the beauty, tranquility and surreal landscape, mountain range and forest of Doi Inthanon National Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Ladies and Gentlemen, introducing Kaew Mae Pan Nature Trail!

I would be sharing more photographs inside my Flickr album, as I start to share on our amazing nature trekking. Our Kaew Mae Pan Nature Trail guide is from the local tribe in the region, he led and guided us on this nature trail, together with our Chiang Mai Local Tours guides.

It’s only 3.2km long with 21 checkpoints, that’s not a very far distance to trek! However, we were at an altitude of 2,200m above sea level and this would meant that the oxygen levels at that altitude would be thinner. All these brought me back memories to the year 2007 when I climbed Mt Kinabalu in Sabah, Malaysia. From my experience, I knew the challenges and difficulties when climbing uphill at this altitude.

The impact of thin oxygen level can be felt almost immediately when I started to ascend up the nature trail. Although I absolutely loved the gorgeous forest, I wasn’t acclaimatised to the altitude, I was getting breatheless, therefore I had to slow it down and not rush.

I had been an outdoors person since my secondary school scouting days, I love trekking into nature reserves! Our local tribal guide for the Kaew Mae Pan Nature Trail and Chiang Mai Local Tours guides shared with us on the flora and fauna inside the forest, what could be eaten, we had the opportunity to learn about them and tasted it!

While I was quite breatheless at the initial segment of the ascend inside the forest, this was soon forgotten when we reached the ridge line/plateau of the nature trail. Upon exiting from the forested sector, the vast open landscape view from the open trail area welcomed us. The view was simply gorgeous beyond words, I haven’t had that feeling since my Hokkaido trip in 2016!

Such vast landscapes never fail to amaze me, I was busy pressing the Canon EOS 6D Mark II DSLR button to capture as many different views and perspectives. On the other hand, I was also busy photographing the rest of the team in action, interviewing our friends from Chiang Mai Local Tours, group photos and some fun shots too!

Once again, we began to re-enter back into the forested area, trekking back to the start point. At this stage, there were still a few uphill treks before the final descend to the end point of the Kaew Mae Pan Nature Trail. Upon reaching the wooden cottage again, our start/end point of this nature trail, we said goodbye to our local tribal guide, returned to our mini bus for the journey back to Chiang Mai.

Wachirathan Waterfall

On the way down, our guides decided to bring us to one of the waterfalls in this region, Wachirathan Waterfall. We didn’t spend too much time here due to time constraints, nevertheless, we got to witness a magnificent waterfall in the Doi Inathanon National Park. Our guides shared with us that this waterfall is popular during the warm season, many people visit the base of the waterfall to enjoy the cooling water.

After a short thirty minutes visit to Wachirathan Waterfall, taking photos and videos, we made our way back to Chiang Mai city from Doi Inthanon National Park, blessed with a pretty sunset on the road, seen above the mountain range ridge line.

Back to Chiang Mai City

As we reached Chiang Mai city, we wished a big thank you and waved goodbye to our guides from Chiang Mai Local Tours for a fun and adventurous full day tour of Doi Inthanon National Park.

If you are planning to visit Chiang Mai, Thailand, visiting Doi Inthanon National Park is highly recommended! Do check out Chiang Mai Local Tours trekking tour packages to Doi Inthanon National Park (One Day and Two Day programmes are available). More photographs of our visit to Doi Inthanon National Park can be viewed here in this Flickr album!

A great full day of fun, travel, exploring and trekking, we rested early and get ready for our next day half day to Doi Suthep-Pui National Park by Chiang Mai Local Tours!

Update! Visit Team #EpiphanyGoChiangMai fellow traveler Tiffany’s travel coverage article on Chiang Mai Local Tours One Day Tour: 5 Must Visit Attraction Spots!

Chiang Mai Local Tours

I am happy and glad to know Chiang Mai Local Tours during my trip with Team #EpiphanyGoChiangMai! Their professionalism, enthusiasm, hospitality and wealth of local knowledge can be seen throughout during the full day tour. This  tour is just part of the many different types of tour packages and travel plans that they provide! Visit their website and explore a local Chiang Mai tour package that suits you!

They are highly recommended, with their wealth of local knowledge and experience, I would choose them to be my travel gudies when I return to Chiang Mai for dedicated travel photography (landscape and bird photography) adventure! If the opportunity arises, I would love to work with them in the future!

I would also like to highlight that the tour itinerary that Chiang Mai Local Tours brought us for the full day tour to Doi Inthanon National Park is not the same as those planned and listed on their website.

For more information and contact details of Chiang Mai Local Tours, they are listed below:

Website:http://www.chiangmailocaltours.com

Address: 6 Inthawarorot Road., T. Sripoom, A. Muang, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ChiangMaiLocalTours/

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/chiangmailocaltours/

Email:Cmlocaltours@gmail.com

Line : Odicmlocaltours

Telephone: +66 86 910 1478

The post Doi Inthanon National Park (Full Day tour) Chiang Mai appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.