visiting cambodia episode II: the capital phnom penh

Just want to wish Christine Yap Yee Mun, a very Happy Birthday! She turns 21 on 25th May!

The good thing about being born so late in the year is that you get to see everyone turn old (and legal) much earlier than you do
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The Independence Monument. If you didn't know, Cambodia was under the French regime, which is why the French language is of utmost importance here.

The Royal Palace was absolutely lovely. Added with the fact that the sky was in a gorgeous sky-blue colour that day, I have to say that some of the best photos I have taken in Cambodia definitely came from here.
The construction of the throne hall (pic above) is filled with superstitions, esp about the seven dragons sculptures on its roof, representing protection for every day of the week. It is these kind of info that one usually gets from locals/tour guides. I don't think websites will put such info.
No photos are allowed inside these royal buildings so we could only just take pics outside - at the balcony and exterior of the buildings.
This is freaking beautiful. My most favourite building here. It is called the Napoleon building, and clearly you can see the French colonial style in its architecture. Magnifique!
A display of the coronation of a Cambodian king. Eventhough it is just a display, the face of the king totally resembles the actual face of the reigning King of Cambodia. Of course, takkan-lah I want to post his pic here so you can compare. Don't be lazy, go and search in wikipedia ok?

Btw, this is just like a small part of the display, it was so so so loooooong...

As we left the precints of the palace, I noticed the intricate details on one of the gates. Sometimes you cannot help but wonder how do they form all these shapes on metal gates? But then I am a Science student, so I will leave all these questions for architects or whatever profession needed, to answer.
In Phnom Penh, we also visited the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum, which is a must-visit for every tourist to Cambodia. Why? No, not because of its scenery, its people, its photography, and etc., but mainly as an awareness of the genocide, the massacre of innocents, that took place during the Khmer Rouge regime.

It goes to show that humans, despite being the higher being, can totally abuse the power given and cause such great harm towards other humans.
This place left me so overwhelmed that I did not really take many pics. And in some case, I did not want to take any. I know, it is like avoiding the truth, but really, I do not think I can bear taking pics of the torture instruments and the graves.

Here is one of the classrooms which has turned into an interrogation (but more like torture) room. I took it from outside so it will be less scarier.
This place was once a secondary high school before it became a hell zone. As I walked around the compound, I can imagined how this place must have look like, before the Khmer Rouge took over. Students walking in and out of classes, some eating, some reading or maybe some playing in the basketball court.
The signboard above is the description for one of the torture instruments used, as shown in the pic above the pic above (lol). It is just so disgusting when I read it, let alone to imagine it.

We were fortunate to meet one of the seven survivors of this S-21 torture chamber. He told our guide (who then translated to us), his experience being locked in the prison for 3 months. Right until today, he still do not know the reason they lock and torture him.
What used to be classrooms has now be turned into many small prison cells, made sloppily with multitude of bricks.
These barbed wires were placed to prevent the prisoners from jumping out and committing suicide. I like this pic because it feels like it came from the prisoner's view, and the desperate need for freedom.
Another monument, which I think, is called the Victory Monument (or something liddat la). Sorry-lo, sometimes I did not pay attention to the guide. Lol.
As in my previous post, I mentioned that we took a river cruise where we saw boathouse villages. I took many pics like these - of shabby boathouses, of ladies' doing their washing, of families having their dinners on the boat, of children waving at us...

I like this pic simply because of the image of the church on the mainland. I don't know, maybe because it symbolizes that there is still hope for poverty in Cambodia.
They might be deficient in terms of material and money, but I really hope that they can fill those voids with lots of love.


Like Morrie said, "Love is the only rational act."

visiting cambodia episode I: reflections

Just came back but already, I am still feeling excited over the idea of travelling. Next on my list? Starting small: Sabah, Sarawak, Labuan, Vietnam, Bangkok, Singapore and Hong Kong!

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17/05/2008~

Last Saturday, I travelled to a small country in Southeast Asia called Cambodia. And here is my short account of my trip. Of course, there will be a few more posts coming up.

The plane ride was only a short two hours but damn those Air Asia seats. So freaking uncomfortable - 90 degrees angle ok? I don't know who can freaking sleep in those seats.

DAY 1~

We arrived in the late afternoon so there weren't much sightseeing to do. Pic shows me camwhoring in our hotel room. Oh, we did go to a shopping mall nearby the hotel. Guide says it's the largest mall in Cambodia. Wth? It is only 6 storeys high. Did copped a pair of sunglasses, btw, for USD3.

Here is a tip for those planning to go Cambodia. Try not to change too much of your money into the local currency, rials, coz almost everything is in US Dollars, but you might want to save those rials for donations.

DAY 2~

*Tour of Phnom Penh capital

*Visited the Royal Palace, Independence Monument, Toul Sleng Genocide Museum

*Shopping at Russian Market and Central Market

*Cruise on the intersection between four rivers

DAY 3~

*6 hours bus ride to Siem Reap

*Ate hairy tarantulas, water cockroaches and stuffed frogs

*Visited the ancient bridge

*Tour around Les Artisans Angkor to take a look at Cambodian handicrafts

*Hike up to Baekheng Hill for a piece of Angkor ruins

*Buffet dinner with Cultural Show at Amazon Angkor

DAY 4~

*Visited the world famous Angkor ruins, includes Angkor Wat, Ta Prohmn temple, Bayon temple, Elephant Terrace, Leper King terrace, etc.

DAY 5~

*Back to Malaysia in the afternoon. Time difference is Cambodia is behind one hour than Msia.

Btw, I took this pic of our tour bus. We were really grateful to our bus driver who drove us from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, along bumpy and dangerous roads.

The status of the roads in Cambodia are so bad that even when it rained just for a while, the roads would be flooded.

Dangerous would be because anyone who wants to drive a motorcycle do not need any license at all.

Yes, that means one is allowed to ride a motorcycle regardless of what age you are. Which is why you can see loads of motorcycles along the roads.

And I think motorcycle helmets are also a rare commodity here.

Often you will see families riding dangerously like these. Also you will see vans and lorries packed with people, up to 30 at one time too.

Ok, don't think I am a jakun just because I took pic of KFC. FYI, this is the only KFC outlet in the whole of Cambodia. In fact, McD's and Pizza Hut are of non-existence here.








This is probably my fave pic of all the photos I took in Cambodia. From what I can see, I think she has kwasyiorkor, lack of protein in her blood, hence the bloated stomach but what do I know? I scored a C+ in Anatomy and Physiology.
There were many children like these in Cambodia, all malnourished, dirty-looking and mostly begging at the tourists for money and food.

Where were their parents, I wondered? But I think I know. Why else would these kids beg if it wasn't because their family ask them to. And why not? Us foreigners always tend to pity children more than adults.

It is indeed sad.

Along the river cruise, we passed by a row of villages. Well, I would not really call them villages. Their houses consist of huts on top of boats.

I am ashamed of myself, always complaining of this and that. Here, clean water is so scarce. They wash, clean, shit, urinate and even drink from the river water. Can you believe the state they are in?

The cruise along the river was really boring, but what made it unforgettable were those kids smiling and waving at us as our boat passed by them. One kid kept waving so excitedly at us that he even fell down.

Btw, this is the kid who joined on our boat ride. Cute no?

A small group of children were looking at us curiously when we were sightseeing the ancient bridge. Language is a barrier so I just pointed at the camera, hoping they understood that I wanted to take a pic with them. The little one, er, kinda did not get it. Hehe.

Primary school children only learn how to read and write in the Khmer language. Only when they go to secondary school, they learn English and French. Those who wish to study further usually must be extremely fluent in French.

Every time you visited a tourist spot, you can never missed all the children, women and men swarming at you, hoping you will purchase the merchandises that they are offering.

At first, you feel sorry for them. But then, it can get very annoying.

Like one time, when I came out of the public restroom at Angkor Wat, a small-sized boy came up to me, offering some postcards/travel books. Spoke to me in Mandarin, "10 dollars, 10 dollars!" he said.

I kindly told him that I was not interested but he kept smiling at me, persuading me to buy.

He even followed me all the way back to the bus. I really thought he was annoying and was even afraid that he might stalk me, or worse, snatch my bag.

Then, just as I was about to board the bus, he say "bye" to me, smiling still.

Yes, so sweeett. I was so taken aback by his sweet gesture that I forgot to take pic of him. Kinda regret I did not buy from him. That sweet kid.

Made me feel so guilty pulak.

In all honesty, I can say that Cambodia is not as a beautiful place as other countries that I have been, namely China, Korea and Australia. But what they lacked in scenery, they make up for it in the people, especially the children.

Yes, what truly made this trip unforgettable for me, was my encounter with the some of the good people of Cambodia. Seeing those children do overwhelmed me, though, to see the state and the poverty that they are in.

How truly lucky we are, and yet we do not appreciate it.
Having said that, Cambodia is not really that bad. It is also a photographer's paradise, esp at the Angkor ruins. We saw many professional photographers there and yes, there were even models there.

One in particular, was a Thai hottie. Ah, eye candy in Cambodia *smirks*

Dunno why, but seeing those photographers reminded me of Ben. Haha. I can just imagined him asking us to pose, adjusting his camera equipment, looking for akward angles, etc.

Maybe I should suggest Cambodia as a honeymoon getaway for him and Li-Shia?

my david cook is the best american idol ever

omg! omg! omg!

my david cook won!

he is the new american idol 7!

he won! he won!

i don't freaking care what that simon lembu-ell said last night. david cook definitely performed better ok? not only he got that great voice, but he has versatility, something david a. aka ballad boy did not have.

and did you see david cook in that suit at the finale results? so drop-dead handsome ok? there is just something so great with guys in this penguin suit. so lengzai oh.

i am so esctatic right now. gonna watch my david cook performances all day today.

david cook is the best!

p.s. just came back from Cambodia yesterday;P

david crushes goliath[edited]

friday (16th May 2008) is the marathon of "American Idol" from 6pm onwards. Gonna watch reruns of David Cook's performances. Why not? Since I am SO free right now. (Hope I won't eat my words after posting this)

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omg. wtf. yeah yeah david cook is in the finale.

I was not even an American Idol fan, let alone a David Cook fan but when I saw him performed that remake version of Mariah Carey's "Always be my baby", omg, I was so spellbound ok? Added to the fact that I simply dig rocker musicians, David Cook is so my fave to win!

He is up against ballad boy, David A.

Yes, I am calling him "ballad boy" coz he sings ballads so damn well, but so-so for others. Ok ok, he is a cute boy as well. But toooooo sugary sweet boy d. His smile is flawless anyway.

Cannot tahan d. So so happy David Cook is in finale.

Musician rules. Rockers rule. Lengzhais rule.

Finally, an AI finale where both are lengzhais.

Go go go David Cook!

m is for mom

I am officially grounding myself at home because every time I go out, I end up buying something and spending so much money. Heard that inflation has increased this month. Prepared a reading list for myself this holidays to kill the boredom.

1) Sweetheart From Hell, 2) Tuesdays with Morrie, 3) To Kill A Mockingbird,

4) Maybe should start studying for next sem? Hmmm...

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11/05/08~

This is a belated Mother's Day post.

Every year, I treat Mom for lunch/dinner at a restaurant of her choice. This time Mom picked this place:

She saw it in an article and the place is also relatively new. It is at Mid Valley, btw. Took us about half an hour just to find this restaurant.

Just goes to show we don't go enough to Mid Valley. Lol. Finally we found the place, it's at G-015, if I remembered correctly, just next to the SEED cafe.

The interior of the place looks prety cosy-like, with big comfy red chairs and they even have a bar too. And what else? A chocolate fountain! Yup, I think they were having this chocolate buffet.

But we did not indulge in chocolate. It was Mother's Day and we ordered ala carte.

For appetizer, we had soup - 4 kinds of soup, to be exact. Mushroom, broccoli, pumpkin and onion. They came in these cute glasses with straws. The waiter recommended this dish for us, so we can try all the flavours. Of coz, one can always ordered just one flavour.

That's me Mom, btw, checking out the menu.

I had the Thai Green Curry Seafood Spaghetti. Lots of seafood in there but the curry was not spicy enough for me. So I find it a little bland.

Mom had the rossi (me thinks it's French), which is a pancake-like layer of potato. It was not salty enough though but I think it tasted better than mine. Esp if one eats it with the mayonaise. The sausages tasted really good.

For dessert, I had the ice-cream sundae. We were both really full after our meals but I just had this dessert fetish. I didn't believe it, but I finished the whole sundae myself. It was so yummylicious. 2 scoops of ice-cream, 2 wafer biscuits and lots of fruits. Too hard to resist.

After that, we did some shopping. Mom copped a blouse from MNG and me from Diesel.

And that sums up this year's Mother's Day. Still thinking about that heavenly chocolate fountain though.....^o^

visiting penang: episode VI: missing penang already

Lol. I am having a Korean Movie Marathon right now. Just finish "She's On Duty". Simply hilarious. I like Kim Seon-Ah (My Lovely Sam-soon) because she plays these unconventional characters, not like typical damsels in distress always potrayed by other female leads. Also, Yu Kong (Coffee Prince) is just such a dreamboat ^o^

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When shopping's all over, we went back to the apartment and packed our belongings. My bag has now grew to twice its size. It was so hard to zipped it up, have got to ask Suz M to help me. Lol. BB is the funniest. That girl bring such a small backpack, as a consequence, had to return with so many plastic bags on her arms. Everyday, she packs and repacks. Moral of the story: If you are a shopaholic, remember to bring a bag with extra space in it before the trip.

It was time to return to Penang mainland, but instead of taking the bridge this time, we took a ferry back.


Actually, this is not my first time on a ferry. I have been on ferries many times before. Taking ferries are great coz one gets to take excellent pics of the sceneries from the ferry.

I think it was the 2 monkeys' first time though.

Presenting my poor attempt to crush the Penang bridge:

Don't mess with me...or I will penyekkan you. Muahahaha

Actually in truth, BB and I pointed at nothingness but when we saw the pic, it looks like we were pointing at the ship. Lol. Sheer coincidence.

Goodbye Penang!

No, I am not taking a walking test to see if I am drunk ok?

Another poor attempt to pose with Penang bridge

Breathtaking view

Our last night was spend in Grace's house. Her parents tapau dinner for us - delicious fried rice from the restaurant.

Jae-Sson, who had wanted to play with us since the very first day we got here, had his wish fulfilled.

We had a game of "SPOONS", a new card game that he taught us.

The rule of the game was pretty simple. Cards will go around the players until someone gets four of the same kind. Then he/she must grab the spoon in the middle. The tricky part is the number of spoons is always one less then the number of players. Each person gets only 6 chances. If by then, he or she misses taking the spoon, he or she will be punished.

The game became pretty wild because of Suz M and Jae-Sson.

We even had one spoon broken.

It was not easy figuring out what to get for Grace and Tye as a thank-you present. At Queensbay Mall, all we managed to get was a pretty cute box. It does not have a lid, it opens simply by pulling the top part.

And guess what did we fill it up with?

Voila!

Lots and lots of goodies like chocolate, tidbits and sweets.

Grace mentioned on the first day that she prefers eating than stuffed animals. So, we bought lots of yummies for her sweet tooth.

And we also wrote out a thank-you note for her on the back of a photograph.

08/05/07~

is the day that we are leaving after our 4 days 3 nights in Penang. Grace and Tye were also taking a bus, but to Genting for their holiday. The trip back was pretty fast, I think. Btw, the woman working at the bus agency (the office behind me in the pic) is mean, wtf. So not helpful at all.

I am already starting to miss Penang. Haihz...Miss the food, miss the shopping, and just miss everything about the place. Still many places haven't visited and food haven't experience. So the verdict is: Penang, I 'll be back! Lol.