Angkor, Borobodur, Bagan

Angkor Wat - The 1st Visit in Jan 2007

I am not a religious person. But I have this unexplained urge of visiting the three great religious sites in the South East Asia region. I did the Angkor Wat in Siem Reap TWICE, yes haha.... twice due to a stupid mistake I made and I have two more to go, Borobodur, Yogyakarta, Indonesia and Bagan, Myanmar. Myanmar will be wrong timing now so........... BOROBODUR!!!! I NEED THE TRAVEL.

Scary Me....

I think I should be forgiven for this super scary picture taken at the entrance at the Angkor Wat. It's 5am in the morning for Pete's sake. It's a 3-day pass, cost me USD40, which was the most expensive transaction I did for this Siem Reap revisit.

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 (Part 1) Day 4 (Part 2) Day 5

How to Sell Your Country?

I guess everybody knows that it's Visit Malaysia Year 2007 targeted to lure in as many tourists as we can this year but the dampening news is that the 1st quarter target had not been met and it's worrying every single party involved. This couldn't be worse when the country has been plagued with discouraging news on cheating holiday homes, bad attitude and overcharging cabbies (sorry to those who's not involved but the bad seeds are just too many of them) and tonnes of other bad incidents.

So, besides those stuff, the most important thing is how to promote your country to other visitors? I mean when I go travelling, many people who's never been to Malaysia asks me what to recommend in Malaysia? In KL to be specific. And I was asked in places like in the middle of admiring the grandeur architechture of Angkor Wat or in the midst of enjoying the serenity of the natural wonder of Ha Long Bay boat trip.... and I have to churn out something to recommend in KL? Hmmm.... KLCC Petronas Twin Tower? Midvalley? Berjaya Times Square? From the line of example I listed you will notice it's the past-glory nominee for the once-biggest, once-largest or once-tallest man-made building with pathetically minimal soul or uniqueness to boast about. So, I recommend Taman Negara, Pahang or Melaka (or irritatingly referred to as Malacca) if they only have time in Peninsula Malaysia. Or if they have more time, go explore BORNEO!!! OKOK.... I may be biased being born in the enchanting Borneo myself but I guess no one will challenge the fact that Borneo has more special things to offer right?

OK, back to the topic, how to sell your country? And I am not referring to selling confidential secret-spy espionage we watched in the TV or movies ages ago... I mean how every country promote themselves in their tourism campaign?

To start with, Malaysia always use this tagline : MALAYSIA, TRULY ASIA (We even have our Datuk CT to belt out the most overplayed tune in national radio and TV!) Of course by using that we mean to sell our harmonious multi-cultural society

What other countries choose as their tagline/slogan? Here're some of them:

1. Thailand - Amazing Thailand

Without doubt, Thailand is amazing. Amazing land of smiles, amazing friendliness of its people, it's downright amazing. Slogan wise, it's simple and straight to the point.

2. Singapore - Uniquely Singapore

The sour grape of Malaysians will make fun of this slogan as what's uniqueness? It's their kiasu-ness of course. However, again it's the classic example of simple impactful tagline. And they have a Chinese version also which is brilliant for targetting the mainland Chinese citizens with so much money to spend! Hey Malaysian toursim topgun, don't just aim at the Middle-Eastern Arabians, the mainland Chinese are rich with cash now!!!

3. Philippines - Wow Philippines

Lack of ohmppp....if you ask me but maybe because I haven't been to the Philippines. However, it's a simple effective one.

4. Vietnam - The Hidden Charm

Oh... I wish it to remained hidden as with Myanmar too because too many tourists will hurt the charm definitely. So, it's kinda ironic huh cox I am one of the tourists even I tried to distinguish myself in every single way.

5. Laos - Jewel of the Mekong

Not an effective one if one does not know what is Mekong or understand the aesthetic beauty associated to the pulse of the Mekong Delta. Having said that, it's a nature paradise and it's my target.

6. India - Incredible India

Nice effective tagline and it's definitely perfected by the head tilting gesture of the Indian speaker. The hand-tatoo not to be mistaken to be Madonna's in her video Frozen, is spot-on. Like the whole concept of Incredible India. One of my friend visited the Northern India and the pics he took are amazing or.... incredible. Definitely a must-go.

7. Indonesia - The Ultimate in Diversity

Too simple and too long, a mouthful!!! It can do better I believe.

8. Myanmar - Mystical Myanmar

Given the house arrest of Aung San Syu Kii and the unexplored mystique of Myanmar, it's a winning simple slogan.

9. Cambodia - Home of World Heritage

I have no complain about Angkor Wat being the World Heritage but banking on that to the slogan is like putting everything in one basket. There were many world heritage now and more should be emphasised on other things Cambodia can offer. Having said that, I LOVE Cambodia especially Angkor Wat to the extend I had been there twice this year hehe.....

And for me, the winner is from the Down Under with their offensively-creative "Where the Bloody Hell Are You?" campaign which drew criticism and ban from the UK, the supposedly mother-country of the nation.

So, where the bloddy hell are you?

wake up and go travel somewhere else!!!!

26th Apr - 5th Day or the end of the Cambodia Excursion

Final day in Siem Reap. Woke up early morning and bicycle around the SR town.

The nice design of the outdoor deco in front of the luxury spa along the river.

FCC Angkor (Foreign Correspondence Club) in Siem Reap.

The row of shops housing the famous Funky Monkey.

This is one of the mushrooming international school in Siem Reap, Oxford International School.

These 2 gals were late and the national anthem was sang by the students inside the school hence both of them have to wait before going in.

My favourite dish when I'm in Siem Reap. Basically it's just fried noodle, the Cantonese style. Like the vege though cox they use "gai lan". And they name the noodle as Chinese noodle, which is kueh tiao here.

Jasmine Lodge was given a new dash of paint in purple in conjunction of the Khmer New Year in 2007.

Taken with Paris in front of Jasmine Lodge before going to the airport. Hope he can save more money for his trip to Vietnam and Bangkok soon. Good luck on your passport application Paris!

25th Apr - 4th Day (Angkor Revisited Part 1)

I decided to spend my last day of the 3-day pass by visiting Bayon and Ta Phrom again..... yes... again but only this time I will do it early morning to get the best light and also reduced number of visitors. Instead of Mr. Wana, I had Paris (yes, you read it right and I wrote it right too...) as driver this time and he knows Makara, my previous driver in January who doesn't work in Jasmine Lodge anymore.

Taken at the South Gate.

The bad guys on the right.....

And the good one on the left.....

The face on the entrance of the South Gate.

The sideway face of the South Gate.

Is it fate or the world is just too small? The pic above is taken with Mr. Charn who was my tuk-tuk driver who brought me to the Kampung Phlukk where we had a minor motorcycle accident. See [here]. He is still very apologetic about the whole incident and keep apologizing. Meeting him again really made my day.

Started my early day expedition at Bayon, which normally receives tonnes of visitors.

Apsara and the door at Bayon.

Again, the famous carved face in Bayon temple with the early morning sun shining on it.

Arguably the most popular photo-taking spot in the Bayon Temple. But thanks to the early morning timing, I had it ALL BY MYSELF!!!

Another shot taken inside the temple. Love this artsy-fartsy shot.

The left side...

And the right side...

The smil,e the gaze, the knowing look smiling coyly...

Another shot...

Taken by the Germann guy with his Lao wife. The retired German is now residing in Vientiane and they made such a cool couple. Speaking of Laos, my other dream destination.

Another artsy-fartsy shot just utilising the macro mode.

The elephant terrace.

My shot with the elephant trunk.

Yup, it's me again...

Taken by Paris who drove me from Bayon to Ta Phrom.

The Ta Phrom. I finally found some serenity and calming effect in Ta Phrom. Known as the site for The Tomb Raider, there's no Angelina Jolie here but instead lots of local teenagers or youngsters who claimed to know the exact place for the shot featured in the movie and hoping to get some tips from you. Since I am early and alone, I was spared from all those.

Taking cue from the Vishnu god who always portrayed as lying...

And 2...

And 3...

Taken at the 1st inside gate in Ta Phrom; the green moss provide great contrast.

And 2...

And 3...

With the apsara again...

In a rush to take pic before the hordes of tourist swarming in...

The tree : the starring of Ta Phrom

The apsara and the falling pillars.

The tourist pouring in already....with their shouts and giggling.

The kid in Ta Phrom. Showed him this shot after that and he was happy to see himself. That's the only thing I can do.

Thanks to the Canadian gals who helped me with this shot. Of course, I helped them to take some too.

The crawling door?

Taken before crawling in...

Taken at the outer gate area in Ta Phrom.

The Canadian gals jumping gallantly.

Final shot in Ta phrom before proceeding to the Roulos group.