10th Day - 5th Day - Part 2 (Phnom Penh City)

Nice porridge with char-kuew. The stainless steel kole is leng-teh.

Cambodia National Museum.

Me in Cambodia National Museum

At the National Museum entrance

Royal Palace, reminiscent of Thailand's architecture

Another shot of the temple

Minangkabau ke Siam?

Love this shot

Temple in the Royal Palace

Silver pagoda

Silver pagoda 2

Unique tree with nice Buddha statue

The unique flower close-up

Cambodia National Museum as the sunset approaches............

The Cambodia National Museum entrance in silhoutte

The city tour ending here.... before walking back to Sunway Hotel

Dinner at Lemongrass Restaurant

Nice view from the rooftop bar

All the popular drinking holes are strategically located along the Sisowath Quay where you can find a row of flag poles with flags of all the countries around the world. A dull game to play, is to guess correctly the country which the flags belong to.

Nice view from the Foreign Correspondence Club (FCC) rooftop bar

Foreign Correspondence Club (FCC) rooftop bar

Nice place and it's chic and stylish. Full of foreigners or foreign expats. Not a place to try out the cheap and cheerful local beers though cox the price is just not worth it. For local beers, try out the local joints instead.

9th Jan - 4th Day (Bus Journey from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh)

I found the journey from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh extremely comfortable. The bus itself is quite new and there's an in-drive hostess who serves you the drinks and snacks and act as a tourist guide as well. He will explain to you some of the attractions along the way, with some history thrown in, in both Khmer and English. Impressive huh? We didn't even do that in KL!!! I mean yup, maybe most of the local Cambodian know about the history of the places but they still do that. Amazing, the way they go beyond what is expected from them. Really have to learn if Malaysia want to gain more income from tourism.

A small town where we stopped by for lunch on the way to Phnom Penh.

Sparkling nescafe for a change? I prefer the old plain nescafe instead.

US Embassy, taken from the room in Sunway Hotel.

Wat Phnom from afar. Not really an attraction for those who had seen better in Angkor Wat.

Forgot the name of this interesting market, which is located very near to the strips of casino. This badly taken shot shows local having their meal while lying on the buaian made of fish net (I guess) - what's that word in English? Interesting way of having your meal and there's a TV set as well.

6th Jan - 1st Dat Pt 3 (Siem Reap, Cambodia)

Splurge myself as soon as I reached the Siem Reap town by bicycle. Rented the bicycle at USD2 which is USD1 more than usual for charity purpose, called White Bicycle.

Had a set lunch at USD8 at Le Grande Cafe which is a nice spot to watch the world pass by. The lunch is nothing spectacular though it's a nice place to rest and relax, especially under the hot sun.

Taken from the window-sde table at the 1st floor of Le Grande Cafe. In sight also the Warehouse, a nice drinking spot.

Luckily I found a cobbler to mend my 9-years old Malaysian made Power sandal.

The first temple I visited together with 6 Malaysians I met on plane. Not to be discriminating, it's nothing compared to Angkor Wat.

Taken with Ashley (far left) and Kenneth (middle).

Traditional Cambodian dish, amok which is creamy (coconut milk) and delicous. However, the waiting time is a put-off as I waited for about an hour for the dinner.

I tried the Amok at the Khmer Kitchen Restaurant which is just next to Le Grande Cafe.

Had a drink with Tina (left - Swiss working in Cambodia) and Andrea (right - Austrian traveler) at the Warehouse and had a nice chat as well. Both are CouchSurfer (www.couchsurfing.com) and eventhough Tina unable to host us, she still took her time and had a drink with us. Thanks for the Angkor beer Tina!!!

7th Jan - 2nd Day (Angkor Wat, Cambodia)

The amazing Angkor Wat

Sunrise

Amok - The national curry

Passer-by #1 - Thanks for helping me to take my photo

Angkor + Cotton-like Cloud

My Fav Photo of the Day (Thanks for the big smile kiddo!)

Winding up the day with the Last Wat

Another shot

My post with the Victory Gate as background

8th Jan - 3rd Day (Flooding Village and Flooding Forest, Kompong Phhluk)

Fisherman's kid with stylish pose.

My fave object, cloud.

The boat lady who brought me into the wondrous world of the Flooding Forest, Kampong Phlukk.

The boat lady's daughter and Mr. Charn, my friendly tuk-tuk driver.

Flooding forest 1.

Flooding Forest 2.

Flooding Forest 3.

Flooding Forest 4.

Flooding Forest 5.

The friendly boat lady with nice smile ending our flooding forest trip.

Leaving Flooding Forest passing the Floating Village.

Floating Village

Kid

My left food - with thick mud covered after our motorbike swamped into thick mud. Mud therapy?

Paddy field kid sympathizing us .

Innovative way to cover your meter.

Winding up the day at the Le Grande Cafe junction.

6th Jan - 1st Day Pt 2 - Jasmine Lodge, Siem Reap

After the moto ride with Makara for about 20 mins, we reached Jasmine Lodge. I didn't realize it was recommended in Lonely Planet (LP) and I booked it online due to its super cheap price (USD2/night). The pic above is the common dining area with a pool table. It's actually on 2nd floor so it's quite nice at night too. A comfy sofa inviting the guests to lay down and rest.

That's my USD2 room. With basic amenities such as bed, a small stool to put my bag on and also a small piece of mirror, there's nothing complain about. At least the bedsheet is acceptably clean and not causing me itchiness or skin sensitive.

The room is actually a single room with no attached bathroom. It's wooden and with no window. I was proud of myself being able to save some USD for my subsequent trip indeed. Anyway, it's good experience and nice story to tell hahaha.....

Post Holiday Syndrome

I was having serious post holiday or rather Post-Cambodia-cum-Vietnam syndrome when I did this:

1. I start to complain about the hot weather after enjoying nice cool weather in Hanoi, which is 15-18 deg C.
2. I start to complain about the scorching hot sweaty humid weather in KL for the fact that I have to wear a formal working attire with long-sleeved shirt and work pants while under the same hot scorching sun in Cambodia, I can wear thin revealing (as if there's any to reveal) singlet and get some tan without anyone battling an eye due to the fact I'm a traveller!
3. The Starbucks costs me RM15 while a cup of NICE Vietnamese coffee just costs me USD 0.5 which is only about RM1.75 but ok..... I got free WIFI in Starbucks fine.....
4. I missed the start-to-familiar faces of Annor, Lotte, Sharon, Chate, Nares, Renato, Amelie, Yann, Kim, Jun and so many other travellers I met on the road!!!
5. OK, I gotta get ready for work and get a cure for my post-holiday syndrome!!!!!!!!!

More write-up and pics of my travel on the way............

6th Jan - 1st Day Pt 1 (KL, Malaysia - Siem Reap, Cambodia)

This was the first ever picture I took in Cambodia, on the plane which everybody can fly now. I guess the swampy area is Tonle Sap which will be fully flooded when it's raining season and will be the biggest lake during the time. Very much anticipated the start of my trip. I arrived in KL on Jan 5 and spent a night with my best buddy who's cutely pregnant. Really appreciated her as she drove me to the airport!!!!!!!!!!! Nice to spend time before the trip....

Oh yeah... there was a group of Malaysian Chinese onboard the plane as well and it was one shameful moment. They were sneering and spoke loudly and made some improper remarks about the air stewardess in Cantonese and it's really a pain in the ears. There were a few foreigners who's obviously disturbed by their endless rude and loud chats not to mention laughing out loud along the flight. Luckily it's just around 2 hours I guess.

Met a French guy (oh... couldn't be sure actually cox I forgot to write down his name) who was on transit a night before in KL. He couldn't get a plane from Spore to Siem Reap so he ended up making a detour (macam Amazing Race Asia pulak) to detour to KL by bus and arrived around midnight and took the same flight with me to Siem Reap. He walked alone in the Pudu area and luckily he's safe. I met him in Siem Reap a few times with his Singaporean friend as well. Oh yeah... when he asked me where should they go when they're in KL few days later.... I was dumbfounded!!! I mean after seeing Angkor Wat and was asked to recommend a place in KL? U know what I mean??? Other than Petronas Twin Tower.... I dun have any other worthy suggestion. Did take a pics with him and the friend but due to some unforeseen circumstances (another story in the next post), I couldn't post it up here...


You may think that the pic above is some museum or palace but it's not. It's the Siem Reap international airport!!! Unique right? Even Bangkok airport is not traditional-architecturally built like that! Oh yeah.... Malaysians need no Visa for both Cambodia and Vietnam so we save almost USD80 for both. That's my 40 days accomodation in Siem Reap!!!

I brightened up the pic above a lil bit to show the face of the driver, Makara sent to pick me up at the airport. Yes, you are right, for an accomodation of USD2/day (RM7/day), I got free transfer from airport as well!!! And name printed in Welcome Card??? I felt so privileged!!! Though it turned out to be a moto, I was still very impressed. He drove me with my backpack on my back (not knapsack) for about 20 mins (well.... with about 72kg of my weight and 15kg on my back, he can't drive fast can he?) to Jasmine Lodge. Romantic journey if it's a gal who drove me and no scorching hot sun on top haha.........

(part 2 on the way......)

Minh's Jazz Club in Hanoi

The jazz club is nice. Good that Hanoi is blessed with such a talented Mr. Minh who actually dreamed of having his own jazz club. Certainly a must-go for jazz lover

Vietnam - The Healthy Country

I wanna say.... I'm amazed by the way the Vietnamese devote their time to exercise...
It was dark just now and the park was full of aerobic dance ladies and others were busy jogging and sweat the day off!!! Amazing!!!

Safe and Sound in Vietnam......

I started my journey from Phnom Penh around 10am after awaited for about 1.5 hrs at the bus stop and only reached Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC or Saigon) at 9.15pm. It's a long and winding road.... oh not only road cox I traveled along Mekong River as well.....

Anyway, safe and sound and ready to continue my journey. Tom will be some roaming around in HCMC and more updates and post will be available... Tonnes of pics hahhaha..... Stupid me doing promo for a blog with no reader!!!!

Cheers

A Long Awaited - Downgraded Trip

"yan ga" will go on a trip to Cambodia and Vietnam for about 2 weeks and hence, no post will appear unless i report some interesting stuff along the way..... well... not tat i write a lot of post in december but........

take k, cox "yan ga" will too........

Block

太阳雨. Almost everyday. Old legends says that it's a sign of bad luck. Hm.....