Siem Reap (Day 1)

The adventure begins even before we fly. Did you know that you can hop onto the skytrain at the departure hall and go duty free shopping at every terminal before you fly!? We didn't know that!!! With just half an hour to take off, we decided to try our luck to look for a particular brand at T3 as we were told by the sales assistant that it was only available there. So off we go in a snip snap and got back in time to T2 to catch our 0840hrs Silkair MI622 flight. :p

And the holiday begins!!! We had met up so many times, to plan our itenary for just a short 4-day trip that puts us to shame. hee... Anyway, we shouldn't have bothered. Cos the moment we touched down on Cambodian land, after meeting our driver and at the recommendation of the guesthouse's staff, our plans went down the drain! (well, not all but halfway.) hehe.

So after settling down in our room for these 3 nights, we went on a walking stroll around Siem Reap town.

Along the Siem Reap river...




Our first stop - Wat Bo.


According to Lonely Planet, it is one of the town's oldest temples and there's supposed to be a collection of paintings from the late 19th century but we saw nothing of that! And we must be the only crazy foreigners on the walking tour, we were the only ones at Wat Bo, in the heat of 40 deg C! (or so we heard).

Next stop, late lunch at Butterflies Garden restaurant. There were supposed to be butterflies flying around while we eat. But dunno is it cos of the hot weather, few butterfiles to be seen. And they are not scared of humans! One landed on the tee-shirt of the ang-moh in the next table. Another landed on YZ's face!!!! haha! But i was too slow to dig out my cam to capture such a priceless (funny) moment! :p Food is not nice. And i ordered a very yucky horribly bitter lime soda. Cos the weather was so hot, i had to force myself to drink it. And of course not to waste the drink too.

Since it was time for our next appointment, we quickly rushed back to the guesthouse where our awaiting tuk tuk driver brought us to Tonle Sap Lake.


This lake is the largest freshwater lake in SE Asia. In dry season, the water flows out to the Mekong River and in wet season (high tide), the water floods back in. Interesting! See the moss-like thing on the trees? That's how high the water submerged in high season! gasp!


Floating villages

Look at the boy in the tub! Ingenious!

We stopped at one of the floating restaurants to view the sunset. Alas! The sun is hidden behind the very big cloud! :( Nonetheless, the colours are really nice. The sun is always very nice when on water. :)







There isn't any streetlights on the way back. So we couldn't see what were the "stuff" that we "raining" on us in the wind on the ride back. Dust? Insects? After a long shower (cos of the horribly tiny flow of water in the shower), we walked to the nearby town centre for our dinner. We went to Amok restaurant, opposite to Old Market, to eat Amok. :p This is a curry dish. i like it a lot cos it is not spicy! Must-try!

i like the decor alot! The 2 small shots in the middle are complimentary pumpkin soup. :)

Fish Amok. Yum!

Walked walked a little after dinner and went back to the guesthouse before it closes at 1130pm. End of Day 1.

The Day Before The Trip

What's meant to be will be. The inevitable can't be avoided. Been plagued by a sore throat last Sat and Sun. With my downing of water, honey, Vit C and some ginseng water Mummy boiled, i managed to subdue it on Mon. :)

But alas! Got afflicted with a sneezing seizure and blocked nose in the office. So went to see the doc cos i'm counting down to my trip! Was on mc yday... but today... woke up with a nasty sore throat and to my horror, i lost my voice!!! i'm really speechless after all my efforts to avoid it.

i really hope i can find my voice back in the ruins of Angkor.. -_-"

十月围城

This is probably not a very good movie for CNY. Though depressing, you can't help but feel proud of the people who had sacrificed for this one person they do not know.

Pig Out!

Gosh! i'm really stuffing food in my face today! Ate so MUCH today!

Lunch
Office lunch at Cafe Swiss - Swissotel. My teammates decided to treat the boss instead of him buying us lunch as his tradition every CNY. i suggested this place cos of the 1-for-1 promotion. :p

Quite a relaxed ambience. But better to come at night cos you might be dining and suntanning at the same time due to the glass roof.

Dinner
The girls annual CNY get-together! This year instead of loi hei at LF's place, we decided to eat out. Went to Canton-i at Ion Orchard.

We all love the decor of this restaurant. Food is not bad. Service is quite good too. i think everyone was feeling really relaxed cos we ate ALOT! Imagine 6 girls finishing one big pengcai, one yusheng and still have room for bird's nest egg tart and mango sago with pomelo dessert!

as usual, pics to be uploaded at a later date... hee...

虎年听小虎队

Oh yay!!! So glad for the rain this afternoon, i managed to catch 小虎队 on tv! :) They are my all time fav boyband. i think i still have their old old cassettes in the store room! hehe.

Those were the days!

These are the classic 小虎队 songs. Pity it is so short.

Time to Say Goodbye

i'm a very sentimental person. Too sentimental for my own good sometimes i think. Especially during breakups and when it is time to say goodbyes. Which makes it a really difficult time for me right now. Cos it is that time of the year again. Spring cleaning! i can take ages to clean my room cos i can't bear to throw things out. i have stuff which i had kept for decades! Gasp! Big part of my room is taken up by my double bed (fit for a princess of course!). So with the limited remaining space, i really have to resist hoarding. My kind of spring cleaning is to take my things out for an annual airing. Play, read, or look through that item. Wipe away the dust. And put it back where it is. :p Horrible ritual right? No matter how early i start i would always end up finishing on New Year's eve. That itself is quite a miracle actually. hee....

Next goodbye, my grandparent's place. Grandpa had a shophouse which was my first home for 7 years. Even though we had moved out long ago, it was always there even after they had left us. i always remember the reunion dinners where the whole extended family would cramp into that small space. It was probably easier when everyone was still kids. After grandma left, the reunion dinner shifted to xiaogu's place as Grandpa shifted with her. But the shop was still around and we would still go visiting during CNY. After Grandpa left, the shop was still a gathering point before setting off to visit Granduncle. But after he left too, i cannot remember what did we do the last CNY. But now, the shop is to be sold. It seems that the only link to my grandparents is going to be cut. It makes me very sad. That place is the only constant in my life and it is soon going to be gone.

Journey to the East

Ventured to the far east today for a paid-day off work but ended up more tiring than work. Went out at the same time and reached home the same time too. So much for my big plans. -_-"

Thank goodness the office has free passes as i would not pay $20 to go to such an ulu place to see it. The performance and the display are the main draws but after seeing one, the rest looks more or less the same. Anyway, it is really hot and sunny in the east. Lucky i'm fully prepared with sunblock and my golfer's hat. Else i would be a lobster by now!


This is their swansong which is why i took a photo of it. Zoomed at least 10x on my crappy cam.

To all my friends

Have you ever wondered why you are friends with your friends? Or how you became fast friends? It got me thinking during MT's wedding last Wed. Not that i was so bored that got me wondering. In fact, MT's wedding was one of the most special i've been to. i like the duet sang by the couple and the montage delicated to their parents and of course, the tearing bride and groom during the solemnisation. The people at my table were asking how did we get acquainted. And so we started tracing who got to know who from whom, etc. i knew MT through YZ but when or under what circumstance we can't recollect. It might be when i visited YZ's room (i think i did) cos MT and YZ were hallmates or it might be after graduation when we started going to the gym. The verdict was, both YZ and i could not remember. We just know that it is through her.

Next, we (YZ, XX and i) started asking how did we know each other. One thing for sure, it was during Year 2 at CSE. Cos we were from different classes in the common 1st year. XX had got to know YZ during Year 1 cos YZ's room mate was in her class. So how did i got to know them? i vaguely remembered being allocated classes for Year 2 first semester. i did not have a common class with most people. Most of my tutorials are with random people but i remembered being in the same class as another guy which was why we pretty much hanged around for most of the semester. YZ said we happened to sit next to each other in lecture one day and so we started talking. She had thought me and that guy were an item. i remembered she told me that. And the reason why she remembered me was because she insisted that i had asked her if she was attached after knowing her for a few days. WHAT!? i don't remember that at all! And i don't think it is in me to ask someone i just know that. But she strongly believed i probably did. Come to think of it, if at that time if she had asked if that guy and i were together, i might had returned the question back to her... oh whatever....

Well, the issue is, what i really want to say is, it is fascinating how relationships branch and grow. And how they can wither and die too. i've lost almost all regular contact with my primary, secondary and probably even JC friends and ex-colleagues. Strictly speaking, i have their contact numbers so it isn't really lost contact. But we don't hang out like during that particular stage in life when we were really close. People come and go out of our lives so fast, it is hard to keep up. It's kinda sad whenever i think of the "lost" friendships. People change and in new stages of life, we make new friends and some friends drift apart naturally when they have different priorities in life, especially when they settle down. But the reality is, no matter how much we drift apart, i always cherish the times we had together and the gatherings that we have now even though they might not be frequent. i love you all, my dear friends.

The Marmalade Pantry

This is my first and might be my last visit to this restaurant at Ion Orchard.

Ate the Crabmeat Linguini - taste ok.
Shared the Sticky Date & Toffee Pudding (taste and look very much like fa gao but taste not bad), Pumpkin Creme Brulee (too sweet) and the Caramelised Pear & Salted Caramel Bread Pudding (this is nicest of all if you don't eat the pear which has a weird bleach smell)

Prices are not cheap considering it is at the atas level 3 at Ion. But the reason for my (and friends included) non-patronising is their seemingly policy of "no smiling". All the staff looks as if the whole world owes them money. Service is non-existence. Even though there are more than enough waitresses, it is very hard to get their attention. Glasses are refilled after 3 requests. Menus are very expensive here too. You only get 1 set per table. We were thinking perhaps it is just our table. But sadly, the only consolation is that they treat everyone equally. Bad, that is.

3 Pet Peeves!

There are some habits that i really can't stand. If you happen to be guilty of these habits and you've heard it from me, it simply means that i care about you enough to tell you that. (especially the top 1 - i've only told this to one person. :p). Or i'm really offended by it that i simply have to correct you! Some might be doing this unconsciously but i do think that a conscious effort can be made to undo them.

1. Chewing food with mouth open. i don't need to see that you are chewing your food properly before swallowing it. Spare me from the noise too. It's not just plain rude but it's real UGLY!

2. Girls in skirts sitting on the train with legs wide open. This is just senseless! Don't their teachers ever tell them how a girl should sit?!?!

3. Men and women shaking their legs off. What's their problem?? i really don't get it.