Change your thoughts and you change your world

Fraser hill & Malacca trip (7/3/10)

2010-03-07T10:28:00.000+08:00

I did not slept well last night as I kept waking up. Actually I want to watch the sunrise but I was afraid of the insects army if I opened the balcony door.

Fog.

We checked out before heading for the breakfast buffet.

There was not much people and not many varieties too!

Nasi Lemak, noodle. . . The coco crunch was not crispy and milk does not taste nice.

Roti prata. Not very crispy.

Some of the insects joined us for our breakfast.

Minature of Silverpark Resort

It was abt 9am+ and we waited for the 10am downhill traffic

We have nothing to do so we just walked around.

We found alot of bamboos at fraser hill.

World of flowers

On the way down, we spotted a waterfall.

I guess the water was much cleaner than the Jeriau waterfall.

Mother and baby monkeys

Cars by the roadside? Illegal fishing?

We kept searching for the place at Sungai Selangor Dam as shown in the photos on the travel book.

Making some U-turns, we finally found it. However abit disappointed as the water did not flow into the spillway unlike in the pic.

After which, we headed to Malacca to have lunch.

Joe recommended this Pernakan restaurant to eat but was closed for lunch by 3pm. Hence we have to eat something else for lunch.

Parking coupons.

Filiming scene in 夏日嬷嬷茶 - Geographer cafe

Restoran Famosa chicken rice ball

We ordered 1/4 roasted chicken, a small plate of roasted pork, one plate of bean sprout, 9 riceball, 1 plate of rice and 3 drinks which cost us RM36.70 ~ S$15.30. I did not tried the chicken rice balls on my last visit to Malacca. However the chicken rice balls were nothing fantastic.

Photos of famous visitors

Apple car plate

We went for foot reflexology since there was no body massage here. The package includes 40min foot massage and 20min back massage which cost RM52 ~ S$22.

This was the first time I tried foot reflexology. It was not as scary as I thought as I think I didn feel any pain. However when I was back doing yoga, I felt that there was abit of tension on my right thigh and I could not stretch as high. My masseur was a man from Northern China. Out of couteousy, I chat with him. But I found out that he wants to be friend with me as he kept asking me questions. Ultimately, the session ends and I just say bye to him. I may not try foot reflexology next time as I am afraid that they would hurt my nerves and I could not be able to do yoga for sometimes.

Christ Church

Market selling souvenirs

We went on to Maritime Museum. The admission fee is RM3 for adults.

All the statues were bronze in colour.

World currencies

Old Singapore $50 note

Cannon

Nice shot but I hate the shot taken from below as it makes my face big.

Eye on Malaysia previously in KL

Church of St Francis Xavier

Association of 永春

Baba house

Peranakan Restaurant for dinner

Huiping and I went upstairs to explore while waiting for the food to be serve.

It was really eerie upstairs. Especially with the colours window when we peep through the door.

Our dinner - fish, octopus, Kan kong, pork and soup. I liked all except the soup as it was too salty.

Chendol

One of the Olympics champion?
We head to JB immediately after dinner. Actually I hate to take ride immediately after eating as sometimes it makes me feel giddy or feels like vomiting. Reached home at around 10.20pm.

Fraser hill & Malacca trip (6/3/10)

2010-03-06T10:29:00.000+08:00

We woke up at 4.30am, and Joe came and fetch us at 5am. That was super early and not even a bird can be heard chirping on the trees. My sis had do research, so basically I can just rest on the car. But I cant as Joe was speeding too fast that I did not dare to sleep. My cousin, Hui Ping, on the other hand was able to read her story book.

Stadium that we passed by

It was already 10am but we were not yet at the foot of Fraser Hill! On the way, we tried to look for dam in the printouts that my sis photocopied. But to no avail.

Rainbow bridge

Suspension bridge

Map of Fraser Hill

We have to stop here as the timing now was for downhill vehicles. There was only one way to and from Fraser Hill - Jalan Gap.

The drivers need to be aware of the time so that they do not need to wait for another hr. Each interval is 40mins as 20mins is for the buffer time so that no vehicle would still be at Jalan Gap when they chnage the traffic flow.

Welcome to Negeri Selangor

It was quite slippery as the rain had just stopped. Moreover, my sandals did not have enough friction and I almost slipped.

It was not cold up here.

This way please

We did not wait for long before the gate was open for up hill. We were second in queue, but the red van in front stopped halfway to let us over take as Joe was driving too close. The path up was another winding road. Lucky, I survived all!

Solar lamp

Puncak Inn

Famous clock tower

There were only 4 or 5 eateries in Fraser Hill @@ This famous laksa at Kheng Yuen Lee Restaurant was closed. And it seems they were closed for good. Cant blamed them, so little people here.

people filming here

In the end, we settled our lunch at Puncak Inn as and the other eateries were being filmed or specialised in seafood, which I am allergy to.

Nasi Lemak - RM11. So spicy and not nice at all! All the food we ordered were awful.

Next, we went to check in our apartment - Fraser's Siverpark Resort

At the receiption.

Towards the left is the restaurant for our complemently breakfast tml.

Our stay was a 2 bedroom apartment for RM258.75. Each px was abt S$27.

We stayed at 2nd floor.

living room

Kitchen

Master bedroom

Attached toilet

Nice scenary view from the bedroom

Another bedroom

Common toilet

Balcony

A provision shop where we bought some tibits

police station

Again, the clock tower to show that i've been here.

Postoffice

My sis asked me a silly qns. What does FHGC stands for?
Of course is Fraser hill Golf course

Sunflowers but not many

FHDC (Fraser's Hill Development Corporation)

Mosque

Singapore House?

Primary Sch. Wonder if there were really kids studying here?

Kingswood Bunglow

Richmond Bunglow

Colourful flowers

The grass matched exactly with the bunglow

Different colourful flowers we saw on the way

The resort was so run down.

A lake.

I dont think there is a bank here.

I guess everyone can followed rule #1, but as for #2, we all left shoeprints instead of footprints!

There were nothing more to explore as the other side was all the telecom structure and left were some long trails which we do not have enough time to complete. Hence we went to see Jeriau waterfall.

Flower on the way

Fungus on dead tree trunk

The waterfall is 6m tall. It was quite a dissapointment as I have expected the waterfall to be beautiful but it was muddy here.

Pipe which help to filter some of the water downstream.

The pool was not deep as kids played around here.

Stairs leading down to waterfall.

A small hut

We went on to The Smokehouse to have high tea which starts at 3pm.

European style

We tour around the place while we wait for the high tea to be served.

Does the clock still works?

Warming my hand at the fireplace

Patio

2 Devonshire Cream tea set, Tuna sandwich, Choc Lava cake and 2 additional tea. The total cost was RM105.80 ~ S$44 which was ~S$11 per px.
I loved this scone. The cream, strawberry jam and butter made this scone perfect. At least I felt that I have not wasted my time here.

Banga and mash

Tuna sandwich

We went back to our apartment to have a rest.

Dusk

We saw monkeys climbling around. Joe throw potato chips to chase them away before locking the window.

We ate cup noodles for dinner since everyone was lasy to go out and the eateries do not sell nice food. There were limited TV channels and so we played disc games.

My sis brought those wines as nobody drank at home. Fortunately, I did not drink alot as I did not lose alot.

We closed all the windows and doors as all the insects want to come into the house. We spent quite sometimes taking the photo of this moth although we still could not capture a nice shot of it.
Since all windows were closed, we dragged the bed to the living room to sleep as there were only ceiling fan in the living room.

Fraser hill & Malacca trip (6/3/10 - 7/3/10)

2010-03-05T16:17:00.000+08:00

Fraser hill & Malacca trip (6/3/10)
Fraser hill & Malacca trip (7/3/10)

KL work trip + Genting (22/2/10 - 28/2/10)

2010-02-28T14:52:00.320+08:00

This was the 1st time that my work requires me to travel. We booked firefly @ MYR969.80 for 2 px. Of course this was paid by my client. Firefly flies to Subang airport which was nearer to our client office.

2nd time to budget terminal. Hans was no longer there and was replaced by Mac.

The departure hall still looked the same as b4.

It was really noisy while waiting to board the plane. I dunno why firefly produrce such a loud noise. I saw some of the airport staff wore ear plug.

We selected the front seats. But to my surprised the exit and the toilet was at the back.

The plane was smaller than tiger or jetstar.

Thus it did not fly high in the air.

There were refreshment - orange/apple juice and peanuts/muffin

The Subang airport only have 3 arrivals counter.

We have to purchase the taxi ticket from the counter as they only allowed some taxi drivers to drive passengers from the airport.

RM23 abt 15-20mins to our hotel

The control tower

Crystal Crown Hotel is a four star hotel but really inaccessible.

The receiption. We took quite along time to check in as the staff requires us to pay deposit 1st since he could not verify my client's credit card. In the end, I give them my credit card to verify.

That's all I brought.

The room was clean with 1 double bed and a single bed. I slept on single bed since my collegue prefer to sleep on double bed.

The toilet. My collegue yelled when she discovered there was no comb, toothbrush and toothpaste. Maybe I always travelled with a budget, that's why all those I need I would bring myself.

Bathtub which I never used.

popiah - RM5.50

Next day morning view from our room

Buffet breakfast were provided.

Rain or shine, there would always be Nasi Lemak.

Coco crunch

The only thing we looked forward to is the egg ommettle.

Dim sum and bread

The egg also looked dissappointed

Some curry noodle

Every morning we ate so full that we can have really late lunch.

We went to the A&W to have our lunch.

Not forgetting the root beer

this A&W opens 24hrs

Amcorp mall where our client office was located

Initally we arranged to stay here as it was only a walking distance away from the workplace and a few metres walked to the train station. However it was fully booked!

4 at RM1!

I bought herbal tea to cool myself since I have eaten so many fried food.

Worse still, I ordered Rojak Sotong which was super spicy.

Everyday was so hot that I got sun burned

The nearest station was Taman Jaya LRT station

Kueh RM1. All half price after 6 or 7pm.

@ secret Recipes Strawberry milkshake-RM8.50 + Cholocate Indulgence - RM6.50

Koay Teow Soup RM7.30 + Fresh Honey Lime - RM3.60

We went to Sungei Wang for shopping as it was friday. There was some jam, thus the fare from our hotel up till here was RM22.

We saw this Jay Chou's junior. 4gt what's her name. Anyway her singing can still be improved.

Mango pancake - RM4 + Tiramisu - RM4. Tiramisu taste wierd as no Bailey was added since it was made from the Malay. Alamak. Shouldnt have bought it.

We went to the Central station to buy bus ticket to Genting but to our horror all tix were sold out. The earlist one would be 1 or 2pm.

We still want to go Genting, So we took the private car at RM25. And for return trip, we bought bus + cable car ride at RM9.30.

The journey to genting was about 1 hr.

Finally we reached Genting. This was my 1st time visiting.

But my 2nd time visiting casino. Genting Casino was really old. Lucky I bought my passport as the security thought I was underaged.

Everything was so colourful

Tix counter. RM44 for outdoor theme park.

Yes, that's my height.

Didn took this ride

We were recognised by barcode here.

Well, it was not cold at all!

1st stop - Cholocate Wonderland

This was the stupidest ferry wheel that i have every took. It goes round and round so many time and it seems ages for our turn to get down.

Energizer

Free fall not opened. It was not as high as the one in Ocean park.

Go-Kart that we queue for almost 2 hrs with the non-courteous Indian people cutting queue. Not 1 or 2. But more than 10pple.

Duck boat

Roller coaster that I gave it a miss since we have no time left.

This really wet me. Some of the water have went into the boat.

Foggy

We were rushing to the shopping mall to get the free gift but it turns out that we must purchase up till certian amt b4 entitlement. Haiz did not read the fine words at the back. In the end, we ran back to the cable car station. Unfortunately, I fall down on the escalator and hurt my knee. What a big ang bao.

The cable car journey was abt 20mins.

We were lucky enough to catch the bus.

Back to the central, we took train to mid-valley.

Chendol - RM2

Kenny Roger, qtr chicken set- RM18.28

This was counted by auditor.

Didn watch movie as my leg was so painful.
It was an unpleasent day, yet the taxi driver and my colleague do not agreed with each other and made the day more worse.

Leaving for Spore

Didn really buy much things, so the extra bag was for my working papers.

Again, it was so noisy. I wondered is it because they suck the waste out from the toilet?

Refreshment & home sweet home

HK/Shenzhen/Macau - Post trip

2010-02-10T13:54:00.051+08:00

The trip would not be made possible without Xiulian as my frenz have all been to HK which i mentioned in my earlier post. She did not have any disagreement with me although sometimes I tend to nag abit.
Due to the bad weather, we were unable to see some of the attractions that were planned. My impression of Hk was that it was really crowded and the rooms were super small. I am grateful to have my own room back here. The lifestyle was almost similar to Spore - hectic....But at least they have different style of dressing according to the seasons.
Shenzhen was a nice place to shop! I should have bring more money there. It was really amazing to visit all the places of attractions around the world in 1 day! But it was too rush and I did not have the time to appreciate the miniatures.

HK - 9/2/2010

2010-02-09T12:55:00.074+08:00

Today we were leaving for Singapore. We left our luggages with the guesthouse. The auntie asked us whether we were able to carry so many things back. But no matter what we still have to use all our effort to carry them back home.

We went to take the tram at Central.

The central market

We discovered that we took the wrong direction, thus we headed back again.

The tram stopped so near from each other!

We stopped at Wan Chai. I bought this 罗汉果茶 - HK8.50 as I felt abit heaty.

金凤茶餐厅

I ordered 热桔蜜 - HK13, 牛油菠萝包 - HK6. Eh.. it did not taste nice as it was not crispy. I dunno why it was so famous in the open rice forum. Just when we were about to left, a lady came and asked xl how to pronounce a Chinese or cantonese word on the book.

XL said dunno and we realised that we are all S'porean.

The longest escalator

Our luggage were all over weight! Lucky the counter staff did not notice the backpack I carried on my back, so we were allowed to bring on board. The departure hall was at T1 which was so far away. Thinking that it was still early we still went to bakery shop to buy some more stuff after check-in. Later, we run as we were afraid that we would miss our flight. I was having sore-throat but the custom officer did not allow me to bring water onboard. Later I saw watercooler at the departure gate but do not have time to refill. In the end have to purchase $3 of small mineral water from jetstar.

HK - 8/2/2010

2010-02-08T11:18:00.135+08:00

We woke up at 6am as we were going to Macau the whole day. Bought Turbo Jet tix at HK134. The Macau Ferry Terminal is located at Shun Tak Centre at Sheung Wan (Sheung Wan MTR exit D).

The weather was windy and sea was rough. Initially I did not intend to take the seasick pill as I want to test whether I am still seasick as it was already a long time since I took ferry. However looking at the bad weather, I still took the pill.

It was extremely rocky on the ferry. Furthermore we were on the upper deck which is worse still as walking up and down the steps was not an easy job when the ferry was so rocky. I wondered how can those people even read newspaper onboard?

We took the free shuttle bus from the ferry terminal to Hotel Sintra and walked across the road to buy the famous Margaret's Cafe e Nata egg tarts. It really shunk in size since I ate it 4yrs ago. A Chinese woman followed us the whole day as she say she did not have any plan here.

We went back to the ferry terminal again and took the Venetian bus.

Gondola. Super x for just a short ride. That's why nobody was on the Gondola.

It was really grand inside.

1st time going Casino. I still hate it when people smoke.

Serradura - MOP12 super sweet but I liked it. Located at Rua do Regedor s/n, AA Chun Fok Village C.C. r/c, Taipa. Texture was abit like ice cream but softer. Later I google abt Serradura and was shocked that it was made from whipped cream and condensed milk! That was so sinful.

Fried potato ball with cheese - MOP35 Yummy

We went on to queue for pork bun at 大利来记咖啡室 (澳门凼仔巴波沙总督前地18号 - Taipa) It start selling at 3pm. Be sure to get there by 2.45pm as the people would start queuing around that time and limited to only 300 buns per day. Cost - MOP16. This time round it didn taste delicious as it used to be.

We went to the Senado square to shop. All I bought was only snacks - 金钱饼 MOP52 from 潘溶记 (made from duck eggs) and 9 boxes of almond cookies -MOP252

With the Chinese auntie. She was a teacher at Shanghai or Beijing.

However, we forgot to exchange each other contact.

敦奶 - MOP17

We left Macau at 7pm. Bought this cold noodle HK5 at the argyle centre.

Not bad but the staff was not polite at all. However I went to buy it again the next day.

HK - 7/2/2010

2010-02-07T09:52:00.126+08:00

It was raining heavily today. We were going back to hk in the evening and we have the whole morning and noon for shopping! We left our luggage at the reception and went on shopping.

We ate at this 炸子机 in Dong Men Ting as not much of the stalls were opened early in the morning. One of the staff was curious abt XL umbrella as it was folded into a flat rectanglar shape, he said that this was so high tech as he did not saw this type of umbrella b4. I guess he did not go shopping often.

I ordered 手打牛肉丸桂林米粉 - RMB9. Only soso.

芋泥香饼 - RMB2. It was deep fried again when u ordered making it so oily.

薯饼 - RMB4. The stall owner asked us whether the 鸡蛋仔 (photo below) was nice or nt as his customers complained to him b4. I tot he was not in good terms with the 鸡蛋仔 owner but eventually it really dont taste nice.

鸡蛋仔-RMB6

青枣-RMB2 bought from roadside stall

We spent all our RMB and XL even exchange some of her S$ to RMB. It was really raining heavily and we wonder how can we carry so many things and walked to the train station?? I have brought a luggage and a small bag to ShenZhen and yet I have bought 1 more backpack and 1 luggage to stuff all my things bought 2day. Talking abt the luggage, initially the staff want to sell me at RMB360 which I rejected. Partly bcos it's expensive and I did not have enough cash with me. I told them I only have RMB180 left. They seems very eager to sell it to me and so I tot I have gt a good deal since price was cut almost by half. But later I discovered that the lock was spoil and the wheels were uneven. I blamed myself for not checking it carefully b4 I buy.

The rain seems non-stop. We waited at the hotel until the rain was not that heavy and just wear a hat and go. We didn have cash left so no $ to take cab. There were many steps leading to the train station, thus we have to carry 1 luggage at a time. The worse case was when we gt back to Mongkok East! No escalator down! And I think 100 over steps which we need to carry more than 10 rounds to exit the station. Again, it was still raining in HK.

We went back to Ahshan Guesthouse. Since we have already paid the deposit upfront, they still reserve the room for us after 8.30pm. This was slightly bigger than the room we stayed previously. At least with this washing area.

We went to ladies street to settle our dinner since it was still raining heavily, we did not intend to go far.

Again, the tea taste weird to XL. For me is ok. I guess the tea in HK has a stronger smell and maybe abit bitter than the usual one we drank.

We settled for this chicken chop and ham - RMB45

HK - 6/2/2010

2010-02-06T15:46:00.305+08:00

Managed to take a photo of The ShenZhen Guesthouse.

We ate at a restaurant in Lao Jie. I ordered 生滚田鸡粥 - RMB12. Not bad but alot of bones.

We alight at 华侨城站.

Snowman at display

Here we are at Splendid China-Folk Culture Village 锦绣中华·中华中国民俗文化村.

Opening hrs: 0900 - 2130

Ticket counters

RMB 120

This theme park consist of Splendid China, which display all those miniatures of China and Folk Culture Village, which shows the different cultures in China.

If you are rushing for time, do give Folk Culture Village a miss.

Muslim Architecture

Tibetan House

Mongolian Yurt

Here u can ride a house at a very cheap price. i regretted not riding one.

@Korean house

We saw alot of dried mazes along the way

Nanfeng Pagoda in Xianju

Wooden lamps along the way

Li Village

Some of the village played music that sounds a bit errie and turned us off.

Thousand-handed and Thousand-eyed Guanyin

Maizes

Shrine

Dong Village

Drum Tower

Shiii... I am studying..

Wind and rain bridge

Bouyei village. Some of the villagers would pester you to buy souvenirs.

Stone forest

Fly fox. I would like to try but xl do not want to accompany me. I guess xl would have to catch my heart at the end of the rope if I did try.

White Pagoda

It was really heavy!

Out of curiousity, XL and me went to take photos with the traditional costume. It was not the proper costume as they tailor make to wear it from the front, and just tied knot at the back.

The lady would teach you to make poses and she would took the photos. You could also just rent the costumes and photograph yrself which was a bit cheaper.

6 photos cost RMB145! It seems that we got ripped off.

We ate at a nearby Tian Yi Ge restaurant. I ordered 冷面-RMB20. Tasteless.

XL ordered fried noodle which was also so oily.

Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes

莫高窟

Longmen Grottoes, 龙门石窟

Yungang Grottoes, 云冈石窟

Leshan Grand Buddha Statue

Yunnan Stone forest

The Bai Dwelling House and Dali Three Ancient Pagodas

Huangguoshu Falls

Feihong pagoda

Midair temple

Nanchan temple

Ancient Star observatory

Yellow Crane Tower

YueYang Tower

The Shaolin Temple

Xi qiao Mountain

Seven star crags

We saw this helium balloon for quite a long time. Guess it was for advertisement.
But it made a very loud noise.

The Imperial palace

Temple of Heaven

The Thirteen Ming Tombs

The Dwelling Houses of the Hakkas

Yingxian wooden pagoda

Terra Cotta Warriors and Houses of Qin Shihuang Mausoleum

Huangdi Tomb

Dazu Stone Carvings

Longevity temple

Cliff side tombs

Potala palace

Libya people we meet on the way

Great Wall of China

The tomb of Xiangfei. Xiangfei would be familiar to those who have watched 环珠格格II.

Nine Dragon Screen Wall

4 tips on visiting Splendid China & Cultural folk village:

1. Wear light clothing and brim a sweater along. The temperature varies in the day!

2. Bring extra water and food. There was no water cooler and the food there may not be edible for people.

3. Do not rely on the map! The map was totally not drawn to scale. And some of the minitures were not even in the map.

4. Wear comfortable foot wear.

5. If u are rushing for time, visit Splendid China only unless you like to watch the cultural performance in the cultural village.

Just a rough estimate, we covered >90% of this theme park from 10am to 4.30pm. That was provided that we skip those cultural performance.

We went to this Grandma Curry restaurant @ Laojie to have our dinner

The corn soup was not nice and the salad kind of wierd as it used a different veg+soya sauce+3 layer pork = yucks!

Cheesy sausage on curry rice. The sausage was over cooked and this kind of cheese does not blend with the meal. No wonder there was almost no customer here!

HK - 5/2/2010

2010-02-05T16:51:00.339+08:00

I woke up super early 2day. Actually shld be everyday. Dunno why go travelling also must torture myself to wake up early?? Anyway I dont really feel tired unlike working days...

I ordered the Yuan Yang rice roll and Youtiao (shared) - HK18.50.

The you tiao was so short compared to ours.

XL ordered tea and it turned out to have a strong tea smell and she dont like.

@Mongkok East station waiting for train to Lohu.

The train was just like the normal MRT unlike the train that connects S'pore and Msia.

@ Lohu custom

Immigration card

After exiting the immigration hall, we took an escalator down to the basement to take the Shenzhen subway.

This machine was used to purchase the train ticket. The control station counter was only for changing bigger notes and they did not sold their ticket there. It was also not convienent to purchase the subway card as you have to go to the headoffice to get a refund on the card.

The front and back side of the coins. Just scan the coin when entering the gate and drop the coin into the comparment when exiting the gate.

Shenzhen subway train was much newer than the Mongkok East train.

There we reached our 深圳迎宾馆, about 10mins walked from the subway station. Is at 老街站 Exit A.

The room cost RMB331/night

The room was abt 3 times larger than our room in HK!

Unique MacDonald at Lao Jie

Unique KFC

We went straight to Window of the World @ Window of the World 世界之窗站 Exit J. The opening hr is 0900 - 2230.

The Glass Pyramid of Lourve, France.

Adult tix cost RMB120

The World Map Fountain

The Global Arena

Egypt gate

Relief Wall of World Civilization

China gate

The Grand Palace of Thailand

Putong gate, North Korea

The Throne Hall of Kyongbok Palace, South Korea

The Merlion, Singapore

Shwedagon Pagoda, Myammar

The Stupa of Swayambhunath, Nepal

Wat Xieng Thong, Laos

In the middle is The Pagoda of 10,000 Buddha, Malaysia. On the right is Thuparama Dagoba, Sri Lanka.

The Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Borobudur, Indonesia

Mt. Fuji

Katsura Detached Palace.

We didn went down to explore the Japan minitures as we still have alot more to cover in WOW.

The ruins of the Audience Hall, Persepolis, Iran

On the left - The Great Stupa of Sanchi, on the right - The Mahabodhi Temple at Gaya, India

Taj Mahal, India

Modhere Scared Well, India

Bhaja Chaitya Hall, India

Arabian Square of Islamic Mosque & Coffee Pot

Royal Mosque of Isfahan, Iran

Spiral Minaret of The Friday Mosque, Iraq

Stonehenge, Britain

The Wall and clock Tower of Kremlin, Russia

The Cathedral of St. Basil, the blessed, Russia.

London Tower Bridge, Britain

Houses of Parliament, Britain

Buckingham Palace, Britain

On the background, Eiffel Tower. Is a pity that we didn went on to see it as our legs were so painful after so much walked.

Notre Dame, France

The Pisa Leaning Tower and Church, Italy

Cologne cathedral, Germany

Venice, St mark's square, Italy

Alcazar Castle, Spain

The Sydney Opera House, Australia

Sydney harbour bridge

Teh Dwelling-house of Maori Inhabitants

The Idyllic sights of Windmills and Tulips, Holland

Guell Park, Spain

Saint Michel Abbey, France

The Spanish Steps

The Great Temple of Abu Simbel, Egypt

Coconut - RMB10 and it was so small

The Mazes, UK

The Fountain of Observatory, France

Triumphal Arch, France

The Colosseum, Itay

The Piazza Della Signoria, Greece

The Acropolis of Athens, Greece

The Ivory gate, Kenya - In the background

Scooter for rent by hour. In case u gt tired, which would be definitely.

Pyramids of Giza, Egypt

Grand Canyon, USA

The Niagara Falls

There was a stall near the Niagara Falls so we bought some stuff to eat. I could say that the food was unedible. Never order from that stall!

Corn - RMB6. The corn was not husked clean and with almost no juice!

Taiwan sausage - RMB5. So oily!

Mount Rushmoore National Memorial & The Capitol, USA

Skyscrapers in Manhattan, USA

Jefferson Memorial Hall, US

Lincoln Memorial Hall, US

Washington Monument, US

The National Congress of Brasilia, Brazil

Mount Corcovado, Brazil and The Statues of Easter Island, Chile

The Statue of Liberty, USA

The Totem-Pole of North American Indians

Dinosaur Park

El Castillo, Mexico

The Globose, Mexico

Nasca Lines, Peru

European Street

Islamic Street

4 tips on visiting WOW:

1. Wear light clothing and brim a sweater along. It was so hot in the noon jus like spore weather!

2. Bring extra water and food. There was no water cooler and the food there may not be edible for people.

3. Do not rely on the map! The map was totally not drawn to scale. And some of the minitures were not even in the map.

4. Wear comfortable foot wear as WOW was so big and you could not finish all in 1 day.

西门町@Taipei VS 东门町@Shenzhen
I could say that both are equally big and have alot of varities of clothes! 东门町 is much cheaper than 西门町 but 西门町 have more varities of roadside stalls selling snacks.

We ended up in the Cosplay Cafe for dinner

My set meal consist of fish fillet + 原味珍珠奶茶 - RMB43

Not forgetting to take photo with the staff.

HK - 4/2/2010

2010-02-04T23:34:00.195+08:00

Pottinger Street @ Central

泰昌餅家 Tai Cheong Bakery@Lyndhurst Terr. Famous for its egg tart. Egg tart cost HK5. Not very nice. Still prefer the portuguese egg tart. i also bought Chicken pie - HK7, Lao po bing-HK4.50, Lotus pastry-HK6 and old egg pastry-HK6. All not for my taste.

The Tung Chung Line from the Central station was super far away. Not like our Dhoby Ghaut interchange. Tink we walked for 15mins to reach from East rail line.

Tix to Ngong Ping ride.

Counter for the purchase of tix.

Dare to try the maintenance cable car? The cable car ride took abt half an hour. But it really offers a fantastic view of the reclaimed land of HK airport, the mountains. We even saw 2 females hiking. The wind was blowing strong and I could feel it as the compartment below the seats allowed the air to flow in. It was really not easy to climb in the winter seasons given the weather and the heaviness of the bags and clothing.

On the cablecar, we met a taiwan family and it was interesting to chat with them along the journey. I think one of the advantage of travelling free and easy was that you can meet alot of different nationalities along the way.

@Ngong Ping village/

I didn bought anything from the village as they sell expensive souvenirs.

Wishing tree

Different country's cable car on display. This one is China.

France

Switerland

Brazil

Spain

Austria

Germany

Italy

My foot was in pain after wearing the boots and walking for the past 2 days so we didn climbed up. I actually want to go to the Wisdom Path further down but rushing for time for Disneyland. We just gave it a miss.

Train from Sunny Bay to Tung Chung

The train was well decorated with disney characters.

We were super excited! We were on a mission to find back our childhood memories.

No food and drinks allowed inside. But mineral water is ok. There were water cooler at every toilet for us to refill.

HK Disneyland was split into 4 sections - Adventureland, Main Street USA, Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. The main entrance 1st lead to Main Street USA. There were alot of souvenirs shop here. Is a pity that we miss the road show as we were busy queuing for the rides.

Sleeping Beauty castle. Didn have the time to went inside. :(

Adventureland

Rafts to tarzan's Treehouse

Tarzan's Treehouse was about 3 storey high.

After which we went to take the Jungle River Cruise. Not to be miss!

We watched the Mickey's PhilhanMagic which is in 3D. I think shld be 4D as there was sense of smell. Anyway I was extremely lucky to sit at the right row and right column that almost all of the animation was right in front of me. Is just that I could not touch it. We went on to took the Dumbo the Flying Elephant which last abt 1 min ot less?

Cinderella Carousel

@Fantasy Garden. Donald Duck queue was not so long compared to Mickey & Mini Mouse.

It's a small world

Is abt 5 min boat ride where we can see mini characters performing on the 2 sides.

I was busy snapping pics and did not actually for the chance to look at those mini characters.

@ Tomorrowland we only took the Autopia which we waited for more than an hr! You did not need a driving license to drive. It was my 1st time driving and it only last abt 5 mins.

Fish Burger Combo HK54

We waited for the fire works at the Sleeping Beauty Castle at 8.10pm

The fireworks last abt 10mins long. Didn managed to take good shot as the camera was too shy.

HK - 3/2/2010

2010-02-03T21:17:00.310+08:00

We woke up at 6.45am and took mtr to Tsim Sha Tsui station.

We pray hard the weather 2day would be good as we were going to Ocean Park which is outdoor.

On the way we pass by the clock tower

People were rushing to work. I was glad that I was not one of them. At least for that week.

We settled our breakfast at MacDonald. Well I would try not to eat fast food overseas but we could not find something to eat hence settled at Mac. I bought Ham & egg twisty pasta - HK24.50. The hot cholocate was so sweet. It was milo plus tons of sugar.

Central Peir. Colourful ferry.

We took the Star Ferry from Tsim Sha Tsui to Central which was about 9min. It cost HK2.20 and can be paid by Octopus card. No seasick for me for this journey.

Reaching Central Pier.

Unloading the platform

Just towards the right of the ferry terminal was the busstop to wait for Citybus bus service 629. It had an interval of 20min from 0935 - 1055.

The bus journey took abt 25mins to Ocean Park.

Our tix

Wow. So many hot air balloons but not opened to visitors. So dissappointed.

There were 2 ways to reach the summit. By cable car or Ocean Express(train)

We explored the waterfront 1st as it was nearer to the main entrance. The kids sections were all located here.

It was quite cooling inside.

squirrels

There were some stands where u can write anything on it. Of course it can be erase away.

Talking tree

There were so many cute cute cartoons along the way to Whiskers Harbour that we couldnt help ourselves to take photos with them.

Merry go round

Balloon up-up and away

I do not have the courage to take the free fall hence I only aim for the Frog Hopper. Only 1 adult per time as we were heavy and need to sit in the middle.

Do not miss taking the cable car ride as it offers a fantastic view of Ocean Park and the surrouding areas.

It was quite scary as it went up and down the mountain. The windows can even be opened. We have the whole cablecar to ourselves and enjoy the ride up.

We queue for 1hr for the Ocean Park Tower ride and the ride just last for 1 or 2 mins.

The Abyss. this was really scary! Hearing about the incident at Genting that my sis have told me, i decide not to try. I guess this was 2 times taller than the one in Genting.

Flying Swing - Din have chance to take as queue was long.

Queue abt an hr for the ferris wheel ride. Damn cold.

This was my 1st time taking rollar coaster. Also queue for quite long. Suprisingly, I didn yelled at all. The thing that frightened me was the fact that I felt that I was falling despite the safety belt in place.

Didn have much appetite after the rollar coaster. So just bought Mango pudding HK15

And korean grilled squid HK20

Atoll Reef

Worms sticking out. Yucks.

Eagle. It rotates at 360 degree and within each cabin, it spin at 360.

How can we miss the dolphin show @ Ocean Park.

It last for abt half an hr. Initially, it was quite boring as you have to wait for the singers to sing finish b4 the real show begins. Only dolphin and seals at the show.

Tai Shue Wan escalator

Space wheel

When I was doing the reseach I came across people filming the whole ride of this mine train. I tink it was not scary after watching the video. But I was wrong!! Totally freaked out. No wonder the queue was short. It was not like the rollar coaster where there was this safety thing covering your whole upper body. There was only a safety belt! i was shocked. I felt that I was almost flying out although it did not rotate 360 degree. the funny thing was that i kept cursing and swearing until the train came to a stop.

the other entrance - Tai Shue Wan entrance

Pacific Pier

We took the Ocean Express train back to the Waterfront. It was totally dark in the train with some videos played. I still prefered the cable car ride. We took bus 629 back. Only to find it stopped at Admiralty instead of Central!

We went to Pacific Coffee for some bites as it was so cold outside! Tiramisu & Cholo Truffle Delight - HK28 each.

Avenue of Stars

The wind was so cooooldd

Symphony of Lights. I could not really see the laser show! So foggy. Dissappointed.

Only manage to take photo with Maggie Cheung's hand print as xiulian's hands wre freezing.

After that we went to ladies street. Was a bit afraid of the acid incident since 6 or 7 cases have happened without finding the culprit!

HK - 2/2/2010

2010-02-02T12:22:00.536+08:00

I woke up at 5.15am in the morning. Xiulian called cab and reached my place at around 6.15am and we reached the airport within half an hour. I noticed that the time on the taxi receipt was inaccurate! It was 25mins behind the actual time! I wonder if the time can be set by the taxi driver cos they can pro-long thier mid night charges.

Initally my flight was 6.40am but I received an email from Jetstar notifying me that it had change to 8.00am only about a 4days b4 the flight. I guess not everyone checked thier email and some may need to wait 2hrs for the take off. Anyway I was expecting to see the sunrise on the plane but was so dissappointed with the changes! The sun have ard rise when I take off.

Dazzling sun

Arrival form to HK. There was cabon copy behind for departure.

HK control tower

The plane touch down at 11.40am in HK. No time difference in HK. It was 23 degree celcius.

There was no aero-bridge to the terminal. For your info, the international airport at Lantau was actually built on reclaimed land.

A bus depot us from our landing area to the terminal. It took about 5mins to reach the Terminal 1. All the planes arrived and depart at Terminal 1. Terminal 2 only handles some check-in.

The arrival and departure hall. Customer service counter was just right in front. Octopus card can be purchased from there. Adult Octopus cards cost HK$150 with $100 face value plus $50 refundable deposit. A $7 service charge applies if the card is returned in less than 3 months.

Towards the left side of the hall, there are a row of travel agencies. I purchased Peak tram + Sky Terrance + Madame Tussauds @ HKD160, Disneyland-peak period@HKD340 and Oceanpark@HKD215 at the CTS agency. It would cost HKD200, HKD350 and HKD250 respectively if you purchased it at the attractions. I saved a total of HKD85~S$15.30! Whats more, you can visit the attractions at any day during the validity period. All the tix need to be change at the admission counters of the attractions except Disneyland.

The down side was that I only noticed Ah shan guesthouse selling the Disneyland tix at HKD330 after I check-in! And I guess if I bother to check at other travel agencies, I may get a lower price.

At the arrival hall, looked for the sign for bus to the city and is around the centre of the hall. After which always turn right at the other junction. Facing the bus terminal, Bus A21 is on the right side. It cost HK$33 ~ S$6.50 per person using Octopus card. There are luggage racks for luggages at the lower deck. We sit on the upper deck front row for good views.

Seat belts on the bus

Kap Shui Mun Bridge 汲水门大桥 is one of the longest cable-stayed bridge in the world that transports both road and railway traffic.

青马大桥 Tsing Ma Bridge is the world's seventh-longest span suspension bridge. The bridge was named after two of the islands at its ends, namely Tsing Yi and Ma Wan . It has two decks and carries both road and rail traffic.

Ting Kau Bridge 汀九桥

I take note of every stop bus A21 passes as I am afraid of alighting at the wrong stop. We alight at the 6th stop. Sincere House is just 2 roads away from where we alighted.

Ah Shan receiption is located at the 14th floor of Sincere House. And our room were also on the 14th floor.

I was really shocked when I saw the tiny small room even though my mum and sis have described it to me.

The toilet was also very tiny! It is one big step above the normal room level. I dont really like the fact that I have to climb up to get to the toilet. I used 1 of the 2 short chairs to make it easier to step into the bathroom. Thier bathroom door do not have lock attached to it @@

We set off immediately to the peak. Alighting from the central station, there are signs guiding us to the peak tram station. It was abt 10-15mins walk.

Li Kai Shing

Ticketing office

Card to access the tram. Octopus card can also be used.

It was a special experience taking the tram as the tram was moving at 45 degree gradient up to the peak.

The tram stopped at the peak which was the last station.

It took us quite a wide to figure out how to go out of the building!

I think we spent almost 15min finding the way out.

All we need was just to take the escalator up all the way to the top.

The tourism board was in the tram at display.

Postbox. I actually want to send letter to Spore (in order tho get the special stamp chop) but after returning to the postoffice in the building, it was closed for the day.

We did not have lunch until now which was 2.30pm. Just a quite bite. This stall was in the bldg next to the peak. It was a shopping with almost no shopper.

We met a group of taiwan frenz and they offer to take photo for us.

They were surprised that Sporean can speak chinese. @@

There was nothing much to do at the peak other than exploring the scenary which we did not have enough time to do so. Hence we went to visit Madame Tussauds. Welcoming us was James Bond.

Michelle Yeoh was also at the entrance.

Andy Lau was under maintenance! How sad cos he was only the wax figure that have heart beat.

A group of reporters

Nicole kidman. She was really talllllllllll

Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt

Jay Chou at a corner. Hardly noticed him.

Cecilia Cheung

Leo Ku

4gt what's the name. Is a Korean pianist.

On stage with Aaron kwok.

Janice 衛蘭

Ayumi Hamasaki. Y was she sitting down?

Kelly Chen

Bae Yong Jun

Leslie Cheung

Princess Diana

The royal family

Speaking at the conference

Bill Clinton

Obama

Saddam Hussein

Hitler

Gandi

Madame Tussauds. Finally someone shorter than me.

William Shakespeare

Spotted me?

Mao Zedong

Yang Liwei - China astronaut

Jiang Ze Min

Zhou En Lai

Deng Xiao Ping

Our MM

Donald Tsang

Sun Zhong San

Wen Jia Bao

Hu Jing Tao

Physics

Astrogirl

Xiao Qiao in Red Cliff

There was this scream section which we didn went in. Need to buy another admission tix.

Marilyn Monroe

Pirates of the caribbean

Leon Lai

David Beckham

One of the China's olympics' winner

Yao Ming

Tiger woods

Muhammad Ali

Beetles

Michael Jackson

The photo speaks a thousand words

Twins

Teresa Teng

Joey Yeung

Anita Mui

Miriam Yeung

The end...We were rushing for time so I didn actually have a good look at the wax figure. Just take and go. I think it is not worth going Madame Tussauds HK for a 2nd time since most of the figures were Hongkongers and I dont think the frequency of displaying new wax figures are high.

We headed to sky terrace at abt 6.30pm but the fog was so thick. So dissappointed.

We met this Korean frenz @ the sky terrace. Initally I thought she was a Chinese as she came up and spoke Chinese to us. She was learning Chinese in school and her travel mate was sick so she went out to travel alone. It was quite an interesting experience as we were conversing in a mix of chinese, korean, English and "hand" language.

We went on to eat our dinner Temple St at Yau Ma Tei station. Searching around for quite sometime b4 ended up in this shop ordering 谭仔云南面缐 - HK21. 1 bowl shared among 3 of us.

Accidently order this garlic pork instead of yam paste.

Xiu lian was not feeling well so we did not shop at the temple St. And went back to our hotel.

HK/Shenzhen/Macau - Pre trip

2010-02-01T12:55:00.282+08:00

It was difficult to find frenz to accompany me to hk as most of them had been there b4. I did not go with my sis and my mum last year as i want to concentrate on my studies and would not want to miss any lessons.

I was actually surprise when Xiu lian want to travel with me since her dad was strict and may not allow her to travel. Well, she only mentioned to her dad when we have booked our air tickets.

Initially, Tigerair offer only $99 for return including tax. I quickly booked but found out that I need my passport no to book! Yet I have not yet collect my new passport. Luckily, Jetstar promotion was a few days later and passport details was not required, hence I booked quickly.

As my sis had already planned the itinerary, I just took hers and modified. However I still spent alot of time searching for info such as those attractions I want to go and nice local food. What was traumatic to me was that about 2 weeks before my trip (after Phnom Penh trip) when I want to go to the money changer, I discovered that my itinerary was gone! I only saved it in SD card and I deleted all as I need the SD card for the camera during PP trip. Lucky I still have the itinerary in my office laptop, but the other food and attractions list was gone. I did not have the mood to search all over again, hence I only search a portion of what I last found.

It was not the 1st time going to Macau. My purpose of going back is to eat the pork bun and to visit the Venetian! It is not yet built the previous time I went.

Macau used to be a territory of Portugal until 1999, when it returned to China. It is now a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China. The currency used is Macau Pataca (MOP) but HKD and RMB are also accepted but to your disadvantage as MOP is the weakest of all the currencies mentioned. It has an area of about 28 sq km. (Spore is 25times bigger!)

The easiest way to get around Macau is by foot or by public bus. However we can play cheat and get around by the free shuttle bus provided by the hotels. Hotels & casinos competitions are high. There are 4 regions namely - Macau Peninsula (澳門半島), Taipa (氹仔), Cotai (路氹) and Coloane (路環). Most of the attractions are in Macau Peninsula such as Ruins of St Pauls, Ama temple, Mount Fortress, Grand Lisboa, fisherman wharf, ferry terminal. The international airport, University, Taipa village are in Taipa. Cotai is a reclaimed land. Most of the casinos such as Venetian are found in Cotai. I guess Coloane is the purest among all. There is no casino except a hotel in Coloane and Hac Sa (黑沙 - black sand) beach can be found there.

Shenzhen is situated in Guangdong, southern China and has an area of 1,949 sq km. SZ is separated from HK by shenzhen river. It can be assessible from HK by the East Rail Line which stop at Lo Wu 罗湖 station.

I am planning to visit Window of the World 世界之窗, Splendid China-Folk Culture Village 锦绣中华·中华中国民俗文化村, Shenzhen International garden and flower expo park 深圳国际园林花卉博览园. I yearn to visit OCT East - 东部华侨城 but it was not very accessible. The only mode of public transport is by bus but you have to walk quite a distance. Shenzhen train system is expanding and I hope the next time I go there, there would be a train station there. OCT East has 3 major themes: Knight Valley 大峡谷, Tea Stream Valley 茶溪谷 and Wind Valley 云海谷. It is so beautiful!

We would be staying at the Shenzhen Guesthouse which is near Lao Jie, a good area for shopping. Our stay would be for 2 nights as I want to have enough time for shopping. The electrical plug at the hotel is 2 pin round plug.

Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China and was a British Colony until 1 July 1997. It has its own currency Hong Kong Dollars (HKD). There were namely 5 regions - Hong Kong Island (香港島), Kowloon (九龍), New Territories (新界), Outlying Islands (離島), Lantau (大嶼山).

We would be staying at the Ah Shan guesthouse at Mongkok since I am on a tight budget and my sis have stayed there b4 and found it ok. Whats more is that we can conveniently travel to other places such as to take the East rail line to SZ without having to change line.

My itinerary for the trip includes:
Day 1: Victoria peak, Sky Terrace, Madame Tussauds Hong Kong
Day 2: Ocean Park, Avenue of Stars
Day 3: Tien Tan Buddha Statue @ Ngong Ping, Disneyland
Day 4: Shenzhen - Window of the World, Splendid China-Folk Culture Village
Day 5: Shenzhen - Shenzhen International garden and flower expo park, Shenzhen Book City
Day 6: Shenzhen - Shopping
Day 7: Macau - Kun Iam Ecumenical Centre, Venetian, Senado Square
Day 8: HK - Shopping

I budget about $1,400 for the 8days trips.

Breakdown of the expenses:

1. Airtix - $172 (return)
2. Insurance - $35
3. Accommodation - 5 nights at Ah Shan HKD700/2px, Shenzhen 2 nights RMB662/2px
4. Food - $200 ($50 for SZ)
5. Transportation (including admission tix) - $330 ($60 for SZ)
6. Shopping - $300 for HK&Macau, $260 for SZ

I change at Mustafa at 0.18020 for HKD and RMB at 0.20460. Subsequently, I think that my shopping budget of $150 was not enough for SZ hence I went to change another $100 for RMB at Chinatown at the rate of 0.2070393.

Phnom Penh - Post trip

2010-01-13T12:03:00.069+08:00

I have alot of worries before this trip as can been seen from my pre-trip. I was so stress out that my periods got irregular. I bought along the alarm alert thing that Shinyu once gave me. Actually it may not be useful when we were at deserted places as nobody would hear the alarm! But luckily I do not need to use this weapon.

I am glad that we have meet nice people in out trip such as Narith. I got to taste the local food and enjoy the 4 days being the "locals". This was despite getting myself tanned after that (I hate to get tanned) and getting a big bump on my head! I have got used of the locals begging for money or pestering you to buy thier stuff. It was really a meaningful trip when I got to see and learn about the life of the 3rd world country. I guess I am too used to the fast pace of life and may neglect some of the nitty gritty things.

This was my most down to earth trip so far as I did not put on any makeup and did not care about what to dress. I want to go to Cambodia again but not PP but Siem Reap to visit the Angkor Wat. After this trip, I found that I am quite adventureous but I was held back by my thoughts.

I tink the photo below tells my whole experience in Phnom Penh.

Phnom Penh - Before the trip

Phnom Penh - 9/1/2010

Phnom Penh - 10/1/2010

Phnom Penh - 11/1/2010

Phnom Penh - 12/1/2010

Useful links for Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh - 12/1/2010

2010-01-12T22:27:00.100+08:00

Today was the last day in Cambodia. We woke up early at 5.30am as we have alot of fruits to pack. 1 of our 2 luggages was fill with fruits. Basically, we did not buy any souvenirs but fruits back.

Our 3 nights at Nice Guesthouse cost US$30. Narith pick us up at 6.30am and we went to buy the dried Vermicelli which I requested yesterday. Noodle stall

Orussey market in the morning. It was quite chaotic!

We had our breakfast here on the way to the airport.

There were no customers around in the early morning unlike the one in Phnom Penh ytd. Our breakfast cost R15,000 ~ S$5.25.You tiao again Beef Vermicelli Pork Vermicelli

We were thinking what to give to Narith as souvenir. My sis said that we can give the $1 coin as souvenir. But she only have $10 notes and I dont have any $1 coin left. I searched my wallet and found a $2 plastic note hence we gave him this as there was no plastic notes for riel.

We took one last photograph with Narith and paid him US$10 ~ S$14. We have him US$8 ~ S$11.20 tips and about 5,000 Riels left in our pouch. Phnom Penh departure hall

Check in counters. There were 2 counters for Jetstar. We queued at one of the counter but later the staff said that this counter was for group check-in so we moved to the other one beside. For the 20mins waiting, a lot of mosquitos came and entertained us. I guess the mosquitos also want to go on holiday. I was mad when the counter that we queue in the 1st place started to check-in individuals instead of groups. And the counter that we were queuing now helped to check-in the group. The Singaporean guy behind us was so impatient that he scolded the staff. Anyway the staff only apologised and continue to finish checking -in the group. We chat with this Singaporean guy while queuing and later while waiting for the flight. He seems to be travelling to Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand all the time as he have business there. Waiting for boarding

At around 8.40am, Jetstar plane landed and all the pasengers who board from Siem Reap had to alight and reboard the plane again.

We board the plane and depart at 10.20am.

Control tower

Indonesia

Corals?

Back home!

Landing at Singapore Changi Airport at 12.10pm.

Recycling bins

Later we went to Swensen at Terminal 2 for lunch. We left the airport at around 2.20pm and took bus 858. Whenever the bus enter the basement of each terminal, a policeman would board the bus and asked the luggage on board belong to who and the passengers would just raised their hands. I was thinking that what if there was a bomb inside? They dont checked. They just looked at your face to confirm that there was no dangerous weapon?

The journey to Woodlands interchange seems ages. I was too tired that I fall asleep. I guess I would never take bus back home again from airport!

Phnom Penh - Before the trip

Phnom Penh - 9/1/2010

Phnom Penh - 10/1/2010

Phnom Penh - 11/1/2010

Phnom Penh - Post trip

Useful links for Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh - 11/1/2010

2010-01-11T10:59:00.471+08:00

Narith picked us up at 8am and drove us to a local coffeeshop for breakfast. We ordered two bowls of vermicelli, 2 plate of you tiao and 3 cups of coffee. The breakfast cost 21,000 Riel ~ S$7.35.

Coffee shop owned by the Chinese.

You tiao & coffee. Their coffee is very sweet as per Narith hence we requested for less milk.

Beef ball vermicelli. The vermicelli is very soft like the mee sua. Beef balls was quite hard to chew and I can really taste the meat.
Chicken vermicelli

Phnom Penh post office

Convenience store where we purchased "High Tech" mineral water. As per Narith, it is the best brand. 600ml cost about US$0.25 ~ S$0.35 and 1.5l cost about US$0.50 ~ S$0.70

Fish ponds

Oudong from far

Bridge under construction with the aid of China.

We reached Oudong, 37km from the capital within an hour. The admission fee is US$1 ~ S$1.40.
Oudong was the capital of Cambodia from 1618 to 1866. There were a total of 4 or 5 routes to climb up to the top. We used the easiest route to climb up bypass the usual 509 steps. A guy came forward and spoke to us in English while we made our steps up. We ignored him, but he continued to explain the history to us.

Stupa

We bought a flower each at R2,000 ~ S$ 0.70 from 2 old ladies to offer to the Buddha.

View from the temple

Another temple

The cobras head are usually in odd numbers. 9 Cobras head represent the highest power.

Stupa

Cham people (Enthic muslim) The guy told us that his dad is Cambodian buddhist while his mum is Thai muslim. So I asked him whether is he muslim. But he is a catholic.

Another temple

Stupa of King Monivong

The guy told us that once you get bitten by the insects in the hole, your hair would turn white. No cure.

I was panting for breath by then. The sun was getting hotter. This was the last phnom we would be climing for this trip, hence I must made it to the end.

We stopped for a rest at a hut. There we finally saw one Australian tourist couple. The views from here was great too.

Pickled mango for R2,000 ~ S$0.70. The mango was sour and hard. The sauce was a mixture of mixture of salt, chilli, sugar....Well, I just dont appreciate this.

Stupa of King Ang Duong with four bayon style faces at the top.

Modern temple home to a famous Buddha relic

One national flag and one buddhist flag

Paranomic view

A mosque

Mother and son from Switzerland

The guy who accompanied us

Colourful Bougainvillea

Walking down the 509 steps

Monkeys everywhere

We gave the guy 10,000 Riel ~ S$3.50 since he explained to us each and every structure. However I dont really listen to him. We were pissed off when he asked us for US$10 instead!
I was so mad. Should have gave him US$1! Later Narith came to our rescue and told him off.

Stalls selling food at the foot of the hill

Tamarind which is used to make Assam. I really like the fruit. It was sweet and sour. We didn even knew it was assam until we bought it home and my mom said it looked like assam. I reconfirmed this when I gave it to my collegue to eat.

Dried palm fruit

Fried food

Mini crabs

Barbeque egg cost 1200 Riel ~ S$0.42. Taste like the normal steam egg here.

This veg was so bitter that I have to drank lots of water to clear the smell lingering in my mouth.

Barbeque fish that I felt like trying

Coconut kueh. It was so dried and cold.

Lotus fruits. Does not taste as good as I thought. But quite an interestering experience eating this.

Japanese bridge (Chroy Chung Va Bridge) which crosses the Tonle Sap river

Jetty to board the ferry to Mekong Island.

Narith would be driving the car to the ferry. I was excited as this was the 1st time I took such a ferry.

Ferry crossing the Mekong river

There were some people with push cart boarding the ferry too.

Enjoying abt 10mins ferry cruise

I noticed that the locals at the mekong island built thier houses 2 storey high so that they can stay on the upper floor. I guess they were afraid of flooding. The road on the mekong island were bumpy as there were no paved road! Narith have to drive very slowly.

We headed to the beach for lunch. Entrance fees to the beach is US$1.

There are many thatch huts lining along the shore and we had to take off shoe and walk in the water to get to the hut. The water level was until our knee only. However the sand was so hot that my feet almost get burn. The return trip back to the car was worse as I could feel that my feet was all barbeque.

A big straw map was laid down for us to seat on. We have not really settled down but a lot of locals have started to surround us asking us to buy food, fruits and clothes. The scene last about 10-15mins until all of them gave up and walked away. I did not see any tourist there hence they kept pestering us.

An empty hut

A fishing boat

The barbeque egg we bought at Oudong

Narith treated us the glutinous rice wrapped with jackfruit. It was sweet and nice.

We ordered a fried kampong chicken and morning glory but waited for it to be served. I guess we waited for more than half an hour.

The kampong chicken was very crispy. It tastes so well with the sauce (I guess a mixture of black pepper, sugar and lime) The morning glory taste nice too. It cost US$12 in total. Again, the rice was wasted as they served it in a pot again. The leftover bones of the chicken were given to the 3 dogs to eat. They have been aiming for the bones since we started eating.

My sis want to go to the toilet after that. Hence we walked under the burning hot sand and finally saw 2 small hut shape toilets. We took quite a while to figure out how to open the door! They were too many wires that tied to the door and we cant figure out how to untie.

Anyway after that, a local auntie was very angry and walked towards us and nag at us. Obviously we dont know what was she saying but I guess she wants us to pay for using the toilet (There was a sign hanging outside the toilet indicating 1,000 and some khmer) I pointed toward Narith and walked towards the car. Narith paid the auntie 2000 Riel which we paid Narith back later.

Thatch house

Many students going home. Narith said that he had a friend who lived here but died a few years ago. Its been more than 10 years before he visit Mekong Island again this time. Since we are here, we agreed to let him dropped by his frenz house.

Silk weaving

Another local fruit that Narith asked a local student to let us try.

As there were some construction on the road, Narith by pass it by driving through the 2 coconut trees, which were almost touching the car. Phew.

Narith's friend houseHuge jar to collect rain water. I saw spider web. Guess not in use for long time.

Chair can even be repaired

Hammock

Stick to keep the window open

Stick used to carry water

We left about half an hour later. Recalling back, I realised that i should have offer to take photos of them tgt since they rarely meet. And I dont think the locals have the money to purchase a camera.

After which, we went to another house making silk. Cambodian silk was actually more rough than the China silk and I dont really fancy the colour. My sis said she want to buy some and one for my mom. I said that mom would not like this as the silk seems difficult for the skin to breath. Anyway my sis entertained the girl who carried out 2 bags full of silk for my sis to choose. Ultimately, my sis didn buy.

A local high school

Peanuts

Maize in the background

We were waiting for the sun to set

Monks bathing along the river. Though the conversation, I found out from Narith that the monks do not wear underwear!

On the way back to Phnom Penh, I asked Narith to stopby a road side stall selling hat. But I didn bought any as I think that most of them looked like the farmer's hat.

Sunset

My sis want massage hence Narith recommended 'Seeing Hands' blind massage shop. Actually the shop was alreadly in our list. 1 hr Khmer massage which cost US$6 ~ S$8.40. We were given blue shirt and pants to change. Initially I was thinking whether the lady assigned to me was blind since I saw her using her hp. Guess massaging? I chose the lady as I am more comfortable with lady insted of guy. My sis chose the guy then. The guy told us that he was not borned blind. He could actually see until he was forteen when his eyes was hurt after the landmine exploded. I really pity him.

The address is 10Eo, St 118, Phsar Kandal I, Khan Daun Penh, Phnom Penh. (Next to River Star Hotel) I wanted to buy more cookies from Camory cookie shop since I have not bought anything for my frenz. It was dark and the road no. in PP was not in sequence. Hence we have to depend on our gut to find the way. It was actually just around the corner! Walked straight to the 1st row of shops facing the Sisowath Quay. Then turned left and walked pass a few shops and you can find the Camory cookie shop.

By the time we finished our massage, it's already 7.30pm. We gave them US$1 tip each.

Sisowath Quay at night

We decided to go to Frizz Restaurant for dinner. We asked a no. of tuk tuk driver how much it cost and they quoted us US$2. I bargained for US$1 but they refused. Hence we have no choice but to take.

We reached Frizz restaurant - #67, Street 240, Phnom Penh. We had to wait about 5 mins as it was full house.

All diners in the restaurant are Caucasians except us.

We ordered Amok US$5 ~ S$7 and Veggie Burrito US$5. This amok had a layer of coconut milk on top and at least I can taste the fish when compared to the one we ate on day 1.The veggie burrito is crepe wrapped with tomatos and vegetables and served with sour cream. The food was delicious. Too bad it was really late at night. If not we would finish all.

There were tuk tuk drivers waiting for passengers outside the restaurant. My sis asked and one offer US$2. My sis then said US$1.5 and he agreed. I think my sis should have bargain for US$1.20 before raising the amount. Anyway I was so tired and did not bother. The driver does not seems to know where is our guesthouse. When he drove pass a small ally, we were quite scared but I have my secret weapon with me.

Phnom Penh - Before the trip

Phnom Penh - 9/1/2010

Phnom Penh - 10/1/2010

Phnom Penh - 12/1/2010

Phnom Penh - Post trip

Useful links for Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh - 10/1/2010

2010-01-10T13:49:00.666+08:00

I am looking forward for the day as we would be visiting alot of ulu places - Phnom Da, Phnom Chisor, Prasat Neang Khmao and Ta phrom Temple and not many tourists would go to those places. I booked through Bon Voyage as they quote me the cheapest. Bon Voyage only provided me the name and hp no of the driver. I asked for the car plate no, but they didn gave me. I was afraid that it was a scam or what. Our taxi driver Narith meet us at our guesthouse at 7.30am to pick us. Lucky there was only 1 px at the receiption, if not I dont know who exactly is Narith and may board the wrong taxi!

Narith stopped by a confectionery stall selling baguettes for us to buy our breakfast. For those who are hygiene conscious, you may not prefer to eat this. I saw quite a couple of houseflies flying while the staff prepares our baguettes.

I chose ham for the fillings while my sis chose sadines. 2 baguettes cost R7000 ~ S$2.45 with 2 small packets of complimentary salads. The baguette is very crispy while hot. Fillings taste okay, nothing special. The salad taste good compared to the thai mango salad I have tasted.

We ate the baguette in the car and really have some difficulty eating as the car was in a bouncy road.

Our first destination is Phnom Da located at Takeo province. Phnom Da can only be reached by boat from Angkor Borei during the wet season. It would cost USD25 to rent the motorboat. We chose to travel by car as we wanted to save cost and I dunno how to swim! There should be no life jacket on the small boat.

People squeeze onto a truck, van, tuk tuk, motor was a common sign in Cambodia. They really make full use of the transport.

On the way, Narith stop by a petrol station and asked us to pay him US$20 for the petrol. At first, we were sceptical as we scared that at the end of the day, he still collect US$60 from us. I remembered confirming with Bon Voyage that US$60 was nett, no additional charges. Later we confirmed that we only need to pay the balance US$40 for the day. Narith mentioned that he only earns US$50 and US$10 is the commission to travel agency Bon Voyage. After deducting the petrol cost and maintenance cost? (hmm...his car was very dusty after the trip) he dont really earned much.

On a dusty road, where the trees are all covered with the red dust.

The journey was about 2 hrs. Narith told us about his encounter during the khmer rouge regime. He was quite lucky as his family were farmers. However 4 of his brothers and 4 sis died in the Vietnam war and Khmer Rouge regime. I was very depressed after hearing this.

Automatic seat belt

After the dusty journey, we went on the rocky journey on the road full of stones.

Hay can be found in almost every house that we pass by.

Houses were built high to prevent flooding.

I recognised this place as I saw on someone's blog. Is the place to take the boat to Phnom Da.

White cows

Padi field

After 3hrs of journey, we reached Phnom Da. We couldnt find any ticket booth, hence we started without paying admission fees. Bty, admission fee is US$2. Narith asked a group of children to follow us up the hill while he have his breakfast.

150 steps to Phnom Da temple

With the children

They do not wear any shoe!

The temple is 12 meters square and 18 meters high and was built in the 11th century . It was constructed of laterite, brick and sandstone under King Rudravarman and dedicated to Shiva. Phnom Da is the oldest historical site in Cambodia. It is the former ancient capital of Nor Kor Kouk Thlork.

It has three false doors and a real door which opens on the north side.

Temple's peak is damaged

We gave the old man US$1 ~ S$1.40 who guard the temple.

Abit dissapointed as there was no statue left in the temple

When I was doing the research, I found that Vietnam can be seen from Phnom Da. However we have some difficulty communicating to the children as none spoke English. Later Narith come to our rescue and help us asked the children. Vietnam is behind the grassfield.

Curious about what's going on there

They were playing using the dry long beans

Carving on the floor

Further down the hill is temple ruin Ashram Maha Rosei, constructed in the late 7th-early 8th century, during the pre-Angkorian Chenla period, under Bahavavarman and shows signs of non-Khmer influence. Built at the end of the 6th century in Zhenla Period, during the reign of King Pavavarman I, the temple has five windows and two doors. It is 5.5 meters square and 7 meters high, it is built in the Indian style and features a double wall of basalt that faces north. It has one door and five windows.

Ashram Maha Rosei

The teenage guy who led us

Village at the foot of the hill. A lady came and asked for admission fee when we reached the foot of the Phnom Da. It was a Sunday but nowhere can you saw a tourist. Phnom Da is really deserted compared to all of the places we went in this trip. I guess not much people knew abt its existence.

We bought 2 packets of biscuits (US$1) totalling 28 small packs as many kids started to surround us when they knew we are going to give them the biscuits. Initially we wanted to give them cash, but realised that we dont have alot of small change. We gave the teenage guy US$1.

On the way, we pass by a couple of opposition party logo.

Here we are at Phnom Chiso! Phnom Chisor was then known as Suryadri, 'the Mountain of the Sun' and due to the influence of Hinduism of that time, was dedicated to Brahma, 'the Creator of the Universe' and faces East. It is advisable to climb in the morning but we came almost noon with the sun directly above us! Phnom Chiso is 380m tall with 503 steps to the top of the hill.

Children carrying mineral water to sell at the hill top.

Stupa along the way

We were only at the mid hill yet perspiring all over and catching for breath. I can say that the steps were quite high. Sometimes we need to stop after climbing for a few steps before continuing.

Yes! We have reached the top!

The admission fee of US$2 was not levied at the bottom of the hill but at the top.

Shrine

Elephant welcoming us

Sleeping Buddha

Proceed further down is Phnom Chisor temple.

A pond that dried up

Phnom Chiso temple was built by King Sorayak Varman I dedicated to Brahmanism in early 11th century (1002-1050). This ancient Khmer temple stands on an 80 by 100 km square plateau and faces East.

Some of the areas were indicated as "danger". Better not to trespass them at your own risk. I guess there was landmines or pitholes as this area had gone through the war.

A very spectacular view at the back of the temple. No trees that block your view like the Phnom Da. My peacefulness was disturbed by a insane guy holding a flower and following me. My sis did not follow me to view the fantastic surroundings. Thus I quickly get back tgt with my sis. And this guy followed. So scarey! Imagine there was only the guy, me and my sis. Lucky he went away later.

I am not sure whether this directon form a straight line in the direction of Angkor or not? During my research, I found that the sanctuaries of Sen Thmol, just below Phnom Chisor, Sen Ravang and the former sacred pond of Tonlé Om form a straight line from Phnom Chisor in the direction of Angkor. Thus I do not know where exactly are all those features.

Phnom Chiso temple was also small but a few times bigger than Phnom Da.

On the way down, a local guy started to walk beside us and start a conversation. He mentioned that his father was a taxi driver in Siem Reap and even asked for our hp no. Obviously, we told him we did not bring our hp and didn mentioned about hp no. He kept mentioning "I want to talk" and I said that we can talk on our way down. Later I found out that he means taking photo with us.

We bought a coconut at the foot of the hill for US$1.

Next we went to Prasat Neang Khmao and admission is free. No need to climb any hill as it is located on the ground level. Prasat Neang Khmao consists of two deteriorating brick prasats (towers) built in the Angkorian-era in the 10th century A.D. under King Jayavarman IV. There was probably at least one more ancient prasat where the modern pagoda now sits. Prasat Neang Khmau was originally dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. The temple complex is named after Neang Khmau, ‘Black Lady’, a modern-era statue located in front of the temples. Most parts of Neang Khmao temple have also been damaged and now home to the bats.

Neang Khmao pagoda built by the king, Jarman IV during 10th century

Just for show. I did not touch the drum as I saw ants crawing on it.

Me & Narith. It was here when I got into the car and knocked my head against the car ceiling. I got in at a high speed as I was eager to have my lunch. Damn Painful. I saw stars at some moment.I wonder if I have any memory lost or my skull was dented. The pain last for about a week long.

Narith said that he would brought us to a restaurant to eat. To my surprise, the restaurant was not air-conditioned.

Sauces

Clockwise from left - Fried vegetable with beef, chicken soup, fried egg and cambodian salad (Complementary) The rice was served in a pot like the rice cooker. OMG! Too much rice for us and there was too much left over rice. I feel that it was such a waste! I wonder what does they do with the left over rice? recycle, no, no.

Fried vegetable with beef was nice, but the beef tasted like pork. The chicken soup has a strong lemongrass smell and a bit spicy like the Thai food. The fried egg with fish and pork was delicious but abit salty and oily. Our lunch costs US$5 ~ S$7!

Local Cambodian fruit

It is a bit sour, the seeds can be eaten just like chewing peanuts.

On the way, we bought barbeque frog (2,500 Riel ~ S$0.70) at a road stall.

The frog was spicy as they put alot of black pepper! I ate the upper body and there was alot of small bones. I dont really taste the meat as they stuff alot of other ingredients. But it taste nice. Would be better if they dont put so much black pepper.

5-6 palm fruit cost R1,000 ~ S$0.35. Very juicy.

Ta Prohm Temple built in 12th-century under King Jayavarman VII. There were quite a no of legend when I did the research. One of the common one was that the temple was built by Ta Prohm. While traveling through Tonle Bati, an Angkor king fell in love with Yeay Peau, the beautiful daughter of a fisherman. The king passed three months with her and she became pregnant. Upon leaving, the king gave her a ring with instruction to send the child she bore to Angkor. When her son, Prohm, duly presented the ring at Angkor, he was welcome at his father’s palace and given an education the king later sent him back to govern Takeo province. Prohm built a temple similar to those he’d seen at Angkor, and named it after himself. For his mother, he built Yeay Peau temple.

The admission to Ta Prohm is US$3 ~ S$4.20.

It was too commericalise here. Once you get out of the car, the locals esp the children would asked you to buy flowers and incense from them and followed you everywhere like your bodyguard. Each of us bought a flower for US$1 ~ S$1.40 to pray to the buddha at a shrine. We donated R5000 ~ S$1.75 to an old lady at the shrine after much pestering from the kids.

Following which, at every temples, they would be different locals guarding it. They would pestered you and asked you to come in and pray.

Spot the Singapore Dollar?

On the way back to Phnom Penh, we stopped by the roadside and bought milk fruit. There were actually 10-20 stalls along the roadside selling the same fruits. Wonder how can they earn a living with competitiors just nearby. The stall owner let us taste the fruit as we have not taste it b4. The fruit taste sweet and is a bit like mangosteen and soursoup. The juice is white in colour, that's why is call milk fruit. We immediately bought 20 milk fruits for US$2.50 ~ S$3.50. Guess the owner can happily closed for the day.

Narith asked us whether we would like to use his service tomorrow to Oudong and Mekong Island for US$40 ~ S$56 including the ferry fares. We had already booked with another taxi driver, Rasi who charged us US$30 to Oudong only. Since we already knew Narith and his service is good, we decided to accept his offer. Later at night, we called Rasi and apologise that we did not need his service tml. The local call only cost R2000 ~S$0.70.

Tourist cycling in Phnom Penh. I also want to cycle around but it was quite dangerous on the chaotic road.

Water tank

Olympic Stadium which never held Olympic games.

Capitol 3 Guesthouse

Orussey Market

Barbeque sausage and meat stick

We walked along the street to search for our dinner but didn really find any food that fancy us.

Thus we just bought a sausage and some meat stick (similar to satay but no sauces) for R6,300 ~ S$2.20.

Phnom Penh - Before the trip

Phnom Penh - 9/1/2010

Phnom Penh - 11/1/2010

Phnom Penh - 12/1/2010

Phnom Penh - Post trip

Useful links for Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh - 9/1/2010

2010-01-09T17:21:00.779+08:00

Have not been sleeping well for the past few days due to the planning of my trips and packing my lugguage. And I have to wake up super early at 4am to catch the flight to Phnom Penh. It was somewhat a rush in the early morning as we get ready to go out after booking a cab. Getting to the airport was a breeze in that early morning. How I wish it was everyday! "jam" have been living in my life everyday!

We had our breakfast at the transit lounge after checking in. We only ate bread as it was the most convienent food. I was chatting away with my sis and after sometime I notice that there were 2 people sleeping behind the seats! OMG! How can they sleep on the floor like that?! I guess my voice have woke them up.

It was about 6am and we were planning to go to the toilet...but we saw on the screen that it was last call for our flight! Our flight was 6.45am so I guess there were still time to board. But my sis said the gate was closing soon. Due to her panic, I became panicked too...and we were rushing to the departure gate. sigh. I think I almost sit there for 20-30mins b4 we were allowed to board the plane.

Its been almost 2 years b4 I am on the plane again. We sit on the left side thus were unable to see the sunrise. However if you sit at the other side, after seeing the sunrise, it would be damm hot at the other side.

Immigration card

Custom declaration card

The flight was only 2hrs. Time flies as we took turn to go to the toilet to do big business since we did not manage to go in the morning. Cambodia time is GMT +7.

There we are at the Phnom Penh airport. I was in totally shocked when the pilot announced that the weather was 24 degree celsius! We only brought light clothes. But I dont feel like it was 24 degree! The morning sun rise out fast and it was quite hot afterwards. Our days in cambodia was also very hot. It was the same as Singapore.

Lucky there was aero bridge! cos we only have hand carry lugguage as checked in cost $20 more.

Health declaration form to declare b4 proceeding to the immigration counter.

Queuing for health screening. At the immigration counter, I got a shocked when the staff pointed to a webcam that had a long neck. He didn tell me that he need to take my photo. He just took it when I look at the webcam. I guess with my jaws open.

There are only 2 baggage conveyors and not very big tho.

After getting out of the arrival hall by the door, turn left and the tourism booth is there. However as we reach there quite early thus it was not open.

Our tuk tuk driver - Alex waited for us outside the arrival hall with my name written on an A4 paper with the flight details. It was pretty easy to identify him as there were not alot of people arriving on the flight.

It was quite cooling when we were on the way to our guesthouse. I really enjoy the ride on tuk tuk as I can feel the wind, temperature, notice the surrounding. However we have to be very careful as the lugguage may be snatch off easily when the tuk tuk slowed down or came to a stop. I am quite worried when my sis kept taking photos on the tuk tuk. It was really dusty on the road. Thus not recommended to wear contact lenses in Cambodia.

The driver drive on the left. I am quite surprised that they did have a countdown timer for the traffic. However that does not improve the chaotic situation on the road.

Many people sharing 1 tuk tuk.

Tada. Here we were at out Nice Guesthouse. It took about 30mins from the airport to the city area. The guesthouse was not on the main street thus not so noisy from the honking of the vehicles.

We waited for about 20mins for them to clean up the room.

Area to surf net

There were 3 storey of rooms. It stated that there were lockers but we found out that we must bring our own key.

Our room was at 2nd floor. And at a quiet corner. However it was not really quiet as beside our room is the staff room. And sometimes they make noise. I should have asked for the window view. But I am afraid that it would be noisy.

The room card need to be insert for the use of electricity. I think that it was quite high tech for a guesthouse. But a key was used to open the door.

A single room @ US$10/night can sleep 2 people!

Room was clean with cable TV, cabinet, desk and a small table beside the bed.

The toilet looked abit old as can be seen from the rusty pipes. But floor still looks clean.

Our 1st stop was at The Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda.

The entrance fee to both Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda is US$6.25/ 25,000 Riel ~ S$8.75. I found on website that entrance fee was US$3. Camera have an extra charge of US$2. However I paid the full amount even tho I dont have any camera! The opening hours is 7.30am – 11am and 2.30pm – 5pm daily. Visitor are expected to dress decently (no bare legs or shoulders) before entering the compound.
Royal Palace was constructed over a century ago to serve as the residence of the King of Cambodia.

Napoleon III Pavilion - originally built for Empress Eugenie of France, wife of Napoleon III, in 1869 for use in the inauguration of the Suez Canal. It is constructed entirely of iron. In 1876 Emperor Napoleon III made a gift of the building to King Norodom of Cambodia.

The Damnak Chan was constructed in 1953 & houses the administrative offices of the Royal Palace.

Hor Samrith Phimean aka ‘Bronze Palace' was built in 1917. Currently housing a display of royal regalia and costumes on the ground floor.

Namaste

Chanchhaya Pavilion aka 'Moonlight Pavilion'. The current Pavilion is the second incarnation of the Chanchhaya Pavilion, this one constructed in 1913-14 under King Sisowath to replace the earlier wooden pavilion built under King Norodom. The current pavilion is of the same design as the earlier version. The Pavilion serves as a venue for the Royal Dancers, as a tribune for the King to address the crowds and as a place to hold state and Royal banquets.

Throne Hall "Preah Timeang Tevea Vinicchay" is the primary audience hall of the King, used for coronations and diplomatic and other official meetings. This Throne Hall is the second to be built on this site. The first was constructed of wood in 1869-1870 under King Norodom. That Throne Hall was demolished in 1915. The present building was constructed in 1917 and inaugurated by King Sisowath in 1919.

Things to take note b4 entering. This applies to all the temples in cambodia too.

Khemarin Palace - The Royal residence was closed to the public.

Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda compounds were separated by a walled walkway. Upon stepping into the Silver Pagoda compounds, turn left and you will see Ramayana Frescoes. The interior of the pagoda compound walls is covered with murals depicting stories from the Reamker, i.e. the Khmer version of the classic Indian epic, the Ramayana. The murals were painted in 1903-1904 by a team of students working under the direction of artist Vichitre Chea and architect Oknha Tep Nimit Thneak.

His Majesty King Norodom's Stupa was constructed in 1908 & contained the ashes of the King Norodom (1834-1904).

Silver Pagoda aka Wat Preah Keo Morokat - ‘Temple of the Emerald Buddha.’ It have 5329 silver tiles, handcrafted and weighs 1.125kg each. It contained over 1650 precious objects. The primary Buddha, sitting on a gilded dais above all others in the temple, is the Emerald Buddha, reported by different sources to be made of emerald or baccarat crystal. In front of the Emerald Buddha stands Buddha Maitreya (Buddha of the Future,) a 90 kg golden standing Buddha encrusted with 2086 diamonds including a 25 caret diamond in the crown and a 20 caret diamond embedded in the chest.

Stupa of HM King Suramarit and HM Queen Kossomak Stupa of the father and mother of former King Sihanouk (r: 1955-1960), grandfather and grandmother to King Sihamoni.

Statue of HM King Norodom Equestrian statue of the King Norodom (1834-1904). Completed by French artist Eude in 1875 in Paris and placed on the pagoda grounds in 1892.

Stupa of Princess Kantha Bopha built in 1960. The memorial sanctuary of the beloved daughter of the former King Sihanouk. Princess Kantha Bopha passed in 1952 at the age of four, succumbing to leukemia.

Taken on the steep and narrow steps

The buddha statue was broken

Model of Angkor Wat

The khmer empire was quite big in the past.

Students cycling to school. No school bus or public transport. They have to either walk or cycle. They do not need to wear covered shoe to school. Most of them wear slippers. I think it would be expensive to buy a covered shoe for them.

Choeung Ek Killing Field about 30 mins from the city centre, nearer from the airport. It is opened daily from 7am – 5.30pm. Admission fee is US$2 ~S$2.80.

During the Khmer Rouge regime between 1975 and 1979, more than 15,000 people were transported from Tuol Sleng S21 and murdered here. A Memorial Stupa, built in 1988, displays the remains of human skulls arranged in age and sex behind glass panels. A memorial day, 9th May of each year is held at Choeung Ek.

Clothes of the victims

The Japanese chams for the victims to rest in peace.

It was really sad to come here. U can see the broken skulls and bones of the victims and mass graves here.

We bought a stalk of chrysanthemum and incense for 2,000 Riel ~ S$0.70 to pray for the victims.

This is the "magic" tree where a loud speaker which play music loudly is hang to avoid the moan of the victims while they are executed.

2 children begging for money. I dont know what was this guy up to when he seems not giving them money but kept standing there.

House outside the Choeung Ek Killing Fields

The killing field seems quite big. It used to be a Chinese cemetery. Cant imgine 3m people have die just over the 3 years of regime.

Clothes wore by the people during the Khmer Rouge

On the way back from killing field

Bakery on the way selling local snacks. We bought some to try and the fillings are bean paste. It was soooo sweet. I guess the sugar is very cheap here. Not very nice tho.

Boddhi Tree Restaurant opposite Tuol Sleng prison

Cambodia rice crepe

Amok Curry

When I was planning for the trip, amok was a must eat dishes in PP. It was like otah! But their version have more coconut milk. I was totally dissappointed by this amok curry! Few fish slices and all were mushroom! We didn managed to finish all as we were too sick of the mushroom. Our lunch cost US$6.75 ~ S$9.45.

Ticket booth of Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum also known as S21 (Security Prison 21). It was just across the road from Boddhi. The opening hours is 8am-1.30am and 2pm-5.30pm daily and admission charge is US$2~S$2.80.

Formerly a high school, the five buildings of the complex were converted into a prison and interrogation center during the Khmer Rouge. From 1975 to 1979, an estimated 17,000 people were imprisoned at Tuol Sleng. At any one time, the prison held between 1,000-1,500 prisoners. They were repeatedly tortured and coerced into naming family members and close associates, who were in turn arrested, tortured and killed. Under the Pol Pot regime, nearly half of the population were wiped out.

Rules for the prisoners at S21

No laughing please

Khmer Rouge took every photos of every new arrival and retaining detailed confessions made by prisoners. After that, they were forced to strip to their underwear, and their possessions were confiscated before sending to the cells.

The poles were previously used by students for excercise. During the Khmer Rouge, the victims's hand are tied at the back with a rope and is lifted upside down until they lost consciousness. Then their head are dipped into the jar which is filled with smelly and filthy water used as fertilizer for the crops. The victims would regain conscious and continue the interrogation.

Iron bars

Iron bed

Barbed wire preventing prisoners from escaping and commiting suicide.

Photographs, history and stories of the horror past

All of the classrooms were converted either to tiny prison cells or interrogation rooms.

The prisoners were systematically tortured, sometimes over a period of months, to extract the desired ‘confessions’, after which the victim was inevitably executed at the killing field of Choeung Ek. Khmer Rouge said that they rather caught 10 innocent people than letting 1 traitor fled.

Out of an estimated 17,000 people imprisoned at S21, there were only 12 survivors. Initially I was reluctant to visit S21 as it was not for the faint hearted. After much thoughts, I decided to include in our itinerary to know more about the horror past. I feel more sad when I visited the S21. I was really feeling very depressed during the 1.5 hrs spent at S21. Pol Pot had studied in China b4 and learn about the communist ideology. Never did the Cambodians expect him to be such a cruel leader! He thinks that the country should start from Year Zero and everyone should be a farmers. All those educated people such as doctors, lawyers, teachers were prisioned and killed. Pol Pot died in 1998 due to illness. The case still continues in the Court today for those leaders of the khmer rouge.

We saw a pushcart selling sugarcane when we want came out. Alex treated us the sugarcane and demonstrated to us how to eat. Just put the whole piece in the mouth and chew until all the juices came out. Then spilled it out. I like this so much that I planned to buy back to spore. However I failed to come across sugarcane seller on the way to airport :(

The Russian Market (Psah Toul Tom Poung) caters more to the tourist. It is called Russian market because of its popularity among Russian expatriates during the 1980s.

The art of balancing on the head

Interesting light deco

The market was so packed and walkway could only accommodate 1 px. There were alot of clothes here but we bought none. On one end were stalls selling food.

Fried insects

Wet market. Those meat dont seems fresh to me after displaying at the stall for the whole afternoon without and freezer.

Cyclos

The only elephant in PP at the wat phnom and cost US$15 for a ride!

This small hill, or phnom, at the northern end of Phnom Penh give's Cambodia's capital its name. Legend has it that a Khmer woman Penh was dawdling by the riverbank when she noticed four Buddha images floating by. She grabbed the lot of them and lugged them over to the hill, where a wat was built to house them.

Ticket booth. The opening hr is 7am – 5.30pm daily. The admission is US$1. Actually you could get in without a ticket as the place was only surrounded by a very low metal chain. We encountered a auntie at the temple on top who asked us whether we have purchased the admission tix. Cant imagine she was quite bo liao to ask this as she was not a staff there. Free admission for Cambodians.

Wat Phnom

Stupa of King Ponhea Yat

Monkeys everywhere. Didn knew that my sis was so scared of the monkeys as they keep following my sis when she ate the corn which we purchased later.

Big clock. The students behind were koreans. Also at S21, there were also a group of koreans students at the ticket booth when we left. Think they were here for voluntary work.

We bought this corn - 1000 Riel ~ S$0.35 while waiting for Alex to come. The auntie does not know English thus we have some difficulty asking the price. In the end, she showed us a 500 Riel. But when we got the corn she say no in her guesture. It is 1000 Riel ! Anyway it was cheap so nvm giving her another 500 Riel.

We waited for 10-15mins b4 Alex came to fetch us. In between we were pestered by other tuk tuk drivers. I was abit angry while waiting and we think that Alex have went to look for business.

Camory cookie shop - located at 167 Sisowath Quay and open from 9am - 8.30pm. There were samples to be tried. The receipes were actually developed with the help of Executive Chefs from Singapore! The best seller is the Sreh T'nout which is made from a rich combo of chocolate, nuts and palm sugar. They also fund the education of poor and orphaned children. I went there on the 2nd last day to buy Sreh T'nout again for souvenir for frenz.

Cambodia Vietnam Monument built to a Vietnamese design in the late 1970s.

For those who wonder how does Alex look like...

Independence Monument aka Victory Monument, this Vann Molyvann-designed reddish-brown coloured edifice was built in 1958 to celebrate independence from the French and as a memorial to Cambodia's war dead.

Night Market (Phsar Reatrey) opens only on the weekends from 5pm - 9pm, located in the park between Street 106 and 108 on the riverfront.

There were only a few stalls selling food. And 2 or 3 stalls selling "yong tau foo", all fried. Not to our appetite but after searching across the road for food, we have no choice but to settle for this. Cos we have asked Alex to picked us up 1hr later! Wrong decision. Nothing much to shop!

Loud music were also played at the market. I notice that most of the songs played were translated from the Chinese songs.

We bought bean cakes and jelly which cost R1000 ~S$0.38. Again, the lady have to use notes to indcate how much. She pointed 3 bean cakes for that amt of $. But when we paid she gave 2. We asked again but she couldnt understand. Anyway jus 1 bean cake.

US$1. I think this is the smallest coconut that I have ever seen.

Pay to be weighted

My sis wanted to buy the bamboo glutinous rice. But lucky there were 1 customer and the granny open one for them to try. She gave me to try too since I was standing there. There were some beans inside the rice but the rice was cold. Thus we didn buy as glutinous rice was not good for digestion esp at nite.

Our dinner

The locals seems to like this type of "yong tau foo" very much. There were mats for the customers to sit on while enjoying the food.

After which we head back to our guesthouse. We paid Alex US$22.50 ~S$31.50 and gave him US$2 ~S$2.80 tips despite the fact that he made us waited at the wat phnom.

Phnom Penh - Before the trip

Phnom Penh - 10/1/2010

Phnom Penh - 11/1/2010

Phnom Penh - 12/1/2010

Phnom Penh - Post trip

Useful links for Phnom Penh

Hongkong, Shenzhen, Macau (2/2/10 - 9/2/10)

2010-01-03T22:29:00.004+08:00

HK/Shenzhen/Macau - Pre trip
Day 1: HK - 2/2/2010
Day 2: HK - 3/2/2010
Day 3: HK - 4/2/2010
Day 4: HK/ Shenzhen - 5/2/2010
Day 5: Shenzhen - 6/2/2010
Day 6: Shenzhen/ HK - 7/2/2010
Day 7: HK/ Macau - 8/2/2010
Day 8: HK - 9/2/2010
HK/Shenzhen/Macau - Post trip
Useful links

Useful links for HK/Macau/Shenzhen

2010-01-03T22:26:00.001+08:00

HongKong
Hong Kong Tourism Board
Hongkong extras
Dummies guide to hk
HK guide for budget traveller
Cheap attractions admission tix - CTS
7 days weather forecast
Kowloon Motel, Budget Hostel, Guest House and Backpacker Inn
Citybus routes from airport
Bus 21A routes
MTR
HK Tramways
Turbojet
Ngong pong (Big Buddha)
The peak
Disneyland
Ocean park
Madame tussauds (Wax museum)
Open rice winner
Open rice restaurants

Macau
Macau tourism board
Dummies guide to macau
Macau hotels

Shenzhen
Travel China guide - Shenzhen
Wikitravel - Shenzhen
China Fact Sheet (For leisure)
Shenzhen Guesthouse
Shenzhen Metro
Window of The World (世界之窗)
ShenZhen Splendid China (深圳锦绣, 中华中国民俗文化村)
Shenzhen International garden and flower expo park (Chinese)
Happy Valley Theme Park (欢乐谷)
Minsk World (明思克航母)
OCT East - 东部华侨城 (Chinese)