Saturday, May 30, 2009
OK.. my mood has been realli bad with my results and a series of unfortunate events.. like throwing engjoe onto the bed while pretendg to be wrestling to cause the bedframe to crack n break.. so im bloogging abt my holidaes to feel better.. (mood induction, psyche majors will geddit), haha...
We did have vans and tour guide but cycling to angkor wat wassss EXCITING!!! but very tiring of cuz.. so we stopped for ice cold sugarcane!!! it was too late to cycle back.. so.. haha.. 2 gals at the back seat.. 3 bycycles in between and me?? on tat small triangle at the front.. was ultra afraid my legs wld get chopped off by a car on the road while in this heavily loaded tut tut haha khmer curry with seafood. sweet and thivk coconut gravy, OMG trying to catch sunset but failed after 3 days of bad weather or wad have u.. so? this is my desperate attempt haha the magnificent ankor wat... realli duno how they built this like a million of years ago white heads: newly replaced, black ones: corroded, original, handsome one: my head the cracks are the original paths under weather.. the path next to it tat is alot more in shape was refurnished by the French hu occupied cambodia i think.. in fact, angkor wat is now rented to the koreans n the cambodians dun realli like the koreans cuz unlike others they are making profit out of angkor wat but not refurnishing it.. cherylene gettg intimate with the statue the king used to meditate at angkor wat... the best thg in siem reap. fired maggie mee.. noodles soup and fried rice are aloso must trys this bread is everywhere in cambodia and vietnam.. its like bagette with meat some vege and chilli sauce inside.. cheap and fantastic.. in vietnam ya can even add ham, sausages and cheese inside!!! Subway in cambodia? NO FUTURE!droping in markets to see how thgs are done.. put a big block of ice in a cloth bag, smash it real hard and long with a wooden stick, tadddaaa.. crushed ice! Siem Reap Ngoh Hiang, a must try.. found it near my favorite bunnath guesthse =) fish porridge tat is sweet and bursting with fish flavour grilled bananas by the rfside.. SINFUL!!! a glimpse at the markets in cambodia randomly ordering and attempting to get a taste of khmer lunch.. try this dish called amok, ultra nice =) SPIDERS N BEETLE!!! crispy n delicious crickets? grasshoppers? dunno.. but tasty!! tower of independence while we had our own bargained tut tut city tour somewhere tat looks like disneyland pretending to be inside but actually used hand to pass thru the side gate to take a foto.. budget, bobian! haha cant rmb where this is.. haha somewhere near the royal palace with flags of many countries.. chiobu selling desert at some night hawker center.. pity i cant take a gd shot while she is not turning her head, but impossible cuz she is so busy with her work, haha LOADS of stalls by the roadside the pig surely din sacrifice for nothing =p (their tongues make mine seem so short, ok.. my nose is small too) gorgeous deserts but i was too full to try =( alcoholics.. 50 cents per draft beer at pub street and 1.50 US per cocktail.. wad else can ya do at night??!! haha grilled meat tryout.. crocodile, snake, kangaroo n ostrich.. NICE! =) an ultra nice pub.. just ged a drink.. n a meal if ya r rich enuf.. n sit down n see a great variety of traditional cambodian dances for like 2 hrs! great way to chill the evening away with the comical or sometimes elegant dances "apsara"s dancing.. apsaras are like the dancers for the king.. in fact u will see cravings of apsaras all over angkor wat cant rmb wad tey are but!!! they definitely dun cheat on the amt of alcohol like singapore pubs so.. enjoy =) ferry crossing.. vehicles n humans all loaded onto the ferry in a mad rush.. standard peeing spot for the young!!! and old.. n both of them look damn scared pple are looking at them.. oops, u din see my camera haha mad rush after ferry reaches the shore! get set... GO!!! nice open air dinner in phnom penh near some market.. everyone just buys food and have their picnics on the carpets snails, ngoh hiang n loootsss of vege which stalls from vietnam n cambodia alwwwaaayysss give n refill for free! =) somehow, they like to eat this semi developed egg embryo.. some feathers n bones might be still inside so.. not for the faint hearted chillout to recharge for another day's urban hunting.. shiok a nice picture hung in a toilet.. imagine a gal with a measuring tape looking at u while ya r peeing haha.. ego at stake? tuo sleng genocide museum.. a must go to catch a piece of the cambodian history where the communists won the civil war and started purging even cambodians.. which is even worse than the nazis n hitler supposedly rule no. 6: u r not allowed to cry when getting lashed or electric shocks.. the school blocks are all surrounded ith barbed wires to prevent the prisoners from commiting suicide... shots of the victims.. a reminder tat no one wins in a war small brick cells to hold prisoners while being tortured and forced to make "confessions", which was followed by sending to the execution ground called "killing fields".. u will find ammo boxes inside.. which was for them to shit.. a metal frame bed used for torture mug shots of prisoners were found in the abandoned facility.. this low rope instrument was used to hang prisoners up and interrogeted.. when they were unconscious, they were dipped into smelly water in the barrels an instrument of torture again yup... how it was used.. an altar where the skulls of all the victims whose remains were found at the killing fields are kept.. th skulls of the prisoners.. hope they rest in peace and such disaster never befall cambodia or anyone in the world again the killing fields operated without knowledge of the locals.. loudspeakers played loud noises to prevent people outside from hearing the cries of those being killed chemicals were also used to mask the stench of the decay in the killing fields prisoners were made to dig their own graves before they were killed here.. nice guesthse with aircon, fridge, free internet, comfy beds.. n gd service,, butttt... i cant rmb the name of the guesthse.. very gd ratings online tho, hard to miss.. comes with free breakfast too vietnamese version of fried carrot cake! NICE! doesnt it look tasty??!! theres another curry puff looking thg but has meat n mushrooms inside.. a must try too! squattg by the roadsides to eat.. refreshg feeling im still slim enuf to go onto the kuchii tunnels.. just one of the many traps used by the vietnamese guerillas during war with the americans.. taking a shot while crawling or squatg rather thru the tunnels underground.. the tour guide said the asians are better than his cuz our toilets are not so beautiful and comfy.. so we can squat better.. laugh til everyone died haha slippers used during the war.. now comes with many sizes.. the guide said from smallest to the biggest, for monkeys, babies, children, asian adults and the last sixe, for angmohs haha a model of how the 3 levels of tunnels looked like underground.. this was impressive becuz this whole thg was dug at night most of the time without the knowledge of the american soldiers fried rice.. a nice staple in vietnam.. cambodian one seems to be nicer tho.. same for fried noodles.. siem reap ones are the nicest.. escargot???!!! i onli noe it tastes damn nice with.. saigon beer!!! haha.. cheap beer n easy to down.. but abit too bland.. i prefer this brand called klang.. can be found in supermarts.. i thought this was a kfc ad.. luckily i din say it out or i may be killed by the vietnam locals, hahavisiting the night market in ho chi minh.. lots of bargaining reqd.. we missed the ben taim market tat onli opens til 6.. but guys dun worry realli.. cuz there are such huge markets in every state in vietnam.. we found one ultra big day market in nah trang too.. so u will get ya shopping eventually =) roadside restaurants.. take ya pick.. for me their grilled meat is a must try.. in fact i had this meal in this place later while on my mekong delta tour.. its like 1+ sing dollars.. grilled pork chop plus some egg and sour vegetables with soup.. godlike.. i cldnt help buying another pork chop to add to it, haha interesting shop at the night market for those hu like models of ships or planes or any kind of models.. there is oso one shop at this night market tat is next to ben taim market that has a wholesaler.. bes prices there if ya want handicrafts and paintings =) one of the fun rides besides the tut tut ride on the edge.. cherylene sit on my lap and we let cars n bikes zoom past us as the uncle pedalled us back to hotel with this ONE seater rickshaw.. in fact we oso tried a motorbike ride where 3 of us, including the driver weaved past n dodged cars on the HONKING streets, somehow i love dangerous rides haha.. but cherylene made my legs numb, haha honey making place, dear posing with the bees who somehow dun find her as sweet as i do.. if nt why are they behaving so well? tea with honey with tidbits like dried bananas.. poor people like me enjoyed and bought nothg of cuz haha super strong alcohol.. loads of snakes inside.. fruit feast.. chiku, mangoes, papayas n more.. with nice tea.. heard some live vietnamese folk song singing while we enjoyed the fruits and tea... shiok! take a boat ride down the mekong river... peaceful and serene experience me n dear cherylene reliving her dragonboat past.. n the boat rower was happy to let her help of cuz coconut candy making! new machines used in the coconut processing there where coconut is made into EVERYTHG an old school method of taking away the husk from the coconuts toys made out of coconuts sold there too! the floating market where the locals trade for fruits and vege.. some drink stalls too.. and u can oso find boats selling fried noodles and soup too! one of the highlights of the trip.. watermelons.. we bought some n ate on the book after they cut it open on the spot.. every boat has a stick on top.. what they hang on top shows what the boat sells.. apparently this one sells everythg u might wanna buy there haha kids selling drinks.. poor thg but.. those in cambodia are realli even more jialat.. cuz they have to beg for money and foood and r recruited by syndicates to sell thgs at places like angkor wat.. kids in singapore shld realli head there and take a look freshly peeled pineapples on sale!!! "pho" the best breakfast i had in vietnam.. visitng another local market while on the mekong delta tour fish or snakes? not sure.. ok.. this one.. the shop owner left u clue to tell u wad it is.. haha MOUSE meat!!!! no chance to try, grrr.. wonder if i wld dare to if i had a chance tho haha im the king of rice!!! took a tour to look at the machinery that seperate n process the rice grains.. 7 kinds of rice.. brown rice, half grains broken grains used for making rice flour and rice paper.. every kind has a use.. some are fed to chickens.. cant rmb them all haha floating hotel tat i lived in on the 2nd day of the mekong delta tour.. not worth it realli cuz must pay extra but there were like milllliiiiooonnns of mosquitoes!!! mosquito netting.. our savior! this bridge was like shaky all the way.. on our ways to visit the cham people, minority in vietnam.. cloth weaving machine demonstration.. cool these bags are reaaallli nice and are available for arnd 6+ sing dollars.. if ya take a 3 day mekong delta tour u will come to this place.. buy it if ya like it! cuz its much more xepensive if ya buy it at ho chi minh... dun leave with regrets like cherylene! =p visiting the temple was.. not an easy ride.. n in vietnam when they say traffic jams its realli unlike singapore where u still can see motorbikes weaving thru.. in vietnam terms traffic jams mean.. zero space on the road random shot.. a nice view of the temple from a higher block.. nice scenery! praying to the gods is a must of cuz.. unless ya r of some other religion of cuz.. n the guide said that actualli the buddhism in cambodia and vietnam is very different.. apparently cambodia buddhism believes in beasts like snakes while the viets believe in lions and tigers.. besides that i heard the monks in cambodian can even eat meat! religion i guess realli evolves with human needs and history.. took a nice boat ride with a top level to suntan while we went back towards ho chi minh to catch our overnight ride to nha trang.. enjoying the cool sea breeze n the sun.. but the sun was abit glaring as i tried to take the shot tho nice lunch on the boat ride too! then again, we paid gd money for this trip.. if ya take a tour from other agencies it might be cheaper than the one we took up at "delta tours" agency at pham ngu lao.. so if ya have the energy, do walk arnd n see the prices.. service might be not so gd for the cheaper tours tho.. like the service we had for island hopping in nah trang.. sleeper bus was another interesting ride! I packed supper on board of cuz.. tho the chicken rice I had before borading was.. woohooo!!! roasted chicken with glutinous rice which has sweet and a bit of spicy sauce poured over it.. forgot to upload pic but.. nvm la haha sleepppttt all the way ah.. damn comfy ride.. sleeper bus was gd cuz it saved us a night of hotel stay n when we reached nah trang it was like 6+ in the morning and we were all ready to hit the beaches after a short rest! a must go romantic getaway in nha trang.. this hot spring center is beautifula n quite affordable too.. very nice decor and facilities inside.. service was not so good tho.. but perhaps its cuz the locals cldnt understand us la mud bath!!! very gd for the skin supposedly.. we saw some angmohs put it all over their faces.. we paid abit more for the private tub.. fun! after tat we will suntan and let the sand dry then wash it off hydrotherapy where intense jets of water are sprayed on u.. abit painful tho.. some angmohs were squealing in it haha immerse in hot spring water.. but it was not hot enuf leh i think.. cherylene found the temperature just rite tho.. but it was nice la aniwaes hahaWe were just exploring the streets to see what there is to eat at nha trang before we bumped into this place! we locals were all having some beef pot with beer.. so we took a shot too! loads of free flow vege.. 5 bucks.. n there was so much beef even with cherylene's help we felt like puking at the end of it.. the aunty was also very helpful tho she cldnt understand english.. coming over to help us cook or add soup wheneva we looked confused n needed help nha trang has an area famous for their nightlife.. discoteque is their version of clubbing.. if ya like clubbing n pubbing... there are backpacker's guesthouses there too.. just get accomodatn there and ya can "HAVOC" every night at ya doorstep =) nice shops at the nightlife area.. u can find a branch of the famour "hoi an" tailors there too to make a suit for yaself! this is the place tat we chilled with.. nice! comes with free pool the beaches of nha trang.. lie there and soak in the sun with drinks.. cherylene and I did redang n tioman so.. we just strolled the beaches and went to the market in nha trang.. in the evening u can just sit by the beaches and catch the locals all playing their hearts out in beach soccer by the beach.. n cherylene and I like the fact that the beach is filled with locals and not overly commercialised.. at night the locals will picnic at the beach with food n have BBQs there too! island hopping was fun! howeva snorkling there is nt as gd as redang as there realli werent many fishes arnd.. lunch on board together was fun n cosy tho SEA URCHIN porridge! for other seafood they realli can be found on mainland roadside stalls.. so dun get ripped off on the boat ride.. the boat ride sells seafood cheaper than restaurant but the roadside stalls are like way below that u can get on the tour, as u will see later HIGHLIGHT!!! FLOATING BAR! basicaly everyone jumps into the sea, hang on to floats.. we will then be given wine from the guy tats floatg with us too.. coupled with loud music.. clubbing on the sea.. shiok!!! a nice place in nha trang.. dunno wad building it is tho.. dropped by some nice exhibition while urban hunting look at this painting.. this is fully embroided.. seriously my camera dun even do this Apparently it is very important to relax and be laid back in vietnam.. they even put up signs to remind u haha picnic by the locals by the beach.. so yup.. strolling arnd at night realli allows u to see into the lives of the locals, which is somethg i realli like just like eating wad the locals eat and stuffseafood!!!! nice and cheap.. found this pasa malam like thg near our red coral hotellots to choose from.. and e managed to sit down n eat with alot of effort to communicate.. so bring arnd pen n pare or calculator to ask for and quote prices.. if the people at the restaurant noe english.. it is oso more expensive usually i think so.. yup, effort for gd n cheap food this humongous lobster for just 15 sing! the chioest beer gal in vietnam advertising.. i love eatg wif cherylene cuz she makes everythg look soooooo delicious doesnt it? n thaks dear, cuz i noe nt every gal dares to eat the roadside and chiong wif me +)with that i conclude my summary for this trip.. in addition to all the fun rides, food and places, i oso leant alot more abt cherylene.. counting our finances every night and forcing me to walk arnd in the room in slippers cuz she think there might be "invisible bacteria" sometimes, it was realli an experience of how it wld be to live together with her.. im oso too laidback sometimes and i think her being so careful n streetwise (I always lose my way even in singapore) realli helps me alot.. but traveling wif her brings me to the most dirty, exciting, or even uncomfy places that other gals might not even wanna attempt.. so im realli thankful for tat.. thanks for the wonderful trip dear.. lets go for our nxt honeymn soon!!! =)
i oso feel very grateful for my life in singapore after the trip.. kids there have to sometimes beg for money and live in slums.. others dun even have a chance to study.. places like phnom penh is still recoverg from the ravages of civil war and smell like a rubbish dump with rubbish everywhere on the road.. sometimes i realli feel no matter wad, we must appreciate our life here..
N yup!!! my mood is alot better now =) thanks for all the emotional support everyone has provided recently.. my frens, thanks! as for cherylene hu's in taiwan, be back soon..
weilie * 1:02 AM 0 rocked with me
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