Attack of the FUR!

Ever since I have 4 cats, my house has never been fur-free. EVERYWHERE there is FUR, and I mean really EVERYWHERE! I guess that is the price to pay for having 4 DLH (Domestic Long Hair).

I try to comb them everyday (skipping few days here and there). Sometimes I wonder how can they shed so much and still have so much fur! It is really a puzzle to me.

I am now very very tempted to send Pepper and Garlic to the Pet Saloon for some massive fur trimming!

BEFORE : The Comb

AFTER : The comb

SIDE-VIEW : The Comb

THE FUR!

You get the same amount of fur everyday! I think by now, if I have kept all the fur, I would have enough to make myself a cat fur sweater.

Happy Furry New Year Boys, Gals, Cats and Dogs!

Tagged With Weekend Cat Blogging

Day 4 – Bye Bye Siem Reap

We woke early to enjoy the wonderful hotel breakfast one last time before we leave. We left the hotel at 9:00am to get to the airport for our 11:30am flight.

Guess what?

Our flight has been delayed again! Another 3 hours delay to 2:30pm! When asked, the Air Asia staff just replied that there was some re-scheduling of flights. We didn’t even bother to ask anymore.

Instead of being stuck in the airport, I called Lyfath again. He was delighted to receive our call and came right away to bring us to a few more places, FOR FREE!

LiSzu decided she is tired and will stay at the airport, reading her novel. So off 3 of us went.

First place we visit was the reservoir, a local replacement of a beach. People from Siem Reap come to this place for picnic. Its like a local beach replacement.

Picnic boothes setup at the side of the reservoir.

From the reservoir, we took a narrow bumpy short cut to the Silk Farm.

At the Silk Farm, we were taken on a short tour before moving on to the Silk Stores. Stuff there was just too expensive so we all bought small souvenirs for ourselves and a small souvenir for Lyfath to remember us by.

Tiny Yellow Cocoons

Silk making is still very manual in Cambodia.

The last stop was the best, local delicacies! Before we reach there, out of the blue, Lyfath shouted...

"PIGS!"

CY then with lighting speed took out her camera from her bag and snap snap....so here it goes..

Finally, a photo on how Cambodia people transport their pigs. As of why they transport their pigs upside down, we are clueless....

About 1km away, is the local restaurant beside the padi field. Unlike all the restaurants we went to, we actually get to sit on the floor and eat like the local people!

Food was absolutely tasty and delicious (SATAY still the best though). The best was the price. For a complete meal with drinks for the 4 of us only cost USD5.00! Compared to our normal meal of USD5.00 per person (except for SATAY which is much cheaper).

While waiting for food, we took the chance to relax like a local Combodian.

Satay arrives first (the SATAY at the Golden Banana Hotel entrance still the best!)

The other food arrives. Its like meat and taugeh wrapped with roti tissue. DELICIOUS!
Not a very clear photo, taken by the waiter of the restaurant. But the food were YUMMY!

Finally its time for us to go back to the airport again. It’s a sad feeling having to leave Siem Reap and get back to work on the next day.

Bye Bye Siem Reap!

Day 3 (Part 2) - Tonle Sap (The Poor)

Ok. I am back from the Christmas break, and here is Part 2 of Day 3......

First of all, before Tonle Sap is the 60km journey from Beng Mealea back to town.

We saw baby pigs on motorbike!

Arent they cute? This is when I told Lyfath we wanna see more pigs and he brought us to his relative house. I guessed I have already posted pictures of Lyfath's piggies.

We visited Tonle Sap Lake after lunch. Tonle Sap is the second largest freshwater lake in the world (Hehe…. I read this from the book on the flight.)

Seeing Tonle Sap Lake really open my eyes. The Cambodia people are just so poor. Some of the houses are only the size of my bathroom and a family of 7 stay in that small tiny space. And amazingly, they still can have a pet dog!

Small huts along the lake that houses the whole family....

Small boat-house at the side of the lake....also houses the whole family...

A view inside one of the boat-house.....

A kid, on a pail, a mode of transport and fun....

This is where they get lights. Batteries that are sent in to be re-charged every week.

A floating market...

A floating church....

Our boat driver and his little brother....

As usual, we did not wait for the sunset, just want to avoid the crowd. Despite leaving early, we were still stuck in the jam on the way back to town. There we just too many big busses squeezing into the small road to Tonle Sap, full of Korean tourist, trying to catch the sunset. Having nothing to do, Liszu and Li Huan started singing in the car to a famous Cambodian song that we have heard over and over again....

"Calling you.....Nobody answer...."

"Calling you.....Nobody answer...."

"Calling you.....Nobody answer...."

Well, its the only English words in the song that we understand.....And it will be a song we will remember forever....(until now, I can still hear the song in my head!)

We reached town before the sunset, did some last shopping at the Old Market before we went back to the hotel to shower.

For dinner, we decided to try one of the restaurants in town. Food were again so-so (SATAY STILL THE BEST!). Why didnt I take pictures ....sigh.......

But liquor were VERY cheap..Draft beer for only USD0.50 and cocktail for USD3.00 (Buy 1 free 1 so its actually only USD1.50). We didn’t really drink that much as we still wanna try the 2 hours Body Massage.

Well, to the ladies, I DO NOT recommend the Body Massage at all. Foot Massage is good enough. For the men, I DO recommend the Body Massage. Hehe….

One more last day to go….to complete the Cambodia Trip….

Day 3 (Part 1) – Beng Mealea

We decided no more sunrise and this time, so we woke up at 6:30am instead and took our time enjoying the breakfast at the hotel, that came free with the room. We all had a big portion of the American breakfast, with sausages, bacon, eggs, bread, pineapples with coffee and orange juice.

We left the hotel at 8:30am. One hour drive to Beng Mealea, which is 60km away from Siem Reap town.

We found out that Petrol in Cambodia cost USD1.00 per liter!

It was not a boring journey as we were enjoying the country side view (with lots and lots of pigs!) and more chatting with our friendly Tour Guide, Lyfath. We took this opportunity to find out from him about Cambodia ways of life and culture.

We also dropped by to a local cake shop on the way.

They have kuih kapik too but unlike Malaysia, Cambodia Kuih Kapik is sweet.

And of course, he kept telling us again...

“Tell Sek he looks like Golden Banana boss.”

“Poh has nice hair and he very smart.”

I didn’t expect much of Beng Mealea but WOW! It is definitely the BEST temple and a MUST visit. A lot of people I talked to that came to Cambodia before, never visited this temple as it is too far from town and they charge an additional USD5 per person. But its all VERY worth it.

At the entrance, I was already surrounded by kids as I took out my candies. A group of about 10 kids swarm around me, asking for candies again and again until I lost count who have actually taken the candies. So I ended up giving them to whole packet, which they ended up fighting among themselves. Lyfath then told them in a stern voice to share among themselves. Definately need to be careful when you are giving out candies.

Inside the temple, we followed the normal route provided until Lyfath asked.

“Wan go up there?”

“Huh? Climb through the rocks? Are you sure we are allowed to?”

“Yes. Normal route finish very fast. Better to climb.”

We looked at each other and decided since we came all they way here, why not! So off we go, climbing over piles and piles of fallen rocks and ruins. The climb was very challenging but we all had so much fun.

Yeay! We made it to the top!

Lyfath then say, "Let's go over to the other side."

Oh boy but what the heck so off we go again.

The other side of the temple, easier than the first climb.

We even had time to post for photos in between climbs.

Watch your steps....and your head too!

Over piles and piles of rocks..... Hey, I overtook the Tour Leader! Hehe....

Oh yeah, Liszu is officially our Tour Leader now, a name given by Lyfath.

Finally, some more solid grounds to post for photo!

A Cambodia lady joined us to help us with the climb. Lucky there were Lyfath and the Cambodia lady, else we do not think we could make it through all those rocks!

The Cambodia lady and her cute son.

5 minutes away from the ruins is supposed to be the King's swimming pool.... but where is the water?

On the way to the King's Swimming Pool, we also caught 2 male insects fighting over 1 female insect. We didnt stay back to see who won the battle though.

Just 1km away from Beng Mealea, Lyfath brought us to the place where the stones of the temple were cut in the olden days. I still have no idea how they managed to cut through all these rocks thousands of years ago!

We didn’t really wanna leave the place but we have Tonle Sap to visit. So stay tune for Day 3 (Part 2) for Tonle Sap.......

Day 2 – The amazing Angkor Wat

The very next day, we woke up at 4:15am (Its 5:15am Malaysian time and we consoled ourselves by saying its not that early after all). We depart from the hotel at 5:00am to catch the sunrise in Angkor Wat.

Honestly it was quite disappointing. It was too crowded and we did not really see the sun. Basically it’s just the sky slowly lighting up. Mmmm…maybe I am just not a sunrise kinda person. After the sun is up, we hang around to take more photos of Angkor Wat.

Angkor Wat in the morning

At about 7:00am we left Angkor Wat and head towards the Ladies Temple which is quite far away (I forgot how far). Throughout the journey, Lyfath kept telling us…

“Tell Sek he looks like Golden Banana boss.”

“Poh has nice hair and he very smart.”

“Susan very happy, she always smile.”

“Grace has sweet face.”

“They all very good.”

He also showed us a photo he took with the 4 wonderful Malaysian that went just 1 week before us. Also showed us the angpow paper that they used to give him the tips. It was a very entertaining journey.

Breakfast at a local stall was delicious despite the fact that CY found a cockroach in her coffee (which they changed for CY) and LiSzu found a cockroach leg in her beef noodle soup (which we continued eating anyway). We all thought that the beef noodle soup tasted the best. Too bad we didnt take any photos of that!

As we moved on from one temple to another, I slowly started to be fascinated by the amazing workmanship of each of the temples. I lost touch on which temples we visited, have to compare the photos with the Angkor Wat book to refresh my memories. But a few temples stuck in my memory, The Ladies Temple, The Coiled Serpent and The Jungle Temple.

The Ladies Temple

The Coiled Serpent

The Jungle Temple

Huge roots that look like a huge snake.

Can you see the cute little insect hiding in between the roots?

At some of the temples, its actually quite a challenge to climb to the top as the some of steps are very small and steep. Some are as small as only 2 inches! Cambodia people must have very small feet last time!

Mmm.... Don't remember which temple is this.

But this sign give us a 2nd thought about climbing all the way up.

We tried anyway. The challenge is actually climbing back down!

By 3:30pm, we told our lovely Tour Guide that we had enough of the temples (I think we must have visited close to 10 temples by then). So he then recommended us to visit one last temple on the mountain (which I do not remember the name). It was really worth the visit. The climb to the top was tough as the steps were small and steep but it was worth it. From the top of the temple, we can see Tonle Sap Lake, Angkor Wat as well as the Hot Air Balloon. I think the sunset here would be gorgeous too but none of us are much of a sunset person anyway, so we did not stick around waiting for the sunset.

You can opt to pay USD15.00 per person for the elephant ride to the mountain top but we decided to walk.

Yeay! We climbed all the way to the top!

Fantastic view from the top.

Climbing down was another big challenge but look at Li Huan's satisfied smile for accomplishing the task.

For dinner, guess what?

Yes, we had Satay again! This time 40 huge sticks! Enough to fill 4 of us up. We then go back to the hotel to shower and rest before going for a Foot Massage at the Island. Too bad no photos of that too!

Here are a few more photos of the temples which I cant recall the name...

Tune in for Day 3, which will be soon........