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........

4 days in Cambodia : Day 1 – The Horror of Air Asia

Wanted to post this a bit earlier, but I have been busy working on a few tenders ever since I came back from Cambodia. So much for the holiday mood. Its back to work! Grace gave me an idea to post my Cambodia’s experience by phases …. hehe…Thanks Grace! Check our her little adventures here, they took so much more photos than us!

Overall, I had much more fun in Cambodia than I expected. I initially thought it would be kinda boring, after all its mostly just temples (I am not really a temple person). But to my nice surprise, the temples (or ruins) were really incredible. You can really close your eyes and imagine what it’s like thousands of years ago. I didn’t quite enjoy some of the temples as it was too crowded. And honestly, I sorta got confused on which temples that we actually visited. There were just too many of them!

Day 1 – The Horror of Air Asia

Let’s go back on the first day, Air Asia made it hell for us. I woke up at 6:00am, got ready and got to LCCT by 8:00am to check in for the 10:00am flight (Thanks Mr Rock for sending me to LCCT!).

To our despair, the Air Asia staff told us that out flight have been delayed for 3 hours to 1:30pm due to ‘technical’ problems. Instead of apologizing, the Air Asia staff was very rude. LiSzu gave them a piece of her mind and told them that it is not the way to speak to their customers.

Well Done LiSzu!

So we were stuck in the LCCT with absolutely nothing to do for almost 6 hours before the flight finally took off at 2:00pm. Wasted a whole half day that could have been spent exploring Cambodia!

The hotel pickup service was waiting for us at the Cambodia airport. He offered to bring us around Siem Reap for the next few days, but we have already made prior arrangements to use Mr Rock’s Tour Guide. The guy was really disappointed and we felt kinda bad for him.

After checking into our hotel and calling our Tour Guide, Mr Lyfath, we rewarded ourselves for the long wait by having some beef satay and roast beef, recommended by Mr Rock. It was absolutely delicious! The best satay any of us have ever tasted! A MUST try roadside cuisine in Siem Reap. As for the roast beef, due to communication problem, the beef only arrived 30 minutes later.

As we were running a bit late for sunset, Lyfath gave us a roller coaster drive to Angkor Wat. I had to hold on to our seatbelt. We then went to buy the Angkor Wat passes (we bought just 1 day pass as we are not sure that we wanna see temples for the whole 3 days) and visited Angkor Wat for sunset. It was just way too crowded for us to enjoy ourselves. And it was too cloudy for us to have a nice view of the sunset.

Lyfath then dropped us at the Old Market for some shopping and we then moved on to Blue Pumpkin (also recommended by Mr Rock) for dinner. The food was so-so only (Satay still the best!). After dinner we went back to the hotel to shower and slept early to get enough rest for the sunrise tomorrow.

A lovely temple, but over-crowded with tourists.


Trying to be creative to standout, since there are so many people in the photo.

A side mini-tower in Angkor Wat.

Mmm....the best picture we got of sunset.

Its getting dark but you cant see the sun setting. So we ended up trying to entertain ourselves.

Look out for the 2nd Day in Cambodia... more photos in production.

Dogs of Cambodia

After 4 catfur-free days, I am finally back, surrounded by cat fur again. Pepper was the first to come greet me, as usual, asking for a cuddle. Garlic and Sesame looked at me with sleepy eyes and Ginger is no where to be seen. Cats! I do not think they noticed that I am gone for 4 days. Only Winter was absolutely thrilled to see me.

I managed to snap some pictures of the dogs of Cambodia. Like the people in Cambodia, they lead a harsh life. But in a way, they are luckier than most dogs in Malaysia. Almost every house you see has at least 1 dog. There are even houses as small as half of the size of my bedroom, and yet they still own a dog. Our tour guide said he has 5 dogs. People in Cambodia treat the dogs well. They do not kick the dogs or shoo them away even when the dogs come into the shop to beg for food. Cats, however, are nowhere to be seen. Maybe there are just too many dogs walking on the street.

Dogs are a common sight in the street of Cambodia.

A young dog, following a child down the reservoir.

Can you see the dog?

There he is, resting peacefully in a temple.

A sign found at the entrace of almost all the temples. But I guess like the dogs of Malaysia, the dogs of Cambodia do not read.

Pigs of Cambodia!

A Dalmation piggie!

A lovely polka-dot piggie.

Cute Pup for Adoption

3 months plus
Male
Vaccinated and Dewormed
A bit shy but nice temperament
So far not much of a problem with health or behavior

We hope to find him a home soon. He is currently staying in a pet hotel.


If interested, please email ivanwongkh@lycos.com.

Poppy, a trained obedient puppy, is still available for adoption. See details of Poppy here.

My Little Green Friend

Sesame has found a new friend, the Little Green Alien, a gift from Andrew last Christmas. So far, Sesame has been pretty gentle with his Little Green friend. Not having any siblings to pay with, he is pretty attached to human. He loves to play with the human hand and pretends that your hand is another kitten. But be careful, he can be over-excited and leaves some tiny scratches on your hand if you are not careful.

Time sure flies, from he is now 3.5 months old. I wonder how heavy he is now.

My new Little Green friend, with the big head.

MMmm......What's down there?

Tagged With Weekend Cat Blogging

Professional Body Remover

Note: This post consists of picture of dead animal.

After 1 month, the Professional Body Remover is called for her services again.

“Professional Killer calling Body Remover. One enemy is identified and terminated. Body is big and fat, either very well-fed or even pregnant. To dispose off immediately. Over and out.”

This is the 2^nd body this week. The first body was small and thin. Second was bigger and fatter. Since I am a trained Professional Body Remover, size does not really matter (anything bigger than the Spice cats are excluded). I still remember my first job. My hand was shaking, I didn't even dare to look at the body directly. Removal was done with 2 layers of plastic bag, and was done as fast as I can to get it over with. Now, after more than 10 jobs, I even stopped to take photos, picked up the body with just 1 layer of plastic bag and examined the body. It looked fresh, no blood seen. Well done again, Dog Spice.

Below is a photo of the 2^nd body of the week, exactly as I found it.