Siem Reap

Arrived in Siem Reap early in the morning at 8 a.m. with multiple forms to fill including a health declaration due to the H1N1 virus. Not to much of a delay though, as we had our own pens and did not need to queue for pens :D.

Headed out for lunch in town, opposite the Old Market, at Angkor Palm. The food wasn't too bad, and I was quite impressed with the lunch platter which was quite nice. Plus, it was an introduction to the local cuisine :D. It reminds me of Thai food really...

Angkor Palm

Lunch Platter for 2

Headed to the Old Market right after lunch to have a look see. The place is certainly an eye opener. Not only the market but the surrounding areas too. Despite being a town, it still has much more potential to grow. The country is poor and it shows in their daily lives activities and possesions. It made me realized just how lucky I am.

Streets of Siem Reap

The old market, aka Psar Chaa is sometimes used as the reference point in Siem Reap as it is also a popular tourist spot selling a huge variety of things.

Pots & bowls

Fresh food

Shoesssss

Textiles

There wasn't anything that really caught our eyes as nothing was really... suitable. So we left for Psar Kandal, also known as Central Market. This market is cleaner and more spacious. A fairly well-ventilated place, which was great for us. Plus, it provided us a shelter from the sun :D. But it essentially sold the same things, perhaps a little more costume jewellery than Old Market.

It was also here that I bought a book, "Stay Alive, My Son." by Pinthay, which is a really good read. It gives a good insight on how things were during the Khmer Rouge period and how it impacted on the people then and even now. It gives us a better understanding to know why Cambodia is how it is today. A truly sad read I have to add.

Next stop : Wat Preah Prohm Rath

If I remember correctly, and if I understand the information correctly, the pagoda carries the story of a Buddhist monk who used to travel on the Tonle Sap River, and despite it being long journeys, the rice that he carries always remains freshly cooked. In a time where he was attacked by sharks, part of the boat floated back to the village and the villagers built a wooden statue of Buddha from there. There is a reclining Buddha statue in the temple itself.

Pretty drawings

There were drawings on all 4 sides to the main building of the temple, which flows like a story starting from the left side. It was I think the story of Siddharta since he was born until he obtained nirvana. The drawings were really pretty and the colours were intense. It was quite a good 'read'.

The pagoda was really quite clean given that there was only 2 caretakers there when we were there. It was quite spotless I have to say. Those two must work really really hard to look after such a big place. Funnily, there wasn't other people while we were there, making me wonder how is this not a tourist spot. Or maybe, we were just there when it was really quiet. Not that I'm complaining... I love not bumping into buses of tourists :P.

5 head Naga

Someone told us what it means, the 5 head naga. But all I can remember now is that these statues are often built with odd number heads, none of them with even numbers. And the maximum of it is 7, and of the 7, 1 is a female Naga. The exact translation to the numbers, I can't recall at all.

Couldn't fight the sun anymore, we headed back to the hotel to get some rest and cool air before heading off to Bakheng Hill. Although many told me how hot it can get in Cambodia, it certainly hasn't prepared me. We were sweating profusely and constantly annoyed at how hot it could get.
*sigh*

Bakheng Hill

A temple built at the top of a small hill, a great place for sunset except for us, as the sun refused to show itself that day. To get to Bakheng Hill, one would actually need to get the Angkor Temple Pass. As we bought our pass after 5 p.m that day for next day use at the temples, the visit to Bakheng Hill is included for that evening :).

Phnom Bakheng

The temple was built by King Yasovarnam I as his capital after the move to Angkor. It is built in a little pyramid structure, where there is a main temple at the top, surrounded by 5 towers. It is a six-tier pyramid, if I remember correctly.. or was it five?

One of the few towers

Main building

One of the many gorgeous carvings

Oh no, no mr sun .. :(

The whole area was filled with tourist, all waiting for the sunset, but unfortunately, it wasn't one that we could appreciate fully so we decided to head down before the crowd but not walking down through the main step. We took the steps to the side instead. Less tourists around and there was also local children playing around with monks nearby. A scene of how it probably is, before the place was flocked by thousands of tourist.

We had reservations at Angkor Village for the Aspara Dance and Show Dinner, which was really quite nice. I found it difficult to make decide which one to go for, as there as plenty of places that offered the same combination and I didn't want to go to one that would have been laid out in normal tables and chairs with bright lights. One that didn't have the ambience for such a show. So when I stumbled across Angkor Village's website, I jumped at the chance of booking it, despite it costing a bit more than the others. (It was USD 22 ppax).

It was one decision that I did not regret :).

Dinner set Samosa & Tempura, Chicken soup with lemongrass, Country side salad, Saraman Pork with red spices, steamed rice

The dinner included was not your usual buffet as in other places, rather it was a set dinner. And pretty yummy at that! :). The theatre hall was made to look the part with it's great wooden structures, the curtains and even the seating arrangements. We were on the ground level, which meant we had to sit on the floor for dinner. The seatings upstairs have tables and chairs. There is a virtual tour of the hall on the company's website :). *That was what that sealed the decision for me*

Dessert - Coconut custard and fruit salad

There was 5 dances in total, starting off with the Aspara Ballet which was a slow dance before picking up at the next dance, the Fisherman's Dance. The latter was truly enjoyable, with comical moments. The other 3 were Mekhala Dance, the Coconue Dance and lastly a dance-play of Legent of the Reamker.

Aspara Ballet

Fisherman's Dance

Legend of the Reamker:



We went for a massage after the show, in town near the Old Market which was recommended by our guide, before returning home for a good night sleep. Till we brave the temples of Angkor the next day :D.

From Phnom Penh

It's day 5 in Cambodia.
The weather is extremely hot and humid.
Can't wait till we get to the beach!! :)

Brussels, Belgium

This would be a bit difficult to blog about, as the trip happened towards the end of 2007 which makes it almost 18 months ago. Coupled with the memory of a goldfish, I'm resorting to making it a picture dominant post. Or posts for that matter.

Arrived in Brussels early in the morning, to be met up at the train station with my bestie! :D She was travelling in Paris, Italy and I forgot where, and we were to do Belgium & Germany with some other friends too.

Town Hall @ the Grand Palace

@ The Square

We stayed fairly close to the Grand Palace. I remember being in awe of the beautiful architecture of the old buildings there, the gothic features of the buildings and yet, to not appear intimidating or eerie.

Our hotel. I remember having trouble looking for it. We walked around the place for a few times before actually finding it. The funny thing was, we walked past it twice and thought to ourselves, "Now, this would be a nice place to stay in." . Imagine our joy when we finally realized that this is where we're staying! :)

Pot of mussels for lunch

There was 3 of us, and we had trouble finishing this pot of mussels. It's not as if we ordered plenty, we only had a paella in addition to this pot. I was quite sick of mussels after this lunch I have to say. But the locals seems to order it as a main for 1 person. But I suspect it might be the norm.

Chocolates & Belgium comes together :D

Manneken Pis

The famous bronze statue of a boy peeing is a landmark of Brussels. Was a little hard to find initially, as it is located at a corner in some alley. I would have thought it would be out in an open space, like where the Grand Palace is.

*somewhere*

Soon, it was night and it was time for the Christmas Market! I love being there this time of the year, Christmas Markets are so fun to be at :). Needless to say, we went to the one in Brussels, and also in Berlin.

Ferris Wheel *grin*

There wasn't a long queue for the ride which was great. The little cars are well covered with clear windows for scenery-viewing. I remember being on a ferris wheel where there was no windows - It gave us all a brain freeze after. Hhmm.. I think it must have been in the Royal Melbourne Show a few years ago.

View of Christmas Market from the top

The Christmas Market is near St Catherine Place. About 10 minutes walk from the Grand Palace,if you were navigating in the dark without a map, like us.

Bourse
*Brussels Stock Exchange*

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Our accommodation came with breakfast which was splendid, as the breakfast area is on the top floor of the hotel *I think*. Well, whether or not if was, it still offered a pretty good breakfast view. Btw, we stayed in Floris Hotel Arlequin Grand-Place :).

That's the Town Hall I think

We had the day to kill before catching on the night train to Berlin to meet up with another friend. Night train so that we could save the money on another night in a hotel :P. There was several places that I had in mind, namely The Royal Palace, St Michael's Cathedral, Atomium and Cirquantenaire Arch.

St Michael's Cathedral

Located on Treurenberg Hill in Brussels, this was a bit of a walk from our hotel, which we obviously got lost on our way here too. *Oh, and we stopped at a chocolate shop for a while too :P*. I remember it as St Michael's Cathedral, but apparently it is better known as St Michael and St Gudula Cathedral.

There was displays for Christmas while we were there, which was a nice touch from the usual churches that we visit. We spent a fair bit of time here if I remember correctly.

Some of the displays :

Headed towards the Royal Palace by foot, which is opposite Palace of the Nation, where a garden lies in between the two - which I think was Brussels Park.

Palais de la Nation

The Royal Palace is where the King of Belgium lives, and if he is in the country, the Belgian flag is raised. I forgot if it was raised when we were there. It is also said to be open to public in summer, but unfortunately, we were there in winter so we didn't even bother finding out.

Royal Palace

We then took the train out to visit the Atomium. Built in 1958 in conjuction with the year's World Fair, the atomium has become one of the landmarks of Belgium. A magnified version of a 9-molecule atom by about 160 billion times, it did give a pretty good impression. Sadly, the place was packed and the queues were too darn long that we only took a few pictures, wandered on the grounds for a bit before leaving.

Atomium

Took the train back to the town, before making our way towards the Cirquantenaire Arch. The metro station wasn't that close, and we had to walk pass the Jubilee Park before arriving at the arch. The park wasn't that great, but then again, there was construction work ongoing while we were there.

The Cirquantenaire Arch

There was two museums in the area, one to each side of the arch. If I remember correctly, the one that we went to was the Royal Museum of Army and Military History, and the other one was the Museum of Arts and History. The army & military museum was definitely worth a visit :).

One of the museum's display

As we were pushed for time, we didn't spend that much time in the area and quickly made our way back, but not before stopping at EU. Brussels is actually the home to EU, which was formed... in the late 1990s if I am not mistaken. There is 3 main instituition to EU. *God, my former econs teacher would so have my head for being so unsure about EU*

One of the EU buildings

Some park

Soon it was dinner time before heading off to catch our night train to Berlin. One thing that always remind me of Brussels is the way food is displayed outside the restaurants. The immaculate, colourful displays food with attentive details.

See what I mean?!?!
*grin*

Chow time! :D