Angkor Adventures: Completing the Small Circuit

Continuing from our previous post, where we spent the morning admiring sunrise at Angkor Wat, and then dropping our jaws at Angkor Tom. This next part will chronicle the rest of the day.

For the benefit of our friends - the temples of Angkor is spread over a very large area - most of the famous ones just north of the present day town of Siem Reap, but a lot others are all over an area a few hundred kms square.

The essentials of Angkor can be experiencing through a journey on the Small circuit - a clockwise route starting at Angkor Wat, traversing northward to Angkor Thom, then eastward to Ta Phrom, and then completing the circuit looking at smaller temples, gradually turning south and westward and ending the day at Phnom Bakheng, just north west of Angkor Wat, where you can try your luck at a sunset view. This is called the Small circuit loop. There is a Grand circuit, which extends the route further eastward, and covers a different set of temples - we'll cover those the next day instead.

Moving on from Angkor Thom after lunch, we depart through the Victory Gate (the second Eastern gate at Angkor Thom), and find ourselves at the small temples of Chau Say Tevoda, and Thomannon, just across the road from each other. Both are small temples, built in the 12th century, and of similar styles. Visit the recently restored Chau Say Tevoda first - you can see clearly where they have been restored by the Chinese team. In my opinion, it was quite poorly done, but then, time will tell. Then, walk across the road to admire the better restored Thomannon - check out the lintel carvings there.

Moving on, we passed the stone bridge which used to span the Siem Reap river - today, the river has, over thousands of years, changed its course, making the bridge look strangely out of place - the river is now a few hundred meters further to the east. Not long after, we reached the imposing Ta Keo.

Being told that there are no carvings, and because Tyko was worried of the really imposing looking steps, we decided not to make the climb up Ta Keo, and would instead, just walk around its walls - which wasn't such a bad thing, after all. I would have liked to climb it, but heck, we'll be climbing quite a few temples over the next few days still, one less is ok. It's a temple that was never completed - historical records suggests that construction was stopped when it was struck by lightning - which was then considered an extremely unlucky omen.

Next, here's where a driver / guide comes in useful. We wanted to go to Ta Phrom first to see the majestic trees growing over the temple ruins, but Sukkong, our guide, suggested to us to visit the broadly similar Banteay Kdei first - so that we can see how the temple should look like, minus the forest invasion!

Banteay Kdei is often overlooked in favor of the largely similar Ta Phrom, especially short of time. A beautiful temple largely in ruins due to what conservators believe as poor materials and over ambitious expansions - it was renovated many times and extended. And herein lies the beauty of the temple - atmospheric ruins, coupled with the usual great carvings you find elsewhere in the Angkor ruins. And it really gives you a good idea of how the temples will look like minus all the trees growing on top of it over the centuries as the jungle reclaims the temples after they were abandoned.

That whet our appetite for Ta Phrom, and we're quite happy to head there, after a short trip across the street to take a quick look at Srah Srang, the Royal Bath, a small reservoir of water. We just had a quick peek because we knew we'd be back tomorrow for the sunrise view. This is the site of our only encounter with a rude vendor.

When visiting Angkor, you should not be surprised to find young child peddlers trying to sell you everything from bracelets to cold drinks, but what you'll quickly find is that they are all largely very polite, and once you enter temple compounds, they will leave you alone. Here at Srah Srang, we came across a child peddler who actually accused us of lying - she was upset we said we might drink at her stall and ended up not having a drink. We quickly shrugged that incident off, promising ourselves not to even say anything the next time we're approached.

Next off, the jungle temple itself, Ta Phrom. Ta Phrom is quite a beauty - similar to Banteay Kdei, but was left on purpose by the Angkor conservators the way the found it. Basically, most Angkor temples were 'discovered' with jungle reclaiming much of it in the late 19th century. For purpose of conservation, most had the jungle removed so that they can be conserved, and what you see today are the temples minus most of the trees and overgrowth. However, Ta Phrom was left mostly alone, so you can get a good sense of how the temples of Angkor would have looked like minus all the clearings.

The temple itself is very beautiful, with beautiful carvings very much intact all over, and with ruins on the outside and inside. I don't know about you, but I seem to think that the disorganized chaos of befallen Ta Phrom beautiful. It's almost like nature has taken over and decided to decorate the temple with trees.

Take your time in this temple, it's quite easy to get lost in the ruins, and I think that's the beauty. We went in without any plans or any knowledge of the layout. All we did was to wander around, and try and cover as much of the ground as possible. There are surprises at every turn, and do take in the sights, and not get caught trying to just take photographs.

While the famous 'Lara Croft' tree takes a lot of attention, and can be a maddening mix of photo snapping tourists and gawking spectators, if you venture a bit , there are plenty of trees and photo opportunities elsewhere in Ta Phrom. While the tour buses do come, it's not hard to avoid them, since they are always in a hurry, and will quite efficiently horde tourists from one sight to another without really doing justice to the place.

I learnt to just avoid them by being totally random, just walking away whenever you encounter a big group, and you'll be rewarded by your own piece of Ta Phrom. We spent a lot of time here, because there are just so many spectacular sights here - gigantic trees supported on crumbling temples - in some cases, the temples themselves are supported by the roots of the very trees which grow on them.

After Ta Phrom, we had a bit of time on our hand, so Sukkung had us visit Preah Khan. Already quite templed out for the day, we just went in to have a cursory look, knowing that we'll be back the next day anyways. So, more on Preah Khan on a future post then.

After our temple visits, we wind down the day with a visit to Bakheng. Bakheng, or Phnom Bakheng (Bakheng hill), is the site of the first of the Angkor temples near Siem Reap, built on top of a hill. A 20 minute hike took us up to the hill, where more climbing ensued before we reached the top tier of Bakheng. There, you have vantage point - after all, it is the highest point around the whole area - you can see Angkor Wat to the southeast, and you can can see the sun setting over the West Baray, a huge reservoir dating back to Angkorian time.

As luck had it, due to the start of the rainy season, heavy clouds at the horizon made sunset muted. We waited for a while, and despite some promising breaks in the clouds, ultimately, we left without seeing any of the brilliant sunsets we have heard of. Having said that, it was still a great day out in Angkor.

Also, I overheard this classic bimbo line at Bakheng, while a group of American teenagers arrived at the top of the temple, when I was already there, waiting for sunset to arrive. One of the teenagers asked her friend aloud: "Do they have sunsets everyday, or does it only happen on special occasions?"

I don't know about sunsets, but I happen to think of my visit to Angkor so far as a special occasion, something I'll cherish and remember for a long time yet.

Angkor Adventures: Sunrise over Angkor Wat & Glorious Angkor Thom !

After touching down in Siem Reap, and experiencing a sunset at Angkor Wat, we settled down for the night after dinner at the great Dragon Soup Restaurant at Old Market, followed by some great ice cream at Blue Pumpkin.

Next morning, at around 5am, our driver, Sukkong, was waiting for us at the lobby, ready to take us out for our sunrise experience at Angkor Wat.

A short 15 minute drive takes us to Angkor Wat. We took our time, and took lots of photos of the temple from the various vantage points. Being the start of the rainy season, the crowd was 'thinner' (looks very crowded to me, but was told it's at least 5-6 times more crowded in the peak seasons), and the sunrise wasn't so good (which I agree, since it was cloudy, making those dramatic colors muted).

Spending the next hour or so there, Tyko and I managed to sneak in plenty of photos - while the sunrise itself wasn't the spectacle I think many would expect, just the experience of starting a new day at this ancient temple did it for me. If you seek, you shall find quiet corners where you can enjoy the experience minus noisy Asian tourists ...

After having our share of photos and having soaked enough of the Angkor atmosphere, we returned to the hotel for breakfast to refuel ourselves for the full day ahead !

After breakfast, we headed past Angkor Wat, to the fabled walled city of Angkor Thom.

If Angkor Wat is majestic due to its soaring towers and symmetrical construction, Angkor Thom is famous for it's many different attractions - the South Gate - the terraces - various temples within, and of course - Bayon, the ultimate expression of egomaniac.

First up, the famous South Gate. Being a walled city, Angkor Thom has 5 gates which were gateways to the city - the South Gate is the best preserved, and invariably, part of every tourist itinerary. Scenes from the Churning of the Ocean of Milk were replayed at the causeway leading to the gate, and the gate soars high into the sky, with faces of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara facing the four compass points.

After that, we were dropped at the north end of Angkor Thom, where we explored Terrace of the Leper King, Terrace of the Elephants, Phimeanakas and Baphuon before we made our way to Bayon.

Terrace of the Leper King is a beautiful mound with walls filled with sandstone carvings on the outer and hidden inner wall. Walk to the side, and you'll find the hidden wall within - the carvings there are much nicer ! Perhaps because the carvings on the inner was weren't as exposed, they are in better state of preservation - you really need to check this out, best in the late morning when the sun is higher up to give some light ...

Right next to it, Terrace of the Elephants is a 300m terrace with near life size elephant carvings. The beauty of these carvings is the little surprises - after the initial wow of seeing elephants carved into bricks, you really enjoy finding geese, crocodiles, and other animals. Also notable are the many garudas sculpted onto the walls of the terrace. The two terraces makes up what is know as part of the Victory Square.

Baphuon, sometimes called the world's largest puzzle - is a temple under restoration - most parts of it is closed - but do check out the 200m long causeway (restored), which leads to it from the main road. While most of it is under restoration, you should still check it out - the portions that are open have some interesting carvings, and it's quite atmospheric walking around pieces of dismantled temple.

All the dismantled pieces show restoration in progress - the majority of temples are restored using a method called anastylosis, where each piece of the temple is taken apart, analysed, and then put together like a huge 3D jigsaw puzzle - precisely what Baphuon is.

And finally, we reached Bayon itself - where 54 soaring towers at the central sanctuary, each with 4 faces of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara gazing upon visitors. The result - the famous Bayon smile - all 216 of them! And it's no coincidence too that the faces look a lot like King Jayavarman VII who built it ...

I find it hard to imagine what Bayon really might mean - creative genius, inflated ego of a Devaraja? The soaring towers are sometimes said to represent the 54 districts in the ancient Khmer empire, and with an inscription found in one of the bas relief carvings reading "The King will seek out those in hiding", those faces were probably meant to show that the King is omnipresent, there is nowhere anyone can hide from his steely gaze.

Regardless, today, it is a favorite amongst the tourists, and it's hard to find a time when there aren't any tourists posing with the Bayon smile, or trying to walk across your line of sight when you are posing for a photo. Still, visit in the morning or mid afternoon (before the sun disappear behind the tree line) is best, when sunlight is softer and brings into view most of the Bayon smiley faces :)

While there, check out the carvings along the walls surrounding the temple as well. We missed a bit of this during this trip, which meant we came back on our last day ... more on that later :)

After Bayon, we took lunch nearby (forget about stall No. 19 - food isn't too good, and a bit pricier - although the price is the norm for areas around the temples of Angkor). A short respite later, we went onwards to complete the small circuit in the afternoon ... please join me in the next post as I venture into the famous Ta Phrom (tree temple), and other beautiful temples ...

And you can find more photos here on my Facebook page ...

Next stop - the rest of the small circuit ...

Angkor Adventures: Angkor Wat at Sunset

Continuing from the previous post, where I talked about arrival in Siem Reap, and a bit on the town, plus the Angkor National Museum. After

The Tara Angkor hotel is around 15 minutes from the Angkor ticket booths. We had the hotel bellboy help us negotiate with a tuk tuk driver to take us to firstly, buy the pass, then go to Angkor Wat for the sunset experience, then take us back to Old Market for dinner. The bellboy helped us negotiate a $7 deal, which we thought was great !

Departing at 4.45 pm, we arrived at Angkor Wat way before sunset, so we had some time to explore.

My first view of the beautifully symmetrical towers of Angkor Wat from the tuk tuk as we approached the western gate gave me the chills. I was so touched to finally make a childhood dream come true !

Angkor Wat is a bit of an Angkorian anomaly. Angkor temples, both Hindu or Buddhists, face the East, to catch the morning sun, thus symbolising life. Angkor Wat on the other hand, faces west. Historians believe this is because the temple is built as a funerary temple for Suriavarman II - dedicated to him as a state temple while he was living, and as his mausoleum after his death.

Walking the causeway that takes us across the moat, I nearly burst out in happy tears. You can't see the 5 central towers while on the causeway, blocked by the Western Gopura (entrance gateway), so the sense of anticipation is heightened.

When I finally got a chance to peek through the final sets of doors at the western gopura at the golden peaks of Angkor Wat, I found my moment of peace and serenity. I have made one of my earliest wishes come true :)

Provision at least 1.5 hours for your sunset trip - excluding travel between your hotel. This will give you enough time to walk through the sights, take plenty of photos, and not feel so rushed to not be able to enjoy your Angkor Wat experience.

Angkor Wat is one monumental temple best visited multiple times - since like Ayer's Rock in Australia, it has a very different dynamic and feel at different times of the day.

During sunset, the towers will light up, basking in the golden rays of the setting sun on the western horizon. This is when you will be able to see the whole temple and its 5 towers glowing in soft sunlight.

During sunrise, the sun rises behind Angkor Wat in the east. This means you get the dramatic silhouette of the temple instead, with sometimes dramatic red skies in the background. More on Angkor Wat sunrise in my next post.

And you visit Angkor Wat in the afternoon, so that you can enjoy the bas-reliefs (carvings) on the walls in the relative cool of the shade, and taking opportunity of late afternoon sun to light up the carvings. You can then stay on to enjoy yet another Angkor Wat sunset :) ... I'll share my experience on this in a later post ;)

Anyways, Angkor Wat during sunset in magical. While walking on the causeway from the western gopura, you will notice two ponds on either side of the causeway - the best photo ops are right there, to take the temple reflecting on either of those pools. Also, by moving away from the causeway, you get to see all 5 Angkor Wat towers. If you approach directly, you will just get to see 3 towers, since the front left and right towers will obscure the rear towers.

Anyways, let's just enjoy photos and let them do the talking :) ... more of them here.

Next Post - Angkor Wat Sunrise & Angkor Thom

Angkor Adventures: Touching down at Siem Reap

Picking up from my previous post, on 20th May, Tyko and myself found ourselves on a flight to Siem Reap, home to the world famous Angkor monuments.

Quick facts - Siem Reap is a landlocked town located in a province also called Siem Reap in Cambodia. It has an international airport, and is today a town built around the tourists who flock to the Angkor monuments. There are hotels for every budget, transportation options from bicycles to 9 seater vans, food for every tastes, and enough to occupy you for a while. You'll want for nothing ...

If you're flying in from the south,  check out the large body of water - Tonle Sap lake, which should come in view on your final descent - it swells to a humongous 16,000 km2 size in the rainy season! Photo on the left shows the lake at the start of the rainy season, before it swells to its fullest - but you can already see floating villages and what appears to be fish farms on the lake already - these floating villages would normally be at the edge of the lake during the dry season !

Arrival at the airport was simple and straight forward, without any fuss. Immediately after clearing immigration and customs, we got ourselves a taxi to the hotel.

We found ourselves a hotel through TripAdvisor, and booked it via Expedia. The Tara Angkor Hotel is great - 3 star price, 4 star rating, 5 star service. I truly recommend it to anyone wanting a bit of comfort in Angkor, but without paying the big bucks for it.

The rooms are clean, with your towels changed twice daily. It has a swimming pool, small gym, a restaurant, free wifi at the lobby area (it's not free in the rooms though), pleasant staff members - all of whom speak perfect english and a good location just 2km from Old Market, and just 4km or so to the temples of Angkor.

Check in was simple, and although we arrived really early, by 9am, before our check-in time, they had rooms available, so they let us into our room already. Godsent ! We decided some shuteye would be great, considering the early hour of our flight.

After that, we decided to venture out to the Old Market area. This is the center of Siem Reap's present day universe - you will find everything you need here - from restaurants, souvenir stalls, pubs, spas to pharmacies. It's not a very big area - the market itself is an interesting walk, but the streets surrounding it - Pub Street, The Alley, and Blue Pumpkin street are the ones where you'll find yourself exploring more.

After a great lunch at the Khmer Kitchen, we ventured to the Angkor National Museum. Angkor National Museum is a private venture, but it has access to some of the best artifacts from the Angkor Conservatory, and if you're trying to make sense of what you're about to see in the following days at the temples of Angkor, then you should plan on spending at least 2-3 hours there. A mix of interactive, multimedia displays coupled with beautiful artifacts will give you a crash course in Angkor appreciation. Cameras not allowed, so no photos from the inside. =( ... Would have loved to take some photos, but then again, if they let us take photos, we would never be out of the museum in time for our next stop ...

We finished the museum tour in time to catch a tuk tuk to the Angkor ticket booth. Here's the deal - you need to buy a pass to access the temples of Angkor. The pass comes in 1 day ($20), 3 days ($40) and 7 days ($60) validity, and must be used on consecutive days. If you buy the pass after 5pm, the pass will be valid from the following day - and you'll get free entrance for the day.

Our hotel bellboy negotiated a tuk tuk that would take us to the ticket booth, then take us to Angkor Wat to view the sunset, and then take us to the Old Market area after that for dinner - for $7. Good to have the locals bargain for us ...

The pass purchase itself was painless and fast. Pay up, have your digital photo taken, and you're done - in under 3 minutes.

Next stop - Angkor Wat sunset !

More photos can be found here !

Walking back in time ... Siem Reap / Angkor Wat

Sometime last year, over a Yahoo IM conversation, me and my regular travel buddy decided that we really needed to go on a trip again. Between Luang Prabang and Siem Reap, we decided that perhaps Siem Reap would be the better choice.

Foolishly getting ourselves a flight at the end of May, we later discovered that it's really ... the start of the rainy season! Gasp!

Cutting a very long story short before your attention span expires, we did a lot of research, read up forums, gathered intelligence from other previous explorers, and put together a plan to enjoy Siem Reap to its fullest!

On 20th May, we both took off from the Kuala Lumpur Low Cost Carrier Terminal on AK280 to Siem Reap.

The following posts chronicle our little step back in time. I hope that it'll inspire some of you who've never considered visiting the Angkor Wat monuments to at least think about it.

The combination of great people - always smiling, ever friendly; astonishing food - blending Thai spicy and nous with Vietnamese subtlety; laid back town atmosphere with plenty to do if you want plenty to do, or little to do if you choose not to do anything - in combination with the often breath-taking monuments of Angkor made this a trip of a lifetime.

In my short 5 days and 4 nights (more like 4 days and 4 nights due to the flight schedules), I found a new appreciation for the master builders of South East Asia. Somewhere in Siem Reap, while fulfilling a childhood dream, I've found myself a little piece of history. :)

I will, over the next few days and weeks, publish more accounts of our trip, and share some of my experiences. Hope you'll like it !

La-la-la-langkawi ...

Being in Penang, so close to the Islands of Legend, Langkawi, we obviously couldn't resist the temptation of dropping by to just sample what Langkawi has to offer.

It really got off to a bad start - there was a storm not long after leaving port in Penang, and the boat was rocking quite terribly - causing all of the people around us (except us) to throw up at one point or another. Good thing The Girlfriend fell asleep. I guess if you think you will get seasick, the best thing to do is to sleep. You can't be seasick if you're not awake, you know.

Anyways, reaching Langkawi 3 hours later, we were not the only people who're glad to be on dry land. I quickly rented a Proton Wira about to break apart. For RM60 per day, it's probably the worst bit of business I've done - words fail me here, because you have to experience the car to understand how bad it was. The shaking was so bad, it had to be measured with the Richter scale everytime we have to put the car in idle. And the fuel meter always shows Empty. And there are parts falling everywhere.


We stayed at the Mutiara Burau Bay - which I highly recommend - it's hidden away, quiet, and has a nice beach. No complaints about it. Food can be found nearby at the Telaga Harbour Park.

The weather didn't really co-operate, so we did the next best thing - we drove about the island. We basically saw every major beach there was to see - Pantai Cenang, Pantai Tengah, Tanjung Rhu, Datai Bay, Pantai Kok. The drives were amazing and relaxing - little traffic, and smooth most of the ways.

We ate in restaurants recommended by the guide books, and just took it easy.

When the rain fell unabashed, we simply went indoors, taking our time in Underwater World Langkawi. Penguins are seriously cute, I promise you. Try to coincide your visit with the feeding times, and also take the time to watch the 3D show. It's cool =)

We also saw the waterfalls at Telaga Tujuh and Temurun. And of course, we took the Langkawi Cable Car. Too bad the weather turned bad at the top of Mt Mat Chinchang, which meant we had to forgo the boardwalk. Well, that and the fact that there's basically nothing but mist to look at up there.

The rains basically meant we had to give up snorkelling or island hopping plans. And I also decided against doing any mangrove tours or kayaking. I don't like spending time at sea during unpredictable weather.

Anyways, Langkawi is a great place to go to for a short break in a natural setting. It's got it all - beaches, tropical rain forests, slower pace of life.

Good thing for us, the ferry ride back to Penang was smooth sailing in good weather. The time I spent on the ferry deck, just enjoying the breeze and appreciating the sunset was godsent.

Langkawi is great. Too bad the weather didn't turn out how I expected it to. But that just means that we'll definately be back for another trip !

Slow down, chill out, eat well !

Some days back, the Girlfriend and I, we decided that life was too stressful. And we thought that driving a few hundred kms to the north, staying there a few nights, and just wander about looking for good food would be a good way to wind down and destress =)

So, on we went to Penang.

Food is obviously the main attraction of Penang to us Malaysians. Few Malaysians would challenge Penang's place as the food capital of the country.

But don't forget that there are plenty of other things to do between meals to burn away your calories =)


The day we arrived, we just took it easy, and tried out Lebuh Keng Kwee's famous Teochew Chendul, the irresistable Durian Ice Kacang at Kek Seng Coffeeshop, and went nuts with Chev at Gurney Drive and New Lane trying all sorts of hawker food. It's a foodie's paradise !

We wandered about Georgetown one day, discovering the Heritage Trail. And then we immersed ourselves with the Cheong Fatt Tze mansion. And then I showed girlfriend that there is an End Of The World indeed ... and we settled for a Ship-ly dinner. Not content, we even went on to sample what is probably the best Murtabak in this glorious land called Malaysia !

And on yet another day, we ventured to the hills of Penang, scaling the dizzying heights of Penang Hill, and paying homage to the temple that the Kek Lok Si is ! And of course, what is a visit to the hills without a pit stop at the Air Itam market for the Asam Laksa? Or indeed, the sublime afternoon tea at David Brown's at Strawberry Hill?

And of course, we simply had to try out the divine Char Koay Teow at Lebuh Kimberly. Cooked in oil immersed in seafood ... the subtle flavors of Char Koay Teow only a true Penang hawker can create were all teased out, dancing and mesmerizing our undeserving tastebuds.

And obviously, you can't leave Penang without trying the Char Koay Teow at Lorong Selamat! And wash it down with some of the famous Peanut Ice Kacang, no less =)

Simply unbeatable ... only Penang can boast so much good food, so many things to see and enjoy, and so much relaxation in an urban setting ! =D

Trip Report: Zhouzhuang

I've been putting this entry off for a few weeks now, but unless I do it now, I'll probably never be doing it.

To refresh our collective memories, I was in China for a few weeks in 2007, and so far, I've blogged about being in Beijing's Forbidden City and Beihai Park, my travels to Mutianyu section of the Great Wall of China, and my marvelling of Shanghai.


This report is about my visit to the water village of Zhouzhuang in Suzhou. Shanghai is located on the lower reaches of the Yangtze Delta, also called the Jiangnan (江南) in Chinese. This area is peppered with canals and waterways, and is where the province of Jiangsu is located. Jiangsu's most famous area is Suzhou (苏州).

Anyways, cutting the geography lesson short, Suzhou is where you'll find a lot of water villages. And to cut the story even shorter (I can see some readers tearing their hair our with impatience now) ... I visited one of them, Zhouzuang (周庄) while I was in Shanghai.

It's a half day trip from Shanghai, but I'd really recommend you to break from the normal touristy itinerary, and go early in the morning before the tourists spoil your experience. Even better is going during the winter, when the place is half deserted (according to my tour guide).

Ok, no more babbles ... I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking now.


Zhouzhuang is a small village now fully commercialized - there are shops everywhere. But what's really cool is you can take a boat ride around the place, and you can pay the boatmen to sing the native songs to serenade you while you are taken on your boat ride. However, we didn't make the boat ride, although it was actually included in the price for the tour I took. Why ? Just look at the next picture ...


The place was actually over run by tourists. The newly rich Chinese are taking vacations now .. this is a photo of the famous Twin Bridges. These bridges were subjects of a famous painting called "Memory of Hometown" by the late Chen Yifei, an American based Chinese artist, which made Zhouzhuang famous. As you can see, it's impossible to photograph without getting any humans in the picture. Sigh ...


It got so crowded some of the Americans in my tour group asked our guide to take us away from the main streets where the Chinese tourists were, so he took us into some really small lane by a minor waterway. And that's when I really started enjoying the place. It's really nice to find unobstructed waterways, and be able to see the locals doing what they do, you know, locals doing their laundry, or going about their card games.


The water's actually quite clean, you can see the bottom of the canal (which isn't very deep to start with). And being on the small street means we could take our time and wander around, peeking into the living rooms of the locals, hoping to glimpse into their lives.


Unfortunately, this being a half day trip, the day was over way too soon. Next time I come, I'll make sure I spend at least a day and will definately NOT be in a tour group. I want to be able to spend as much time as I want in spots that I like here.


Suzhou is a place full of mulberry trees. Mulberry trees are important because the silkworms feed on their leafs. Silkworms are important because without them there is no silk.

Suzhou has been a central city in China's silk industry through the ages, so you know what it means, don't you? It means that eventhough we're really late, the tour bus still had to make a totally gratuitous stop at the local silk factory, where we were shown the way to make and process silk into the finished product.

And guess what? My mum will not be proud of me. I'm the only one in the tour group who left the shop empty handed. =P

T-Minus 10 Days !!!!

10 more days !!! How good is that !!!

10 more days !!!

Sawasdeekrab !!! Tom Yum Goong ! Tom Kha Gai !! Pad Thai !!

Chatuchak ! Siam Square ! Suam Lum !!!

Wat Phra Keow ! Wat Pho ?! hehehehe ... Wat Arun !!!

10 more days !!?!!!!!!11111one1!

12,000 kms later ...

I've been travelling loads lately, and some of you who've been following my blog the past few weeks would have noticed that.


By straight line distance, I've travelled around 12,000 kms. But of course, if we consider all the taxi-ing the planes do when they reach an airport, and how many times I've been taken for a ride by taxi drivers, I've obviously travelled much more than that.


First stop was to Beijing, where there was the Forbidden City revisited, as well as the Great Wall, amongst others.


Next stop - Shanghai - home to the famous Bund. However, I found the Yuyuan Gardens nicer, as was Zhouzhuang, which was nice, but unfortunately, infested with tourists like me.


After scrambling through the haze (also called a fog by the Chinese government), I managed to reach Taipei via Hong Kong.


And from Taipei, I went on to Guangzhou via Hong Kong (again). You see, these politicians think that they are making a really strong statement by not letting direct air traffic go from China to Taiwan. Amazingly, due to the timing, I didn't even manage ONE photo in Taipei.


And finally, I stayed a night in Hong Kong before coming home.


It was one heck of an eye opener - and the food wasn't that bad too. Highlight would be how I've eaten Shanghai crabs 3 times during the trip !!! On the final stop, in Hong Kong, I actually had the most expensive meal ever in my life !!! Good thing someone belanja ... =)


I'll blog about this trip, as well as the previous Japan trip too, very, very, soon once I stop all these travel mumbo jumbo.

Burping AGAIN in Tokyo

Since some of you had some not so nice words to say about my post on Midori Sushi in Tokyo, I flew in to Tokyo to eat there again, and took this picture.

Now you know what I'm talking about ... See if you can spot anything in that picture you would normally find in Malaysia. This is the smaller sushi platter, there is a much bigger one that would have even more !

Now you know what I was talking about then ...


There's sea eel (not river eel), sea urchin, caviar with shrimp, octopus, cuttlefish, scallop, crabstick, fish and toro (fatty tuna) sushis. And of course, some tuna roll as well ...

Retro: Mum in Bangkok !

I'll be posting some of my own favorite (or important) entries (and there aren't many of them), from my previous blog to this one. Most of that blog is about my life abroad, mostly in Singapore in 2004, and then Bangkok in 2005 - that blog predates this current blog.

As a start, this is my favorite memory from Bangkok - taking my mum for a short holiday during Chinese New Year !

Some editing has been done to the original entry, mostly grammatical ones.

Originally posted on Tuesday, 15 February 2005

Mum posing with a mural depicting Hanuman (Monkey King) transforming his mouth into a cave for Rama to sleep, all this while they were being shot with sleeping darts by the evil army. It's her favorite mural in Wat Phra Keow.

I brought my mum out here to wild wild Bangkok over the Chinese New Year holidays because i think she really deserved a break. this is a woman who doesn't have holidays, really.

Here, she went to all the usual suspects - Siam Square area, Chit Lom shopping areas, MBK, Chatuchak, Grand Palace, Temple of Emerald Buddha, Wat Po, Wat Arun, Royal Barge Musuem and Suam Lum night market. How did I cram all these iteneries into just 2.5 days?

Mum has amazing physical fitness for a person her age. She outwalked a particular Mr Taylor - mum actually walked the entire Grand Palace, Temple of Emerald Buddha and then walked over to Wat Po, where she again, walked the entire place. And all this on a single bottle of mineral water. Go mum!

She also tried plenty of Thai food as well, ranging from Thai vegetarian food to Tom Yum noodles. She liked the mango with sticky rice as well as Pad Thai. Great - I'm happy she had a good time.

Posing with the famous reclining Buddha in Wat Po.

We spent considerable amount of shopping times looking for a particular shopping bag I had bought my sister in an earlier trip. However, we couldn't find that. Of course, we did get her some t shirts instead from Chatuchak. And mom got herself 3 very nice shirts.

And of course, we have some little souvenirs. I am really hoping she will like it. And that she enjoyed the trip.

The heart of Sydney ...

I'm now in Sydney !!!


Flew in on Saturday night, and touched down on Sunday morning. When I arrived, I was greeted by a really nice, warm winter day, 21 celcius, I hear.

Since I can't get a room in the hotel until 2 pm (and I was there by 9.20 am already), I decided to just head down to the city, with camera in hand.

And I'll let the pictures do the talking !!!

I started off here, at the Rocks Weekend Market ...


Then I went here, to the Rocks waterfront, where old warehouses now have some of the best waterfront views, with some of the best restaurants in town as well !


And then, following along Circular Quay, I ended up here, naturally, at the Sydney Opera House.


And met up with this guy here, one of the duo of didgeridoo street performers, whose music blends with techno beats pretty well, really ...


And moved on to say G'Day to the many birds that hover all around the waterfront.


Before squinting to find this fella at the Botanical Gardens, right next to the Opera House ..


And then for the highlight of the day !!!! I met up with Little Miss May !!!! Woooohoooo ~~!!! It's great to see Sydney the way a Sydneysider does, and better still, one who has Malaysian roots.

And what better way to celebrate the coming together of Malaysians overseas than by ... going for lunch ?? In a small restaurant without the frills, but with great food, just like Malaysians would back home !!!??

It was a greeeeeeeat day for me !! Thanks for the enjoyable company !


We went walking along the Sydney CBD from Circular Quay down to Chinatown, via the more scenic route, which passes through Pyrmont Bridge, then thru Darling Harbour.


And then had some very nice Stirfry Chinese Noodles here ... helped down with some very unusual Siu Loong Bao. You have to try the food here. No kidding.


And then we headed back to Darling Harbour, where we sat on the Harbour Steps at ate some really nice Gelato while the chilly wind sent shivers down me spine. That's Darling Harbour as seen from Pyrmont Bridge.


And then, finally, we ended where I started ... QVB. I really wanted to go take some sunset photos from Mrs Macquarie's Chair in the Botanical Gardens, but really, both of us were a little tired from all that walking ... so we settled for a little Hyde Park walk, which was really pleasant.

QVB's a beauty, isn't it ?


I think I'm loving Sydney ...