Lost Limbs Explained

When in an undeveloped (war torn) country, lost limbs are usually attributed to landmines; in a developed country, it's diabetes.

I'm back in Sunny SG!

First thing I did was have a nice, big steak in Aston's.  Kishy and I agreed that one thing we really missed was western food.  I guess we imbibed too much "foreign" culture. 

Second was to wash Cambodia off me and scrub my sandals down. 

Third was to take a clean shower.  It hit me then that it's so convenient to be able to drink water while showering. 

And lastly, to be on my computer!  How I've missed fingering these keys. 

Alas, I won't be able to have any pictorial updates because the pics are with Kishy and I'll only get them on Christmas when I see him next.  I hope to have them up by the end of the year! Till then, I'm off to catch up on.. stuff.

Funny question!

This boatman asked if Kishy and I were siblings! :-D

Hotel Dreams

The room I'm staying in really looks quite romantic. I think mosquito nets have a strange knack for giving the illusion of privacy (which I associate with romance).

I had the sweetest dream last night where I dreamt that I entered a chocolate-making competition and right before the judges arrived, this group, led by a certain not-friend C, started thrashing my booth! This particular Indian guy friend I had was really nice and he helped me clean up and well, I won the competition. Long story short, I thanked him for helping me and we kissed. It doesn't sound like much here because I can't emote exactly how he made me feel. It was a mixture of feeling really really touched and knowing that here's someone you can trust to watch your back. I guess I miss the feeling of Grand Gestures at the beginning stages of a relationship. Anyway, in my dream, nothing really fancy happened. We hugged and then I kissed him on his cheek and there was a hand grazing moment. It was just so tender and sweet!

If only I could send out an advert for "that indian boy in Kit's dream".

The thin line between charity and cheating

No one who has visited Siem Reap would say that the place is wealthy. Children roam the streets when they should be in school and mothers use their babies to milk any charity that a tourist might have. Children learn at a tender age to ask for "one dollar" and sniff sadly when rejected, or in one instance today, tap Kishy's hand and ask for food only to cheekily smile when he said no.

I was initially very perturbed by the poverty I was seeing. I felt sorry for the children and the landmine victims. I wished I could help them but I read so many stories about how the money that we donate is actually taken away from them and given to an ominous, larger organisations (think Slumdog Millionaire) so it does more harm than good to give money to them.

Today, Kishy and I took a boat ride to the Tonle Sap Lake. If I'm not wrong, it's the largest freshwater lake in Cambodia connecting several provinces and countries. The guide was immediately sharing with us how poor these people were, and how many of the children don't get to go to school. Being slow on the uptake, I was at first quite perplexed by why he kept telling me they were poor because anyone can see that these are not wealthy people living on the lake in tiny boats that housed a few families. Then, he started telling us that we will be making a stop at a floating school so we can and should buy some stationery or notebooks. That sounded fair, right? Not. Because he brought us to this boat that sold a bundle of maybe 20 B5-sized notebooks for USD15 and ten pencils for USD4. In a place where a mug of beer is 50 cents and a three-course meal for 2 costs USD7, the notebooks and pencils were waaay overpriced! I'm all for charity but I'm upset that this has to happen by ripping off the tourists in the name of charity!

Before you say, "what do you expect, you're in a third world country where tourists are cash cows", I just want to say that I don't mind paying inflated prices for food but not when it is supposed to be in the name of charity! Call me naive but the next time I visit, if I do, I will come armed with a stash of stationery that I will very happily donate.

Awake too early!

I think Kishy's bed is more comfortable than mine.

Note to self: test bed in future before settling.

Khmer Massage

The hotel I'm with gives everyone a complimentary 20 min Khmer Massage. I read that a Khmer Massage is like a Thai massage but gentler. In fact the Thai massage is derived from the Khmer massage, but having only heard horror stories about the Thai massage, I was excited about the Khmer one and glad that it's only twenty minutes.

My verdict: it's like doing yoga but accompanied by the sound of bone cracking.

I enjoyed it, but at some moments I was worried for my body. The first scary part was when she used her leg to push my thighs while the other hand was pulling it. As she was kicking, I was so worried that she would kick my lady parts because her leg was dangerously close! Kishy told me he had the same fear. The second moment was when she asked me to put my arms around my head and then looped hers through mine so she could twist my upper back. Whoa, the sound of my joints twisting felt soo good.

Tomorrow we'll be heading to the National Angkor Museum and just walk around the city. Touring the temples today were really tiring, but I'll write about that when I get back so I can attach pictures chronologically.

My First Impression of Siem Reap

It's 2045h as I'm preparing to sleep and Kishy is in fact already unconscious.

Today has been a tiring day what with the super early flight, Cambodian heat and a lot of walking. The weather is really good though. Clear skies, not so much humidity, in the morning it's even cool and dry.

I must say that food and drinks are fantastically cheap. A can of beer, for eg, is USD0.50 at a supermarket. Kishy and I went to this organic cafe called Peace Cafe and we spent the whole noon there lazing and being super happy from lunch. ;-)

After reading Mark's travelogues as I mentioned in an earlier post, I was quite apprehensive. He described Siem Reap/Cambodia as a place filled with locals trying to fleece the tourists. Yes, there were plenty of tuk-tuk drivers calling out to us but they left us alone once we said "no". I'm not sure if we have it easy because we're not angmohs?

I am having a hard time ignoring the little children beggars though. Sigh. This isn't his first time in Cambodia, so he ignores them quite easily. I, on the other hand, find it quite hard to do the same. On one occasion, I was walking out of a supermarket whilst holding my change in one hand. The moment I stepped out, this small girl came up to me and attempted to snatch it out of my hand whilst pleading to "Feed me, please". I was honestly taken aback by how instinctively she reached for my money!

I should sleep. Tomorrow we're going temple hopping on a tuk-tuk from 8am to sunset. Angkor wat here we come! I hope the weather will be just as good.

Preparing to fly!

Super early flight at 6am. We should reach Siem Reap at 0705h local time.

The First Introductory Post

Finally, a blog that I can write openly about my travel experiences. For new readers, I have another blog that documented some of my experiences during my internship in Finland but I can definitively say that this shall be the blog for all future travels...

..starting with Siem Reap tomorrow!  Hopefully I do come back alive because I found this other travelogue on Siem Reap and it is grim.

Unfortunately, I'm still a struggling graduate with no excess money for my own camera.  The existing family camera is with my father in Turkey at the moment.  The photos for Siem Reap will unfortunately be taken from either Kishy's iPhone, or his camera that lasts no longer than 10 snaps, or my very pixellated 3.2mp Nokia E71.  Perhaps I should just google pictures of angkor wat and paste them here.....

Either way, I hope you'll enjoy this blog and feel free to comment constructively!  Please, share my adventures!