Think Siem Reap, think Angkor Wat. This is the sole purpose why I am here at Siem Reap. Having visited Hanoi earlier this year, I can't help but to think that there will be no difference in Siem Reap compared to Hanoi and that it's just another Asian country. I was wrong. Unlike Hanoi, the rice fields in Siem Reap spreads far beyond the horizon without the disturbance of the protruding limestomes.
Upon arrival to Siem Reap, you will notice that the sky is extremely large. There's an unobstructive view of the sky no matter where you stand. I discover an interesting fact that contributes to this is that, the government actually does not approve any building plans that stands higher the the Majestic Angkor Wat.
I find this city, generally alot cleaner that most of the Asian country I've been to and spacious. However, once you arrive at the city center, you'd thought that you have just arrived at Bangsar Telawi Street. This place seems to be built upon foreign cafe and restaurant pub. Although I find it appalling as this seems to overshadow the true charm and beauty of this city, I am guilty as charged for seeking comfort from the midday heat in one of these air-conditioned and wi-fied cafe, Blue Pumpkim. The comfort is that you'll get to enjoy the Khmer cuisine at a 4-star environment and knock yourselves up with alcohol for 25 cents per mug and cocktails that never goes above USD 2 per glass.

The highlights:
Inevitably it would be the majestic ruins of the temple that stood through time. Unless you are doing a thesis on these temples, select only a few notable temple for your viewing pleasure. Else you will get an overdose of temples. Believe me, after a while they all look the same. Personally, these were my favourites (in terms of Architecture) and have obvious distinct differences amongst each other:
1. Angkor Wat
2. Banteay Srey
3. Ta Prohm
4. Terrace of the Elephants
5. Neak Pean
This website gives you a good guidance in making your choice of temple to visit: http://www.canbypublications.com/siemreap/srtemples.htm

Things to do apart from Temple Hopping:
1. Chill out at Blue Pumpkim : Not that I am getting a commission for promoting Blue Pumpkin but this place saves me from the sorching heat of Siem Reap. The seat up on the top floor has long couches that provides tired visitors an extremely relaxing environment.

2. Visit Phsar Chas (Old Market). Apart from the multitude of colourful scarves, you will find alot of interesting goods being sold at the market. One of the most interesting item that caught my attention is the opium container. These containers are beautifully crafted with delicate skills. Truly a piece of art worth admiring.

3. Dine at Happy Herb Pizza : Dig in for a surprise. Not too sure if the chef will let you know what herbs is used so just enjoy the pizza. It does taste good :)

4. Visit one of the killing fields . Although this can be a mood killer but it's worth the trip to learn the sad history of this place that stirred the whole world.


My time is Siem Reap is short thus I did not managed to visit Asia's largest fresh water lake, Tonle Sap. I believe this would be one of the best escape from the temples.

Having heard so much about the charm of Hanoi, I am so glad that finally i get to witness Vietnam's much publicized glory myself. Indeed, they were right about this city. Although the french's influence is pretty obvious in the culture, food and lifestyle, Hanoi still has its own distinct character.
Our journey began with an "eye-opening" walk through the morning market to our budget hostel/hotel. Every morning this is where the action takes place. You can get a closer glipmse at the pig's hoof displayed neatly at the store, a fish monger killing their live catch at the steps, pounding of tiny live crabs into some mushy paste and exotic food in display. With a private room for two at only RM 28 per night, I guess we could not ask for more. However, when night falls, this market turns into a quiet street where families will sit by the road side sifting their beans while telling each other their daily encounters and perhaps sharing their dreams.

One thing that annoys me, which I can't help but to take notice after being less than 5 minutes in the city, is the continous honking of the motorbikes. However, I must admit that they great skills in riding their motrbikes. With the massive amount of motorbike and cars crossing the cross road at the same time, nobody gets knock down and the traffics flows without interruption: now, this is what I call Art.



This is a city which hungry will not prevail as there's never short of food store even at the middle of the night. You'll find Pho Bo ( Rice Vermicelli with Beef), Bun Cha (Barbequed Pork with rice Noodle) , Barbequed seafood, the delicious french bread sandwich and many other delicious vietnamese delicacy awaits you at the street of the Old Quarters. The most interesting part of enjoying your meal is by seating on the tiny stools which height is no taller than your knee. I find sipping a cup of vietnamese coffee at an old coffee shop ( you can find alot of these shops along the Old Quarters) has got a surprisingly comforting effort.


As much as Hanoi has to offer you, spending two fulls days in Hanoi is enough to catch most of its publisized glory. The best way to see ow life is in Hanoi was of course, to sit at the coffee shop while you people watch.
Making an excursion trips outside of Hanoi would be a choice you'll never regret making. We engaged Ha, our private driver for our excursion.

Excursions
Tam Coc : Offers you a beautiful scenic boat ride across the lime stone rocks across the rice fields. However, the ride can be quite torturing under an extremely hot weather and this is where you would rather avoid if you are not the kind of person who enjoys an toursit infested spot. At the end of every ride, it'll turn into a purely commercial deal when you have the handcrafted goods stuffed right into your face and sympathy is the weapon they use to get you into buying it. Worst part of all was that you have no where to run, you are trap in the boat.

Kenh Ga: I find this is one of the most interesting floating village I've come across in South East Asia. I believe this place is not much of a tourist spot. The journey to get to Kenh Ga it self was interesting: it started of with our boat man frantically trying to clear off his rice stock and pull out a couple of plastic chair for us in his boat. Although similar to the scenery found in Tam Coc, the wide river and far fetched land, makes this boat ride somehow more pleasurable. This village is actually built by the bank of the river. What impressed me most what the magnificient church painted in yellow which stood gloriously among the wooden houses.

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Van Trinh : Our boat ride to Kenh Ga ends here. Since our boat man does not utter a single word of English, we were actually left with the impression that this is indeed Kenh Ga. As we got off the boat, we were greeted by an amazing view of the rice fields with the line stone mountain as the backdrop. A 1.5 km dusty gravel road lies ahead of us and we were hoping to find Kenh Ga at the of the road. As we travel down the gravel road, we met up with a couple of villagers gathering their crop while filled with great sense of cursiousity about us, flashes their warmest smile at us.

Thinking that they could probably lead us to where Kenh Ga is, our sign language failed us terribly. Two young beautiful girls eventually led us to our supposedly destination: the entrance of a cave. Later, we realised that this is where we are suppose to see the cave, and this place is known as Van Trinh. The company of the villagers and the great scenery makes this place my 5-star rewarding experience!

Mai Cau: This is a great out of town experience. A 3 -4 hours car ride will bring you into a village in the valley. Stretches far beyond the horizon are the rice fields. You could take a stroll by the rice fields or run through the alleys with your arms strecthed out as you try to grasp the wind in your hand. The serenity of this place makes you forget all troubles that lie ahead. We had lunch prepared by the locals, I reckon this is one of the best hospitality treatment one can experience while traveling here. The wooden huts around here, offers beds for travellers who seeks the experience the village life in Mai Chau. I must say this is quite a perfect choice for those who seeks to get away from the hustle bustle of city life. But mind you, phone signals here are extremely good, so you've got to turn off your phone to enjoy an undisturbed moment.

Ha Long Bay: The gem of Hanoi. This place is so tourist filled that once you arrived at the Harbor, you almost feel like you have just landed in UK or Europe as 99% of the crowd are Caucasians! Being an Aisan, I actually felt unusually foreign there. The view...simply fanstatic. Although it feels like they have moved Tam Coc to an open sea minus all the rice fields, the boat ride through the amazing limestone was enjoyable. One of the best actually to do here is to jump off the junk and enjoy a great swim in the open sea. By night fall, there is no better way that to spend some time at the upper deck to enjoy the moonlight.

My trip to Hanoi left me with am great impression of this city. Indeed, the alluring charm of Hanoi and it's surrounding area has captured my heart .

The other day Sue-Anne asked me a question that I can't seems to get it off my head. Her question was " What is your best experience, thus far, in Japan?". After giving much thought about it, I have come out with a list of my best experiences (since I can't decide which is the best) in Japan and here it is:

1. Spending an evening at the New York Bar (Park Hyatt Hotel) with live Jazz Performance
For a Jazz lover like myself, I have actually dreamt of being in a Jazz bar with a live performance with the city night's light as the backdrop and New York Bar at the Park Hyatt Hotel has it all. I couldn't ask for more.

As we reach the entrance of the hotel, I was totally unimpressed by the casual entrance which I thought that the Putrajaya Marriot Hotel was more impressive. Not until we arrived at the lobby which is situated on the 41st floor. I was totally dumb founded. As the lift opens, the dim hotel lounge that overlooks the city lights greeted us. I was led to a hall way full of bookshelves and then I was on my way to the 52nd floor where the New York Bar is.

"Are you ready, Ivy?" was Sue-Anne's question to me and before I could answer it, the lift door opens revealing one of the most magnificent scene I have always dream of seeing and I couldn't help it but I was caught breathless. I even let out a gasp that made the lady at the counter turned and look at us. Trust me, at that moment, time really stops and I wished I could hold that moment for a little while longer. Standing between me and the city lights of Tokyo was a thin glass window. I was so thrilled. I was trying to keep my calm but trust me it was really difficult. I wasn't quite dress for the occasion (more like a Texas farm girl) but it didn't stop me from getting into the bar, thank God for that!

To our excitement, a live Jazz performance were on at that time and that was it, I really couldn't ask for more. Not until the bill arrives (there was a cover charge for the live performance), Sue-Anne literally had a headache after that but I must say, it was worth it all.

2. Sento
Communal bath house. I have never tried bathing with some many other girls in a bath room. So I tried it in Kyoto and I must say, it was quite an experience. It is not our culture to bare ourselves with the same gender and bath. It was initially quite ackward but the women there were all so casual about it so it does help. I find it pretty hard to get undress but I eventually did as I was pressing for time. I must say, this experience will tear down your pride and dignity (hehehe alright I am exaggerating).

However, I do recall one of the lady who happened to be soaking in the tub staring at me when I make my way to the tub. As I sat there I couldn't understand why is she looking at me strangely until I look at the angle she was looking at. From where she sits she could actually see me pretty well (eeewww.. she must have been looking at my butt!) and then I recall my dilemma earlier on at the shower. I couldn't decide which was the shampoo and which was the soap (They didn't bother labelling it in English!). So, you could have guessed, I studied both cleansing liquid like I was doing some research on them. In the end, I actually mixed both of it and use it as a shampoo. I guess she must have found it amusing. Weird gaijin!

The soak in the hot tub has an extremely positive result although soaking for 10 minutes could be a pure torture for a low heat intolerant person like myself.

3. Outdoor Onsen
I was lucky enough to be able to try the outdoor hot tub at 19.2 degree celcius , the water in the tub of course is hot. Mind you, you'll have to walk out naked from the room to the tub which is situated outside of the bath room. After ten minutes of soaking in the hot tub ( if you can withhold that long), you will have no problem withstanding 19.2 degree celcius with no clothes on.

4. Dinner by the Irori
Irori is a pit that is found in the middle of an ancient traditional Japanese home where there is a pot hung over the ceiling and it is used to warm the house and cook dinner ( I think so). My trout was cooked over the charcoal in the Irori. Having dinner by the Irori simply gives you a whole new experience of eating by the fire place. Hiromi ( the inn keeper of Goyomon, Ainokura) served me a really sweet warm sake to go with my meal, needless to say it was really a good compliment to the extravaganza meal she served me.

5. Boating at Lake Yamanakoku (with no experience in rowing a boat)
I was glad that Sue-Anne suggested that we go for the boat ride to watch sunset over the Mount Fuji. Word of advise, even if don't know how to row a boat, you'll get it somehow so pick up the oar and start your adventure.

I rowed the boat for half an hour (spent 15 minutes trying to figure out how to get the boat to get where we wanted it to go) and unbelievably we did manage to get quite far out from the dock. The view... needless to describe. Thank God for the clear weather, we could even see the walking trail on the mountain itself! When it was Sue-Anne's turn to row the boat back, she wished she hadn't asked me to row further away from the dock.

6. Tsukiji Fish Market
Although we only had 4 hours of sleep the night before, waking up at 5.30 am for the Tsukiji Fish market was worth it. Getting into the wholesale area was quite an adventure itself. One must be really careful on where you are walking as there are many trucks zooming for every corner of the road. The Tsukiji whole sale fish market is a really great aquarium for sightings of giant tuna, giant size shell fishes ( "see ham" with the size of your knuckle) and many other weird sea creature that you would never imagine could be eaten. Beware of angry fish mongers!


7. Hike from Magome to Tsumago
Getting lost in the beginning of my walk was quite discouraging but I am glad that I pressed on. The journey was a mixture of walking along side highway and nature trail. You will pass by villages, plantation fields and loads of beautiful sceneries. As I was threading on this trail, I get a feeling of how it feels like for the people in the olden days travelling between these two towns (except of course when the trail leads to the highway).

The most rewarding scene was the Male and Female waterfalls ( so it was named). Although you will have to detour a little from the trail (about 150 m), the sight was quite worth it.

The trail is about 8.6 km and it took me about 1 hour and 45 minutes to get to Tsumago from Magome.

8. Dinner at Mutzimi's House (Sue-Anne's Student, and I hope I got her name right)
Less than 24 hours of my arrival in Japan, I was so blessed to be invited for a dinner at a Japanese home of a great Japanese Chef. I must admit that the dinner was very different from what they served in the restaurant and I really enjoyed the meal.

This was the menu: Squid salad, stew taro with squid, cawan mushi, Gyoza, baked seadfood pasta with cheese, chest nut rice and grapes from Mutzimi's father's vineyard.

It was quite worth getting pins and needles at my feet after sitting on the tatami floor for too long and I really appreciate Sue-anne for taking the effort to translate to me what they were talking about.

9. Standing at the platform when a shinkasen(bullet train) passes through the platform without stopping
At the speed of about 250 km/h, you could feel your andrenaline rises when it passes you by. Of course the ride itself is one of a great experience when you are in Japan.

10. Ride on a giant ferris wheel
With the diammeter of 117 m, you can imagine how huge the wheel is. Before the ride I wished that it would move faster but during the ride, the slow speed that it was moving at was just right. From the top, it was really a sight to behold.

11. Walking at the crossroad of Shibuya
For those who watch cantonese movies, you could probably identify a scene of Tokyo that is always included whenever the location is set in Tokyo. Loads of people crossing at the crossroad that was surrounded by sky scrappers and huge LCD screens, yup, I was told it was the crossroad at Shibuya.

My jaw dropped when I saw the amount of people there. Upon seeing the crowd in Shibuya, I think the massive crowd in Hong Kong is really nothing compared to this.

12. Cycling in Kofu
I was rather surprised that I could still cycle after so many years of not riding on a bicycle. I actually enjoyed it. To only funny incident about riding the bicycle is that, one day I have decided to cook dinner. I was so carried away shopping for groceries that I forgot that I will be riding a bicycle back to Sue-Anne's apartment. I shopped as though I still have my 1.5 litre red wira(hero) to bring my goods back. It didn't hit me that I have limited space in bringing my goods back until I stood right in front of the bicycle's basket. I was playing jigsaw puzzle with the goods (not to mention that I did a little shopping at the mall). With a bag hanging from one side of the bike and a basket full of goods, I managed to ride home safely.


This is my list so far. Although I have only noted these experiences, I must say that the entire trip itself was really a sweet surprise and an eye opener. I never thought I would have enjoy Japan so much and I did.

Day 6

We made a trip to the Cultural village to take a look at the "Orang Asli" houses. Although the initially plan was to visit a real live house but the cost was simply off the budget so we settled with the cultural village, live-like size houses and I must say, for the minor fee od Rm45, you'll get to the all the different houses. Quite a good deal I must say!


Grinding Rice 


The heat was quite unbearable after lunch time and it drobve us to seek shelter in the air-cond room. To kill time we borrowed a box of scrabble and knock ourselves out with it!


An afternoon game 

We then spend the later part of the afternoon stolling along the beach and share our thoughts away!

Casting Shadow 

Day 5

The following morning, we took a flight out of Kota Kinabalu to Kuching. Shortly after our arrival, we got a ride from our hotel and headed off straight to Damai Beach, Kuching.

A perfect gateway for the weary souls of the city! We checked in to Holiday Inn Damai Beach and soon found ourselves wondering off the the beach nearby.


Where the river meets the ocean 

The have a fairly decent beach, which I suspect is man made due to the massive amount of tiny rocks on the shore. The picture above is taken somewhere at the end of the resort, which I think it's really interesting as this is my first time see a river that flows into the ocean! The water in between is actually not SALTY!

Water Taxi 

Day 3

Kota Kinabalu ~ Kinabalu National Park Headquarters
After a good rest last night, we were all set to reach the foot of Mount KK by noon. The journey to Mount Kinabalu National Park takes about close to 2 hours. The scenery was pretty much the same, but we did make a pit stop at the wooden stalls along the way to check out the "Kundasang roasted peanuts" that Sue Ann's mum was talking about and devoured a fresh pineapple. It was RM 1 each and we pay another ringgit to have them peeled for us, it was sweet and fresh!

We reached the National Park headquarter and checked in to the lodge where we are supposed to spend a night. The lodge was simply marvellous! We have a great view of the mountain from the balcony, unfotunately it was covered by the thick midst. After a short break we set off towards Ranau town for lunch.

National Park headquarter ~ Ranau ~ Poring Hot Springs
We had some light lunch of "pau" from the famous "Pau Shop". Their signature dish was the "Tai Pau" with the size of the pau that's one and a half time bigger than my palm. We then travelled for another half an hour before reaching Poring Hot Springs for the canopy walk and a hot bath.
The milky hot water is a natural resources of the earth and is believed to be good for the skin. You can make use of the little tubs around the around the area but please take note that it takes like forever for the tub to be filled, we gave up when the water reaches only up to our waist (sitting down).

Milky river of the hot springs Canopy Walk

Our day ended with a delicious dinner at one of Ranau's local restaurant.

Day 4

We rise early to catch a glimpse of the Majestic Mount KK. To our disappointment, due to the heavy fog, we could only catch its shadow silhouetting behind the thick fog that hangs around the air.


Our Best view

Up in the mountain, especially a well known national park such as this, one would expect that having meals at the hotel restaurant would cost you a bomb but we were so wrong. We had breakfast at the Hotel right beneath the foot of Mt KK and the food was cheap considering the portion served was big! To add on, the ambience was superb... surrounded by thick green forest.


Breakfast at the foot of Mt KK

After breakfast we headed toward the Timpohon trail ( which leads you all the way up to the summit of the Mt KK if you track long enough and all geared up for it)... we managed to track as far as 800 m... I consider that a great success. Our walk back to the gate was slightly unpleasant as it started to drizzle rather heavily. Thank God we managed to track back to the car without any injuries.

We then moved toward Kundasang town, headed for the Desa Cattle farm, Mesilau Golf Course and finally to the Mesilau Resort (another track to the summit of Mount KK). If you are looking for some peace and quiet, Mesilau resort is the perfect place. Sitauted way above the hills, the Mesilau Resort is hidden away from the eyes of passerby along the main street of Kundasang. A Toyota Pajero finds it difficult to climb to the altitude at which the resort is situated.


Timpohon trail leading to the summit of Mt KK



L-R: Desa Cattle Farm, Mesilau Golf Course and Mesilau Resort Activity Center

Simpang Mengayau, Sabah

Day 2

Kota Kinabalu ~ Tuaran
Our journey begins as early as 8 am. Thanks to my uncle's pajero, we were cruising comfortably along the bumpy roads of Sabah. We headed off Foh Sang for breakfast before setting out to Tuaran town via the Tuaran Link Road. The journey to Tuaran town takes about 35- 40 minutes. We paid Aunty Jenny a visit and headed off towards the sunday market where the hanging bridge is, a common structure to get across rivers in Sabah.


Tuaran's hanging bridge "Sa Bak" sold at the market...wished I could buy them

Tuaran ~ Kota Belud
We cruised through the vast padi fields of the Sabah's countryside. There are not much development done to this part of the state and it's a wonder how one can passes their time here. I can't never imagine staying here for more than a day! I supposed these people spend quite a fair amount of time watching the satelite tv as the wooden houses along the road have at least one Astro satelite attached to its roof...I supposed life here it's not so boring after all.
Along the road, there were many wooden huts where the villagers would sell their harvests such as rice, potatoes, vegetables,fruits and also roasted corn to passer-by like us.


Roast Corn...don't be deceived by the burnt husk, the corn inside is nicely roasted and sweet :)

After about an hour plus we arrived at Kota Belud town. My attempt to look for the "Tamu", open air market, was unsuccessful. Nevertheless we got a glimpse of how this town looks like, pretty much like Tuaran. According to my dad, whose last visit to Kota Belud was about 20 years ago, this town is much more developed than it was before.

Kota Belud is known as the cowboy town of Sabah. Most of the Bajaus resides here and in the olden days, they were the famous horse riders. Although the only horse(a skinny one too) i see was the statue in front of the town's welcome board, I am sure there are some horses to be found, most likely somewhere away from the town.


Kota Belud Town

Kota Belud ~ Kudat
It took us another hour from Kota Belud to Kudat. Half way through the journey, it started to drizzle, we were quite worried that we might not be able to get good shots of the tip in this kind of weather. On the way, we managed to get some Kudat's famous Peanuts roasted in sand in one of the wooden huts by the road side. Although I am not a big fan of roasted peanuts but after tasting the Kudat's peanuts, I seriously think that they roast pretty good peanuts!

Fortunately it was bright and sunny when we arrived at Kudat town. Although the weather was on our side, to our dismay, this town looks deserted when we arrived. We were expecting some crowd as it is a sunday but I guess the people in Kudat seems to be resting at home. 98% of the shops were closed so we headed towards the fishing dock for a short visit before setting out to hunt for fresh seafood for lunch. Seems like there are more actions in the fishing docks than the town itself! I think some fishermen have just returned from the sea when we got there. There were workers sorting out fishes and there were loadful of fishes all over. We managed to braced through the unpleassant fishy smell and took some shots of the dock.

Lunch was pretty hard to find in Kudat town on Sunday unless you don't mind settling down for KFC. However, we managed to find a place, right behind the fish market, for good seafood at unreasonably cheap prices. We had a fried fish (medium sized), two types of shell fishes and another dish of prawns. The bill came out to about RM 30+ only!


We had this for lunch... yummy!

Kudat ~ Simpang Mengayau
The road to Simpang Mengayau (Tip of Borneo) wasn't all tarred. Most of the journey was on a paved dirt road so it was like sitting on an OSIM chair. We passed by the Rungus longhouse, Honey bee Farm and the Gong Maker's place but unfortunately we did not stop by to any of these places.

Our journey takes less than an hour to reach Simpang Mengayau. The moment we arrived, we were mesmerized by the beauty of the white sandy beach. The beach is well perserved. There were only two families were picnicking there. Right by the side of the road, village children were selling sea shells they collected in a wooden hut. You'll find some polished crowie shells, some rare shells and salted fish for sale.


Sue Ann and I at the Tip of Borneo ~ apparently where we were standing is the tip of borneo not those rocks behind us.



Although there is nothing much here except the beatiful beach. For those who are interested in spending a night here, wooden huts are available for RM5 per space or you could also choose to have your own private hut (Remember to bring your own mosquito net!). There's a canteen where you can have your meals and proper common bathrooms for your use. For a perfect peaceful vacation with a view of a beautiful beach, perhaps this could be a good choice. Although we were told by the locals that they are not entertaining the idea of developing into a tourist 5 star beach resort, but you'll never know. So if you have the chance to visit this place, my advise is don't miss it.

Land Below the Wind

Day 0
Arrived around 9 pm and was driven straight to Chuan Hin for its famous pan fried dumpling, "ikan bakar", "sotong bakar", "daging bakar", beef tendon stew and many others pan-fried delicacies.Slightly before midnight, Sue ann arrived and soon our night ended with a wonderful sleep.

Day 1
With the sun way above our heads (the sun tend to rise pretty early in KK), we headed towards Sinsuran for my favourite pork noodle. It was then followed by a great shopping trip at Centerpoint. I was surprised that there's so many good bargains in KK!

Later in the afternoon we headed off to Tg Aru Beach to catch the sunset. We settled down at the Tg Aru Beach Resort and enjoyed the magnificient view of the scenery.



Sunset at Tg Aru