I am finally BACK ! I am BACK blogging. Curse facebook and twitter for taking up my blogging time, LOL. Anyway i am back here to finish off my Cambodia entries with the second last entry which is basically the 2nd last day in Siem Reap. For some reason i think it was a bad idea shooting this particular shot in sepia cause it emphasizes how dirty the hands were.

If you didn’t already know, the egg looking thing in the plate my friend is the unborn ducky -_-!

It’s known as Balut in the Philippines.

We didn’t actually plan to do this but so happened a lady cycled passed us and asked in Cambodian if we would like try. Our guide, Siya then stopped her and said he would have one. Thus giving us the opportunity to see how she prepares. From cracking the egg, to digging out the duck and serving with certain leaves and ginger.

Sister number 1 was terrified seeing the duck on her plate. HAHAhaha.

Siya showed us how to eat it and then he explained why people in Cambodia resorted to eating fried insects, unborn ducks, etc. It all started off with a certain regime taking over the whole country and the people were left to starve for food. Thus most of them resorted to insects to fill up their hungry tummies. Of course time flew by but the habit or crave for insects never left, thus you see many roadside vendors selling fried insects and also unborn ducks.

This is why i love traveling, you always gain something from a trip especially when you are backpacking. Experiencing what the normal people have to go through would definitely open our eyes bigger and thanking for what we have.

Imagine me telling a Cambodian my side of the story of hunger. When i am hungry, i don’t go hunting for insects but i end up at Murni having Nasi Goreng Maryland Special and Watermelon Special, LOL.

Nom nom nom the duckling T.T

Lee May also tried …. with her eyes closed. Might as well don’t see what you are eating. Good thinking by our resident pharmacist

So as Lee May tried … Sister Number 1 and Sister Number 2 were …

…. freaking OUT ! HAHAHAHA

Imagine halfway through, Siya pointed out that certain part of the egg was like the pillow for the duck @.@!

I didn’t try.

So to recap, i never tried the insects in Phnom Penh and i never tried the duck in Siem Reap >.<!

This could very well be the main highlight for the whole year besides backpacking to Cambodia. Not only was i able to watch Man United live but was able to watch them in action twice !

This only happened because of the recent bombing in Jakarta at the hotel that the team would be staying during their stay there. Though Australia offered 1 million pounds for them to play down under but Sir Alex declined and ended up playing in Malaysia twice.

The crowd for the 2nd game wasn’t as much as the first game but nevertheless i still had fun watching with a bunch of crazy people.

I bought my tickets a few months back when i was back in Penang and it was Angeline who reminded me about the match, surprisingly, LOL. She said she would want to see Man Utd lose. And that’s coming from a hardcore Arsenal fan. Ask her to spell Henry’s full name and she will ask me to fly kites.

Anyway, she was only able to attend the match day itself and thus i was alone for the training day. I met a bunch of people whom i didn’t know but later on was forced to accept their phone numbers and email addresses so that i could send them the pictures T.T

The atmosphere for this first leg of Manchester United’s Asia Tour 2009 was definitely different when i attended Chelsea’s game last year at the Shah Alam Stadium.

Parking alone for the training session was a complete nightmare. Most roads entering Bukit Jalil was jammed up to the highway. I followed a bunch of cars which drove against the traffic and ended up near the Hockey Stadium which coincidentally is the best place to park for any function held at the Bukit Jalil Stadium. Why you must ask ? Because for the training day, the 1st and 2nd match day, i had no problem getting out of the carpark and reaching back in less then 25minutes. Just follow the signboards indicating CarPark F.

Training day alone managed to attract nearly 30 thousand people to watch both the national squad as well as Manchster United train. I was even more baffled when i saw most ‘ang-mohs’ running to the nearby jersey stalls and getting themselves our national jerseys equipped with a strap on their foreheads showing Malaysia, LOL.

Locals are in Red and the ang-mohs in Yellow.

The training lasted for slightly more than an hour. It was really a joy watching Rooney blasting the balls as how he would in EPL.

The day finally came, it was match day !

I realized forums all over the net predicted a landslide victory and this was based on the last scoreline which was Man United 6 – 0 Malaysia. Six nil might be a bit too harsh but i was expecting probably three to four goals.

On the way to the Blue gate, i met Gusman and his dad lining up at the Violet gate. It has been yearsssss since i have seen him. His father definitely didn’t change a bit, lol.

The match was to start at 5.30pm and people were already flocking into the stadium as early as 3pm. Angeline and i followed suit. So in that spare time, i took loads of unnecessary pictures of people with the same replica jerseys and of course camwhoring. With dolphin around, it’s compulsory to do so or i shall face the wrath of the evil dolphin later on.

I was damn proud wearing my jersey as it’s one and only replica jersey i have. The rest are all ermmmm ahem ahem ones, grade AAA to be exact. I was lucky enough to get this jersey with my name on the back together with the number 10 and it was all thanks to Angeline

Having a jersey with a name on it could be a bad idea, especially with my name on it. People kept calling me for no reason and at times a few of them asked which character is that.

It seems anyone who comes with a different jersey especially Liverpool, Arsenal or worst still Man City jersey becomes the focus and will be jeered and made fun off. Like this fella above, he had to bear the constant shouting he gets from our section. But of course everyone knows it’s nothing serious. LOL.

On the 2nd match day too one fella bearing the Chelsea jersey sat a few rows in front of me and he got the same treatment. This time around, Jon, Daniel, Andrew, even Andrew’s sister never gave face, hahahaha. Everyone jeered.

Out of the blue, the section on our left started jeering even louder because someone was in an Arsenal jersey, LMAO. Our section also kaypo and started jeering that fella.

I couldn’t actually see and after zooming in with my camera only did i realized how everyone was staring at this Arsenal fan. LOL. Eventually he left for the higher tier.

This kept on happening off and on at different parts of the stadium. Once you hear jeering, you would definitely see one odd fella being in the center of attention.

The 1st match day was definitely better than the 2nd one simply because no one knows what to expect. Imagine 100 thousand people where mostly were in red and probably a few patches of yellow scattered all over representing Malaysia. No one knew how would Malaysia fair.

In fact, moments before Amri, number 17, scored that audacious goal, he was constantly being booed for his selfish play. In fact every other Malaysian player were being booed too and there was a reason. They just wouldn’t freaking pass. The ball would be brought all the way towards the goal just for them to blast it towards the moon.

Amri became a local hero when he scored the 2nd goal and that’s when most Man United fans were wondering if Malaysia would be able to do the unithinkable.

That’s when Owen, Fabio, Brown and Tosic were brought in to win the game. Owen was under the spotlight especially after signing for United for free.

Five minutes towards the end of normal time, Owen did score after the ball bounces off Giggs who tumbled with the keeper and the whole stadium went berserk ! It was Owen’s first goal for United and it was eventually the winning goal for the game.

As United marched out of the field, one fan somehow managed to get on to the pitch and he ran towards the team. One of the guards or so called bouncers, managed to catch hold of him. Malaysian security then stepped in and held him tightly. That’s one crazy fan. LOL

It was after this game, they did announce that Man United would extend their stay in Malaysia and play a rematch on Monday. On Sunday after catching Ice Age 3 3D (my rating: 6/10) with Angeline, i bumped into Andrew and we both got our tickets from Rock Corner in One Utama.

Home made banners were everywhere. Some were easy to understand, some needed time to decipher and some i just don’t get it -_-!

Some were really creative, LMAO.

This kid was proudly waving a huge Man United flag during the match.

The second match was actually Andrew‘s first. He couldn’t make it for Saturday’s game last minute. That’s why it’s clearly shown on his face how excited he is, hahaha. As for the rest, Jon, Daniel, Joshua and me, it was our 2nd match watching. Semangat gila.

That afternoon, i got a call from Cedric and he said he was also coming since he was staying 10mins from the stadium.

Andrew kept blowing the horn throughout the match, hahahaa.

Man United had a different line up compared to Saturday’s game. Most of the substitutes were given the start. As for the Malaysian team, there weren’t much changes.

This time around, the focus was on Amri. Scoring twice against United definitely made Malaysians believe that finally a player who posses a certain skill to finish in front of the goal. Fans kept cheering his name, some even had jerseys with his name on it. Fans wanted the ball to be passed to Amri so that he can do the exact same thing on Saturday.

But of course all that never did happen. The moon was back on target. The Malaysian keeper took one step forward by kicking the ball towards the substitute bench. The hardcore Malaysian fan in front of me shouted, “Kejap lagi mereka masuk lah, bukan sekarang.”

ROFLMAO !!!!

The final scoreline was 2 nil to Manchester United with Macheda and Owen being on target.

It was really a joy watching them play for both the days and i couldn’t have asked for more. The next time i would be watching them has to be at Old Trafford for sure !

I simply heart Penang food; Char Koay Teow, Laksa, Ais Kacang, Balik Pulau Durians …

It has been a while since i have updated my blog but trust me, i have tonnes to write and i am just waiting to get back to KL to do so. In Penang, i am always busy doing chores or busy sleeping >.<!

With Apple launching the new iPhone 3GS, Macbook Aluminium joins the MacBook Pro family and also Snow Leopard, my car too had an update. A safety update to be precise. After a few days without my car, i finally got the call from Perodua saying it’s finally ready !

This time around, i changed quite a number of things since it has just surpassed 180k km and the damage was slightly less than a thousand. On top of that, Perodua finally fitted my car with rear seatbelts

My car wasn’t fitted with rear seatbelts nor does it have points to fix them. So Perodua took slightly longer to get it done but it was definitely worth the wait since KL would take ages to get it done.

A sticker is placed in case police were to flag me down to check if it has been certified by Perodua

Upon getting my car, my parents told that within the 2 weeks i brought my car back, 3 people have offered to buy my car. All of them offered around the same amount which was about 28k and that’s more than half the amount we paid for my 7 year old car. Parents are contemplating to sell off and probably get something else, like maybe a Saga. Hmmmm

On the side note, my mum asked if my phone could be tracked down via gps and after experimenting with a few programs, this is what i got …

It shows the whereabouts of me today but i didn’t leave it on all the time as my battery was low. If not the speed of my car will even be registered and all this was viewable by one click on my iMac at home >.<! LOL

I know a few of you have been bugging with me for photos from Tenji …

… hehehe i will be posting them soon. Before this weekend hopefully

P/S: 2010 is gonna be one hectic year ! Plans just keep pouring in. Have to save save save.

F1 was crazy last night. It was soooo short ! but the excitement  was over the roof when the cars stopped in the middle of the road ! LOL

… and as for EPL, Machedaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa ! What a curler ! The battle of the last minute goals, ROFL

Btw, i have just wrote in my entry for Malaysian Dream Girl and this time the girls were in Royal Selangor for their first outdoor photoshoot

For those who have no idea what a zorb is, it basically the same as a hamster running in it’s plastic ball. The difference is, for us the ball is cushioned by air in the middle. The it’s to refrain hard impacts as we roll down the hill. To make things more exciting the participants are strapped on to the wall of the zorb. Thus as it roll down, so do you >.<!

If you are wondering why don’t the description match the picture above. That’s because it’s a water zorb. Water zorb is identical to a hamster ball.

Don’t be deceived with the photos because water zorbing is a waste of time and money. I will you why later.

So it was a bright Sunday morning and 26 people gathered in an excitement somewhere in Titiwangsa.

I couldn’t find the place at first and i called Bernard for the exact location. He said once you see 2 plastic balls on the left of the road means you are at the right place >.<! And he was right, i just continued driving around the lake till i saw these zorb balls.

Just as i described earlier there’s air in between the 2 layers in the zorb. Since it can accomodate 2 people at once, Bernard and i were paired up.

A few days before this event, Esther emailed me some coupon which i am suppose to bring so that the price of the zorb would be only RM 15. After finalizing the payment and all, we all waited to take turns.

Esther immediately said she was the first to go.

The ball was then rolled a slight slope and was held till Esther and her friend got strapped in. The slope isn’t that steep compared to the ones i have seen in New Zealand but nevertheless for 15 ringgit what do you expect? The distance it would roll is about 70 meters.

The instructor will help you out with the harness if you have hard time strapping into it. The girls were all observing for some reason but i am not sure why Bernard looks excited. HAhahahahahaha.

Once Esther was ready, they rolled down the ball and all i could hear were screams from Esther and her friend … who is a guy. ROFL.

Knowing that there’s 26 people and it would take eons before Bernard and i would have a chance. We decided to go for the water zorb first. Nicolette and Alice joined us.

It’s not that near from the dry zorb so we drove over to the other side of the lake.

Bernard was the first one to go since there weren’t anyone there. Water zorbing is also RM 15. And as you can see, first you would need to get into that plastic and they would pump in air till it’s full. They would then further pump in using a smaller pump.

It’s seriously not easy !

There’s no grip …. inside and outside. So all you do is fall …. and fall in the most awkward manner >.<!

Bernard was even luckier because when he was trying to find the inner hamster in him, a TV crew recorded the whole thing, LOL.

We escaped from the rest because we want to spare the shame but Bernard went two steps back by showing himself to the country, hahaha.

Alice was really funny, LOL. Cause she did try to run as much as possible and from far, she does look like a hamster

You see, we knew by going for the water zorb first, the rest won’t be seeing us like this. But when Nicolette spotted them walking from afar, she immediately said it was her turn after Alice @_@!!

So i was left to be the last one.

Nicolette didn’t last long cause she just doesn’t seem to go anywhere and it’s seriously tiring though you try to move it around. So she sat and enjoyed the scenery. But then again, she wasn’t wearing her specs. Hmmm now i wondered what was she even looking, lol.

By the time she was done, probably half of the whole group was already there and everyone was waiting for me to get in.

You know how people would say, “Save the best for last” ? Well this was one of those moments, wuuuwuuuuuuu

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Have you seen a buffalo falling ? There you go ….. >.<!

What a way to start my water zorbing experience. At one point while falling i thought the zorb was gonna burst or something.

Once you are in the ball you basically can’t hear much unless someone screams at you. And when i fell i could hear clearly everyone laughing at me @_@! So that’s how hard everyone laughed.

I tried everything to move it like a hamster ball but the harder i tried, the more weird i fell. If only the outer layer of the ball had some groove so it will move against the water rather than spinning on the same spot.

But it was really fun !

Esther’s one was the shortest i think, LOL. At one point she even tried to escape even when she was in the middle of the lake >.<! LOL

After capturing Esther’s fall, Alice, Nic, Bernard and i went back for the normal zorb.

The problem with 2 big buffalos entering the zorb is, when one gets in, the second one would have a hard time cause the hole is even smaller @_@!

… and i got freaking stuck, blardy hell and Bernard who was already inside had to pull me in.

We were too heavy that they had to push us down, ROFLMAO. Actually they do push for everyone since the slope isn’t that steep.

I know i screamed a lot, Bernard too and the momentum was madness. Imagine 2 of us causing the ball to roll down even faster than the rest. swt swt swt.

This is a small taste of what’s there in Gemas, Negeri Sembilan as i was told that the zorb there is longer …. 250m down >.<!

1 minute of spinning.

According to the fella who organizers this, for the first 20 seconds you would be screaming happily but after that till the end, you would be dying to get out, lol.

All in all the experience was great !!! Would definitely recommend it to anyone for sure.

Zorbing anyone ?

Now that my blog is finally UP Arghhhh for some reason this entry disappeared no thanks to the propogation delay -_-! Anyway i shall continue where i left on Phnom Penh. We were still on the Killing Fields and i didn’t feel all that confortable reading signs after signs indicating what had happened here during the Khmer Rouge. The cold breeze just made matters more eery than usual. This particular tree had a loudspeaker on it for a purpose …

… which is to drown the voices of the victims as they were executed in mass.

We later went into the building that stored all the remainings of the victims. Here’s William snapping with Angeline observing the skulls. I didn’t take any though I had to ration my memory card so that it could last me the whole trip which didn’t happened as i had to borrow 2Gb from Aaron.

Having barely 2 hours or so before our bus departs for Siem Reap, we rushed back.

Since we had time to spare, we roamed in Phnom Penh to find for lunch. We agreed to go to the Central market since it would be a good place to seek for food. But the thing is, the market in Phnom Penh isn’t exactly how we would see back here in Malaysia. The market was basically a market only, selling meat, vegetables, everyday utensils, previous stones, etc. There was no sign of hawker food, ROFL.

We left the market and walked to a few nearby mainroads.

We then came across this shop and i heard someone said, let’s have lunch here.

LOL. The thing about Phnom Penh is, if there’s a Bak Kut Teh shop here then the whole row would have BKT all over. Same goes for mechanics, sundry shop and also hawker food which we were yet to find any >.<!

We headed back to our rooms and decided to board the bus, in the hopes of finding something to bite on the way there.

There was this bread stand, i mean a few bread stand in front of the bus we were boarding and so we grabbed whatever we wanted. Igot myself a french loaf and asked the lady if it was empty or had anything in it. To my avail, we had some major communication barrier, lol.

Every where you go in Phnom Penh, you can easily find bread stands or even bakeries which have loads and loads of french loaves. I guess the French definitely did leave something behind when were in control of Cambodia.

After settling down in the bus, i finally had a bite and i tell you, it was one of the best french loaves i have ever had. Maybe because i was too hungry but for that price and to have pork floss in it, it was definitely worth it.

That ended up as my lunch.

The bus journey took about 7-8 hours if my memories serves me well. It was a 2+2 seating arrangement and it was one heck of a experience travelling with the locals. Even the movie played in the bus was a freaking eye opener. Hahaha. I quickly dozed off once i had my lunch but i was awaken to the sounds of the blaring monospeaker tv where it was showing a fighting scene from a local movie. I didn’t know basketball moves and gymnastics could be the basis of a fighting scene in any movie Taking a glance around, i could see how the locals were hooked to the tv set.

We did stop at their rest stop and it was just a normal shed with one stall and a sundry shop. We would try just about anything since we were in Cambodia and so we bought ice creams …

… just to find out it was packed in Malaysia.

Hahaha

We arrived Siem Reap when the sun was setting. As we got down from the bus, Emily yelled at me …

“Eh somebody the other side is holding a sign with your name on it.”

It was the driver who was assigned to be with us for the next 4 days in Siem Reap. I was actually prepared with other contacts in case the person whom i have been emailing back and forth for months didn’t turn. You know la, anything thru the net isn’t always guaranteed.

For USD 4.25 a night, we stayed comfortably at Jasmine Lodge. We were all divided the same way in Phnom Penh, where the girls and the guys had their own room. I stayed at the top floor and we even had our own lazy chair. Jasmine lodge is way wayyyy better than our accommodation in Phnom Penh and their hospitality was even better. Breakfast was included as well as free wifi. Now that’s definitely a bargain for any backpackers.

By the time we washed up and got ready it was already 8 something and we walked towards the town in search for food. Siem Reap is very different compared to Phnom Penh. It feels safe to walking at night.

After walking for more than 15mins, we finally decided where to eat.

The food was quite good and if i am not mistaken i ended up paying USD 4 plus, for the rice with pork and coconut shake. Some of us ordered mee soup which had lots of ajinomoto, lol.

Since we were already near the town center, we continued exploring the night life in Siem Reap

The girls totally zoned out when we came across a shoe shop ala Vincci/Voir/Nose. Eventhough it was cheaper with the current sales, the girls decided to leave empty handed

Of course that didn’t last for long …. LOL. I will tell you why later.

The central market was still operating so we had a look and slowly everyone started buying things like shirts, scarfs, elephant bags. Hahaha. I got my Cambodia shirt for USD 1.25.

Ai Ling and Emily made friends with this lady who had a unique way of saying, “Oh my gawdddddd.” ROFLMAO

Emily ended up saying that for the rest of the trip, she would just OMG anyone out of the blue, hahaha

Before leaving the town, we went to one of the sundry shops to get a few things. At the same time, we also did a price comparison with a few things, like liquor, chocolate, etc.

A few of us did become hungry when we reached back, so we walked to a nearby roadside stall and had supper.

Emily and I ordered this special fruit thingy. We just didn’t know that special means sprinkling milo all over the fruits >.<!

HAhahaha it tasted funny.

That’s the first night in Siem Reap. To be continued soon …

P/S: My blog is having some sort of problem, so please bear with me as i update a few things before posting the coming entries. In the mean time, do drop by Malaysian Dream Girl’s site to catch the latest episode of season 2

I was expecting to wake up to the sound of my alarm but instead i had the privilege of waking up to the sound of karaoke duet from a nearby marriage ceremony. I just lied there listening for the next ten minutes until it was my turn to wash up. I then briefly packed my bags as we would be rushing to catch the bus for Siem Reap once we are back from the Killing Fields.

We then went to the girl’s lair just to find out they haven’t got ready. Wasn’t a big surprise though, lolololol.

We all then rushed down to catch the van to the Toul Sleng museum but stumbled upon the wedding that i mentioned earlier. We came down in time for the bridegroom and his ‘rombongan’ to bring gifts for the bride. I think the folks were suprised to see so many photographers as they walked to the bride’s place. LOL.

We all then jumped into the van and off we went.

Today was all about history which made Cambodia what it is today. Many have asked why Phnom Penh first ? Visiting the Toul Sleng museum and the Killing Fields at the end of your trip wouldn’t be ideal. I rather be enjoying myself towards the end and not being disturbed by how one million plus Cambodian were brutally murdered during the Pol Pot regime. I was glad to have known my mum’s friend’s brother who has been residing in Cambodia for the past 15 years and he told me which places are a must go and we managed to cover those places in a short span of time

Besides that, feedbacks from a few more friends who traveled a few weeks before me, also mentioned which places aren’t worth the time.

Toul Sleng museum which was about 10-15mins from the place we stayed was a former school before being turned into one of the worst torture/detention/interrogation centre that i have heard of. We had an english speaking guide who explained every single detail of this place. Though it was hard to capture with her heavy Cambodian slang but after a while, i could roughly understand.

This place was actually used to get information from anyone who was against the ruling of Pol Pot. Previous politicians too were all detained in this centre, together with their family.

These were the few detention rooms which had the higher ranking officers of the previous government detained. In each room there was a bed, mattress and iron bucket for the detainees waste.

The first room had a picture of a tortured detainee on the bed and the guide explained how they were tortured until the information was retrieved. The cold breeze blowing from the nearby windows did sent chills down my spine. When she asked us to look up at the ceiling, there were still traces of blood. which splattered from one end to the other.

Others were tortured in other manners like hanging them upside down from the wooden pole with their hands tied to the back. These wooden poles were used by students to exercise when it was still a school back then. If the detainee doesn’t cooperate their heads are then dipped into the huge jar which is filled with human excrement.

In the next block, smaller holding places were built out of bricks. Family members are kept in these cells shackled to the floor. They aren’t allowed to speak unless they were allowed to and seeing how dark the place can be even in the noon, one could wonder how dark it gets when night falls. And all of them just waiting for their turn to be executed.

Some of the detainees who couldn’t stand being tortured did jump off from higher floors to end their miseries and this made the people of Pol Pot placing barbed wires all around the building to prevent anyone from jumping off. They even hooked it to an electric cable which would electrocute anyone who touches it.

In the last section of the museum, mugshots of all detainees were displayed. At one point it became disturbing because it was a sea of people staring at you. The way the photo was taken for some of the detainees were really inhuman. Instead of having their identification card pinned to their shirt, it was pinned to their neck.

We were then asked if we would like to go to the first floor of the building but had to politely decline as we had a super tight schedule to follow.

At this point i was already rubbing my arms for heat cause it was considerably cold in Phnom Penh. So i asked the guide if this was normal and she said yes it was. Since we will be in Siem Reap later that night which is way up north, i asked her what about Siem Reap, is it this cold ?

She replied, “Oh it’s like Paris …”

Great and i don’t have any long pants …

Next was the Killing Fields. This was where thousands were brought to be executed. This particular building was built in the remembrance of those who perished in the Killing Fields. In the middle of the building lies see through shelves which contained the skulls and bones of the victims.

We followed the path on ourselves around the Killing fields. Along the way there were explanation on what happened at that particular place when it was still the Killing Fields.

The huge holes you see all over the place are actually where the people were gathered into before being shot. And there were so many of this bunkers.

Babies and small children were brought to this particular tree. They were then swung or slammed on to the tree.

… to be continued

]]> http://satkuru.com/blog/2009/02/the-chronicles-of-cambodia-the-dark-side-of-phnom-penh/feed/ 13 http://satkuru.com/blog/2009/02/the-chronicles-of-cambodia-food-in-phnom-penh/ http://satkuru.com/blog/2009/02/the-chronicles-of-cambodia-food-in-phnom-penh/#comments Mon, 02 Feb 2009 15:54:15 +0000 satkuru http://satkuru.com/blog/?p=1504

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The long awaited trip was finally here and to be frank i was more scared than excited. Imagine having the responsibility to make sure all six others were taken care off but at the same time enjoy the planned backpacking experience. I had request from a few on what they would love to do and see. So trying to please everyone was close to impossible. But i did try my best to incorporate all

The idea of Cambodia was actually first conceived when a few of us were in Redang and after scouting around for tickets on AirAsia, we finally found a suitable date. I have gone through tonnes of iternaries from different agencies, trying to a get an overall view on what is normally organized. But having pledged that i am gonna make it a backpacking trip instead, i had to make sure that the budget was kept to a bare minimum.

I had to read on main historical points in both Phnom Penh and Siem Reap so it would be easy for me to set the route on where to go and when. After reading a number of blogs on how they experienced their trips to Cambodia, i decided to fly into Phnom Penh and fly out from Siem Reap. It cost slightly more compared to the typical Siem Reap first then Phnom Penh, if i am not mistaken about twenty five ringgit but it was a very wise decision. I would explain it in my coming entries.

Upon checking AirAsia’s website i could have snapped return tickets for Cambodia for a mere 280 ringgit but because i had to make sure the rest confirmed which took them an extra 24 hours, the price ballooned by an extra 100 -_-! Nevertheless, it was still considered cheap.

With the plane ticket finalized, all i had to do was get accommodations and have a drafted plan in coming months before the trip.

Google maps, lonelyplanet, blogs after blogs, all checked, double checked, triple checked to make sure where we would be stay and visit.

All communications for accommodation was done solely via email and though i had bookings before hand, i brought a few numbers as backups in case any miscommunication happens.

We had 7 people in total, 5 from Penang and 2 from KL. From Penang were Ai Ling, Emily, Lee May, Angeline and myself. From KL, it was William and Aaron.

For the Penangites, we were lucky to get return tickets from Penang to KL for only 70 ringgit plus. Upon arriving in LCCT, we had a few hours to hang around so we left for KLIA to meet up with William and Aaron.

Everyone was excited cause it was easily their first trip on their own overseas, lol.

We all had our very own 1901 hotdogs on board which i purchased upon booking the tickets and i didn’t know we were suppose to prepare it on our own. It’s smaller than the 1901s that we have it on ground but it’s the excitement of preparing it and eating it on air which counts.

After two hours plus, we finally arrived at Phnom Penh’s airport and we were approached by a bunch of tuk tuk people and was told one tuk tuk from the airport has a flat rate of 7USD >.<! which in my opinion is damn blardy expensive. But then again, which transportation from ANY airport is cheap ?

Having seven people we naturally took 2 tuk tuks which came up to 14 USD. This particular driver of ours had some serious issue. He asked me where was i staying and i replied Capitol Guesthouse. He insisted that the place was terrible and he would recommend a better place. He kept blabbering how nice the other place was and he would bring us there for free before heading to Capitol. When i said no thank you, his face changed immediately. And because he had a ‘black face’, he put on his helmet and never bothered to speak to us throughout the rest of the journey.

We conversed BM amongst ourselves and i tell you we strugled, i mean i strugled even constructing a normal sentence. After a while, it all came back naturally.

“Eh sekarang kita kat mana ? Tak nampak tuk tuk yang lagi satu pun ?”

” Yalah #$^#^#$% dia nak jual kita ke?  kerana tak nak pi hotel dia recommend ?”

With no sight of Emily’s tuk tuk, i panicked as always and was looking for signs if it showed we were going towards the town. Unfortunately most signs were in Cambodian since were still at the outskirts. I immediately dug for my E71 and turned on my GPS. Having preloaded it with the map of Cambodia, i was able to track our whereabouts and found out he used a different route but it was also heading towards Phnom Penh

Sitting on the tuk tuk alone was an experience itself. It was fast and bumpy. Traffic in Phnom Penh is totally chaotic and don’t let me start with their honking. It reminded me of India where everyone honks just for about anything. Traffic lights are well equipped with countdown numbers just like in Malaysia but motorist move on before it’s their  turn. Before you know it, there’s a big grid lock in the middle of the junction.

After thirty minutes or so, we finally arrived at Capitol Guesthouse and checked in to our rooms.

Two rooms, one for the girls and one for guys, having a total of 7 individual beds, air conditioned and hot water which worked like for a few seconds and then it’s all cold again That one night cost us 4.60USD per person.

After checking in and washing up, we went down to Capitol’s main desk. The main reason Capitol Guesthouse was chosen was because they had their own bus service. And the next day we would all be taking bus from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. Behind the ladies above, is a big white board that shows towns of departure and what time does it leave.

We weren’t sure what time we wanted and in the midst of discussing, a lady asked me, ” Are you Satkuru ?”

LOL

I finally met the lady that has been replying my mails for the past 3 months and she was Ms Sidana Phann. She was in charge of the Guesthouse, restaurant, bus service as well as tours. I told her what i wanted to do in Phnom Penh the next morning and if she could help sort out a van for us which she kindly arranged for us. Upon confirming that, we finally got ourselves the 12.30pm bus to Siem Reap which cost us 5.25USD each. We had the option of taking a boat but it cost a whooping 35USD and furthermore, it left at 7.30am in the morning which didn’t suit our plan.

Bargaining has to come naturally in Cambodia. If you can’t bargain, then drag someone who can, else prepare to pay double or even triple the cost of anything, especially tuk tuks.

I grabbed 2 tuk tuks again, 1.50USD each, and headed to their coastal area which is along Tonle Sap. We later decided to have our dinner first and was brought to some restaurant which wasn’t really kind to our wallets.

If you are planning to have beer, Angkor beer is a good choice. It’s cheap. Do pronounce it properly as they also widely serve Anchor beer, lol.

One dish that you must try, let me repeat, MUST TRY, is Cambodia’s Amok fish. Till today i can still remember how it tasted like and this particular one was probably the best i tasted so far, even after comparing to Siem Reap

After dinner, we walked for a good 1km plus to their version of Gurney drive.

One thing that no one told me about Cambodia was, it was COLD ! It’s definitely a couple of degrees lower than Malaysia and standing by the coast didn’t help us. The super cold breeze kept blowing and i started shivering after a while. One glance around that area and i noticed we were probably the only ones in shorts and tshirt -_-! The locals had sweaters and long pants on.

Too bad the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda were closed at night.

So we did just like any Cambodian would do …

… having insects for supper. lol

Everyone’s eyes were like @_@ looking at what each stall had to offer. From afar it looked like crackers or dried chillies but upon close inspection, you would noticed fury tarantula, crickets and many creepy crawlers.

A few of us braved ourselves to consume and it definitely didn’t include me, hahaha. Definitely not for the faint hearted

Angeline and Emily joined me to support Vingie’s quest for PETA. Wait, does PETA include creepy crawlers ?

William was first then followed by Aaron which i didn’t manage to snap cause he chomped it down damn fast

The the pharmacist followed suit. Having a pharmacist on board was a good thing, hahaha.

Knowing Lee May tried, Ai Ling braced herself and had one, ROFLMAO.

She even prepared her bottle of water in case it tasted bad, HAHAHAHA

Then William decided to go for the bigger creepy crawler

A freaking tarantula. I can’t remember if he actually consumed any part of it but it was definitely disgusting looking at it. *update* i was told by aaron that he and william ate one leg each and it tasted like ikan bilis.

We then left for our guesthouse and since everyone was still hungry, we walked to a nearby roadside stall to try what they had to offer

There’s a row of stalls selling set meal which started from 75 cents US. The only thing that bothered me was the strong urine smell from that area.

For 75 cents you can get like what i ate. There’s rice, sliced pork something like lap cheong, veggie, fried egg, soup and unlimited amount of tea. It was kind of oily for my liking but hey, it’s hawker food and it definitely filled my tummy

After supper we headed to bed. I immediately dozed off after landing on my bed but was awaken by karaoke songs the next morning

… end of Day One (The Chronicles of Cambodia)

]]> http://satkuru.com/blog/2009/02/the-chronicles-of-cambodia-food-in-phnom-penh/feed/ 11 http://satkuru.com/blog/2008/07/redang-nipple-island/ http://satkuru.com/blog/2008/07/redang-nipple-island/#comments Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:13:55 +0000 satkuru http://satkuru.com/blog/?p=1005

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After riding on the boat for about half an hour, we finally reached the resort that we were gonna stay for the next four days and three night. Redang Kalong was the name, RK for short. Not to be mistaken for RK House – No Pork, lol.

We were then given a short briefing by the owner of the place in terms of timing of the meals and time for check-in/check-out. Then the keys were given out and for the next four days i will be staying with William, Aaron and Hugo.

What i liked about this resort was that the rooms were all wood based, giving you that you-are-now-on-island-and-everything-is-better-in-wood feel. Surprisingly the rooms were all fitted with airconds. Water heater was also installed in the bathroom but only a lucky few would experience it. During my four days there, i never got to bathe in hot water …. not even once -_-”

So after unpacking our things, we rushed down for the first snorkeling session. So we waited for the rest and turned out that the girls took an extra ten minutes. We later found out that they were busy applying mascara and foundation. Not like anyone is gonna recognise them once they are in the water, lol.

So since we missed the first snorkeling session, we did the next best thing; snap pictures. I took this opportunity to learn more about my polarizer and William was kind enough to show how to use it. The girls appeared not too long after and everyone just lazed on the beach chairs and hammock.

The next snorkeling session was at 2.15pm, so some of us took a short nap and some just hung around till lunch time.

Each time there’s session for snorkeling, diving or meals, an old skool bell is rung around the resort to alert everyone about what is happening. It’s something you don’t experience often.

The girls werent’t late this time and we manage to get into the boat in time. I entered the water without any life jacket thinking how hard could it be swimming in the sea …. but i was wrong @_@ With the strong current around, i spent most of the time trying to maintain my spot rather than swimming around. That wore me down and in the end i retired and got back to the boat.

We returned to the resort after two hours and since some of us still had some energy left in us, we decided to canoe.

About two kilometers from the shore was an island which had nipple shaped stones all round it and that’s where we decided to canoe, lol. So imagine this, canoe-ing at 4.30pm under the hot sun in the open sea @_@

Please take note, pictures from here on were shamelessly hijacked from William, LOL. I edited the pictures a bit so that it won’t look as nice as how William had posted in his blog

It took us about twenty minutes to reach the shore of Nipple Island and from there on we decided to hike up the breasted hills, hahaha.

Now here’s the best bit of the whole canoe-ing expedition, see the picture above ? check out the person on the far left and far right …. noticed anything missing from these two macho fellas ? they were both slipper-LESS >_<”

Now why is that the best bit of the expedition ? You see from afar, the island looked like it had a beach with white smooth sand and …… Aaron and I decided to leave out slippers behind. But that was a wrong move, i mean a WRONG MOVE. When we got there, the blardy beach was covered with blardy dead corals and it was blardy pain walking barefooted on that island. I was literally screaming like a small boy in me cause it really hurt badly. So much so that my feet did bleed at one point -_-”

After hiking for a short distance, we finally reached the place where it resembled erected nipples and boy oh boy were we surrounded by so many of them, lol. Notice how macho the front two fellas are ? That was the few seconds that i smiled before moaning in pain again. And if the pebbles weren’t bad enough, the ants just made matters worst.

We carried on climbing to the top …. yes barefooted some more. Real stim ler. The view from the top was really breath-taking. We sat down for a while to enjoy the cool breeze blowing from all directions. Then we slowly hiked back down.

About two hundred meters from Nipple Island was a patch of white sand shaped like a crescent and we decided to canoe there and run around on that patch of sand.

… and that turned out to be a bad idea for me and aaron @_@

It wasn’t just white sand but it’s AGAIN covered with dead corals @_@

Check out the two fellas on the far left ler, macho-ness on its highest level. Hahaha.

We didn’t spend much time on this crescent looking patch of sand cause first it was covered with dead corals and second it was getting dark. So after snapping a few pictures, we canoed back Canoe-ing back was another issue.

Upon reaching the beach, Aaron and i canoed into a super low area and scrapped corals along the way. It came to a point where our canoe actually got stuck and had to force our way out with our oars -_-” And that was another experience that i will never forget.

After dinner, we walked to Lagune beach. This was probably the maddest part of the day for me. I was literaly a walking zombie and was dying to go back to the resort. When i finally got back to my room, i dozed off within seconds upon lying on the bed

UPDATED: A lot of people requested for the full video, so it’s finally added at the bottom

Finally EURO2008 is here !!! And i am pretty sure there’s gonna be lots of people going to work or even class with panda eyes or maybe skip it all together if they have the chance. During these games, people usually gather around at mamak stalls but i on the other hand rather watch it at home with a bunch of friends and Mister Potato in my hands. This definitely doesn’t sound like me at all but trust me that’s what i do most of the time. With the hike of petrol price, watching at home definitely is the better choice and i won’t be surprised if price of mamak food does increase anytime soon.

For most of the time, i would have 2-3packets of Mister Potato for a match. Hahaha i do eat like a wood chipper when it comes to potato chips >_<” and it’s all the better since Mister Potato is currently having a competition for those who collects the most seals or pouches. These seals and pouches are then exchanged into football points where you can redeem prizes later on. And the prizes are eye poppingly crazy !

For the 30 top football points collector, they will receive a Total Football Tour at Manchester, England ! This includes the Stadium and Museum and it’s worth RM 15000 ! @_@ So stim can.

Besides that, there are also monthly prizes to be given away which are autographed football jerseys. So this doesn’t just limit to Manchester United fans, you can also win a Liverpool or even a Chelsea jersey

Recently i have been chosen to be part of Project-T and my group, Group Ho Liao had to come out with an idea on how we could get a lot of pouches and seals to stand a chance to win the trip to Manchester. The ideas that we brain stormed are then assigned to each individual and come out with a short video. Knowing that we are scattered around Malaysia and will not be able to appear all together in a video, we decided to have a packet of Mister Potato as our link.

It starts off with our Ho Liao boss, KY giving ‘blessings’ for us to start the video, hahaha. Okok the real deal was Muzaffar *another Ho Liao boss* wanted to know how could he win the trip to Old Trafford and KY will explain to him with the help of his 5 Ho Liao members *coughs* Thomas comes in with his brilliant idea which was to go on a Mister Potato diet. By doing so, he would be able to consume more Mister Potato and collect more pouches or seals. The funny thing is, Thomas is already sooooooo THIN ! Hahahah. Now that, i can’t wait to see Kevin on the other hand was gonna do it the old fashion way, which is to steal Mister Potato. Not one but a few Mister Potato. I mean when you steal also must think BIG and going for one would be ‘potong stim’. While trying to escape, he stumbles upon someone whom he knows and that would be the climax Foong’s idea was her son demanding Mister Potato, hahaha. Wouldn’t that be easy for her ? LOL just wait for her son to finish one pouch by one pouch and in no time she’ll be flying off to Manchester. Debra …. where do i even begin with her idea hahahaha. Just like a kissing booth whereby you pay to be kissed, Debra will be going on dates in exchange for Mister Potato, lololololol. Obviously one pouch isn’t gonna do the trick, so it depends on how much the date is willing to offer … And finally me …. >_<”

My idea was to photocopy the pouches and seals @_@

Yes yes PHOTOCOPY @_@ *KY i am so gonna strangle you for this idea* I am gonna photocopy the pouches and seals in hope of getting myself to Manchester. LOL

The description above is in NO particular order So do check out the video for the overall view and this is my part for the video. Kinda potong stim cause everyone did super long duration and mine was up within 20 seconds -_-” Oh and mine is in Tamil, hehehe.

Please bear with us as this was done in a super duper short time and it was during weekdays -_-! Hohoho

Episode 1: KY Speaks
Episode 2: Yapthomas
Episode 3: Hamlet’s Hero
Episode 4: Satkuru
Episode 5: Foongsite
Episode 6: Debfong
Episode 7: Sultan Muzaffar

“When you think football, think Mister Potato !”

UPDATED: A lot of people requested for the full video, so here it is Do remember to drop by the other member’s blog to see what they have done to get their part ready for this 5 minute video

This entry has been long overdue mainly because i took only a handful of pictures and that wasn’t sufficient enough to even start the entry. So i wanna thank HUNG WEI for all the pictures

About half a moon ago, i met up with a bunch of people who were all dying to dress up and celebrate Anna‘s and Daphne‘s Birthday. At first the attire was formal but after a few people chickened out, we decided to stick to semi formal. Nevertheless, the ladies did go all out and the guys ? Hahaha i guess we didn’t take it seriously >_<”

Before the gathering, i met up with Daniel, Jason, Elvie, Jess, Steven and Angeline in front of GSC to catch Jantan Besi. After the movie, we walked around before buying the cake and heading to Chillis.

Everyone was busy snapping photos of each other while i was sitting at one corner …. watching football -_-”

I got bored and did some simple editing to the pictures to make it look ridiculous …

Murtabak ! Talian Khayal ? ROLF

Whenever there’s any pictures taken, i have always refrained myself from showing the peace sign. I don’t see the need to do so but this time around, i was forced to show ‘peace’ >_<” Potong stim

@_@

‘P.E.A.C.E”

Later on i realized why the peace-sign was important …

When the master meets his apprentice ……

Kaypo corner

Ahem ? Anyone ?

Aaron couldn’t make it, so we decided to dedicate this picture by posing like him Dolphin, apa lar lu

We were asked to pose with our hands as guns but …. Elvie went a little bit too far -_-”

Finally a picture with the 2 birthday girls, Anna and Daphne Noticed anything ?

ROLF!

P/S: Murtabak isn’t a person nor an action

Instead of writing about the birthday, i got derailed in the process >_<”