on our 2nd day, which is Monday, we went visiting temples. apparently Angkor Wat is the biggest and main tourist attraction to Cambodia. without it, the entire tourism industry might not survive at all. but, its not only ONE temple in the entire country. boy, there are more than 2000 temples in entire country, in Siem Reap alone there are 200+. when i say "temple" i dun mean today's bright red or gold structures with joss sticks, candles, oil wick and gold paper burning. these are temples created perhaps in the Neolitic or whichever early-human era. they're all stones and carvings, build by the King as dedication to the Gods.
this is our first stop, Angkor Thom. there are many MANY temples inside this area. as u can see, we bought new hats. the weather is SUPER HOT here. we're lucky we're here during the beginning of rainy season, bcos on non-rainy season temperature can rise as high as 42degrees!
you can enter the area riding an elephant, charging at US$10 per elephant, which can fit 2-3 person. looking at how the "driver" rein the elephant with this gigantic metal rod, and seeing the elephant's pitiful eyes, i did not have the heart to ride it at all...
this is the first temple, Bayon Temple. there will be many more pics with stones, stones, nothing but stones...
my handsome Darling striking up such a macho pose. he's wearing a Korean shirt and a cowboy hat. so what kinda nationality do we label him? cow-rea??? sounds like a cow with diarrhea! >.< 
weehehehe.....check out our meditation pose! 3rd temple out of 17 temples in Angkor Thom
this is part of the menu during lunch time. anybody wants a Soff Dring???
this is the back view of Angkor Wat! also the backside of our entire holiday troupe >.<
omg...the architect in the olden days must have horrible estimation. either that, or our ancestors were really tall people, bcos the steps were freaking steep! can u imagine the king climbing on all four hands and feet just to worship his God? and he's gotta have size 4 feet to climb those narrow steps! 
phew. finally got out of the temple. this is the front view of Angkor Wat, also the very popular view printed on all tourist products, from t-shirt designs to miniature structures to bamboo fan design
god, in such hot weather, my mind was only craving for air-con and ice cream. i honestly was in no mood to admire the architecture or carvings or statues. i was honestly bored to death looking at stones after stones. damn, i sound like a spoilt brat, just one day after seeing the sufferings of those poor children in the Floating Village.... *shameful blush*
after such a hot and tiring day filled with ancient stones, we went to Pub Street! its filled with pubs and European cuisine, Cambodian version of Bangsar's Telawi streets. the uncles, aunties, women, and young girl went shopping, while the boys (me bros Adrian and Ervin, my darling Ev and his bro Eugene) went drinking and pool-ing
check-out my poser Darling with his cue stick. sigh...would u believe he was the oldest among the 4 boys? would u believe he's a 25-year-old working man? *big proud hug for my adorable sweetie~muakz~!*
well,that was the 2nd day. visiting temples, then shopping and dinner, then back to hotel. the uncles and aunties went for massage again, while darling and i went for night swim! ^o^
on the 3rd day, it was all war and guns and killing machines!
this is the War Museum. unlike Malaysian museum, it has no enclosed building. we saw army tanks, various sorts of firing thingies, bombs, guns, ammos. check out how excited my mom was over those weapons! actually she was shouting in surprise at the weight of that thing. according to our guide, who had been in the army since he was 16, and had been thru the Vietnam war and Pol Pot's regime, he said each soldier considerably carry amours equivalent to the weight of a woman. weapon=15kg. ammunition=30kg. can food and drink=5kg. and with their life at stake, they dun feel the weight at all. the guide mentioned that sugar doesnt taste sweet, and bee sting goes unnoticeable when your survival is so uncertain...
in 1970s, Cambodian population was 7 million, but the hidden buried land mines were 16 million pieces. as the guide mentioned, there is an average of 2 land mines waiting for each individual. the guide's wife and 3-year-old daughter was killed stepping on a mine. until today, there are still 4 million landmines undiscovered. people are still killed by landmine everyday, except that its not published on news. hmmmm...can u imagine, one day u're just jogging by the countryside, and next moment, both your legs had been blasted off....
after we left the War Musuem, we passed by this bike on the road. can u see how they tied the pigs at the back of the bike? gawd...i cant imagine myself being tied that way...
after war museum, we went to the Silk Farm, where they grow silk worms, then boil them and remove those strands of expensive materials. quality isnt as good as China's, and the factory was pretty small. products pretty expensive though. i got myself a purse!!!
the boys were so excited when the guide from War Museum mentioned that there's a shooting range in Siem Reap. can use REAL weapons. it was run by military ppl, and omg, i fired a real weapon! so scary! i took one shot and that was it. the boys were so excited! we paid US$40 for 30bullets, using dunno what rifle. it was totally enclosed room, 3side brick wall, one sliding glass door entrance. totally no ventilation inside..our t-shirts were soaked in sweat when we came out
after shooting range we went to De Artisan, watching youths carve wood structures and produce painting meant to look like it came from Angkor Wat. i dun understand...if ancient looking products are actually commercially produced, then what's the value of buying it?
anyway, that was our 3rd day. very relaxing day as compared to 1st two days. next morning we had a plane to catch, so had breakfast in hotel, then went for last minute souvenir shopping...
our driver brought us to the local ppl's market. we told him we wanted to buy back local food, and we ended up in a wet market =.=" in the end, we bought nothing from market, and got some biscuits from a bakery
well, that was our trip! reached airport, took off at 11.40am local time (12.40pm malaysian time). flight was 2 hrs. but the serious, most satisfying shopping was after touching down, before getting out of the airport...
CHOCOLATES!!! loads and loads of them! oh gosh, we bought so much that now, im feeling quite sick of them.
well, that was my Cambodia trip. my family (mom, grandma, both bros), Darling's family (him, bro n parents) and another neighbor, Annie and Simon. a good experience, cos i realise my main priority in travelling abroad for holiday is not the history but the goods sold. so when planning my own holiday, i'll prioritise shopping and beach above architecture and historical places =)
we came back on wed, and thurs morning i've begin my internship at Towers Perrin HR Service firm. its located in Menara Dion, Jln Sultan Ismail, and im having a complete taste of a corporate world. i have my own cubicle, with my own desktop, and finger-print access into office. the office culture is great...employees are given lots of trust, mostly people in 20s and 30s, friendly, free flow of coffee and soft drinks, and only 5 out of 20+ staffs
i'll update more bout internship later. cos for the past 2 days i've only been reading and familiarizing with their current project. really, i feel so unproductive. hopefully with my desktop finally set up and running, i can get some brain juice functioning soon!
thats all for now!
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