Explore Siem Reap, Cambodia - Day 2 Part 1

Here is Day 1 of Cambodia if you have not read it Siem Reap Day 1

So the next day we woke up early to catch the sunrise at the Angkor Watt. We were told earlier that it was raining season & if we were lucky enough, we could watch the sunrise. Unfortunately, there was no sunrise for us. 

It was around 4am local time but there were already many people trying the luck to catch the sunrise too.

We just enjoyed the view while waiting for the front gate of the Angkor Watt to be opened. Since we were early, we decided to eat breakfast at one of the halal restaurant nearby but it was closed. So our driver brought us to the food truck nearby.

It only served sandwiches and coffees. It was a bit pricey for us, USD1++ for a sandwich. But to our great surprise, it was so good that we didn't mind buying another one. 

After that, we went back to Angkor Watt. The front gate opened at 8am local time and we were early to avoid the major crowd behind us.

The architecture was amazing and I love the greenery view very much. Like the green was everywhere around the temple. 

As you can see, they tried to preserve the temple as best as they can. 

You could find many carving like this one on every temple's wall & mostly were inspired from their national flower, Lotus. 

The first thing you would see once you enter the temple was this big pool which was believed to be where the kings taking their bath. It was so big that you could imagine how big were the people from the past.

Since the temple only used natural lighting, it was quiet dark inside. However, it was cold inside.

Since were running out of time, we had decided to take the short tour of Angkor Watt before heading to the next temple. It was only a few minutes drive from Angkor Watt. 

Once we reached at the front gate of Bayon Temple, we could see what materials were used for building the temple. There were some information to help us understand how the compacted foundation were made.

Here were the tools that were used to build the temples. Very basic.

After that we went inside and there were many small tunnels for us to go through. 

The steps were pretty steep too. With the presence of the crowds we need to be extra careful from falling down.

Bayon Temple was about Buddhism so we could see a lot of Buddha statues around the temple. It was so unique and amazing too.

You could see that the architecture were more detailed compared to Angkor Watt temple too.

I will update for Part 2 as soon as I can. Thank you for reading!

Explore Siem Reap, Cambodia - Day 1

Hi. Sorry for being MIA for too long. It has been hectic year so far. Last end of July, I went to Siem Reap, Cambodia with my old college friends. It was my first trip there & it was also our reunion after years of living in our own separate ways. Hence, this trip to Cambodia was and is still so special to me. We met at the KLIA 2 airport and reached 2 hours earlier before departure. It was only two hours flight but it felt so long to me because I just hate flying. 

I enjoy looking at others passport especially with many types of cute covers. Take a guess which one is mine.

Since, I have been hating flying recently, I did chose to sit in the middle even though I would love to enjoy the view from above. 

I chose Kung Pao Chicken for my lunch while flying. I was so hungry that the food was finished in just a blink. I didn't know why travelling always made me hungry.

                                                                   

We finally reached at the Siem Reap International Airport. We were 15 minutes earlier from the schedule and it was raining. Since, it was an open area ,we had to wait for our bus to get to the airport. The airport was small but unique at the same time. It only took us few minutes to pass the immigration & it was very smooth.  

Our hotel driver was waiting for us with two 'tuk-tuk'-s to get us to the hotel. It was around thirty minutes trip to the hotel.

Being inside the 'tuk-tuk' reminded me so much of my childhood. Since my grandma is from Thailand, I spent some memories there too and Cambodia didn't seem so much different to me. Even they share the same alphabet too. Little did I knew, it was vastly different in term of living, poverty & hardship.

We were greeted with a glass of fresh orange and a cold towel at the hotel. The towel should be very soothing if it was hot outside but it was pouring rain. Nevertheless, I was grateful. 

It was Season D'Angkor Hotel & it only had three floors but the room was just nice. It was clean & very comfortable. Air-conditioned and a tv. It had small balcony with just nice view of the small city.

Some refreshments for us.

It had a bathtub, shower, sink with mirror and enough space for me to refresh myself. The water flow was very small so it took quite some time to fill up the bath tub.

View from our balcony.

After we had done with checking in, first things first was of course food hunting. We were starving as if we didn't had any lunch earlier. We took the same 'tuk-tuk'-s to the halal restaurant & we found MUSLIM FAMILY KITCHEN RESTAURANT. We were very lucky that the food was so delicious , like deliciously good. The portion was big, many choices & it was the cheapest compared to other restaurants.

The ambiance was nice too & the owner could speak Malay language so it was a bonus for us! 

One of my friend ordered this and we didn't expect the coconut could be this huge!

I ordered Muslim chicken fried rice & of course, like I've said, insanely tasty. I was grateful that Cambodian food was like Thai's food too. Officially, I'm having two favorites now.

Spring rolls! Again, it was soooo delicious! The veggies were fresh and when you dipped it with the sauce, you could taste sweetness, crunchy due to fresh veggies & spicy.

After that, we decided to explore the night market nearby, Phalla Angkor Night Markets. To be honest, the items mostly were expensive & plus they used US dollars. But we did enjoyed our time, laughing, loud musics & different crowds.

In order to get to the Pub Street, we had to cross the road & it was only walking distant. 

I didn't take much pictures because I posted many videos on my insta-story. Go to my instagram : raai901 and watch my travel highlights if you are interested. 

Even though most of the items were expensive but the massage service was quite cheap compared to Malaysia. 

We later decided to walk to our hotel. We were told it was only 5 minutes walk but actually it was around 15 minutes. Not sure we took the wrong road or what but we did get to explore the small roads and such. We were in groups but if you are travelling alone please take tuk-tuks instead of walking alone. 

We were so tired when we reached at the hotel. My roomates, Asiah gave me a bath bomb & I used it before going to bed. Put it in bath tub and dipped in.

I will post my second day of trip in my next post. Till then, stay tuned.

Book Of the Month (March) : Too Close To Home By Susan Lewis

One of my year resolution is to read as much as I could. My goal is one book per month. In which I kind of slightly fail in achieving it since I was so busy that I even had to work on weekends. I only managed to finish 1 book so far which is Too Close To Home by Susan Lewis.

I did some "Google-ing" and found out that my book cover is so different than what I mostly found on the web but the content is 100% the same. 

Credit To : goodreads.com

There are two main characters that were told by the author. Jenna & Paige Moore who were a mother & a daughter. The author did a great job in telling the story that you can feel the pain, fear, upset, happy of the characters. Both characters were realistic and relate-able to most of us. 

Jenna Moore

Jenna Moore was a mother of four and her husband named Jack. They had moved to their "dream house" and everything went perfectly at the first place. However, after a few chapters, she had found out that Jack had cheated on her with who she thought was far better than her. It broke her to pieces and she had lost everything that she cared for. You could feel the betrayal, sadness, anger, disappointment and many more. She was lost in her own world of sadness that she almost lost her daughter to suicide. As the story goes, it showed how she managed to pick up all the pieces and be strong for her children.

Paige Moore

Paige Moore was the eldest daughter of Jenna and Jack Moore. She had been bullied both in school and also in cyber. She felt unworthy to even lived her life. It came to a point that she decided to commit suicide because she thought she did not have any strength left. 

In the nutshell, the story line is about a modern family with a modern crisis. The story is very slow at first but later it will make you hooked. I'll rate this book 3.5 out of 5. Hence, you should read it!

p/s: I have started my practicum in late March and currently I am in my second week. Nothing interesting happen during my practicum so far but I will keep posted on what I have learned and experienced in this journey. 

2017 Formula 1 Malaysia Grand Prix

Happy New Year of 2018 !!!

2017 was awesome though there were some ups and downs. I did not blog so much last year due to our house was robbed and I lost my blogging camera. 

But I had a lot of awesome memories last year and I'm excited for the new year cause I believe it will be better.

Anyway, it's a late post but it's better late than never, right? My husband is a big fan of F1 and 2017 was going to be the last year for the race to be held in Malaysia (which was so sad). We were so busy that we forgot to buy the tickets but we were so lucky to have a friend who had extra complimentary tickets for both of us!

We were excited to be a part of the history as well!

We came to watch on Saturday (Sept 30) for qualification and came the next day for the final race. Our seats were at the main grandstand which I didn't enjoy it as I didn't get to see the whole circuit. But I could clearly see how the teams works. I was amazed by how quickly they could change the tires within seconds.

It was very blazing hot on Saturday. I was sweating like a pig. It was less crowded compared on the last day (Sunday) where it was harder to get our seats if we were late.

We were not allowed to bring outside food but we managed to sneak in our drinks which had saved us a few Ringgit. The food was of course overpriced. We chose to eat Hotdog & Fries because the line was the shortest among other shops and we were not patient enough to queue in the long lines.

The meal was just okay but enough to fill up our hungry stomach. 

The seats were not comfortable enough for me. I knew it's not going to be a luxury one but I did not expect it to be that bad.

He was excited to be there and I was happy to see him like that. His favorite driver was always Sebastian Vettel and we were hoping he would win but unfortunately he didn't. His favorite team was Redbull hence why I was wearing it. It was because the shirt was his.  

It was sad to say goodbye when it was started since 1999! However, the crowd was the best, the race was intense and we had a great time watching it live.

1991-2017

Favourite Songs of The Month - January 2017

Hi guys! 

It's so good to be back! I had taken a break last year for me to focus on my career. I love my job so much that it was a struggle for me to let go since the distance wasn't convenient for me anymore plus with other issues as well. It took one & half hour for me to go to work and more than two hours for me to reach home. Crazy right? Anyway,my work was more into being an "International Diplomat" where I got to learn on how to communicate with them professionally. I enjoyed it so much that sometimes I forgot that I was working.

Let's talk about music! 

Since I have a very high interest on Spanish songs because they are more "dance-able" and fun to listen to compared to English songs. So please bear with me.

I discovered Maluma since end of last year and I think he has an amazing voice. Some says he looks like Zayn Malik , only it's a chubbier version of him. Yea right. He has so many great songs but this one is my favourite. Take a listen to it.

Sin Contrato by Maluma

Ed Sheeran never fails to amaze me. I think this guy is beautiful because every song he wrote has beautiful message in it. He's the only artist that can talk about woman's body without being sexual. And currently I'm addicted to this song, 

Shape Of You by Ed Sheeran.

I never listen to Anne Marie song before and in this video clip she looks a lot like Khloe Kardashian to me. The song is so catchy and fun even though it's about a single mom who struggles to make life good for her baby. Love it!

Rockabye Baby - Anne Marie & Sean Paul & Clean Bandit

And lastly are two my favourite songs that are just so much fun to listen to because of the beats!

J Balvin - Safari ft. Pharrell Williams, BIA, Sky

 

I don't know much about him but he looks more like a Filipino to me rather than a typical Spanish guy. But his song is all that matter!

MC G15 - Deu Onda (KondZilla)

I am so excited for my Langkawi Island trip with all my friends this weekend and we will be departed tonight. I have so much to blog about and will update it once I get back from the trip.

Have  a great day and weekend too!

Halloween Night

On 31st October 2015 we had our 8th Anniversary of the company and my new workplace. That shall explain why I didn't update much on the blog which is such a shame. I was a newbie for about two weeks but I was invited for the dinner and everyone needed to do performances. The best of all I was honored to do it solo! (great...just great *sigh)

The occasion took place in Shangri-La Hotel at Jalan Sultan Ismail. We gathered there around 8pm. The decorations were simple yet pretty. Besides, it was a small and private party dinner.

Gift sections for lucky draws, awards and for the VIPs.

Dinner table layout. 

Noticed this beautiful and fresh roses on the table. I thought they were fake but they were real flowers!

I was offered wine but I don't drink and left it nicely on the table but that fruit punch drink was so tasty! It was mixed fruits juice with watermelons and else (which I couldn't quiet figure lol).

We were served by eight coursing for our meals. So let's start.

1. Shangri-La Four Hot Dish Combination.

It was so delicious! Seafood & sushi are always a plus to me.

2. Braised Shredded Abalone with Seafood Broth

The soup was like most of Chinese soup which had plain and simple taste. However the seafood broth really makes the difference as it tasted just nice! I can have this whole day for like a year of raining days or for sick days.

3. Miso Glazed Cod Fish.

I have to say this was the best meal of all. It was perfect. The flesh was soft and tender. The sauce was great and top up the excellent combination!

4. Buttered Prawns.

This dish was yummy but I had tasted better buttered prawn so I think this was just an average.

5. Lamb Chop with Garlic Mash Potatoes.

The meat were soft and tender. I don't like veggies but they were softly steamed cook and I just had to taste them and yes, no regret at all. Yums! Too bad I don't eat lamb meat so I just took a bite or two and later asked for the next course. But for all lamb chop lovers this course was really good!

6. Poached Broccoli with Black Mushrooms, Dried Scallop

This was so me in one dish. They put all my favorites in one dish! I love love mushrooms because they taste like chicken meet to me. And broccoli? Perfecto mi amor!

7. Fried Rice with Assorted Vegetables and Shredded Barbecue Chicken.

The name is a hell long but it looked just normal fried rice to me. It was nicely cooked and you can tasted the veggies were very fresh. But I had tasted better so this one is slightly above average.

There was no pictures of the next coursing because of full memory T-T.

8. Deep-fried Sesame Dumpling.

This one was just okay but it was too oily for me. 

And for the cordial punch I just had tea and a piece of cake. 

I love how lighting can change the mood. Made it more romantic.

I did sang a song for my solo performance. It was bad and I was damn nervous on that stage. Not because I was a stage freak but because I wasn't good at singing T.T. Anyway, I had so much fun and really enjoyed the night though it ended almost 3am. 

Parking rate was RM12 before midnight. Since we finished at 3am we got a stamp which prove we only had to pay for the flat rate. Or else it probably could reached up to RM30++.

A night wasn't complete without a selfie. So here is our group selfie to call it a night!

Thanks for reading!