is probably most difficult thing I have ever had to do in my life. I hate final exams. Especially in foreign countries.
In remembrance of those good ol' days when I worked at Sport Chalet for that one summer, I propose making a license plate that says "I'd Rather Be...TRAVELING" because right now the last thing I feel like doing is studying for these exams. I would even rather be taking a "shower" in the Philippines with cold, salty sea water in a hostel bathroom infested with bugs, cockroaches, hair, dirt, and years worth of grime again than study. Okay, that was a lie. But seriously.. I wish I was venturing off to some other random southeast asian country, as I am so accustomed to doing.
But no! I need to control my thoughts and not let them wander off to far distant beautiful places that the world is waiting for me to discover. I must stay positive in regards to these exams. And get focused. And study. Not only do I need to take these tests, I need to let people know that it isn't all just fun and games over here in Singapore when you go on exchange. Okay that was a lie too.
PS LAST MONDAY EVER HERE IN SINGAPORE.
I miss my exchange friends already... :(
Monday, April 26, 2010
Friday, April 16, 2010
Skepticism
"The State Department warns U.S. citizens of the risks of travel to the southern Philippine islands and urges extreme caution if traveling there. Sporadic violence throughout the Philippines is also possible before and after the May 10 national and local elections and the June 30 inaugurations.
...Kidnap-for-ransom gangs are active throughout the Philippines and have targeted foreigners.."
We have all decided that we need a game plan: we need to lie about where we are from when people ask. And really look mean and just not really talk to people. We considered talking in pig latin and saying we were from some unknown country. My friends are especially worried about me because I look white, while they are all asian. But we are all pretty touristy looking... Plus we are traveling with some tall white belgian guys so that is a dead give away... not good. We are all definitely feeling nervous... but trying to stay positive.
This is our last big trip together, all of us. The last hurrah. Exchange is coming to an end. And while it is extremely bittersweet, I am excited to move on to the next part of this crazy Asian Year and travel around with mom. And then go home. !!! Which will be craziness. Weirdness. Madness...
...Kidnap-for-ransom gangs are active throughout the Philippines and have targeted foreigners.."
We have all decided that we need a game plan: we need to lie about where we are from when people ask. And really look mean and just not really talk to people. We considered talking in pig latin and saying we were from some unknown country. My friends are especially worried about me because I look white, while they are all asian. But we are all pretty touristy looking... Plus we are traveling with some tall white belgian guys so that is a dead give away... not good. We are all definitely feeling nervous... but trying to stay positive.
This is our last big trip together, all of us. The last hurrah. Exchange is coming to an end. And while it is extremely bittersweet, I am excited to move on to the next part of this crazy Asian Year and travel around with mom. And then go home. !!! Which will be craziness. Weirdness. Madness...
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Life in 5 Short Chapters
Chapter 1
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost… I am helpless.
It isn’t my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.
Chapter 2
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend that I don’t see it.
I fall in again.
I can’t believe I am in this same place.
But, it isn’t my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.
Chapter 3
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in … it’s a habit … but, my eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.
Chapter 4
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.
Chapter 5
I walk down another street.
....One of my most favorite poems of all times.
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost… I am helpless.
It isn’t my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.
Chapter 2
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend that I don’t see it.
I fall in again.
I can’t believe I am in this same place.
But, it isn’t my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.
Chapter 3
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in … it’s a habit … but, my eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.
Chapter 4
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.
Chapter 5
I walk down another street.
....One of my most favorite poems of all times.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
This WOULD Happen...in CHIANG MAI...
I have officially been to three of the main cities of Thailand: Bangkok, Phuket (Koh Phi Phi) & Chiang Mai, and I must say how weird it is to be able to sit here and think of the differences and similarities of each distinct region of this beautiful country. I just got back from the craziest, longest, adventurous, and ever-eventful (FUNNY and FUN) trip with my 2 favorite girls: Sam and Yun. This Chiang Mai trip, aka The Ultimate Test of Optimism (we passed with flying colors) and The Trials and Tribulatons of What Is Called Chiang Mai. If getting there and getting back wasn't a journey enough, the actual trip itself, and the crazy things we did, were just as eventful. And it ALL started with the Yun-Taxi Cab Driver encounter......
GETTING THERE:
1. Last minute, due to (freakin) Air Asia's decision to change their flight time to an earlier one so that we couldn't make it from our Jetstar transfer flight in KL, we were forced to take a 5 hour overnight bus ride from Singapore to KL. We cabbed over on Friday night, and we were all already on edge due to frustrations with incompetent budget asian airlines, especially Yun. When the cab driver dropped us off at the bus station downtown, and REFUSED to give us change for a 50, Yun LOST IT. I have never in my life seen someone yell and go off on a cab driver like that. And he was definitely a creeper, just as a sidenote, with long nails and pedaphile glasses. Anyways, Yun refused to give him exact change, and he refused to give us change, so it was settled when he drove us to a 7-11 to get change, Yun hugged me breaking down crying, Sam told her to pull herself together and that "Big girls don't cry" (to which Yun replied "I'm not a big girl though!!!") and the driver eventually gave us our change. He actually threatened to call the police on us. Which would have been absolutely hilarious. I think he was just as scared as I was. Terrified, actually. Now, I find myself holding my breath whenever that girl speaks to a cab driver.
We got on our coach bus to go to KL through the night. The boarding and deboarding to go through immigration at Malaysia was a hassle. And we stopped at a small food court place in Malaysia for Yun to get some food (corn and a tea egg? lol) and asked Sam if she wanted something and she replied (in disgust, I might add) "UGHHH.....NOOO....!!!" and fell back to sleep. She can sleep anytime, anywhere, any place. It is truly incredible.
We finally arrived on the streets of downtown KL at 3am. Yes, 3 girls in downtonw KL at 3am. Being there fulfilled all of my expectations for KL. But that wasn't hard to do, being that they were so low. We haggled with these 3 taxi drivers for a ride to the airport. Half dead, we finally managed to get into what I remember to be the thinnest-doored car I have ever been in. The driver to the MOST RIDICULOUS airport I have ever been to took a while, and we got dropped off at KLIA. Which we later learned was the wrong terminal. After going to the bathroom (Which was really nice actually) and being confused by the gender-neutral sign ("WTF is that?! A guy or girl?" - Yun) and me exchanging my Baht for exactly 4.50 ringit (a $1 buffer for the bus ride ticket of course) we managed to get another cab to the other terminal,the LCCT terminal that we were supposed to be at. It was literally a 30 minute ride. Why is the same airport so disconnected? That is all we were wondering the whole time. That, and why the heck there was lightning...
We finally got there and had to talk ourselves up into dealing with the FREAKING air asia people, preparing ourselves to tell them that we were not going to pay an extra 150 sing for our flight. We waited in line and thank god we got the guy we did. Because he was so easy going and totally brushed the whole thing off. He asked if we wanted to switch our flights or anything (which we did) and we said it was just one big misunderstanding so he got it squared away and we walked away without having to pay a dime more.
I almost cried when we got to our gate. It was 6am and we were finally going to Chiang Mai! We recorded a crazy video of the chain of events that led us to where we were at that moment. Haggard, is all I can say.
We got to Chiang Mai at 830 am. We went to SK House, our guesthouse, which was very cultural and nice. We checked in and then immediately ate downstairs, where the sweet cook lady served us all the wrong items. And her face when she found out she had failed was pretty heartbreaking. We booked our next 3 days worth of activities.
Chiang Mai itself isn't that great. It's a bit...old and not much going on. Nevertheless, we had an amazing time, going to all of the different places.
DAY 1
-Tigers @ TIger Kingdom (all on crack)
- Longneck tribe (500 baht? SUch a rip off)
- Temple (under construction? And where Sam met her baby girl)
- Night market
DAY 2
- Elephant riding (Yun got charged by the baby one)
- Village visit (Yun bought 15 scarves...after saying she wasn't going to buy any)
- Walk to pretty waterfall
- Crazy intense long hike out in the middle of nowhere to nowhere
- Lunch (rice and veggies and pineapple)
- Bamboo Rafting (aka being the target of being thrown water at in buckets)
- Night market (lost Sam, temporarily)
DAY 3
- ZIP LINE! (Flight of the Gibbon...and we SAW real gibbons!)
- Khontoke Cultural Dinner and Tribe Show
That first day we were driven by that guy and his (girlfriend?) possibly to the Tigers, Longnecks, Temple, and Night Market in our own van. We each got our own row to lay down and sleep for the long rides. We tried to ask them to put on good music but that was a fail. lol
Tiger Kingdom was amazing. Except it was sad that the tigers were definitely on crack. I was first to go in the cages and pet them, which was nerve racking. But the first batch of big tigers were pretty much knocked out. So we had a photo shoot with them and then made our way to see the baby tigers. We wanted to hold them and take pics with them like the NUS boys but they wouldn't let us. So we settled for the medium tigers and played with them a bit. They were more lively. It was so crazy. I couldn't believe how beautiful their fur was, and their eyes too. It was weird to see and pet one in real life.
Next we went to the Longneck village. Where the random guy there charged us 500 baht to go in. Into a village?! We were so out of it though and tired and delirious that we didn't even argue just paid. Then later thought about it and were furious. But it was quite a sight seeing all of those women with the rings around their necks. Their heads looked detached. Sam said their heads fall off if you take the rings off.... but I don't think so. They were all pretty shy and willing to pose for pictures. I felt like they were really used to foreigners and people coming to see them.. so it kind of took the authenticity of it away. But it was still awesome. Plus I got my amazing embroidered bag (That the lady wouldn't bargain lower for, but I wanted it so badly I gave in). I couldn't take it off for the rest of the trip. And Yun said she didn't like it (thought the color was ugly) then the last night, she almost bought the exact same one!! Soo funny. Sam got a different long, colorful sling purse too.
Next we went to this big golden temple that was really pretty but was undergoing renovation. It was extremely hot. But I got a delicious pineapple for less than a dollar. We took jumping pictures in the temple..and even took some pictures with a whole bunch of monks.
We were SO tired by this time. But we were dropped off at this great night market there. It was the "weekend market" that EVERYONE talked about. We were starving, and ate at some random little Thai restaurant with elvis pictures all over the walls. lol
Then we went to the market and found a whole bunch of food there that looked good, but there were lots of flies and basically just looked like Hepatitis A waiting to happen. Although we ended up eating that food the next night. I had corn on the cob and fried rice and a mixed fruit drink shake off the street vendor. Luckily Im still alive and hepatitis A free.
We did lots of shopping at the night market. It was HUGE and absolutely crazy! So much to buy! Things were pretty cheap and the bargaining was pretty good. I didn't buy a lot though. Just a little cheap tank top and some jewelry for B and myself. The 3 of us got our friendship bracelets in different colors of course. I also got some really good rice/peanut granola mix thing that this lady was making on the street. It was the closest thing to granola I have had in a long time.
We went to bed that night killing mosquitos (ok, Yun killing mosquitos) and me hiding under the covers from them. And watching tacky Thai music videos and making up stories about what was happening in them. Absolutely. Hilarious.
The next morning we got up at 7 and got ready to go ride elephants. Lesson learned that day: Do not wear white shorts when you are A) going to ride elephants and B) going bamboo rafting. Because A) the elephants are not the cleanest animals and B) bamboo rafting in Chiang Mai Thailand entails standing on the raft, helpless, defenseless, for an hour, while all of the local Thai people throw, no, correction, HURL buckets of water at you. Therefore, leaving us SOAKED. Completely. The girls' passports were wet. And luckily thank GOD I didn't bring my camera. They thought it was hilarious though, throwing water at foreigners. It was "good luck" apparently. In that case, I will have good luck not only in this life, but in my next...
We tried to dry off which didn't work afterwards and we bought our only picture/proof of us on that bamboo raft as a keepsake.
But before this craziness, we went elephant riding which was absolutely hysterical. Our elephant was like a 19yr old teenage boy and all he did was eat the trees. And I'm pretty sure the seat-rope we had was absolutely useless. Anyways, afterwards, Yun got charged by the baby elephant, towards Mama elephant and almost off the cliff. THEN we almost bought the picture of us in the frame of the elephants but we were trying to bargain it down and some big African lady says "It's only 5 dollars". Then later she says to me "Sorry I didn't mean to offend you with that comment." But apparently she did. Yun wasn't a fan of her after that. And quite frankly neither was I.
Next we went to some other little village in the middle of who knows where. Our guise "Mr Hand" gave us a shpeel about how poor the people there were. And the whole time Yun is next to me whispering how much she is not going to buy from this village because the guide was trying to pity people into buying the scarves. And she ends up buying literally about 12 scarves!! She is so funny. The scarves were beautiful though. Very soft. I bought a pink one.
We then began a long trek to the waterfall, which was pretty! Then we walked for about an hour more in the heat and in the BOONDOCKS to this little village where I bought mom a pretty bracelet and the guide kept promising us that lunch was coming, but there was no civilization so I was really confused. We hiked for a long time..It was very remote. Finally we made it to the road and we went to this house where we ate white rice and vegetables and pineapple for lunch.
Next we did the bamboo rafting adventure then bussed back home. We took showers to get out of our WET clothes and then went to the night market. We ate there then afterwards got massages which were AWESOME (best one yet) and really funny because my lady of course was the one who rode in on her motorcycle (lol) and then went back to the guesthouse to sleep. The massage lady absolutely loved us though. It was cute.
The next day we slept through our alarms. And I somehow got up at 545 and got the girls up. We got ready in ,5 seconds flat and got in our bus to go to the FLIGHT OF THE GIBBON zip line that we paid 2000 baht for!! Go big or go home right? The guides were absolutely HILARIOUS..they kept flirting with Sam and Yun and I. All of them. And the other guide from the group in front of us hooked me on the zip line and pushed me to the next post, basically kidnapping me to the next tour group. As a joke, they would make me yell things in Thai to this Mr Typhoon. It was really funny.
The zip line as so fun! Long crazy zip lines across the rainforest. And we got to see gibbons (some monkey) and we heard them making this crazy noise. It was soo soo cool.
After wards we had another lunch of rice and veggies and chicken curry. We then headed back to the guesthouse and we showered and went to just hang out in the town. We also got massages again as well as pedicures (our tradition). God bless the lady's heart who had to take off my black nail polish. It took forever, Also, I bought a book there at a used book store. We got vanilla cones at McDonalds. And we checked out a temple.
We then went back to go to our cultural Thai dinner and dance show. We knew it was our van buy the guy eating food as a gesture lol. We got there and sat on the floor in the cultural center and they served us unlimited northern Thai cuisine. Fried chicken (Sam's favorite - she had about 7 orders) and rice (2 kinds!) and veggies and fried banana and this fried noodle things. It was delicious. And we got to watch the Thai women doing the cultural dance show. We even got invited to go up there and dance too!! After we watched another hilltribe show which was interesting. Lots of cool instruments and costumes.
Our last night in Chiang Mai was bittersweet. I loved every second of the trip. It was a crazy trip. And SO FUNNY. We came back a lot closer. Poor Yun, Sam and I pick on her so much. (Hair twirling, for example)
The last night Yun and Sam worked on their CQ presentation video which I was in (lol) and we had our last night in Chiang Mai. The next morning we got up and had some random Thai guy take us to the airport in the most non-legit taxi ever. It was pretty much just his car actually. I left my camera in the back seat and thank god he didn't drive away before seeing it! I slept in the airport, exhausted, waiting for the flight. To KL. FML.
We got to KL our favorite airport and stayed 6 hours there. It was actually really funny because we looked like death. And I felt like death too. OMG. We finally got on our delayed flight and flew back to Singapore at about 830 pm on Tuesday. I came back and pretty much died. lol
All in all, an amazing trip. And, honestly, wouldn't have changed anything about it. Because despite all the hassle, it's what made it all worth it. And gave us some of the hardest laughs, ever. Basically, anything that could go wrong, would, and DID go wrong. In Chiang Mai....
GETTING THERE:
1. Last minute, due to (freakin) Air Asia's decision to change their flight time to an earlier one so that we couldn't make it from our Jetstar transfer flight in KL, we were forced to take a 5 hour overnight bus ride from Singapore to KL. We cabbed over on Friday night, and we were all already on edge due to frustrations with incompetent budget asian airlines, especially Yun. When the cab driver dropped us off at the bus station downtown, and REFUSED to give us change for a 50, Yun LOST IT. I have never in my life seen someone yell and go off on a cab driver like that. And he was definitely a creeper, just as a sidenote, with long nails and pedaphile glasses. Anyways, Yun refused to give him exact change, and he refused to give us change, so it was settled when he drove us to a 7-11 to get change, Yun hugged me breaking down crying, Sam told her to pull herself together and that "Big girls don't cry" (to which Yun replied "I'm not a big girl though!!!") and the driver eventually gave us our change. He actually threatened to call the police on us. Which would have been absolutely hilarious. I think he was just as scared as I was. Terrified, actually. Now, I find myself holding my breath whenever that girl speaks to a cab driver.
We got on our coach bus to go to KL through the night. The boarding and deboarding to go through immigration at Malaysia was a hassle. And we stopped at a small food court place in Malaysia for Yun to get some food (corn and a tea egg? lol) and asked Sam if she wanted something and she replied (in disgust, I might add) "UGHHH.....NOOO....!!!" and fell back to sleep. She can sleep anytime, anywhere, any place. It is truly incredible.
We finally arrived on the streets of downtown KL at 3am. Yes, 3 girls in downtonw KL at 3am. Being there fulfilled all of my expectations for KL. But that wasn't hard to do, being that they were so low. We haggled with these 3 taxi drivers for a ride to the airport. Half dead, we finally managed to get into what I remember to be the thinnest-doored car I have ever been in. The driver to the MOST RIDICULOUS airport I have ever been to took a while, and we got dropped off at KLIA. Which we later learned was the wrong terminal. After going to the bathroom (Which was really nice actually) and being confused by the gender-neutral sign ("WTF is that?! A guy or girl?" - Yun) and me exchanging my Baht for exactly 4.50 ringit (a $1 buffer for the bus ride ticket of course) we managed to get another cab to the other terminal,the LCCT terminal that we were supposed to be at. It was literally a 30 minute ride. Why is the same airport so disconnected? That is all we were wondering the whole time. That, and why the heck there was lightning...
We finally got there and had to talk ourselves up into dealing with the FREAKING air asia people, preparing ourselves to tell them that we were not going to pay an extra 150 sing for our flight. We waited in line and thank god we got the guy we did. Because he was so easy going and totally brushed the whole thing off. He asked if we wanted to switch our flights or anything (which we did) and we said it was just one big misunderstanding so he got it squared away and we walked away without having to pay a dime more.
I almost cried when we got to our gate. It was 6am and we were finally going to Chiang Mai! We recorded a crazy video of the chain of events that led us to where we were at that moment. Haggard, is all I can say.
We got to Chiang Mai at 830 am. We went to SK House, our guesthouse, which was very cultural and nice. We checked in and then immediately ate downstairs, where the sweet cook lady served us all the wrong items. And her face when she found out she had failed was pretty heartbreaking. We booked our next 3 days worth of activities.
Chiang Mai itself isn't that great. It's a bit...old and not much going on. Nevertheless, we had an amazing time, going to all of the different places.
DAY 1
-Tigers @ TIger Kingdom (all on crack)
- Longneck tribe (500 baht? SUch a rip off)
- Temple (under construction? And where Sam met her baby girl)
- Night market
DAY 2
- Elephant riding (Yun got charged by the baby one)
- Village visit (Yun bought 15 scarves...after saying she wasn't going to buy any)
- Walk to pretty waterfall
- Crazy intense long hike out in the middle of nowhere to nowhere
- Lunch (rice and veggies and pineapple)
- Bamboo Rafting (aka being the target of being thrown water at in buckets)
- Night market (lost Sam, temporarily)
DAY 3
- ZIP LINE! (Flight of the Gibbon...and we SAW real gibbons!)
- Khontoke Cultural Dinner and Tribe Show
That first day we were driven by that guy and his (girlfriend?) possibly to the Tigers, Longnecks, Temple, and Night Market in our own van. We each got our own row to lay down and sleep for the long rides. We tried to ask them to put on good music but that was a fail. lol
Tiger Kingdom was amazing. Except it was sad that the tigers were definitely on crack. I was first to go in the cages and pet them, which was nerve racking. But the first batch of big tigers were pretty much knocked out. So we had a photo shoot with them and then made our way to see the baby tigers. We wanted to hold them and take pics with them like the NUS boys but they wouldn't let us. So we settled for the medium tigers and played with them a bit. They were more lively. It was so crazy. I couldn't believe how beautiful their fur was, and their eyes too. It was weird to see and pet one in real life.
Next we went to the Longneck village. Where the random guy there charged us 500 baht to go in. Into a village?! We were so out of it though and tired and delirious that we didn't even argue just paid. Then later thought about it and were furious. But it was quite a sight seeing all of those women with the rings around their necks. Their heads looked detached. Sam said their heads fall off if you take the rings off.... but I don't think so. They were all pretty shy and willing to pose for pictures. I felt like they were really used to foreigners and people coming to see them.. so it kind of took the authenticity of it away. But it was still awesome. Plus I got my amazing embroidered bag (That the lady wouldn't bargain lower for, but I wanted it so badly I gave in). I couldn't take it off for the rest of the trip. And Yun said she didn't like it (thought the color was ugly) then the last night, she almost bought the exact same one!! Soo funny. Sam got a different long, colorful sling purse too.
Next we went to this big golden temple that was really pretty but was undergoing renovation. It was extremely hot. But I got a delicious pineapple for less than a dollar. We took jumping pictures in the temple..and even took some pictures with a whole bunch of monks.
We were SO tired by this time. But we were dropped off at this great night market there. It was the "weekend market" that EVERYONE talked about. We were starving, and ate at some random little Thai restaurant with elvis pictures all over the walls. lol
Then we went to the market and found a whole bunch of food there that looked good, but there were lots of flies and basically just looked like Hepatitis A waiting to happen. Although we ended up eating that food the next night. I had corn on the cob and fried rice and a mixed fruit drink shake off the street vendor. Luckily Im still alive and hepatitis A free.
We did lots of shopping at the night market. It was HUGE and absolutely crazy! So much to buy! Things were pretty cheap and the bargaining was pretty good. I didn't buy a lot though. Just a little cheap tank top and some jewelry for B and myself. The 3 of us got our friendship bracelets in different colors of course. I also got some really good rice/peanut granola mix thing that this lady was making on the street. It was the closest thing to granola I have had in a long time.
We went to bed that night killing mosquitos (ok, Yun killing mosquitos) and me hiding under the covers from them. And watching tacky Thai music videos and making up stories about what was happening in them. Absolutely. Hilarious.
The next morning we got up at 7 and got ready to go ride elephants. Lesson learned that day: Do not wear white shorts when you are A) going to ride elephants and B) going bamboo rafting. Because A) the elephants are not the cleanest animals and B) bamboo rafting in Chiang Mai Thailand entails standing on the raft, helpless, defenseless, for an hour, while all of the local Thai people throw, no, correction, HURL buckets of water at you. Therefore, leaving us SOAKED. Completely. The girls' passports were wet. And luckily thank GOD I didn't bring my camera. They thought it was hilarious though, throwing water at foreigners. It was "good luck" apparently. In that case, I will have good luck not only in this life, but in my next...
We tried to dry off which didn't work afterwards and we bought our only picture/proof of us on that bamboo raft as a keepsake.
But before this craziness, we went elephant riding which was absolutely hysterical. Our elephant was like a 19yr old teenage boy and all he did was eat the trees. And I'm pretty sure the seat-rope we had was absolutely useless. Anyways, afterwards, Yun got charged by the baby elephant, towards Mama elephant and almost off the cliff. THEN we almost bought the picture of us in the frame of the elephants but we were trying to bargain it down and some big African lady says "It's only 5 dollars". Then later she says to me "Sorry I didn't mean to offend you with that comment." But apparently she did. Yun wasn't a fan of her after that. And quite frankly neither was I.
Next we went to some other little village in the middle of who knows where. Our guise "Mr Hand" gave us a shpeel about how poor the people there were. And the whole time Yun is next to me whispering how much she is not going to buy from this village because the guide was trying to pity people into buying the scarves. And she ends up buying literally about 12 scarves!! She is so funny. The scarves were beautiful though. Very soft. I bought a pink one.
We then began a long trek to the waterfall, which was pretty! Then we walked for about an hour more in the heat and in the BOONDOCKS to this little village where I bought mom a pretty bracelet and the guide kept promising us that lunch was coming, but there was no civilization so I was really confused. We hiked for a long time..It was very remote. Finally we made it to the road and we went to this house where we ate white rice and vegetables and pineapple for lunch.
Next we did the bamboo rafting adventure then bussed back home. We took showers to get out of our WET clothes and then went to the night market. We ate there then afterwards got massages which were AWESOME (best one yet) and really funny because my lady of course was the one who rode in on her motorcycle (lol) and then went back to the guesthouse to sleep. The massage lady absolutely loved us though. It was cute.
The next day we slept through our alarms. And I somehow got up at 545 and got the girls up. We got ready in ,5 seconds flat and got in our bus to go to the FLIGHT OF THE GIBBON zip line that we paid 2000 baht for!! Go big or go home right? The guides were absolutely HILARIOUS..they kept flirting with Sam and Yun and I. All of them. And the other guide from the group in front of us hooked me on the zip line and pushed me to the next post, basically kidnapping me to the next tour group. As a joke, they would make me yell things in Thai to this Mr Typhoon. It was really funny.
The zip line as so fun! Long crazy zip lines across the rainforest. And we got to see gibbons (some monkey) and we heard them making this crazy noise. It was soo soo cool.
After wards we had another lunch of rice and veggies and chicken curry. We then headed back to the guesthouse and we showered and went to just hang out in the town. We also got massages again as well as pedicures (our tradition). God bless the lady's heart who had to take off my black nail polish. It took forever, Also, I bought a book there at a used book store. We got vanilla cones at McDonalds. And we checked out a temple.
We then went back to go to our cultural Thai dinner and dance show. We knew it was our van buy the guy eating food as a gesture lol. We got there and sat on the floor in the cultural center and they served us unlimited northern Thai cuisine. Fried chicken (Sam's favorite - she had about 7 orders) and rice (2 kinds!) and veggies and fried banana and this fried noodle things. It was delicious. And we got to watch the Thai women doing the cultural dance show. We even got invited to go up there and dance too!! After we watched another hilltribe show which was interesting. Lots of cool instruments and costumes.
Our last night in Chiang Mai was bittersweet. I loved every second of the trip. It was a crazy trip. And SO FUNNY. We came back a lot closer. Poor Yun, Sam and I pick on her so much. (Hair twirling, for example)
The last night Yun and Sam worked on their CQ presentation video which I was in (lol) and we had our last night in Chiang Mai. The next morning we got up and had some random Thai guy take us to the airport in the most non-legit taxi ever. It was pretty much just his car actually. I left my camera in the back seat and thank god he didn't drive away before seeing it! I slept in the airport, exhausted, waiting for the flight. To KL. FML.
We got to KL our favorite airport and stayed 6 hours there. It was actually really funny because we looked like death. And I felt like death too. OMG. We finally got on our delayed flight and flew back to Singapore at about 830 pm on Tuesday. I came back and pretty much died. lol
All in all, an amazing trip. And, honestly, wouldn't have changed anything about it. Because despite all the hassle, it's what made it all worth it. And gave us some of the hardest laughs, ever. Basically, anything that could go wrong, would, and DID go wrong. In Chiang Mai....
Thursday, April 1, 2010
DEAR AIR ASIA:
I BLAME YOU as the source of my stress last night.
Original Plan: Fly with Jetstar to KL. Then fly with Air Asia from KL to Chiang Mai. Fail. Success. Fail. Then Success.
April 1, 2010, may have been the most unproductive, frustrating, stressful nights of my entire life. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the entire situation. I'm just glad it is over. For me to rehash the entire situation, and go over every minute detail (as I tend to do) would do absolutely nothing to help the situation. The good thing is that everything was solved (I demanded AirAsia refund us our money, and Yun demanded that they re-refund us our money, lol) And we are going to Chiang Mai, Thailand, as originally planned. And we haven't lost any money. But we had to spend some more to cover up for Air Asia's mistake. But it's okay. Breathe....Just breathe...
We were THAT close to booking Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka!!!! Can you imagine? It's like going to India. But not. And we all know that India is at the top of my list. Maybe I should look into studying abroad there? ...Oh boy.
But I booked the overnight bus tickets to KL for the 3 of us. And I went to Boon Lay Shopping Center, on a mission to pick them up. I was surprised at that little shopping place, and at how cheap everything was. It was like the run down, super cheap Asian version of Jurong Point. I liked it. I'll have to remember to go there more often.
Random Thought: I am missing my little sister. That tall, adorable little bean pole whose smile could light up any room. I wonder what she is doing right now. Well, I guess if it wasn't 3:40 am at home right now, she would probably be playing nerf guns, or bossing some boys around down the street.
I must get to work on this new paper I have to do. My life is ruled by these NTU papers. They never end. I feel like I have written more here than in my entire career so far at SDSU. Speaking of SDSU. How weird is it going to be when I go back? All of the white people. All of the frat boys. All of the sorority girls. All of the mexican food. I can't even really imagine what the adjustment is going to be like. Is everyone going to be the same? Are they going to think I am different? I really feel different, but it's hard to describe how. I am going to miss my exchange friends so much though. Because only they really understand and have experienced this whole crazy abroad thing with me. I'm going to miss the spontaneity behind everything. The failure to really plan for anything, yet deep down knowing that it will ALWAYS WITHOUT A DOUBT be absolutely amazing. The ability to just adapt to wherever, or whatever, you are doing. The beauty of exchange.
Original Plan: Fly with Jetstar to KL. Then fly with Air Asia from KL to Chiang Mai. Fail. Success. Fail. Then Success.
April 1, 2010, may have been the most unproductive, frustrating, stressful nights of my entire life. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the entire situation. I'm just glad it is over. For me to rehash the entire situation, and go over every minute detail (as I tend to do) would do absolutely nothing to help the situation. The good thing is that everything was solved (I demanded AirAsia refund us our money, and Yun demanded that they re-refund us our money, lol) And we are going to Chiang Mai, Thailand, as originally planned. And we haven't lost any money. But we had to spend some more to cover up for Air Asia's mistake. But it's okay. Breathe....Just breathe...
We were THAT close to booking Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka!!!! Can you imagine? It's like going to India. But not. And we all know that India is at the top of my list. Maybe I should look into studying abroad there? ...Oh boy.
But I booked the overnight bus tickets to KL for the 3 of us. And I went to Boon Lay Shopping Center, on a mission to pick them up. I was surprised at that little shopping place, and at how cheap everything was. It was like the run down, super cheap Asian version of Jurong Point. I liked it. I'll have to remember to go there more often.
Random Thought: I am missing my little sister. That tall, adorable little bean pole whose smile could light up any room. I wonder what she is doing right now. Well, I guess if it wasn't 3:40 am at home right now, she would probably be playing nerf guns, or bossing some boys around down the street.
I must get to work on this new paper I have to do. My life is ruled by these NTU papers. They never end. I feel like I have written more here than in my entire career so far at SDSU. Speaking of SDSU. How weird is it going to be when I go back? All of the white people. All of the frat boys. All of the sorority girls. All of the mexican food. I can't even really imagine what the adjustment is going to be like. Is everyone going to be the same? Are they going to think I am different? I really feel different, but it's hard to describe how. I am going to miss my exchange friends so much though. Because only they really understand and have experienced this whole crazy abroad thing with me. I'm going to miss the spontaneity behind everything. The failure to really plan for anything, yet deep down knowing that it will ALWAYS WITHOUT A DOUBT be absolutely amazing. The ability to just adapt to wherever, or whatever, you are doing. The beauty of exchange.
GOAL: ANGKOR WAT, CAMBODIA
...Never in my entire life will I ever forget this crazy, short, adventuresome, hilarious, and spontaneous trip to CAMBODIA (why is it impossible for me to type CAMBODIA in lowercase letters? haha)
It was a very different kind of trip. As in, only 2 of us (as opposed to a whole gang of people), no hair dryer, no blow dryer, no makeup, no suitcase. Only a few pairs of clothes, some undies, and a toothbrush. I mastered the art of "packing lightly" fitting anything I would need into one backpack (that I purchased at the good old Fairprice).
David and I made our way to the airport to catch our 6 something am flight. As we were standing at the check-in counter, he turned to me and said:
"Renee. We need to make a promise right now. That no matter what, even if things don't go our way on this trip, we are going to stay positive. No matter what."
We pinky promised and that is when I knew that I was in a for an amazing trip with one of my best friends here on exchange!
We flew to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. We clarified that our number one goal was ANGKOR WAT. We would do anything and everything to get there. We didn't really have a plan. No Plan A. We were winging it 100%. But that is what life is all about sometimes, I guess. And I find that when you wing it, it turns out to be better than you ever imagined.
I was out of control giddy when we arrived. Not only did I get an awesome Visa for my passport, there were so many pictures advertising the essence of Cambodia: Angkor Wat. We got through immigration and got a tuk tuk with the world's happiest man as the driver. I was laughing unstoppably, for no real reason. Perhaps it was because of the craziness of it all. Me, sitting in a tuk tuk. Driving down the road. In Cambodia. On a Saturday morning. With a backpack. A friend. And a mission.
He took us to some random bus company place where we bought bus tickets to Siem Reap. We had one hour til our 10 am bus left. It was supposed to be a 6 hour bus ride. We walked around the streets of Phnom Penh for awhile. It was full of exhaust. Speeding cars and motorbikes and tuk tuks and trucks. Random monks walking down the street. Lots of people. And lots of people selling the always-fun Hidden Objects Book. That David and I found came in real handy on 6 hour bus rides. Well, that and hang man and tic tac toe and cambodian version music videos of american songs. :)
We went into some underground little shopping places that were very dirty and jam packed full of things like shoes and non essentials. There were lots of little local food stalls and women getting their hair done. It was so strange to see women getting hair dye jobs and hair cuts underground, and not in a salon.
We got on the bus (with our favorite British family who was quite possibly the coolest family I've ever seen) armed with our "R Cookies" that were delicious and we were off. The British family was hilarious. Or maybe we just thought they were. I think I was more obsessed with listening to the little girl's accent. She could say anything, like "toilet" or "fart" or "butt" and in her little British accent she would still sound so proper. lol
Anyways. The bus ride wasn't really all that bad... We slept for some, and occupied ourselves with intense hang man and tic tac toe games. The views from the bus window were incredible. But not in a good way. The houses, the neighborhoods, the fields, the dirty river water... it was so sad. It's pretty much exactly what you think of when you think of Cambodia.
We stopped for lunch at this local place with gross squatter toilets but I had no choice so I had to squat-it! I didn't eat the food there, it definitely had food poisoning written all over it. But David ate his ginger chicken that had too much ginger. WE got back on and didn't get off the bus til we were in Siem Reap at 4pm. The bus dropped us off in some sketchy, random, where-the-hell-are-we reaction kind of places. The drivers of tuk tuks bombarded you when you stepped off, and we got this guy to tuk tuk us to our "Good Kind Guesthouse" (although he really wanted us to stay at his guesthouse). GK guesthouse was pretty nice! Run by an old kinda creepy looking french man and his cambodian wife. We decided to upgrade and pay the extra 5 dollars that night to stay in a larger air con room with hot water. Now THAT is living the luxurious lifestyle, eh?
We rented our bikes ($1 per day) that looked like they had gone through both the world wars, and off we biked around the streets of Siem Reap. It has a river running right thru the middle of it with the road on either side. We made lots of stops along the way to the Old Market, taking random pictures. I love traveling with David because 1) I can pretty much boss him around 2) he is always willing to take a picture of me (kind of like my personal photographer) and 3) he is very patient.
We stopped at this hotel restaurant place, STARVING. We got completely ripped off for that stupid meal. All we got were 2 spring rolls, white rice, and fish. And it cost waay too much (for Cambodia).
We finally got to the night market place where we parked our bikes and walked around. We saw so many great cheap food places, it was definitely one of those moments where you kick yourself. And wish you were hungry. We walked around and bought a few things. I tried to find something for Sam but couldn't find anything. I got myself a yellow Cambodia t shirt though. We also got our feet bitten by a million little fish. We fed them, really. All of our dead skin cells. It was such a weird sensation! It tickled for the first 5 minutes. Then it kinda felt good after. And it cost like 2 dollars for half an hour. We walked around more and did shopping at the Siem Reap Night Market. It was awesome!
We also got massages. Cheap Khmer massages for 5 bucks for 1 hour. It was amazing. And the ants crawling on me didn't even bother me. Who have I become??
That was also the night that I got told to F*** off by this young cambodian boy who was trying to sell me a book. He literally followed us around while I was drinking my 50 cent pineapple smoothie for about 20 minutes. I have never been talked to like that before, and it left my jaw hanging. I felt bad. But slightly offended at the same time.
We went back to our Good and Kind guesthouse and took a "shower" with shower being in quotes because there was no shower. It was literally bathing yourself with the shower head in the middle of the bathroom. I had no comb or anything for my hair. So it just air dried. All natural is the way to go right?
We went to bed, fell asleep just talking about how crazy we were. I fell asleep about 12 or1 am. And we had our alarms set to get us up at 330am. David said he barely slept. Especially because I kept waking up and ordering him to get up and turn down the air con lol.
We got up at 330 and threw on some clothes then rushed out the guesthouse to ride our bikes the 20 minutes to Angkor Wat temples! The streets were so dark. I was so tired. Yet high on adrenaline. I was so excited. Yet unsure at the same time. We were the first ones there. We bought our ticket for $20 US at 445 am. We then biked to Angkor Wat temple. We also did some exploring, to try to find the spot on the mountain away from Angkor Wat where Susana went to see the sun rise. It was a fail. Instead we found this old temple that we climbed up in the pitch black dark. It was extremely creepy. Especially when a bat flew by.
We went inside what seemed like huge castle gates to the huge Angkor Wat grounds. It was Beautiful. Incredible. Breathtaking. But I must say that in retrospect, it was not necessarily Angkor Wat temple that was so great. But it was the adventuring around on the bikes all day, exploring temples, exploring houses, exploring it all, that was so memorable and great.
We watched the sun rise over the back of the Angkor Wat temple. It was remarkable.
Next we decided to save Angkor Wat til the end. Because everyone and their brother would be exploring it now. So we set off and did these temples:
1 - Big Face Temple (My favorite)
2 - Random Temple things in the middle of nowhere
3 - Deceivingly large temple (so big!!!)
4 - Angelina Jolie Temple - ancient trees and roots
5 - Corridor Temple
6 - ANGKOR WAT
We biked around all day, in the blistering heat. We found dozens of beautiful old beaten path trails, surrounded by trees. It was beautiful. Maybe the best word to describe it is incredible. We would pass by random little houses (if you can call them that) and little shacks and just get off our bikes and check them out. Besides getting chased by some mean dogs, it was pretty cool. Especially going and seeing the cutest little kids at these few houses in the middle of nowhere. They were so little and cute. We gave the 2 boys $1 US dollar each and they were so so happy. The smiles on their face were priceless. And they even did the little head bow after. Soooo cute. I made David promise that one day when we are successful and working and financially stable we are going to donate to those families in Cambodia.
We ate some lunch (I decided to eat a fresh spring roll? Am I crazy?) and luckily did not get food poisoning. By the time we were done with all the other temples, we returned to do Angkor Wat, sweaty, exhausted, but nevertheless anxious. We parked our bikes (after getting hounded, of course, by all of the kids begging us to buy stuff from them) and made our way to the Big Temple. It was humongous. And it seemed like it was a huge compilation of all the best parts of every other temple there. The long corridors, the gargantuan-ness.. In order to get up to the top we had to wait in line and I had to rent some clothes. We climbed up (literally) and walked around the top. The view was amazing. And the inside was beautiful, with ancient Chinese inscriptions and detailed carvings into the walls. To think that someone worked so hard and meticulously on those same carvings on the walls all of those years ago...
David and I sat there, exhausted, but feeling good. We looked at each other. And the look we exchanged said it all. "Mission accomplished." There were no words that needed to be exchanged.
Leaving the temple was difficult. We walked around a bit more. I climbed up some steep steep stairs to sit and chat with some of the monks. So cool.
We got back out to our bikes and biked back to Good Kind. We showered very quickly and then rode back to the market place to have a quick dinner. We ordered some really good cheap food and 2 shakes each (I got pineapple of course). We shared a really greasy pancake thing with chocolate and banana made off the guy's little street grill. We then biked back and waited (forever) for the tuk tuk to come get us and take us to the bus station to get on our 7 pm bus back to Phnom Penh.
The bus was..not the most comfortable but I would have preferred it to the little dirty room we stayed for 4 hours in Phnom Penh. We slept pretty much the whole 5 hours on the bus. David was getting annoyed with me and my always wanting to get my camera... and my annoying habit of taking the earplug out of his ears lol. The bus lurched to a stop a few times on the way, where my heart skipped a beat and I seriously thought we were going to die.
We arrived at Phnom Penh beyond tired. Of course, we had to bargain with the tuk tuk drivers to take us to our Sunday Guesthouse. The guy took us for 4 bucks. And it really wasn't that far. Driving around those streets at 1am on a Sunday night was very sketchy. Let's just say I would NEVER EVER want to be there stranded alone at that time. Well, at anytime for that matter lol.
The little shoebox that we stayed in for the next 4 hours was mosquito infested. It was the source of my 12 mosquito bites on my legs. We didn't even change out of our clothes, just laid down on the bed and I curled up and tried to take a nap. The air and fan were on crack, and it would be freezing then really hot all night. And I insisted on sleeping with the bathroom light on. Because I was just so scared. And delirious.
We got up at 6 am to the guy banging on our door. I was so out of it, I didn't even know where we were. I had dreams of being home that whole time. And then I would wake up and realize I was in Cambodia. CAMBODIA!
We waited to pay the boss, who came out with no t shirt, some fat Cambodian man who literally just woke up. We paid 13 bucks for the night (which was a rip off) and took a tuk tuk to the airport. Nevermind that our flight didn't leave for 3 more hours. I just had to get out of that place.
It was one smoggy bad-air ride to the airport. I couldn't breathe from all the exhaust! I think my lungs came back a bit darker from that ride. I was looking forward to eating the huge apple I had been carrying around the whole trip, and when I took it out to eat it I dropped it on the airport ground. Perfect.
So we had our nice "humble" breakfast (again) of crackers and then waited for our flight. The next few hours are a blur in my memory, I was so tired. But I remember a huge group of Chinese people waiting to go to China and playing cards int he airport. And I remember thinking, I love asian people.
We landed back in Singapore and took the MRT back to NTU. Longest ride of my life. I was STARVING so even though I had class soon, we stopped off at some stop and found some food. David and I ate in silence because we didn't have energy to speak. I'm pretty sure I looked like hell too. But no matter! We got back to Boon Lay and I grabbed the 179 bus to go straight to Canteen A so I could go straight to Human Motivation lecture at 130 to 330. I met my friend on the bus too, and we went to together to class. She couldn't believe that I had just landed from Cambodia and was going straight to class. Again, she let me use a pen and paper and I somehow survived class then went home and...I have no idea what I did after that. Shower? Sleep? I probably uploaded my photos. Knowing me. haha
All in all, the best trip of my life. Isn't it funny that sometimes, the best things in life, are unplanned, unsuspecting, and totally done on a whim?
It was a very different kind of trip. As in, only 2 of us (as opposed to a whole gang of people), no hair dryer, no blow dryer, no makeup, no suitcase. Only a few pairs of clothes, some undies, and a toothbrush. I mastered the art of "packing lightly" fitting anything I would need into one backpack (that I purchased at the good old Fairprice).
David and I made our way to the airport to catch our 6 something am flight. As we were standing at the check-in counter, he turned to me and said:
"Renee. We need to make a promise right now. That no matter what, even if things don't go our way on this trip, we are going to stay positive. No matter what."
We pinky promised and that is when I knew that I was in a for an amazing trip with one of my best friends here on exchange!
We flew to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. We clarified that our number one goal was ANGKOR WAT. We would do anything and everything to get there. We didn't really have a plan. No Plan A. We were winging it 100%. But that is what life is all about sometimes, I guess. And I find that when you wing it, it turns out to be better than you ever imagined.
I was out of control giddy when we arrived. Not only did I get an awesome Visa for my passport, there were so many pictures advertising the essence of Cambodia: Angkor Wat. We got through immigration and got a tuk tuk with the world's happiest man as the driver. I was laughing unstoppably, for no real reason. Perhaps it was because of the craziness of it all. Me, sitting in a tuk tuk. Driving down the road. In Cambodia. On a Saturday morning. With a backpack. A friend. And a mission.
He took us to some random bus company place where we bought bus tickets to Siem Reap. We had one hour til our 10 am bus left. It was supposed to be a 6 hour bus ride. We walked around the streets of Phnom Penh for awhile. It was full of exhaust. Speeding cars and motorbikes and tuk tuks and trucks. Random monks walking down the street. Lots of people. And lots of people selling the always-fun Hidden Objects Book. That David and I found came in real handy on 6 hour bus rides. Well, that and hang man and tic tac toe and cambodian version music videos of american songs. :)
We went into some underground little shopping places that were very dirty and jam packed full of things like shoes and non essentials. There were lots of little local food stalls and women getting their hair done. It was so strange to see women getting hair dye jobs and hair cuts underground, and not in a salon.
We got on the bus (with our favorite British family who was quite possibly the coolest family I've ever seen) armed with our "R Cookies" that were delicious and we were off. The British family was hilarious. Or maybe we just thought they were. I think I was more obsessed with listening to the little girl's accent. She could say anything, like "toilet" or "fart" or "butt" and in her little British accent she would still sound so proper. lol
Anyways. The bus ride wasn't really all that bad... We slept for some, and occupied ourselves with intense hang man and tic tac toe games. The views from the bus window were incredible. But not in a good way. The houses, the neighborhoods, the fields, the dirty river water... it was so sad. It's pretty much exactly what you think of when you think of Cambodia.
We stopped for lunch at this local place with gross squatter toilets but I had no choice so I had to squat-it! I didn't eat the food there, it definitely had food poisoning written all over it. But David ate his ginger chicken that had too much ginger. WE got back on and didn't get off the bus til we were in Siem Reap at 4pm. The bus dropped us off in some sketchy, random, where-the-hell-are-we reaction kind of places. The drivers of tuk tuks bombarded you when you stepped off, and we got this guy to tuk tuk us to our "Good Kind Guesthouse" (although he really wanted us to stay at his guesthouse). GK guesthouse was pretty nice! Run by an old kinda creepy looking french man and his cambodian wife. We decided to upgrade and pay the extra 5 dollars that night to stay in a larger air con room with hot water. Now THAT is living the luxurious lifestyle, eh?
We rented our bikes ($1 per day) that looked like they had gone through both the world wars, and off we biked around the streets of Siem Reap. It has a river running right thru the middle of it with the road on either side. We made lots of stops along the way to the Old Market, taking random pictures. I love traveling with David because 1) I can pretty much boss him around 2) he is always willing to take a picture of me (kind of like my personal photographer) and 3) he is very patient.
We stopped at this hotel restaurant place, STARVING. We got completely ripped off for that stupid meal. All we got were 2 spring rolls, white rice, and fish. And it cost waay too much (for Cambodia).
We finally got to the night market place where we parked our bikes and walked around. We saw so many great cheap food places, it was definitely one of those moments where you kick yourself. And wish you were hungry. We walked around and bought a few things. I tried to find something for Sam but couldn't find anything. I got myself a yellow Cambodia t shirt though. We also got our feet bitten by a million little fish. We fed them, really. All of our dead skin cells. It was such a weird sensation! It tickled for the first 5 minutes. Then it kinda felt good after. And it cost like 2 dollars for half an hour. We walked around more and did shopping at the Siem Reap Night Market. It was awesome!
We also got massages. Cheap Khmer massages for 5 bucks for 1 hour. It was amazing. And the ants crawling on me didn't even bother me. Who have I become??
That was also the night that I got told to F*** off by this young cambodian boy who was trying to sell me a book. He literally followed us around while I was drinking my 50 cent pineapple smoothie for about 20 minutes. I have never been talked to like that before, and it left my jaw hanging. I felt bad. But slightly offended at the same time.
We went back to our Good and Kind guesthouse and took a "shower" with shower being in quotes because there was no shower. It was literally bathing yourself with the shower head in the middle of the bathroom. I had no comb or anything for my hair. So it just air dried. All natural is the way to go right?
We went to bed, fell asleep just talking about how crazy we were. I fell asleep about 12 or1 am. And we had our alarms set to get us up at 330am. David said he barely slept. Especially because I kept waking up and ordering him to get up and turn down the air con lol.
We got up at 330 and threw on some clothes then rushed out the guesthouse to ride our bikes the 20 minutes to Angkor Wat temples! The streets were so dark. I was so tired. Yet high on adrenaline. I was so excited. Yet unsure at the same time. We were the first ones there. We bought our ticket for $20 US at 445 am. We then biked to Angkor Wat temple. We also did some exploring, to try to find the spot on the mountain away from Angkor Wat where Susana went to see the sun rise. It was a fail. Instead we found this old temple that we climbed up in the pitch black dark. It was extremely creepy. Especially when a bat flew by.
We went inside what seemed like huge castle gates to the huge Angkor Wat grounds. It was Beautiful. Incredible. Breathtaking. But I must say that in retrospect, it was not necessarily Angkor Wat temple that was so great. But it was the adventuring around on the bikes all day, exploring temples, exploring houses, exploring it all, that was so memorable and great.
We watched the sun rise over the back of the Angkor Wat temple. It was remarkable.
Next we decided to save Angkor Wat til the end. Because everyone and their brother would be exploring it now. So we set off and did these temples:
1 - Big Face Temple (My favorite)
2 - Random Temple things in the middle of nowhere
3 - Deceivingly large temple (so big!!!)
4 - Angelina Jolie Temple - ancient trees and roots
5 - Corridor Temple
6 - ANGKOR WAT
We biked around all day, in the blistering heat. We found dozens of beautiful old beaten path trails, surrounded by trees. It was beautiful. Maybe the best word to describe it is incredible. We would pass by random little houses (if you can call them that) and little shacks and just get off our bikes and check them out. Besides getting chased by some mean dogs, it was pretty cool. Especially going and seeing the cutest little kids at these few houses in the middle of nowhere. They were so little and cute. We gave the 2 boys $1 US dollar each and they were so so happy. The smiles on their face were priceless. And they even did the little head bow after. Soooo cute. I made David promise that one day when we are successful and working and financially stable we are going to donate to those families in Cambodia.
We ate some lunch (I decided to eat a fresh spring roll? Am I crazy?) and luckily did not get food poisoning. By the time we were done with all the other temples, we returned to do Angkor Wat, sweaty, exhausted, but nevertheless anxious. We parked our bikes (after getting hounded, of course, by all of the kids begging us to buy stuff from them) and made our way to the Big Temple. It was humongous. And it seemed like it was a huge compilation of all the best parts of every other temple there. The long corridors, the gargantuan-ness.. In order to get up to the top we had to wait in line and I had to rent some clothes. We climbed up (literally) and walked around the top. The view was amazing. And the inside was beautiful, with ancient Chinese inscriptions and detailed carvings into the walls. To think that someone worked so hard and meticulously on those same carvings on the walls all of those years ago...
David and I sat there, exhausted, but feeling good. We looked at each other. And the look we exchanged said it all. "Mission accomplished." There were no words that needed to be exchanged.
Leaving the temple was difficult. We walked around a bit more. I climbed up some steep steep stairs to sit and chat with some of the monks. So cool.
We got back out to our bikes and biked back to Good Kind. We showered very quickly and then rode back to the market place to have a quick dinner. We ordered some really good cheap food and 2 shakes each (I got pineapple of course). We shared a really greasy pancake thing with chocolate and banana made off the guy's little street grill. We then biked back and waited (forever) for the tuk tuk to come get us and take us to the bus station to get on our 7 pm bus back to Phnom Penh.
The bus was..not the most comfortable but I would have preferred it to the little dirty room we stayed for 4 hours in Phnom Penh. We slept pretty much the whole 5 hours on the bus. David was getting annoyed with me and my always wanting to get my camera... and my annoying habit of taking the earplug out of his ears lol. The bus lurched to a stop a few times on the way, where my heart skipped a beat and I seriously thought we were going to die.
We arrived at Phnom Penh beyond tired. Of course, we had to bargain with the tuk tuk drivers to take us to our Sunday Guesthouse. The guy took us for 4 bucks. And it really wasn't that far. Driving around those streets at 1am on a Sunday night was very sketchy. Let's just say I would NEVER EVER want to be there stranded alone at that time. Well, at anytime for that matter lol.
The little shoebox that we stayed in for the next 4 hours was mosquito infested. It was the source of my 12 mosquito bites on my legs. We didn't even change out of our clothes, just laid down on the bed and I curled up and tried to take a nap. The air and fan were on crack, and it would be freezing then really hot all night. And I insisted on sleeping with the bathroom light on. Because I was just so scared. And delirious.
We got up at 6 am to the guy banging on our door. I was so out of it, I didn't even know where we were. I had dreams of being home that whole time. And then I would wake up and realize I was in Cambodia. CAMBODIA!
We waited to pay the boss, who came out with no t shirt, some fat Cambodian man who literally just woke up. We paid 13 bucks for the night (which was a rip off) and took a tuk tuk to the airport. Nevermind that our flight didn't leave for 3 more hours. I just had to get out of that place.
It was one smoggy bad-air ride to the airport. I couldn't breathe from all the exhaust! I think my lungs came back a bit darker from that ride. I was looking forward to eating the huge apple I had been carrying around the whole trip, and when I took it out to eat it I dropped it on the airport ground. Perfect.
So we had our nice "humble" breakfast (again) of crackers and then waited for our flight. The next few hours are a blur in my memory, I was so tired. But I remember a huge group of Chinese people waiting to go to China and playing cards int he airport. And I remember thinking, I love asian people.
We landed back in Singapore and took the MRT back to NTU. Longest ride of my life. I was STARVING so even though I had class soon, we stopped off at some stop and found some food. David and I ate in silence because we didn't have energy to speak. I'm pretty sure I looked like hell too. But no matter! We got back to Boon Lay and I grabbed the 179 bus to go straight to Canteen A so I could go straight to Human Motivation lecture at 130 to 330. I met my friend on the bus too, and we went to together to class. She couldn't believe that I had just landed from Cambodia and was going straight to class. Again, she let me use a pen and paper and I somehow survived class then went home and...I have no idea what I did after that. Shower? Sleep? I probably uploaded my photos. Knowing me. haha
All in all, the best trip of my life. Isn't it funny that sometimes, the best things in life, are unplanned, unsuspecting, and totally done on a whim?
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