Day 22 of 100: Exploring Angkor wat (Siem reap)

We left KL early in the morning. Usually i like to sit in window seat because i like to look out. Sometimes, i could see something totally not expected. Just like the heart-shaped reef island i saw on the flight from Tokyo to Singapore [link]. The sky was very clear today so i managed to take a few good shots of downtown KL.

We arrived in Siem Reap without knowing what to expect. It turned out that the airport is simple but very elegant. As a Canadian, i need a VOA (visa on arrival) so i filled out a form, gave me $20 and a pic. However, i noticed that the VOA counter, there was at least 12 officers sitting in a half-moon-shaped high table (just like the judges in the court). What? It took 12 officers to process my VOA..wow...

Lynn didn’t want to decide on the hotel so i made a decision and it was a surprise for her. We checked into the Victoria hotel..it is a colonial style hotel...wow...amazingly nice hotel..bright yellow matched with white frame and dark wood color.... It was very hot and humid in siem reap so we decided to take it easy before we headed out to see the famous Angkor wat sunset at around 5pm. We walked around and picked a boutique hotel which was a conversion of the house for the former French governor during the colonial period. Foods are nice and cheap...we spent probably $25 for two for drinks and good samplers of local food.

Former French Governor Mansion and now a boutique hotel

 

We hired a tuk-tuk (motorbike with a carriage) to take us to see the Angkor wat sunset. Our driver called himself Mr. 7. He took us to buy the Angkor wat pass for the next 3 days and to the bottom of a small mountain pass Angkor wat. We walked up the till and there was a temple ruin right in front of our eyes. This was just a small sampler of what we would see in the next few days but it was already pretty impressive. We waited and waited and waited. It was cloudy far in the west so pretty much there was no sunset.






At night, Mr. 7 took us to the old market and we had a cold drink at the Blue pumpkin cafe. It was all white with big sofa and cushion. Pretty cool. We ate there and the food was good. Then we walked out, we saw fish massage. WHAT? Fish to massage you? Oh...it is actually the fish that were fed with your deadskin on your feet. It was only $3 for 30 mins so we decided to try....very tigleish..

Blue Pumpkin Cafe

Day 21 of 100: TWO free birthday cakes!!

Today is Will’s birthday. We kinda took it easy. After an amazing breakfast at Doubletree by Hilton in KL, we went to Sunway Pyramid which is a shopping mall actually looks like the Luxo hotel in Las Vegas. You know, nowadays, most shopping centres in any major city look pretty much the same with global brand names and department stores. We then visited the KL Twin Towers. Twin Towers used to be the tallest building in the world. Even thought it longer is, the shiny silvery exterior together with the Muslim-inspired shape of the buildings make it very noticeable during day time. It is true that no matter where you go in KL, your eyes will always be on the twin towers because of the reflection of the sunlight. Don’t think the KL tower lost its sparkles at night. It became two huge spotlights that light up the whole city. Take a look at the pictures and you will understand what i mean. The skybridge linking the two towers are open but tickets will only be sold each morning. People started lined up early, like 6:30am even though the ticket offices only open at 8:30am. We didn’t have the ticket but i know i am going to come back and get up there one day.



Remember i said that Doubletree by Hilton in KL not only did all my laundry, they also allow me to order anything from the bakery/cafe and bar free of charge. And today is Will’s birthday so i guess it is perfect for me to get a birthday cake for him...free of charge... In theory, I could have every single cake and bakery from the cafe and then resell them for profits but i didn’t do that . :-) I only got 1 small cake for Will’s birthday.

At night, we went to an interesting restaurant at the basement of a high-end shopping mall in downtown KL. I causally told the manager that Will is the birthday boy today at check-in. Surprisingly, at the end of dinner, the French manager had ordered and prepared a birthday cake for the birthday boy. So we had 2 birthday cakes free of charge today....Lucky!

One thing about this shopping mall, one of the entrance is actually very sparkle-ly...check it out yourself.

Day 20 of 100: Arriving in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Arrived early in the morning and we are going to meet up with another friend, lynn, who will be traveling with me to Cambodia and Vietnam after KL. We checked into the new Doubletree by Hilton. I heard it is a refurbished hotel, meaning old building but all brand new renovation. It looks very nice. I am a diamond member for Hilton group but the executive lounge hasn’t been ready yet. Instead, they gave me a whole list of temporary benefits including free laundry, free breakfast, free drinks and food at the bakery all day and free alcohol drinks at the bar during happy hour...WOW...amazing isn’t it. Havnt been able to thorough washed my clothes in the last 19 days....my opportunity has come...i gave them all my dirty laundry to wash and they all came back nice and clean the next day hanging in my closet..amazing..
It is very hot in KL during noon time, therefore, we took it easy a bit before we headed out to Batu cave. It is actually a very important holyhand of the hindu religion. A huge gold statute was built in front of a limestone cave which was 4 million years old. Climbing the 272 stairs up and you will find a giant cave with more hindu statues and temples and of course, lots of monkey. Not far from the Batu Cave, there is a monkey temple with a giant colorful monkey god statue.

272 stairs up...!!!

After the up and down the stairs at the cave, we were determined to try all the good foods offered in KL. Lynn especially loves eating good food. We went restaurant-hopping...we would go into a restaurant only order their most famous dish to try on. After that, we moved on to the next...kinda like bar hopping..:-)

Day 19 of 100:Leaving the Paradise

Today is the last day in the paradise and the sun finally came back out. As usual, after the nice breakfast, we snorkelled a bit just underneath the water villa. It has been raining for the last few days but the water here is still so clear. I stole some bread from the breakfast table to feel the fish....check out what i saw under the water...

We finally took the scenic waterjet back to Male. The hotel arranged us to leave our luggage and a tour guide was waiting for us to go to the downtown area. I heard many people saying that if you go to Maldives, leave MALE asap as it is not as amazing as the resort island. I tend to agree and disagree. Of course the resort islands are all amazing and picture perfect, however, this is not the life the locals live everyday. As i said in my previous blog before, when i saw the MALE (downtown) island from the waterjet to the resort, i love it. It looks like an island full of colourful miniature lego buildings. Check it out yourself:

We visited the presidential palace and the mosque (Yes, Maldives is a Muslim country.) and of course the market and the fish market. Very interesting. Very different from the largest fish market i witness in Tokyo [LINK]. Seems like the Tokyo one deals with the big fish and the MALE one deals with the much smaller ones...

 

We went to a garden and saw lots of primary school girls in school uniform. Seems like it is a school outing. See what they put at the back of the uniform...awwww...so innocent and nice!!!!

"I promise to share and be a friend" awwwwwwww

Everyone knows Maldives is at risk of going down below sea level due to global warming. You will see why when you see the highest mountain in Maldives below...no kidding...it is the highest point above the sea level in Maldives....

 

Highest mountain of Maldives :-)

Day 13 : arriving in the paradise (Maldives)

Finally arriving in Maldives. Got picked up by Maldives Conrad staff and transfered to the private lounge waiting for the next water plane to fly to the resort. Even though it was only a short 25 mins flight, I found the view was amazing. We flew over Male (Capital of Maldives) and it looks like an island full of lego brick houses full of colors. On the way, we also flew over many reef and resort islands.

Day 12 of 100: The battlefield between Vietnam and USA

The tunnels of Củ Chi are an immense network of connecting underground tunnels located in the Củ Chi district of Ho Chi Minh City and are part of a much larger network of tunnels that underlie much of the country. The Củ Chi tunnels were the location of several military campaigns during the Vietnam War, and were the Viet Cong's base of operations for the Tết Offensive in 1968. The tunnels were used by Viet Cong guerrillas as hiding spots during combat, as well as serving as communication and supply routes, hospitals, food and weapon caches and living quarters for numerous guerrilla fighters. The role of the tunnel systems should not be underestimated in its importance to the Viet Cong in resisting American operations and protracting the war, eventually culminating in an American withdrawal.

They are so skinny that they are able to hide in that hole..amazing!

It is a trap

Day 11 of 100: Exploring a new religion in Vietnam

Today, we went to the surban area of HCM city where there is a special religion (Caodaism) that basically worships every religious figures in other religions. You name it, they probably worship it. Caodaism is a syncretistic religion which combines elements from many of the world's main religions, including Buddhism, Confucianism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Taoism, as well as Geniism, an indigenous religion of Vietnam. Their main religious center is in Tay Ninh, about 60 miles (100 km) North West of Saigon. They currently have 7 to 8 million followers in Vietnam along.

I have never seen anything like this in the western world. I was so amazed about how manificient the interior of the "Church/Temple" is.

Even Victor Hugo (1802-1885), French poet
and author is one of the Saints