Holiday in Cambodia

This past Friday was a public holiday here in Singapore. Prior to my recess week, I knew about it and had planned to travel somewhere, preferably solo. I finally decided on Cambodia, one of the countries on my to-visit list.

My outbound flight departed from Singapore at 6:30 AM Thursday morning. Since taking the first MRT wouldn't get me to the airport on-time and I didn't wanna pay for a cab ride, I took the last MRT to the airport Wednesday night and camped there until the morning came. First experience camping at Changi Airport wasn't all too bad, considering I finally had my first doze of Dunkin Donuts coffee after 3 months.

I took a tuktuk right away from the Phnom Penh airport to a bus company's office and headed to Siem Reap, which was 6 hours away. Some parts of the ride was quite bumpy, and the villages in between looked more like wastelands; impoverished and very under-developed. Anyhow, I took a tuktuk as I arrived there to go up north of Siem Reap where the Angkor Wat and the other temples are. It was quite breathtaking especially during sunset.

After sunset, I was all set to go to Channa and Thomas' home. This Khmer-Danish couple owns a beautiful villa hidden in the heart of Angkor Archeological Park and often hosts guests to stay with the family. I somehow overlooked what Thomas said in the booking e-mail about the impossibility of me finding their home on my own. After a phone call by the tuktuk driver, Thomas finally came on a motorbike and took me to his family's home. I was welcomed like a family as Channa showed me my room: a peaceful little pavilion in the beautiful yard. I quickly showered, then enjoyed a Khmer home-cooked dinner with the family as we got to know one another better. To end the nice evening, I had a chance to help Amanda, their 8 year-old, with her Math homework as I thought to myself "What a true homestay experience!" I didn't have the chance  to take any picture due to the rush in the morning to get the bus back to Phnom Penh, but I would highly recommend Channa's Homestay to anyone visiting Siem Reap.

While waiting for the bus, a quite respectable-looking mid-age man approached me and asked where I came from. As I answered, a glimpse of excitement shown on his face and he started to tell stories. Stories about the good old days of his youth spent in a refugee camp in Pulau Galang, Riau, Indonesia, of how well fed and treated he was, and how he came to Christ during those times. He's pretty up-to-date with the Indonesian current news, maybe more than I am. He really wish he could come and visit Indonesia again one day.

Arriving back in Phnom Penh, I walked my way by the river towards National Museum, Royal Palace, Silver Pagoda, and the Independence Monument. The late King Norodoum Sihanouk has just passed away 2 weeks ago, and people are still mourning. The Royal Palace was closed to public as crowd still gathered and prayed in front of its gate.

Feeling exhausted, I chose to save Wat Phnom and Central Market for Saturday just before I head to the airport. I tried to visit the night market by the river, yet it was really mediocre since I've had experienced much better night markets before. Chilling out at Mad Monkey, the hostel that I stayed in Phnom Penh, I met another exchange from NTU. I guess it kinda became common by now meeting a fellow exchange everywhere I travel :)

Recess Week part I: Bonjour Vietnam!

What a wonderful week it has been. I'm sitting now in my dorm room thinking where did my recess week go? It was definitely the highlight of my exchange semester. I flew to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam as my recess week commenced 2 Fridays ago. Having many Vietnamese friends back in US, I was really enthusiastic about the whole experience. All of which was possible thanks tho the hospitality of Rensy and her family who have let us be a part of their household for 5 days.

First night in Vietnam was all about the coolest hangouts and food. Rensy took us to her favorite bo bit tet place downtown and walked us around the Notre Dame Basilica. Next to Notre Dame was a park where Ho Chi Minh youths like to hang out over coffee and street snacks. It was really cool to hang out on a Friday night just like they do, but it's even cooler to try the very original pho at the restaurant that made the dish for the first time. At Pho Hoa Pasteur was born my favorite comfort dish of the winter, by a man named Mr. Hoa. Now we know why pho restaurants all over the world love that name.

Weekend scene in Ho Chi Minh was just like any other weekday. I was surprised that they have a 6-day work and school weeks. Amidst the busy streets, we headed over to Ben Thanh market to shop for souvenirs. Bargaining power and a local translator came very handy this time (Thanks, Rensy!). After such a tiring shopping trip, we made a stop at Nhu Lan, a banh mi bakery with a proper deli counter that has existed since the days of the French. Since most attractions opened all week long, we saved the trip to Reunification Palace, Notre Dame Basilica, and Central Post Office on for Sunday. It also happened to be the full moon night, so it was just perfect for heading to Chinatown and saw the commotion at lantern street.

After a having a couple laid-back days, we had a couple days of bigger trips. We cruised on a small speedboat to the Mekong Delta at My Tho with another group of exchange friends from NTU who happened to be in town. It was quite rainy and muddy that day. Nevertheless, I was thrilled to float on a wooden boat, saw how coconut candies were made, and had a python wrapped around my neck. It was also quite surprising to meet someone from Philly on the same trip. At the end of the day, we went crazy over karaoke and saying "see-you-later"s to the other group until people on the street side started to wave to us as well. It was too much fun that it was so hard to wake up the next morning for another trip to Cao Dai temple and Cu Chi tunnel. Thanks to the "Gangnam Style" anthem playing in the cab on our way to the tour agency, I became quite pumped and knew it was gonna be a great day :D The bus rides were quite boring, but our guide was hilarious and spoke very good English. The Cao Dai temple stop was only 30 minutes since we were only there to see the religious service of the Cao Dai faith, which is an interesting mix of Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity, and Islam. The rest of the trip was spent at the Cu Chi tunnel where I got to learn about the Vietnam War from the Vietnamese perspective, which is way beyond the scope of my high school US History class.

It was quite sad to leave this beautiful unMcDonald'sed country where I could really enjoy good coffee and a lot of fresh herbs. I'll never forget the near-to-death crossing the streets and reckless tour driver driving on the wrong wrong side experiences. Special thanks to Rensy and her family who have let us stay in their home, shared their dining table of delicious Vietnamese home-cooked meals, and showed huge hospitality during our stay in Ho Chi Minh.

It's Beginning to Look Like Mid-Autumn!

Back in the States, I had never noticed anything about Mid-Autumn festival unless I go to the Oriental Supermarket only to find that the festival is over from the deeply discounted moon cake prices to get rid of them. Here, though, it's a big deal. The Chinese Society on campus had a festival at our own Yunnan Garden a couple weeks ago. I didn't quite make it since it rained. FairPrice, which is the grocery store chain I go to regularly, even has its own row of lanterns, moon cakes, and so many other festive stuffs.

Speaking on Mid-Autumn festival, I've been attending weekly coffee talks hosted by the International Student Center here. I was quite looking forward to it since the topic was conversational Mandarin. However, I had to say I kinda set my expectation quite low. It was such a neat session of learning Mandarin with Mid-Autumn festival themed lesson. We even had some moon cakes as the Chinese Society taught us about the various type of tea and performed their traditional tea art ceremony (gongfu). I really enjoyed sampling the various traditional teas they had. My favorite is the fully-fermented and aromatic black plum tea (keemun hongcha)

So to join the festivity, me and some UK exchange friends are having lunch and heading to Takashimaya at Orchard Road today. Not to shop for moon cakes (man, they are expensive until the festival ends), but to sample them around hahaha. Pardon us the thrifty expats, we're just college students after all :D

Zhu ni zhong qiou jie kuai le!

What a Crazy Week It Has Been! :)

And by crazy, I really meant I couldn't find another word to describe my week haha. There have just been so much random things going on :D

I finally paid my visit to Holland Village and Night Safari. To compare the 2 on the scale of 1 to 10, I'd give Holland Village a 9 and Night Safari a 3. But keep in mind that I don't like animals, so I might be bias. Anyhow, Holland Village is such a very laid back district with many restaurants and coffee shops to hang out. Typical expats would love this neighborhood. Moreover, there is a branch of Pho Hoa there!!! I haven't had my bowl of pho in quite a long while and definitely need to go back there for that :))

Other than that, upon meeting and befriending some Singaporean and exchange students from the Deli Aprecio club, we kinda created our own subgroup just to do our own food trips together. Our journey began with  Japanese Street at Jurong Point. It was my first time having okonomiyaki, which is Japanese traditional pancake. Yurie, the Japanese in the group, approved that it was quite an authentic Japanese experience. Yay :)

For dessert, we stopped at Ji De Chi for some traditional desserts and snowies. Their idea of dessert here is always something icy. Sweets and cakes, on the other hand, would be considered "snacks".

And to welcome Jia Jia and Kai Kai on their arrival day, the new panda couple at Singapore's Zoo, I had this bowl of udon for lunch with DG gals

My life can't never get random enough, so last night I celebrated Vietnamese independence day with Rensy. The Vietnamese student group here was holding a really interesting show of historical videos, traditional dances, as well as live comedies. I should say watching a comedy in different language has never been funnier, thanks to Rensy for translating :D

Up next for today: Deli Aprecio trip to Bumbu. People said it's a Thai-Indo fusion restaurant quite interestingly. Let's see how it is.