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 :)

The Honeymoon is Over!

Classes finally started this week for me here. First day was especially hectic for everyone who was trying to add/drop courses. Praise the Lord I pretty much have all the classes that I wanted except for 1 that would ruin my 3-day weekend anyway.

Aside from classes, I had the cool chance to visit Microsoft Singapore as a part of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation week at NTU. All of you B&E majors reading this, please don't be jealous or bitter. It's our bread and butter, gotta get it where ever we can :)  Microsoft HQ here is amazing and the people taking us on a tour was awesome. We got to play with many of their new gadgets and innovation. Located on the 21st and 22nd floor of One Marina, the view outside its windows was simply gorgeous as well.

I also praise the Lord for providing me with a family of believer on campus. NTU Cru is adopting me during my exchange here. I was plugged right into a discipleship group for final year ladies.

This semester, we're going through a Cru curriculum that speaks about being sent to a world of harvest through a biblical perspective. Crossroads also kicked off last night. It was awesome to finally meet everyone in the ministry. Next week, we will be having a vision tea for to welcome the freshmen, and I'm glad that they asked me to be a part of their flash mob dance to this song.



So this weekend is a long weekend due to the Hari Raya, but unfortunately the ICA hasn't issued my student pass yet which means I can't travel outside Singapore. The plan is to check out the World Food Fair and hang out at Orchard Road today with my fellow Dragon Rensy. Tonight, the group of exchange students I've been hanging out with is also throwing a sushi dinner and karaoke for the birthday girl Diana. A relaxing day at Sentosa Island might be planned for tomorrow. For the rest of the weekend, it might just be exploring more of Singapore's hidden gems :)

Let the Countdown Stop...

...and the journey begin!

The long-awaited moment finally came. After church service and fellowship hour were over last Sunday, I went home for a quick bite, then caught my shuttle ride to JFK. New York traffic was bad. It literally took 4 hours to get there. To add to the hassle, my baggage went over 3 kgs of the allowance. Thankfully, the check-in person was okay with it.

So those shenanigans were minuscule compared to my flight experience. The best part? My seat! It was the best seat I've ever had flying with SQ. Window view next to the emergency door, which I would consider a perfect combo. To add into this combo, I sat and got acquainted with another Singapore-US exchange student during the flight. Hailing from his hometown in AZ, home college in GA, and an internship in NY, Scott is spending this semester at Singapore Management University. It was nice to chat with another person who is going through a similar adventure.

As we boarded, the sky was pretty clear. But soon enough, thunderstorms came and forced a 40-minute delay. We still landed in Frankfurt close to being on-time, though. Not surprisingly, my flight experience with SQ was very pleasant. This time around, it didn't feel like the 20-something hour journey was long at all. They served really good food.

I also had the chance to catch up on "The Lucky One", "Five Year Engagement", "Hunger Games", "Comme Un Chef", "The Soul of Bread", "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel", and 2 episodes of "The Office".

We landed in Singapore around 6:35 AM. It was still very dark. Mr.Yeo, the flight attendant, said that I should expect that every single day. The immigration, baggage claim, and custom went fairly quick and smooth, thank God. Scott and I eventually separated as he headed to Sleepy Sam's downtown, and I headed to NTU in the West.