蕙之世界

27/11/08 Thursday

My little sister woke up early this morning and she was the first one who got ready for the breakfast. I asked her why as usually she was the last one awake and a very funny answer i got, she dreamed about Lucky burgers which are our breakfast planned during Wednesday night. I think she really loves the burgers there. After having the burgers as breakfast, we departed to Cambodian Cultural Village. It gathers the miniature of famous places in Cambodia besides exhibiting the Cambodian culture, art and building structure. There are all together 9 villages of different culture. After a short visit to the Wax Museum, we went to a Khmer style wooden house where there was a traditional wedding ceremony show. It was quite enjoyable as several tourists are also invited to the stage to participate in the wedding ceremony. It ended with their traditional dance. Later, we went to Cham village, Chinese village, Burma village, Kroeung village, lifestyle of Cambodian overseas, Khmer village, Tonle Sap village and many more. Many miniatures of famous places such as Phnom Penh Royal Residence, Enormous Sleeping Buddha Statue and National Museum are also shown in this Cambodian Cultural Village.

After spending the whole morning in the Cambodian Cultural Village, we went to have lunch at another place which is recommended by the inn owner. However, i do not find the food there delicious and mouth-watering. Indeed, they rank second on my list of lousy Cambodian food :p         As usual, we had a rest during the afternoon by watching tv program before taking a small nap.

We started our dinner search in the early evening. Before going directly to fill up our stomach, we went to buy poppy seed bread, whole wheat bun and chocolate bread at Blue Pumpkin, a place we long to go since we stepped on this Cambodian land. This day was a quite different one as we first tried out fried noodle with egg at a roadside stall. Frankly speaking, it is simple but nice and tasty, yet cheap. Three of us, to be exact, 2 ladies and one 38 ( forgot why she was called 38 ) shared the noodle in front of a closed shop near the stall. After finishing the noodle, the 38 even showed her thumb to the hawker meaning the noodle is very delicious.

After the noodle, we went to Khmer Kitchen which we had our dinner on Wednesday, as we cannot forget the sumptuous food served there.  This time, we tried different dishes as yesterday. We ordered a fried yellow noodle with pork and spicy Khmer style soup. Again, our stomach is fully filled with these reasonably priced tasty Khmer dishes.

It was around eight when we are done with our dinner. We took our last walk from the old market back to our inn since it is our last night there. On the way, we passed by Café de la Paix again and remembering that there is 50% off for the bakery, we went in to have a look. Luckily, this time we are early enough as there are still several delicious-looking bakeries left. I chose one almond chocolate bun while my friend and my little sister picked other choices. Really happily, we walked back to or inn. Without hesitation, upon arriving our room, we ate our buns, and gosh, I really have no idea how to describe the one I have but it’s the world best bun I ever had. Till now, I still miss it so much and it is not found in local, making me loving it more and more. After bath, we started to pack our things as we will fly back to Penang tomorrow.

28/11/08 Friday

Early in the morning, we went to the Siem Reap Airport to check in our luggage and get our boarding pass. My friend enjoyed her coffee with the bread bought after we got our boarding pass. It was not long when we finally boarded the plane and flying back to Malaysia.

This is the first backpack trip I have and it is really wonderful and fantastic. Everything was planned on our own and we did not have to rush like tourists in group, who have schedule to follow. This is really great and I love it so much, and I believe this great one will keep me going for more backpack trips. Hopefully the next one is not far J

26/11/08 Wednesday

After having breakfast ( the bread bought with 50% off on Tuesday night ), we went to the Angkor National Museum by tuk-tuk. On the way to the museum, we passed by the Royal Residence and Royal Independence Gardens. The garden is quite big, very beautiful and invigorating. After taking photos, we went directly to the museum. The museum is quite large and it is of two storeys. It offers eight chronologically ordered galleries of Angkorian-era artifacts and multi-media presentations of Angkorian history and culture. Before marveling over the awe-inspiring galleries, we went to The Briefing Hall for a short orientation which introduces the museum and its amenities. After that and with the aid from guidebook, we went to the exclusive gallery showing 1000 Buddha images. The imagescan be divided into three ages, which are the pre-Angkorian, Angkorian and post-Angkorian or also the modern days. This gallery of 1000 Buddha’s exhibits one of the most prestigious collections of 1000 Buddha statues and relics ever assembled. Later, we visited the other galleries which include, Gallery A: Pre-Angkor Period: Khmer Civilization, Gallery B: Religion and Beliefs, Gallery C: The Great Khmer Kings, Gallery D: Angkor Wat, Gallery E: Angkor Thom, Gallery F: Story from Stones and Gallery G: Ancient Costume. Gallery A exhibits the origin of Khmer Empires Story while gallery B shows the refelction of Khmer’s beliefs. Stories of the four great inventors ( King Jayavarman II, King Yasovarman I, King Yasovarman II and King Jayavarman VII ) are unfolded in gallery C while Angkor Wat, the Heaven on Earth is in gallery D. As mentioned earlier, Angkor Thom which is the Pantheons of spirit isin gallery E. Stones which are the evidence of the oast are exhibited in gallery F whilst gallery G shows the fascination of Apsara. It let our eyes open wide to the exquisite fashion of a land from the past. It took us about three hours back into the ancient Khmer civilization. Later that noon, we went to take our lunch at Lucky Burger as the one we planned to have only opens at night. Anyway, i should say the burgers are fantastic and delicious. The chicken in the chicken burger is very crispy and you’ll just love it on the first bite. As usual, a small rest was taken after lunch before we started on a dinner mission. This night was a special one as we went around the market  area to look for food. We even went to the other side of the town which we have never been to there so far. We went to Senteurs d’ Angkor to buy delicatessen. I bought ground black pepper from Kampok and Amok which is of 6 spices. Both of these are very famous and well known savory spices of Cambodia. After a short while in the shop, we went to Buterflies Garden Restaurant to have our first stop-dinner. We ordered coconut curry but it was the worth dish we had throughout the trip in Siem Reap, and even worse, we did not see any butterflies flying around as they should be. With a disappointed feeling, we went to have second round of dinner at Singing Tree Cafe. I forgot the name of the first dish we ordered but it’s a dish of fish and nuts with little spicy. It is so good that we ordered our second dish there, which is a Tom Yam with fish. It is some sort like the Thai tom yam but with local taste. The food is so yummy that we chattered happily while eating in the relaxed atmosphere. We spent quite some time there relaxing oursleves, laughing at the silly things my sister had in school and chatting about eveything on earth. It is so different from the hectic life we have during school days. That is why i love travelling. It is so free, so relaxing and so enjoyable. Later that night, we went to the Khmer Kitchen which is recommended by the inn’s owner. Well, i should say the food there is superb and marvellous. We had lab, a dish of shrimps and fried white noodle with vegetables and chicken. My friend and my sister even ordered Angkor beer and Vodka with 7-up. Wonderful time always passes quickly. Soon it was around 9pm and we went back to our room with a tuk-tuk, with a full stomach and souvenirs.