Cambodia 2007 - Day 2

Cambodia 2007

Day 2:

- Sunrise at Angkor Wat

We got up around 4+ because our driver was scheduled to come at 5 a.m. It was a great feeling, taking the tuk-tuk. Heading to Angkor Wat under the cover of darkness, with the skies incredibly starry and the cool wind in my hair...I kept poking my head out to look at the skies, I lost my cap. It must have been as thus a few centuries ago with the same stars and Angkor Wat in the distance. The journey that morning will be etched in my heart forever, close always.

When we reached Angkor Wat, we had to make our way in the dark and we didn't have a torch again! So we depended on minimal lighting from the torchlights of other tourists. We didn't really know where to go and ended up following masses of dark shadows around. Finally, we reached a spot where most of the people settled for.

Angkor Wat is magnificent. One can scarely believe that it was built a few centuries before. The grandness of the buildings, the intricate carvings and how everything is so unique. I've read that at one glance the many asparas looked to be the same but in fact they are are all unique, different in their accessories or in the position of their hands...=)

The morning sun hitting the courtyard was also a sight to behold. What one sees is probably the exact same scene an observer standing in your place would have saw centuries earlier. Treading grounds that have seen the passage of time longer than our brief human lifespans is an incredible feeling. Touching the pillars, knowing that someone probably rested against it or have laid their hands on it just makes me feel that the long passage of time between us is but a moment's respite.

- Angkor Thom

I believe we went in through the South gate where there were rows of stone figures holding up the body of a naga (supposedly depicting the Churning of the Ocean of Milk). Gan was the one who brought the iconology to my attention and then after which, I saw them like almost everywhere...

It has its roots from the Hindu epic Bhagavata-Purana. The gods and demons churns the ocean of milk in order to obtain an elixir that will make them immortal. The gods and demons work together by pulling on a naga's (serpent) body.

It's really amazing how they managed to build all those massive monuments, isn't it? And I realised that the picture I took at the South gate of Angkor Thom would pass for a classic picture of a car advertisement.

Angkor Thom is not a temple but a city although there are ruins of shrines in the compound. Cambodia is definitely a hot place and the sun shines so brightly that I can really tan within two days. But I love it when the rays hit the ruins and puddles of light and shadows form...



We went to Bayon, within Angkor Thom first. It was a bit weird to see a balloon bearing the name of Tokyo University there. It totally didn't fit in with the decor. They were there to help to maintain and conserve the ruins. There were signages to explain what they were doing, the problems faced and the progress so far. An example I remembered was how sand was used to mould the blocks so that they fitted exactly but due to the nature of the stones, water has eroded them such that they no longer fitted exactly like before and have become fairly unstable.

As with maintaining historic sites, there is always the factor of authencity. It is not possible to remove and rebuilt everything for then the heritage would be lost. In trying to limit the replacements of stones (they also had to find matching stones) as well as having to work with the ancient design and workmanship and environmental erosion part of the authencity, one can imagine the difficulties that they face are of great consequence.

There were also many large faces and some of them were seen in temples later on too. I love this picture with the face catching the warmth of the sun because along with the aged stones that has transcend the centuries, comes with life on it that seemed sort of symbolic to me. It was totally apt that life should be there along with the ruins that have already weathered the elements over time.

Angkor Thom is big. In fact we headed to the Baphuon and I think Gan didn't want to go up. We wandered for some more before we got really quite tired. Not tired of taking in everything but our legs simply couldn't carry us in the fierce heat anymore.

In the grounds of the Royal Palace, I replaced the cap I lost with an extremely wide-brimmed hot pink hat. I do wish there was a better colour but given a choice between hot pink, a trashy red one that says New York and one with *ahem flower printed motifs, I chose the hot pink. I was pleased that it cost only 2 USD. I bargained of course. I can't remember what the seller quoted me. I was eager for the wide-brimmed hat just not in that colour and started to walk off before the seller called for me and agreed to sell.

Had to really wash it when I got back of course. But given the huge brim that totally cover my face, I probably will bring that pink hat with me on hot holiday trips.

Gan and I then flopped down under shade to sit, relax and take in the surroundings. We really couldn't walk anymore and it was not even noon yet.

We headed back to our tuk-tuk and he drove us to the North Kleangs that I noticed not too far off but was reluctant to walk to. I just wanted to see how they look like at close range. After which we left by one of the gates and headed to the next temple.

After which, we went to a series of temples, some were like little ruins hidden away in the jungle, others were the ancient version of skyscrapers that we needed to climb up to. There were still others that were fighting not to crumble under enormous roots of trees.

Here's a short video of what we saw when we sat and stare. We jus sat quietly, watching the leaves fall when the wind came rustling...

After which we headed back to the hostel around 3+ to...sleep again. Hah. We decided not to go and watch any sunsets after our tuk-tuk driver charged us extra. We woke up in the evening and headed to the Soup Dragon in Pub Street to eat our dinner. It really is quite a nice place and we had seats on the second floor. Across the street, there was a projection of Spiderman 3 on a big screen so we could watch if we wanted. I mostly read and wine was cheap. It was around 10 USD for less or a bottle and we finished our wine there and then.

We walked back...bathed and then finally climbed into bed around 10 or 11 pm.

Cambodia 2007 - Day 1

We took the last train to the airport and sat there waiting for about 6 hours before taking the 6 a.m. plane to Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Siem Reap

Day 1:

- Silkworm farm

silk worms...

they are ready to be left alone to spin when they turn yellow

coccoons

extracting the fine silk

After they are dyed, they are spun into smaller bobbins for weaving.

The silk farm utilises traditional methods and instruments were crude. To extract the raw silk, workers would just throw silk coccoons in a bowl of hot water and patted the coccoons using a wooden U-shaped paddle. The fibres when passed through the narrow crevice would then be spun into a thread of raw silk.

They separate the raw sillk (outer layer of the coccoon) from the fine silk (inner layer of the coccoon) by looking at the colour. When all the raw silk have been extracted, the coccoon will be very yellow and the texture will be different. That is when the extraction of fine silk begins.

The silk threads are dyed with bark or various other organic material to achieve the colour that they want. However the colours are all so vibrant that the threads don't look as if they have been dyed with mere bark or grasses.

The fabrics are hand-woven and it is definitely a complicated process. It can take them 3 to 5 days to finish weaving one piece of fabric depending on how intricate the design is. However, hand-woven silk scarves (cheapest in SR) can be bought so cheaply there (2 for 5USD), it makes me wonder how do we attach the prices to labour..

- West Baray

I didn't take much pictures at the West Baray because it was noon and freaking hot. The picture is a river leading from the Baray. The lake is much bigger and it even has an island. The place has not much shade and many stalls with not much tourists, probably because we went at noon. However, there were still people taking boat rides and playing with the water. Gan and I got good deals for our silk scarves and fisherman pants. I think if it was cooler, it would be a good place to just sit and look at the sky.

(courtesy of half of Gan's stitched picture)

- War museum

Somehow I feel that we got duped into visiting the War museum. I guess we thought that it was about the wars in Cambodia and all. It was actually just a big compound showcasing old war equipment.

Ok, I wasn't really sure if there were land mines there or they just put up the signs to be funny. However I was careful not to step there and took a calculated risk in putting Evil on the signs. Maybe only guys will be interested in old war machinery, detailing when they were manufactured and destroyed. It was interesting no doubt but I wouldn't pay 3 USD (if i didn't remember wrongly for the admission.

Reaching for a gun...

It was only till later on then I came across a sign
that we are not supposed to help ourselves to them..=P

The gun was superbly heavy, it was a wonder people could aim with them...

An old helicopter outside the compound.

- Wat Thmei

The driver asked if we wanted to visit the Killing Fields and we agreed. However, it is not similar to the one in Phnom Penh. It does have a monument that consists of bones but it is located within the grounds of a temple to commenmerate the mass graves that was near Siem Reap. The temple murals were interesting. However without a guide or signage to explain, we felt quite.. well lost there. The place was also quite quiet with only a few pockets of Korean tourists with their guide on a short trip there.

We then went back to the hostel to rest because it was so hot and sunset was still far off. We napped before trudging down to an oily dinner at a nearby eatery and boarded our tuk-tuk at 4.30 pm. Portions are usually generous and oily. We orderd a platter of fried dumplings and there were puddles of oil on the plate. On occasion, oil would drip from the dumpling and not to say the least, there was a layer of oil on the sauce of vinegar when we were done.

The driver drove us to get temple pass. It was 20 USD for a day and the cost was proportional to the number of days you require at least up till 3 days (I didn't bother to look at the cost of temple passes for a week). We bought a 2 day pass. However the start selling at 5 pm or 5.30 and the thing kicks in then so a 2 day pass is good for 2 days plus an extra sunset. We had to linger around and wait along with everybody else for them to start selling. They needed a photo go with the temple passes previously but now with technology advances, they have upgraded to using web-cams to take still grainy shots. It takes a while before the big floppy laminated paper pops out with your picture but otherwise its not too bad a wait...

-Sunset at Phnom Bakheng

the world at Phnom Bakheng

The sunset was nice but the place was choked full of people. It was quite a walk up and since by the time we got there it was already sunset, we didn't get down until the sun had almost set. It was quite a feat trying to navigate the rocky road in semi-darkness and we had to be careful lest we slip on a loose rock and turn an ankle on the first day of our trip. An advice is to bring a torchlight if you are planning to stay late. The ruins does offers a different sort of charm in twlight.


We asked our ever-friendly tuk-tuk driver to bring us shopping so we could buy washing powder to wash our dusty clothes. I swear that if Gan had given me a hard pat on the back, she would see a cloud of dust form.

We also went to the night market to walk and I got silk scarves and a painting of Angkor Wat. We then headed back to the hostel to wash our clothes and rest. Gan was vastly amused by 'Mythbusters' on Discovery telly. In fact, come to think of it, she was very amused by the telly in the entire trip in Cambodia. Her excuse was that she doesn't watch telly in Singapore. I think on one occassion in Phnom Penh, I started blinking at her, appalled when she flipped the channel to TCS 8 showing the drama starring Li Jingmei and Edmund Chen..because it was easy to watch. I think the title was Birds of Paradise (which I also believe to have ended its run before we reached Cambodia.

*shakes head...............anyway then its off to bed with us...

Incidentally I was quite pleased with our guesthostel, recommended by YJ's friend. Our room was quite big and airy and had clean white sheets and white tiled floor. The fridge, the television, well everything worked fine. We actually took our shoes off in our room. The toilet was also reasonably clean and had hot water. The guesthouse was a tad spartan but for 10 USD a night for the both of us, it was good enough. Oh and they clean your room everyday. =)

It's just one or two streets away from Pub Street (the 'happening' eatery place). If anybody is interested, the guesthouse is Seng KY guesthouse (or something like that)

Tel: (855) 63 964 034
H/p: (855) 12 630 943
Address: #15 , Sivatha street ,close to OLD MARKET, next door to Carnets d'Asie.

a 2007 December afternoon...

Spent Friday afternoon with an ex-colleague lunching, shopping and we had a late tea. Said friend mentioned that nobody is interested in C.lit. Nobody cares. I said that I do.

Why do people not care anymore?

Said friend then talked about C.lit. I listened.


As time goes by, we out-grow so much and when Barbie dolls and Hotwheels no longer give us that sweet pleasure of hearty laughter, I think all that's left for me to try to hold on to replicate that pleasure is the little moments when I savour the beauty of art or having sunshine on my face or like when I listen to a story as an example of why someone would enjoy C.lit. I understand them as much as I really understood Barbie dolls and Hotwheels cars when I was little....they just make me happy.

It was a lovely afternoon. =)

the void has to get filled

I've finished watching the 神雕侠侣 DVD in about 2.5 days. (Thanks Uncle)

I've spray-painted the bookcase to a nice blue finish.

I've finish a book.

I'm wasting my life away.

I should be doing my music theory, tiding up my room, organising the stuff in the computer, etc...and I've been rotting.

I looked at my organiser today. I didn't have as many free days as I thought I had. Such is the beauty of an organiser that opens up to a monthly page. I see all the events and the stuff that I have to do. Take away the days that I will be in Cambodia, the Saturdays that are burnt from practicising and the two to three days prior to the concerts for practice, the concert days themselves and the GESL stuff and event.....plus with Jac being back after X'mas for 10 exclusive days only, it means that the days after X'mas will mostly likely be left for catching up with her.

Before I know it, the month will fly by pretty past, as always.

If I am not wrong, my 'nua-ing' period is limited to the days before the Cambodia trip.

And people shouldn't envy teachers having the school holidays off. I mean.. family will ask you to help out with errands or to help tidy the house....as we all know in Singapore, items are not removed from the job scope, they merely get replaced. It is in accordance to the laws of Physics. There will always be a force that tries to fill in a void.

Oh well...but on the bright side, I don't have to work as hard as any 'maid' that the family hires because I'm not paid..haha..I just have to make sure that the place is reasonably neat.

my tears ran into a hidden crevice

I was told something I didn't quite understand. I could not comprehend the seriousness. Now I do. If over 90% can survive for more than ten years, what happens to the next ten years after? Do the statistic drop drastically after that? Some say that 90% can go on to live a normal lifespan. Does it imply an average lifespan of healthy individuals? When it comes to numbers on paper, where is our individual placing? Somehow I didn't cry but I don't know why my heart feels heavier than it has ever been.

Quelquelfois, comme aujourd'hui, je crois que la vie est rien que la tristesse.

Illogical rigidity is pure stupidity

I haven't been online much the past week. My modem died last Saturday. My computer didn't start last Sunday. I had 2 major deadlines last Monday.

The stress level peaked on Sunday and when I realised the computer couldn't start up, I sat down to cry.

I called a course-mate and tried to sound calm and composed while trying to find out what would happen if I fail to meet the deadlines. It was more than not being punctual about handing in homework. I was worried that I would fail as a result and would have to retake the modules and end up having to stay back one more semester. As MOE has really strict guidelines governing the stint at NIE, I was convinced that I would have to fork out quite a bit of money just because the computer chose to screw up on the weekend before I was to hand in the work.

It was unbelievably bad luck. It sounds like something from a script from those horrid Taiwanese never-ending family soap operas.

And so fellow course-mate told me to call the tutors to explain and ask for an extension of the deadlines. While I was considering this move, something within me roared to life and I felt a determined rage overcome me. I ran out of the house in search of a PC repair shop. After I found one, I got the brother to lug the CPU there and believe it or not, it started to drizzle.

I pleaded with the repairman and he agreed to work OT for me. The repairs cost $343.

Sigh.

Three hours later at 8 p.m, the computer finally worked albeit without a connection. I worked a few hours more and heaved a sigh of relief when I printed the stuff. I went to sleep and woke up early for the 8.30 class.

And I also gave the technical helpdesk of Singnet hell.

I was very very annoyed when the modem couldn't work and the system was so rigid, it was ridiculous.

First of all, when the modem failed on Saturday night, I called Singtel to get the Singnet helpdesk number. I was required to key in my Broadband number and the system failed to recognise it. I thought I made a mistake and called Singtel again who promptly told me to dial 1610 for Singnet sales inquiry to get the Broadband number.

For your infomation, 1610 only operates until 6 pm.

I called Singtel again and asked nicely to be transferred to Singnet technical helpdesk straight. The operator said she couldn't and gave me the number to dial again. Exasperated, I rose my voice a notch and firmly explained why I needed her to connect me to Singnet technical helpdesk. I clarified that the Broadband number was my house number and then told her that the [bloody] system didn't recognise my Broadband number !! There was no way I could get though.

In the end she made me hold, probably to consult her superior and in the end her superior came to the phone, I had to explain again and he agreed to connect me to the Singnet helpdesk.

When I finally got through, I explained my problem very nicely again and I was told to perform a series of troubleshooting before calling back. I informed the operator that the system didn't recognise my Broadband number and he told me it was impossible. If I couldn't get through, I should just press any 8-digit house number and should be able to get through.

When I tried that, it didn't work.

Fantastic.

And bear in mind, with all these, I had to hold and hold and hold and hold and hold and hold and hold and hold and hold and hold and hold and hold and hold and hold and hold and hold and hold and hold and hold and hold and hold and hold and hold and hold !!!

In the end I called Singtel and asked to be put through to Singnet again. I mean I was really sorry for having to bother them but.. yeah...the whole system is really quite screwed.

And the conclusion Singnet technical helpdesk was that the fault could lie with the line on my side, the modem or the line on their side. And then the man proceeded to inform me that they can only schedule a check on Tuesday.

I told him I have deadlines on Monday to meet.

He said that there isn't enough manpower.

I asked if he could check the line on his side.

He said no. The people will only check it before they come down on Tuesday.

I was starting to get infuriated.

And then I engulfed him in a verbal wave. I told him that the way I understand it was that there are 3 causes to the problem.

1. connection on my side
2. modem
3. connection on their side

I have been on the line almost 2 hours because I couldn't get through due to their so-called system not recognising my Broadband number. I had to call Singtel to transfer me over twice even though they had reassured earlier I shouldn't have any problems getting though and when I finally could get though, they are telling me that they cannot help me?!

It's ridiculous.

The man started to tell me that he was helping me. I told him that I have deadlines to meet on Monday and since they are only coming down on Tuesday and in a sense not doing anything for me....NOPE, they are not helping me !! I mean the system didn't even recognise my Broadband number. He told me that it was a different system.

I told him that if they have no manpower to come down and check my line and I have to wait 3 days, I can possibly maybe probably accept that explanation even though I think it is ridiculous. It's Singnet for goodness sake. Why do I have to wait 3 days to get my line checked? It's so inefficient!!! It says a lot about their service. Pui !!!

If it is my modem I can solve the problem myself but there is no way I can check if the line is working fine over there. Can't they simply conduct a check for me.

He said "No..because it has to go through the system and they can only do it before the man comes on Tuesday."

Why is the system so rigid?!! There has to be people behind the system.

His only defence was that, "It's the system..."

Why am coming up with alternatives for them? Why am I doing their work for them?!!

And so I told him that there have to be people behind the system. Can't he just call that department to do a check?

Nope, they can't.

I was boiling then already.

I told him I wanted to speak to someone who can make decisions. I wanted to speak to his supervisor. He told me that his supervisor wasn't in. I said, "Fine...can you get him to call me tomorrow?"

He told me that it would still be the same because everything has to go through the system. I think any more talk about the system I will just explode. I told him I just want someone who can make decisions to call me tomorrow morning. Will I get a call tomorrow? He said, "Yes" so I said "Ok" and hung up.

The next morning, someone called at 9+ a.m to inform me that they will be sending someone down at 11 a.m.

I mean I thought of you, Gan and I was trying to be calm and firm. But....if a system is so rigid that it results in inefficiency, there is seriously something wrong with the system.

I am a logical rational consumer. I do understand if it is a peak season and a company has to take 3 days to schedule a line check. I did not demand that they come the next day (even though I still think it is ridiculous for a mega-conglomerate to not employ enough workers to sustain efficiency) but I do not understand why they cannot just do a check on the connection on their side.

I mean how difficult can it be to check the connection on their side? They do not even need to get out of a chair, ok maybe it takes an additional few calls here and there. The way I envision it is probably they have to justify why they are checking the connection which is not part of a normal procedure. They can put the reason down to a rabid consumer, I do not care. Even if it is part of a code, they should be able to get past the computer system.

The point is...IT CAN BE DONE !!!

Why do people have to let such rules dictate whatever they do?

*grrr
stupid rigid people

no connection

The modem is spoilt. No home connection for this week. Shall leave the massive complaining to after I've got the connection reinstated.

That's all for now.