TIL - 24 Hours

One of the things that made me feel annoyed the most is... When I have to involuntarily waste my time hahaha. Or when things don't go to my way. Well actually come to think of it, nothing will ever go your way. Most of the time, we are the ones that create our own paths. Always remember, nothing is in control! As Timber Hawkeye says in his book Buddhist Bootcamp heh.

Okay so what happened is this. Wednesdays have always been a busy day of the week for me. I have delivery to settle and so on. Last Wednesday was especially busy, because I had to meet a few people. We made a schedule for the meetup at 4 PM. And so I was planning in my head about how my Wednesday will go. And I was hoping (of course) that everything will go smoothly. Because I was meeting someone else at 5. And I hate making people wait, especially when they don't have to.

However, this person came really late. To be exact, 1.5 hours late. He came at 5.30 and I have no idea why. Because of this non-punctuality, everything got ruined because before his schedule, there are a few other people who were meeting us. And hence, all the schedule are being pushed away. I ended up leaving for the farm at 6 plus, reaching there at 7-ish. So yeah, when I was supposed to meet someone at 5, I ended up meeting him at 7. I was so angry urgh. Cause all of these wouldn't have to happen if someone learns to be punctual. I was trying hard to keep cool as I was driving ommmmm.

Okay I'm not an interrogator who went ahead to interview him why he's late and so on. I brushed it off and just went ahead with my day, feeling rather annoyed though. Maybe he has something cropped up at the last minute. No one knows right. But yes this is where I don't like it - because I ended up wasting my time, when I didn't have to actually do so! But I will always remind myself, nothing is in control.

Last year I have learned to redefine my definition of living life to the fullest. I have decided to do so by living my day to the fullest. Each day. I want to live the 24 hours of my day to the fullest. I want to do work when I have to. I want to rest when I am resting. I want to savour every food that I am eating. I want to mindfully waste my time when I decided to. Get what I mean?

So yes when I have to "sacrifice" my time when I don't have to, caused by an external factor, I feel rather annoyed. Maybe I need to learn how to also live my "involuntarily wasted time" to the fullest. 

That's all for this month's TIL. Live your life to the fullest people. You only have 24 hours in a day, and you only have one life to live. Don't waste them away!

Heartstrings

Right we're nearing the end of July so it's time to share with you some of the great music of this month! So many awesome albums were released in this month so I'm super happy. Some of which I've been expecting a long time mwahaha. Alright lets get right into it.

Great Music of July

- Genesis by Dua Lipa

- Lost in Your Light by Dua Lipa ft Miguel

- Be The One by Dua Lipa

- J-Boy by Phoenix

- Fleur de Lys by Phoenix

- Want You Back by Haim

- You Never Knew by Haim

- Little of Your Love by Haim 

- Long Gone by Phum Viphurit

- Ultralife by Oh Wonder (album)

- Kaleidoscope EP by Coldplay

- English Letters EP by Favela

Song of the month: Urgh so hard to make me choose. But Miracles by Coldplay ft Big Sean!

Alright whew what a long list! But anyway this is because the albums I ordered in June just arrived after the Hari Raya holidays, which is like on the 10th of July-ish. I was quite worried because they took so long, they should be arriving before the holidays. But I suppose the delivery got halted by the holidays.

So many awesome albums! Lets begin with Dua Lipa's debut, which I think is a fantastic album! I love most of the songs from the album. I think she's an awesome singer and I love her music really. I knew she's gonna make it big when I discovered her early last year I think. I hope I can catch her life at WTF17 next month. I am seeing my plans first, I hope everything goes well for the festival.

Phoenix's new album is also a great one! Loving the sounds of the album. Those synths pattern and catchy beats. I think it sounds a bit different than their previous album though. But it's an awesome album nevertheless. And then we have HAIM who released their 2nd album this month! Loving their new album as well. I think they've grown a lot from their first. But The Days We Had, to me, is a great album. Glad to see them growing and jetting off to greater heights. I hope I can see them live :l

And then I discovered Phum Viphurit's Long Gone on YouTube! His video just appeared on my recommended tab as usual and whew I fell in love with both the song and the video haha. I think the music and video aesthetic is so on point. What a talent from Thailand! Hope to see more from him.

Two EPs are released this month from Coldplay and Favela. After a few delays, Coldplay finally released their EP digitally haha. I think it's an awesome EP, feels like a continuation from AHFOD! I really love the direction that Coldplay is going hmm. The Kaleidoscope EP feels like their old materials. It sounds like their whole albums mashed up beautifully. Favourite song would be Miracles for me :)

Favela also released his English Letters EP last week! It was a surprise when I saw it on Facebook haha. It has two new songs Worship and Your Hand On Mine which are so lovely as well. Up till now, I'm still hooked on Nevermore My Temples Leave. It is definitely one of the best songs of the year for me. I am so so excited to hear more new music from him. He's an incredible singer song-writer!

Alright gonna save the best for last. I think my favourite album of 2017 so far is Ultralife by Oh Wonder! It is such wonderful album (pun intended) and I love each song from the album. Don't talk about Ultralife, which has been in my playlist since it's released haha. I fell in love with Oh Wonder 3 years ago when I discovered them on Soundcloud. I discovered them from their song Shark. I could still remember how they would release one song every month, and finally leading up to their debut.

I love their first album but I feel that their second album is much more grander and bigger? I love how they explain the meaning behind each song which really makes me appreciate them more. I feel like their music is always uplifting in one way or another? And I love how they write about daily occurrences. Like their song Solo is about being in a party but everyone is so self-absorbed and the need to come out, be solo and take a breather. And many more. I really love this album. 

Definitely best album of 2017 so far!

I feel that 2017 has been an incredible year for music. So many great releases, so many great albums. Lots of new emerging artists who are so talented as well. Well as of today, all of my anticipated albums have been released haha. And I love all of them! There are still a few upcoming ones like Alvvays new album in September, a new EP from PREP and more music from everyone else. Haha. 

Alright that's all for this incredible month for music. Eager to discover more music in the next 5 months! Come on 2017 you can blow me away again <3

Mountains

Mountains // Fuji Industrial 100

So a few nights ago I came up with this random thought.

"You can climb a thousand mountains in a day
or climb a mountain in a thousand days,
as long as you enjoy the process.
But I see no point in reaching the summit
if you don't even enjoy the climb"

Well obviously I think it's impossible to climb a thousand mountains in one day haha. And it's a tad too long to climb a mountain in a thousand days. Maybe we can consider climbing Everest, and the preparations that it takes to reach the summit. But yeah you get what I mean.

The mountains that I'm referring to are actually our goals and dreams. Or even, they are the things that we plan to do in life. Sure, it's possible for us to do as many things as possible in a certain amount of time. But in the process, do we enjoy it? Is it worth it? Do we suffer in the journey, do we lose ourselves? Cause I see no point in us reaching our goals, if we ended up not enjoying this process. 

But how about we take things as they come. We do as many things as possible according to our capabilities. I'm pretty sure we'll enjoy the process, without compromising things.

I always believe that life is like a mountain. You can take your own sweet time to climb the mountain, or your can sprint your way to the top. As long as you enjoy it! Simple as that. But do always remember that we cannot expect people to follow us, and neither should we enforce our pace to other people. We are all unique, and we each have our own capabilities. Take it one step at a time.

I climbed Mt Kinabalu 6 years ago. It's pretty funny how I don't actually miss the summit. I don't miss being on the summit. But I do miss the forest, I miss the climb to Laban Rata, I miss seeing the scenery near the summit, I miss my team mates and so on. I think it's funny how we won't really miss the feeling of satisfaction of reaching our goals, but we will miss the things we do to get there.

And I often wonder. Even if we have reached the summit, what will we do? How will we feel? A temporary feeling of satisfaction. A temporary feeling of glory that dissipates into our distant memory sooner or later. So yep. But the struggle and pain we went through to reach the summit, they will stick with us forever, to remind us that great things don't come so easily. 

This is just a random thought. Life gets very interesting because we all have our own mountain to climb. And everyone else can't see it. And they can't also see our progress and our speed. So most of the time, they'll ask us why are we taking so long. While we wonder why they are moving so fast. Or vice versa. These invisible mountains we climb are so difficult to explain to others. Hmm.

Inspired

 Thanks Saeyeoh for your kind words!

Agfa Vista 400

So on Friday afternoon when I woke up, I saw Saeyeoh's message on my phone and she asked me to read an article she sent on my WhatsApp (you can read it here). I read it and wow I've never felt so touched and hmm not sure how to put it into words. Grateful? Inspired? I'm just very touched after reading the article, when she said that I inspired her to take photography seriously.

To me, I feel that the biggest compliment someone can give to me is that I have inspired them to do something, or that I'm an inspiration to them. Because to me, an inspiration is something that appears out of emptiness/nothingness. Like when a music inspired me to feel in such a away or so. So to have Saeyeoh say that I inspired her, I felt really wow. Especially when I'm not even a good photographer, or even a photographer HAHAHA. So thank you Saeyeoh, I'm super touched!

And same to you Saeyeoh, you've inspired me to pick up film again! After not touching it for almost 4 years. I only went back to film on my Tibet Trip, and I decided to go back again after seeing her photos haha. Now I have two new film cameras thanks to you! :P So yup keep the film spirit going and I'm pretty sure you have inspired many people to try film too. And also keep up the awesome work on your blog! In a world where film is dying (and reviving), I think you have sparked a flame that keeps it alive.

I'm glad to have known you all these seven years, and to have someone who still keeps in contact with me all these while! Come to think of it I think we both kinda started out photography journey around the same time. So yep we can say we are photography buddies mwahaha.

I think no one has ever said that I inspired them to do something. I do remember though on my birthday, Mr Tan, my school's discipline master and my teacher in charge of the student council once told me that my positive outlook on life is very inspiring. Again I went blank after he told that to me, like wow I've never had anyone told me that before! Haha. Well I'm just someone who's really try to see the positive side of things in life. Cause I think that's a great way to make you happy.

I remember reading an article about how difficult it is to give an inspiration to someone. Be it through your words, your music, your work of art and so on. It's easy to create something. But for this something to be inspirational, and to give inspiration to the people who come into contact with your creation, is very difficult. Because it is really truly creating something out of emptiness. Which is so hard! I think making your creation invoke feelings and emotions in others is already so difficult.

This is why good photographs tell a story and invoke emotions. And through these emotions and stories, they should create inspiration to the viewer, that will make them do something (hopefully for the better). So yup, when you become an inspiration to someone, that's a pretty huge deal isn't it.

One of my goals in life is to inspire a lot of people. And be an inspiration to others. I've met many people who have become my inspirations too. Most are ordinary people that I met in my 25 years of existence. And of course I have so many idols that I haven't met in real life. But their stories have touched my heart, and inspired me to do great things in life. And hopefully I can meet them one day.

So yeah thank you once again Saeyeoh for your kind words! You've inspired me too in your photography work, and I'm pretty sure you have inspired more people through your blog and social media (please check out Film Based Traveler!). I really hope we can meet to shoot some films one day. Looking forward to meeting your in Singapore again! Alright that's all for now. See you soon :)

25 Lessons

 Cause surviving 25 revolutions around the sun is a big checkpoint

Alright as promised, I have finished listing down the 25 lessons I've learned in the past 25 years of my life! It was both a fun and difficult thing to do, cause I realised I have more than that. But most of them can be intertwined together so I try to merge some into one, which kinda share the same points. 

Here goes!

#1 - Life is never a straight road

Obviously, I think we all know this! Haha. But well I learned that there are too many turns that we will encounter in life. And it is never going to be the same. It's alright though, it's fun!

#2 - Change is the only constant

An extension of the first lesson. Life is constantly changing and I think we really have to adapt ourselves to this fact. Expect the unexpected, for better and worst.

#3 - Have faith, always

Have the faith that things will work out. But don't forget to work hard too.

#4 - Hold on to your hope

Because without hope we will get nowhere.

#5 - But ultimately, hold on to emptiness

As the Prajnaparamita Sutra says, all phenomena are empty in nature. They do not increase nor decrease, no death nor birth, no mark of defilement nor purity. So remember, don't hold on to too much hope, nor too much despair. See the emptiness of reality and you're good to go.

#6 - Impermanence keeps me going always!

This has become my life motto. To know that everything will come to an end. So just enjoy.

#7 - Live in the moment

Enjoy whatever you are doing now. The struggle, the confusion, the joy and laughter. They will get you somewhere. Where you may ask? No one knows, but definitely somewhere.

#8 - Don't worry too much

It's in our nature to do so. But do understand that it does you no good, nor does it make things better.

 #9 - Never judge your future

Never believe, and hold on to the idea that things will definitely work out in a particular way. Be it good or bad. Remember emptiness! And remember lesson number 1.

#10 - Keep on doing what you love

Even though you're not doing it for a living. Because they will add colours to your life.

#11 - I can live without meat

1.5 years without meat and I'm feeling so fine.

#12 - Train your monkey mind

Meditating daily for three years have definitely yield results. Our mind is a powerful thing. It can empower you, and it can also destroy you. So don't let it do whatever it wants to you.

#13 - What you think, you become

We create our own reality. the world we live in is shaped by our mind and thoughts. Like I always believe, we are the creators of our own heaven and hell.

#14 - Gratefulness is a key to happiness

Be thankful of what you have. Be it in terms of possession, conditions and emotions. Count your blessings when you have plenty and when you have little. Being enough is greater than having more.

#15 - Happiness is never a goal

It is never a destination. It is something that we create. The more we chase it, the further it will go away from us. Like the Buddha says, there is no path to happiness, happiness is the path.

#16 - I don't want happiness

This sounds absurd, but I feel that you will find happiness when you realise that it is nowhere to be found. Instead of being happy, I'd rather be mindful for the rest of my life. Also I've come to a realisation that... We all want happiness. But we don't know what to do with it when we have it hah.

#17 - Be mindful of everything

Don't believe the voices inside your mind all the time. Never justify your emotions. The come and go swiftly. Do recognise their presence but never let them stay for long.

#18 - Seize the day

Make full use of your time to get the most out of everything. A day, an hour, or even that few minutes you have. We only have 24 hours in one day anyway. And we only have this life. Don't pretend that we have lots of time, and at the same time, don't be ignorant of the time we have.

#19 - Do what you can do right here, right now

Wishing you were somewhere else, and wishing you're doing something else is pretty redundant. Be here! The present moment is such a beautiful place. Although well I'm still learning to apply this!

#20 - Love yourself

Because if you don't, maybe no one else will. Embrace yourself for who you are. We are all amazing in our own unique ways. Cause baby we are born this way *cue Lady Gaga song*

#21 - Rely on yourself

You're the best asset you can have. To achieve your dreams, to reach your goals remember, hard work will never betray you. Be confident, learn as many things as possible!

#22 - You're the creator of your own happiness

I've been teaching myself not to rely on other things to make me happy. Like the point above, we are also the best source of our own happiness. Most of the time, we forget about this.

#23 - Don't complicate things

Life's tough, so please don't make it tougher!

#24 - You're not alone

This is something I learned a few years back. Pretty recent. This lesson reminds me that I'm not alone. That all my actions will impact someone else near me. Be it big or small, be it someone close or not. So yeah be responsible of your own doings. As much as this is your life, we're not alone here. And also, do remember if you have problems, there are people around you who you can talk to.

#25 -  Life will always find a way

If I can sum life in six words, these would be it :)

Yup! That's all from my mini celebration of turning 25 haha. I've been wanting to do this every year but I suppose 25 is a good point, since I'm a quarter of a century old now. Here's to seeing more wonders of life, here's to more lessons that I will learn. And ultimately, here's to finding out the meaning of life and to finding our the reason why we're born into this beautiful world. Thanks for reading! :)

Twenty Five

Whew today marks the day which I survived 25 revolutions around the sun while living on planet earth! Basically, I turned twenty five haha. I can't believe it, I'm a quarter of century old now :O Meh I don't feel old though. I finally reached the age in which I asked how life will be, back ten years ago haha. Well here I am now, feeling alright, grown up a lot. Still figuring out what life is.

Well today was just another ordinary Monday. Busy as usual, it is usually the busiest day of the week for me. Had a nice dinner with my aunts (my first aunt share the same birthday as me!) and cousins, it was pretty much an enjoyable evening! Such a filling one too. Thank you Osasan for the treat hehe. 

Quite crazy to think that all of my cousins are adults now! Feels like yesterday when we were still kids feeling super excited about birthdays. Well still excited now too haha but in a different way. Excited in a sense like we are all grown ups now. That kind of excitement HAHAHA.

Since today is rather a busy day, I didn't have much time to contemplate as usual. But I did spend the past three days writing on my journal. I've actually decided to list down 25 things I learned in the past 25 years of my life! Well of course there are definitely more than 25, but I just list down the 25 most impactful lessons I've learned I suppose? I'm still currently at 21 so yeah 4 more to go tonight!

I'm going to write here soon, since it's getting pretty late now.

Can't really put into words about turning 25. My life so far has been such an incredible odyssey. Such an epic journey! I've always felt like my life is too interesting to be told into words. Currently I've learned that I should really make the best out of everything that I have. The time, the place, the things that I'm doing, and so on. Because everything that you do now, will definitely get you somewhere.

So let us all enjoy the joy, struggle, confusion and everything else in between of the present moment. They will get us somewhere for sure. Where are we going? Nobody really knows.

Okay let me finish my journal entry first. I'll talk more about the 25 lessons here!

And as always, happy birthday to me.

Cambodia Trip - Part 3

 

Alright my last part for the Cambodia trip where I'll be talking about Siem Reap town! I didn't spend that much time in town. In fact, I actually only spent about 15 hours in total in the town haha. Since I spent most of my time at the Angkor Complex, and only going to the city centre for food and walking around. I didn't have time to explore other parts of the town. Which I really wish I did.

So as mentioned on the first part, I arrived in Siem Reap at 2:30 PM, and took a tuk-tuk (rhyme intended) to the hotel. Which after that I went to walk around the city centre as well. The first afternoon was just spent getting myself familiarised with the city and the surrounding. My hotel is located about 5-minute walk to the city centre. Which is kinda nice because it's rather quiet mwahaha. It can get pretty bustling and crowded in the city centre. Or you can take a tuk-tuk and cut it short to a minute.

 Psar Chaa. We call market pasar too! I wonder where's the similarity from

On my first day I just spent walking around the old market or Psar Chaa. The inside of the market is actually a local market, with vendors selling food and seafood and other goods. In the morning they even have vegetable and fruit vendors where the locals buy! Whereas the surrounding of the market is more of the tourists with souvenirs and clothes etc. I was just walking around to see what's there to see and buy. Got myself some postcards as usual. And then I went for dinner at Haven!

 Haven!

I found Haven through TripAdvisor and also a vegan YouTuber (Libby and Marcel). Was reading online that they are easily booked out for dinner so I sent a reservation in the morning before my flight to Siem Reap heh. Thankfully they replied and I got a table! Okay I didn't have any meal since like 11 AM so I was very hungry. I ordered 3 dishes and the staff looks so shocked hahaha. But he's really nice and attentive, making sure I enjoyed my meal at a comfortable pace! :D

 This is the sour soup with vegetables. I've never eaten such cute lotus roots before heh

Okay food I ordered are: Cambodian Khmer curry, a local sour soup with vegetables and vegan armok made out of tofu! armok is a traditional Cambodian dish usually made with fish. But here they made it with tofu and it's really good. I only had one plate of rice and three dishes. I think the sour soup with vegetables is the best dish. Very refreshing and delicious. The food at Haven is very very good. They are well-seasoned and the portion size is very good. Thankfully I made a reservation cause as I was eating there are lots of people coming in. I might not get a seat! I recommend everyone to come here :)

 Murals depicting life of the Buddha at Wat Preah Prom Rath

Oh yes I also went to two temples at Siem Reap. The first one I went to was Wat Damnak and then Wat Preah Prom Rath. Wat Damnak is located near the hotel. I was just wandering around and went inside to take a look. There were a few monks and a few locals (look like students!) studying on the benches. War Preah Prom Rath is located beside the old market and it is a beautiful temple. There's an area with walls depicting the life of the Buddha. Very serene and quiet to walk around.

Okay something embarrassing happened. So at the temples, there are beautiful stupas at the temple ground. Some of the stupas look really beautiful, some look ordinary. I took a photo of one of them. The next day I asked Mr Sophea what these stupas are and... It's a place where family put the ashes of the deceased in, and do prayers. Oh dear, I was a bit shocked and embarrassed haha.

 Chilling with Angkor beer after a hot day out!

That's all for my first day in Siem Reap. The second night (after I returned from Angkor Wat) was just spent eating dinner and walking around the old market to look for things to buy home. I had a Cambodian porridge? It's usually made with fish but I asked the lady at the restaurant no fish, no fish sauce, just tofu hahaha. And thankfully she understood! But err no fish sauce so it was a tad bland, had to ask her for some soy sauce. Pretty good and heartening dish definitely!

 My tofu porridge haha

Okay this is really random and weird. I don't know why but throughout the trip I was craving for soupy and warm dishes, when I spent my day under the hot Cambodian sun :O

 All you need after doing a temple run

My third day ended in the afternoon. After Mr Sophea dropped me off at the hotel at about 3 PM I think, I went to take a shower because I was sweating like crazy heh. And then rested for a while and headed off to town again at 4:30 ish. This time round I was looking for something light since it's before dinner. Found Fresh Fruit Factory again via TripAdvisor and had a superb shaved ice dessert with mango!

Lazy Sunday afternoon at Fresh Fruit Factory

The cafe is owned by a Japanese couple who served with Japanese hospitality. Like the lady actually walked with me to the entrance of the cafe to look for a tuk-tuk! Had a nice chat with them as well. And the shaved ice is so so good. Usually shaved ice is bland, but I think they added milk in the ice which makes it sweet and delightful. All you need after a day of doing temple run definitely!

Then I went back to town. With time to kill I went to get foot massage hah. My legs are feeling really sore anyway. And then I went to get dinner, this time round at a pasta place. I usually refuse to eat non-local food when I travel abroad. But I went past this restaurant and I was just craving for carbs heh. So I got myself some nice cacio e pepe (cheese and pepper) with homemade pasta. It was really good.

 Too old for this shiz

Walked around town again to check the hyped pub street but I feel like I'm too old for that shiz haha. Beer is so cheap though, I saw bars selling like 50 cents beer! Also I got asked by so many random tuk-tuk drivers and men if I want "massage girls" and "go-go girls". No thanks. 

I went to the Angkor market which is kinda similar to the old market. Went to walk around again to different parts of town. And I decided to just go back to the hotel to do some journaling and packing up. Well I really wish I had more time to explore the other parts of town, and even to go to the Angkor Museum. Well maybe one day if I return again I'll come back to these places! Thank you Siem Reap :)

 Sunset in Siem Reap

Okay my first impression of Siem Reap is that it really reminds me of my hometown. Or in fact it reminds me a lot of Indonesia. The houses, the people and the hustle and bustle. Well after all we are in Southeast Asia so we all kinda look a like haha. Siem Reap is kind of like a combination of quiet and bustle. I love the pace of life here, but at the same time things around me seem to be so active and are moving quickly. It's a mixture of both. I can't really put it into words.

On the other hand, life moves really slowly on the outskirts of town. It's very quaint and pretty pleasing to drive around the countryside. The houses around me are still built traditionally (they are high above the ground). Paddy fields here and there, with the occasional cows and buffalo passing by. If I can spend some time staying with a local here I would definitely do so!

Locals at the old market

Cambodians are also some of the friendliest and warmest people I've met. I didn't have a lot of opportunities talking with a local, apart from Mr Sophea and few others. Okay the reality of life is not that sweet here. And it breaks my heart a little seeing little kids selling things at the Angkor complex, when they should be in school studying. But such is life I guess, just like in some parts of Indonesia.

Okay I don't know much about the politics and economics of the country. But well, after a tumultous history that the country had to endure, I really just wish that Cambodia and her people will always be blessed with happiness and prosperity as they move forward. It's really a wonderful country, although I've only seen a tiny fraction of it. And I hope I can have the chance to go back one day, to see other parts of Cambodia, and see the Angkor Wat again hopefully!

Alright that's all for my blog posts of my trip to Cambodia! Another country ticked off the bucket list, and I wonder where else I'm gonna go. And when! Haha that's the ultimate question. My heart's fulfilled seeing the Angkor Wat. A place I've been fascinated with since young. To walk along its walls and grounds felt pretty incredible. I hope you'll have the chance to see and visit them too. 

Thanks for tuning in!

Au kaun Siem Reap

Cambodia Trip - Part 2

 

Alright lets continue with my second day exploring the Angkor complex!

My third day in Cambodia started really early - 4:45 AM early to be exact. This is because we were going to catch sunrise at Angkor Wat! Although we're not lucky on that day sob sob. Anyway I woke up at 4 AM, didn't shower or anything, just washed my face and grab some dried fruits I bought the night before for snacks. Met Mr Sophea again at 4:45 and off we go to Angkor Wat!

 No luck for sunrise. But still magical!

Before we left I looked up the sky and see no stars at all. It was just really cloudy. So I kinda knew we won't be so lucky with the sunrise. Got a nice spot at Angkor Wat for the sunrise but well it was really cloudy so there's no beautiful colours of the skies behind the temple. Nevertheless it was rather magical seeing the sky slowly light up. It was pretty quiet, with only the sounds of crickets and frogs harmonising beautifully. Spent a few more minutes after sunrise to take more shots!

 6 AM

After that we went back to the hotel, it was 7 AM then. My plan was to shower, eat breakfast, and meet Mr Sophea again at 9 AM. But err plan failed. I fell asleep after I showered till 8:30 and rushed to meet him haha. Oh well no worries, I had a super filling lunch later on haha.

For today we went to explore a few more temples, and some which is located 20 KM away from Siem Reap. We went to the temples in the "grand circuit" which includes Preah Khan, East Mebon, Neah Pon. And also temples that are further away like Banteay Srei and Banteay Samre.

 Entrance to Preah Khan

The first temple stop was Preah Khan, which is a temple dedicated to the King's father. It is also used as a monastery with lots of Buddhist monks that used to live there. It looks and feels similar to Ta Prohm, also it is quite significant in size as compared to the other temples. The entrance of the temples is lined with boundary stones. The purpose of these stones is to protect the temple from evil.

 Boundary stones leading to the temple

Which my guide shared an interesting story with me. So he once brought a guest from India, and when they reached this temple, the guest told him that he couldn't enter the temple because there's fire at the entrance (which there isn't, obviously). So my guide was saying that maybe this guest practised some incantations which goes against the incantations of the king, hence preventing him to enter the temple. So he actually waited outside the temple while the others went in! :O

 Notice how the doorways get lower and lower as you go inside

The temple is cool in a way that the doorways are made lower and lower as we go inside. The king designed this to make people bow lower and lower, as a sign of respect to his father. Pretty cool right. Also there's a shrine dedicated to Indra Devi. Another interesting story is that the shrine was found in the middle of rubble. While the areas around the shrine falls within, the shrine is still intact, somehow. People still go to the shrine to pay respect to Indra Devi till today. Including me! :P

 Looking similar to Ta Prohm right?

The temple ground is quite huge, and it was a pretty enjoyable morning exploring its ground.

 Neah Pon = two nagas intertwined. Can you see the two heads?

The next temple we went to was Neah Pon. The temple is located in the middle of the Jayatataka barray. This temple is dedicated to medicinal treatment? The temple is in the middle of a pond. And on each of the four directions of the pond, there are 4 statues of a human, lion, naga and horse. Water would come out of the statues' mouth and people would bathe on the flowing water to get treatments from their ailments. Sadly these statues are off-limit to visitors now so I can only see the human one.

 East Mebon

Next stop before lunch was the East Mebon temple. A temple made out of pink sandstone, which make it stands out from the other temples with its colour! It reminds me of The Prambanan temple in Indonesia. The temple has beautiful detailed carvings all over the temple. The doorway in the central tower still looks amazing too after all these years. I think these temples are more well preserved than the others. Well there are still signs of vandalisms here and there :l

 Banteay Srei

We then went for lunch where I ate a lot haha. After that we went to smaller temples which are located about 20 KM away from Siem Reap! They are Banteay Srei, Banteay Samre and Pre Rup. Banteay Srei is another one of my favourites! It is also made out of pink sandstone, and it is dedicated to Shiva. The carvings around this temple is so beautiful. Most of them depicting Shiva. Sadly the central towers are off limits, but the other areas around the temple is pretty beautiful.

 Beautiful carving of Shiva

Although Banteay Srei is relatively smaller in size as compared to the other temples that I went to, the beautiful and intricate carvings around the temple definitely made up for it. And once again, thinking about how this temple was built 1100 years ago always send shivers down my spine. There's even Sanskrit inscription on some walls. Pretty pretty cool seriously.

 Banteay Samre

The second last temple for the day was Banteay Samre, which is a temple dedicated to the local samre people, who lived around the temple. They helped build the temple and also join the king's army, thus the king dedicated this temple for them. It is relatively bigger in size than Banteay Srei. Not many people visit this temple, maybe because of the distance. There were only 3 people in the temple back then! Pretty serene and nice to just walk around in the afternoon.

 Banteay Samre from afar. 

It literally rained after I told Mr Sophea "looks like it's going to rain" hahaha

Okay we wanted to go to Pre Rup, but just as we left Banteay Srei, it was pouring super heavily. Apparently it's normal to rain like that in Cambodia, which will last for about 2 hours and then it will come to a complete stop heh. So we just went pass by the temple to see it from the road. Which is still pretty impressive! But the rain got heavier, there was even a slight flood on the road as we made our way back to Siem Reap. But I kinda felt happy cause oh gosh the weather was so hot haha.

 Palm fruit seeds. Looks like Calincing to me

On my way back my guide bought for me a type of palm fruit seeds? I'm not sure what to call it but in Indonesia it's quite similar to "calincing". It's kind of like a coconut xiao long bao haha. It's still a bit tough but this is the right time to harvest them. My guide told me it can get even tougher.

 Mr Sophea, me, and our wonderful driver! Thank you so much.

I bid farewell to my wonderful guide, Mr Sophea, as he dropped me off back at the hotel. I would like to thank him for being such an awesome guide in those two days! Couldn't ask for a better guide really. To those of you going to Siem Reap, I highly recommend Happy Angkor Tour for your tour around the Angkor Complex. Find them on TripAdvisor (like I did) and do contact them okay! Oh and special mention to our driver, whom I didn't know his name, for being an awesome driver too!

Spent the rest of the day walking around town again, but I'll talk about it in my next post!

 Imagine being in this place without learning anything!

So yup that's all for my two short but wonderful and fruitful day in the Angkor Complex. Not gonna lie, my initial plan was to just fly to Siem Reap, hire a tuk-tuk and explore the temple on my own. But after my trip to Tibet, I learned how important it is (for me that is) to learn more about the history of the place, rather than just seeing them! So I decided to sign up for a tour and well it was definitely a right decision. Learned more than I expected myself to learn about the history and culture of the Khmer empire. And about Hinduism too mwahaha. Thank you Mr Sophea once again! Ao Kaun!

 Sanskrit inscriptions at Banteay Srei, dating to 960 AD!

As someone who's always intrigued by time and history, exploring the Angkor complex is definitely something I enjoyed a lot. As I walk through the temples, I often wonder and imagine how life was 1000 years ago here, on the same spot that I was standing on? To be in a place where the past remained is an incredible feeling. And it made me eager to explore more places around the globe!

Alright that's all for now. Continuing to part three soon. Thanks for tuning in :)

Cambodia Trip - Part 1

 

Alright before we begin let me give you an outline of my trip! I went for this trip on Friday, 30th of June till Monday 3rd of July. I flew from Indonesia to Bangkok with Air Asia, and then another flight to Siem Reap! Arriving at around 2:30 PM. Reached town at 3:30 ish, checked in the hotel and then spent the day walking around town. I booked a 2-day tour package from Happy Angkor Tour which started on the 1st and 2nd of July. Including both sunrise and sunsets! No luck with both though :(

So I'm going to divide my post into three parts, this part about my first day at Angkor, second part about my 2nd day at Angkor and last part about Siem Reap itself. I visited a lot of temples at the Angkor Complex so they definitely deserve individual posts for each day hoho. Alright lets begin!

 View of Angkor from the east!

On my second day (1st July), I got picked up by my guide from Happy Angkor Tour (HAT), Mr Sophea! We began by going to the Angkor ticketing place to get my 2-day pass, which entitles you to visit any temple in a period of ten days, but only applicable for 2 days. The first temple we went to was the Angkor Wat itself. What I love about HAT is that Mr Sophea knows the entry places and timing. We went by the East gate and there's nobody there! Awesome photos time.

Along the way he explained to me a lot about the history of the Khmer empire and Angkor Wat itself. And inside, he explained a lot about the carvings etc. My first impression of Angkor Wat is that it is really really impressive. For a temple to last for almost a thousand years, with such magnificence and grandeur, is really mindblowing. No metals, no concrete and no woods, just blocks of stones carved!

Okay I won't go into details of the history of the Khmer empire hah, but basically the Angkor Wat is actually a Hindu temple, which is then converted into a Buddhist temple. You can find many carvings telling Hinduism mythology inside. Even the architecture is also linked with Hinduism!

 Can you see the 5 towers?

I thought Angkor Wat consists of 3 towers (as seen from the side views) but I learned that there are actually 5 towers. 4 towers surrounding one tall tower in the middle. So from any sides, you'll only "see" three towers. The 4 towers represent Mt Meru and the middle, tallest tower represents the centre of the Universe. The moat (water body) surrounding the temple represents the mythical ocean surrounding earth. Pretty interesting facts I've learned in this temple.

 The demons (asuras) in the churning of the milk ocean carving

There's also a carving that tells the story of the churning of the milk ocean, which is a famous Hindu mythology. The carving is really beautiful and it shows the devas (gods) and asuras (demons) milking the mountain which is carried by a turtle. I've never known about this story, and Mr Sophea explained it to me really well. Walking through Angkor Wat is like getting a crash course in Hinduism haha.

 Sigh...

Although I feel really sad also to realise that there are a lot of vandalism carried out in the past 20 years. Missing heads from Buddha statues, missing carvings, missing statues of gods and deities, all of these that were sold to the black market by some irresponsible and heartless people. I mean how can they so easily disregard the glory of the Khmer empire? This empire that once stood gloriously on the soil that they lived on. Oh well, money do make the world go round right.

 Ta Prohm

After Angkor Wat we went to the next temple called Ta Prohm, which is also known as the Tomb Raider temple! It is the temple which they shot the movie at. Also it is the movie that made me so fascinated with Angkor Wat mwahaha. The temple is built by Jayavarman VII, and is dedicated for his mother. This is one of my favourite temples because it is really quaint and peaceful inside. Also the big cotton trees that grow and sit on some of the temple structures are amazing.

 Reminder: The planet doesn't need us to live on

Although to me those trees are just a reminder that this planet doesn't need us to live on. After Ta Prohm we went to a few other temples namely Ta Nei and Ta Keo. Ta Nei is located in the middle of a forest. It is an amazing small temple for its size, filled with lots of beautiful carvings. Ta Keo is an unfinished temple because it was said that the king would fall sick (a bad omen) if he were to finish the temple. Okay sadly I don't have much photos in these two cause my camera was dying :(

The carved faces at every gate of Angkor Thom

After Ta Prohm we went to Angkor Thom, which was once the capital city of the Khmer empire! It is a huge complex, which was once surrounded by tall walls (3 KM in length if I'm not wrong). In each gate, facing the four directions, is a huge statue of Avalokitesvara! Although my guide says that some are debating that the face may belong to the king. Or the Buddha. Or a mixture hah.

 Elephant Terrace

There's a place called the Elephant Terrace. This is like the "parade square" of the Khmer empire. They would have elephants and the army marching around a road beneath the terrace. And there would be circus performances for the king too. The place is really huge! I can totally imagine how it was back then, during such parades. We went to a few different temples, namely Ba Poun and Bayon.

 Bayon

Bayon temple is another favourite of mine. It is the famous temple with many faces of Avalokitesvara (again, still debated whether they are the king's). There used to be 54 towers with the faces, which totaled up to 216 faces! But my guide says there's only about 40 left standing now. I really love this temple because it felt really incredible to be standing in the middle of this temple. I feel so amazed by every aspect of the temple. The faces, the tall towers and the intricate carvings. It's really amazing.

 Look at how similar these faces are, such skills!

What's amazing is that each of these carved faces look pretty similar with one another. The high skills required to do this is really admirable. And they last all these years!

The last temple for the day was Phnom Bakheng, which is the spot to watch the sun sets! But there's no luck because it was rather cloudy. The temple is located on top of a hill, and I started hiking at 4 PM. Reached the top at about 4:30 PM and we had to wait for about 1.5 hours for the sun to set. At this time the top was filled with people. And the temple authorities only allow a certain number of people on top so I suppose we were lucky to get a spot. I was feeling so tired I fell asleep! :P

 Angkor Sunset. Kind of.

But yeah there's no luck for sunset as it was rather cloudy. I did take some shots of the sun peaking behind some clouds though which look kinda amazing. I then made my way down and that's all for day two! Went back to town for dinner and walked around to shop for souvenirs haha. 

Well I had such an incredible day the Angkor Complex. To learn so much about the Khmer history and also about Hindu Mythology. As someone who loves history, it was pretty much a heart-fulfilling day. Was really looking forward to learn more about the Khmer History the next day as I explored more temples at the complex. I love seeing the remnants of the past, and learn about them. So yup, Siem Reap was the place to go I suppose. Alright moving on to part two soon!

Back Again

Just a little preview!

Hello everyone! Oh gosh it's been so long since I've blogged. Yes lots of things happened! I think I didn't mention it in my blog but I just returned from my trip to Cambodia! Okay not exactly "just" returned, I was back home since Monday haha. But was really finishing up the pile of work that I had for leaving home for 4 days! Well it was worth it in the end, every bit of it :P It was a wonderful trip!

So anyway yes I went to Cambodia on Friday 30th June till Monday 3rd of July. It's a lovely trip because I've been wanting to go to Cambodia to see the Angkor Wat! Been fascinated with it since I was young, thanks to Lady Croft from Tomb Raider haha. I would say this is the most spontaneous trip I've made. Although it's not like one-day or one-week spontaneous, but I actually booked for this trip less than a month from the departure date! So yeah that's pretty spontaneous for me heh.

I'm going to blog about the trip definitely so stay tuned. In the meantime I'm still sorting out the photos and finishing the video about the trip! Gonna be done real soon. Also I have a lot of things that I wanna blog about. I hope to hit more than ten posts this month! Need to make up for them heh.

Alright that's all from me today. I'll start blogging about the trip real soon! See ya :)