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| Saturday, 19-Jan-2008 03:00 |
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Happy 1st. Anniversary To Izhar & Farah
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| Tuesday, 15-Jan-2008 17:56 |
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Puisi Buckingham Palace Khas Untuk Queen Elizabeth II
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| Wednesday, 9-Jan-2008 23:55 |
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Day 7 & 8 - Bangkok and Returning To Malaysia
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| Monday, 7-Jan-2008 22:00 |
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Day 6 - Bangkok - 3 piece Suits For Potential Job As Waiters!
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Yeah making 3 piece suits for potential job as waiters in a restaurant! 
Jangan would be customers lari sudah!
3 piece suits Bangkok mari....some more from Khaosan Road lah! 
St. Michael's Fashions www.stmichealsfashions.com at 42/1-2 Khaosan Road, Banglampoo, Bangkok 10200 Thailand
11.00am - Measurement, 7.30pm - First Fitting, Tomorrow 12.00noon - Another Fitting appointment! Wednesday - they better get them ready! We are flying home!
Anyway, breakfast was at the hotel (Included in room rate), lunch at Subway's Tuna Sandwich at Siam Discovery Center. Dinner was at a Thai Reastuarant somewhere near the tailor shop at Khaosan Road (seafood tomyam and steamed snapper fish with garlic and mineral water only!)
We went to the shopping complexes at MBK Center, Siam Discovery Center, Siam Center and Siam Paragon. Not much fun for me though as Subang Parade caters for my life needs!
At night we went to the neon-lit lanes of Patpong. I bought mummy a 100% leather handbag costing thousands (Baht lah ). I thought the purchase was justified after seing skimpy clad girls parading their bodies throught the open doors of the clubs from the Patpong Street red-light district!  . Anyway we didn't enter any one of them although we were offered free preview!
I was in bed before midnight for a dreamless night.
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| Sunday, 6-Jan-2008 17:04 |
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Day 5 - Phnom Penh - Bangkok
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10.30 am, we had breakfast at Mamak's Corner, Phnom Penh. There were quite a number of Malaysians looking for familiar food! We had roti sardin, roti telur, goreng ikan tenggiri, mee goreng mamak, teh tarik etc. We stopped at the Central Market on the way back to the hotel but didn't buy anything. We had to check-out at 12.00 noon as our triple room had been booked by others arriving form Siem Reap at around 1.00pm. With about 2.5 hours available before going to the airport we decided to go for massage before leaving Phnom Penh.
The Thai AIr Asia flight from Phnom Penh to Bangkok departed on time at 4:55pm. On arrival, we were very impressed with Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport and the tolled highway which the taxi passed on the way to our hotel, the Sawasdee Khaosan Inn. To our frustration, we had to be transferred to the nearby Sawasdee Bangkok Inn. The receptionist excused that the airconditioning was not functioning for the triple room was bullshit to me. It must be a problem of overbooking or giving preference to someone who decided to lengthen their stay there. I had made the booking months ahead and one night had been charged to my credit card to confirm the booking!
On arriving at Sawasdee Bangkok Inn, the receptionist there started to create another problem when he said that I cannot use my credit card.to pay the balance of two nights ( we will be here for three nights) accomodation (anyway the room rate is 1,100 baht per night for triple room anad each hotel have only about 2 triple rooms I think). I had to argue with him before he finally said that I could use my credit card. He was definitely unfriendly and uncooperative and showed his name pass rudely to me when I asked for it in order to make a complaint to the management about his behaviour. It was totlally opposite to what we encountered in Cambodia where they were very polite and accomodating.
We finally settled in our triple room. Izhar mentioned that it might now be unsafe to leave our valuables (Amir has his Apple McBook Pro wuth him) in the room after the above incident. I told him not to worry. Kita baca-baca ayat pendiding and if anything happen, it should be covered by the AIG Travel Insurance which I had purchased for the two of them for the duration of our travel.
Anyway, the good thing about Sawasdee Bangkok Inn is it is closer to Khaosan Road. Amir immediately liked Khaosan Road (as what Kak Long said....Khaosan Road best, happening!). We walked up and down the entire length of the street before settling for dinner at McDonald's there.....Fish Fillet McValu Meal apa lagi. Before that Amir had already eaten some vegetarian mixture of mee hoon and mee bought on Khaosan Road.
I hope to have a good rest tonight.
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| Saturday, 5-Jan-2008 22:00 |
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Day 4 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia
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It is Sunday morning 6 January 2007 when I am making this entry. I am simulataneously chatting with an Australian woman (from St Kilda, Melbourne) siting beside me using the hotel's two internet facilities. She has been staying about seven weeks (another week to go) in this hotel, volunteering teaching drama in a school set up by her friend for Cambodian children who do not have th opportunity to go to school. I told her I admire and salute her for her noble effort!
Today is free and easy day before we go to Phnom Penh airport to catch the Thai Air Asis flight at 4.55pm to Bangkok. We intend to have breakfast later at Mamak's Corner Muslim at Street 114, within walking distance from the hotel........now for yesterdays entry (Saturday 5 January 2007)
I started the day chatting with owner Dara (dah ada 3 anak just like me!) while ordering breakfast at the hotel we are staying while Izhar and Amir use the internet facilities. We hired a TukTuk (USD15 until 5pm).
1st stop - TUOL SLENG GENOCIDE MUSEUM USD2.00 per person
This is the school now turned into a museum where in 1975 Pol Pot's security forces turned it into a prison known as Security Prison 21 (S-21). You can see the depiction of torture and horror (apparently worst than the Nazi's!) to what actually happened here, i.e. the crimes of the Khmer Rouge. All the visitors just remained silent going through or reading about the exhibits.
ISA Kamunting Prison is nothing man!
2nd stop - KILLING FIELDS OF CHEUNG EK USD 2.00 per person
17,000 men, women, children and infants were terminated here after undergoing prisonment and torture at S-21 above. They were bludgeoned to death by Khmer Rouge to save on bullets. The skeletons have been unearthed and the skulls stacked up in a memorial constructed here.
3rd stop - RUSSIAN MARKET (Psar Tuol Tom Pang)
Did not purchase anythinh here except jagong (Maize) to eat. We also had our drinks here.
4th stop - ROYAL PALACE AND SILVER PAGODA
Stopped, queued and find out about the entrance fee but chickened out to enter. We felt that we would not miss much by not going into this place.
5th stop - WAT PHNOM
Went around the tree covered knoll to do an assignment for mummy. She smsed me to take photographs of heritage buildings, parks and people with activities for her to use as illustrations for a seminar on vibrant city and community.
6th stop - Boeng Kak Lake
I requested the Tuk Tuk driver to take us here hoping to do mummy's assigment. But the place where he took us was an area with numerous lakeside guesthouses and so many tourists staying there. Amir finally bought the Pisang Panggang (Barbequed Bananas) which he wanted to do since in Siem Reap.
It was about 4.00pm and we requested the TukTuk driver to bring us back to the hotel. I went for massage by a blind man nearbye (USD5.00 per hour) while Izhar and Amir used the internet.
We walked to Malaysian's Puncak Hotel and Restaurant on Street 172 for dinner. Then it is off to Kabab shop at Street at Street 104 for a supplementary dinner of Sheeh Kebab (ordered only one....nak merasa!) before walking back to the hotel. Tak de gambar masa makan dinner and the supplementary, malu makan banyak sangat!
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| Friday, 4-Jan-2008 21:00 |
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Day 03 - Siem Reap to Phnom Penh on National Route 6
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We had a very late 10.30am breakfast at our Siem Reap's Golden Temple Villa Guesthouse. We then went for a quick walk to visit the nearby Neak Mah Mosque of Stung Thmei Village. There was a man who greeted us in Malay and we saw people starting to arrive for their Friday Prayers. Unfortunately we could not stay long because our bus to Phnom Penh was at 12.30pm. We paid USD2.00 for the transfer by TukTuk from the guesthouse to the bus station.
The bus we took was the Mekong Express Limousine at USD9.00 per person. I opted for this bus because quite a number of travellers mentioned about it on the internet. They have two hostesses on the bus distributing wet paper towels, mineral water, and Cambodian cakes in boxes (which we did not eat). One of the hostesses gave a few running touristic commentaries during the journey. To my mind, Tony Fernanedez would have cut all those frills and passed the savings to the travelling passengers, mostly tourists. If I were ever to take a bus again on this route, I would definitely take the double decker purple Cambodia Angkor Express at only USD6.00 per person with almost similar schedule and depart, stop and arrive at the same place but without all the frills. I suppose Mekong Express was one of the first bus services and there are many competition right now.
There is a toilet on the bus but it still made a 15 minutes stop midway at Kampong Thom where we bought some fruits and almost wanted to taste the fried Cicadas (I used to catch simiar insects with my hand when I was young......called yang yang!)
We arrived Phnom Penh around 6.15 pm after almost 6 hours on the road for a 320km journey along National Route 6......must be like Malaysia's Federal Route 1 from KL to JB during the 1970s I supposed!
It was dark on arrival but one thing I like about the tourist industry services in Cambodia is that the hotels (even the budget hotels!) provide FREE pickup service even at the bus stations! There I was grinning alighting from the bus when seeing someone with the placard DARA REANG SEY - MOSLIM OTHMAN.
A car took us to the Dara Reang Sey Hotel in Phnom Penh city where we were greeted by Mdm Dara on arrival. I have read on the internet that this budget hotel is run by two woman named Dara and Reang Sey!
Our room is a Triple Room for only USD25.00 per night. Izhar and Amir gave me the centre bed! The airconditioned room was OK and my only complaint was that the washbasin/sink outlet is on the floor and the water flows on the floor before discharging into the floor trap in the bathroom! I felt like going to the hardware store and make the necessary DIY improvements to discharge the water direct to the floor trap! Amir said that we can always brush our teeth the bath tub (surprisingly they have a clean bath tub!) We will survive but I don' think mummy will! Nevertheless, this budget hotel seemed to be very popular with foreign tourists as there are many of them here at the moment.
Our hotel is quite strategically located in Phnom Penh. We walked to the Sorya Department Store and had Fish Fillet Burger Value Meal (Cambodian fast food company "Seven" something can't remember) for dinner and then Ice Cream for dessert.
On the way back to the hotel we walked along the riverfront area (Sisowath Quay) which is popular with the locals and tourists. I slept early tonight.
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| Thursday, 3-Jan-2008 18:00 |
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Day 2 - Siem Reap - Angkor Archaeological Park
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We started early travelling with the TukTuk to catch the sunrise at Angkor Wat. We then entered the Angkor Wat followed by breakfast (USD8.25) somewhere nearby. Then it was off to visit the other archaeological ruins....so many of them and we have to be selective!
These are the ones we visited and entered 1) Phnom Bakheng (yesterday sunset), 2) Angkor Wat (today sunrise), 3) Banteay Kdei, 4) Bamteay Srey (the furthest 38 km from Siem Reap! what an experience travelling on TukTuk so far!), 5) Pre Rup, 6) Ta Phrom (the one only partially cleared of jungle overgrowth), and 7) Bayon (they say if you see only two, Angkor Wat and Bayon should be the ones). There are others we passed and the TuKTuk stopped but we looked at each other and said "Passed!" without alighting!. In fact Izhar did mentioned, luckily Baba didn't bring them when they were small, otherwise they would have said "Not another one! Nak balik hotel!) .
Anyway we then have to make another final stop at Angkor Wat again somewhere around 2.30pm because almost all the brochures or books on Angkor Wat stated that the best time to see Angkor Wat is in the afternoon. But something must be wrong with my aging eyes.....SAME SAME man! 
We than headed for a late lunch (USD21.00) at a new halal Malaysian Restaurant, D'Wau Restaurant. Food was quite nice. Then it was back to our guesthouse and I managed to walk to a mosque located near our guesthouse before resting.'
At night we went to the Angkor Night Market in Siem Reap. We didn't fell like having dinner and therefore just had some fruit juices and dessert (USD11.00) in one of the pubs (upstairs) with live music performance in "Pub Street", the night happening place in Siem Reap.
Tomorrow at 12.30pm, we have purchased tickets for the 5.5 hours Mekong Express Bus service from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia.
Here are some pics (none from Amir's camera yet!). I shall start with the heartbreaking quote (in fact used by álmost all of them when trying to sell their souvenir items!) of the day from this charming Cambodian little girl who spoke good English in response to Izhar's "IT IS OK"
We were really impressed with the Cambodian little girls behaviour because they were polite and courteous and not that pushy when trying to sell their souvenir items. You just want to help them wherever possible!
"SIR, IT IS OK FOR YOU, BUT IT IS NOT OK FOR ME!"
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| Wednesday, 2-Jan-2008 17:05 |
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Men Only Outing! Father and Sons Bonding! Day 01 - Siem Reap
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QUICK TEMPORARY ENTRY FROM FREE INTERNET SERVICE AT GUESTHOUSE
I did not bring along my notebook!
I am also not using photos taken by Amir (using his canggih camera) yet!
Arrived Siem Reap 8.00am. Mummy dropped us at LCCT 5.30am before she
proceeded to KLIA to catch her 7.30am flight to Penang for work!
Free limousine pickup service waitng for the three of us at the airport!
The guesthouse Golden Temple Villa could not give us the triple room I booked
throught the internet. They instead gave us two rooms for USD20 both rooms
per night as compensation, i.e less than USD25 per night for the one triple room.
Lunch at the Maharajah for USD17.75
Purchased the USD20 per person 1 Day Pass for the Angkor Archaeological Park.
This is for tomorrow's entrance. Purchased today to avoid having to queue tomorrow.
Amir is seen having his photo taken for the 1 day pass at the counter.
They issue pass with your photo on it to control entrance!
You have to show your pass to one at various place.
This 1 day pass is valid 5.00pm the day before for you to see the sunset!
To many tourists for the sunset at one of the ruins - Phnom Bakheng!
Phnom Bakheng
and too many photographers showing of their expensive toys!
Dinner at Shadow of Angkor Restaurant at USD13.00. Not bad lah.
OK Good night.
Wanna sleep early and wake up for the sunset among the ruins!
....STUPID tourists !
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| Sunday, 23-Dec-2007 22:00 |
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Nostalgic Memories Penang
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...kalau betul..macam mana nak apply keje kat situ? btw...terlalu sini...i thought orang putih nyer page tadi. sbb address dia 25th anniversary. enjoy gak baca fotopages uncle nie walaupun tak kenal.
sedapnya tomyam...pukul 5.30ptg on the 2nd jan ritu I pun ada dekat Lcct - sedapkan subway tuna sandwich nak lagi kick tambah chili pickle lebih sikit.. 
.....not a budget hotel with insufficient bathroom facilities 
...must be this new short haircut I just got! Heee...Hee.e... OK, back to work! Lots to do and complete....Enjoy yerself guys! 
