London (2012)

    
I don't even know how to begin with London. I bought my flight ticket about a week before i had to fly, at the spur of the moment. My first solo trip, and i decided to go somewhere that is 6,500 miles away from home. It felt unreal, even after i touchdown at Heathrow airport. All thanks to a very comfortable flight with Qatar (the in-flight entertainment was amazing), i wasn't exhausted nor jetlagged. Bleary-eyed but ecstatic at the same time, i finally made my way out of the airport.

    

Decided to stop by Buckingham Palace since i'm in time for the changing of the guard ceremony. Being one of the most popular tourist attraction in London, the crowd was way too overwhelming for me and i didn't stay for too long. But that prince charming on that gorgeous black horse is definitely worth the stop.

    

I love walking around the parks with all the greeneries and fresh air, can't help but be in good spirits with the surroundings. One of my favourite park is Hype Park, where they even have lounge chairs by the lake and i can imagine spending a nice afternoon reading by the lake. Spring is definitely looking so damn fine with all the fresh flowers blossoming, but i clearly underestimated how cold it can be and ended up freezing most of the time.

The artsy fartsy side of me couldn't resist stoping by liverpool street to see some street graffiti art, and i wasn't disappointed. The attention to details was mind blowing. The Shoreditch area of London has been a significant street art location since the early 2000s. The work on the wall is constantly changing, so do drop by and explore around or join a walking tour if you're interested.

    

Being my first time in London, i just had to see the typical attractions - Big Ben, London Eye, London Bridge, St. Paul's Cathedral, The Monument, National Gallery, Westminster Abbey, etc. With so many iconic attractions, sightseeing in London is boundless. The antiquity and historic splendour was captivating, and its amazing diversity and unparalleled green spaces is a beauty.

     

     

    

    
I manage to meet up with a friend, and she brought me to Chinatown for the famous duck rice at Four Seasons. It was nice meeting up with friends at new places, having a tour guide to bring me around, and also a shopping companion at PRIMARK! :) You won't want to miss out this place in London, this is the place to be if you love shopping (who doesn't?!). I actually only found out about this place when i noticed almost everyone on the street is carrying paperbags from there. After shopping we stopped by Snog for some delicious yogurt ice-cream.

    

There’s a lot to love about London, like the art and the culture and the tea and the SCONES! Who can resist having an english afternoon tea in the country where it originated. Besides that, what i love about London is that it is an eclectic mix of everything. I particularly love the history at every turn where it is just oozing out to be absorbed as you go. I was only there for a few days and looking at the pictures now, i can't wait to be reunited with it. Need to start planning a trip back next year! :)

Till then,

xx

Cambodia (2012)

If you're wondering what to do in Cambodia, particularly Siem Reap, you have come to the right place!

Cambodia is one of the favourite countries that i've ever visited. Though it has many flaws and most of the time corrupted, aside from that, the people are one of the friendliest and contented ones i've ever met, not to mention the scrumptious food, beautiful temples and lively nightlife.

Throughout the 4D4N trip, it was filled with adventures where we ventured out and did something we've never tried before every waking day. Upon arrival, we checked in to the amazing Borei Angkor Resort & Spa (many thanks to Eve for arranging it). It was a luxurious hotel and we had an amazing stay.

After taking a short break in the hotel, we were being picked up for our first adventure with Siem Reap Quadbike. I'll definitely recommend this company as the guides are friendly and experienced, the equipments are in good condition as well. Once at their office, we were given a short briefing and hands-on session on how to ride the quadbike. It was fairly easy though we are inexperienced quad riders. I absolutely enjoyed every minute of riding on the back roads, across the rice fields and the villages, watching the clear blue sky turns gold during the sunset. The view of the gorgeous sunset in the countryside behind the villages is breathtaking to say the least. Along the ride, you will definitely bump into the local kids who will run after you waving and yelling "hellooooooo!" with a big smile on their faces :) All thanks to the thoughtful Eve, she prepared some gifts consisting of stationaries for us to distribute to them. It was such a joy to see how happy they are to receive something from us.

After a quick shower, we are crying for food already. Having been to Siem Reap before, i recommended the rest to have dinner at Khmer Kitchen Restaurant around the Pub Street area, and we had one of our best meals there. No drinks on our first night as we have to wake up really early the next day, hence we had an early night. The next day we got up by about 5am to witness the glorious sunrise at Angkor Wat. This will be the day we get temple-fied, since we'll be visiting most of the temples.

After Angkor Wat, we walked around the temple and visited other temples as well. Though i've been here before, i'm still pretty mesmerized and stand in awed of the ruins. As mentioned in the previous post, you should not miss Bayon Temple (towers with huge faces of buddha) and Ta Prohm (location for the tomb raider movie). We had lunch at the Father's Restaurant, and it was delicious! Also, dinner at Greenstar was incredible, do drop by this non-profit restaurant, highly recommended!

The next day, we are booked for 2 hour countryside horse riding at The Happy Ranch Horse Farm! This is one of the things that i've always wanted to try, and i have to say, i enjoyed every minute of it. I highly recommend this school because the ranch are very well maintained and the horses seems like they are loved and well cared for. After a quick lesson on navigating the horses, we are all set to go! The ride along the countryside trail took us to the unreachable, through local countryside villages and scenic rice fields. It's a great way to see the rural side of Siem Reap, and again i was mesmerized by the gorgeous sunset. We did distribute stationaries to the kids again as we ride through the villages. Ended the day with an amazing dinner at The Touich Restaurant Bar and drinks at Pub Street.

On our last day, we went to the old market to do some shopping. It's one of the cheapest place to get some souvenirs, well of course it depends on your bargaining skill. We ended up renting bicycles (US$1) and decided to cycle to Tonle Sap, which is probably about 15km each way. Many locals were quite dubious of our idea on cycling to Tonle Sap when we asked for directions, and to be honest, it's kinda far away, but we did had a great time. Ended the day with a much needed massage :)

This pretty much sums up our daily adventures in Siem Reap. Next up, LONDON BABY! :) 

Till then,

xx

thailand, part 3 (2011)

After an awesome 2 weeks of travels through Vietnam, i was really looking forward to Thailand. Except for the 24 hour bus ride that i have to endure to cross the border between Vietnam, Laos and Thailand. After the uneventful bus ride,  i met up with my church friends for a week long of mission work in Northern Thailand. It was a great experience, and i was truly very blessed by it.

Following that, i met up with a friend in Bangkok and spend a couple of days just eating, shopping and wandering around. It was during the heat of the ongoing protest, so i didn't stay for too long. Flew to Krabi to met up with Kate soon after and fell in love with the clear blue waters of thailand!

We stayed in Chanchalay Guesthouse in Krabi town for the first night. I love the beautiful decoration, it looks like a little cabin by the seashore, comes with a beautiful open air bathroom as well. Book the private ensuite with air-conditional and you won't regret it. We spent the rest of the day walking around town, eating way too many banana pancakes, getting a massage and manicure at the beach and shopping at the night market.

We took a tour to Phi Phi island the next day, and boy was i impressed. Breathtaking beaches, stunning rock formations and tranquil turquoise waters, pretty much sounds like a paradise to me! Bamboo Island and Maya Bay was absolutely gorgeous, would love to be back again. I know that it can get crowded, but ain't we all tourist ourselves? Try to get an earlier tour to avoid the crowd, and most importantly enjoy the view and live in the moment! I heard Phi Phi island has now turned into a party island with nightly fireworks and fireshows, also it's getting really popular with divers too.

After Phi Phi island, we took a boat to Phuket and spent a few nights there. We rented a motorbike and went around the island. It ended up with many hilarious stories! :) First, our bike was locked at the underground carpark as we parked it at the wrong section. The security guard was nice enough to just let us go, haha! We couldn't stop laughing as he was unlocking it. We decided to ride to Promthep Cape for sunset, and it was hell of a ride to the southern tip of Phuket. To be honest, i wasn't very confident of Kate's driving skill so i was literally screaming half the time to remind her to be careful. Until today, she still can't forget about how noisy i was, and we always end up laughing about it all over again.