Cambodia Day 3: Phnom Penh

So finally, I've come to my last day in Cambodia. I flew about an hour from Siem Reap to the capital city, Phnom Penh and met up with another coworker there. The city had a very different feel from the tourist town I was in before. The traffic was insane! There were more markets, but more the sort that residents would shop at everyday (or go to to get there hair done even!).

We went out for some drinks near the riverside. Can you believe this happy hour??

Here you can see what the streets were like. My favorite was the girls who rode on the back of scooter side-saddle, not even holding on.

And this traffic jam might make you want to buy a scooter too-

Now, one of the best parts of travelling...the food!

fresh, tropical fruits

 

some dishes were similar to Chinese or Thai

 

Angkor beer and a Watermelon Dream!

 

Can't wait to go travelling again~

Cambodia Day 2: Angkor Wat; Part 2

This next temple was really cool because it was sort of being taken back by the jungle. The trees just grew wherever they wanted to, and you could see how the roots grew through the broken rocks.

The color was interesting too. The trees were either white or silver.

This place was where the Tomb Raider movie was filmed, so many people were lining up to get their picture taken in front of this doorway.

This is the entranceway which had been repaired. You can tell because the railing is whole and all the extra rubble has been cleared away. Many other temples around had been repaired or were going to be. I kind of liked the feeling of the broken ones though :P






There were tons of other temples around, but we only got to a few others. The one on the left was falling apart, which is why the trees were cut in half so that they couldn't fall and break it any further. The one on the right was made of red rocks so it had a nice color, and there was another one just like it.

This one was a water temple. There was a very long bridge leading to it (with no railings!) and it was built in the middle of a square pool. It totally reminded me of the water temple in Ocarina of Time ahah

It was a long, hot day but it was so worth it! We were completely exhausted by around 6pm (mostly from the beating sun) so we headed home. My shoes were so sandy from walking!

Here is a picture of me with Mr. Chin, who drove us around all day in the tuk-tuk at Angkor Wat and also to and from the airport. Thank you~

Cambodia Day 2: Angkor Wat; Part 1

The next day we spent exploring the temples at Angkor Wat. We got up really early and went there in the dark so that we could see the sun rise over the temple.

Angkor Wat is a Hindu temple, but some other ones were Buddhist. They were all ruins, although a few were getting repaired to look like they originally did. I think the coolest part was that you could go anywhere as long as it wasn't unsafe. The stairs were very steep and some parts were worn off, so there was climbing involved. 

These were carvings on the inside walls. I can't imagine how long it must have taken to do all of this! The carvings were usually of dancers, Buddha or Hindu gods, or scenes from stories from (I'm assuming) the Ramayana and Mahabharata. 

These snake head statues were everywhere; I even saw some replicas in the capital Phnom Penh.

This is the reflecting pool out in front. It reminded me of the pool at Kinkakuji in Kyoto.

The next temple we went to was called Bayon. It was about 10 minutes down the road, and we passed some wild monkeys on the way! 

There were faces all over this temple, so it was really cool to look at and try to find them all.

You can see that many parts of the temples had fallen down. It reminded me of video games when you reach the end of the world so the way is blocked, but that actually exists! 

Opening the secret door, Indiana Jones-style.

Cambodia Day 1: Night Market in Siem Reap

Hello! Sorry for taking such a long break. I'm going to update from my trip to Cambodia in the end of February.

The first day I flew into Siem Reap, which is a touristy city because Angkor Wat is there. My coworker Tanya met me at the airport and we took a tuk-tuk back to the hotel.

On arrival, they gave me banana chips and juice

Since the rooms were only $15/night, we each got our own! There were two double beds and they provided bananas and lychees, bottled water, air conditioning (thankfully), wi-fi, cable TV with channels in English, Khmer, Japanese, and Chinese, and a Cambodian story to read before bedtime

beautiful sunset seen from the hotel

The night market was in the downtown area. There were tons and tons of small stalls selling all kinds of things, like postcards, pepper and coffee, scarves, dresses, souvenirs, bags, jewelry, pottery, etc.

Look at all the stalls!

Hello Kitty is popular everywhere apparently

Nearby there was a place called Pub Street that had bars, restaurants, and live music.

Got a Captain and Coke for $3.50!




More to come~

COSTCO

The other day, I took a trip down to a familiar place, Costco! I was really excited to go for 2 reasons: 1) to be able to compare the Costco at home to one in a different country, and 2) to get some good old 'merican food!

And the most interesting part was....

It is EXACTLY the same as at home 0_0

Seriously, when you walk in the cafeteria is on the right and entrance on the left, then you walk by the TVs and computers, the clothes are in the middle, bakery and deli in the back, pharmacy on the opposite side...all the same! They even had lots of the same products (which I was happy about haha), of which I bought ciabatta rolls, tortilla chips, chicken ceaser salad, and more.

OK, this pizza is a little different. It's got shrimp on it and it was located next to  the sushi section!

Then of course, we stopped of to get some hot dogs.

Same dog and drink combo :)

The pineapple smoothie looked good

 

the taste of home~

Unfortunately, I had to carry two giant and extremely heavy bags home on the train with me...made me miss the Mountaineer. But I've been eatin' good since-

新年あけましておめでとう！

Happy 2013, everyone! I hope you all had a lovely time at home for the holidays. I wish I could have gone back, although I had a fine holiday as well.

School is out for the winter so I had almost 3 weeks away from work. I was really good to have a break since I was getting quite busy near the end there trying to finish up things before the break and organizing the Christmas party in the English Lounge.

Korean food with my coworkers

I got some good presents too, including socks (my favorite ;D), a Japanese novel, a loaf of whole wheat bread, and dryer balls. Presents came with decorations, too, so I got in the mood with some lights, tinsel, and a mini tree.

presents under the "tree"

REAL Thanksgiving dinner! All the way from home~

After Christmas I headed down to Yokohama to stay with my host family for a week. They really enjoyed the cookies I gave them. It was kind of a full house, since their daughter was visiting also, and they got another puppy since the last time I had seen them. I got to visit with them, eat a ton of good food, watch some Japanese TV, finish The Casual Vacancy, play with the pups, and sleep a lot!

amazingly delicious sukiyaki

me and Roy-kun

New Year's Day

I also went to Hatsumode, the first visit to a shrine in the new year. I pulled average luck :)

It's a good luck charm for the home attached to an arrow and with a snake ornament.

Hope you all had a good new year too!