Stuff Dreams Are Made Of

Take a bagel of choice (mine's whole wheat)



Slice into half



Spread on cheese.. lay it thick! But don't play with your food.



Place thick slices of smoked salmon



Please have a bite of me!



Temporary resident fat hamster Isaac Junior thinks its good



Very very good...

Scanned!

Photos from my Mamiya C330 twin-lens reflex camera:

At Marina Barrage





The sister







Unsuccessful jump shot!



And YS





And we left for the skies were gloomy



I love my tlr (:

In Stitches

Sooner or later, I'll be puking. Yarn. Lots of it.

I've been knitting almost all my free time away, when I'm not doing work. Otherwise, my eyes are glued onto Ravelry, which has been very naughty and tempting me with lots of gorgeous free patterns for lace shawls.

This is getting to me! I have cramped fingers from holding knitting needles. I knit on the way to work. I knit during work (lunchtime). I knit in the car. I knit in the dark. I knit before I sleep. I don't know, but I might be knitting in my sleep.

And I just ordered about 7,000 yards of yarn online. Help?

Day Two at Siem Reap: Angkor Archaeological Park

The second day started at 0430, as we headed to Angkor Wat for the sunrise.

Here's the part where you need a torchlight. When we reached, it was pitch dark. No lamps or any form of light except that you bring yourself. And yet there were already so many Angkor pass checkers, sitting in the dark at the start across the moat.

If you're a photographer, you might want to wake up earlier, for the sky was starting to brighten up as we were in the tuktuk on the way there. I kept squealing, panicking that I would miss the good light, but fortunately I reached in time.

Now, if you're there in the darkness, remember that this shot below, is not what you should be seeing if you're planning on taking the sunrise.



It was taken on the bridge across the moat. Just so you know, I was one of the first there, and did not recognise anything as nothing remotely looked like there were the reflecting ponds, but thought it was just the darkness so I set up my tripod in the middle of the bridge. The moon is still high though.

Here's another shot, you can see the sky is lighting up already.



After awhile, I realised that there were people with their guides streaming past me, so I wisened up that the sunrise was to be seen from somewhere further inside.

Lo and behold, its a long walk across the bridge, pass a building... and on and on you'll see Angkor Wat in front of you, with two ponds on either side of the long walk in. The one on the right is pretty dried up now despite it being the rainy season, so head for the one on the left.

I didn't do that, and instead headed up to the steps to take a closer shot... And ended up running to the pond when I saw the light begin to change.



The light is coming out as you can see above!! Got me so excited, perspiration was pouring off my brows. The sky was actually a soft dusty pink where you see the highlights, but stupid digital camera couldn't capture it ):

DA DA DA! The light changes again...



But it is blocked by clouds. Fortunately the clouds are red and beautiful (:



Ain't it a sight for sore eyes?

Then the sun pops up, and all beauty is gone, clouds become white and dreary.



Another view of the morning light at Angkor Wat.



You can probably see the flare in the photo. I forgot my lens shade, so please remember to bring yours. Cambodia is a very flarey place.

One of the 'libraries' behind the pond:



By then, I had squatted and kneeled and squatted for the longest time ever just waiting for my sunrise, that when I clambered up the steps I thought my legs would give way. Learning point here: bring a taller tripod (eye level) or a foldable chair.

Here's one of the seven-headed naga balustrades at Angkor Wat.



And here's the building/gate you will walk past on your way to the ponds. Its taken as in the direction out of Angkor Wat.

What's recommended is that the light at Angkor Wat is better in the late afternoon, as it is backlighted during the morning. So we headed to Angkor Thom before backtracking in the later part of the day.

Before I hopped on the tuktuk, I noticed two girls at the side of the super huge moat surrounding Angkor Wat. They were washing clothes.



and wringing them.



I walked a little further down, and ta da the reflection on the water is different!



Sometimes I don't understand photography.

We had a short breakfast at the stalls nearby Angkor Wat. Food there is not very cheap, about USD3-5 a meal. So either head back to town for a meal, or if you're on familiar terms with your driver, ask him to bargain the price down.

Here's the south (and most famous) gate of Angkor Thom.



Reason being that it is one of the more 'complete' gates, as the rest are in greater state of ruins, and have more missing heads / body parts. The big head you see above is a reconstructed one of an asura, otherwise known as a demon. Leading up to the gate, you will see a row of asuras and gods, grasping on to a naga (serpent god). Its based on the scene of the 'churning of the ocean milk', which is based on a Hindu myth, where the asuras and gods pull on Vasuki, a snake coiled round Mount Mahendra, to churn the ocean of milk and produce the elixir of immortality. Its a scene quite commonly found in the Angkor Archaeological Park.

Here's the south gate alone. The entrance / exit is sized enough for one car to pass through.



Here's the gate again, with an older asura. Not sure if its the original, or just an older reconstructed one.



Next stop was Bayon.



Looks like a huge pile of stones from far, but going closer, you notice the big carvings of heads everywhere.

Apsaras (beautiful celestial females) carved on a pillar.



One of the entrances to Bayon:



A reconstructed carving of apsaras on the temple.



The big carved heads... How many do you see?















Part two will be up when I have the time (:

Day One at Siem Reap (continued)

Following the boat ride at Tonle Sap, which costs USD15 per person for a slow 1.5 hour trip through a very quiet Kampong Khleang (and highly discouraged as a waste of time and money), we traveled back to town.

Along the way, stops were made along the countryside, where snakes were spotted slithering across the path.

We made a stop at a part where lotuses were abundant.



The sides of the path towards the little hut in the photo, were made up of dried and blackened lotus stems. Almost like a lotus graveyard.

Here's one blooming.



There was a hut on stilts close by, and here you can see the many lotuses surrounding.



As we were taking photos of the far off lotuses, our tuktuk driver (got sick of waiting) came down and told us to follow him past the hut, where we could get nearer to the flowers. There was someone sleeping in the hut.



It was pretty nice out there, but unfortunately I only took photos with my slr and the film is still processing (:

Here's a photo of the hut, as we were leaving.



The driver had also plucked a lotus flower for me:



It sadly, withered by the end of the day, leaving only its stem.

Upon reaching town, we headed for lunch at Khmer Kitchen, of which was recommended online.



There are two Khmer Kitchen outlets, one near Old Market, and one on Pub Street.

We were given plates adorned with cute fishes.



The restaurant's decoration was bright and cheerful in yellow.



Mom and I ordered refreshing lemon juice which cost USD0.50 each.



It was sweet and ice-cold, perfect for downing in the summer heat.

Dad chose Angkor beer, USD1.



We ordered...

Mango salad:



Fish with fried garlic:



Beef with fried garlic:



Amok with chicken:



Some sour coconut milk curry thing with chicken:



The fare was very affordable at around USD3 each for every dish including rice, and was very delicious as well as homely. A must try!

Bayon beer:



The Cambodian beers all seemed very mild and thin... which I suppose is good if you don't like too strong a taste.

After that, we headed down to Old Market, which sells lots of stuff including elaborately patterned silk and cotton scarves, tablecloths with elephant prints, silver jewelry and cute little purses.



I ended up buying more than 10 scarves and a huge cloth for my baby grand while at Cambodia (:

We also visited Artisans D'Angkor within town. This one was the carvings department. The silk workshop is located quite far out of town, but worth the visit.

The company recruits poor Cambodians and gives them free training in skills such as silk weaving, carving, etc and jobs subsequently.



The people were certainly taught well, but the products were rather costly.

We went back to the guesthouse for a rest before the plan of heading to Phnom Bakheng (a temple mountain atop a hill), a place popular for sunsets in Angkor Archaeological Park. How this works is that, if you buy your pass in the evening around 5pm, it will only be effective starting the next day. This means you get about 1 hour free as well as the sunset in the park the day before.

Unfortunately, the weather played us out.

The skies looked like that when we were planning to head out...



And soon enough it was pouring. The wind was crazy, and the trees were swaying like weeds.



So, we gave up on the sunset plan and went back to nap.

The skies looked like this when we were leaving for a traditional dance show in the evening:



Roads in Siem Reap were heavily flooded after the rain, due to the lack of a drainage system.

Some were completely covered in water. The level came up past a car's wheels.







We reached nice and dry, at Koulen II. Dinner buffet and the traditional dance show was priced at USD10 per person, not including drinks.



It was an experience, but rather boring and I almost ended up dozing. The performances were very similar to Thai dances, so if you've seen that, you can probably skip this.

Bored mother:



The next day starts at Angkor Wat!