Cambodia's Cultural Captial Siem Reap (17, 18, 19 Dec 2014)

Day 1 - Dec 17

Although we left Yangon around 10am on 17 Dec, we still had to transit in Bangkok and finally landed in Siem Reap only around 3pm.  Our tour company picked us up from the airport and dropped us off at the Angkor Paradise Hotel.  We decided to take a rest till 530pm or so to then head out for dinner and a bit of souvenir shopping at Pub Street.  As my mom was taking a nap, I chose to soak in the pool while reading up on all the attractions that Siem Reap has to offer.  We were all pleasantly surprised by a very cooling climate of Siem Reap! 

Tuk-tuk transported us from hotel to the lively Pub Street for 1 USD per person.  As "Amok" - curry cooked using thick coconut gravy, lemongrass, turmeric root, shallots, ginger and served on banana leaf- was considered national dish, we decided to have dinner at a restaurant aptly named Amok and ordered chicken Amok. Oh dear, we were not a fan, sadly.  Coconut milk was just too overwhelming for our taste-buds. I also ordered this platter called "Taste of Siem" to try a bit of everything.

First Visit to Cambodia with Mom

In Dec 2014, a few of my friends from the Junior College days were visiting me in Myanmar for 4 days 14-17 Dec.  Only after their trip was planned, I learnt of a trip to Cambodia from 17-22 Dec.  I had to accompany my mom and a few of her clients to attend a training course in Phnom Penh. Fortunately for my friends, the overlap between 2 trips was just 1 day! Nonetheless, I couldn’t help but feel bad to leave them alone on their own.  Like a mother hen, I was quite worried if they could find their way around, if they got cheated, if they managed to get to the airport on time for their flight and so on :D I can share more about Mister's Myanmar trips and my friends' trip in the future if you guys are interested. I also went on the most epic trip of my life in Sep & Oct 2014 to the States but as it was a month-long trip, there will be many posts and let me share about it at a later date too. For now, let us focus on Cambodia.

Angkor Wat - 8th Wonder of the World

NUS Gang in Cameron Highlands Day 3 (28 July 2014)

We spent our last morning of the trip, leisurely taking photos around the resort and enjoying an unhurried, relaxing breakfast.  The shuttle picked up the bus group at our resort around 930 am. Afterwards, we checked out and started the long drive home as well.

NUS Gang in Cameron Highlands Day 2 (27 July 2014)

Although our hardworking friend had left around 6am to hike the Gunung Brinchang, the lazy us had a leisurely breakfast for a whole hour till 930am. The plan was for us to drive to the peak and meet our friend before continuing our sightseeing for the day which would cover Mossy Forest, BOH Tea Plantation, Time Tunnel Museum & Rose Centre, before ending the day with steamboat buffet.

NUS Gang in Cameron Highlands Day 1 (26 July 2014)

25 July 2014 was quite a memorable day for me as it marked the last day of working for my first employer.  The day passed by pretty fast with farewells and photo-taking and hand-over of my laptop.   I was still going to the yoga class at office gym during my lunch time on the last day! With my gym stuff, farewell presents, and other mementos, I really had tones of things to bring back home. When it was time to leave, I couldn't get myself to leave the office at 530 pm on the dot. It was so hard, like something was pulling me back.  Even though I had known it would be my last day at work for a while, I just couldn't help but feel so sad! 

So there I was, dreading to leave office for the last time T-T It was already past 6pm and my kind manager offered to drive me home with all my stuff as it was on her way! And I really needed that as I had not started packing at all for my Cameron Highlands trip! The initial plan was to leave Singapore around 10pm and it was already 7pm by the time I reached back to my room.  I had a quick dinner, packed haphazardly and took a nap for about 90 min. 

Then Mister arrived and we waited together for my friend's family to pick us up. We left my place around 11pm and fortunately for us, there was no queue at all at the Woodlands checkpoint, so we sailed through to Johor Bahru side. Our friend and Mister took turns driving through the night and we first experienced our holiday jam in the KL area, only around 5 am. 

Here is a shot of tea plantations, about 1 hour away from our Strawberry Park resort

Mr & Missy in Thailand Day 5

A great day always starts with a great breakfast. I must say, our hotel does provide really decent breakfast! Not much variety but the quality is really good.

Thai-style fried eggs for breakfast!

We set out at 9am and our first stop was emerald Buddha. We had quite a hard time flagging a cab which ran on a meter.  Finally, we got one but our happiness was short-lived.

Mr & Missy in Thailand Day 4

I wanted to shop at Pratunam market which only opens in the morning till 10-11 am so I pitifully requested Mister to wake up early to embark on our (read as "my") shopping excursion at 730am.  By 10, we had made our round and were enjoying early lunch. AND dessert of Magnum ice-cream.  Can you believe that it was just half price in Bangkok compared to Singapore?!! Along our walk back to the Metz hotel, I saw this set of handbag and cabin luggage that is too cute not to buy! There went my 850 Bahts, on the impulse buy.  My justification was I would need an extra bag anyway with the shopping we did at Terminal 21, Pratunam Market & the future purchases from Chatuchak market ;p

Mr & Missy in Thailand Day 3

Instead of rushing to Hua Hin vineyard on our second day, we decided to relax at the beach.  After all, we had recently been to 2 vineyards in Myanmar. Also what is the point of having to keep rushing from one place to another? Such trip would just tire us out instead of re-energizing us so we packed our towels, sun block, shades & headed out to the beach at around 830am. It was about 15-20 min walk from our hotel and we found such a serene beach, so different from the likes of busy areas like Phuket & Pattaya! 

Does this look familiar? It was from Nickhun & Victoria's We Got Married filming! Haha pardon the inner Hallyu fan girl in me ((:

Mr & Missy in Thailand Day 2

We were up quite early (6+am) to ensure we catch the 8am mini bus to Hua Hin. After checking-out and a quick breakfast, we tried to walk to the Phaya Thai BTS station with the help of Google Map. "Tried" was the keyword because we couldn't find our way. Instead, we reached the tracks and saw the station but we couldn't walk along the tracks to reach the station!  

We tried to take tuk tuk but the driver was trying to overcharge us - he asked for a freaking 200 Bahts to the Victory Monument Station. Mind you, it was just 2 or 3 stations away. As for the cab, the driver told us that mini buses no longer depart from the terminal near Victory Monument and he wanted to send us to the bus terminal on the outskirts of Bangkok! We refused it of course. The big buses took longer to go to Hua Hin & they do not stop in downtown Hua Hin. Plus, we would be wasting a lot of money and time taking cab from downtown Bangkok all the way to the Southern Bus Terminal. 

We instead went back to the hotel and asked for directions to the nearest BTS station, which turned out to be Ratchathewi. It was about 15 min walk away, and we then took train for 2 stops to Victory Monument to try our luck and check out the mini buses for ourselves. And as soon as we walked down the stairs from exit 4, we found our bus terminal. The cab driver lied to us !!! 

View of Exit 4 from the bus terminal 

Entrance of the bus terminal

These are the mini buses which will bring you to different parts of Thailand at very affordable rates!