Friday, 18 December 2009/1 Muharram 1431 Hijrah
A morning flight to catch today hence an early morning start for me. It was unusually foggy when I left after morning prayers. Caught the bus to KL Sentral, checked in and hopped on the train to KLIA. Most shops and boutiques were having a sale and I got engrossed checking out the offers, so engrossed in fact that I ended up running all the way to the gate when I realised the time.
It was a smooth flight and we landed at Phnom Penh International Airport barely two hours later. I was reunited with my bag fairly quickly and walked out past the taxi and tuk tuk counter. I spotted a Ministry of Tourism counter and went there for a city map. The Cambodian chap who sat next to me on the plane had actually offered me a ride to my guest house but I declined as I didn’t want to trouble him. That was very decent of him though.
I’d already made up my mind to walk out of the airport grounds to the main road and get a tuk tuk from there as I did in Vientiane. It’s also slightly cheaper (you could bargain if you catch the tuk tuk at the main road instead of the standard USD7 if you buy the ticket from the counter). I was however approached by a tuk tuk driver before I even left the compound and I took up his offer of USD5 (it’d cost me that anyway if I stopped a tuk tuk by the main road). Oh yes, USD is used widely here. Bring lots of small denomination dollars. You may get either USD or Riel back for your balance.
It was a slow leisurely relaxing ride into the city (I reckon we were going at 5 km an hour) with the traffic getting more chaotic and crazy as we approached the city centre. Hardly any motorists there observe any traffic rules and you see vehicles moving in all directions in all lanes. Organised chaos came to mind. If you see a scarred or maimed local, there is as much chance of him being a victim of a road accident as there is of being a victim of the evil Khmer Rouge regime.
We reached Spring Guesthouse at Street 111 half an hour later and I checked in. I wasn’t too happy that my room was at the fourth floor (and there was no elevator of course) but I guess I was spared the traffic noise and dust. After prayers, I walked out into the afternoon sun and proceeded south to Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. Now odd-numbered streets run north-south increasing as you head west from the river while even-numbered streets run east-west, increasing as you head south. However, I found that the street numbers don’t all run in sequence, just to add to confusion. And my, was it a hot bright sweltering day.
I reached Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum or S-21 about 25 minutes later. It used to be a school before it was converted into a prison in 1975. More than 14,000 people were tortured here before being killed at the Killing Fields south of Phnom Penh. I found the experience a bit disturbing. Lin and I could have gone to Auschwitz in May 2007 but finally we went to Wieliczka Salt Mine instead. Had we gone to Auschwitz, we probably would be very emotionally affected. I spent about three hours at S-21 including about an hour of video show which started at 3 pm (the heat made me so drowsy).
I finally left after 4 pm and walked further south to Phsar Toul Tom Poung or the Russian Market. The streets of Phnom Penh reminded me of those of Myanmar: pot-holed and clogged with rubbish in some areas, barefooted children and tuk tuk or motorcycle taxi drivers standing along the streets offering you a ride. It was a hot and dusty city populated by mainly poor Cambodians. Some locals looked like Malays, some were a lot fairer. I reached the Russian market about 15 minutes later after navigating my way on barely walkable roads and pavements, dodging potholes and rubbish. Apparently you can buy genuine designer clothes at huge discount prices here; a lot of factories are in Phnom Penh and the clothes sold are deemed unfit for export due to minor defects.
The market closes at 5 pm daily and it was too short a time for me to browse among the hundreds of stalls, find something that catch my fancy and bargain. So I left empty-handed. What you can buy of note is Khmer silk and souvenirs made of silk (shawls are popular).
I left the area and walked along Mao Tse Toung Boulevard to Monivong Boulevard (better to stick to the wide boulevards, I thought) then turned right at Sihanouk Boulevard. It was already dark when I reached Independence Monument. There’s a park off the monument and I walked along the locals enjoying the cooler evening. Then I turned left into Sothearos Boulevard before turning into a side street to Sisowath Quay which faced the riverfront (Tonle Sap/Sap River). I walked on until I reached the Foreign Correspondents’ Club (which was featured in The Amazing Race 15) and turned at Street 178 (known as the Art Street for the local sculpture shops and art galleries that line the street) where minutes later, I stumbled upon Warung Bali, a halal Indonesian eatery (it was near the National Museum). I had my dinner there.
I was walking back to my guesthouse along Street 178 when a car pulled up beside me. I noticed the driver looked hard at me and suddenly two men came out of the car (engine still running). I was quite surprised when they came and spoke Malay to me. It sounded like something from the movies where the plot would see me being kidnapped and carried off into the dark without a trace. I didn’t think of all these then (in fact the thought just occurred to me). Turned out the driver was a Cham Muslim and the passenger a Malaysian. They saw me walking alone and wondered if I was a Malaysian and if yes, what was I doing out alone. I told them I was on my way back to my guesthouse and they immediately offered to drive me back. Before I could even think, they quickly produced their name card (and MyKad) respectively to show they were genuine honest folks (lest I think they were going to kidnap me) and insisted on sending me back. So I accepted their offer (although I was very aware of my perspiring self).
It had been a long day and I was knackered. I promised myself a treat of a massage the next day before slipping off to slumberland. Sleep came easy despite the very hard uncomfortable pillows.
Saturday, 19 December 2009
I left the guesthouse early this morning as I wanted to start the day before it got too hot. Fortunately it was an overcast morning (in fact it drizzled a bit). I walked to Street 178 and on to the National Museum. Took some pictures before continuing on to the Royal Palace next door. As visiting hours only start from 8, I walked around the area, returning to Sisowath Boulevard and walking along the river. I was back at the palace by 8 am and bought ticket to get in (USD6.50). It was a huge complex consisting of many beautiful buildings built in the 19th century with French technology and Cambodian architecture. After the ugliness that Tuol Sleng reminded me of and the terrible dusty roads of the day before, the palace grounds provided proof that there is still beauty in this world (and that the two can actually co-exist somehow); in fact such is the beauty in the palace grounds that you can be forgiven for forgetting the grim life of the normal Cambodians just outside the perimeter of the palace. I spent about 1.5 hours around the palace grounds.
After that, I walked along Street 240 (next to the palace) on my way to Norodom Boulevard. There are many boutiques and souvenir shops along this street and I stopped at Mekong Quilts which sells quilts handmade by women in remote villages in Cambodia and Vietnam (you can read about it here). I’ve never really taken much interest in quilts but I was drawn to the shop and spent some time there before buying (!) a bed quilt. I asked the girl to bring it to my guesthouse as I didn’t want to lug it around me.
Purchase done, I proceeded to Norodom Boulevard (there are a few schools along this road and there was a school session despite it being a Saturday) up to Street 130. I turned at this street to find a Malaysian halal restaurant before retracing my steps to Phsar Thmey (Central Market). I walked past the market and on to Monivong Boulevard to find the local mosque. I found it some 20 minutes later; alas the mosque compound was sand and I wasn’t particularly happy about trekking across the sand to the mosque so I turned back and walked back to the Central Market.
The Central Market was a disappointment. It had fewer stalls compared to the Russian Market and too many of those stalls were selling ready-to-wear clothes. I left empty-handed and walked along Street 130 in search of lunch. I wasn’t particularly hungry as yet and when I saw a hair salon, I dropped by for a much-needed haircut. Besides massage centres, there are a lot of hair salons in Phnom Penh although not everyone who worked there speaks much English (there are also a lot of tailor shops there). There was a lot of hand signs involved before I could convey that I wanted a very short layered haircut. I didn’t exactly get a layered haircut but I was glad to be rid off some hair. And it cost me only USD1.50!
Had lunch after the haircut at Halal Restaurant which served both Khmer and Malay food (I figured I can always eat Malaysian food elsewhere hence why I chose this restaurant over Malaysia Restaurant). One of the proprietor’s son was quite cute too, heh (a fact I only discovered after having ordered my meal).
The sun had managed to struggle out from behind the clouds when I left the restaurant. Walked the short distance to Sisowath Quay and on until I hit Street 178. On my way back to the guesthouse, I stopped at a little shop called Champa Massage Professional by Blind and had a body massage (foreigners are charged USD5; locals USD4). Reached the guesthouse just after 5 pm and stayed in.
Sunday, 20 December 2009
Despite the brief sleep I had (because of football, heh), I woke up happy because Arsenal won. Checked out at 8.45 am and went out to find a tuk tuk to the airport. It was another slow ride to the airport and despite it being a Sunday, the roads were not much different from the other days. We reached the airport at 9.15 am (already a lot of people were queuing to check-in) and I immediately checked in (thanks to my Enrich card, I can check-in at the Golden Club counter). I paid the departure tax of USD25 (hefty I thought) before going through immigration and on to the duty-free area. There were only about four shops and two bars in the duty-free area and I browsed all the shops before settling down to read my novel.
Our flight thankfully took off on time (Silk Air was delayed by almost two hours due to the delayed flight departure from Changi) and we landed at KLIA at 2.20 pm.
~~~~~~~~
Arsenal hosted Hull on Saturday. My baby was in the stands; he’s been ruled out for up to ten days. We won 3-0. The first half was a bit dull until the altercation between the two sides after Nasri childishly trod onto some guy’s leg who reacted by theatrically falling down like a sack of spuds. Shortly after, Denilson scored our first goal from a freekick. The visitors were bizarrely gifted a penalty (he was the one pulling at Silvestre) but Geovanni failed to convert it or rather Almunia saved it (!!). Dudú then scored another immediately after (despite trying his best to miss it but from a yard out, he couldn’t really) and Diaby even managed to score for us. Also there were some entertaining songs sung at the visitors’ gaffer. Elsewhere, ManUre were thrashed by Fulham, Man Sh*tty sacked Sparky and 24 hours later, the Hammers held Chelshit to a draw (like they did to us). Footie is funny like that.
A morning flight to catch today hence an early morning start for me. It was unusually foggy when I left after morning prayers. Caught the bus to KL Sentral, checked in and hopped on the train to KLIA. Most shops and boutiques were having a sale and I got engrossed checking out the offers, so engrossed in fact that I ended up running all the way to the gate when I realised the time.
It was a smooth flight and we landed at Phnom Penh International Airport barely two hours later. I was reunited with my bag fairly quickly and walked out past the taxi and tuk tuk counter. I spotted a Ministry of Tourism counter and went there for a city map. The Cambodian chap who sat next to me on the plane had actually offered me a ride to my guest house but I declined as I didn’t want to trouble him. That was very decent of him though.
I’d already made up my mind to walk out of the airport grounds to the main road and get a tuk tuk from there as I did in Vientiane. It’s also slightly cheaper (you could bargain if you catch the tuk tuk at the main road instead of the standard USD7 if you buy the ticket from the counter). I was however approached by a tuk tuk driver before I even left the compound and I took up his offer of USD5 (it’d cost me that anyway if I stopped a tuk tuk by the main road). Oh yes, USD is used widely here. Bring lots of small denomination dollars. You may get either USD or Riel back for your balance.
It was a slow leisurely relaxing ride into the city (I reckon we were going at 5 km an hour) with the traffic getting more chaotic and crazy as we approached the city centre. Hardly any motorists there observe any traffic rules and you see vehicles moving in all directions in all lanes. Organised chaos came to mind. If you see a scarred or maimed local, there is as much chance of him being a victim of a road accident as there is of being a victim of the evil Khmer Rouge regime.
We reached Spring Guesthouse at Street 111 half an hour later and I checked in. I wasn’t too happy that my room was at the fourth floor (and there was no elevator of course) but I guess I was spared the traffic noise and dust. After prayers, I walked out into the afternoon sun and proceeded south to Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. Now odd-numbered streets run north-south increasing as you head west from the river while even-numbered streets run east-west, increasing as you head south. However, I found that the street numbers don’t all run in sequence, just to add to confusion. And my, was it a hot bright sweltering day.
I reached Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum or S-21 about 25 minutes later. It used to be a school before it was converted into a prison in 1975. More than 14,000 people were tortured here before being killed at the Killing Fields south of Phnom Penh. I found the experience a bit disturbing. Lin and I could have gone to Auschwitz in May 2007 but finally we went to Wieliczka Salt Mine instead. Had we gone to Auschwitz, we probably would be very emotionally affected. I spent about three hours at S-21 including about an hour of video show which started at 3 pm (the heat made me so drowsy).
I finally left after 4 pm and walked further south to Phsar Toul Tom Poung or the Russian Market. The streets of Phnom Penh reminded me of those of Myanmar: pot-holed and clogged with rubbish in some areas, barefooted children and tuk tuk or motorcycle taxi drivers standing along the streets offering you a ride. It was a hot and dusty city populated by mainly poor Cambodians. Some locals looked like Malays, some were a lot fairer. I reached the Russian market about 15 minutes later after navigating my way on barely walkable roads and pavements, dodging potholes and rubbish. Apparently you can buy genuine designer clothes at huge discount prices here; a lot of factories are in Phnom Penh and the clothes sold are deemed unfit for export due to minor defects.
The market closes at 5 pm daily and it was too short a time for me to browse among the hundreds of stalls, find something that catch my fancy and bargain. So I left empty-handed. What you can buy of note is Khmer silk and souvenirs made of silk (shawls are popular).
I left the area and walked along Mao Tse Toung Boulevard to Monivong Boulevard (better to stick to the wide boulevards, I thought) then turned right at Sihanouk Boulevard. It was already dark when I reached Independence Monument. There’s a park off the monument and I walked along the locals enjoying the cooler evening. Then I turned left into Sothearos Boulevard before turning into a side street to Sisowath Quay which faced the riverfront (Tonle Sap/Sap River). I walked on until I reached the Foreign Correspondents’ Club (which was featured in The Amazing Race 15) and turned at Street 178 (known as the Art Street for the local sculpture shops and art galleries that line the street) where minutes later, I stumbled upon Warung Bali, a halal Indonesian eatery (it was near the National Museum). I had my dinner there.
I was walking back to my guesthouse along Street 178 when a car pulled up beside me. I noticed the driver looked hard at me and suddenly two men came out of the car (engine still running). I was quite surprised when they came and spoke Malay to me. It sounded like something from the movies where the plot would see me being kidnapped and carried off into the dark without a trace. I didn’t think of all these then (in fact the thought just occurred to me). Turned out the driver was a Cham Muslim and the passenger a Malaysian. They saw me walking alone and wondered if I was a Malaysian and if yes, what was I doing out alone. I told them I was on my way back to my guesthouse and they immediately offered to drive me back. Before I could even think, they quickly produced their name card (and MyKad) respectively to show they were genuine honest folks (lest I think they were going to kidnap me) and insisted on sending me back. So I accepted their offer (although I was very aware of my perspiring self).
It had been a long day and I was knackered. I promised myself a treat of a massage the next day before slipping off to slumberland. Sleep came easy despite the very hard uncomfortable pillows.
Saturday, 19 December 2009
I left the guesthouse early this morning as I wanted to start the day before it got too hot. Fortunately it was an overcast morning (in fact it drizzled a bit). I walked to Street 178 and on to the National Museum. Took some pictures before continuing on to the Royal Palace next door. As visiting hours only start from 8, I walked around the area, returning to Sisowath Boulevard and walking along the river. I was back at the palace by 8 am and bought ticket to get in (USD6.50). It was a huge complex consisting of many beautiful buildings built in the 19th century with French technology and Cambodian architecture. After the ugliness that Tuol Sleng reminded me of and the terrible dusty roads of the day before, the palace grounds provided proof that there is still beauty in this world (and that the two can actually co-exist somehow); in fact such is the beauty in the palace grounds that you can be forgiven for forgetting the grim life of the normal Cambodians just outside the perimeter of the palace. I spent about 1.5 hours around the palace grounds.
After that, I walked along Street 240 (next to the palace) on my way to Norodom Boulevard. There are many boutiques and souvenir shops along this street and I stopped at Mekong Quilts which sells quilts handmade by women in remote villages in Cambodia and Vietnam (you can read about it here). I’ve never really taken much interest in quilts but I was drawn to the shop and spent some time there before buying (!) a bed quilt. I asked the girl to bring it to my guesthouse as I didn’t want to lug it around me.
Purchase done, I proceeded to Norodom Boulevard (there are a few schools along this road and there was a school session despite it being a Saturday) up to Street 130. I turned at this street to find a Malaysian halal restaurant before retracing my steps to Phsar Thmey (Central Market). I walked past the market and on to Monivong Boulevard to find the local mosque. I found it some 20 minutes later; alas the mosque compound was sand and I wasn’t particularly happy about trekking across the sand to the mosque so I turned back and walked back to the Central Market.
The Central Market was a disappointment. It had fewer stalls compared to the Russian Market and too many of those stalls were selling ready-to-wear clothes. I left empty-handed and walked along Street 130 in search of lunch. I wasn’t particularly hungry as yet and when I saw a hair salon, I dropped by for a much-needed haircut. Besides massage centres, there are a lot of hair salons in Phnom Penh although not everyone who worked there speaks much English (there are also a lot of tailor shops there). There was a lot of hand signs involved before I could convey that I wanted a very short layered haircut. I didn’t exactly get a layered haircut but I was glad to be rid off some hair. And it cost me only USD1.50!
Had lunch after the haircut at Halal Restaurant which served both Khmer and Malay food (I figured I can always eat Malaysian food elsewhere hence why I chose this restaurant over Malaysia Restaurant). One of the proprietor’s son was quite cute too, heh (a fact I only discovered after having ordered my meal).
The sun had managed to struggle out from behind the clouds when I left the restaurant. Walked the short distance to Sisowath Quay and on until I hit Street 178. On my way back to the guesthouse, I stopped at a little shop called Champa Massage Professional by Blind and had a body massage (foreigners are charged USD5; locals USD4). Reached the guesthouse just after 5 pm and stayed in.
Sunday, 20 December 2009
Despite the brief sleep I had (because of football, heh), I woke up happy because Arsenal won. Checked out at 8.45 am and went out to find a tuk tuk to the airport. It was another slow ride to the airport and despite it being a Sunday, the roads were not much different from the other days. We reached the airport at 9.15 am (already a lot of people were queuing to check-in) and I immediately checked in (thanks to my Enrich card, I can check-in at the Golden Club counter). I paid the departure tax of USD25 (hefty I thought) before going through immigration and on to the duty-free area. There were only about four shops and two bars in the duty-free area and I browsed all the shops before settling down to read my novel.
Our flight thankfully took off on time (Silk Air was delayed by almost two hours due to the delayed flight departure from Changi) and we landed at KLIA at 2.20 pm.
~~~~~~~~
Arsenal hosted Hull on Saturday. My baby was in the stands; he’s been ruled out for up to ten days. We won 3-0. The first half was a bit dull until the altercation between the two sides after Nasri childishly trod onto some guy’s leg who reacted by theatrically falling down like a sack of spuds. Shortly after, Denilson scored our first goal from a freekick. The visitors were bizarrely gifted a penalty (he was the one pulling at Silvestre) but Geovanni failed to convert it or rather Almunia saved it (!!). Dudú then scored another immediately after (despite trying his best to miss it but from a yard out, he couldn’t really) and Diaby even managed to score for us. Also there were some entertaining songs sung at the visitors’ gaffer. Elsewhere, ManUre were thrashed by Fulham, Man Sh*tty sacked Sparky and 24 hours later, the Hammers held Chelshit to a draw (like they did to us). Footie is funny like that.
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