My Trip to Phuket, Thailand

I went out of Singapore again last weekend, my second for the month, this time to Phuket, Thailand. It was short weekend holiday but I have a wonderful time. I arrived Phuket Saturday night and after checking in I immediately went out to experience nightlife. I managed to try three bars and by 1am I finally called it a night since I have a booked island tour the next day. There are so many choices online for the Phi Phi island tour and though they're offering the same itinerary, the price varies which ranges from 800 baht to as high as 3000 baht. If you choose the cheaper rate you will be spending more time on traveling than in the islands. I booked for the tour which uses speedboat as it is faster, less passengers and more time in the islands. In the evening, I explored the nightlife vicinity of

Side trip to Battambang, Cambodia

My third day of my trip to Siem Reap, Cambodia was spent in nearby province of Battambang. I have been invited by a Filipino friend working there. He was hired by a non government organization based in Europe to assist and provide training to one local agency run by the government. There is nothing much to do there nor have any place of interest to speak of, so the only thing you can do there is to observe and feel the daily life of the locals. it's pretty laid-back provencial town. On thing I observed though is that there were hotels scattered with in town center though I spotted only a few tourists during the day I was there, and mostly backpackers.

Temples of Angkor et al.

I woke up late in the morning, my driver and I agreed to start the day by 5:30 to catch the sunrise at Angkor Wat. I managed to come down at the lobby by 5:45 am . I forgot to tell the receptionist to pack my breakfast the night before so I did not have my breakfast that day lucky I was able to shove in my bag some cookies that night before going to sleep so somehow I have something to eat in between temple hopping. My tuk tuk driver was driving fast I thought he was mad at me for letting him wait, and I was bearing the coldness of the morning as I was just wearing short and shirt. But we arrived at Angkor Wat still dark and there were a lot of people already coming in, somehow I realized that the driver was really in a hurry so that I will have ample time to settle in before sunrise which was the purpose in the first place for the early trip, not the one I was thinking.

Day 1 in the Kingdom of Wonder, part 2

As agreed, my driver was already waiting for me at the lobby by 4 o'clock in the afternoon. The rest of the day will be spent checking out the Phnom Bakheng Temple sited on top of a hill and at the same time sunset viewing there. As read online, tourists crowded this place to view a spectacular sunset view. True enough by the time I reach the place, it was already crowded and still a lot were coming up on top of the temple.

Day 1 in the Kingdom of Wonder, Part 1

After arriving and checking in to the hotel, I immediately called up the tuktuk driver I hired online. He's already at the hotel lobby by the time I freshened up and ready for the day tour. I briefed him my itinerary for the next two days and asked if he can suggest more. I intentionally did not hire a tour guide as I want to do it at my own pace and so as not be pressured. I told him my first day will be spend roaming around town center and visit the Cambodia Cultural Village. Rest in the afternoon to try to avoid the heat, come out at 4 in the afternoon to purchase one day ticket for the temples visit, and proceed to climbed up Phnom Bakheng to do sunset viewing atop the temple, dinner at this resto that offered buffet and cultural show, then proceed to town center for the night market. The next day will be spend for the temples visit. I told him I intend to visit 4 temple sites only unless he can recommend more.

My Trip to Siem Reap, Cambodia

My first oversea travel for this year happened last thursday. I went to Siem Reap Cambodia to explore one of the seven wonders of the world. I booked the ticket months ago and supposed to be there last November but because it coincides with the unannounced company in-house training, I have to postpone the trip and rescheduled the trip. By the time I booked the ticket I imagined myself to be doing an Indiana Jones in Angkor Wat and be doing what Lara Croft did in Ta Prohm and expected to be sighting a girl keep popping up from inside the ruined temple.

Monas of Jakarta

My Jakarta trip last November includes the visit to the national monument, Monas to local. It is a Jakarta landmark and a national pride which stand 129m tall in the middle of open square. This concrete candle like structure has a 35 kg gold plated flame on top of it and a viewing level where the entire Jakarta can be viewed from here.

I came here on my second day of my holiday to this city. I read beforehand that this place can be crowded on weekend and queue to the view deck is long, so since I did visit the place on a weekend, I made up my mind not to go up the view deck and instead just explore the vicinity. But that day I found that the queue was tolerable so I decided to go up instead.

List of task- the score card

January last year I made a list of to-do's I would like to accomplish for the whole twelve months, and I promised that I'll let you know of the outcome at year end. Twelve items of I believe would be easy to achieve ones and I thought then that a little effort would be needed to complete the tasks, and besides I did not make the list to force me something but guide me to have a nice and easy life for the whole year.

Welcoming 2010

The Marina Bay in downtown Singapore was the center of new year celebration here in Singapore. I'll let the pictures do the talking! Welcome 2010.. I missed the firecrackers back home.