Caterpillars anyone?

Recently, a colleague from work took orders for those of us interested in buying caterpillars. If you're wondering why would anyone BUY caterpillars? *laughs* Well, the kids in school learn about life cycle and what happens is when they buy these caterpillars, they also learn values like being responsible as they need to clean the container and feed the caterpillar twice a day. It was interesting to see the kids walking around school slowly (usually they would run from one point to another) with their containers (with two caterpillars inside) in their hands. They even brought the caterpillars to the canteen when they went for lunch because they didn't want to miss anything that the caterpillars might be up to *grins* Cute huh?

I bought four caterpillars for my nephews and delivered them to the boys the very same day that night. They were up so the two older ones were pretty excited to see the caterpillars. The older one knew what caterpillars were and talked excitedly about how he read about caterpillars before (he has the Very Hungry Caterpillar book so was probably referring to that). And his lil brother was excited probably because his older brother was excited *laughs*

But it was really awesome watching my 4 year old nephew totally engrossed with the caterpillars. Grandpa read to him a booklet that my colleague designed to be used with the caterpillars ... showed him the life cycle for a butterfly. And I told him that he must give me a call when the caterpillar turned to pupa. He named the caterpillars too ... I think at that age, he probably didn't realise that he could use other names because the biggest caterpillar was named after him, the smallest was his baby brother, the caterpillar with 'baby brother' was Daddy and the middle-sized caterpillar was his younger brother. Simple *grins*

And it was time for him to go to bed and he was determined to bring the caterpillars up to bed with him. It was really funny watching him trying to carry two plastic containers to bring up to bed and we had to convince him that caterpillars sleep outdoors. He relented when we said that he could have breakfast with the caterpillars when he woke up the next day.

And today, he called Grandpa all by himself (his first and even his Dad didn't know he made the call) to tell Grandpa that the caterpillar has turned to a butterfly (he actually meant to say pupa but I think it's an unfamiliar word). When asked if he has fed the butterfly, he explained to Grandpa that cannot feed anymore and the caterpillars finished eating!

Amazing how at such a young age they are so excited to learn and somehow along the way, as they get older, that sense of curiosity just some how disappear? I have wondered about this many a times. Parents and educators have important roles to play in ensuring that we continue to get our young ones excited about learning, curious about everything that happens around them and to question question question!

Am looking forward to visiting the boys tomorrow. Let's see if the pupa has turned to butterflies! :o)

Angkor Essentials - Farewell Siem Reap ...

Day III : Siem Reap - Singapore

Yes, FINALLY DAY THREE *grins* We ended yesterday with a full body oil massage to help our aching bodies relax so we had a good sleep that night and all set for our last day. Our flight was at about 4 plus in the afternoon so we had the morning and lunch before we headed to the airport.

Our first stop was to the Artisans d'Angkor. I was a little hesitant about going there initially because I read that it was the usual touristy place with prices that are ridiculously high. But am glad I did go and learnt more about the place. It's a programme that trains young people in the traditional Cambodian handicraft such as silk painting, lacquer work, wood and stone carving. This was a collaboration between Chantier-Ecoles and the Provincial Office of Education, Youth and Sport. Not anyone can participate in this programme, but rather have to be selected and invited. Am not sure on the selection process through.

There will be a guide there who will take you around to explain the different workshops and also explain the different process in creating the various products. We, unfortunately, had a guide who was simply wanted to finish the tour quickly so it wasn't as informative. Above, a lady is working on some lacquer art piece. Below, one of the guys in the workshop working on a stone carving.

We then zoomed to the next workshop (photograph below) which was the wood carving area which was pretty cool. Obviously, it will take a while for the students to learn the skills but it gives them an opportunity to learn a skill and earn money to support themselves and their families.

We kinda broke away from the guide to take some photographs. Found the head (see below) that's work in progress intriguing but didn't see the matching body around.

Then saw this wood carving below and took this shot but wasn't too happy with the 'distractions' around in the background. I remember I was frowning away thinking that I wanted a shot, dunno what shot, but definitely wanted a shot of this statue but didn't want to touch anything around in case I damage anything. The place was a little messy and there were chairs scattered around. And there was the tour guide who was waiting impatiently too *laughs* yeah, I get stressed out over the silliest things!

Had to make a decision to either forget about the shot or do something quickly. So walked around some tables and chairs, finally got to the front and took this shot below. It's not great but sure beats the one above and I am pleased with how it turned out.

A few more shots of other items in the room and we were done. Guide could go back to chatting with his other guide friends and we went to the Artisan d'Angkor to shop. Yes, the items there were expensive but we also realised that quality wise, it was also much better than those we saw at the markets. So for cheap souveniors, get from the markets. But for the special people (including yourself), you may want to get them gifts from here. We got quite a few things from here and left feeling very pleased with ourselves.

When Mr Chenla picked us up at the hotel after breakfast, he had good news for us. For the last two days, we have been asking about taking the balloon ride but the weather was suitable for that. But thankfully, on our last day, the weather was okay for the balloon ride so we did a detour for that before heading to the next item on the itinerary.

The Angkor Balloon (see above), which was a tethered helium balloon, gave us a bird's eye view of the Angor Heritage site. The balloon is attached to a 'cage' (see below) that allows visitors to walk around when up in the sky.

We went up to about 180 metres and stayed up for about 10 minutes (yeah, way too short!). Depending on the weather, you can see the Angkor Temple, Phnom Bakheng Temple, area of Bayon Temple, West Barray Lake and Angkor City (according to the pamphlet). But to see all these things, you need several things - good clear weather, binoculours, good camera that allows you to zoom real far and a guide/guidebook to tell you exactly where all those places are!

Mag had her binos so that came in handy. But we couldn't get good shots from our compact camera. And the weather was also cloudy so we only could see the temples clearly when we were descending and the clouds were clearing. Anyways, I still think we were pretty lucky to have had the chance to go up on the balloon so we'll take whatever we can.

If you try and look real hard (photograph above), you may be able to make out the moat that surrounds Angkor Wat (check the photograph below).

Not very clear below but that's actually the area that we climbed up to go to Phnom Bakheng on Day II to see the sunset.

For USD15, you get to 'fly' for 10 mins and it's quite an awesome experience even though the sky was rather cloudy. But a must have experience. If you can afford it, another thing you might want to try is a helicopter ride. That was just a bit off our budget so we settled for the balloon instead.

In Siem Reap, the best way to get around would be the local version of the Tuk Tuk (see below). Very comfortable but you just have to beat with the smoke, fumes, dust and the reckless driving by the tuk tuk drivers. But it's cheap (remember to bargain) way to move around.

Our next stop was the Floating Village at Tonlé Sap Lake. Wiki-ed some about the lake and found some interesting information about this lake. It is a combined lake and river system of huge importance to Cambodia. It is the largest freshwater lake in South East Asia and is an ecological hot spot that was designated as a UNESCO biosphere in 1997.

The Tonlé Sap is unusual for two reasons. Firstly, its flow changes direction twice a year, and secondly, the portion that forms the lake expands and shrinks dramatically with the seasons. From November to May, Cambodia's dry season, the Tonlé Sap drains into the Mekong River at Phnom Penh. However, when the year's heavy rains begin in June, the Tonlé Sap backs up to form an enormous lake. Pretty cool because the houses on stilts also adjustable depending on the water level. Guess made sense of many of the houses to be floating to accomodate the changes in water level *grins*

Have to admit here that I expected something similar to the one in Bangkok but I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't. It's not as 'exciting' and 'busy' but at the floating village, you will witness the people carrying out their day to day routine, without any care of the many tourists going by in their boats (like the one below that we were on).

Below is our boat guy who took us around the floating village.

We saw several variations. There were people who had floating houses with their sampan to take them from one place to another (as in photograph below). There were others who lived on a boat house.

And if you see wooden cage like attachments to the house (some were below the house) those were the farms (see photograph below).

The photograph below shows a lady who lives in a boat house and has a little sampan. If you're wondering what she was doing, she was actually cooking on the sampan, thus the smoke.

There were many who were moving about in their boats. We even saw young children, probably 5 or 6 year olds, rowing their own sampans (usually one will bail water collected in the boat and the other will row or work the engine).

We also came across several schools, usually by foreign sponsors. The one below is a floating school for the Vietnamese children. Seems like there were quite a bit of Vietnamese and Chams living in the floating village.

We came across a floating church and mosque too. The mosque was probably for the Cham people, an ethnic group in South East Asia and form the core group of Muslims in Vietnam and Cambodia, and a small community lived in the floating village.

At same point, the boat driver will stop the boat at the centre of the lake and Mr Chenla went on to do same explaining about the lake. And you will notice sampans with motor engines speeding towards your boat and as they get closer to you, the adults on the sampans will start to row and there will be young children trying to sell you things. We had a small girl who tried to sell us a comb of bananas but we politely refused to buy anything. I remember reading online that for some boats, the drivers will pretend that the engine stalled and will remain stalled until somebody buys something.

We also had this little girl come to our boat in a tub begging for money. I was initially shocked because I thought she was rowing in the tub all the time.

But later saw her rowing towards a boat, got onto it and wait for the next tourist boat to come along (below). In there was an adult (the one who looks after the boat while she goes tubbing) who decided to take a nap while they waited. The choice is yours if you want to give them money or buy anything from them but don't feel that you HAVE to. We told our guide that we were good to go (before the next speed boat came our way, thought it was wiser for us to go). As much as I don't like having to deal with such situations, it's part and parcel of visiting any developing country.

On the way back, we stopped at a floating shop. Good for a toilet break if you need one (they have proper toilet bowls etc and relatively clean). They also have souveniors but be prepared to pay heaps for them.

Attached to the shop were two farms - fish and crocodile farms for tourists to have a closer look. Pretty nasty looking crocodiles and I was wondering how many had escaped and living along the shores of the Tonlé Sap.

The fish frenzy you see happening below was because the owner did a demo and threw in some fish feed and that got the fish all excited.

Both of us (below) at the pier after we got off the board. Lots to think about after the visit to the floating village.

What got me think were the children who at a very young age had to learn to survive. I saw a very young girl, maybe the same age as my nephew who is 3 years old, clinging on to the side of the boat with one hand, and the other hand trying to reach out to the water from the lake to wash her bummy (she probably just pooped and was cleaning herself). I remembered her hand shaking from the weight of supporting herself and straining to reach the water. Several minutes later, her mom saw what she was trying to do and went to help her by splashing water to her bummy while the girl remained dangling off the side of the boat. I was like panicking that the girl would fall into the water but I guess that's just life for them.

We left the floating village and were off for our last meal in Siem Reap. Along the way, we passed fields of beautiful water lilies and lotus flowers.

Again, constraint by what my compact camera could do, was feeling frustrated because it would have been really awesome to be able to take a shot of the field.

After lunch, Mr Chenla dropped us off at the Old Market. This was the market that I was asking the guide to take us too and I don't know why they waited till the last day to bring us here where we had a total of 20 minutes!!! Don't waste time at the Night Market people, head here instead where the good buys are and you have heaps of things to choose from.

Lots of gorgeous scarves (see below) at the Old Market, among many other lovely things. Not only do you find the souveniors to bring home, if you have time, you can also explore the wet market for the locals.

Saw quite a few stalls selling these lacquered pieces. Would have been nice to bring home one or two but unfortunately, we didn't have time to look around as we had one thing that we had to buy - our guidebook on Cambodia. We should have gotten it when we got there but we were just not in the mood to haggle prices with the many young children selling the books (and many other things).

We stumbled across this little shop that had a lady making some Cambodian Cookies (see below). It smelled yummy (taste yummy too) and upon closer look, these are like our love letters!!! Ingredients to make these Cambodian Cookies - fresh coconut milk, tapioca starch, palm sugar, eggs, salt and no preservatives.

Perfect gift for the family back home to try. For a box of 24 individually wrapped cookies costs USD15 and we managed to bargain it down to USD10 since we were getting total of 3 boxes.

With all our bags (as well as newly acquired items) we headed to the airport and bid farewell to Mr Chenla and the driver who spent 1.5 days with us. Remember to put aside USD25 per person for Airport Tax (International). You will need to pay upon departure after you check-in. We still had a lot of time and it was hot in airport so with drinks in hand, we settled down to read our recently acquired guidebook (yes, at the END of the trip) while we waited for the plane to come home.

It was a good weekend, a little tiring but I felt recharged after the trip and went back to work the next day all refreshed. It was great seeing Angkor Wat, Bayon and all the other temples in Siem Reap and I guess I don't have to go far to see such wonders when there are so many close to home. Maybe I should focus on travelling around the area for the next few years especially with the economy not picking up just yet. Where to next? Hmmm, Borobudur...I think the temple bugs bit me and I would love to see Borobudur and the other ancient temples nearby next! *grins* What do you think?

Update:
Found this website while surfing the net on shopping at Siem Reap. Wished I had found it earlier but honestly, with the weekend, we probably wouldn't have had time to see all the wonderful places mentioned in the website. But if you have time, check out it!

Angkor Essentials - Back to Angkor Wat ....

We started the day at Angkor Wat to watch the sun rise and after lunch, we headed back to Angkor Wat. I was looking through my photographs and there's just heaps that I am going to share here because I think pictures speak a thousand words and would do a better job of describing what we saw.

Angkor Wat looked different in the afternoon and before the trip, researched online from people who have been there advised that the best time for photographing Angkor Wat was in the afternoon. But got to warn you though the the heat and humidity can be real bad. A non hat person like me succumbed and bought a hat and wore it during the visit to Angkor Wat. Most of the areas are covered walkways or inside the temple. And there were areas that were surprisingly windy. But those sections where we had to walk outdoors .... HOT!! *grins*

When we entered Angkor Wat through one of the entrances, Mr Chenla brought us to see the carving of this devata, or female deity. We were asking him what was so different about this devata to the ones we saw before. He explained that this devata was smiling. And we pointed out that others were smiling too. Then he explained specifically that this devata was smiling because her teeth were showing. Ahhhh, it all became clearer to us! *grins*

What was amazing about the devata (above) was the details on her, from her hairdo to her jewellery. Below refers to the many windows around the temple and it has to have seven columns though many were incomplete. As to seven, I cannot seem to remember why it has to be seven ... hmmm ... could it be because of the 'seven heavens' of the Hindu deities?

A rare moment below when the section we were at was totally peaceful *laughs* It's really rare. There were moments where Mag and I sat it out to just let people move ahead so that we didn't have to bear with their loud chattering.

During that trip to Siem Reap, I discovered the widescreen mode on my camera. Yes, I am useless when it comes to exploring. When I stumbled upon this mode, I was thrilled cuz I loved how the shots turned out. Like the one below. LOVE IT *laughs* Anyways, back to the carvings, they are not as clear as the ones in Bayon, but they are nonetheless pretty cool.

Carvings that showed of battles that took place (below). If you're wondering why there are portions of the carvings that are shiny. Well those are where visitors to the temple have left their mark by touching the carvings. Each time one person touch the carving, s/he leaves behind oils that actually do more harm than good for these carvings. So am appealing to travellers who are heading to Angkor Wat, go ahead take home photographs, just don't leave behind your finger marks on those walls.

Below is a close up of the army on the march to battle, probably against the Siamese soldiers.

A full shot of the soldiers, to the right - the Siamese soldiers and to the left, Khmer soldiers. Can you spot how they are different?

What was odd about the temple was how the ground was uneven and the authorities had put wooden steps for visitors to the temple. But I am curious as to why it was built that way ...

The two carvings below are from the third gallery of the south side east wing depicting the beatings and torture in the Judgement of the Dead.

Check out below the Guardians of the Underworld in action in the Judgement of the Dead.

What caught my attention below are those cool fan-looking things that the guys are carrying. Think those guys could be in a procession of sort.

Along the corridors we spot statues of Buddha (see below) and Mr Chenla explained that those were added in during the religious revolution during Jayavarman VII's reign in 13th century when the Khmer empire embraced Buddhism, leading to Angkor Wat to be converted from a Vishnuite sanctuary to a Buddhist monastry.

Female deities in a row below. Check out their hair-dos *grins* Pretty cool huh? Also check out the details on the devata.

We got to the central part of the temple and below you can see how steep the steps are. These have been closed since 2004 because of some accidents that took place. Wooden steps have been built that will allow visitors up. Unfortunately, it was ready when we were there.

We spent quite a lot of time here to just sit back and take the whole experience in. We found a nice shady spot (just below the windows below) and that was really really nice. It was quieter with few people at that section of the temple. Those are the moments that I really remember instead of the rush rush bits *grins*

Mag, just had to put this photograph of you here because I think you look great and I also love the contrast from your red top with the background. Reminder to self to not wear black if I am going to head to such places *grins*

Thanks to Mr Chenla who was always ready to take shots for us. He was a good sport and super patient. Hmmm, darn, I don't think I have a picture with Mr Chenla *thinks*

Below is a shot taken from the base of the steps to give you an idea of how darn steep the steps were. I have no idea how the Khmers in the past climbed those steps with the sedan (with the King seated inside). It's suppose to be steep to reflect the mountain that reaches the heaven (at least that's what I remember from Mr Chenla) but how practical can that be ya.

After easily about 20 minutes, we moved on to the first level which seemed like the central area that led to different parts of the temple.

There were monks who were also there and I think the contrast between their saffron robes against the background ... just awesome. Unfortunately, wasn't able to get any good shot of the temple and monk combi then.

Mag went on to climb this separate section while I stayed at the other end.

And from Mag's end, she took managed to get a shot of me waiting under the shade *laughs*

Found the columns interesting. Am not sure if they were formerly windows that have been sealed or were the columns purely decorative.

More devata with four different hairdos Also take note of the jewellery on them. Very cool. And guess which parts of the devata that people just had to grope? *laughs* Hint: Look out for them shiny spots!

After spending several hours, we were ready to leave as we had to make our way for the next and last temple for our stay in Siem Reap. While walking out, we had to take a separate and rather longer route to the exit (separate from the route taken by the locals)). I think they have separate routes for tourists to enter and exit because it can be rather crazy during peak season.

As we walked away, I saw this boy just sitting outside the temple, totally oblivious to the crowd of tourists around him. Wonder what he's thinking ....

We started the day watching the sun rising and we ended the day watching the sun set. Our next destination was Phnom Bakheng temple.

Phnom Bakheng, the 'Strong Hill', is a natural rise more than 70m high on which was built the temple mountain of the same name. That was the centre of Yashodharapura, the 'City that Bestows Glory', which was the new capital of Yashovarman I, who was crowned in 889. This has to be one of the earlier temples built. Photograph below shows the trail that we took to get to the base of the temple. It took us about 15 minutes up slope climb on the trail and yes, it was dead tiring for me *grins*

You can choose to go up the trail by elephants if you don't want to climb up, but be prepared to fork out USD20 for one trip up and another USD15 for a trip down. The photograph below shows base of the temple and the five terraces of the pyramid.

I hate heights and have this fear of stairs/steps because I just have this image of falling down steps and breaking my face *grins* Sign that I am getting older! But if you just go to the base of the Phnom Bakheng, you can see very much. So up I went with Mag and it was definitely worth it (see below for the view from the top). If like me, you hate heights, just make sure when you climb, get a good grip of the side of the stairway and don't look down. The steps are very narrow so climb one step at a time. No need to be a hero ya *grins*

We were on our own at the temple so we just spent time walking around and managed to finish taking all the shots in 15 minutes. And it was about 4 plus in the afternoon and sun was not due to set till 5.30pm.

Above is a corner prasat found around the temple. Below is probably another which has broken over time. But if you look close enough, you can see the devata.

More corner prasat against the sky background. That was close to the area where we sat for over an hour for the sun to set. Thankfully Mag had her ipod with her so we could plug in and chill out. There will be heaps of people around so 'chope' your spot so that you get a nice view of the sun setting. My regret was not having a chilled can of Coke up there with me because that would have been a great treat to end the day! *grins*

Unfortunately, the sky was too cloudly so we didn't have a great sunset, but it was still a sunset. And it was a nice way to end the day of temple hopping.

We decided to move off before it got too dark (take note that the trail closes at 5.30pm so they won't let you start the trail after 5.30pm) and also partly to beat the crowd. And we decided to take a different route down and here's a shot of how bad (and dangerous) it can be. I swear it's an accident waiting to happen. Somehow, people self-organised and separated those going up and down the temple. Going up is alot easier compared to going down. Very unglamorous but I basically got down to my butt and slid down step by step and cling on to the side for support. At some point, there were missing steps so just slide down. Anyways, everyone is too busy to even care how you look *laughs* Also look around and see how others are doing it and pick up some ideas from there too. What was amazing was how the locals were climbing up and down in heels and baby resting on their hips *shakes head*

Commented to Mag that we didn't have any photographs of the food we ate. And there's a very simple reason for that. Each time we sat down for a meal, we would be so hungry that when the food came, we just started eating *laughs* Two Khmer dishes that I like - Amok Fish and Beef with Khmer spices (no idea what's the local name for this dish). Khmer food is not spicy so it's great if you aren't keen on spicy food. But for us, we needed to have that kick. That was easily solved by asking for some cut chilli (we got chilli padi *grins*) and mix it with the dish and it was PERFECT!

One of the places we ate had Amok fish served in a coconut shell (see above) and they actually cut the cover in the shape of a heart. Cute or what ya!!!