4th Dec 07 to 9th Dec 07, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Finally squeeze in sometime to blog this before i totally lose the drive the write.

DAY 1.
Catched the flight at 6.00AM with 11 other studio mates. All feeling sianz to begin our 3 days of research once we touched down in Siem Reap. All looking forward to the 4th day and beyond. Hah. Totally zoned out on the plane. Landed on Siem Reap's soil on a cool and sunny Tuesday morning. The airport is quite architecturally impressive which brings out a authentic and vernacular feel and not some out of the place modern white box.

Checked out of airport and first person we saw was Richard, our studiomaster, to receive us as he's arrived a day ahead of us. How thoughtful. Had a nice breakfast beside our La Noria Guesthouse. Immediately, we're sent out to begin our research. Omg! The streets are terrifyingly dusty! No proper pavement and paved roads, heaps of sand and dust churned up by passing vehicles forms a haze over the street. Cannot take it, MASKS! Ok, besides the dust and all, Siem Reap town is quite an enchanting place too especially when we walked into certain urban enclaves with temples surrounded by schools, monastery and a community of houses.

It's a hot, tiring and dirty first day of research. Had a good dinner at Old Market Khmer Kitchen Restaurant and a good chat with one of the waiter. Most of the people there are so sweet and nice. They're less fortunate but they have the fighting spirit to work and study hard and learn English. Really impressed.

DAY 2.
Wonderful complimentary breakfast at the terrace of our guesthouse. So resort-y and kampung. Just feel like chilling out there for the whole morning. Set off to explore the river banks and checked out cool hotels that lined the river to cash in on tourism dollars. Interviewed a number of waiters, hotel receptionist, tuk-tuk drivers to find out more about the spatial organization of the traditional houses and settlements. Had a bit of accomplishment when we got one of the tuk-tuk drivers to bring us to a somewhat traditional house and we actually got to go inside. Luckily the owner of the house speaks fluent English too as he works in a hotel. *phew* finally. Also managed to bumped into a low-cost community housing near Wat Bo and interviewed a student staying there who just arrived a few days ago only from Phnon Penh. Insightful day indeed chatting with so many locals. I think the country speaks more English than Japan or Korea. Hah.

Ended the day with a shadow puppet show and cultural dance at our guesthouse terrace and great food. Check out the famous local Amok Fish. The kids doing the dance are so young yet very serious in every step they move. After the show, all the kids have to carry all those heavy instruments and props by themselves and load them up the lorry. Impressed.



DAY 3

Woke up and felt as if I've been here for a week or more after exploring each and every corner of Siem Reap town and speaking to the locals. It certainly helped us to know this city better than just walking around aimlessly like a typical tourist. We haven't even hit any major tourist attraction or historical monument. Well, not for today. Haha. Nicolas, Stacy and me (the archi typology grp) took the risk of venturing further to the outskirts of the town. Found a tuk-tuk driver who persuaded us to check out the Chong Nhnes Floating Village. It was quite a con for USD$15 including the boat ride, but heck, we enjoyed ourselves and it's beautiful.

Saw a floating Catholic church, rows and rows of floating houses and kids rowing to school, and some rowing to our boat to sell us drinks and snacks under the scorching hot sun. At the mouth of Tonle Sap Lake, i can only see the horizon and not the other side of land. Feeling was great. On our way back, went to check out a more traditional village which gave us more insight to their living. Had a good massage finally at the Seeing Hands Massage by the blinds, and some good shopping at Old Market.


DAY 4

It's tourist day! Time to immerse ourselves in the mysterious Angkor temples in the archaeological park. Got our 3-day pass for $40. First up, the Bayon. The moat surrounding the Angkor Thom (behind me) is even wider than Singapore River. The four sided stone towers carved with Bodhisattva image is characteristic of this temple. The spaces within are simply astounding. Snapped and snapped while being very cautious about my battery reserves. It's only the first temple!! Covered another 3 temple compounds within the Angkor Thom, some restored to its glorious state while some just remain in ruins which are more charming actually.

Just like Ta Phrom, where Tomb Raiders was filmed. Nature show us how it is taking over Man's construction over the centuries. Finally to the glorious and monumental Angkor Wat. It's equivalent or perhaps surpass the architecture of Beijing's imperial city and Greek's Acropolis. It was a hot and sunny day which gave me a Cambodian tan, and the overall experience was splendid discounting away the noise and disturbance from tourists that came in packs.

DAY 5.

Had a nice bowl of Vietnamese beef noodles for breakfast & a super shiok kopi-gao and we're on our way to the bigger circuit. Pre Rup, once used as a crematorium, a rather huge one, reveals beautiful brick carvings and the yellow-orange glow of the towers in the morning sun added a different dimension to the temples visited yesterday.

Neak Pean, a small scale monument with 4 bath-like pools surrounding a main central pool and sanctuary tower. Next up to Preak Khan, another Ta Phrom alike threatened by the forces of nature is my temple of the day. The long corridors, beautiful soft lighting, stone carvings etc made this place so rich in experience. Marvellous.

By 4.30pm, we returned to Angkor Wat to make up for our sunset group photo shot which we missed out the previous day. (see above). Well, in fact, what i gained for the return trip was not at the temple but outside. Bought some awesome souvenirs at a cheap price outside the Angkor Wat compound. The Cambodian-Chinese ah-ma who spoke to us in Chinese is so lovely. She never failed to smile or laugh at the end of each sentence she made. Haha.

Rushed back to Siem Reap town in time to catch the mass at the 2-yr old Catholic Church which I found on the first day. It was a good experience together with Stacy (Protestant) and Weilin (non-Christian) whom accompanied me. Perhaps it's in God's plan. This trip to the mass actually sparked off discussions and sharings by our other fellow Christians friends over dinner. And one of them really opened his heart up and shared with us the miracles which he had encountered in Europe. A nice moment and time spent together over dinner.

DAY 6.
Woke up at an unearthly hour again to catch our 7.50am flight back to Singapore. Melvin, Najeeb, Nicolas and me, the first four to return to Singapore while the rest continued to Phnom Penh and some even to Ho Chi Minh. The other 3 were so anxious to get home, always on their toes and rushing on board the plane and down the plane. It's quite a funny sight. They really missed home. I really enjoyed the times spent in Cambodia and was taking in slowly every moment I have. Maybe because I knew that when I got home, it's as dusty as Cambodia with the kitchen renovation still going on. Still, thank God for this safe and pleasant trip in Siem Reap.

*phew* finally finished the blog entry.
For more photos, just check up my flickr some time later.