Siem Reap, Cambodia (2013) Day 2: Part 3 - Ta Prohm Temple

Date Visited: 2nd March 2013

Angkor Wat - Checked!
Bayon Temple - Checked!

So what's next? Once we done with fulfilled our hungry tummy and quick nap (see enjoyable we were), our driver drove us to another Angkor's most popular temples among the visitors, the Ta Prohm Temple. When most of my friends ranked Bayon Temple as their favourite temple in Angkor Archaeological Park, I could say this temple is arguably my most favourite temple comparing the rest.

#1: East Gate - The Main Gate to Ta Prohm

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Siem Reap, Cambodia (2013) Day 2: Part 2 - Angkor Thom; South Gate & Bayon Temple

NOTE: I can' believe my last entry for my Siem Reap travelogue was in October 2014, it's like five months ago. Now the momentum of blogging is back and hopefully I could blog this finish as soon as possible cause I have plenty of backlog travelogues. 

Date Visited: 2nd March 2013

Once we done with one the top list to do in Siem Reap which was watching the sunrise from Angkor Wat, we had quick breakfast which prepared by the guesthouse before moving on to the destination. They prepared the breakfast as early as 4 am before we eventually went out to from the guest house. How thoughtful they were?

#1: Simple breakfast but enough to satisfy our hungry tummy 

Not far away from the Angkor Wat, we came upon the South Gate of Angkor Thom. Angkor Thom is a walled and most enduring capital city of the Khmer empire. One of the most well-known and greatest temple, Bayon Temple was built right in the center of the city. There are five gates to the city with four are at the cardinal points and the other one was leading to the Royal Palace area. And because each of these gate is crowned with four giant faces, sometimes I was confused which gate was standing in front of me. Among all the gates, the South Gate is often the first stop on a tour before entering the Angkor Thom. No wonder it was pretty crowded when we were there.

#2: A long causeway leading to each entry tower is flanked by a row of 54 stone figures on each side – demons on the right and gods on the left-to make a total of 108 mythical beings guarding the city of Angkor Thom - Source 

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DINTAGE handycraft

Something personal...

Because I'm not going anywhere within this nearer period, I did something which I'm passion about currently - making handmade greeting cards. 

 #1: Sesame Street Inspired Birthday Card 

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Snapshot Sunday: Gardens By The Bay, Singapore

Date Visited: 6th December 2014

When I stumbled upon photos of Gardens By The Bay from social media network two years ago, instantly I added this into the latest "must-visit" attraction for my next upcoming Singapore trip. I went Singapore twice last year; August with my family and December for my friend's wedding but I only managed to go there last month. 

#1: Gardens By The Bay Entrance

Right after I had dinner with my sister and her boyfriend in Chinatown area, we took cab directly to Gardens By The Bay instead of taking MRT as I need to rush to meet my friends who were waiting me there. We decided not to pay for the Entry to Flower Dome and Cloud Forest but spending our time freely roaming around the Supertree Grove as it's free of entrance.

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KSL D' Esplanade Residence, Johor Bahru

Everytime when I visit Singapore, Johor Bahru will definitely be part of my itinerary. It's like hard to separate both of these places for me. So after my family and I spent 2 nights staying in The Southbridge Hotel of Singapore, we hired a private car to travel from Singapore directly to the hotel we booked in Johor Bahru. Although it was pricey comparing taking public transport, but it was absolutely hassle-free, convenient and faster than the latter one. 

I prefer to stay nearby KSL Shopping Mall and since there are 6 of us, hence I booked to stay in KSL D's Esplanade Residence. It is a serviced apartment connected directly to the shopping mall, which making this accomodation another favourable list not just only for me, but also for the rest of my family members.

#1: KSL D' Esplanade Residence

Do take note that D's Esplanade Residence is not located nearby KSL Hotel and therefore, better to inform the driver that you are heading to the serviced apartment type, not the main hotel. Upon check-in, once again we were requested to place a refundable security deposit of RM200 and in return, we were given two different access cards; one to access to the apartment and another one to the shopping mall which later on, I found it was quite troublesome.

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Family Getaway with SuperStar Aquarius Cruises

Unlike the previous three years whereby I started my brand new year by travel abroad; Phuket back in 2012, Johor Bahru & Singapore together with Boyfie in 2013 and travelled to Myanmar last year with a group friends of mine. But for this year itself, I did it differently by having short weekend getaway with my dearest family members by taking cruise vacation with non other than well-known Star Cruises.

 

#1: SuperStar Aquarius Cruises and me! 

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Recap of 2014 & My Plan for 2015

Again, this is my first official blogpost for the year 2015 like what I did for the past 4 years (here, here, here and here). Most bloggers did this kind of post on the final day of last year but for me, I prefer to blog it in a different way somehow. 

Here's the recap of my travel adventures for the year 2014:

• January - Myanmar. After our successful gathering trip to Cambodia last year, we did it again and this time around we chosen Myanmar as our second college gathering trip. 
• January - Kuching. Went back my so-called second hometown with my family and Boyfie for my twin cousin's wedding. Why I called her as twin cousin cause both of us were born on same day, same month and same year. What a coincidence! Not just that, even her wedding day was also the anniversary day for both Boyfie and I.
• March - South Korea. My mom and sister wanna go South Korea so desperately and because of that, we booked our ticket with Korean Air kinda last minute. No doubt it was pricey but for the sake of my family, it's worth it. Besides Seoul, we took train down to Busan which my first time there. 
• April - Northern Thailand. Joined my friend just for Songkran, the Water Festival. From three hours bus ride to small but lovely town of Pai, we back to Chiang Mai for Songkran festival. Besides that, I also took a day trip to Chiang Mai just to witness the most magnificent and enchanting White Temple.
• June - Putrajaya. Represent Sabah State for Girl Guides Annual General Meeting which held annually. And with this, I unofficially complete visited the whole 13 states and 3 federal territories of Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya). 
• August - Singapore & Johor Bahru. Since ever I revisited Singapore back in year 2011 with Boyfie, thereafter I went Singapore every year without fail. This time around was an assignment given by my dad just to accompany two brothers who wanna go Singapore for their semester break. Plus, we even went to Legoland too cause they wanna go there. Yup, I visited Legoland twice within two years.
• October - Australia. Honestly to say, among all the trips for this year, this is the one I anticipated the most cause besides Japan, Australia is my favourite country since ever I was younger child. Back to Australia for the second time it's like another dream come true. I went with my very close friend who I met when I studied in United Kingdom and also with very good friend of all time. Spending 9 days there, we went Sydney, Brisbane and Gold Coast.
• November - Nepal. Within a year, we have two college gathering trips. Early of the year we went Myanmar (like I mentioned earlier) and 10 months later, we went Nepal. For the very first time, I assigned my friend to become the tour leader for this trip cause I was too busy with my full-time and freelance jobs. Plus, I was pretty busy with family commitment as well. That's explained why I didn't update my blog so frequently lately.
• Novermber - Bhutan. This is another last minute decision and frankly to say, the most expensive trip compare the rest. But by the end of the trip I never regret with my last minute decision to visit this stunning and unique country, in both culturally and enviromentally. Absolutely one of the country should at least visit once in the life (because of this trip, I forgone of buying new compact camera).
• December - Singapore & Johor Bahru. Back to Singapore again for my UK housemate's wedding. It's like another gathering with my friends who used to travel together around Europe for 20 days, including our Korean friend where we met her there. I also took this opportunity to go Johor Premium Outlet but I went home empty handed. It's absolutely still pricey, eventhough after discount was given.
• December - Eastern China. Tagged my mom along for Christmas trip cum my year end trip. I always love and want to celebrate Christmas abroad for no reason. Now thinking where will be my next Christmas list for this year. 

Simplified everything, this year I managed to accomplish few of my bucket list which was visited new countries such Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan as well as new cities like Busan, Sydney, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Hangzhou and Shanghai. Besides Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia, I took the opportunity to experience other airlines as well such as Korean Air, Druk Air and Silk Air. Looking forward to experience other airlines in future especially Asiana Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Thai Airways, Turkish Airlines, Emirates and more, perhaps. 

What's my plan for this year? Apparently, I have few in my list but I'm so sorry to say, I unable to share with you guys now cause of the so-called jinx. But no worry, I will be delightful to share out when I manage to go there either in blog, Twitter, Instagram and even Dayre. But one thing for sure what I must do for this year is to complete my 2013 and 2014 endlessly travel post.

Once again, I wish each and every of you have a wonderful year ahead in this brand new year. A new year that's sparkling with fun, bursting with joy and cracking with laughter! Have a great weekend, everyone.

"Believe the Unbelievable, Dream the Impossible, Never Take No for an Answer" - Tony Fernandes (Group CEO, AirAsia)

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Top Commentators Giveaways for Year 2014

Another year, another giveaways for my blog readers who leave the most comments in my blog. As you can see that my blogposts are getting lesser and lesser as year goes by but I'm really thankful to all my blog readers for the continuous support and thoughtful comments throughout my blogging years.

Without waiting any longer, let me announce the top 3 Commentators for the Year 2014;

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2014 X'Mas Holiday in China (Sneak Peek)

Although my family and I don't celebrate Christmas, but I do love the Christmas feelings and celebrate it abroad always part of my wishlist. In 2010, I celebrated Christmas in Taiwan, 2011 in Indonesia and 2012 in Singapore. As for this year, I tagged my mom along to China for the joyful Christmas holiday cum my year end trip as well. This is the fourth trip I sponsored my mom, after Indonesia, Japan and South Korea (from airfare, accommodation, transportation, foods, shopping & etc). Wondering, how many of you sponsored your parents a trip abroad actually?

We started our trip by flying in into Hangzhou first (we burnt our Shanghai tickets actually) and one of ultimate place to go in Hangzhou is none other than mesmerising and awe-inspiring freshwater lake, West Lake itself.

#1: Three Pools Mirroring The Moon, the largest island of the West Lake of Hangzhou.

#3: Ended our night by strolling in Hefang Ancient Street of Hangzhou before leaving to Suzhou

From Hangzhou, we proceeded to Suzhou where we booked 1 day Suzhou ground tour and out from the 24 tourists of this tour, only two of us are Malaysians whereas the rest are the Mainland Chinese.  

#4: Besides few pagodas and temples and not forgetting, we also visited The Lion Forest Garden, one of the four great gardens of Suzhou.

In one of the temples, we were requested to see the fortune teller. Normally I don't believe these but the first thing fortune teller said to me was, "You are the type that don't sit still at home one. Always travel around here & there." How's true is that?

#6: The ancient architectures along the canal in Tongli Water Town. 

Before we move to Shanghai, we managed to go Tongli Water Town, a thousand year ancient town with a long history and the typical style of water town located an hour away from Suzhou. 

#8: Meanwhile in Shanghai, the first place we went was Yu Garden, an extensive Chinese garden located in the heart of bustling Shanghai

#9: We tried the Nanxiang Steamed Bun but turned out to be so so only. Kinda disappointed

#10: Kill our time in Nanjing Road for window shopping. Seriously, just window shopping cause everything was so expensive there.


#11: Last but not least, a view of Pudong from The Bund is a must when visit Shanghai. Oh boy! Shanghai is so amazing and breathtaking especially at night. 

Frankly speaking, my trip to China with my mom is like roller coaster ride with lots of ups and downs. We started off with a pretty good start not until the day I woke up on the Christmas day itself, we were told by Malaysia Airlines of an unpleasant news when I unable to do web check-in. Kinda piss off with the T&C promotion fare. And the next day again, received another bad news stated our flight back to Kota Kinabalu from Shanghai will be delayed. From the original ETD of 1.30 am to 4am. Although we were compensated with food vouchers, but all I want is hotel vouchers instead. 

#12: First time in my life I have such an early flight

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Hotel Review: The Southbridge Hotel, Singapore

Since ever I revisited Singapore together with Boyfie back in year 2011, from there onwards I keep flying to Singapore at least once every year. Everytime I went Singapore, I prefer to stay in different hotels; whether it's budget or boutique for different experience and exposure. And for my recent trip to Singapore with my mom and two lil brothers, we decided to stay in The Southbridge Hotel, a boutique hotel located strategically right in the colourful Chinatown.

#1: Exterior of the Southbridge Hotel, Singapore

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