more tatted bookmarks...

did these bookmarks sometime back... the green one (named as Two Shuttle Bookmark) is for the bf, coz he was sitting for his final acca papers... wanna show some support lar! hehe... the pink one (Simple Bookmark) is for myself

amigurumi angels!

remember my post abt N's birthday present? took me such a long time to do it, coz of work, orchestra and so many other things! but it's finally done, just in time for N's birthday! they're Angie and Elvis Angel amigurumi! for those of u non-craft ppl out there, amigurumi is the japanese art of knitting or crocheting stuffed toys. anyway, i first saw this pair of adorable angels in Julie's blog and i fell in love with them instantly! so even tho' i've never completed any crocheted project before in my entire life, i decided to give it a try. so i clicked over to saplanet's 'shop' on etsy and bought the patterns...

well, needless to say, it was quite difficult to grasp at first, but Lis of saplanet was very helpful. i kept e-mailing her to ask abt tiny details and her replies were always prompt!

anyway, after a few false starts, here's the finished result... i can't find a cream colour in the 'aminah made in japan' yarn series that the shop lady insisted is the perfect yarn for dolls. so i ended up using a light brown, which the housemate said made the amigurumi looked like 'afro-angels'! hehe... and i'm not so good at sewing, so my amigurumi's smiles are a bit weird!



i did the Elvis Angel first, coz i know i'll make lots of mistakes and i wanted the 'girl' angel to look really nice. so i decided to practice with the 'boy' angel and i did make a huge mistake! my Elvis Angel was made inside out! compare the stitches between the 2 angels in the top pic and u'll get what i mean. luckily Lis e-mailed me another additional file later on and i was able to make Angie Angel the right way.

Elvis Angel hanging...


back view of Elvis Angel...

i think i stuffed Angie Angel with too much fibrefill, coz her shape turned out to be like that of a bee! and she looks much bigger than Elvis Angel, which is so wrong! girl angels should be smaller than boy angels... ok, i'm stereotyping, but what the heck!

Angie Angel hanging...


Angie Angel side view...


back view of the wings...

this is how they're supposed to look originally... so cute rite? but compared to mine... *sigh* dun laugh, ok?

after finishing the angels, i put it into a box and fashioned a music box out of it! i found a shop selling those raw 'wind-urself music box' thingy some time back, so i got the idea of creating a music box with the angels inside. then i covered the box up with a piece of hard plastic (those that we use for book binding) which can be slipped in and out. that way, N can take out the angels to be used for ornaments or hang them somewhere if she doesn't want them to stay in the box. and i can still use the box cover to cover over the plastic and tie it up with a ribbon.

ta-dah!

N loved it!

weekend getaway

went for a weekend getaway with the bf to cameron highlands last weekend... well, one thing i learnt from this trip is:
NEVER GO ANYWHERE ON A SCHOOL HOLIDAY WITHOUT PREBOOKING YOUR ACCOMMODATION!

looking for a place to stay was hell! we arrived quite late, abt 6pm and all the places in brinchang were fully booked, be it hotels, inn, guesthouses, motels etc... in the end, we found a yucky room for an exorbitant price of RM150!

as it was a saturday, a 'pasar malam' (night market) day in cameron, we went to have a look. well, most of the stalls there were catered for tourists... if i were a local there, i dun think i'd buy anything there! but since i'm the tourist, i went ahead and parted with my money! hehe... bought some fresh vege, for goodness knows why, since i dun cook at all! but they were really cheap, prices ranging from 4 - 12 packets for RM10, depending on the size of the packs.


nothing like a pot of steamboat to warm one up in the cold! but the shop that we went to (aiya, forgot the name of the shop!) only served us a few slivers of cuttlefish, 2 miserable fish balls, 2 pitiful meat balls, a bit of 'tao-kee' (bean curd skin) and lots of vege, for the cut-throat price of RM36! that's RM18 per head! >:(



after an unsatisfactory steamboat dinner, we headed over to this shop "Strawberry Moments" that we spotted earlier for some strawberry desserts. their menu were mouth-watering and i had a hard time deciding what i wanted. in the end, we shared this "Melt-in-Mouth", which consisted of 3 scoops of ice-creams (strawberry, raspberry and chocolate), strawberries coated in white chocolate, marshmallows and fresh strawberries. other than that, i ordered a cup of strawberry tea while the bf had some hot chocolate. hmm... at least the dessert did not disappoint!



early the next morning (believe me, for someone who usually goes to bed at 5 or 6 in the morning, waking up at 7am IS VERY EARLY!), the bf drove me further up the mountain to watch the view from Equatorial Hotel... it was lovely!


from the front of equatorial hotel, there's this little trail of steps overgrown with bushes, trees and plants leading down to the plantation below... it was really beautiful and fun, but the overprotective bf would not allow me to venture beyond the steps to the mud trail further below :(

after a bit of exploring and picture taking, went back to town for breakfast... we've deduced that food is quite expensive there! then we checked out and went strawberries hunting! ok, not really hunting... plucking!

ripe strawberries waiting to be plucked...

1/2 kg for RM20... and these proprietors are really clever, i tell u. u not only buy their strawberries, u need to do the work for them too!



on the way down, stopped by the roadside to take this spectacular view of the tea plantation... then since it's still quite early, we decided to go up another road to the Boh Tea plantation. boy, the road is really narrow and winding, just enough for one car to pass at a time!



yikes! saw this gigantic millipede crawling along the path at the plantation... scary!
we decided not to track up to the very top of the plantation, coz it's so tiring! so we went to visit the Boh factory and see how they process the tea...


after that, we rested for a bit in their tea shop... i had the Boh green tea (yucks!) and the bf had the Boh camomile (nice!). and so, our weekend getaway ended with 2 mugs of Boh tea! and i'm gonna be sick of strawberries for a very long time!

latest project...

preparing a birthday surprise for N. watch this space for my completed work!

The Night of Musical Journey - rehearsal & actual concert day

chewie's first day at school

out of 3 new students (should be 5, but 2 din turn up due to the bad weather), chewie is the A1 star student! i think this should be how parents feel when their kids' kindergarten's teachers tell them that their kids did great in school! hahaha...

turns out, chewie's penchant for food is every dog trainer's dream come true! she responds well since the very first task (recall with the 'come' command). well, actually a bit too well! she even responds to other dogs' names! *sigh*

the other 2 new enrollments were poodles. one was too shy and uptight, as if stoned. wouldn't do anything... the other poodle dun respond well to food inducement.

and it helps that chewie already has some ground work... she sits and comes easily. and is really a pleasure to train! and the trainers were all so keen for her to advance to higher levels, encouraging me to start getting her to love chasing balls and jumping. would be great for agility training later on. the main trainer even tried some of the moves in the pre-novice level with her and she did it beautifully! so proud! *beam*

but she's not very social with other dogs... or rather, she doesn't know how to play nicely with other dogs. maybe lack of interaction. hopefully by enrolling her in the obedience school, she'll be able to learn some social skills in the process.

too bad, i was too busy to remember to take any photos... will see if i'll have the chance to take during next week's lesson.

The Night of Musical Journey

Galaxy Chamber Orchestra
(of Soka Gakkai Malaysia)

presents

Time & Date:
24th November 2007, 8:00pm

Venue:
Ikeda Peace Auditorium, SGM Cultural Centre
(click here for map)

Admission:
Free
(get your tickets from me now!)

Repertoire:
"Le Nozze Di Figaro" - W. A. Mozart
"Perpetuum Mobile" - Johann Strauss
"Closing" from Final Fantasy 9 - Nobuo Uematsu
"Concerto Grosso Op. 3 No. 8" - Antonio Vivaldi
"Kabuki Dance"
Violin Solo
Selection from Pirates of the Carribean
"Morigasaki"
Selection from Lord of the Rings

Selection from Les Miserables

chewie at 4 months +

she's such a clever girl! i never cease to be amazed at how she understands the things i teach her after only a few times... like i've mentioned here before, she learnt to 'sit' pretty fast. that's the first and most basic command any dog should know, 'sit'.




next came 'down'. she did this fairly easily too... like a natural!



then out of a fit of fancy, i taught her to do 'hand-hand', coz it's just so cute! :P



then, from a book, i learnt that it's important to teach our dogs to leave something. say suddenly our pills or some poisonous things fell on the floor, then it'll be good for a dog to know that she is not to touch it. so i taught her to 'leave it'. here's she keeping a close eye on the cookie and waiting (im)patiently for me to give her the ok cue. cute hor?

but this needs more work, coz she's such a thief! whenever i take a step back, she'll grab the goodie and gobble it up in no time! *sigh*

next, i decided to make her 'sit' before i open the cage to let her out. this will teach her a bit of manners and not jump up and down excitedly waiting to come out... this is done easily coz she already knows the 'sit' command.


and then there's this habit of hers that i really want to break. since she found out where i keep her doggie biscuits, the store room has been her favourite room. whenever i open the store room door, she'll rush in excitedly and jump on all the savoury-smelling treats i keep in a plastic bag on the floor, tail wagging frantically. so i thot to myself, this just can't do. i don't want to have to keep fighting her off every time i go in to get her food or treats. so i decided to teach her to sit outside the room patiently while i go inside to get her food. here, she's 'cheating' by putting her front paws in... hehehe...
this needs working too... coz she can't stand to wait too long while i'm inside this heavenly place, with my back turned towards her, dunno doing what! so when she hears the first spoonful of dog biscuits hitting her bowl, she'll be a little wriggling machine, rushing in to join the fun! i'll have to chase her out a few times before i can finish ladling her food... *sigh*


and since she arrived, whenever i want her to go back to her cage, i'll wave some goodies at the top opening of her cage and say 'chewie, cage'. she'll rush in thru the side opening, i'll close the door and she gets her reward! now i don't need to hover the treat on top of her cage... i'll just point to her cage, say 'cage' and she'll jump in happily, waiting for me to close the door and dish out the reward!




and as an addition, i'll make her 'sit' first before getting any reward. so now after jumping in, she'll sit quietly for her reward without having to be told!



and here's her latest trick, which took me completely by surprise. i only taught it to her sporadically and only like on 2 occasions, coz she din seem to like it much. so i thot maybe she won't learn it. but that day, while going thru her drills, i thot to try this command, just to see if she knows it. and she did! she knows to 'roll'! i'm so proud of her!



so now, i've enrolled her into a puppy obedience school. hopefully she'll a good canine citizen and maybe pass her canine good citizen test later on!

on turning 30...

this is in response to karen cheng’s post, one of the few ‘stranger’s blogs’ that i frequent. and seeing that i’ll be hitting the big three-oh next year, i thot maybe i should give my take on the topic.

well, i’ve never really thot abt being 30. i mean, i used to think abt being 12, abt being 18 and 21. but who the heck thinks abt turning 30, rite? but i guess it’s sorta like an age-mark for everyone, especially women.

frankly, i don’t feel like i’m anywhere near 30. i still feel like i did when i’m in university. juz the other day, i was telling the housemates that when i go out, i’m still dressing like i did when i went for lecture! in jeans and Ts. and i dun think i look the age too. once, i was stopped by a reporter from sin chew to ask abt my views on a particular topic. and when she asked for my details like name, age etc., she was so shocked to learn that i’m 29. she thot i’m a college kid!

perspectively, i guess i’m a failure for a 30 y/o. i mean, women at 30 r supposed to be matured, with an established career, starting/nurturing a young family, financially independent, full of confidence, adult enough to know what she wants and yet young enough to have the zest and energy to face the challenges of the world, etc.

and then look at me. i dun feel an adult at all. even tho’ i consider myself streetwise, i don’t hold myself well with intellects my own age and i get intimidated easily. and career-wise, what career??? i don’t see where my career is heading, if what i’m doing now can be called ‘career’. my financial state is a haywire with credit-card debt like the black hole, and even tho’ i’m in a relationship, we’re not hearing wedding bells anytime soon… and i’m still not ‘settled’. i’m still running around, pursuing things like ice-skating, music and stuff, instead of seeking self-development such as getting a second degree/master or taking up a course to enhance my resume.

*sigh* will i end up the ‘old aunty’ pursuing youngsters stuff? but then again, y must i conform myself to society’s perception of what’s ‘aunty stuff’ and what’s ‘youngsters stuff’? is there really a clear definite line between the two? take ice-skating, for example. when i first started taking lessons, my colleagues at that time would laugh at me, especially this ‘big sister’, who is abt 8-10 years older than me. she’s quite a modern mom, not aunty at all. but when she heard that i’m taking ice-skating, she would always tease that i’m too old for such things. “lao liao lar (old already lar), still wanna do ice-skating. all ur bones are too stiff liao!” yes, i agree that age is a factor to consider. i’m more afraid of falling down compared to those kids, which made it harder and longer for me to learn the more difficult steps. but it’s something i want to do and it’s not like i’ll be going for the olympics…

i dunno… i dun even know how i feel abt turning 30. so what exactly should i feel differently the morning i wake up as a 30 y/o, compared to the previous night as a 29 y/o? will i suddenly feel wiser? more matured? or maybe feeling blue because i’ve reached the 30th mark without achieving anything great with my life thus far? or suddenly feel my bones going stiff? hehe… but then again, age has never really been anything to me other than numbers marking the duration i’ve been on planet earth. so why should 30 be any different from 29, rite? what’s most important is that i live my life MY WAY.

too soon, maybe?

now i'm thinking, maybe we bought chewie too soon... at first the our intention is to get a doggie AFTER i move into our new condo. i was very excited to be able to keep a doggie again, coz i really miss my niji dearly. that's y we've been going into every pet shop we see, just to look at their selection of doggies in the window.

but then the bf saw this cocker spaniel (who will later become chewie) with the same birth date as him and then and there he decided he wants her! so i asked him to call one of the housemates to ask if i can keep the doggie in our apartment and the good soul agreed... so we excitedly bought chewie, along with all her accessories and dog food etc and brought her home.

well, luckily i'm working from home, so i can clean up after her and give her lots of play time to help burn off her energy. that way, she won't be so bored in her cage the whole day long. but now i'm having second thoughts. staying with housemates mean the house is not mine (obviously). so i need to keep a constant watch over the little bugger, to make sure she dun chew other ppl's shoe, floor mat etc. and during the night when the housemates are home, i need to make sure she dun run into their room. so i have to multitask: one hand cleaning out her cage, one hand entertain her with her chew toy to distract her. but sometimes she'll just bolt away and make for the rooms! that's when we can hear bloodcurdling screams from the housemates! hehe...

also, having other ppl in the house means they'll sometimes feed her the doggie food i keep handy in a small container nearby for training purposes. not that i'm against anyone feeding her, but incorrect method and indiscriminate feeding will only confuse and disrupt her training.

and now, one of the housemate's mom is here for 2 whole weeks... so i can't let chewie out too often, only long enough for me to clean her cage. so kesian, terperap in the cage for such long hours! but bo-pien... can tell from the housemate's mom's face that she dun quite like it. of course lar, everyday only know how to poo and pee and make noise. and when let loose, she'll go ard sniffing and licking ppl. and i keep her in the dry kitchen area, so it's quite inconvenient for her mom to cook. so of course dun like lar! but how wor? takkan keep her outside on the balcony? she'll get wet when it rains... and takkan keep her outside in the wet kitchen area? she'll keep the whole block awake with her barking... *sigh*

dunno how now... been complaining to the bf abt this. but what can he do also? *double sigh*

my new baby!

dear all, meet chewie! she's american mixed english cocker spaniel... only abt 3 months old. and she's the bf's little sister! coz she shares the same birthday as him. but hey, how come i'm the one who has to clean up after her??? but she's so adorable. and so clever too! spent one night here and oredi she knows where i keep her doggie biscuit! and she oredi knows her name, as well as 'sit', just after a few times i taught it to her! and she comes when i say "chewie, come!" but i think that's mainly because i have treats in my hand! next will try to get her to understand 'stand', 'hand-hand', 'down', 'look at me' etc. according to the vet, u can practically bribe a dog to do almost anything! hehe...

all the bf said was: "not even belong to us 24 hrs, oredi spent my RM500+ on doggie stuff and vet check-up!" hehe... siapa suruh it's his sister wor?

and since she's still so young, she poos and pees like 100 times a day! also, she's shedding now... changing her baby coat, i think. i'm so busy!!!

but so happy the housemates let me keep her! i know they dun really like the idea of keeping a dog in the apartment, coz they're smelly and dirty and bite things... but they know how much i yearn for it, so they agreed! cool huh? *happy*

i'm still alive!

well, that was quite a long silence from me... well, for one thing, nothing much happening nowadays. and another, having to pay for ur own internet connection surely is the biggest 'blogging-inspiration' killer!

ok, here's a quick update of what i've been up to:
1. work lar... until no day no night
2. orchestra practice for our upcoming concert in nov
3. this...
Spring Waltz! the final installment of the seasonal opus by the same producer of Autumn In My Heart, Winter Sonata & Summer Scent. hehe... have not watch summer scent tho'. anyone watched? nice?

anyway, as with the previous 2 'seasons' (dunno abt summer, tho' i'm sure it's also along the same lines), this last season did not disappoint in its mixed-up identity, looking for someone from the past when he/she's right in front of ur eyes, and the frustration and 'get moving already!' feeling that comes from watching all K-dramas...

and tho' Daniel Henny is quite yummy, no one beats bae yong joon! heh...

4. i've not mentioned this before, but the bf and i are getting our own condo. so been bz running ard for all the loan, documentation, legal side, surveying of furniture, etc etc. pretty hectic! and also the budget to worry abt, hence no. 1 above! and this is also partly the reason for previous post...

well that's all. dem exciting life i have, rite?

family affairs...

contrary to popular belief (ok, maybe just my naive and distorted view of things), a relationship between 2 people is not well, between just 2 people. now i realized, whatever decision, plans and undertakings we make/take will need to involve not 2 people, but 2 families! *sigh*

maybe i'm so used to being independent, coupled with the fact the my parents don't really impose any major restrictions on me, going along the tunes of "as long as ur life is not threatened, we trust that u're big enough to know what u're doing and what's important is u're happy", that suddenly having to extend my consideration for other ppl's family's views, opinions, wish, etc is just so dem frustrating! and the spoiled and obstinate brat in me wonder if it's really so important to give in to one's father's every whim and fancy, when all these while, it's MY every whim and fancy that's being met by my dad! *urgh*

new fad...

in one of my previous posts, i've promised to blog abt my new fad... well, ok, it's not so new now, but nvm lar. here it is!

yep! PS2! hehehe... actually it's not so much my fad, but the bf. i only play the dummy games like super mario and monoply. hehehe... but he put it at my place so that he can shoot, race and bang police cars to his hearts content without nagging parents and controller-hogging siblings. like a kid right? *sigh*

not only that, he's obsess in collecting games! now it's filled 2 folders! *sigh*

another step up the IT world...

guess where m i now? hehehe...
starbucks! going wi-fi, with my brand new laptop! *grin*

just finish my bookcrossing meetup in bangsar shopping village and since gco practice is not until 8pm tonight, took the chance to pop into starbucks (oppostite bakerzin - the meetup venue this month) to take advantage of the fast connection to upload my cambodia pics... but dunno y, flickr is still quite slow. other site r dem fast, just flickr! only 100+ pics uploaded, 400+ more to go! *sigh*

but nvm lar. still heaps faster then my dial-up... so can't complain much...

will make it a short one this time round...

siem reap: day 1

finally! managed to upload all the pics i wanna use for this post... took me ages! and blogger is really getting on my nerves! took me so long to tweak and adjust the layout, coz the spacing and layout kept running away like it has a mind of its own... couple that with the stupid autosave function kicking in every few seconds. dem irritating! *phew* ok, ok, deep breathing... here goes...


original plan
- had a job pending which i ABSOLUTELY MUST send out before my departure, so will stay up all night to finish it, hopefully by 4am, then i can pack my bags (yep, NOT YET PACK!) and get ready
- N to come to my place at 6 something in the morning, take the star lrt to bandar tasik selatan station, change to the klia transit to get to kl sentral and take the shuttle bus to lcct
- visits: old market, floating village of tonle sap & silk farm


reality
5.15am
job took longer than expected! finally managed e-mail it out. *panic*panic* ran frantically around room, throwing the things i want to pack on my bed.

6.00am
finished packing in record time! *phew* take bath and waited for N to arrive.

7.00am
N finally arrived, so we set out at a brisk walk for the lrt station. contemplated hailing a taxi to bring us straight to kl sentral, but all the taxi drivers parking along the roads were sleeping!

7.30am
reached bandar tasik selatan station. can we make it to lcct before the check-in counter closes at 9.20? decided not to take the risk, so instead of going to kl sentral, we hopped onto the transit train going the other direction towards klia and took the shuttle bus to lcct from there.

backpacker in the making... at bandar tasik
selatan station, waiting for the klia transit

9.10am
made it for the check-in... have some time to kill, so went to mcD’s for breakfast. forgot that we can’t bring any liquid on flights. dem! had to pour away my water from my tumbler.

10.05am
siem reap, here we come! N can finally breathe properly... she’s been worried sick that she’d be prevented from leaving the country as she’s not been repaying her study loan. but should i be mentioning it here? :Þ

last minute read-up on the country...









*cambodia is 1hr behind us, so the time from here onwards will be in cambodian time...

first sight of the magnificent tonle sap from the air.

11.30am
touched down in siem reap, 20 minutes late! feels a bit like in terengganu...

12.30pm
checked-in at guesthouse... room was not bad at all.

erm... *looking lost* what to do now? guesthouse proprietress suggest we walk over to the old market. so off we went!

this window caught our eyes... very creative!

cute rite?

next door is some other shop in renovation.

we saw this japanese ice-cream shop, looks kinda interesting... so even with stomachs growling, we decided to spoil our appetite with some ice-cream!

mango ice-cream, a slice of mango fruit and some mango juice, all mixed together on the freezing cold pan. the mango juice really froze-up!

magic mango ice-cream with nomthongmoun. (nomthongmoun is that long thing that looks a bit like love letters, but with a nutty taste)

ice-cream is creamy, but can taste the frozen juice/mango... something special! 1 mango magic ice-cream = USD2

1.30pm
even with ½ an ice-cream in each of us, we’re still famished! found a khmer restaurant and decided to go for some authentic cambodian dishes.

according to dr. david hill in ‘dos and don’ts in cambodia’, always order bottled drinks! coz their water source is very questionable. even when we were washing our hands at the sink back at our guesthouse, the water smelled of rust! anyway, notice the ice in our glasses? well, we forgot abt the ice until i’ve started pouring my coke in. luckily we remembered after a bit and asked for iceless glasses instead.

u’ve not been to cambodia until u’ve tried their amok. this is chicken amok, tastes a bit like thai green curry. yums!

another cambodian dish, 'cambodian spices' (that’s what written in the menu). yummers too!
lunch for 2 = USD8

internet cafe is BIG business here. well, it’s no surprise really, with all those tourists flocking there...

2.15pm
found ourselves a tuk-tuk driver, saman. this vest is their license! drive a tuk-tuk without it and u can land urself in jail...

after deciding on the fare (USD5), we set off for tonle sap!

halfway there, saman stopped at the petrol station to refill. i’m not kidding!
1 litre petrol = USD1














houses along the road towards tonle sap. the ppl here lived an extremely simple life, just a square pondok called home! but look closely... see all those tv aerials? we were wondering for the longest time: where did they get the power for their tv without electric cables? finally we learnt the answer from saman: car batteries!

and the road! leaving the town behind us, sorry hor, no tar road here... it’s bump bump bump all the way for nearly 30 min! we were so sick of the bumping that we scrapped out the idea of going for the silk road adventure immediately!

at one point, saman's phone began to ring...
N: wah, not bad lar, they also use handphones.
me: but u know what is most amazing? even this san-ka-la (ulu) place also have signal ler! dun play-play o!

whole boat for only 2 of us... that’s the way things work here.
boat ride = USD12/person
tips for boat guide = USD2

that boy in the pic was our boat guide, a 16 y/o boy who tried to con us into tipping him USD40!

con-boat guide: "...hopefully enough for my 1 month english night school fees?"

yeah rite! dream on, boy!

a floating primary school! land kids will go from the road while river kids will row their boats to school.

floating basketball court...












high school...

sundry shop...

a snooker place!

and even have a floating church! it’s a whole community out here!

upon arrival at the tourist centre at downstream,
we were barraged by these kids trying to get us to
buy bananas: “lady (pronounced ‘lεdI’), you buy banana! 1 dollar!”

some ppl keep fish ponds outside their houses... but here, the fad is crocodile cages!
























here’s me giving out chocolates we brought specially for the kids here.

we were shopping for normal sweets when N spotted this! ain’t they cute? we thot we’d be much happier giving out these than say, hudson sweets! how boring rite? so even tho it’s more expensive, we bought it anyway. and watcing the delight dancing in the children’s eyes when they received it, i’d say it was worth every sen!

the tonle sap lake is the lifeline of these ppl. it’s their food source, they swim in it, wash their cookeries and eating utensils in it and bathe in it! this pic is of a vietnamese peddling their wares from house to house
boat guide: “those r vietnamese. pointed hats”

4.30pm
after a bumpy ride back to the old market place, and being informed by saman that the silk factory is very far away, we got saman to bring us to Artisans d’Angkor, an institute recruiting 18-25 y/o uneducated apprentices from the rural areas to train them skills in khmer crafts.

deaf young women are recruited for silk painting.

others do wood carving...

sandstone carving...

6.00pm
ok, maybe that’s enough for the first day. back to guesthouse? not so fast! saman cleverly booked us (that’s right, HE booked US!) for the evening and the next day...

*note: from what we’ve deduced, being a tuk-tuk driver is a big challenge. there’s a whole throng of tuk-tuk on the streets. u can’t walk 3 steps on the streets of the old market without being called out by tuk-tuk drivers, offering to take u temple lar, to tonle sap lar, to wherever lar... we reckoned, tuk-tuk drivers will sometimes fail to get any customer for days! so when they do get any, they’ll make sure they hang on to them with dear life, if possible, for the whole duration of their stay here! so we sort of got our personal driver, who would drive us somewhere, wait for us while we sight-see, makan or shop, then drive us to the next destination... and at the end of the day, make arrangements for the next day!

7.00pm
saman brought us to angkor mondial for buffet dinner and the famous apsara dance (traditional cambodian dance), apsara being the fairy in cambodian’s mythology.
buffet dinner: USD12/person

9.15pm
gosh... the dances were so slow and each movement so meticulous n calculated, it’s really lulling me to sleep! well, it’s no wonder, i’ve not slept for more than 24 hours! so we left before the performance ended. the dining hall was nearly empty by then anyway...

11.00pm
well, it’s been a long and tiring day! zzZZZzzzzzZZzz...