The Royal Palace, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Here we are at the Royal Palace where the present king resides. Of course this is the area where we were allowed to browse. Where he stayed is off limit. It is a beautiful palace and very vast. This is only a tiny part of palace ground. This building is where the coronation takes place. In there we can see jewelleries being exhibited that were worn by earlier queens. They were authentic. Sorry photos were not allowed in the building itself.

Cambodian cuisine

This is Amok Fish. It comes in two version. The grilled or curried. This version it grilled Amok Fish. Amok Fish is one of the many delicious cuisine in Cambodia. It tasted like our Otak-otak but it has its unique ingredients added. I just can't get enough of it. YUMMMMYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

Siang and me at the National Museum, Cambodia

This museum is full of statues from the ruins. Photos are not allowed and so we cannot snap any. Behind us is a statue of a Garuda. We were allowed to take this one as it was at the enterance. In the museum, I found a few ladies collecting donation to upkeep the place by handling us a stick of jasmine to be place at one of the Buddha statues. The amount donated was up to individuals. At first, I was thinking that it was rather weird for people to pray to statues placed in museums. After Rith explained to us, I felt at ease.

Cambodia

Finally 13.1.2010 arrived after waiting for months. Siang and I left for Cambodia. We were supposed to accompany our maid, Phan Yen, back to her home land but she made a big fuss in wanting to leave sooner after our parents passed away. We were well prepared for the trip after many feedbacks from friends. Siang was told to look out for beggars as we stepped out of the airport building. To our amazement, we did not see any. Our guide, Rith, told us that their government forbidded beggars greeting tourist at such points.

One of my friend said to get ready to dig my nose every night before bedtime. She said Phnom Penh is very dusty. Before seeing the city, I regreted forgetting to bring some masks. Anyway, the masks would have taken up some precious space in by luggage as I did not see that much dust in the air. I did dug my nose as instructed but it wasn't dirty. The only place that was dusty was on the way to angkor Wat. But no problem for us as we travelled in a limousine. Of course it would be adisable to wear masks if you take the tut tut which is the national taxi.

Yet another told me to be prepared to experience some skin ailments due to the yellowish water from the tap. Oh, well, no yellowish water flowing from the taps and definitely I did not have any skin ailments. My skin came back as good as I left. Ahem, I did become a little darker....Ahhhhh, any Caucasian would be jealous of what I got. Anyway, the water there is very clean.

Fishing

Frankie at Batu Ferringhi beach. This is his first fishing trip. He had to get his brother to help him with the hooks. He was very eager in his new hobby. He got his second rod at a hardware shop at Batu ferringhi. It was expensive according to his brother. So bro took him so a shop at Irving Road where he got fishing gears at very cheap price.

Well, today he went and caught his very first fish. In fact he caught two small ones. He was happy with his catch. But we threw them back where they belong as we were not in favour to kill them for food. Hahahaha, we would need more if we were to have them for dinner. Anyway, the fishes may be very happy about our decision not to eat them.

We have been going to the beach very often. Sometimes there were more catch but sometimes NOTHING. But we had fun. I would jumped into the water while Frankie waited for his bite.

Bayu Emas, Batu Ferringhi, Penang

Yesterday I made an appointment to see two different units of apartment at Bayu Emas, Batu Ferringhi, Penang. My son, Dani, and his friends are now working for Hard Rock Hotel and they needed accommodation due to their second shift which started at 6pm until 2.30am. I am not comfortable with this shift at he will be driving home at such wee hours. It spooks me as he recently got involved in an accident on one rainy day at Tanjung Bungah opposite the Tsunami flats. So Frankie and I encouraged him to share a unit with his friends nearby the area.

One night he came home telling us about the rental which was RM1000 for a two roomed unit but the price has since increased to RM1100 according to the broker. I happened to ask Dani if there was any for sales. He said there were two and I asked him to call the broker, Nellie, for an appointment to see the units.

So yesterday was the day. We were shown the three roomed unit but we did not quite like the atmosphere there. It needed repainting and the ceiling was leaking as it was on the top most floor. Moreover the layout wasn't what I fancy.

We were ushered to the next block which consisted of two bedrooms. The moment I walked into the unit I was overwhelmed. You may say that I fell in love with the place at first sight. It was awesome. The paint is as good as new. It comes with furniture, fridge, 3 units of air conditioners, water heaters, hob and stove. I only need to repaint the grill at the kitchen as it was rusty.

The place was neat and clean. We were happy with the condition. The bathrooms are spacious. Out of excitement I forgot to take photos of the bathrooms. There are things left behind like vacuum cleaner, comforters, pots and pans, crockery and stand fans which I do not know if the seller will come back to collect them.

I decided to confirm buying this unit. Hopefully the seller has not changed his mind about selling. Rental now fetches RM1100 for a two roomed unit but I am giving my son and his gang a special rate out of compassion.

Botanical Garden, Penang 4.5.09

I was chasing butterflies and this small yellow butterfly was what I caught with my camera. Mind you...it wasn't an easy 'catch'. There were other species flying around as if they were dancing or teasing me. I managed to take a few shots of the yellow butterflies as they were easier to spot.