When people talk about Siem Reap, it’s usually all about this area of ancient temples. Most simply falsely refer to this site as the “Angkor Wat”. But Angkor Wat is merely one amongst the many temples in this huge area – though it is the star of the park and sees the most number of tourists at any time of day.
Category Archives: Asia
Singapore: ZoukOut 2013
ZoukOut begun exactly 13 years ago in the year 2000. The first time I’d ever been there was on their 10th anniversary. Headliners were Tiesto, and Guetta, with Afrojack, Hardwell, Dennis Ferrer, Laidback Luke, Seth Troxler…whuuut. With such great line ups, I’m not surprised they’ve managed to pull such big crowds since they started. 26,000 party goers crowded the tiny island in 2008. But that’s that, and it’s time to get excited for this year’s party.
Shanghai: Mr X Puzzle House
[Update: Seems there is now a new outlet in Beijing as well. Please see thebeijinger.com for details.]
When the question is posed “What should we do this weekend?” The answer for us usually revolve around eating, drinking, exploring the city, bumming around at someone’s place. A puzzle house is not exactly the most common thing to suggest. But a new experience is always welcoming after weeks of doing the same old things.
Siem Reap: Kampong Phluk & Tonle Sap
Our first full day in Siem Reap was actually not immediately spent at the temples, but instead we ventured south to the floating village of Kampung Phluk in Tonle Sap. Tonle Sap is the largest lake in Cambodia and huge it really is. It is probably the size of an entire small city, or even bigger.
Summed Up: Singapore
Singapore. A conflicting place of East and West, Old Traditions and the New, Creativity and Censorship, Hawkers and Fine Dining.
It’s always a little difficult to write about a place which has shaped you, where you were born and raised in, which used to be all you ever knew. Simply because, I can never truly be completely objective of the views I have on the city, completely basing how I feel on the subjective and personal experiences I’ve had living here. But I guess that itself can be quite interesting for outsiders to have a glimpse of.
Phnom Penh: Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum & Chuoeng Ek (Killing Fields)
We had a week long break at the start of October due to the Chinese National Day celebrations. After all that planning, we finally set off to visit the charming land of Cambodia. We took an evening MU flight out and arrived in the night. (It was a bad flight, but that’s another story. We’re excited to see Cambodia Angkor Air will be flying direct here soon and will definitely fly with them instead next).
We quickly checked into our beautiful boutique hotel The Plantation, in a quiet street of central Phnom Penh and booked an independent tuk-tuk driver through the hotel for the next day. So, when people talk about Cambodia, it’s almost always immediately about the temples of Angkor in Siem Reap. The temples are indeed amazing but the millions of tourists yearly often overlook Cambodia’s very recent history (1975-1979) – the Khmer Rouge regime. Of which, the last surviving leaders are currently still facing trial for. Visiting the various museums that explains this, opens your eyes to the struggles of the Khmer people even today, as they continue to rebuild their nation after losing millions of their brothers.
Continue reading Phnom Penh: Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum & Chuoeng Ek (Killing Fields)
Hong Kong: Graffiti Wall of Fame
When we hear of street art lanes anywhere when travelling abroad, we usually end up squeezing it into our itineraries. The hidden wall in Mongkok was indeed very hidden. But we’re glad we found it in the end.
Hong Kong: Australian Dairy Company (Cha Chaan Tengs)
I’ve heard a lot about this place. It’s a simple cha chaan teng (茶餐厅) most popular for its scrambled eggs, and steamed egg white pudding with milk. What way to best experience local Hong Kong than in a cha chaan teng. While queues are long at almost all times, the turnover is relatively quick. We soon understood how we got a seat so quickly.
Continue reading Hong Kong: Australian Dairy Company (Cha Chaan Tengs)
Singapore: Gardens By The Bay (Evening)
The only time I’d been in the vicinity before was during the Johnnie Walker Circuit Party in the Flower Dome, and seeing we went straight into the venue indoors and didn’t even have time to walk around, I never considered myself as ever been to Gardens by the Bay before. We were supposed to meet a bunch of friends at Indochine@SuperTree that evening and took the opportunity to have a little walk around before.
China: Facebook, Twitter, etc
The moment you relocate to China you realize that it might get a bit difficult to stay in touch with your friends / families / colleagues using your usual known and loved social networks. Facebook, Twitter and many other social network and news sites are blocked in China, and – unless you are rather advanced in reading, writing and speaking Mandarin – the Chinese equivalents like Weibo are not really an alternative :). However, there are of course several ways to regain access to those international sites again.