if i have to do the angkor temples again

no matter how perfect your plan is, there would be those events that you cannot control. although, this wisdom from confucious stuck in my mind after having watched the amazing race 19, "in all things, success depends upon previous preparation, and without such previous preparation, there is sure to be failure."

but sometimes, without the meticulous preparations, things instead can get more exciting and if things go haywire, at least the thought that experience is the best teacher, makes you feel better in the end.

whenever i take on another attempt to gain back my sanity in my routine life, which in simpler terms going to a far away place, i try my best to indulge myself in that place without bringing regrets and negative vibe back to reality. as i always remind myself, it's all about the right perspective.

seeing the angkor wat is one of my most remarkable experiences that i have and probably, i could have in my life. even if i have these notes about my angkor wat excursion, this does not mean i wasn't pleased with it, but only that it could be better the next time around.

first night, siem reap and a headache

at long last i'm putting down into words how siem reap had me during our scrimpy stay and yet, it was something remarkable on my imaginary going-away-to-places board. i have just realized that travel is such a strong word, loosely used in conversations insinuating self-imposition and transcendence above the average. but it's just me. i may have used the word from time to time but i would like to reserve the word for the people out there who are doing travel beyond the photos; but for the real experience in a different place.

as for me, i'm not even halfway to that nor i seek to be entirely in that direction. wherever life takes me, i'm just writing it down the best that i'm capable of and as frequent as i can.

oops. this is one of the times that i'm overly melodramatic when there are a few drama happening all at once in my life.

or maybe, my first night in siem reap had somehow evoked this fuzzy emotional outburst. whichever is the case.

a day in paradise: the scenery

i'm still not in the mood for siem reap and maybe, i know why but i'm not discussing it in this post. for all i know, this is only but a haze that's clouding my sense of reason. with this dilemma aside, i'm moving on with my second and last post for shangri-la. i have done writing the most important part in our experience which was the food. this time around, i'm now stepping out from the comfort of air-conditioning in tides and into the warm sunshine, the sands and the pool err the sea!

this short strip of white sands sufficiently creates an idyllic view and the almost clear turquoise waters completes the tropical delight. if we only had enough time to laze under one of those pretty white umbrellas, we could be lounging in the sun bed in a heartbeat!

phnom penh by a different lens

this is the first time that i'm coming up with another post after my supposed to be final and concluding post, my travel notes on phnom penh which is posted here. this is a rather special case since i was only able to get hold of my brother's photos after almost 3 months of waiting and i even had to personally go back home to finally have them.

i'd like to think that i had already come up with enough words in my several verbose posts that narrated our 2-day experience in phnom penh, and this time around, i'd let my brother's photos just do the talking.

the amiable face of bou meng surely did tug our hearts! according to the khmer lady assisting him, he has no longer a family, having lost his wife and children during the pol pot regime.

a day in paradise: the banquet

i recently made a 3-day trip back home to cebu and with how short the 3 days could be, i tried to squeeze in as many activities as i could and made sure my stay was worthwhile. although it was such an easy feat because my time was well spent with my dear ones and i didn't even care if i only caught up with sleep while on the road -- just to maximize my time.

about 5 hours of my limited there, breinn and i headed to shangri-la's and availed their one day use package. our wallets weren't big enough to accommodate an overnight stay in the 5-star resort in mactan so the one day use was already a sweet deal for us!

i'm even splitting our swift and abrupt experience into two posts so that i can rewind that moment in a longer span of time by reading two lengthy narratives.

after a short climb up shangri-la's driveway, our hired cab came into a halt in front of the resort's lobby half past 12 in the afternoon and we were greeted by the welcoming resort staff with bright and sincere smiles.

when we got our blue wristbands after payment, we headed straight to tides to avail our lunch which was included in the day use package. read on for more delectable parade of photos!

[singapore] marina bay sands in random

because i'm too preoccupied with many things now and the mood for writing about siem reap hasn't caught up with me, i'm going to write down instead the prequel of my gardens by the bay sashay. siem reap would have to move back by a little bit because my favorite island in the sun is just around the corner, beaming with energy and fun!

anyway, before we hit the gardens by the bay, we went to marina bay sands to grab our dinner. oh, we did not head to the A-list restaurants there but unbelievably, there is a regular food court in the hotel's basement. not surprisingly though, the area was packed with people while the rest of the mbs shoppes were only dotted with the lingering few who were shopping their hearts out.

the food court has actually many food stalls originating from some of the countries in asia. since it had been ages from the last time i had a taste of something familiar, i ordered this rice meal set from gerry's grill, a restaurant from the philippines. it cost me 8.90SGD which is roughly 300PHP and i could get a better meal with that amount back home! but i'm not home so i couldn't complain. my only consolation that time was the grilled squid.

[singapore] stumbling in the dark at the gardens

singapore has recently opened its gardens by the bay to the public and it is situated at the back of marina bay sands. it is a refreshing sight to behold in contrast to the skyscrapers in the central business district.

since i'm still in my testing phase of my camera, i brought it with me at the night of the opening day and in order to assure myself that i'm not harboring regrets, i would like to see how it would fare and if it was really worth it for me to spare a big chunk of my meager funds.

because the garden was way too dark when we arrived, with only a faint glow of the lamp posts along the path, i only took a few photos and i can even only pick 4 out of the few.

Flower Dome