Tagged by Zal :-p

1. Do you think you're hot?
Yeah, when I’m outside under the sun, or when the air-con is off in the office heheh

2. Upload a favorite picture of you
Picture by me can ah? Heheh…it’s this :



3. Why do you like that picture?
It’s clear & it’s not shaky! Hurray!

Ooh ok ok ..to be more serious, this one then:
Because it reminds me of dearest arwah Izma. She was the most wonderful friend to me!
Deep in my thoughts always… (Read my tribute post here and here, but scroll down a bit)



4. When was the last time you ate pizza?
Aiyo…why la u (not Zal, but originator of the tag) want to know? I can’t remember, sorry

5. The last song you listened to?
A song by Prince (am not sure the song title, sorry…but before Prince they played Travis’ Side! Hurray!), on the new radio station 89.9fm (hey they play cool songs! Check it out!) I should also mention about Capital fm 88.9fm It's been around for 1 year already,but I've only discovered it today. Shoot!

6. What are you doing right now beside this?
While waiting for my cam battery to recharge, I sit down & write this heheh

7. What name you prefer besides yours?
Tak baik kan tak bersyukur dengan nama sendiri heheh…so like Zal said, a favourite name then. Hana or Hanan…or edit sikit my name to Aiyda. I like Zal’s choice also- Zahra ;-)

8. People to tag :
Azmahani
Yana
Azni

9. Who is number one?
Azmahani
We made friends in Edinburgh, Scotland. A friend of my primary school friend, Kareemah. Me & Maslina bunked at her house in Edinburgh one day earlier from plan due to a missed flight (yikes, seriously!). We didn’t even know her prior to that, but she was so generous to let us stay with her, & her husband even fetched us! Kareemah only joined us the next day from Aberdeen.

Read my previous post on this here
We are forever indebted to Ani, her husband & their little one Iman Naufal ;-)

10. Number 3 is having a relationship with…
her fiancé – Shahril. Both are really good mates of mine, we were the ‘gang ketat Kerteh’ where the bunch of us – Azni, Shahril, me, Jue, K Lina, Fendi, Hatim, Noi, Nue & I will never forget her – arwah Izma - were all working in Kerteh. We did things together, went for road trips (sambil lawan quiz antara kereta - via Shahril’s walkie-talkie heheh), makan/minum bersama etc

So u see, 2 couples from the gang got hitched! Azni & Shahril (coming soon on 21 Feb); and K Lina & Fendi – they have a son already - (read their wedding journey here ,but you have to scroll down a bit)

Hatim, Noi & Nue also got married, and they are all parents now! (Nue have 2 kids already!) Oh btw, Nue did got married to a gang Kerteh – Yuz!

Miss those good times together!

11. Who is number 2?
Elyana
She is my good friend from secondary school. We were in the same class together right from Form 2 – Form 5. The 3 of us – me, Yana & Suria were always together. We went for chemistry tuition together at Yana’s house, which is very near to my house, so I just walk there.

She’s now married with a daughter and another one coming soon! She’s a pharmacist, & right now she’s attached to Jusco’s 1 Utama pharmacy, so I could always drop by & say hello ;-)

Gigography: Butterfingers, Istana Budaya sessions

Butterfingers Istana Budaya sessions
Lambang Sari
17-18/01/09

Warning: Butterfingers over-indulgence ahead!

I have been hooked to Butterfingers ever since Miele lent me her Kembali CD. (And I’ve been playing it to a few friends, sorry ya if any of you didn’t really like it heh :-p) It’s really infectious, couldn’t get it out of my head. And this from a local band, they must be really good!

I admit, I’ve heard of them during my uni days, knew a few songs, but that was it, I didn’t really dig more. So when Miele told us (me & Faz, another gig mate) that Butters would be having a “farewell” show before going on a hiatus, I said yes ;-) It was not just going to be one show, but 4 back-to-back shows on 2 consecutive days, at Istana Budaya!

Session 1: 17/01/09 : 2.30-4pm (free seating)
1996-2001 Unplugged with guest band Bunkface

The queue was not really long, perhaps people were working, but this session was sold out! This being an acoustic set, it had a free seating arrangement. I took some pictures during the opening act performance-Bunkface. But it was announced afterwards that no picture or video taking was allowed in IB, so no pix of Butters performing, sigh..


Butterfingers banner outside

Bunkface performing-before no pix/vid instructions- so no pix of Butters performing :-(

This first set showcased their songs from their earlier albums, which I wasn’t really familiar with, but they certainly got my feet tapping & head bobbing! Luckily it was a seated show, so I was a bit erm, restrained heh. Plus, the 3 of us didn’t seat together as we had arrived at different times. Faz was sitting behind Loko, the drummer, I’m sure she enjoyed it!

Before the show started Loque (the guitarist, & chief songwriter) requested for a minute of silence (Loque had a slip of the tongue as he asked for “1 saat yang senyap” instead of 1 minute) & Al-Fatihah recital for the victims of the Gaza conflict. (Thankfully the war has been put to a stop by now, and hopefully no more). While on the list of people to thank for making the show happen, he added Bank Dunia (haha funny sarcastic )

It was a fantastic show, their playing was brilliant, complimented by the UiTM orchestra quintet (or as Loque, affectionately called them - Orkestra Gelombang Cuaca Buruk, lol!). Loque also wrote the arrangement for the orchestra. There were a few glitches here and there in the sound system, possibly from handphone interference. So for the remaining sessions we were asked to switch off our handphones as well.

But otherwise, their acoustic guitar playing (& Loko’s drumming) blended well with the orchestra, love it! They also had a laptop on, with Loque playing the keyboard for effects. I respect Loque as he’s not just content with guitar/piano/keyboards sounds, but dabbled his hands on synthesizers & pro-tools as well. His guitar playing is really skilled too, I was worried he might hurt his fingers with that kind of playing!

Loko was brilliant, love his drumming! (I know Faz absolutely loved it!) as was Dax on the bass, love that he played the double bass too! Emmet played the guitar and violin. Everyone in the band are multi-instrumentalists. As Faz & Miele said, Butters are of international standard, on par, or even higher than some of the international bands around!

I love the setting too, where the stage was at the centre, & the fans surrounding them, everyone could get a good view of the performance. The lighting was brilliant too!

We hung around outside after the 1st show, and then a few moments later the band appeared from the back door, so the fans freely mingled with them. There was not an air on them, we conversed like normal, so it was really cool! Of course there was picture taking with the band as well, and they all relented, really sweet of them! Only setback was that we forgot to ask for the setlist of the 1st show, perhaps we were too overwhelmed by their performance!

Emmet with fans after the 1st session

Loque, after 1st session

Session 2 : 17/01/09: 8.30-10pm (free seating)

Mari Hidup Kembali (sesi gitar kapok) dgn band jemputan Hujan

As the next show was just a few hours after, we hung around at IB. There were more people tonight, maybe some wanted to see the opening act, Hujan. 3 friends of Miele also joined us tonight. This set was again, an acoustic set, so we were all seated. By now we knew where we would get the best view of the band ;-)

For the second set, they played songs from Kembali (which I know, yeay!) & a few older songs (I loved the epic Taman Tasik Perdana).

Here’s the setlist: (Haha by now we remembered to ask for the setlist)

Setlist: Session 2

What a brilliant aural experience! Like the first show, they were given the standing ovation. Since we were now sitting together (6 of us), so we were a bit bolder (cheering more enthusiastically. Now we were officially known as the “gang taksub” heheh..)

This time around, it was announced that there would be an autograph session after the show. So the fans rushed to the autograph booth, and were pushing around. We had to wriggle our way through to get the band to sign the setlist, but we managed it. ;-) Luckily we had mingled with them earlier, after the afternoon show. It was more relaxed at that time, maybe because there wasn’t an announcement, so people just left.

Session 3: 18/01/09: 2.30 - 4pm (free standing)

Transcendence 10-year Anniversary Rock Out

Another round of Butters fest, repeat Day 1 routine. But of course, there’s a bit of difference today -it’s a plugged session (sesi gitar karan). And we would be standing instead, rocking out to their performance.

Again, we were (almost) first in line, so we parked ourselves right in front of Loque and Emmet. We found out later that there was a bit of distraction here though, due to the cameraman who maybe couldn’t figure out that he was blocking our view. (He could have thought to bend or squat a bit).

Another glitch was that Loque’s and Emmet’s transmitter batteries ran out, so there was an awkward moment waiting for replacement (AAA batteries). While waiting for the batteries, we had a show of a drum solo and shuffling (not at the same time though) by Loko and bass solo and moon walking (also not at the same time) by Dax. Sweet!

Anyway, blocking cameraman & dead batteries aside, the crowd today was more lively, perhaps because we were standing, so it allowed for more movements. But no stage diving, moshing, crowd surfing or jumping around though. We could have torn down Istana Budaya if that was allowed lol!

Most of the songs were from the Transcendence album (it’s the 10th year anniversary. Here’s the setlist:


Setlist: Session 3

I was overwhelmed by their performance, I felt light headed after the show. A dizzying experience, but awesome nevertheless!

Another round of selist signature hunting mission after the show, another round of squeezing through the crowd, but it was all great fun! I met up with Ben after the show, but unfortunately couldn’t get his ticket signed by the band for him, so sorry Ben! I also met Loth for this set, but before the show. Both Loth & Ben came for the 3rd show only.

As per the 1st day, we hung around IB while waiting for the evening session later. While lepaking at the café, the band and their entourage came around there too, to makan. We smiled at them, and gave a thumbs up & a good show remark to Loque, and he thanked us back. ‘Twas all great!

Session 4: 18/01/09: 8.30-10pm (free standing)

Mari Hidup Kembali (sesi gitar karan)

The last session. This would be the climax for their IB sessions. By this time, the bouncers were already familiar with the “gang taksub” faces! We felt a bit conscious about this, heh, so we decided to stand at a different corner of the stage, facing Dax (bass) and Loko (drums) instead

It turned out to be a good decision, as the crowd in our row was simply fun and so very sporting! I couldn’t help laughing at their often funny remarks, even Loque and Emmet couldn’t help it! Emmet was having lotsa fun too, clearly enjoying himself, he kept turning to face our row ! We were really touched too that Emmet acknowledged our clapping on 1000 Tahun Mahu Hidup, & asked the rest to follow ;-)

And how could we forget Merdeka? Gave me goosebumps! We were swaying and waving our hands ala tarian Melayu & Emmet played the violin on this one! Love the backing orchestra too from UiTM (Orkestra Gelombang Cuaca Buruk) And Shukri from ASK playing the ukulele, with backing piano, (by forgot his name aiyo), too bad Pak Kassim Masdor was not there to accompany them (but according to the Butters update on Facebook, Pak Kassim did call the band to wish them luck, sweet!)

The stage (pix by Faz)

It was brilliant of them to wear the baju Melayu for the encore! Wish I had snapped a pix of that, but Faz & Miele did! Too bad IB didn’t allow picture/video taking even without flash sigh..

Butters in baju Melayu with fans :-) (Pix by Faz)

It was an emotional farewell, as Emmet would be flying back to Canada and Loque back to US (for his studies at Berkley), so it would be a while before the band would be performing together again. The crowd just couldn’t get enough, were asking for more and chanting “Butterfingers Padu!!” But then it was really the end of the show (but not the end of the band).

To quote Faz : “It felt surreal to watch that much of Butters up close in the course of 2 days and I couldn’t wait for the DVD to come out just to relieve the incredible moments at IB esp Merdeka!!”

Butterfingers are definitely padu!

Gigography : Mogwai, KL Convention Centre, 21/01/09

Greetings! I think the situation has calmed a little, so I feel OK to return with the normal postings.

There’s a bit of difference this time around. It’s a band that I’m not so familiar with. And they are an instrumental band – meaning no lyrics! Genre : post-rock (think epic long guitar assaults). They are from Glasgow, Scotland, and it’s their first time here. To get a bit familiar with them, I got their latest album – Hawk is Howling, and was hooked at the first listen! Even if there’s no lyrics, still, the melody stuck in my head. More about Mogwai here.

I think my gig mate Liz (she went to Travis gig with me too!) summed it up brilliantly, here’s her review:

Quote :
The lights. The colour. The shadows. The music. It all fits so - as cliche as this may sound - perfectly. I have to say Mogwai possibly has a sound to every shade of colour. When the music unites together you don't just get a blend of white but a rainbow of sound! Yes, a rainbow despite having the music that you hear being extremely dark and mysterious, and also at times almost boisterous. This is possibly the first time ever in a gig that I can't tell which instrument played on stage is making which distinct noise that I hear. Why, usually I could pay close attention to only the bass line for a period of time before moving on to the lead guitars for example. On Wednesday night however, try as I may, my attention couldn't just focus on one distinct instrument but instead I get everything in full force. Truly, a night with a wide range of volume and sounds along with the countless (and adorable) "thank you very much" that we got. (Me: That was courtesy of Stuart, he said it 14 times, after each song. And that was the only interaction with the crowd. Doesn’t matter though, let the music do the talking!)

The band plays with such confidence and total concentration on their fellow band mates. For the music that they make, it would certainly require a lot of patience with your fellow band members to make it work and sound like what we experienced that night. My friend commented that they do not look like they were too into their songs like Explosions in the Sky (performed last year, in KL), but instead they seemed really comfortable being on stage.
What an experience, and to be sure it would be one that would be difficult to overcome, in terms of lights and quality of sound! : Unquote

There's also a review by The Star here

As for me, I especially love the quiet moments being climaxed with an explosion of noise, brilliant!

Ooooh yes...we got right in front of the stage, it was awesome!

The only thing that spoiled it was that Mr Canon photographer who blocked my view when Stuart was tweaking the effect knobs /pedals grrrrrr....he was right in front of me! It was also cute that Stuart took a pix of the crowd before the band left the stage :D

It was also the first time I saw someone playing the guitar with a drum stick! Stuart was basically tapping the guitar neck with the drum stick, and it did produce some sounds I'd never imagine can be produced that way! Bizzare, but it worked!


Stuart doing some effects, view blocked by Mr Canon !


Setlist

They played only 14 songs (including 2 encores), but since each song was epic long, the gig lasted for about 1.5 hours

L-R: John (guitar), Barry (guitar, keyboard,vocoder) Dom (bass), Martin (drums), Stuart (guitar & effects)




Dom & Stuart


Dom & Stuart switching each other's instruments

Barry & Stuart

Barry also plays the keyboard (& sings, with a vocoder though, so it's really indecipherable)

Look at the lightings!

More Dom & Stuart

If u tolerate this...

Hope it will be a permanent ceasefire. Enough of the killings & destruction!
Normal postings will return soon

Excerpt from If U Tolerate This Then Your Children Will Be Next
(by Manic Street Preachers)

The future teaches you to be alone
The present to be afraid and cold
So if I can shoot rabbits
Then I can shoot fascists

Bullets for your brain today
But we'll forget it all again
Monuments put from pen to paper
Turns me into a gutless wonder

And if you tolerate this
Then your children will be next

Gravity keeps my head down
Or is it maybe shame
At being so young and being so vain

Holes in your head today
But I'm a pacifist
I've walked La Ramblas
But not with real intent

And if you tolerate this
Then your children will be next

And on the street tonight an old man plays
With newspaper cuttings of his glory days

And if you tolerate this
Then your children will be next

On hiatus

Since this blog is about 'fun' activities, I don't feel appropriate for a 'happy' post right now, what with the Gaza crisis going on.

Pray that there will be a ceasefire soon, for the sake of innocent lives, especially children.

In the meantime, watch the news, read, do our part.

Travelogue - Siem Reap, 25-28/12/08

How could I even describe it? Super-awesome-excellent-superb-priceless-all the good things rolled into one!!! There. But still, no words could exactly describe our experience in Siem Reap!

Thanks to Razeif, we had pre-booked our transportation for the 3 days there (USD 45 /day) per van. And our driver cum guide – En Shukri – spoke Malay too! Double bonus!

We booked our flight and hotel through Go Holidays for RM 1003/pax.

Tip # 1 : Don’t! You’d be better off just booking the flight only. There are loads of hotel / budget hotel around Siem Reap. You could do a separate online booking. Hotels there are cheap. Our 4 star hotel – Princess Angkor – costs only USD 20/person/night. So you could imagine how much less the budget hotels would cost.

Day 1
Tonle Sap – Cultural Village

There’s only one flight out to Siem Reap daily – at 0700 hrs, so we arrived there early, around 8am local time (Cambodia is one hour behind). It was a full flight, so we didn’t get to sit together, and we didn’t have breakfast on board. So we decided to have breakfast first, & we were brought to a Malaysian restaurant : D’Wau. Good nasi lemak & kuey teow sup (local flavoured soup – they make use of every part of the beef, including fat.


D'Wau restaurant

A quick stopover to buy charger for Mas’ video cam, then we were off to Tonle Sap, the biggest lake in SEA. We went to the Chong Kneas floating village. People here live on houseboats & make a living by fishing. We took a boat to see the village, boat ride costs USD10/person.

Tip # 2 : Be sure to buy the boat ticket at a travel agency, instead of right at the jetty. A friend bought the ticket for USD20/person at the jetty.


Siem Reap city

Otw to Tonle Sap~ villages & padi field

The villagers who live along the causeways and rivers have to adapt to the rising and falling water levels. Those who have floating houseboats, simply tow their homes to the most suitable location. Excerpt from this website

On the way to Tonle Sap, our van broke down, the radiator fan, to be exact. So we waited about an hour for our replacement van. This gave time for cam-whoring ;-)

on the boat

Second destination was Cambodian Cultural Village. Entrance fee = USD 11. It’s basically similar to Sarawak Cultural Village in Kuching, except that we couldn’t enter the houses to see the insides. But they did have shows on their traditional dances & wedding ceremony. And a funny skit : Finding Fiancé. Ironically, there was also a Judgement Tunnel, where we find it a bit scary.

That night we ate at Java House, a gallery cum restaurant which sold Indonesian furniture and handicrafts. Our hostess was a Miss Ratmi, she worked at the embassy before. Her nasi goreng was excellent, it was really good! With a sprinkle of kicap cap bango. Heavenly! After dinner we stopped by at Central Market for a bit of shopping.

Nasi goreng yg sedap gila!

Java house

Shopping at Central Market

Day 2 – Angkor Wat, Ta Phrom, Angkor Thom & Bakheng Hill

Today is the highlight of our tour. We were contemplating whether to take the 1 day pass (costs USD20) or 3 days pass (costs USD40). Since we only had 2 days left, it would cost the same if we buy a 3 days pass or two 1 day passes, Mas suggested that we buy the 1 day pass first & see if we could cover the essential temples within 1 day. Thanks Mas for the idea!

We woke up early that morning & went off right after Subuh to catch the sunrise at Angkor Wat. We had packed breakfast, provided by the hotel. We didn’t get the best view of the sunrise though, as Shukri told us it was not the season (too cloudy). But anyway, it was still priceless!

Sunrise at Angkor Wat

Here’s a bit about Angkor Wat: It is a temple complex built for the king Suryavarman II in the early 12th century (so it’s about 800 years old!!) as his state temple and capital city. As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre since its foundation –first Hindu, dedicated to Vishnu, then Buddhist. It combines two basic plans of Khmer temple architecture: the temple mountain and the later galleried temple. Read more here

Next stop was Ta Phrom – the shooting location for Lara Croft : Tomb Raider. Here is where the humongous ancient tree grows through the temple. I’m not quite sure which is older, the tree or the temple. Ta Phrom is nestled in a forested area, so it was a bit cooling here.

But before we went to Ta Phrom, Shukri made us climb up a tree, but there wasn’t much of a view from up there. I think Shukri was just teasing us because he was laughing so much when we came down. But then again, he laughs a lot, I should have made a recording of his laugh lol!

Up a tree!

Anyway, here’s a bit about Ta Phrom : It was built in the late 12th and early 13th century and originally called Rajavihara. It was founded by the Khmer King Jayavarman VII as a Mahayana Buddhist monastery and university. Unlike most Angkorian temples, Ta Prohm has been left in much the same condition in which it was found with trees growing out of the ruins. The temple's main image, representing Prajnaparamita, the personification of wisdom, was modelled on the king's mother. It was home to more than 12,500 people (including 18 high priests and 615 dancers), with an additional 80,000 souls in the surrounding villages working to provide services and supplies. The design of Ta Prohm is that of a typical "flat" Khmer temple (as opposed to a temple-pyramid

The trees growing out of the ruins are perhaps the most distinctive feature of Ta Prohm. Two species predominate: the larger is the silk cotton tree and the smaller is the strangler fig. Read more here

Since it was a Friday, and Shukri wanted to perform his Friday prayers, we stopped by at Masjid Al-Nikmah, where we also had our lunch at the Muslim Family Restaurant. We had sumptuous lunch, I particularly liked the clear Tom Yam soup and Daging Lembu Naik Bukit. Why the unusual name? It’s actually just the cooking pan – it has a bump in the middle, hence the “bukit” and the ingredient was beef and mushroom. It tasted really good! Shukri even helped with the cooking!







After solat we continued our journey to Angkor Thom or Bayon. It was really hot by the time we reached there, at about 2pm. But nothing could stop us from cam-whoring heheh. So here’s a bit on Angkor Thom : It was established in the late twelfth century by king Jayavarman VII. It was the last and most enduring capital city of the Khmer empire. The city lies on the right bank of the Siem Reap river, a tributary of Tonle Sap lake. Within the city was a system of canals, through which water flowed from the northeast to the southwest.

I think the most distinguished feature of Angkor Thom is the face tower. The faces on the 23 m towers at the city gates (which are later additions to the main structure) take after those of the Bayon, and pose the same problems of interpretation. They may represent the king himself, the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, guardians of the empire's cardinal points, or some combination of theseThere are also statues at the gates (Victory Gate) from which roads lead to the Bayon at the centre of the city. The Terrace of the Leper King and Terrace of Elephants are also found here. Read more here

Terrace of Elephant

Terrace of Leper King

Statues at Victory Gate btwn Bayon & Bakheng hill

Next destination was Phnom Bakheng, at Bakheng Hill to catch the sunset. Liza wanted to take the elephant ride (cost USD 15 per ride), but then changed her mind. So we all hiked up Bakheng Hill, which took us about half an hour. The place was fully pakced, perhaps because everyone wanted to catch the sunset. Some tourists were also very pushy, just couldn’t wait for their turn. It was a bit tricky to climb up the temple as the steps are very narrow and steep, we almost had to crawl up. It was even trickier to go down. Anyway, it was worth the effort as the view from up there was breahtaking, especially the sunset. And my Lumix did a good job, yeay, giving Prince Alpha a little bit of rest.

OK here’s a bit about Phnom Bakheng : it is a Hindu temple in the form of a temple mountain dedicated to Shiva and was built at the end of the 9th century during the reign of King Yasovarman (889 – 910 AD), which makes it the oldest temple of the 4 temples we visited that day. Phnom Bakheng is a symbolic representation of Mount Meru, home of the Hindu gods, a status emphasized by the temple’s location atop a steep hill. Read more here

For dinner, we went back to D’Wau restaurant. We met another group of Malaysians, my friend actually – Naz, and 2 of her friends. They were actually staying the same duration as us at Siem Reap, on the same flight to and fro. What a small world! After dinner we stopped by at the Noon Night Market, which was actually just a walking distance from D’Wau. Before retiring, the girls had the complimentary 15 minute shoulder massage by the hotel.

Day 3 : Silk Farm, FCC Café, Artisans d’Angkor

We started our day a bit late today at 9.30am – giving a bit of rest to Shukri and our faithful van. It was also time for posing at the hotel - Princess Angkor.

Our first stop of the day was the Silk Farm. Nice weather today, very cooling. Here, the guide showed us the process of producing silk right from the silk worm to the finished product. The worms were fed mulberry leaves. It’s a really meticulous process, weaving the silk. I would rather feed the worms lol!

Next we dropped by at FCC café to buy t-shirts for Razeif’s uncle. A posh café, this. Just a quick stopover, then we were off to Artisans d’Angkor. Here youths are trained for handicraft works for between 3 – 6 months before they graduate as artisans. They learnt how to carve woods, painting, draw motifs, lacquering etc. The silk farm is also part of the Artisans d’Angkor initiative where they help young Cambodian artisans to find work in their home villages and provide them with a trade and role in society. Artisans d’Angkor was established between 1998-2001 with financial support from the EU under the REPLIC program. Entrance is free of charge for both, but visitors could help by buying the products or donating.

FCC Cafe

Apsara

Lunch was at Java House again to re-visit the mandrem nasi goreng heheh, a bit of rest at the hotel, then out and about again to the massage parlour. We had a foot massage for USD 6 each. It was really good to have the massage after a few days of walking, and erm, sore legs. Mas’ masseuse was particularly concerned about her condition – the masseuse thought Mas was pregnant (haha I don’t where that came from :-p). We were served tea after the massage, then felt energetic again to continue shopping at the Old Market.

Java house again!

Ikan berlado & rendang

Park otw to Old Market

Bridge opposite Old Market

Old Market

After Old Market, we headed to Koulen Restaurant to catch the Apsara dance. Since the food is not halal, we payed only for the dance show, which was USD 6/person. The Apsara dance was some sort of combination of the Makyong dance & traditional Thai dance, minus the long nails.
Cambodians scholars mentioned that Khmer classical dance is unbroken tradition dating back to the Angkor period. Other scholars theorize that Khmer classical dance, as seen today, developed from, or was at least highly influenced by, Thai classical dance innovations from the 19th century and precedent forms were somewhat different. The temple dancers came to be considered as apsaras, who served as entertainers and messengers to divinities. Ancient stone inscriptions, describe thousands of apsara dancers assigned to temples and performing for divine rite as well as the general public. Read more here

After the Apsara dance, Shukri dropped us at an Indian restaurant, but it was full, so we headed to the night market instead for last minute shopping. Since we haven’t eaten yet since lunch, we were hungry by now. Once back at the hotel we had a Mamee Kari Berapi party while watching Transformers. Thanks to Liza for the Mamee!

Day 4 : Balik kampung

Sob sob it’s the day to go back already. It felt too short a time. Nothing much could be done today as our flight was early – at 8.30 am. We each wore our Cambodian t-shirts today, idea courtesy of Liza. After breakfast we headed straight to the airport which was just 15 minutes from the hotel. We said our goodbyes to Shukri. He was a really good guide to us! We really enjoyed our trip to Siem Reap and were wishing that it would not end too soon. Definitely a recommended place to be visited!

Bye bye..