Having written 33 articles up until 2015 was something I did not expect or even dreamt of when I started the blog, it is also one of the few achievement I’ve accomplished so far in my life as well, but it will only be better and better. The journey has been very exciting so far, I get to travel around Cambodia, especially Phnom Penh, I’ve been to more than 25 special locations and have written about and taken fotos of all the places I’ve been to. There’s a looooong way to go, who knows what the future holds, but as far as I’m concerned, the future will hold something positive. The work has not been easy, every single article matter, and that’s why there’s the need of focus and effort towards each and every one of them, doesn’t matter whether it’s short or long or a destination or just an idea that was written into an article. The blog and website has not just been a part of my life, it has grown with me, it has experienced everything I have experienced, it showcases everything about me, it is me.
The Phnom Penh Russian Market AKA Toul Tom Poung Market
It’s only been a year or so, but it feels like a long lost memory which was just found recently. I had written some articles before the Tuol Tom Poung article, but the ttp article was the first ever proper article, with proper locations and fotos; to get back reading it again and summarizing it, was an unexpected thing to happen. This article has given me many first-time experiences, it was my first time writing a proper article for my blog, it was my first time going to a market to work, not to shop, it was my first time taking professional fotos I can say, ehehhehe, the experience was incredibly fun and weird. The experience turned out to be the start of something big. I never thought the blog would go on this long and well, never thought I’d have a website, never in a million years, but it did happen, and I’m very happy.
Koh Rong Samloem
The first few articles mostly contains my first time experience, this time, it was my first ever trip to Koh Rong Sanloem, without my parents, but with my teachers. Surprisingly, it happened when I was 14, and I can’t thank my parents enough, for the fact that they trusted both me and my teachers of going on this trip, I was grateful. The location? Well, Koh Rohng Sanloem was amazeball, the landscape, the beach, the peacefulness and silence, the ocean, they were the ones that made the trip, very very very niiice. I canonball-ed, I ate a lot, I swam, I dove, I did the hair flipping thingy - you see mermaids do, I snorkeled, I saw jellyfish, and last but not least, my rented GoPro broke. It surely was just in Sihanouk Ville, but the 240 km distance made it felt like I were to go on a trip to a foreign country, I really dunno why, I was a quarter nervous, a quarter happy, a quarter curious, and another quarter not believing that the trip was on the process; I was possessed, I blanked out. It was more adventurous than anything I’ve done my whole life, there were few first time challenges I had to face, that was probably the reason why I enjoyed it so much.
The Phnom Penh Central Market AKA Psa Thmey
There were many people getting in and out the market, I was still nervous since The Central Market AKA Psa Thmey was just my second market destination when I went there for the first time. It was a hard market to approach, there were crowds and the vendors were very busy with their businesses, I sort of freaked out, there were sweat on my hands, I was indeed too nervous to have taken any fotos at all. But the fotos have gotten better everytime I go there, it’s a fotos paradise, just like what they say, “Market is the only place which changes its environment, every single moment and every single day.”.Central Market and I have become closer every time I visit it, some of the vendors have literally remembered my face, they know that their products and food will be photographed the moment they see me, that’s how close we’ve become. This might sound very funny, but it’s actually something I keep doing and like doing, there’s this sugarcane shop I go to every time I go to Central Market, I would be photographed as standing near the shop while holding my sugarcane juice. Each fotos that was taken so far has been marking my evolution, it feels like Central Market is a part of my growth, the market didn’t change at all, but it was I who changed.
The Independence Monument
I have the opportunity and the responsibility to say and speak for the nation I was born and raised in, it was a pleasure to have written this article. The reason why I decided to finally write an article about the Independence Monument, is an actually simple reason, I wanted to share to the world one of our most emotional, epic, crucial moment in the history of Cambodia; the hard fought debate in getting the full rights for Cambodia, King Sihanouk who went through everything to achieve what is said to be his greatest ever achievement. It was written to notify and tell everyone that today is the day where we have won it all back, the day where freedom was retrieved, the day started enjoy living our lives by ourselves, not under any control. I think I’m slowly becoming a patriot, hopefully someday, I’ll be able to return my country the favor. As my Khmer spirit has shone these recent years, I’ve always been trying to do MORE for the country.
The Phnom Penh Wat Phnom
Wat Phnom was not something you could miss, if you are here in Phnom Penh, there is just no way you could’ve miss this, it’s either you have seen but have not been there or you have seen and you have been, that’s it, no other choices. As a travel blogger that is currently based in Cambodia, I too, could not have missed this one-derful destination, Wat Phnom is also said to be just right at the centre of the capital itself, if you’re going out to the provinces, you’ll probably pass Wat Phnom, so the possibility of missing it is very very rare. It is also a place with rich history behind its wall, you don’t really see any ancient stuffs, but believe me, you have no idea how old the place actually is. The incense sticks make it look like a pagoda, the flower and benches make it look like a park, and the stupa which is said to contain the ashes of King Sisowath make it look like a cemetery.
It’s where the King lives, his big big, his pagoda, his house, they are all there. And we have the opportunity to get in and take fotos and experience what the Kings of our nation has been experiencing ever since the establishment of the palace. It had been abandoned, it went through a lot of historical events and wars, it has welcomed and at the same time said goodbye to many Kings, it’s a magical place to visit. The paintings and decorations were untouched since ever since it was built, buildings and statues that somehow has survived wars. It was also a paradise of fotos, I got some amazeball abstracts from the buildings, they are of course ancient and out of trend, but they were also CLASSICS, and like everyone say, old is gold, but classic is golder.
There is no way I would deny the idea of writing about sharing and loving and caring, it was not I who arranged this event of sharing, but I had a chance to experience the feeling of giving it back. Pchum Ben was not specifically created as an event for sharing and donating, but after some generation, it has somehow positively changed to sharing. It’s a festival where you share food and drinks and clothes and a small amount of money to the people that need it more than we do, sharing was never meant to be giving a large amount of money or helping a lot, sharing will only be more and more meaningful when you GIVE even when you are not wealthy. Those people that were given a great feast by us, will not be successful in the future nor will become rich, the sharing we did was only meant to make those people happy, that’s all. Everything matters, big things sure matters more, but it’s always the small things which matters the most. RESPECT THE SMALL THINGS!
The Phnom Penh Toul Sleng Genocide Museum AKA S21
I had chills when I entered the museum, I was born in Phnom Penh, but I had not been to this museum before. The skulls and the old black and white fotos made the whole place pretty scary at first, but I was okay and even got sucked in by the fotos themselves. They were not like the happy selfies nor the group fotos nor any of that kind, they were fotos which expressed thousands and thousands of emotions, the cruelty that they had to experience back then; as if the fotos has exact statistics about how painful it was to live at the point of time; just like they say, fotos tell it all, the faces tell it all. I went there because of the history it has, but that’s not it, I realized something else the moment I stepped out of the museum. I realized that HERE WE ARE, not everyone survived the war, but spirits are high up in the sky, it seems like God has somehow made us humans, no fear of anything at all, and even if we do fall, we will not back up, we will definitely stand back up on our feets and move on.
The Phnom Penh Riverside
There is only one way to describe what Riverside is, it will always be described as a place which is full of life, it contains many kinds of lives. There are the ones who are lost, the ones enjoying, the ones fighting so hard to survive, the ones living just for the sake of living, you get the mixed feeling out of it. The liveliness of the block has also made it one of the most visited destinations in Cambodia, the diversity you get to experience there is humongous, you’ll meet different people from different countries with different cultures and lifestyles, which leads to the point where Riverside is also a place where people unite; no matter what they have done, whoever they are, wherever they come from, we will all be here together. Riverside is a very kool place as well, in my opinion, I would love to have some sort of connection towards it someday, maybe a coffee shop or a small house there? maybe?
The Phnom Penh Tonle Sap and the River Cruise
This article almost got mashed up with the Riverside article, I felt very bad because I sort of underestimated the topic itself. I’ve somehow come up with something very rare to be thought of as the topic is only about an area in Phnom Penh which has a lot of river cruises, but the idea has somehow also made the topic sound very interesting and historical as well. The idea is that the River Cruise must have been around for a very long time, and let’s think of it as a person, an old man that has been seeing all the events that has happened so far, and still will continue with the surveillance until whenever the riverline itself vanishes. The actions we have done so far have been watched closely by the old man, it’s like he’s been there sitting in his backyard and reading his newspapers. Everything has a connection to one another, we just have to not stop finding and we’ll find one.
Basically, the point of coming to a museum is to absorb the history of your country, of what has happened in the recent decades and even from many many centuries ago; people say histories are just boring stories, but history to me, is something pretty amazeball. They are not just events or wars or celebrations, history records the memories of all of us. I was here on my fifth grade field trip, I did not feel anything special about the museum at all. I came back two years or more, not as a student, but as a traveler who blogs; I felt very proud. I was by my own, taking fotos, taking notes that are only available in the museum itself, and of course, sketched a map of the entire museum with my supernatural sketching skills, heheheh, it was pretty bad. It was a hard time asking the guards whether I could take the fotos or not, I succeed in some parts and but didn't in many more parts, I did not expect anything to happen at all. Eventually, the article and the fotos were all done niiicely and well.
The Cheng Meng Festival, the Heavenly Spirits and Me
As I’m half Chinese - half Khmer, I do have to sometimes blend both cultures into each other, and YEAHH, I celebrate a lot of festivals. Cheng Meng Festival is similar to the Khmer Pchum Ben, it was originated from the fact that people started to share what they have got to someone else who needs it more than them. On the day, you visit the tomb of your ancestors or parents or relatives, you offer food and prayers to them, and it is believed that they will protect our family for the whole year; you also get to offer the food to the neighborhood where the tomb is, and in my case, the tomb is located in a deserted area in a province, this year we got to offer lunch to the hardworking farmers that had just finished their harvesting, the food was not grand but enough and most importantly, we were all happy.
It had to be revisited, there ain't choices to choose from, the trip was meant to happen, it was just the matter of sooner or later. Koh Rong, where everyone goes, was as always, flooded with people, but on the other hand, Koh Rong Samloem, is a bit further and wilder; the destination was chosen. I was once again grateful that my parents understood why I had to go there again, this time, I went with a lot of friends. Last time around, I did not get to sleep in the island itself, but this time we did, and wasn't just a normal night where you sleep cozily, it was somewhat of a challenge. I enjoyed everything about the trip, it was more of an adventure than a trip, as for my age, these things that I was experiencing was wilder than it could ever be. The people there were all niiice, the way you wake up and see the sea right away was something amazeball, the food was obviously good as well, every aspect of the trip treated me pretty well. There’s more of this to come. Keep calm and just wait!
My parents secretly planned this trip, I was told only one week before the trip. We took a long exhausting bus all the way to Thailand, the stop was at Pratunam, Bangkok - the place did not disappoint me at all, all of the sudden, I realized that the long exhausting bus was very worth it, I was already feeling great even though I have not eaten anything for the past 12 hours, that’s how worth it Pratunam looked to me. Pratunam was a place filled with foods and lights and people and vendors and vehicles, so so busy, it goes on as late as 3 in the morning, and when it hits 5, it starts all over again. A place like this is very hard to find, it's one of its kind, you have no other choice but to love it - the atmosphere is EPIC, the foods there broke my expectations bar, everything I wanted from Thailand was fulfilled.
Phnom Penh Souvenirs
Phnom Penh has a very cultural side to it, I’ve seen it often enough to gather an album of fotos of the souvenirs we have in Phnom Penh. These sculptures and statues and paintings and lightings are something we don’t really care about, we means the citizens of each country, it might be because we’re too used to our tradition and culture, and that these things might be a bit less exciting to us; but to the tourists, it’s something that has a history behind. Souvenirs mark their memories in that country they have visited.
August was when ideas kept popping out of my head, and I think I did a pretty job conveying out whatever was in my brain into articles. The first was The League of Mona Lisa. This article was written keeping in mind all the hardworking ladies and mothers out there. It was and still is a tribute towards whatever they have done or doing for us, so that we’ll have whatever we have today and just the fact that they have given birth to all of us. It is impossible to differentiate between the ladies and mothers that are having a good time and the ones that are not doing well with their businesses, so it was fair to talk about them all, because at any cost, I personally think that they have worked really really hard. I’m not saying that makeups are bad, I’m just saying that the ones who does not wear makeups or try to look good and luxurious, are to me, a person or people who I respect more.
Khmer and United
As I’m writing this, it is already 2016, we are officially a member of the ASEAN community, our country will hopefully grow better and stronger. We might not all have the authentic Khmer blood, I’m half Chinese - half Khmer, but if you ask yourself again and again, does it really matter? the answer will be a NO, why does the bloodline and race have to matter? We live in one country, it should be that we will do anything to improve our country, why do so, you ask? because when you commit a crime or do bad things, it affects the country - vice-versa, if you do good, that one but of goodness will help. The article was written to show people that we can be one, and tell the people that says that it’s impossible, that it’s actually POSSIBLE; to show people that whether he or she is a food vendor or a government official or a waiter or unemployed, no matter what one’s job is, do not discriminate, let’s unite instead, shall we? it’s about time.
We make Trash.
The obvious question was raised, who makes all these trash? who actually? Everyone knows it’s all made from us, there is no one in this world who doesn't make trash, we all make trash the moment we get out of the womb. Making trash is in human nature, even nature makes trash. Making trash is not something bad WHEN you do it within a limit, but when you don’t have a limit, when you do whatever you want and make trash anytime and anywhere, that's when it is totally a wrong thing to do.
It has gotten its name, the Bizarre Snacks. It honestly is bizarre if you do not know how to EAT IT. Yes, these are actual insects being seasoned and deep-fried and eaten by the locals. BUT, there are only some brave expats who have the guts to do it. It’s one of Cambodia’s well known snacks, not just among the youth, but also a hit among the elders who have been eating them since the origin of the Khmer empire. It is rare as well. You may only find them at the Riverside of Phnom Penh and the Pub Street of Siem Reap. Just look around at those places where they are available, it’s not luxurious, not grand, but something unique and out of the universe. This is how I think of it whenever I have some. Crispy, chewy, seasoned, pretty good you know…
The Phnom Penh Wat Ounalom
This is the pagoda in which all the famous monks and Khmer Literature professors throughout the country, all of the well-known scholars who have been helping the country to improve were all studying here; we can say it’s the “Harvard or Yale of Cambodia”. Pagodas have always been impactful to our nation. It is not only just a place where you go to offer prayers, it was and still is used as a school where you learn how to become a monk and the Sanskrit poems. Wat Ounalom is also one of the very few buildings that are left after many hectic events that has happened to Cambodia, we can it “the building that saw it all”.
Phnom Penh Tuktuks
We all know that the moment an expat lands on our ground, the first Khmer he or she interact with will probably be the TukTuk drivers. They are the first person the expats has to trust, because the TukTuk drivers will be the ones taking them to wherever they want. If both the expats and the driver has some chemistry, the driver might even be the expats’ tour guide, he’ll recommend the restaurants, landmarks and attractions. There are the good ones and the tricky ones out there, we just cannot separate them at all, all we can do is to be aware and avoid the tricky ones. The tricky ones are the ones who sometimes makes the expats think bad of the TukTuk drivers, but they are not that cruel, those trickiness and selfishness that they expose to you, aren’t that bad after all. If you think of it in a positive angle, then you’ll see them as people who are fighting to make a living, maybe a bit overboard. Their personalities and how they talk will give the expats a glimpse of how Khmers are, so, they indeed have an important role to play - to make sure our first impression to the expats, is good.
The title fits perfectly, Siem Reap was EPIC! The obvious fact why Siem Reap was fun, was Angkor Wat and the Pub Street. These two places were grand, there were a lot of happy people roaming/eating/drinking/singing/dancing/photographing/sightseeing/tanning/fanning, the atmosphere was just simply amazeball. Siem Reap has been growing pretty fast these few years, Khmers have found ways to make the city better and better every single year. Big national events and celebrations are now held there every year, attracting more expats and locals than ever before. If you are old and going to Siem Reap, it will provide you Angkor Wat where you get to absorb many of the historical sites available; if you are young and wild and free, the Pub Street would not just make your day, it will make your night and even make your midnight. As for Angkor Wat, magnificent, creative and historical. As for the Pub Street, fun, wild and free. Where else would you go when you can find all you want in Siem Reap?
Pub Street | Siem Reap
The Pub and the Street that has been attracting more and more locals and expats every year, changes and more changes have been made to make sure the Pub Street looks amazing enough to continue its run to be the most visited site in Siem Reap. The age does not really matter in this case, we all know that people of all age celebrate and have fun, it’s just that some like it more than the others. I just can’t thanks my parents enough for their open-minded decision to let me travel. Being able to travel around was not in my mind at all when I was younger, but it has become a reality really good one. I have never in my life liked parties or crowded events before, the Pub Street was the first ever crowded/noisy/epic place I’ve ever liked. You just cannot describe the atmosphere, Whoosh, all I can say is that it was great, an awesomeee experience. The food, the people, the vendors and their shops, the expats and the locals, the traditional Khmer music and the electronic music blended as if they were in a blending machine, me and my pizza. Ask me, do you want to go their again? Well, I’m definitely into it, I will go again, sooner or later.
Angkor Wat
Even if I say the trip to Angkor Wat was awful, most of the people would not believe me. People will start saying, “Well, it’s Angkor Wat, what are you gonna with that? It’s Angkor Wat.”. It might sound like I made this up for the sake of the article, but I really do like historical site. I know I sound like an old man, but I do feel connected to the past. When I see Apsaras, I see how people lived back then; when I see the Gods, I see how religious people were; when I see the sculptured walls, I see how life was like during the Khmer Empire. Angkor Wat was built in perfection, the designs and the meaning behind it, the sculptures and statues, even the gateways and the doorways were built precisely. Though it is not in a good shape, but the world cannot afford to see Angkor Wat collapse and get destroyed, that's why backups were sent to refurbish the entire site, and make it look as perfect as it was when it was built.
The Water Festival, Cambodia
It does not have any similar meaning as celebrating for Christmas, it does not include eating well or family reunion or presents and gifts. But for me, Water Festival is one of the few festivals we have here that I really wholeheartedly celebrate, and it means a lot to me. I was once again disappointed when they announced that the Water Festival or the boat racing competition of 2015 won’t be held in Phnom Penh. It has always been a fun memory to me, a great experience, and also one of the rarest moments I’ve ever had. It’s a competition, a very competitive one indeed. People are always there shouting, chanting, eating, drinking; the atmosphere was grander than the Pub Street, to be honest. And this year, to honor the festival, I’ve gotten the chance to write an article about. Sharing both the joyful and the sad moments I experienced during the amazeball Water Festival.
Orussey Market
They can it the market that has it all, it really does. From one generation to another one, most of the shops in Orussey Market has not been moved. All that has changed are the vendors, the products and goods stay the same. Some have been here for more than a decade, I do not have a clue what they have went through during those time, but at the end of the day, you have to respect them. It’s sad to see some of them working to live and some others living to work, but it’s life you know, these kind of thoughts does not haunt them anymore. Let all the sad parts go, and bring in some good thoughts. They have gotten a lot of good food, by food I meant by everything that can be eaten. They have gotten the classic Chinese and Vietnamese noodles, the glass noodles, the old man porridge, and some insane local foods that you probably will find only here.
Christmas in Phnom Penh
In a positive angle, we can see that our country is developing faster and faster everyday, the fact that we have accepted and celebrated festivals from other country, that means we are opening up bytes by bytes to others. And now that we are a part of ASEAN, we have to be more open-minded, because we will be accepting more and more cultures and traditions into our country. Same for the other ASEAN members, they all have to start doing so, then it will be a real community, where there is no racism or any kind of act related to discrimination happening. The community was created for a reason, let’s all do it right!
