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Singapore Cambodia Philippines

February 2018 - April 2024
An open-ended adventure by Darin, Robert, Jackie & Amber Read more
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  • Singapore Cambodia Philippines
    Day 81

    And now...

    April 25, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 5 °C

    We left Siem Reap, Cambodia on Monday afternoon, around 12:30, which would have been 10:30 BC time on Sunday night. We got in Mackenzie last night at 6:00pm. That’s roughly 44 hours. Long time, we know. But its our fault for not planning that option a little better. Had we been in Manila for a couple days prior to leaving, which was a plan at some point, instead of flying there just to make our connection it would have been considerably shorter. Oh well, we like to roll with it.
    If you are ever in the Manila airport, give yourself a lot of time to make your flight. The lines are super long, efficiency isn’t in their vocabulary and the airport is enormous, four terminals, actually make up the airport. From terminal three where we landed was a eight or nine minute cab ride to terminal one where we were to take off from. Service isn’t in their vocabulary either.
    Kuala Lumpur, is a smaller airport, but much different airport experience, and remember that the airport is 60km from the city when you are planning your day. Shanghai airport which we are becoming quite intimate with, having been there four times in the last four years is really nice and fairly well laid out.
    And then you get to Vancouver and realize that it is certainly one of the nicest, cleanest and well laid out airports, that we have seen anyway. And there are lots that compare, only Singapore might be nicer.
    But now we are home, and glad to see the snow is gone and spring is actually here. And for some of us the 15 degree weather is a nice change from the ‘36 feels like 46’ heat we have been in for the last three weeks.
    It was a trip of a lifetime, that none of us will soon forget. Thanks for coming along with us, we loved sharing our experience with you, and we hope you do the same.    Read more

  • Singapore Cambodia Philippines
    Day 79

    All Templed Out

    April 23, 2018 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    We had one day left on our passes for the ruins at Angkor. We got up early this morning and checked out a couple more temples and big man made, rectangular lake. The people of these kingdoms were busy to say the least. These temples, though older, were just as interesting. One, Ta Prohm is the one where they shot Tomb Raider with Angelina Jolie, never seen it myself but might have to now.
    You get the distinct feeling you could spend a lifetime touring these ruins, there are so many in this country it’s difficult to fathom.    Read more

  • Singapore Cambodia Philippines
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    Day 79

    Our Last Night in Town

    April 23, 2018 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 34 °C

    We still had to pick up a couple gifts and souvenirs, and get another damn massage...there are massage places everywhere!! And Amber needed a pair of sandals; she blew out her last pair walking around the temples.
    So we went down to the night market, though it was daytime and bummed around down there. We ended up at the Hard Rock Cafe to see a live band. Of all the places to eat and drink in Cambodia, I’m pretty sure we found the most expensive.
    But the band was awesome. ROCKSTORM, local Cambodians playing all your favourite metal hits from the nineties. Absolute riot, check ‘em out next time you’re here.    Read more

  • Singapore Cambodia Philippines
    Day 79

    Just another day in Cambodia

    April 23, 2018 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    Because we like to keep our travel plans open, we don’t book anything in advance and kinda let the trip take us wherever we wanna go. Works well for us, mostly. Eight months ago when we booked the trip to Singapore and then home from Manila we didn’t give much consideration to how or when we would book a flight from wherever we were at the end of the vacation to get to Manila. And this revelation hit us just the day before we needed to be in Manila to catch the flight home.
    And when we did look into it months ago, to fly from Siem Reap, say to Manila, it was about $80 per person. That’s really good. If you wait until the day before that price goes up. We hoped to just fly to Shanghai and make our connection there with our original booking and not have to go to Manila at all and give us an extra day in Cambodia. China Eastern Airline, while being an awesome airline for the actual flying part, aren’t so hot with their customer service, we actually still haven’t heard back from them.
    So Robert and I set out to find the China Eastern Office in Siem Reap and straighten things out. Now, many of the tuktuk drivers don’t speak English, and from what i can tell some don’t read either. And the streets are seldom signed, if at all. And every bloody road looks the same as the last, so we weren’t any help either. Three tuktuks later, and stopping for directions three times, we accidentally stumbled on the China Eastern Airline offices. They were closed.
    Little did we know, when the girls took off at the same time as us, for a yoga class, they had the exact same “issue” with their tuktuk as well. It’s all a a work in progress.    Read more

  • Singapore Cambodia Philippines
    Day 77

    Lilys Secret Garden

    April 21, 2018 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    We talked about taking a cooking class when we were over here. It’s a good way to meet people but also to learn the culture and, well, get better at cooking, and so you can make the same dishes you love here, at home.
    Jackie found an awesome home cooking class, that, turns out is literally right behind the hotel, two streets over, called Lily’s Secret Garden. The place is run by Lily, a Cambodian chef as far as we can tell, and her husband Chris, a Belgian who has a flare for business, maybe.
    Chris picked us up in a tuktuk at our hotel and took us to the local market to buy the ingredients for whatever we were cooking. This is the market where only locals shop...astounding place. We took our groceries to Lily’s to meet the chef. I think we all thought she was the one doing the cooking class. They had another character, Darwin, a Cambodian with a great sense of humour. Also a chef at a local high end restaurant.
    Stay tuned for an invite to Cambodian night.    Read more

  • Singapore Cambodia Philippines
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    Day 77

    Angkor Thom

    April 21, 2018 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    The four faced Buddha, or maybe the sleeping Buddha, built by another king, different than the Angkor Wat, and i would say, much older. But still just as stunning.

  • Singapore Cambodia Philippines
    Day 77

    The Angkor Wat

    April 21, 2018 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    You read about it in books, maybe you’ve even been here. We have all wanted to see this place, some of us since we read about it in elementary school. There really are no words to describe the Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples. You have to accept that there are literally thousands of people there the same day as you with the same anticipation.
    Words, and unfortunately pictures, wont do it justice.
    Here are a couple posts that don’t even scratch the surface of what you see here. One of the seven ancient wonders of the world. Wonder, thats a good start.    Read more

  • Singapore Cambodia Philippines
    Day 77

    Phare!

    April 21, 2018 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 34 °C

    There is a school in Battambang, (say it like Battumbong) that takes disadvantaged kids and develops their musical, dancing, acting and acrobatic skills. To raise money for the school they put on cirque du soleil type shows.
    It’s just outside of town a few minutes in a tiny little dome circus tent kind of thing, holds maybe 300 people?
    But for the price of admission you get a fabulous show of daring acts, acrobatics, dancing, and singing. It’s actually really good and totally worth it. If you want the ultimate in entertainment pay for the front row, otherwise save your riel and get the seats on the side.
    There’s beer and popcorn too, what more could you want?    Read more

  • Singapore Cambodia Philippines
    Day 76

    Floating Village

    April 20, 2018 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    We read about these before we left and it was on all our wish lists. You drive past the lotus plantations another ten minutes and you find the end of the road, at a man made channel that leads out to the Tonle Sap (literally means freshwater lake). The channel is a few kilometres in length, and its dry season, so there might be three feet of water. Muddy, filthy water. And you go in these long skinny, tippy boats not fit for any kind of travel except for the kind you would expect in SE Asia. Once you get close to the lake, you have to get out of this boat into a much smaller and tippier boat and cruise through the floating village. There are 1115 families living on floating houses at this part of the lake; there’s a community hall, bar, church, school and little shops for the locals to buy their goods. Our guide grew up on the floating village, his family still lives there. And the people seem happy. Apparently there are around two million people living on the Tonle Sap...might explain the filthy water.Read more

  • Singapore Cambodia Philippines
    Day 76

    EoCambo Residence

    April 20, 2018 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    We have had pretty good luck with accommodation. Really only one place where the room may have not met everyone’s standard. We stayed at the Don Bosco Hotel School in Sihanoukville and were extremely impressed. The place we are in now must have taken the cream of the crop from that group and brought them here. The service is impeccable. They love to hear how your day was, what your plans are for the next day, every whim, they are on it.
    The rooms are spotless, hot water, no smell, no insects and they literally run to to help you out, simply awesome. EoCambo Residence, street 22, downtown eastside, Siem Reap.    Read more

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