Ok, so it's day 2 of school. Now, who said that the short postings were a 2nd holiday? Wah..

It's only the 2nd day of school, and I feel like its the 2nd week already.. =P Must be lack of momentum from the holidays.. =P Day 1 of lectures lasted from 8.45am to 5.30pm, which was compounded by the fact that with lectures running over time, and getting shifted here and there, we only had like a couple of 15-20 minute breaks in between, which was scant consolation for a meal called lunch. (Ok lah, good training for the future, right? Haha.. =P)

And today was a full day of clinics.. Guess 3 weeks of holidays have made me lazy.. =P suddenly standing in the clinic is such a tiring affair.. Oops! =P the rest of the 2 weeks seem filled with clinic sessions.. Guess its a good time to build up more "clinic stamina" =P

Now, ENT seems to be the rare posting without certain things.. lack of ward rounds, lack of case writeups (which i'm not complaining), but guess they make up in other areas.. =P

But all in all, it's been quite an interesting and fun posting so far.. =) Alright.. Wish me luck (and strength) for the remaining 2 weeks in ENT! =P

and before we know it, it's the end of the short, short holidays..

Quite a busy 3 weeks.. going Cambodia holiday, catching up with friends back from overseas, cleaning my room and packing away the dust bunnies-colonized-books, trying to catch up with JH on Maple, or just lazing around doing almost nothing.. =P

Alright.. Short postings are up next! Starting off with ENT tomorrow morning for 2 weeks..

Am actually looking forwards to the short 1 week repreive that lies 16 weeks away.. =P


********************

In response to a post on a separate blog.. (i'm sure i've read the signs right)

I do treat you as a friend. You might then ask about certain things, like why I always sound so frustrated when you ask me certain things - the reply is that it is not you, it is the subject. There are certain things which I cannot stand talking on the phone especially, and what ranks pretty high up on that list would be things like "If i study this, is it enough?" "Is this book/ notes / lectures/ mcqs/... enough?" "Really arh?" (But if i do that, please do tell me, and i'll promise to can it) Sorry if I pissed you off this way..

And, maybe its just me, but i freak out and clam up when someone gets a bit hysterical on me.

In response to this whole big issue over the money thing - actually, i don't know what else to say already. I think i've explained my stand, and i've been trying to be very fair to all parties in this whole affair. I know money is a very sensitive issue, and in retrospect, communication could be much better in certain areas, but I tink i tried my best to be fair everyone on this issue.

Where we move on from here, is anybody's guess. Maybe it's a good thing to let things cool off for a while so that both of us come back with clearer minds..

*In response to a post on another blog..

Hah. Some pple try to take good photos, but don't even capture the essence of the activity that's supposed to be happening there. *scorns*











Now, THIS is surfing along the Eisbach River in the Englisher Gardens, Munich, Germany. Oh alright. It could be a better photo, I concede. But at least it shows him in a surfing position. Heh.


Anyway, at least I do my elaboration on my trips.. I dun haf the habit of "leaving my elaboration to next time".. Gee, I wonder when that will be.. Knowing him, probably never? =P

Day 6: Phnom Penh --> Singapore

Alright, we're on our last day here, which bears such a light itinerary, I couldn't resist slotting in an extra sight-seeing location.. =P

After an extremely late breakfast, plus nua-ing in the hotel till we had to checkout, we finally made our way to the Wat Phnom temple in Phnom Penh!

Of course, there's also a story behind the Wat Phnom.. According to the guidebook, long before Phnom Penh became a city, a lady named Mdm Penh found 4 Buddha statues floating down the river. She took these 4 statues to a small hill, and built a temple housing these 4 statues. Gradually, the population increased as people came to pray, and the town bloomed, and, well, is now called Phnom Penh!


The Wat Phnom stands alone by itself on a circular plot of land, surrounded by busy Phnom Penh roads.. Check out the beautiful floral clock! =)


The other entrance of the Wat Phnom had beautiful steps lined with stone sculptures of Naga and lions..


Wat Phnom temple! =)


Oh, apparently there's a shrine to Mdm Penh too! In the foreground, there's a smaller shrine with a statue of a lady..

Anyway, it was still quite a small temple compared to like the Angkor Wat and other temples that we've already seen, so we didn't stay too long there, and instead took the time to explore the surrounding green pocket..


... elephant rides! =P


... and monkeys! =)


Which would explain the sellers of lotus roots.. Oops, sorry the seller isn't facing the camera, but I think if she saw us taking a photo, it'd probably cost USD1, somewhat like how Ningyi was badgered for 1 buck after taking a photo of kids on the boat in Tonle Sap lake, selling the famous "Banana 1 dollar!"

**********

So we adjourned for an early lunch at this cafe near the market we were gonna visit in the afternoon.. And we had barely sat down for half an hour, when Mohana & Co walked through the same doors! What a coincidence. Woah.

If you remember, we had left them back in Siem Reap on Day 4 when we moved to Phnom Penh, while they were travelling to Phnom Penh on our Day 5 (i.e. yesterday).. So today was their day to visit the Phnom Penh attractions.. We certainly had quite a bit of catching up to do! =)

After lunch, all 8 of us hit the Psar Toul Tom Poung (Russian Market).. Now, this market is supposed to be THE market to buy all things touristy.. And boy, was it one crazy maze!


Here's a sample. Imagine a pasar malam store, with its overhead shelter included, multiplied by 400, and squeezed into a small square plot of land. Now, throw in some hawker stores in the centre, plus some wet market stores in the centre to boot, and you basically have the Russian Market.

The sheer number of stores and oddities and souvenirs up for sale make it a tourist shopper's heaven of sorts.. Just remember: don't come in the afternoon in the hot season!!! OMG. We walked in at 2pm plus, and it's like, the inside has absolutely ZERO air circulation. It's like staying in a car in the hot sun, with the engines off and the windows all wound up. It was stifling. Tiring. Dehydrating.

We ploughed the stores for almost 2 hours - and i've realised that actually, most of the stores sell pretty much similar stuff.. and i'm tired of touristy-souvenirs. As i've said earlier, i'm not into buying those touristy souvenirs anymore. If any stall were to show me something totally unique, I would have bought it straight away. There were a few gem stores here and there, such as this store selling handicrafts and bible-covers, in support of Aids patients.. Too bad the covers didn't fit my bible. =(

So after a most draining 2 hours, we headed back to the hotel to rest and freshen up before our flight.. Spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in the hotel and exploring the shops near the hotel.. Dinner was an uneventful affair with fast food - miles apart from the food we had been eating the past few days at cafes..

Before we knew it, it was time to hop on the tuk-tuk to the Phnom Penh airport..



Phnom Penh airport - sorry, not the best of shots, but the best I could summon with 1 hand on the camera, the other hanging on to the bags, and trying not to fall off a bumpy tuk-tuk ride.. =P
After checking in, we realised that we had to pay additional airport tax.. (ok fine, so i don't travel enough to know that i still have to pay airport taxes before returning home) -_-" which almost bankrupted all of us.. Still managed to find a present for a good friend inside the airport.. heehee..

Was with Linken staring at the airport lounge coffee menu when I heard my name being called..

"Alvin!"

.. and turned around to find - Teresa?!

OMG. What a coincidence!

Teresa, her godfather and family, Dr Gabriel Seow & family, were all on in Cambodia for a Catholic mission trip.. and we were on the same flight back to Singapore! Even the kids recognized me. Sheesh. -_-" Had a good time chatting with her and exchanging photos, since it's been a while since we actually saw each other! what with hospital postings and exams..

But before long, we were all boarding the Jetstar flight bound for home!!!

**********

... and you thought it was all over? Not a chance!

Remember my Day 1 post saying that there was never a dull moment with my RI pple?

Well, we were all happily seated on the plane at Phnom Penh airport. The arrangment was in 2 columns of 3, with me in between Mohan & Linken, and Edwin behind us. Now, there were 3 extremely excited (probably at going home to their manicures and salons)...

"Oh your hair is so smooth!"

"yeah, and so shiny!"

"Issit?"

*girl C starts braiding gal B's hair*

... and noisy girls who were sitting in front of us. I didn't pay much notice to them - after all, i've heard noisier ones..

But of course, my 2 travel companions weren't gonna take it lying down, and before I knew it...

LK: "Oh ALVIN! Your hair is ssooooo beautiful!!!!"

M: "Oh ALVIN! Come! Let me braid your hair..."

"Oh, do you want to try my hair moisturizer?" (just for the record, there is actually such a thing! yeah, imagine my surprise when I heard there it actually existed O_O)

Me? Totally mortified.. O_O


*silence*


Then gal C who i could see (i'm in the centre sit mah) starts turning and staring at me through the gaps in the seats..

"Excuse me, we can hear what you all say behind you know?"

*Haiz. you know what they say in chinese, bu4 zhuo4 chu1 yi1, zhuo4 shi2 wu3 (meaning, if you're gonna do it, go all out to do it)..

Me: "Excuse me, we also can hear what you all are saying in front, you know?"

"What we all say in front is for us to hear one!"

"Well, what we all say behind is for us to hear also!"

Sheesh. Just what i needed - a catfight before we even took off!

Eventually, they had some zi4 zhi1 zi1 ming2 (self-awareness), when during the lift-off, one girl went..

"Eh, how come so quiet arh? we're like the only ones talking leh.."

Alas. this moment of brilliance didn't last - they started yakking away immediately.

So we shifted the seats the moment the seat-belt signs were off.

Issue settled. =P

**********

*Touchdown in Singapore at 2330hrs!

Yeah.. Customs was a breeze, and before we knew it, we were out of the airport! having bid a hasty goodbyes to Teresa, Dr John Lee, and Dr Gabriel Seow, to meet at the year-end party.. =)
Thanks Edwin, for the ride home! =P

Erm, more acknowledgements:

- Edwin, for some of his photos (happy now? haha =))
- my 3 travel companions, for reproducibility of tales & stories..


**********

Now sitting in front of my computer, in my cosy home, and looking back at those 6 days - those were 6 crazy fun-filled days! =) Totally had a great time.. Great companions too! Though we all had our individual moments, I think we came out all the better and stronger.. =) Nope, no regrets.. THANK YOU for the great time!! =)

P.S. Don't mind going back there, but don't foresee myself going back there in the near future for a vacation (there are other places to be explored for a vacation! =P) However, Comm service / mission trips -- yes.. =)

Day 5: Phnom Penh

Today's our main day for exploring Phnom Penh.. There were 4 must see attractions in Phnom Penh which were quite a distance apart from each other, so we decided to rent a tuk-tuk driver for the whole day..


On our way there, we caught sight of this guy who was, i suppose, on his way to the market with his vegetables.. =P

First stop, Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre..


Choeung Ek used to be a Longan Orchard, and till now, you still can see the lush greenery of the orchard, which hides the gruesome killings and deeds done here..

Choeung Ek was used as a killing field and mass burial site during the Khmer Rouge regime. Usually prisoners were detained at detention centres all over, including the infamous Tuol Sleng Museum (which i'll talk about later), before being brought over to Choeung Ek, where they would be killed and buried in mass graves.. After the regime was brought down, the government started clearing the land, and at the end of 1980, 86 out of the 129 mass graves were unearthed, and 8985 corpses were found.. The government have preserved the skeletal bones of the victims of the genocide in this memorial stupa..


The memorial stupa has more than 10 levels, with the bottom level containing the clothes of the victims, the next few levels - the skulls, and the higher levels, the other bones of the victims unearthed.. A closer look at the skull bones, you can almost hear the voices of the dead - a bullet hole in the skull, or a gash fracture reflecting a vicious slash from an axe/knife, pathological fracture in skull due to trauma..

It's just really sad that such brutalities could actually be performed..


They actually used the serrated edges of the stem of this plant to, well, kill people by cutting their neck vessels..


More equipment of brutality - these were ankle chains. the prisoners were chained by their ankles to the steel rods, and they had to lie opposite each other to sleep..


The Memorial Stupa..

As i was saying, the whole place was used as a killing field and a mass grave burial site..


This is one of the many mass graves found on the site.. If you read the sign closely, this is the mass grave where 166 headless victims were found.. According to the guide, this grave contains a lot of soldiers, who were thought to be traitors and betrayed the regime.. Hence, they were beheaded and buried..

Other mass graves contained children, women, and all sorts of people from different walks of life.. After the victims had been killed, the soldiers would scatter DDT into the graves.. This had 2 purposes: to mask the smell of the decaying bodies, and to kill the remaining victims who might still be alive..

Other than the mass graves found so far, there are also other undug graves in Choeung Ek, including those buried under this otherwise, serene small lake..


So after abt an hour of wandering around the killing fields, we decided to head over to the Tuol Sleng Museum..

Now, as mentioned above, the Tuol Sleng Museum was used as a detention centre for the prisoners before they were brought to the killing fields. Previously a school, the nondescript buildings and compounds similarly masked the atrocities performed here..


Nondescript compounds of the Tuol Sleng Museum, formerly a school..

With 4 main buildings, prisoners were held in different rooms, in individual or mass cells, where they would be tortured and forced to make confessions of their "crimes"..



The windows were grilled with steel to prevent prisoners from escaping, or committing suicide..


Linken trying (very hard, obviously) to understand the panels explaining the history of this place..


The playground / assembly area, where in the foreground you see that wooden structure with 2 big earthen jars? Well, the regime would string pple up by their arms onto the wooden beams, then repeatedly dunk them into the earthen jars of water till they passed out.

The other buildings held exhibits which tell of the brutality carried out on these grounds.. From methods of torture, to isolation and prison rooms.. Photos of the numerous victims served to put face to the countless who passed through here before dying in the killing fields.. Stories from the people on the ground..

The 3rd building was especially scary though..

This was the only building with the corridors of all 3 levels covered up with barbed wires to prevent prisoners from committing suicide..

The inside was equally creepy.. There were individual cells, made of either bricks or wood, and it was really dark in there, even in daytime when we went..

Well, it looks bright here cos of my flash.. And so someone commented that I shouldn't haf switched on my flash (but hey, that was my original intention.. The place was way creepy. Glad i wasn't walking that building alone)

Yeah, walking through all 4 buildings with the poster panels and exhibits, was truly an experience. Combined with the earlier trip to the killing fields, it reflects only a small percentage of the horror that went on during the regime. (there were other detention centres and killing fields throughout Cambodia) What was disturbing to note was that this detention centre was actually a school previously, and was actually situated smack in the centre of a rather built up area.. It's not as if it was located in some deserted area where nobody passes by daily.. And the number of people tortured, before being killed - its just so sad..

It is heartening to note that efforts are now being made to preserve and remember the people who have died during the regime, and serve as a reminder to future generations of the atrocities performed, so that such things may hopefully never happen again..

**********

So after a heavy morning of sightseeing, we decided to go grab some lunch.. On the way, we passed by the Independence Monument on our tuk-tuk.. The monument was off-limits, so the best we could do was a photo?


Headed off to the Friends' Cafe for lunch. Friends' Cafe is a cafe with a slightly different cause - proceeds from the cafe go towards charity! In addition, the cafe is a way to teach the kids cooking and waitering skills, so that they will be able to get jobs at other restaurants when their training stint ends.


Real nice restaurant, with beautiful paintings.. Especially liked the water painting of the Angkor Wat on the wall here..

Post-lunch was the National Museum, which housed many stone relics and carvings brought from the temples around Cambodia.. It had real nice architecture, although the inside, well, was just like any other museum, which was a bit dry with all the exhibits..



Oh, a linga, here as part of this structure which used to contain water, erm, for ablutions?

Anyway, we headed off to the Royal Palace pretty soon after that. Well, you don't exactly get to walk into the palace itself, but we could pretty much explore some of the palace grounds..




Palace grounds! =)




Oh, and this building which looked a little out of place in terms of architecture compared to the other buildings, was a gift by the French to Cambodia, previously.. Kinda explains the European architectural influence..

Anyway, what was beautiful was the Silver Pagoda!

Hhmmm.. no photography inside, so an outside picture will have to do..

The inside of the Silver Pagoda is lined with over thousands of silver plates on the floor! Yeah, you can actually see the silver plates on the floor, which give a metallic whack when you stamp a bit harder on the portions which are carpetted.. =P Anyway, the pagoda houses many Buddhist relics and other statues and gifts from dignitaries.. Apparently the steps up into the pagoda are made from Italian marble, the statues of Buddha inside are made with jewels such as emeralds, and even crystals! (according to the guidebook) Amazing..


Grounds outside the Silver Pagoda!

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Urf.. After quite a long day of heavy travelling and sight-seeing, we were bushed..

(I tink our tuk-tuk driver was pleased that he snagged a big customer for the day, though i wonder what he thought about us being uber-Singaporean and haggling the price down.. but hey, it was obviously marked up significantly for us tourists.. -_-)

We decided to head off to another dinner place with ambience..

Khmer Surin restaurant! With 3 levels, the middle level (which we're on) offers dining with cushions on the floor and candle lights (which someone extinguished with his water -_-"") The ambience was again quite festive with the dark wooden architecture, the leaves and palm fronds obscuring the hustle and bustle of the Phnom Penh roads, with cheery colours of cushions and table cloths to brighten the atmosphere..


Dinner to wrap up the day? Fish seems to be a recurring theme, only now that it's fish in a fish-shaped clay dish.. =p

Day 4: Siem Reap --> Phnom Penh

Today's the day where we head over to Phnom Penh for the second half of our Cambodian travelogue..

We had several options on travelling to Phnom Penh - bus, cab, cruise, plane.. Being poor students, we of course took the cheaper alternative of the bus. Speaking of bus, sheesh - there was this big brouhaha over the bus affair. -_-"

Initially planning to catch the afternoon 12.30pm bus to arrive in the evening at 7pm, we were advised against it as it would be dark by the time we reached, and it won't be very safe in Phnom Penh lugging our bags along the streets. Fine and dandy. So we switched to the early 7.30am bus (in the process, guess I skipped out on the Cambodian Cultural Village and Artisans D'Angkor visit in Siem Reap. Oh well. I came here primarily to see the temples I guess). As if the timing wasn't enough of a problem, our "invalid" who was "writhing in bed" with cramps, and had to force us to call up the concierge to open the door for us when we went out the previous night for dinner (and the invalid happily went to sleep, locking us out of the room) insisted on the highest-class bus with a built-in toilet.

So we tried to change the tickets, me feeling rather sheepish at the trouble I was putting the concierge through.. So the rather helpful (though stern-looking) concierge made like 2-3 trips down to different bus offices, and guess wat? The high class tickets were sold out. We stuck to our original bus company. Ok loh.

As if the settling the bus tickets wasn't enough, the tuk-tuk driver had to give us grief over the price. 3USD for 4 pple with luggage to the bus park wasn't sufficient? But we had agreed with the hotel already what? Sheesh.

So with much difficulty, we settled into our bus for our 6 hour ride to Phnom Penh.. Now, wat puzzled moi, was that someone had to comment that we were on the more expensive bus rides which were meant for tourists. Looking around the whole bus, I could only count 4 non-local faces - US. The rest of the bus was totally filled by locals! How that person came to the conclusion certainly baffled me, considering that wouldn't the locals take the cheaper buses instead of going on the touristy buses?

And to cement the whole issue on bus locality, the moment the bus started, loud Cambodian karaoke music started blaring from the sound system with its own MTV in front.. -_-" which would be pretty good i suppose, if I could understand what they were singing, or if I wasn't in such a foul mood from the bus-tuk-tuk fiasco above. Anyway, I blasted my own ipod (thanks guys! =)) through out the trip to keep my lid on.


Scenes of the countryside from the bus!

The 6-hour bus ride was peppered with pit stops for washrooms and drinks. I've nothing against the bus driver, but he started to irritate me with his small little "pit-stops" by the road to let some people off, or let some people on and then off. Erm.. I'm quite sure this isn't a normal sort of public bus rite? I mean, yes it's public, but I had the impression that it was a point-to-point bus with no intermediate stops. Urf.


Left with no other options but to peer out the windows to quell the frustration at being in a never-ending bus ride..

Almost 6 hours later, we came in sight of Phnom Penh city! Finally!


As we turned onto the main street Monivong Blvd, we peered out of the windows for signs of our hotel. We figured that since the bus driver was dropping pple off all throughout the whole journey, maybe we could get off at our hotel too.. =P But no.. apparently cannot. -_-"

So we were beseiged by this whole group of tuk-tuk drivers the moment we got off the bus in Phnom Penh. Thankfully we weren't exactly far from the Holiday Villa Hotel, and could walk there. (yes, amidst the bustling Phnom Penh roads, where traffic never seems to clear)

So we sought refuge in the comforts of our hotel room.. Lunch at the hotel cafe was uneventful (though someone's beef sturganoff - is that how you spell it? - looked a lot like beef economy mixed rice.. lol)

**********

Went exploring the nearby Old Market Psar Chaa in the rest of the afternoon! Besides a market place, it's known for its unique architecture and yellow colour! =)


Psar Chaa is constructed in such a way with a centre dome, with 4 arms protruding out with its own specialty shops. In between the arms, thousands of stalls have sprouted out with their own sheltered umbrellas, like grass after the rain..


The market really sells almost everything under the sun.. From fake watches, to real electrical goods, from clothing, to food and wet market stuff.. Mind boggling..

**********

Since we were taking today easy, we decided to head out and explore the restaurants and bars beside the Tonle Sap river.. Although it was dark already by the time we were finding dinner, thankfully there were still street lamps and so much traffic on the road, making me feel a bit safer (despite Mohana's warning about safety resounding in my ear)

So we finally settled on this restaurant which had an unobstructed view of the Tonle Sap river..

Photo of the restaurant overlooking the Tonle Sap River.. Jetty in the foreground and cruise ship in the back! Plus gentle kerosene lamps giving a warm touch to the evening sky..

*Boy, taking this photo with a digital camera was a real headache. I have no idea how many buttons and functions I explored before being able to these 2 photos..


This shows the indoor seating area! Nice warm lighting from the tungsten filaments.. With a performance of traditional dance..


We were, of course, sitting alfresco under the starry skies.. Trying to enjoy the evening breeze (sadly non-existent), but just soaking in the quiet and relaxing ambience.. =)


Dinner! Fish dish in a metal fish-shaped bowl -_-", green curry, duck soup.. MMmmm! =)

Dinner was a happy affair as I felt the day's unpleasant events fade away with the quiet sounds of the waves below..

Hopped across the street after dinner to the Green Vespa Pub. Think the place was predominantly for expats, cos the owner was well, an expat, and the guests in there were expats or maybe tourists.. Anyway, I must be the only one in the place drinking a soft drink, while the rest nursed their beers and alcoholic whatnots.. Oh well. =P


Green Vespa! (the drink, of course. and not mine. duh.)

So we turned in early that night for tomorrow was going to be a packed day of sight-seeing.. =P