Sour stay people~ Sour Stay ( sue-stay ) is actually hello in the Khmer language :)
So anyway,
Day One,
I was feeling sort of apprehensive since it was my first time going on a school trip in seconadary school and it's not like I really know my trip mates lor. I only know them because they are all part of the social networking website that most of us are part of, but actually I don't know anything about them in RL. So we met and gathered at the airport, said our final goodbyes to our friends who went all the way to the airport send us off. Then we waited for our plane to take us to the Kingdom of Cambodia :) While waiting, there was this little blond boy who caught my eye. He has like clear blue eyes that seem to give off 100 volts of electricity~ Lol okay that was an exaggeration. anyway, just to prove my point here's a picture of him 
Isn't he adorable? Upon arrival at Cambodia, I was kind of shocked to see that their lights were super duper DIM. I thought that lights at the airport are supposed to be bright? Nah, they were bright. Before all those flies crowd themselves around the light making a temporary shade for the light. Oh well, due to the horrible iPhone camera of mine, I got a picture of flies around light from Google and you'll understand how I feel :)
So imagine this scene EVERY NIGHT at any LIGHT SOURCE avaliable with the exception of the stars and the moon. I bet you'll feel instantly disgusted won't you? So after collection of luggage and all that stuff, we headed to the Muslim Family Restaurant. It looked kind of ulu ( deserted? ) and there were like COWS. Anyway, the people in Cambodia actually own Macbooks and uses FACEBOOK. Seems like BOOKS seems to be the norm in Cambodia too? Anyway, it was kind of appalling so dine with all the flies and grasshoppers. Anw, the fans do not have covers and are like quite low, so I think if Alvin was there he'll probably get some of his hair chopped off. MUAHAHHAAH! Imho, I think that the fans are like this so that any flies that dare to fly near the fan will get it's wings cut off by the fan and then they'll DIE! Muahahahahahah! so anyway, here's a picture of the naked fan.
After dinner we decided to fool around a little and take some stupid pictures. Oh well, here're some of the epic faces...:)
I only chose a few. Anw, these photos were taken by Weiqing aka, my monkey face friend :D So we went to the supermarket to get some stuff and took some more pictures. I swear I look super unglam okay? LOL
So anyway, on our bus ride, I learnt a little more about Cambodia and also their language.
Angkor means city/capital and Wat means monastry or padgoda and there you have ANGKOR WAT. Also, guess what? KFC only went to Cambodia like 2 years ago? As far as I can remember, KFC has been in my life for like 15 years already!
We arrived at our hotel, had a short discussion and ended our tiring day. ( picture was taken the next day :P)
Day 2
Woke up early and got ready to visit the Orphanage. Before arriving at the orphanage, I imagined the orphanage to look some what like...Yura Bharati School ( the Indian school beside JSS ) however, when I saw the orphanage, I couldn't help but say " huh? This is the orphanage ah? " Honestly, I cannot imagine anybody actually living in such environment.
It is basically just like several kampung houses together and their classroon is just made of wood and the ground was like sandy and the tables were not balanced and it was not a very conducive environment for studying. Their toilets was just like 2 small shed about the size of those make-shift toilets you see at construction sites? Sure, I've seen it on TV lots and lots of time but trust me you got to be there personally to experience it. So immediately, there was a change of plans and we divided ourselves into groups in charge of different jobs. I placed myself in the cleaning group.
So I was to clean the Girl's bunk which was on the second floor.
Pictures of Korean celebs. who can you spot?
a part of the room that looks kind of ok.
Initially it was okay however after further observation, i was not OKAY. The cooking area was like dirty and there were dirty dishes and empty containers were not discarded and old food were left on plates and the floor was extremely sandy, dusty and if you were to reach under the cabinet holding the stove which I did you'll uncover many "Treasures". Then we decided to start by cleaning the floor, Reena used the wet cloth while the rest of us swept the dust away. Then when we folded the clothes, I noticed that the clothes were damp and moldy. Eventually, I realised that they just bathe with their cloths on? So anyway, the underwear was not spared from the flith. I really cannot imagine those things are what they wear...anyway, Rushdi also helped in folding and well lucky him keep getting all the bra and panties. So ewww. LOL! Then we folded the clothes in the room. Wow that's where all the horror gets unleashed literally. When you take the clothes out, cockroahes, ants, crickets and grasshopper just comes out to greet you and well, I was like paranoid. I just ran down the steep stairs and called for Mr Bakthair. Oh well, he just kinda hao lianed a bit and helped us a little here and there. Eventually, the clothes were folded but no one wanted to go into that room. So guess who went? I went into that room to keep the clothes. Idk why I was so gungho that day. I must've been possessed. Here's a picture of me after all tht shit.
Well after that I rested for a while and proceeded to play games with the kids.
We played " lao ying zhua xiao ji" and kicked ball and a little of volleyball. Then we played "mass game" LOL Idk luh. It's just everyone playing together lor. :) Then we did the Friendship dance? Song?
" As we walk to the left as we walk to the right
as we walk as we walk as we walk all night
with a heel and a toe and a half turn around
with a new, friend found :D "
Yup. Then we also did the Hokey-pokey thingy~ it was a fun experience overall and it was lots of fun interacting with the children there. They are a bunch of sweet kids I would say :) I mean they actually swam in the muddy and insecty river just to pluck flowers for us. Why? Because they want to thank us and show they appreciation, yet they had nothing to give. All they had was a pure and innocent mind and a sincere heart and that was what made them swim across that river. At least this is how I think about it. I bet none of the Singaporean guys will actually swim across a river to pluck flower since florists are readily available at their fingertips. HOR? When it was time to leave, all of us left with a heavy heart as we were reluctant to leave them. They sang 2 songs for us. One was " If you're happy and you know it" and another was a Cambodian song. Gosh at the end of their songs I was like in tears and they even gave us flowers. Again! They hugged us and gave us high fives.
The 7 hours spent there was definitely one of the most meaningful 7 hours. With that, day 2 ended.
Day 3
Well, day 3 we visited the temples. We visited Angkor wat, the Temple where they flimed Tomb Raider: Jungle of doom, and also some other temples. Actually, I didn't really listen to my tour guide's explanation. To me, all the temples are similar in terms of appearance. However, when you go there, you'll feel differently cos all the temples have different stories behind them. So, for day 3 I'll let the pictures do the talking.
The steps are like super steep
Back then they chop off the buddha's head to sell to the European countries.
Calvin's hair is epic. But adds height (Y)
.HAHA! We ended Day 3 with a visit to the Night Market :) I absolutely loved the visit :D
Day 4
We went to the Akira Landmine Museum. Basically it is a museum founded by Aki-ra and is also a home that provides education and support for children that are affected by the landmines. Aki-ra has been clearing landmines since 1995 and was part of the Khmer rouge army, he also knows how to plant landmines and knows how to detonate them too. Imho, I think that everybody in Cambodia should be thankful that selfless men like this exisit! Aki-ra was willing to help the people of Cambodia by putting his life at risk and for that I think that he deserves a state funeral if he passes away some day, and I think that he should be like a HERO~ for his great contributions.LOL! I feel super super high now for some reason? :D Anw, the museum contains the mines and bombs that he had decommissioned (?) throughout his life. So here're some pictures~
THE HERO!!
Then after that we proceeded to learn about the Sugar from the sugar palm tree. Anyway, the process requires lots of time and effort. According to the tour guide, the sugar is organic and people of Cambodia consumes this kinda sugar that's why they're not fat. So now we know :) Then the sugar can be eaten raw. I personally think it's really delicious as it's sweet (duh) and has a hint of coconut taste in it? It melts in your mouth ( duh ) and when you chew it it's like chewing on the softer version of rock sugar. DAMN NICE!
Yup and next we proceeded to the Silk Farm. However, it started to rain once we arrived at the farm D: So we had to walk in the rain D: Anyway, the process of silk making is indeed tedious. Silkworms only consume one type of leaf and their life is basically about eating, sleeping and making love. Then after making love, they just die. Isn't that sad? Awwww. Some of them don't even get to grow up lor. They just die when they're in the cocoon cos men extracts the silk which is their cocoon. Sad right? Haiz. Here're some pics of the worms.
Okay here's some random pictures taken here and there....
Well after all that, we visited the Tonle Sap lake. It is like one of the biggest lake and it's water supply comes from the Mekong River which flows down from Tibet and passes through Laos and other countries. So basically when it's the dry season or low tide, the people use the lake for agriculture and when the tide comes in, fishermen will fish and stuff. So we visited a school on the lake and gave the children some gifts. The school is like floating leh! But the only way to go to the school, is by a shaky wooden plank that may break anytime. So when I was crossing it, it was most unfortunate that Fatt Rui jumped on the plank and I was like totally scared la...cos I didn't wana drop into the lake on a rainy day. Also, people live on the lake so u can see like many many boats and stuff. Then we toured the lake. By the end of the tour, I can say that I saw the sunset in Cambodia and also, I experienced walking in pitch darkness. OH mymy. Here's some pics~
This is the end! Anyway, we went to the night market again~ :D
Day 5
We left Siem Reap for Phnom Pehn. It was like a 6 hour journey and we had one rest stop. At the rest stop, our guides and teachers got us some insects. Initially I was reluctant to try...but seeing Fatt Rui pop the insects into his mouth like potato chip I was convinced that it must taste good luhh, so I tried the cricket first. It is like super duper crispy and is kinda like potato chips...next I tried the water bug (?) it is kinda gross as it leaves a bitter after taste, so it's like not very nice. Then I smelt "chicken wing" however, it is like...SPIDER. So I plucked one leg and tried it. Indeed, it tastes like chicken wing but is also a little like sotong at the same time. Overall it was enjoyable. I shared a spider with Calvin & weiqing. I ate the stomach...uhhh it's like white and then like got egg or something leh? but I like la. Then after a few more crickets and some water I was full. LOL! Upon arrival at Phnom Pehn the capital of Cambodia, we had lunch and went to the Toul Siong Genocide Museum. Honestly, when I reached there I felt a kind of pressure. In chinese, I call it " ya po gan" So...we toured the museum and understood the torture that the people went through and how cruel the Pol Pot army was. I mean he's like Stalin...he purges all the influencial people that will desrupt his ideas. How bad can this get? Honestly, I abhor cruel history leaders lor...always make us memorise so much...then some more keep torturing the people...damn bian tai leh! So anyway, we visited the cells. Those that we divided was extremely small and when I went in I could totally imagine the life of the prisoners back then. Gosh that really sucks. So the pictures of the prisoners made me feel sad too. The skulls in the cabinet also made me feel thankful that I'm living in Singapore and that I was born in this era where everything is safe and also how developed and globalised we are made me love Singapore more. For that, I bow to all leaders and people responsible for making Singapore the way it is now. :) I've decided not to post pictures of the genocide as I think it's kinda bad to post lehh...like super disrespect. So sorry~ After that we went to the Central park of cambodia? CHEH! no la. It's this park in front of the Royal Palace. Yes they do have a king :)
Pictures of the group of us are taken from Facebook
Hmmm that marks the end of Day 5 :)
Day 6
This is the last day. Actually nothing much luh. The group of us were seperated into 2 groups to go home. One was the morning flight and the other was the evening flight. So we all woke up early to go home/ bid goodbye to our friends. Anyway, our check out time was like 12:30 so we went to the nearby shopping mall to do some shopping for around 45 mins. I got like this Converse shoe for around 10USD which is reasonable. :) Then we went for foot massage! WOW it waas like super enjoyable. They will massage yr back and shoulders before massaging your legs. So anw, the pain was horrible and the place opposite my ankle and also, when the lady massaged my thigh it's like super itchy? OMG!
This is the end of my post for Cambodia trip. I really appreciate the friends I've made and the things I've learnt. Last but not least, thank you Mr Hok for making this trip possible for us, without you everything would not be possible. I love you :)
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