My parents with the Singapore Merlion:
The Merlion has the head of a lion and body of a fish. The fish body comes from Singapore's humble beginnings as a quiet fishing village (called "Temasek," meaning "sea town" in Javanese). The lion represents Singapore's original name - Singapura - which means "lion city."
My Merlion impersonation:
After my parents left Singapore to gallivant in Malaysia, my friend Lauren and I made our way to Cambodia. In a nutshell, I loved it. It is a beautiful country, full of lovely people, delicious food, and amazing sights. We spent 2 days in Phnom Penh, where we learned about the horrible atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge, the communist dictatorship which ruled in Cambodia only 30 years ago. While the killing fields (an area where they used to kill prisoners) were heartbreaking, I gained a lot of knowledge about a horrible episode in history I knew virtually nothing about. What stayed with me more than this, though, was how incredibly kind people were to us all throughout the country. One of our tuk-tuk drivers (basically a rickshaw pulled by a motorbike, and the most popular tourist mode of transportation) actually took us to his house and introduced us to his entire extended family, as well as his chickens and pigs.
After Phnom Penh, we floated up the river on a boat to Siem Reap. From there, we spent 3 days exploring Angkor Wat.
Angkor Wat is actually the name of one of many ancient temples which can be found in this area (ancient meaning, oh, about a thousand years old). It's incredible how much of the detailed carvings have survived. All the temples are a mixture of Buddhist and Hindu, as kings changed religions over the years, and as a consequence, chopped of heads of Buddhas, or removed various carvings or statues to replace with ones they worshipped. One particularly beautiful sight was the "jungle temple," which is being overgrown by enormous trees whose roots snake over the stones:
Some of my favourite Camdodian moments:
-Our guide on the first day at Angkor Wat was a 28 year old student called Sim. Sim was a sweetheart who told us that we were like the Apsaras carved in the stones. What is an Apsara, you ask? They were beautiful women who would dance for the king. Or, as Sim phrased it, they were like "celestial goddesses dancing on lotus leaves."
Sim also excitedly explained to us the Cambodian New Year's Eve tradition of playing games and having competitions. The best part? Sometimes, on this one special night, the men and the women get to hug. In fact, sometimes, they even kiss! But at no other time of year, of course, as he hurriedly reassured us. I almost wanted to offer him a hug on the spot... but then thought better of it.
-Our next stop was Thailand, and the best way to get there is to take a taxi to the border point, cross over, and get a bus to Bangkok. Well about halfway to the border, our taxi broke down. We pulled over into the Cambodian countryside, and within 3 minutes, two friends of our driver stopped to help us. They proceeded to pour all the water we had into the engine in an attempt to cool it down. When they ran of clean water, they started to use dirty muddy water from the side of the road. Meanwhile Lauren and I are standing around being useless, when all of a sudden, out of nowhere, who should pull over but a baguette cart. Yes, a cart, full of baguettes, being pulled by a motorbike, in the middle of nowhere in Cambodia. (The availability of excellent bread in Cambodia is in my opinion one of the most positive remnants of being a former French colony). Definitely one of the more absurd moments of the trip. Oh, and they never got the car to start again - Lauren and I spent the rest of the way to the border squished in the backseat of another car with random Cambodian men, who mostly wanted to know whether or not we were married...
In Bangkok, I met up with my parents and my sister. While it was lovely to see them, I found Banbkok to be very overwhelming and congested. Thailand on the whole is much more touristy than Cambodia, and people try to scam you everywhere you go. Still, we saw some beautiful sights, like the royal palace, and Jim Thompson's house. He has an american architect, who, after coming to Asia for the war, fell in love with Thailand and moved there. His house is incredible, and contains an amazing collection of South East Asian art. He is also credited with revitalizing the Thai silk industry by marketing it in America. The most interesting Jim Thompson fact? He disappeared in Malaysia while on vacation visiting the Cameron Highlands. He went for a walk one day in the jungle, and was never heard from again...
After saying goodbye to my parents, Jacqueline and her boyfriend Dave and I headed down to Koh Lanta, an island off the south of Thailand, to meet with my friends Lauren and Nick. What did we do on the beautiful beach? Nothing but sleep, eat, snorkle, and build sandcastles. An amazing, relaxing end to a wonderful trip!
