dead body in river

a dead body was found in bernam river this morning. sucks, but true.
they were getting the body out in the morning.
i went out for breakfast with ee biet and on the way back, i saw police in uniforms on the bridge and yellow tape by the perak side of the bank.
what is the story behind the death? well, check the newspaper tomorrow, if they get the news.

investment for after life?

dad and bro accompanied grandma to rawang memorial park today. grandma went there to reserve 2 burial spots for cremation (hers and granpa's). this sounds morbid yeah, but i guess this is already very common among the chinese.
the previous week she went to have a look at nilai memorial park.

the rawang one (actually nearer to bukit beruntung) is quite new. only five years old, thus not as famous. nilai's is reputed as the biggest memorial park in the world ah. but according to the salesperson in rmp, theirs will expand and the land they occupy is bigger than nmp's. hmmm....marketing.

i heard granma said that grandpa complained. haha...it was funny the reasons she gave. she said grandpa could be grumbling because rmp was not famous enough and it was not far enough. hahah.

anyway, their four children are going to share the payment and settle the bill this week.

this makes me wonder about mine too. land burial or cremation? definitely cremation, save space and trouble. buy a place now? who knows, later i am sure they are going to increase the price kan? can this fit into investment for the future category? one spot is about rm5000.
too early? who knows where i am relocating next, kan? ok...at least now i know how much i have to save aside. how true the chinese saying 'kun choi pun' (money for the coffin). you really need to save for it.

how to be a zombie on a friday morning

1. first, make your neighbour who lives opposite to have a dinner gathering to celebrate his eldest daughter’s wedding on a Thursday night.
2. then, install a strong PA system with big speakers for the karaoke session.
3. next, let the guests sing sing and sing at the top of their voices so everyone in the neighbourhood knows that there is some celebration and mind you, not in those melodious and soothing voices, but in hoarse and broken out-of-tune voices. Make sure none of the songs sung hit the key as well.
4. continue the karaoke session till midnight. But then, oh no, the night is still young.
   let the night roll on with more drinking and talking and laughing.
5. finally, you try to get that slumber at 1a.m. albeit and not so sound one.
6. and then, the morning starts as early as 5 in the morning because your eyes just refused to stay close and just pop open at 5.08 according to the bedside clock.
7. get ready for work, have a cup of caffeine to start the day and you are ready to move. Oh, don’t forget the make-up and hair, although you are still a zombie, you still want to look like a nice and beautiful one.

videos from 25/9/07

this is a game we came up with after lighting all the candles. who can blow the farthest?? the winner managed to blow 15 candle lights off. i managed 11 i think. not bad lah. gasping for air after that.

my mini mid-autumn celeb

i had my own mini celebration yesterday night to celebrate mid-autumn. it was going to be a quiet night anyway, so i did something to be gay.

it was not a bad one and the night officially closed at 12a.m. for me after all the cleaning up. there was a few minutes of fireworks display too courtesy of my neighbour.it really brightened up the cloudy night. the moon only appeared at about 11p.m. and it was not the round and big moon one expected on this day. according to the papers, the moon is going to be the roundest and the brightest on 17 october. so watch out for it.

we had quite many lanterns to hang around and lots of candles too. but oooh, the wax, i have to scrape them today. it was a mess. it was nice while it lasted but the headache comes later.

candles everywhere.
this is the headache. how am i going to scrape all the wax from this brick pillar?
a different variation of the mooncake. agar-agar mooncake with red bean, dragon fruit and yam paste as filling.
just what we had...cheap mooncake, jelly mooncake, twisties (still unopened) wasabi nuts and omochi (my fav). and for drinks, we had healthy green tea.
the mini crowd at the mini party.

lanterns in the house.

happy mid-autumn

the chinese celebrate the mid-autumn festival today. it is celebrated every year and the date falls on the 15th day of the eight month in the chinese lunar calendar.

i am not one who is well-versed in all these chinese traditions, but i know being with your family, having mooncake and pomelo and lighting lanterns are part of the tradition associated with this festival.

for some stories of the origin of this festival, click here. it is quite a compilation and helps in enlightening some queries.

although i am not at home, that does not stop me from sighting familiar sights on the streets. a neighbourhood committee had their mini celebration yesterday night and i 'stumbled' upon a lantern parade in the housing area as well. there was lantern making competition and chinese language quizzes (this is one of the must have activities i think). so let's have a look at some of the pictures i got.

a car leading a parade. everyone had a lantern in hand and most were just paper lanterns. but they made quite a sight as the parade was quite long.
girls dressed as the mystical 'chang-er' (goddess of the moon) leading the parade. pretty??
the two goddesses leading the parade.
putting camera on 'slow' flash created this effect. the lights from the 2 lanterns in front trailed all the way till this shot was captured.

another version of the mooncake, shanghai mooncake with lotus paste and egg yolk.
a boy with his first prize winning lantern. it was made from recycled materials: biscuit tin, aluminium cans, mooncake box and edible 'ling kok' (something you can only find during mid-autumn, they have black horn-like shell with white edible filling. in this lantern, they were painted flourescent yellow and pink hanging on the four edges).

common paper lanterns.

shopping's madness and exhaustion

gosh, i never thought that this shopping trip is going to be so tiring. i am down with a flu due to exhaustion and sleep deprivation. i really need to sleep! i think i only slept less than 4 hours after taking account of those interruption in the middle of the morning (mosquitoes and air-conditioner noise).

reached klcc at around 3.30p.m. and all the parking entrances into the building were already closed! full, only season parkers were allowed. this was not a good start. so i had to park outside and cousin and i headed straight to isetan as soon as we were in the building. there was strict check of member card outside. some resorted to applying for the card on the spot.

inside, it was not as chaotic as i expected. but of course the crowd started to get bigger after 5p.m.- after office hour. it was like a bazaar in the women's clothing department. you have to queue quite a while to get into the dressing room. that was what dear cousin had to endure to get her suit. luckily she did get it in the end, or else it would have been a waste of time and effort hanging around on that floor.

so these are the bags i came back with. not many lah. they are all supermarket stuff. i got a pair of suede slip-ons from everlast, a pleated black skirt ( i love pleats!) and a handbag for a friend's birthday. oh, and also my sunblock. the hole in the pocket is not that visible. phew!
supermarket bargains. instant noodles from korea and wasabi nuts. they are really cheap so i got 3 packets of each. i dun eat the nuts but brother and mom love them. it was rm7 cheaper for each pack ah. had to get them fast or else they would run out of stock. and poor me and cousin, we lugged the plastic bags around while choosing clothes. luckily a good samaritan was spotted by my observant eyes and the burden was lightened. haha.

that 'porter' was non-other than mr yee, a close friend. he was just hanging around alone while waiting for another friend (mr leong) who was coming back from singapore. we ended up having dinner together. more later. back to the bags. my arms are still feeling the strain of yesterday's holding all those bags and the right wrist too. right arm was all right but not the left as all the bags were transferred to the left. now two arms also painful.

this is super good bargain for members! 50% discount. if you are a non-member, it is only 20%. these leather bags are from jane holli. never heard of the brand before but i think they are nice. luckily i am not into bags. i would have picked either one.
these white ones are from the same brand too. aren't they divine?? white bags are like so in now. i finally utilised my mms function in my phone. sent photos of bags to friends to ask their opinion. and it worked! i finally found a birthday present for a colleague. no more headache and worry.

while waiting for mr leong to arrive, we put the bags into my car and sat outside enjoying the night view. cousin and i grab a lil' bite of some bread we bought. hey, i did not have any lunch that day! the view was beautiful and thanks to my camera phone, i managed to capture them and share them with you. hehehe.

clear? nice?

fountain show outside klcc. the lights around were so bright. bane or boon?? cousin said, kl is after all known as the city of lights.

when everyone was done with sight seeing and waiting, we headed to alexis bistro in great eastern mall, ampang. my first time in this place but i have heard about it and read about it, so my expectation was kinda high of this place. too bad, what i experienced was not as flattering as what i have read.

mr yee booked this place because shanon shah was supposed to be performing that night. but due to unforeseen circumstances, the performer had switched to a janice yap. sigh, her performance did not live up to the credits given to her in the ad outside. she sang out of tune, and her cover version sucks (she spoiled lisa loeb's stay!!!) . luckily she managed one of macy gray's song quite well. that was her saviour. her back-up singer sounded way better than her. he was good and i think the applause was meant more for him when the song ended.

the crowd was mostly made up of expats. so obviously the prices of food are somewhere near what they can afford as well. a tad overpriced i will say. haha, a glass of ice lemon tea rm10.50. the most expensive i have ever had. there was only one burning pocket hole that night. mr yee's. he owed me dinners, so he foot the bill. yeah!

the started mr leong ordered. some pita bread with three choices of dipping. dunno what those white ones are, but the green one is guacamole. yummy. read about it in one book and i finally got to taste it.
my dessert. pavlova aka mixed fruits meringue. my first pavlova. hey sis, you know how to make this?? i dun really like the cream though, it was just too creamy for a person who does not take milk. plus i was quite full already by then. what a waste. cousin ordered something similar but with nuts and the cream was chocolate cream. much better. but the best went to the guys' tiramisu. it was good. one of the best tiramisus i have tasted, well i have not tasted that many good ones.

it was really a fun night with a lot of banters. thanks to two talkative ones, and i, the one who prefer to be the listener and observer, got my entertainment for the night. talking is really not my department and i think even when it comes to answering those questions on boy-girl relationship, i am just hopeless. i guess i am just as lost as the questions.

secret

no, this is not going to be about the famous book by rhonda byrne. i still haven't read that book and i do not have the intention of getting my hand on it. not keen i guess on the content.
ok..back to this secret i am going to share...it is jay chou's movie. yeah, smack your hand on your forehead. i can't believe it either. i was sceptical of this movie all along till yesterday. the movie has been around in my computer for almost a month and i always made up excuses for not watching it. blame my brother. he watched it and said it was boring and he did not know what it was about. guys.
it turned out that he was wrong and i regretted not watching it earlier! i wish it is still showing in the big screen and i wanna watch it again! jay chou really proves his mettle in his first full length movie direction. it is good. i hated him in the curse of the golden flower. i do not like his singing style. but thank god he does not act like how he sings. he is not bad in the acting department and his seat in the director's chair will be more prominent after this movie no doubt.
i am not going to talk about the plot or anything. those who want spoilers, just click on the link given above about the movie for the whole plot and stuff. they tell you everything! do watch the movie first. the piano pieces are amazing and the flow of the movie is just smooth to the point of suave. i am hooked.
i just have one question to those who have watched the movie: in the last photo shown in closing of the movie, who are they trying to zoom into?? (answer me please!) the version i have here is quite blurry and i can't make it out. help me solve this puzzle. i know you are not suppose to tell a secret...but ppppleeeeeeeeeaaaaasssssseeeeeeeee.

the wilting of temptation

my oh my. to shop or not to shop? that is the dilemma when the post came in.

isetan member presale has been known to be a big affair among shoppers. once i heard, the whole parking lot in klcc was filled to the brim on a friday! imagine that, all those thousands of lots taken up by shopaholics.

i had been weighing for a while whether to make it or not as it had been a while since i last went to a presale. a 13-year-old told me, "save money la." but yesterday, all of a sudden an sms came in from dear cousin, "hey, you going to the sale or not? go lah." and everything came a tumbling down. the immediate reply to the sms, "ok, so we go on friday afternoon?" haha. how fickle the mind is.

so i am going to get a good sleep the night before and dream of all those extra discounts for members on presale day. there will be throngs of shoppers (women especially no doubt) and heaving and pushing and long queues. the swipe of plastic at the counter (ouch!) and all emerging with happy faces with their loot. haha, that is what i imagine lah. but we will see the real deal on friday. post what i get? err...we will see.

durian popcorn

i love durian. it is a fact. but i hate processed durian foodstuff. no durian cake. no durian ice-cream. no tempoyak. what other stuff do they have out there made from durian???

but there is only one i will take. the above durian popcorn. i remember when we were young, we used to get that from the rotiman who came every evening on his bicycle. be buu be buu...went the horn that preceded his coming. 20cents a packet. that was those days. yesterday while out at the grocery store, i passed the aisle where they put all the snacks when the same yellow packet caught my attention. i am not sure if they are still selling it in the small packet. this bigger packet costs rm1.30. it still tastes the same and hey it is cheaper than those other potato chips. i am not sure if you can get this at the bigger hypermarkets. if you want, i can help you get it...but delivery price not included ;)

with love from china

dang! i can't get a nap on this rainy afternoon, so here i am blogging. the cacophony of sounds just drive me crazy; i.e. rain falling on the awning roof, rain falling on the zinc roof, the chirpy birds chirping!!!!


sharing with you all what my brother got from china and most of them are beijing olympics 2008 souvenirs. they are nice.

embroidery paintings which are famous in suzhou. of course these are not those top of the grade silk ones. but they are just as nice and colourful. special request from me.
these are the 3 i have selected for the house. i bought 2 last time when i went there myself.
handkerchiefs and a bag for atticus. i wanted a face towel but he got me hankies instead. better than nothing la.
shiny key chains. quite expensive ah. i think he is going to give them to his friends. man, i feel like nicking one but do i really need a key-chain??

no badminton! no basketball!

NOO!!! i strained my right wrist! yes, this is going to be a whining post. boo hooo hooo!!!
it happened around 2 weeks ago. But at the beginning it was still bearable. Only slight pain and I could move my wrist and continue playing badminton and basketball. Badminton was where the injury came from. I guess I am just a lousy player who still cannot master the basic foundation of even holding the racquet correctly. The racquet will flick and turn in my hand. Thus, creating unnecessary movement and exertion to the wrist.

But came last Thursday, it was another story. I even had trouble turning the door knob using my right hand and flushing the toilet. From the outside the wrist look so normal, but I can just let it dangle now and not do anything to it. Even typing this, I move my arm across the keyboard and not move the wrist. So now everything has to be done with the left hand. No lifting heavy thing and no twisting or turning the wrist. It feels so useless and limp. Like the blood is not circulated to the right wrist and thus not sending enough energy to move it. I hope this numbness will go soon but my sleeping position might hamper its fast recovery. I sleep on the side, so that means if I sleep on my left that particular night, then I would be putting pressure on my left arm. Troublesome.

Now I have to get ppl to help me carry heavy stuff which normally I have no problem doing. All the weights have to be shifted to the right as well. This will take some getting used to.
Ok, my right wrist feels numb now. Better stop this. Have a good weekend you all.

rash rash, go away!

AAAHHH!!!
Heat rash developed overnight. One moment I was falling asleep, the next moment, I was waking up scratching at my neck which was covered with sweat. Oooh, it was so itchy and it felt good to just scratch and felt the skin swelling.
The night felt cool enough for fan so I did not bother with the air-conditioner. Not a fan of air-cond anyway. But in the middle of the night, it just got unbearable. I think I had been scratching for a while before I decided to wake up and smack the neck just to make those red patches feel numb. To sleep better after that, I had no choice but to switch on the air-cond.
Now it is still feeling as itchy as ever and I have to control the urge and the fingers from reaching the neck. The hot afternoon heat is not helping at all and I can feel sweat trickling down the neck while I am typing this. I have to add another layer of the trusted agnesia antiseptic powder. I have been using it since I was born I think. I was prone to rashes even as a baby. Thus, mom has an ever ready supply and have always told me to use it whenever rash occurs.
It feels really cool on the once applied and have saved me in various occasions. It is effective for prickly heat! Haha…this is like a promotion for agnesia. But trust me, I dunno anything that is better than this to fight off those oh-so-itch-and-irritating rashes.

p/s: the brand used to be Singaporean but now is bought by a Malaysian company. I dunno if you can buy it in other countries. I dun think I have seen it in foreign pharmacies like boots in England.

before agnesia.

after with agnesia. aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh...........;P (different collars because i took my shower first before applying the talcum)

to buy or not to buy?

the idea of buying souvenir items for everyone whenever there is a travel trip is waning now.
i no longer look for souvenir items to buy now nor do i make a list of things to buy for all friends and relatives. i used to do that and a portion of money is spent in that.
could it be that i am growing more selfish now and do not care about others? or could i be looking for more experience in my travel rather than looking for material items that will remind me of the trip?
nowadays, i only think of buying things when i see that something is suitable for a particular person. i won't buy just for the sake of getting a souvenir from that place. but once in a while one can get carried away looking at all those stalls selling knick knacks. this way, i do save a bit. hehe.
i am not the type who will buy one souvenir item that will represent the place just for the display. i am not that kind of hoarder. seeing all things cluttered at home just gimme a headache.
what about you guys out there?

welcome home

the aquarium at home is finally getting a cleaning after so many months.
bro is finally coming back today. i think he has been 'kicked' back earlier from suzhou where his presence is not needed anymore. well, it is a good thing since he is unhappy there. hope things will turn to the better once he is back.
he spends quite some money buying souvenirs. hehe...so i can look forward to getting something at least.
time to save for a car now bro. he needs one now i think if he is not staying with his previous housemate anymore.

dream...just a dream

ok..dun roll on the floor when you read this.
last night i had a dream. not just any dream..it was a dream with lin dan (world number 1 badminton player). suppress your laughter and wait till i finish.
we were strolling hand in hand along the street and oh, it felt so warm and secure. then when we were about to cross the road, he took extra care in ensuring everything was safe before we finally crossed. man! it was so blissful. and at one point i leaned my head against his shoulder. then it was the end of the dream.
ok, now you can laugh.

was i hit by badminton fever or what? or maybe it was a hint that i hate being alone and without a boyfriend, that anyone would do now? luckily it was lindan and not some ugly fellow. haiz, well, at least i dun get nightmares for not having a boyfriend. phew!

a gift

Life’s more fulfilling when we do not expect any reward for giving away something. And when the gift is acknowledged, that is the bonus.

Recently, I sent a present to someone who is already super rich and has all the things money can buy. My present was less than RM5 and I don’t think she knows who I am.
Anyway, I adore her and it was her birthday. So I wished her a happy birthday as well. When I saw the doll while browsing a mall, I thought it was her type and it was a good addition to a similar one she had.
I had totally forgotten about it or her birthday when the day came because that was the day I left for Cambodia.
But lo and behold, she did receive the doll before her birthday and she brought it along with her when she traveled London, Paris and Vienna!
It was published in a weekly write-up in one of the local magazines. I could not believe my eyes when I saw that! I blinked and blinked and blinked. Then reality struck! I screamed my lungs out! Hahahahaha!
Unbelievable. Ok she still has no idea who I am and I will never receive a thank you note. I am just a fan, but it is nice of her to use it and show it. At least I know she loves it.
Last year I sent her something in the shape of a giraffe, and she drew it in the magazine too just around the time I estimated she would have received it. What a coincidence? I would like to think not. ;P

snail mail ...it is what it means

yeah, i know it is still too early to talk about christmas card, but it is what i got today. a long overdue christmas card which is not supposed to be mine in the first place. i sent this card to my friend in taiwan last year, dated 25.11.06. and now it is sent back to me because according to the notice stamped on the envelope, the address is incomplete. waaa ...it took so long for them to send it back to me or was it stranded in our post office?
sfong, i did send you a card ah. you better send me your address again and i will check whether it is the same one as what i wrote.

fit of anger

have you ever argued just for the sake of arguing??

i dunno what got over me today, but i just did that and the opponent?? my boss!!!! ooohhhhh it felt soooo good! and it still does. hahaha!!!!
seeing his face turned red (maybe it was already red when i started refuting every word he said but i was wishing it could go redder) just made my day.
i was trying to ask for early dismissal for some ongoing thing and argued that since others got it on other days, why not us on that day??!!
it was so unfair! i mean if you want to implement something, make sure it is implemented fairly and apply to all. i knew i would lose in that argument because rules are rules, but the thought of letting it all out was what urged me to 'consult' him.
he could have just thought of the best reason to say no to me if he understood the system that well and actually show some concern in our line of work, but no. he had to beat around the bush and finally asked me to ask another colleague to see him regarding the case.
the colleague went to see him and she was a sharp-shooter too. she clipped short all his beatings and asked him whether he had made up his decision instead of having him going round the bush. haha.
in the end, i did not get what i asked for, but what the heck. it felt good. so there goes my chance for a promotion this year. the rebellious streak in me has been acting overtime on that day. i blame it on PMS and the dull pace of work.

cambodia revisited. day 6. the end

day 6

time to pack up and leave phnom penh on this day.

but it was not to be until we had visited the killing fields of choeung ek or also known as the genocide museum. this is the extermination camp where the prisoners from camp s21 were brought to. they were often bludgeoned to death so as not to waste precious bullets. how inhuman. i wonder how those executor could do it. eeeww!!!

it was about 15km from phnom penh and we went in the van we hired to siem reap. the driver was going to drive us to the airport later. so it was a convenient arrangement.

the genocide museum was quite a simple memorial stupa with all skulls assembled in it. there are different tiers and different aged skulls will be located at different tiers. the younger skulls (which belonged to younger victims) were placed at the lower tiers.

surrounding the stupa is land (orchard lands) but filled with mass graves. not all the graves have been dug and those which are discovered are labelled. there are only a number of them so there was not much to see.

dried bones.

after we finished our visit here (which took us about 30 minutes only), we went back to the city to check out from the hotel. then it was to tuol sleng museum again because the rest of my travel group had not gone there yet. so while they were inside the museum, my housemate and i went to the restaurant opposite to wait while ordering our lunch. it was boddhi tree which was recommended by lonely planet and there was quite a crowd there, all westerners.

food was good. someone said to go back to amoc cafe but i said no since the boddhi tree was conveniently located.

i ordered homemade corn cake with mango salad and grilled chicken and pomegranate juice (filled with antioxidants) and creme brulee for dessert. how scrumptious and filling. the rest ordered pork fried rice (again!!!), sandwich, khmer red curry, lemon tart, chocolate mousse, ginger tea, etc.

after that filling lunch, it was off to the airport. it was not a big one and only the passengers could enter the main building. so those who came to send their loved ones off had to waved and said their goodbyes outside. the journey to kl was delayed again by about more than one hour and i started reading the book i brought along (for one more day by mitch albom) at the airport while waiting. i did not get the time to start reading at all since i arrived and this was a good time to start. the delay was a boon i guess. i finished reading the book on the plane. i was glad i chose to bring that book as it was easy reading and quite light to digest.

poor dad had to wait at the airport for quite a while as he left for the airport before my sms arrived. and he did not have any dinner!!! we reached home only at about 12a.m. after sending all my colleagues back. sigh. what a long day it had been and thus came to the end of my trip to cambodia. it was an interesting trip but it could have been better if it was a smaller group. i would prefer a smaller group. more of that in another posting. i need to sort out my photos to be developed now. no more trip for this year (no bonus, no holidays. how sad!). till the next trip then.

beauty quests

i have the chance to browse through a local chinese female magazine yesterday. it claims itself to be the no.1 circulated chinese magazine in malaysia.
i can't read chinese but that does not stop me from looking at the plethora of advertisements in the magazine. heck! the magazine is filled with advertisements and more advertisements. yes, advertisements are the generator for a publication but i have never seen so many beauty adverts in one magazine! all sorts of beauty houses, beauty creams, surgeries, etc, you name it, any kind of solution you need for your bulges and problem skin. almost 99% of the adverts are all beauty adverts!! Harper's Bazaar's are more towards products promotion.
i just can't stand all the beauty adverts highlighting the imperfections that all human beings have. promoting and encouraging you to seek help for your so-called problems. why do people have to resort to all these assisted helps to loose weight and unhealthy pill-popping? what is wrong with the no nonsense way of working out and burning more than what you eat? i just shudder at the thought of how willing people are ready to part with a lumpsum of their hard-earned money just for the beauty quest.
there are so many local artists who are endorsing these beauty houses and products as well. no wonder a local-celeb (a miss X.O.) has been flaunting her new sexier figure in figure hugging dresses and throwing it around. heck, her appearances in beauty magazines have increased too. beauty house endorsement. now i know.
you will not see me going into these slimming centres or popping pills to get a slimmer body.
but i won't guarantee about seeing me at facials because i am just not blessed with poreless and smooth skin. am i a hypocrite or what?

cambodia revisited. day 5

day 5...leaving siem reap

angkor done and explored. so it was time to leave this historical city. and thus began the tedious journey back to phnom penh. but before heading back, we drove to tonle sap lake. err...i only reached tonle sap river while those who paid USD10 got to tonle sap lake on a boat. yeah, i know it is one of the biggest fresh water lake (or is it the biggest?) but i just din feel like going on a cruise. so i only got pictures of the floating village on the river instead of the fishing village on the lake.

siem reap streets. quite dusty eh? saw quite a big public bank here occupying a corner lot of a new shoplot.

the boats waiting to ferry the tourists to tonle sap lake. so many of them. life was slow here. the locals just chatted in their houses and waited for time to pass.

houses floating on the river. when the river becomes dry in the dry season, they would move into the lake.

one typical house here. no door.you just have that attap cover. lift it up, and it is your door and window. only one room.

the boat was pulling the school building! yup! it is a school and you can see some school children there in their white shirts and blue bottoms.

petrol on sale. the driver said petrol was even more expensive in siem reap. motor drivers usually buy their petrol this way. you can see a lot of these stalls along the way every road you go, even in phnom penh. how much can they earn?

we reached phnom penh at about 5 and could not make it to the royal palace. so we went to check-in our hotel instead.

after that it was dinner and this time i followed a friend's advice and searched for amoc cafe. it was nestled in quite a popular area with tourists as there were quite many cafes around advertising their happy hour prices

amoc cafe's dining area. again surrounded by lush greenery thus a we had some uninvited visitors i.e. mossies.

i had amoc (steamed fish cooked in curry served in young coconut. apparently it is cambodia's national dish,but according to our drived, it comes from thailand.). it was yummy and the young coconut flesh was devoured as well. someone ordered pork amoc. hahaha...couldn't live without pork in cambodia. it was not in the menu but they willingly prepared it. it was a sweeter version as the pork was really good. mine was a bit bland because the fish was quite tasteless. but it was still good.

table decoration using lotus flower. interesting how they folded the petals.

after dinner, the driver sent us to the biggest shopping mall in cambodia. it was big for their standard. sorya shopping centre.. it is something like our sg wang but less crowded and newer.

a popular skating rink on top of the building. many teenagers were waiting in queues to get in.

sales girl err...testing their own products? they were so comfortably seated that they could not be bothered with the throng of shoppers passing the shop. my colleague said, " cham loh if we hire workers like that."

i think there are 7 storeys all together. no photography was allowed actually form the signboards posted. i dunno why. haha....i forgot. but no guard caught me in the act so i was fine. one guard saw my colleague clicking and politely gave the no-no gesture.