Siem Reap, Cambodia (2013) Day 2: Part 3 - Ta Prohm Temple

Date Visited: 2nd March 2013

Angkor Wat - Checked!
Bayon Temple - Checked!

So what's next? Once we done with fulfilled our hungry tummy and quick nap (see enjoyable we were), our driver drove us to another Angkor's most popular temples among the visitors, the Ta Prohm Temple. When most of my friends ranked Bayon Temple as their favourite temple in Angkor Archaeological Park, I could say this temple is arguably my most favourite temple comparing the rest.

#1: East Gate - The Main Gate to Ta Prohm

#2:Pathway into the temple

It's quite sad to see largely of Ta Prohm Temple is heavily ruined due to its relative isolation but somehow, there are still certain area can be visited by the visitors. Some areas of the temple are only accessible through narrow corridors, hence it is advisable to wear suitable shoe and follow the landmarks and route indicated to avoid getting lost.

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#4: Root of Banyan Tree growing on the Ta Prohm Temple

It seems like Ta Prohm Temple is like swallowed by huge living jungle. One thing that we couldn't keep our eyes from was the huge and strong Banyan Tree growing on the Ta Prohm temple. As this temple is recognized for its appearance as one of the shooting location of Tom Raider film which played by Angelina Jolie, today this temple is also known as Tomb Raider's Temple.

#5: Another group photo is a must. This spot is the most popular one as we waited for almost half an hour.

 

#6: Another famous spot whereby Lara Croft played by Angelina Jolie picked a jasmine flower underneath the doorway. Ooops, we accidentally blocked it.

 

#7: Young monks

With its dynamic interaction between man-made art and nature, this atmospheric and photogenic temple is absolutely one of the Angkor Archaeological Park's temples shouldn't be missed by everyone. Absolutely fascinating and surreal!

When is the best time to visit Ta Prohm? 
From the research we came across, the best time would be in the early morning to avoid the shades of the sunlight. However due to that reason, it attracted more visitors and thus, it will be pretty crowded and hardly to get a photogenic spot of the Banyan Tree growing on the Ta Prohm Temple. To avoid the crowd, it is advisable to go during lunch time or late afternoon.

[Credit To: Sacred Destinations, Tourism of Cambodia]

Siem Reap, Cambodia (2013) Day 2: Part 2 - Angkor Thom; South Gate & Bayon Temple

NOTE: I can' believe my last entry for my Siem Reap travelogue was in October 2014, it's like five months ago. Now the momentum of blogging is back and hopefully I could blog this finish as soon as possible cause I have plenty of backlog travelogues. 

Date Visited: 2nd March 2013

Once we done with one the top list to do in Siem Reap which was watching the sunrise from Angkor Wat, we had quick breakfast which prepared by the guesthouse before moving on to the destination. They prepared the breakfast as early as 4 am before we eventually went out to from the guest house. How thoughtful they were?

#1: Simple breakfast but enough to satisfy our hungry tummy 

Not far away from the Angkor Wat, we came upon the South Gate of Angkor Thom. Angkor Thom is a walled and most enduring capital city of the Khmer empire. One of the most well-known and greatest temple, Bayon Temple was built right in the center of the city. There are five gates to the city with four are at the cardinal points and the other one was leading to the Royal Palace area. And because each of these gate is crowned with four giant faces, sometimes I was confused which gate was standing in front of me. Among all the gates, the South Gate is often the first stop on a tour before entering the Angkor Thom. No wonder it was pretty crowded when we were there.

#2: A long causeway leading to each entry tower is flanked by a row of 54 stone figures on each side – demons on the right and gods on the left-to make a total of 108 mythical beings guarding the city of Angkor Thom - Source 

#3: South Gate Tower crowned with four giant faces

#4: Elephants passing through the South Gate tower

Bayon Temple is another iconic and richly decorated Khmer temple in Cambodia, besides Angkor Wat. Honestly to say, I can see that my friends were more impressed with the design of this temple comparing to the latter one. By looking at their impression, I could see that they were completely blew away with the architecture.

#5: Bayon Temple, standing gracefully right in the center city of Angkor Thom 

Can't deny that the most unique feature of Bayon Temple is the incredibly huge and massive stone faces of Buddha on the countless towers. Hence, it is known as Face Temple as well. Similar to the five gates tower, each of the tower of Bayon temple is sculptured with four giant faces - the remarkable architecture.

#6: A group photo is a must before we officially went and venture the temple 

#8: The iconic four giant faces of Buddha [Photo credit to kming]

Bayon Temple is not the only temple within Angkor Thom. There are quite number of temples but if you are in rush, you might just skip them apparently.

#9: Phimeanakas Temple 

#10: The view from the top of Phimeanakas Temple

#11

After spending more than 6 hours visited those amazing and incredible temples, we informed our driver to drive back to our guest house for lunch break for continue to the next pitstop.

#12: It was amazingly scrumptious - just like my mom's cooking! Price wise, they were kinda affordable - ranging US$2-3

To be continued...

DINTAGE handycraft

Something personal...

Because I'm not going anywhere within this nearer period, I did something which I'm passion about currently - making handmade greeting cards. 

 #1: Sesame Street Inspired Birthday Card 

Oh well! It's not like out of the middle of nowhere I'm currently addicted to those crafts and arts activities but it's actually been quite a while I did these crafty things since I was in secondary school. I used to make and sell handmade cards and bookmarks back in school then to earn extra money as both of my parents didn't allow me to work part-time in a fast food chain restaurants. Plus, getting those materials, tools and items of making those crafty things during that particular moment was relatively cheap and convenient to start a lil small business comparing the rest, right? 

But then, I stopped doing all these right after I went into college in Kuala Lumpur as I didn't bring along all those crafty stuffs with me, not until recently the sudden come-back feeling of making these handicraft cards making me more so addicted to it that I can sit down and create at least two different designs every single night and sometimes, I could eventually made until 1 or 2 in the morning.

#2: DINTAGE handycraft logo 

Just like any garments, shoes, handbags and so on, I did label my handicraft stuffs too and previously it was labelled under the name of DT Paper Art but soon I realised it was so boring and dull with the DT here, DT there and therefore, I came out with another new label, DINTAGE handycraft. It was actually derived from the word "VINTAGE" but I changed to D and what does DINTAGE stands for actually? Honestly to say, I have no idea of that as long I could still retain the letter of D and T, my notable initial.

Here are some of my creation which I did for the last two months and of course, if anyone of you are interested of buying them, just drop me an email at dtdianateo@gmail.com.

#3: My first attempt of making handmade Christmas cards and when I showed them to my brother, he asked why I bought a lot. 

#4: Handmade Birthday Cards Version 2.0

Made these before went for 18 hours road trip to Brunei and Miri last month so that I could give to my friend

 #5: Handmade Birthday Cards Version 3.0

 #6: Oh Mickey,
You're so fine, you're so fine, you blow my mind,
Hey Mickey, hey Mickey! 

#7: My latest creation - Handmade CNY cards

It's my first attempt and initially I thought it will be very hard to design one but who knows, I came out with not one or two but three different designs. I even told my mom not to buy any CNY cards anymore next year for my grandparents and relatives as I can make for her.

#8: My handicraft tools and equipments - Some I have keep for more than 10 years especially the craft punches 

#9: My shopping hauls - Crafts and stationery

Most of the times I got my stuff from Daiso, Kaison and stationery shops

And that's explain a lot why I don't update any of my travelogues lately. But no worries, as I will update my blog once my addiction is over which I'm not sure when will that be anyway. 

Follow me on Twitter | Instagram | Dayre | for more update of my latest creation 

on these crafty stuffs! #handicrafts #crafts #diy #handmade #cards #dintagehandycraft

Snapshot Sunday: Gardens By The Bay, Singapore

Date Visited: 6th December 2014

When I stumbled upon photos of Gardens By The Bay from social media network two years ago, instantly I added this into the latest "must-visit" attraction for my next upcoming Singapore trip. I went Singapore twice last year; August with my family and December for my friend's wedding but I only managed to go there last month. 

#1: Gardens By The Bay Entrance

Right after I had dinner with my sister and her boyfriend in Chinatown area, we took cab directly to Gardens By The Bay instead of taking MRT as I need to rush to meet my friends who were waiting me there. We decided not to pay for the Entry to Flower Dome and Cloud Forest but spending our time freely roaming around the Supertree Grove as it's free of entrance.

#2: Supertree Grove

The best time to visit here would probably be after 6pm in order to enjoy the amazing sunset view by the bay and when the night takes over the day, these unique Supertrees will come alive with a dazzling and thrilling myriad of light displays bursting across the sky along with music and sounds played at night for 15 minutes exactly at 7.45pm and 8.45pm. You would totally be awe-inspired with Singapore's most beautiful masterpiece.

And now, let's the photos do the talk. Beware as I uploaded massive of photos for your viewing pleasure.

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Camera: Sony NEX-5N
No tripod was used for the shooting but took with HDR Painting effects

How To Get To Gardens By The Bay

From Bay Front MRT Station, it takes about 12 minutes walk to the domes. Visitors can take the overhead bridge connecting Marina Bay Sands Casino to the park.

KSL D' Esplanade Residence, Johor Bahru

Everytime when I visit Singapore, Johor Bahru will definitely be part of my itinerary. It's like hard to separate both of these places for me. So after my family and I spent 2 nights staying in The Southbridge Hotel of Singapore, we hired a private car to travel from Singapore directly to the hotel we booked in Johor Bahru. Although it was pricey comparing taking public transport, but it was absolutely hassle-free, convenient and faster than the latter one. 

I prefer to stay nearby KSL Shopping Mall and since there are 6 of us, hence I booked to stay in KSL D's Esplanade Residence. It is a serviced apartment connected directly to the shopping mall, which making this accomodation another favourable list not just only for me, but also for the rest of my family members.

#1: KSL D' Esplanade Residence

Do take note that D's Esplanade Residence is not located nearby KSL Hotel and therefore, better to inform the driver that you are heading to the serviced apartment type, not the main hotel. Upon check-in, once again we were requested to place a refundable security deposit of RM200 and in return, we were given two different access cards; one to access to the apartment and another one to the shopping mall which later on, I found it was quite troublesome.

#2: Spacious living and dining area

Stepped in the apartment and wow, we're quite impressed with the size of it. This fully furnished apartment was pretty spacious and huge. As for the living and dining area, these two are the perfect spots for my family and I to talk, laugh and watch television together. Next, let's us check out the rooms shall we.

I booked the one comprises of three rooms; two queen sized beds and one single bed comes along with two bathrooms.

#3: Master bedroom

#4: A queen-sized room

#5: A super single bed room - This room is so small and not suitable for tall people to sleep

#6: Master bedroom's bathroom and surprisingly, it was exceptionally huge

#7: Another bathroom complete with toiletries for the whole family but the size of it was small

#8: Small sized kitchen but it was well-equipped with fridge, rice cooker, rice cooker, cooking and eating utensils 

#9: Swimming pool but nay, we don't have the time for that 


#10: Tip - Request for higher floors for this city view pleasure 

With the price costing up to RM370 per night which I personally think it's pretty affordable, overall my family and I are satisfied with this serviced apartment mainly due to its location which attached to a shopping mall that it absolutely quite convenient for us with an abundance of eateries, lots of shopping and did I mention the mall even consist of cinema. My siblings even took the opportunity to watch late night movie while my mom and I comfortably stay in our apartment to watch the television which has quite number of channels.

However, there are few weaknesses to share here such as no free WiFi provided within our apartment and only available in the lobby, the confusing and troublesome access cards which you need to hold two at the same time and inadequate lifts that sometimes can cause long waiting time. But if don't take all the weakness into the consideration, actually KSL D'Esplanade Residence is an ideal place to stay especially for those who travel with family or big group of people.

Date Stayed: 22 August - 24 August 2014 (2 nights)

Rate We Paid :  RM370.00 per night without breakfast (Booked via Agoda.com)

Disclaimer:
This review is truly based on my own personal experience and is my genuine and honest opinion of this hotel, and that I have no personal or business relationship with this establishment.



#11: On other note which unrelated to this post, just want to share my shopping haul from Singapore. I just love to shop in Singapore. Maybe I should blog my favourite place for cheap shopping in Asia. 

Follow me on Twitter | Instagram | Dayre | cause I am currently away again for another short weekend getaway!