Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat

Top, Pants, UNIQLO. Brogues, Aldo. Bag, Dad's.

Can I please get brownie points for the most hardworking outfit photo of 2012? A lot of blood (mosquito bites), toil (the climbing), sweat (from wearing pants and a long sleeved shirt in a tropical climate) and tears (eyes watery to the dust) was poured to climb the steps of the near thousand year old Baphuon (which wasn't illegal no worries). Who knew I had the monkey in me? Anyway, since Dad misread the weather report (how nice to blame someone else for everything), the clothes I packed were more suitable for temperatures a few important degrees lower. I ended up also taking the words of the guide book literally when it said 'wear modest clothing at temples' by covering my self entirely. I was worried that the exposing my knees by wearing my ONE pair of shorts that I packed would be a little too scandalous for the monks to handle. It turns out that the (one or two) monks that were around the grounds could not give a damn, suggested by their indifferent looks as they gazed absentmindedly upon some pasty Europeans in their tanks and shorts, huffing and puffing their way up and down the temple stairs. I don't know why I so worried over this as my pair of shorts were of the more the Bermuda-y conservative kind anyway, which was what I wore everyday afterwards until we left Siem Reap. Apologies for my belated since who knew my internet connection in Cambodia would be better than the one in Singapore (at least in my hotel)? So my advice is to try to be respectful as possible but wearing such long layers in such a hot place can be a serious overkill for the unadjusted (me as Exhibit A, who had long since acclimated to the much cooler and drier temperatures of New England). Thank god for coconuts bigger than the size of my head to quench and soothe the dehydrated and overheated self.

The Robes of Buddhist Monks

Recall that the colour orange is my favourite of the moment and its siblings, deep yellow among others, and while this is kind of a random post to some, I can't help but notice the deep rich colours of the monks robes. At first I thought the photos of monks sitting at the temple ruins were more of a photo opp for guidebooks and publicity, but there really are monks around. They stand out anyway because they dress in such bright colours from head to toe but you could say I'm entirely mesmerized regardless by the wonderful flowing robes in such a gorgeous colour. It's hard to believe that the robes were made from (at least supposedly and traditionally) with discarded fabrics that no one wanted since the robes look so fresh and clean. I had a hard time finding out what the different shades of the robes from saffron yellow to a brown ochre mean (some sites say city monks vs. forest monks or different sects, but I don't know what to believe in). If you happen to know I'll deeply appreciate you telling me, but meanwhile we should all just admire the beauty and simplicity of the monks' habit. It's my last night in Siem Reap, and I don't want to leave just yet. I have a one day layover in Singapore the day after tomorrow so expect a ton of material posted here and on Flickr real soon. A small batch of photos of monks that I took on Bakheng is now uploaded on Flickr for all to see. Hope you will like them as much as I liked watching the sun go down on Bakheng (see below)!

The Sunrise at Angkor Wat

I haven't felt quite so drained...since I stopped doing crew. I meant to update and check in with you lovely people earlier but after an entire day of walking around thousand year old temples in the hot humid weather, all I want to do once I enter into the hotel room is to plonk down on my bed and pass out. Which I did. Anyway, I managed to find some spare energy this evening even though I did get up at the crack of dawn this morning to go see the sunrise at Angkor Wat. There is only a small batch of photos right now on Flickr, but I'll be adding more as I go along (and perhaps even tomorrow morning!). This, of course, includes way more detailed posts with more writing soon. I'm thinking that the future posts will be organized by different themes around a central subject/idea and not so much in a day-to-day diary format. Hint: Though Angkor Wat is incredibly beautiful, majestic and breathtaking, its not my favourite temple yet.

C for Cambodia

Photo by Dataichi

For the next few days I will be around Siem Reap and taking in all beautiful historical wonders the area has to offer. I didn't manage to write enough posts to be scheduled over the course of the next week, so I will be bringing my computer with me. It'll be a great opportunity to flex those photography muscles. The bulk of the photos will probably be on Flickr and though I will be posting some here, they're not going to be too fashion-oriented in general (though I believe Dad won't mind taking some outfit photos for me while we're there).