Dah lama sangat peram cerita trip ke Phnom Penh ni...kalau buat pekasam jadik ni, kalau buat maman mesti terangkat cicah ngan sambal belacan...pergghhh...
Alkisahnya rombongan kami ni seramai 10orang kawan2 ofis cik abang, pergi atas inisiatif sendiri bulan 4 yang lepas..saje2 jalan tgk tempat orang.yang kesiannya anak dara ai yang berdua tu kena la tinggal dengan nenek..sorry ye sayang...ummi pergi 3 hari je jalan2..bwk baby dalam perut je hehehe, kakak2 kena tinggal..
anyway upon touched down this country, I miss the girls already..
As far as my observation, Cambodia is quite backward in development.just like our country in late 70's.So many traditional and ancient thing, the shops, the environment (not to mention very very dusty and dry air).US Dollar is well accepted here, with conversion rate 1USD=4000riel.but they rarely used their own currency, the main reason why their economic growth very slow.too much depending on USD.Anyway, kami pun check in di Holiday Villa, owned by Malaysian.kiblat, sejadah, 3-pin socket dan bilik yang besar dan luas..makanan pon okla, sedap..ade rambutan lagi time breakfast.
Our first visit was Toul Sleng Museum .owh..lupa plak..kitorang share duit sewa van yang sewanya USD25 utk 10orang untuk jalan2 hari tu..okla kan, van pon cantik, aircond.Orang kata time pregnant tak elok g tempat2 pelik, tgk benda2 pelik, takut terdetik dlm hati kita..so myself and hubby didnt enter the place at all.we just wait outside.Alkisahnya tempat ini adalah sekolah yg telah di "convert' kepada cells/penjara oleh Pol Pot masa rejim pemerintahan dia dulu..kat sinila dia membunuh berpulu ribu orang awam dengan pelbagai cara, kurung sampai mati..etc
Prisoners were routinely beaten and tortured with electric shocks, searing hot metal instruments and hanging, as well as through the use of various other devices. Some prisoners were cut with knives or suffocated with plastic bags. Other methods for generating confessions included pulling out fingernails while pouring alcohol on the wounds, holding prisoners’ heads under water, and the use of the waterboarding technique
Melalui celah2 pagar tu nampakla ade beberapa kubur, x tau kubur sape..seram woo..dah la keliling bangunan ade dawai berduri.
Lepas tu kitorang pergi ke Killing Field, this is the place where all the skull and bones 17000 victims which were killed by Pol Pot are kept. From outside of the building we can see the skulls were arranged from floor to top. Tempat ni pon kami berdua x masuk.kami layan aiskrim dan buah mangga kat gerai tepi tu.
Then next move was to Royal Palace, x masuk pon sebab kena charge USD6 utk entrance fee.semua decide utk xnak masuk so kita just pusing around the palace complex. then kita terus g Psar Thmey, lebih kurang macam Central Market la..ade jual mcm2 gems, jewelleries,Cambodia silk, bags, handicraft things dll..saje survey2 tgk brg2..Tips kat sini:jgn tertipu dgn gemstone yg dijual...kebanyakannya adalah FAKE.kitorang beli la rantai yg ade batu kristal konon2 harga $5, sebab beli byk dia bg $4 seutas..then esoknya g la kedai yg owner dia sgtla cantik dan pandai berbahasa Melayu (sebab byk visitor Malaysia dtg sini, dia pon ade kedai kat Holiday Villa hotel) sekali dia bgtau rantai tu dgn batu dia boleh bg kami dgn harga $1 je.....x ke sakit hati dibuatnya??dia kata itu China made dan modalnya x smpai 50sen pon..cheh cheh dan cheh, kita dh kena kencing dgn kedai sebelah tu..dia dok jeling2 je group kitorang..x g kedai lain dah..sempatla cik abang belikan I one set of ruby bracelet (original hokeh!)..how do I know the originality?sebab owner yg cantik manis tu dh bgtau, device utk detect the originality of the gemstone tu dh di modified..konon2 kalau kita letak kat batu ade bunyi maka tak original lah batu tu...actually dia dh modified, so that dia boleh jual barang..then dia tanya if u want the real original one, I can give you...of course la akak nak yg ori..so dia pon bwk kuar dari hidden box dia (dlm laci dia) then dia tunjuk the difference...ooohhh...ohhh macam ni difference nya...actually yg fake tu dia punya shining tu lebih2, nampak cantik berkilau tapi yg original ni mcm dull gitu, kusam sikit, x berkilau2..I pon terus jatuh centa dgn ruby tu...so I grabbed 1 set (with ring) for $100..kalau yg fake dia jual $30-$40 je..cik abang plak amik 1 cincin gak..batu ape ntah, x ingat nama..
Malam kitorang gi jln2 kat pasar malam...nothing interesting, mlm tu ade pertandingan tarian moden dgn nyanyian kat pasar mlm tu, we didnt buy anything there. Actually plan nk cruise along the river (note that this heart of Cambodia is located at the intersection of Tonle Sap and Mekong River)..ala2 KL la (sg Gombak & Sg Klang)..but then because of time constraint, we didnt manage to..dinner was at one of the Khmer restaurant at riverside (halal).Kat sini agak susah nak cari restoran halal..even this restaurant has mini bar but surprisingly provided surau for the customer..so we just tawakkal and order meal excluded meat inside.so far during our stay we just had meal at Nyonya Restaurant (fully owned by Malaysia) from the day we arrived until final day.
Our 2nd day program:shopping at Russian market....wooohooo...I love this kind of place..we can find so many artistic/cultural/hand made things from here...hardware goods, antique/traditional craving, clothes, silverware....blablabla.. Some shoes and clothing originate as out-takes from various garment factories. Hence some top labels can be found at very reasonable prices. Levi's, Dockers, Aberchrombie mcm2 la yg x reti nk menyebutnya...tapi org laki mesti suka sebab byk baju2 branded yg muuuurrrrah giller especially dekat butik ni yg namanya WE Xport..kat sini je cik abang kita berabis beli baju, seluar dan mcm2..mana nk dpt t-shirt Polo dgn harga $25 kat Malaysia (mau kat Msia dlm RM150 kot)..beli gak sweater Aqilah, seluar adik dan kakak sehelai..and 3 camisole for myself..
Back to the Russian market shopping...kat sini kami beli baannyyyak benda...lot of them are souvenirs..fridge magnet harus ada..then some of things for house decoration..antique and unique ones..and finally I manageg to get my own jewellery boxes (bukan 1 ye tapi 3 beradik punya boxes)...so now can keep my brooches, braceletes in proper box..kalau x bersepah2..kat tudung la, dlm handbag la, dlm drawer la...mana dan je..Kat sini je lebih setengah hari tu pon dah letih giller..pas tu yg kitorang g WE Xport lepas berehat2 kat hotel..Malam xde aktiviti rasanya, pas dinner g jalan2 area situ tapi xde ape..pastu kemas2 brg pasal esoknya dh nak balik...I miss my girls so much....
The last day most of them still wanted to do last day shopping, but I really tired..so mak buyung x join la..letih..cik abang pon last minute shopping..hmmm..biarlah dia..I just stay at hotel, kemas2 then siap2 utk turun..pas lunch kitorang pon gerak ke airport...
Sayonara Phnom Penh..We definitely willcome back again..someday...
