It was a rather light and easy trip, with minimal planned itinerary, except a specially arranged setup, which I will disclosed towards the end of the post. Anyway, let’s look at some of the highlights from the trip.

Day #1 (11th Oct)

Nothing much on this day, as our flight landed in Bangkok at around 4pm and by the time we reached our hotel and settled down, it was already 6+. So we just walked around the area and purchased our long waited express food from 7-11 store. The range of food choices at their 7-11 stores are miles ahead of what we have back in Malaysia, especially their toast on-the-go and the Meiji milk drinks are few of my favorites.

Day #2 (12th Oct)

We spent half a day at Bangkok Thai Cooking Academy, a wonderful experience for us as not only we managed to pick up some experience in Thai cooking, we met new friends from literally all over the world. We met musician from Wales whom was on Asia tour, French private chef worked in the Caribbeans, Taiwanese traveled to Bangkok for a holiday, a family from Hong Kong and an exchange student from Germany with her visiting parents.

Cooking Class of 12th October 2017 (Morning Session)

Each of us will prep and cook for 5 dishes, from stir-fry, soup, curries, appetizer to dessert. It was truly a wonderful time, as we began the class with a tour to local market, learning about the basics of the ingredients and follow up with sessions in prepping and cooking.

Professionally Looking Green Curry Paste prepared by my girlfriend

We spent around 4 hours including prepping, cooking and eating the food that we have just cooked.

All cooked by me!!! Yay!!!

(From the top left) Mango Sticky Rice, Stir Fried Chicken with Basil, Khao Soy with Chicken and its garnishes.

(From bottom left) Pad Thai, White Rice (prepared by the school), and Tom Kha Gai.

And finally, we got our certificate of participation!!!

Day #3 (13th Oct)

We started our day with great pork dish from Bangkok, Mr. Joe’s Kway Chap. Their crispy pork (Moo Grob in Thai) is one of the best I have tasted so far!!!

Kway Chap, with Moo Grob (Crispy Pork)

After the breakfast, we went for a walk and took a dip into the hotel’s swimming pool before checking out and switched to a hotel closer to downtown, Royal View Resort @ Ragnam.

For lunch of the day, we visited Ribs and Wings at Central World, which surprisingly serves pretty good food, especially the ribs.

Day#4 (14th Oct)

In the morning, we went to the famous Chatuchak Weekend Market, visiting and buying souvenirs..etc.

We bought bath bombs, shredded pork, tshirts, pants…etc the normal stuff travelers bought at Chatuchak.

One of the highlights at Chatuchak is the Viva 8 Spanish restaurant, which Chef Fernando showcases the cooking of paella with dances, magic shows to kids, and SMILES.

The environment is lively with great background musics and everyone at the restaurant were enjoying themselves with Chef Fernando’s wonderful personality and great paella, served with local beer.

At night, we went to the Japanese restaurant called Kenshin Izakaya near Sukhumvit, to meet up my long time friend and his wife. Once again, great Japanese food, great ambiance, and great chat we have had with each other.

After the dinner, we went to Chinatown for a walk, and while we were all too full to eat anymore, the sheer number of local delicacies make this a must-visit for our next trip to Bangkok.

Day#5 (15th Oct)

The last day we will be in Bangkok. Morning was spent walking around the hotel and we decided to try out their cafe, we were both “cafe-kakis” back in Georgetown. The food selection is pretty good, and coffee they served are pretty much above average than most of the cafes we’ve been to back in Malaysia.

When that was done, we went across the street to King Power Duty Free Store for more souvenir purchase before checking out and heading to airport. Great Trip overall!!

…wait…what was I saying in the beginning of the post….

I made a surprised wedding proposal to my girlfriend on the second day of the trip, in conjunction of our 3rd year anniversary!! Yay!!!

恭喜发财， Gong Xi Fatt Chai – means Wishing You a Prosperous Year. An auspicious phrase that traditionally Chinese will wish each other during Chinese New Year.

This is the  Year of Fire Monkey, in Chinese culture, 火 (huo) – Fire carries the meaning of dynamism, strength and warmth. And monkey is an animal of agility and intelligent. Thus, which this the Year of Fire Monkey, most prediction are about dynamism and volatility. Especially in the world of politics and finance, we have the U.S. Presidential Election in the year and a rather volatile financial market with much ups and downs.

As a final note of this first post of the year 2016, I’m wishing everyone to have a wonderful year ahead as well as various opportunities that comes with such volatile affairs around us. As in an old saying in Mandarin Chinese, 危机危机，有危就有机. The literal translation in English will be “Crisis, Crisis, if there’s danger, there will be opportunity”. In Mandarin Chinese, Crisis is 危机 (wei-ji), and it’s a mashed up phrase of 2 characters, 危(wei) which means danger and 机(ji) which means opportunity. Thus, Chinese believe that opportunities and crisis always come together, and we would need to take this opportunity to come out from the crisis in a better shape.

Our guide, Mr Asean, is the driver of the day as well, and our trip is more than 1 hour, to reach the village which is by the side of Tonle Sap. This is a dry season, thus the road condition in off the main road is dusty, and what we observed along the villages are weird, with houses observed built high above the ground with elevated platforms. According to Asean, during rainy season, the water level will filled all the way up to the elevated platform, which on average is at least 10ft from the road. And the road we that were currently on, will be fully submerged during those season.

We parked our car nearby to a temple and an attached primary school, and kids were running around, and even trying to sell us some handmade souvenirs. We have to walked to the ticket office, which actually is a floating barge with roof. With the ticket purchase, we began the journey to the main water body of Tonle Sap Lake.

Speedboating by the locals

Local house built on elevated platform

The boat ride is about 30mins, to reach the main body of the lake.

View along the boat trip

During the trip, there’s a lot to be observed. The lake is their life source, their playground and they spend the whole life on it.

Drying clothes on floating house

Kids playing on the lake

The stopped at the middle of the lake for another 30mins, relaxing under the breeze of the lake, watching the locals fished, tourists passed by. After the Tonle Sap visit, we stopped by Mr Asean’s village and pay a visit to his mom and other relatives before stopping for lunch.

After lunch, we visited Beng Mealea. This is one of the temple that is kept from major restoration. There’s only 1 construction is going on to built a wooden platform as walk way for the tourists.

Main Gate of the Beng Mealea in ruins

Overgrowth can be seen everywhere

Panorama in Beng Mealea

Beng Mealea was the last attraction we visited in the 4th day. And throughout the day…something weird is happening to body of mine, small poxes started growing on my face and body.

Here’s what on my hand

South Gate of Angkor Thom

Angkor Thom, literally Great City, is built in the early 12th century, by one of the greatest ruler during the Khmer Civilization, King Jayavarnam VII. He was known as the king that has merged the Hinduism and Buddhism culture under his rule. Thus, the architecture and design concepts of Angkor Thom has reference to both culture and religion.

South Gate of Angkor Thom

After this, we took tuk-tuk to Bayon Complex, right at the center of Angkor Thom. The complex itself is made up of 54 towers with faces of deities(it’s still being discussed among scholars that these faces represents the King himself, Buddha, some other deities or a combination of them) carved on its 4 directions, a total of 216 faces to be exact in the whole complex.

Looking at the complex itself, gave us the sense of awe, where the people in 12th century were capable to build such a massive scale of building complex with intricate carvings.

Bayon Complex from North

Apart from the sheer scale of the complex and it’s huge number for towers and wall carvings, the Bayon is also famous for its bas relief / wall carvings that dictates historical, social as well as religious events during its time.

Life during the Khmer Civilization – Food Feast

Boar Fighting Game during Khmer

One of Faces at Bayon

After Bayon Complex, we walked towards the north west to the Baphuon Temple. It was a temple built in the mid 11th century as the state temple of the time, dedicated to God Shiva.

Baphuon Temple

Nearby to the Baphuon, we walked to the famous Elephant Terrace and Lepper King Terrace. From there, we can have a great view of the East Gate, which is know as Victory Gate where the king will inspect his troops and it’s also the gate that army was deployed during the time of war.

After this, we took tuk-tuk to Ta Prohm, which is famous due to the filming of Tomb Raider. This particular temple is one of those temple that has less restoration work done, and with the trees growth on the temple is what made this temple as one of the most visited site.

Entrance to Ta Prohm

Overgrowth at Ta Prohm

With the visit at Ta Prohm ended, we concluded our half day visit and stopped for lunch. After lunch, we went to Angkor Wat.

Angkor Wat and Reflecting Pond

Angkor Wat inner wall

Angkor Wat Main Tower

We spent quite some time at the Angkor Wat, admiring the wall carving and with its stories narrated by our guide. The view from the Main Tower is spectacular, giving one the bird’s eye view of the area nearby.

Looking Westward from Main Tower

By the time we’re done with Angkor Wat, we proceeded to Bakheng mountain to view the sunset. We ended the day with such a spectacular view at the Bakheng.

Temple at the Bakheng Mountain

Sunset at Bakheng Temple

First destination of the day, is not other than the famous Kbal Spean, know as 1000 Lingas River by most people. To reach the site, visitors need to hike for 1.5km uphill.

Midpoint of the hike trail

It took about 30min to reach the historical site, along the way we stopped to look at various smaller sites with historical significance, including a shallow cave where a hermit used to stay and locals came to ask for guidance.

Lingas can be seen submerged under waterline

Linga or Lingam, that carries spiritual significance in Hinduism, and Kbal Spean is covered with it, done during the early of the Khmer Empire around 11th century. Besides the temple remnants / ruins, there’s a natural waterfall nearby.

Rainbow at the foot of the waterfall

We are lucky enough to see a rainbow formed under the foot of the waterfall.

After the hike down, we proceeded to the famous Banteay Srey, Citadel of the Women. This particular site is rediscovered in 1914, and famous for it elaborate delicate wall carvings. Furthermore, the buildings themselves are miniature in scale, unusual among the measurement of the Angkor sites.

Entrance to the main group

Gopura II of Banteay Srei

Sharpening Mark

We found these rather interesting curves on most of the structure, and we were told by our guide, these marks were due to the prolong usage of the area as sharpening stone by the locals over the years.

After visiting Banteay Srei, we stopped for lunch nearby. Finally, had the chance to tried the local delicacy – Fish Amok. It was pretty good, and the taste suits us very well. The next site to visit after lunch is Banteay Samre. This is one of the most well preserved due to the extensive restoration done.

Inner of Banteay Srey

Banteay Samre Main Temple

In the late afternoon, we went to the Rolous Group, consists of 3 different structures located nearby to each other, and built in the late 9th century. The three structures are Bakong Temple, Lolei Temple and Preah Ko.

Main Temple at Bakong

Ko, bull in Khmer language. Thus, Preah Ko literally means Temple of Bull in Khmer language. Thus, at the front of the main tower at the site has a bull statue.

Lintel Design at Preah Ko

Warrior Statue at Preah Ko

Angkor Wat Entrance during sunset

In January 2015, I’ve went to Siem Reap, Kingdom of Cambodia, with my girlfriend. It was a 6 days trip, and we planned to cover as much POI as possible in Siem Reap. Before the trip, we contacted a tour guide & driver, Mr Asean, whom serviced my friend’s previous travel to Siem Reap and highly recommended by him. We took the earliest flight of the day, and by the time we touched down, it’s merely 8am. We checked in to our hotel and began the tour to War Museum followed by the Angkor Wat National Museum.

Flak Gun from the 1970s

With a purchase ticket at the War Museum, visitors are entitled to have a tour guide assigned to walk you through the site, providing information of various artifacts on display and the modern history of the Khmer Region. We spent roughly an hour at the war museum, and we learnt a lot about the war that has happened in the modern days of Khmer and its conflicts. Photos of suffering civilians touched our hearts, and looking at various deadly weapons that’s being used in those war is heartbreaking. Weapons such as landmines, rifles, machine guns, war planes, tanks and even handmade booby traps are on display.

After war museum, we went straight to the National Museum. Not much photos were taken there, due to most of exhibits are photography prohibited. However, it’s highly recommended that whoever plans to visit the various sites in Siem Reap, to visit this museum before hand to understand the history of Cambodia. Through the exhibits, you will be more appreciative towards various historical sites that you are going to visit in coming days. Otherwise, those ruins and statues are just “some rocks” to you. With both museums visits concluded, we went for a lunch and rested until late evening to purchase the multi-day visitor pass to Angkor Sites. It’s a norm for visitors to purchase the ticket late in the afternoon, and proceed to see the sunset at Angkor Wat.

Tuk tuk ride to Angkor Wat

Sunset at West Gate of Angkor Wat

Moat at Angkor Wat (widest in Khmer Region)

We concluded the first day with a dinner at Koulen Restaurant, where you get to watch dance shows while enjoying the buffet dinner. Dances of different themes or background stories were performed, including the story of monkey king and a fish, traditional fishing, battle of good and bad…etc.

Since I was based in Folsom, and he was in San Jose, we decided to meet up in a central point and carpool towards the valley. The central point decided was Oakdale – Cowboy Capital of the World. Too bad, there wasn’t any cowboys can be seen, except a few cowboy themed building. Done checking in on the first day to the booked motel, we drove towards the valley for the first hike after a heavy brunch.

Since we weren’t in any rush, we stopped by for photos in a few vista points.

Merced River View

Merced River View

Merced River View

Yosemite Falls

After we parked our car, we walked around the village and spent some time in the Yosemite Village Museum.

Some old slides in the museum

Entrance of the Yosemite Cemetery

We ended up starting the hike late on Yosemite Falls Trail, by the time we reached the bottom of Upper Yosemite Falls, it’s already 6+ and it’s getting dark soon due to the Spring Season.

Yosemite Falls Trail View

Upper Yosemite Falls

With the days getting dark very soon, we decided to hike down from the trail. By the time we got to the valley floor, it’s already dark. We have to rely on the light source of our phones to light the way back to the Yosemite Village for dinner. After the dinner, we took the last shuttle bus to the nearest stop to our parking, at around Sentinel Drive. On the way to our parking, we met another couple which has no light source all all and have to walk in the dark. We shared our light with them to walk towards their parked car even though it’s the other direction, had some great chats along the way. It’s about 11+ by the time we got back to our car, since it’s already that late, we took the opportunity to take some night photos around the valley.

Silhoutte from the moonlight

Yosemite Falls at Night

Spent almost an hour for these photos,  we drove back to Oakdale and got some sleep before coming back the next morning for a “proper” hike. We slept for 2 hours, and then began the drive back to Yosemite Valley and managed to catch some first beam of the morning light over the valley.

Sunrise at Yosemite Valley

We started to hike the Four Mile Trail around 8 in the morning, and there’s plenty of good views of the valley all the way up.

Yosemite Falls from the Four Mile Trail

Rocky Trail towards Glacier Point

Half Dome from Glacier Point

Geology Hut at Glacier Point

Me at the Geology Hut

After some light snacks and took some photos, we began hiking down to our car. Before bidding farewell, we drove around Oakdale for sightseeing.

Slideshows of other photos taken during the trip:

With all set and ready, I started off the journey on Friday after work, and planned to reach Lost Hills, off I-5 for lodging and dinner. I planned to beat the off-work traffic on US-50, I skipped the my dinner and made the move at 5.30pm. It was a lovely evening, and the scenery is still very much vivid in my mind.

Scenery along I-5

After 2 hours into driving since Folsom, I made a stop at Westley Rest Area. During the stop, I strolled around the rest area and took some photos.

Evening view at Westley Rest Area

Evening view at Westley Rest Area

Then, I continued my journey to Lost Hills and reached the motel at around 9.30pm to get the dinner and the much-needed rest.

The next day, after the breakfast at Denny’s, I drove towards Nethercutt Collection in Los Angeles. It has a huge collection of classic automotive and various accessories / antiques.

Nethercutt Museum

California P1

HIHI Plate

MY BU TE Plate

V16 Caddie

Swastika Car Mascot

After the museum visit, I drove towards Griffith Observatory located at the south facing slope on the famous Mount Hollywood. Visitors can view the iconic Hollywood Sign, which is on the north facing slope of Mount Hollywood.

Hollywood Sign on Mount Hollywood

The observatory is a popular destination for visitors to Los Angeles, and due to the limited park spaces, visitors that had to park along road leading up the observatory. Due to that reason, I had the opportunity to view the observatory from far.

Griffith Observatory

There’s even a hiking trail that leads up to the observatory from the bottom of the hill.

Hiking Trail

Astronomer Monument

Sun Dial at Griffith Observatory (12:10 P.M.)

Entrance of Griffith Observatory

It was around 1.30pm when I’d finished the visit at Griffith Observatory, I headed straight to Juicy Burger, a burger joint at the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Ivar Avenue. It’s a cozy little place amidst the busy Hollywood Boulevard, serving various burgers and the staffs are all friendly.

After the lunch, I took a walk along the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Capitol Records Building

Hollywood Walk of Fame

Strangely, I made a stop at Hollywood Forever.

Around Hollywood Forever

After visit at Hollywood Forever, I checked into Courtyard Los Angeles at Baldwin Park, and went to Ontario Mills to check out the outlet mall. The mall is the largest one-level shopping mall in Western North America, with more than 10 entrances and a huge parking space. In total, I spent about 2 hours in the mall and made some purchase over there before leaving for Hollywood Boulevard to checkout its night view.

Ripley’s Believe It or Not

The next day is the main day and after my breakfast, I checked out and drove to Consulate General of Malaysia located at the South Hope Street in Los Angeles Downtown. This was the main event of driving down 400+ miles southward from Folsom, to vote for then upcoming General Election of Malaysia. I met and made some new friends over the event, we are all working Malaysians in California. When the official matters were done, someone suggested we should have brunch at the famous Bottega Louie and continue the chit-chat.

Done Voting!!!

After the brunch, we wished each other good luck and bid farewell. That’s when I then took a walk around downtown. Coincidentally, there’s a parade in downtown, with huge crowds. And I could see religious devotees almost everywhere with signs.

Downtown L.A. Architecture

Downtown L.A.

Sunday’s Parade at Downtown L.A.

Religious Signs Everywhere

On the way back to my car at Pershing’s Square, I dropped by Angel’s Knoll for its Angel’s Flight that linked South Hill Street with South Olive Street with a short train.

Iconic Spot – Angel’s Flight

Angel’s Flight Trains

Angel’s Flight from Google Maps

In Pershing Square, I changed into a more beach-friendly attire and drove westward to Santa Monica Beach to spend the late afternoon over there.

End of Route 66

Sailboats at Santa Monica

Route 66 a.k.a. Will Rogers Highway

A famous tourist spot, Muscle Beach, you can see people working out along the beach, running, cycling, gymnastics and various body training sports.

Muscle Beach

Handstand exercise

Gymnastics

Santa Monica Veterans Memorial

By the time I left Santa Monica, it was around 7pm. I planned to reach Folsom in the same day, a 400+ miles drive to cover before 12am, thus I skipped my dinner in L.A. and only stopped at Kettleman City (US-41, off I-5). Too bad, it was already 1am the next day by the time I reached Folsom.

Slideshows of other photos taken during the trip:

After some coming down with some options and considering the fact that we are all busy working for the past months, decision was made to have a sort of breakaway to experience nature, thus camping was decided. Since both parties are located pretty far from each other, we’ve decided to meet in Oregon, between Washington state and California. Devils Lake was shortlisted as the destination.

I started off a day earlier from Folsom, driving up and taking a night stop at Grants Pass. The next morning, after having breakfast in the nearby stop from Grants Pass, I hit Salem in the noon. Stopping there for a short visit in the Capitol of the Beaver State (Oregon) for about an hour, I proceeded westward from Salem taking OR-22 towards Pacific Ocean.

While they are stuck in heavy traffic in Portland, I had my lunch at the Mr Pig’s Pancake Restaurant in Lincoln City, which surprisingly, their famous Mr Pig burger is beef. LOL. After the lunch, I checked in and went for a short walk in the town and towards the coastline for a look, while waiting for them.

Our yurt from the side

Pacific Coastline

Pacific Coastline

Pacific Coastline with resorts in sight

Beachfront Binoculars

Huge Waves of the Pacific

Once they are here, we spent more time walking along the coast and took some photos before getting back to our yurt to prepare for the dinner.

Starting the fire

Preparing the chicken wings for BBQ

Ready for BBQ

Chicken wings, Beans and Veggies in a can

Ready to be served

Surprised Birthday Cake for Me!!!

Next day, we had our breakfast and headed off for a hiking trail 15mins from the campsite.

Baked beans for the morning

Breakfast in progress

Scrambled eggs with Cheese

Wonderful breakfast

3 Rocks Hiking Trail

Bell flowers?

Mossy Forest

Back from the hiking, we went for fishing. Sadly, we got nothing but only a sculpin which were released back to the lake.

Drained from fishing

Eventually, we gave up on the fishing and went back to the site to prepare our dinner. After dinner, we went for a short film at the park’s makeshift theater, which showed a documentary of bears.

Welcome Sign

Couple of weeks back, I was meeting my old friend whom is currently working in Salt Lake City, Utah. We were high school friends and haven’t met each other since 4 years ago. Ever since I came to the States, we were planning for a trip to meet up, and finally we did it!!!  It was a 3D2N trip, and he handled all of the itinerary, thanks to him, all I need to do is get myself a ticket and fly there.

After we met up at the airport, we headed down to our hotel The Quad in the middle of The Strip. On the way, we stopped by Coke and tasted the famous “Over the World”, 16 different tastes of coke from different parts of the world.

Over the World

Over the World – 16 flavors of Coke

We reached the hotel, took some rest and headed out for a walk in the late afternoon around the hotels/attractions on the north side of The Strp.

Inside the Venetian

The Venetian

Inside the Venetian

Wynn and Encore

When it gets dark, we went back took a shower and headed out for dinner and a got ready for the famous Bellagio Fountains.

Bellagio Fountains

Bellagio Fountains

Bellagio Fountains

Night view along with the lights along The Strip is really fascinating.

Caesars Palace

Eiffel Tower – Paris Las Vegas

Paris Las Vegas

For the next day, we rented a car and drove around. We stopped by the South Premium Outlets, then to the Atomic Museum + Area 51 Museum. Both really interesting places, lots to learn and to learn. After the tour to the museums, we headed up to North Premium Outlets to do some shopping. We even stopped by the famous road sign, welcoming drivers to Las Vegas.

When we’re getting hungry and sky’s getting dark, we went to a Malaysian Cuisine Restaurant nearby to Chinesetown. Wonderful food and brought back nostalgic feeling as those food are so familiar to both of us, we ordered steamed chicken, fried flat noodle, roti canai (indian flat bread), and Pasembur (mixture of fried items with peanuts sauce). Satisfied, we went to Downtown Las Vegas, Fremont Street. Wonderful place, really happening with it’s world largest LCD dome and great sound effect that puts everyone into a party mood!!!

Fremont Street

Fremont Street Experience

The next day, our last day of the trip. My friend decided to head down to track the “Transformers” at Hoover Dam. HOHO. We drove while having our breakfast in the car, past through deserts, freeways and we reached the destination, right on the borderline between Nevada and Arizona.

Hoover Dam Seal

Mike O’Callaghan – Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge

Hoover Dam

Intake towers that located in Nevada (right) and in Arizona (left)

After visiting the dam, we headed back and ready to leave Las Vegas. Adios~~