New Year's in Phnom Penh (1-2Jan12)

Day 3 & 4

What better things to do on New Year's Day than visit the temple and pray for health, happiness, luck, and all the good things? And so first thing in the morning we headed to Wat Phnom ("Temple of the Mountains" or "Mountain Pagoda") which, according to wiki, "stands 27m above ground". There, I plucked up some courage and "bought" a pair of caged birds (US$1) to release them back into the wild. They were so cute and soft and I felt happy watching them fly away from my hands. New year, new lease of life :)

Time for food again! This time at Romdeng, another Friends International restaurant. Much more spacious and done up than Friends. Lovely food and wine. Bright colorful art pieces hung all around. A pity they're not for sale. Here, you can find fried tarantulas. Yes, fried SPIDERS! We weren't brave enough to order it...

Last stop - The Royal Palace. BE ADVISED that anyone wearing sleeveless or short skirts/shorts will be refused entry. You'll be asked to buy or rent an ugly tee shirt/sarong. The Silver Pagoda is located in here. Worth a visit.

Random food - Beef pho from a small local shop and pasta from FCC. Food in Phnom Penh is generally quite good!

New Year's in Phnom Penh (31Dec11)

Day 2
Somewhere in our itinerary we noted that the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum is a must-visit in Phnom Penh and hence it was after much deliberation that we decided to do it on this day, before the arrival of the new year! Do go early before the tour buses arrive. Also, I highly advise against a heavy meal before going, because my food didn't sit very well in my tummy during the entire museum visit.

After some photographing, I switched to sepia/B&W mode as the heavy atmosphere weighed upon me so much that color just seems wrong. You can see a building covered with barbed wires, ex-classrooms divided into several prison cells, lots of photographs of victims (before and after torture), pictorial representations of this unfortunate period, torture tools and so on. Even as I write, the mood is sombre. Shan't say more, but I think it's worth being there just to know how much the people went through and how humans can be so cruel to its own kind. It's sick, but it's real.

So anyway, at least we were done with this on the last day of 2011. Other than the museum there's also the Killing Fields (~30mins out of city center) where the actual executions took place. We thought that the museum sufficed and that there was no need to see more skulls. So we left. Just nearby sits a nice cafe called Boddhi Tree Umma, which also doubles up as a guesthouse. Nice juices/smoothies, salads and finger food. Good to chill and collect your thoughts right after the museum visit.

Thereafter we headed to the Central Market for some shopping. Starting prices seem to be much higher than at the night market, so be sure to know how much to bargain for! They sell anything from household items to replica watches. Concluded that this place is more for look-see than anything else..

For our NYE's dinner we chose a relatively upmarket restaurant called Malis but food there was very average. They score on their lighting and ambience though. So all in all it was ok. ~US$100 for 3 persons incl. a bottle of wine. Went for drinks at the Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC) which was quite packed as everybody was awaiting the countdown. Decided to go back to our hotel and popped our own champagne when the clock struck 12! What a way to welcome 2012 :)

New Year's in Phnom Penh (30Dec11)

Day 1
New boutique hotel that had started business only 1 week prior to our arrival. Named The Plantation, S found this through its higher end sister properties which were fully booked. The place was still in a raw state - unwrapped mattresses & furniture stored in unfurnished bedrooms, gym & spa rooms WIP, workers roaming around on the roof, and staff taking water readings from the pool! Nonetheless we really liked the cleanliness, the modern look, the quiet, and the amicable staff. Appreciate the Cabanas by the pool too. Given its price and location, we will not hesitate to return. It has lots of potential and I hope they get over their teething period soon. I absolutely recommend the Deluxe Pool View Double which is now going at a rate of US$80 a night. Occupancy filling up rather quickly I must say.

The taxi ride from airport took approx. 30mins and cost US$9. In the city itself, our main mode of transport is either by Tuk Tuk (aka auto rickshaw) or on foot. Btw, the common currency here is US dollars. You do not need to carry any Cambodian riels although it's good to note that the locals might return your change in riels even if you've paid in USD. Hence make sure you have enough 1-dollar notes with you at all times! This is especially important in the case of tuktuk drivers, taxi drivers and even stall vendors. Many of whom would insist that you forgo your change on the premise that they do not have change too. Anyway the tuk tuks cost, on average, US$2-3 per trip. Not the cheapest but we have better things to bargain for.

Went to the popular Friends Restaurant where you can eat for a good cause. Interesting place with very decent food and drinks. A must-go! Do shop at their handicraft center just next door. We also did a cheap foot massage there on the last day of our trip. =) Visit the Friends-International website here.

After lunch, we strolled along the streets towards the Mekong River. Beautiful weather. The building in red is the National Museum, which we've saved for our next visit. Then back to hotel to r&r. At night, we went to a small French Restaurant called Armand recommended by tripadvisor. Read the reviews here. Small & cozy, decent food and drinks. In the photo below, there's the owner cooking up some sauce for the meats. He hangs around to chat with his patrons, which makes for a friendly atmosphere. Reservations advised.

Name: Armand

Location: 33 Street 108, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Expenditure: ~US$80 for 3 (incl. 1 bot of house red)

Thereafter, we crossed the street to a nearby bustling night market. Happy to have spotted several stalls selling cheap dresses and other miscellaneous stuff. Worth a visit. Prices here are much better than at the Central Market. If you feel brave enough, try some barbequed squid!

Bali 15-18Dec11

Stayed at a highly-rated resort called 'The Ulin Villas and Spa' in the Seminyak area. It is nicely located near the shopping streets of Seminyak and the service here is excellent. All 14 villas (1, 2 or 3 bedrooms) feature a private swimming pool (size varies according to no. of bedrooms) and a separate kitchen/dining area. Pretty impressive. Much effort taken to decorate the villas (see flowers strewn on the floor?), create mood lighting (read on), and offer services that exceed expectation. Things like complimentary welcome drinks, welcome bottle of rosé in each room, welcome fruits and free minibar made us feel pampered the moment we arrived. The 4D3N package that we took also included complimentary return airport shuttle (approx. 30mins normal traffic), one 4-course dinner, one 90-minute spa massage per person, and in-villa breakfast everyday among other free services. Thumbs up for that.

Day view of the pool and kitchen/dining area, S' parents painting outside their bedroom, aromatic flower bath. Love the spacious outdoor toilet/bath area.

Lunch some 40mins away recommended by our driver for the day. Location unknown. Babi Guling = Suckling Pig. Local delicacy that you should try. The famous stall is supposed to be 'Ibu Oka' located in Ubud but it was too far away from our villa (approx. an hr). If you're not so adventurous when it comes to food, I'd highly advise you to order just the skin & meat. I liked it but the others weren't too enthu about it. So, gd luck!

Golf at Nirwana Bali Golf Country Club located just 30mins from Seminyak. Touted as the best golf course in Asia, the ocean views and landscaped rice terraces undoubtedly wowed me. It is also at this signature hole that you can see the Tanah Lot temple in the distance. Nice.

In-villa breakfast spread everyday. Followed by the best Italian restaurant in Seminyak - Ultimo. Very reasonably-priced. Love the grilled baby lobster, grilled tiger prawns, calamari and spaghetti aglio olio. Oysters, salmon carpaccio and wagyu beef weren't so good. Will definitely be back.

Name: Ultimo

Location: Jalan Oberoi (Laskmana). Seminyak, Bali 80361

Expenditure: ~S$35pp (excl. corkage fee of S$7 per bottle)

The night we were going to have the complimentary dinner, they set up many candles all over the place and got us really excited. When night fell, the romantic ambience created by the lighted candles was simply amazing. This is what I meant about the mood lighting. 10/10!

Took the free shuttle to the Ku Dé Ta beach (~5mins drive). That's the Ku Dé Ta restaurant btw. We soaked in the sun for a little while then headed back to our villa on foot, dropping by a flea market (an eerily quiet one) on the way and stopping by a cafe called 'Junction'.

What I absolutely love about the Ulin Villa is that they allowed us to check out as late as 5pm! Which was perfect since our flight was at 8pm. Highly recommended :)

Name: The Ulin Villas and Spa

Location: Jl. Merta Sari  Seminyak 80361, Indonesia

Expenditure: 514usd nett per night (2 bedrooms)