MG Road @ Bangalore, India - Shop, Eat and Dust!

Mahatma Gandhi (MG) Road, Bangalore , India@ November 2005
Bangalore, the Silicon Valley of India. If you ask me what is famous in Bangalore, my answer is ROAD TRAFFIC! Everytime when I visit Bangalore, I like to wander around MG road, where you can find food, shops and cinemas. MG road is really one of the main street with 3 lanes each side. Other areas, are smaller and traffic can be very bad during peak hours. Also, on the road sides there are a lot of child beggars, a very sorry sight. However, local colleagues told us to avoid giving money to them because there were most probably hired by the beggar master.

Anyway, if you every in Bangalore, do try the Auto Rickshaw. A black rickshaw with a bright yellow top. It was fun and to beat the traffic, this is the best transport to take. The driver can zig zag through all the busy crowds without any hassle.

Pad Thai 'Goong' or 'Gai' for you?

Somewhere in Bangkok@ March 2006

Pad Thai has been my favorite since I discovered Thai's culinaries. This light 'koay teow' (rice noodle) stir fried with light soy sauce, usually garnish with spring onions, bean sprouts and grounded peanuts make a perfect dish for the 'diet watcher'!



I always ordered mine with less 'sugar', as the Thai cook is known with their genorousity with sugar, however, spare me from that :) With a coconut to go along with your Pad Thai "goong" (prawn) or 'gai' (chicken), it makes a complete happy meal for me. You can find Pad Thai anywhere in Bangkok.

Amazing India - God Shiva's Birthday @ New Delhi, India

On the way to Gurgaon @ New Delhi, India.

This is an amazing sight! I am on my way to office in Gurgaon, and I saw a bunch of people dressed in bright orange carrying a "kavadi" like on their shoulders. They are young, old, men, women and even children. The kavadis were not allowed to touch the ground. The are 2 bottles of holy water from Ganges river. Later I learnt it God Shiva's birthday on 23rd July.

The amazing part of this event was, people walked with their slippers for 300 km!!! That's 6 days for normal human being to do the walk. Their destinations mostly from river Ganges or Himalayas, and their destination is Hariduar. I was told some roll on the road!!

Along the way, they stopped by some tent provided to them for rest and food, and even shower at the road side. The government even block part of the roadside for these pilgrims to walk due to safety reasons.

Well this is really a test of their faith for a beter Nirvana! Just unbelievable how faithful these people can be.

Siem Reap - Around the Town

Siem Reap @ 1st April, 2006

On the first day of our visit at Siem Reap, we checked into our hotel around 12pm. After check-in , we decided to check out the downtown for lunch.

We went to Old Market using a took a Tuk Tuk (cost USD6 from 1pm to 5pm). Tips: My advise for Tuk Tuk is, if you plan for many stops then book their time, else you can find any on the street for USD1 for a ride. The Old Market is very old and a bit messy. We weren't very impress with the market conditions. We walked passed a few shops, and you will find the same things were sold on the next few doors. As you usual, bargain is the must. I bought a silk scarf for USD1. The quality is so so but I like it. I guess if you walk around and take time to go through the goods you may find some gem. The other half of the market is a wet market.

We then stopped by a supermarket nearby for water. Tips: Don't get imported water from Thailand which will cost you USD1 per bottle. We later found we pay 1USD for 6 bottles of local bottled water! We drank it and we are OK. Surrounding Old Market has a lot of nice restaurant. We settled at In Touch. We ordered Khmer food, namely Amok (choice of vegies or meat) and Lok Lak. Amok was like santan curry but sweet. Lok Lak was more like sweet marinated meat. I found Khmer food was sweet overall.

After lunch, we walked around and found this cafe call Blue Pumpkin. The cafe serves very nice pastry, cakes and ice-cream. The seats on 1st floor was a bed-like seat, where they serve your drink and food on a small table that placed on the bed. Kinda interesting and good place to take a nap! TIPS: On top of that, FREE WI-FI.

The town was not big, so we ask Mr Tuk Tuk to stop by all the main shopping area. We stopped at Center Market and bought a silver necklace. The price was pretty good.

Later of the day, the villa staff recomended us to watch the Aspara dance or known as Celestial dance. It's similar to the Ramayana dance in Indonesia or Thailand. After all, all these countries were influenced by Hinduism and Buddhism. We went to Mondial Restaurant for the buffet and Aspara dance. It cost us USD12. The food was so so as I was not a buffet fan, and the dance was not as exciting as I thought. Later some local told me there were few places has better program than Mondial. Anyway, the customers at Mondial were mainly westerner and Japanese.

We ended our day 1 here as we need to rest early and depart at 5.30am the next day for the sunrise at Angkor Wat!

Siem Reap - The Lost City to the World

1st April, 2006 @ Siem Reap

I had just completed a 3 days 2 nights excursion to Siem Reap. I went there with a friend and the ticket was complimentary from Air Asia. Visit AirAsia for free or promotional tickets http://www.airasia.com

Before the trip, I started to visit Fodor's Forum for tips. I learnt some of the places to do, the right time to visit the temple for sunrise and sunset, and also the accomodation around the town.

For me, I had chosen La Villa Lotti. The owner is a French guy named Daniel. I enjoyed my stays there because the staffs were really friendly. Besides, the villa was decorated with Balinese style's furniture. Lotsa trees and dining under a coconut hut. However, bring mozzie repellant with you, the hotel also provides mozzie coil and insect spray. The room I had was reasonable with A/C and fan. The hotel rate provides breakfast, free laundry - underwear only, and also u can borrow the bicycle for free for 2 hours. I have to say I enjoy La Villa Lotti better than the guesthouse/shoplots at the towncenter.


Visit the hotel site for more details - http://www.lavillalotti.com

Since we went there on our own, we need a good tour guide to explain to us on the history of Angkor Wat. Otherwise, every temple will looks the same to us. Through Fodor's forum, I found the legendary Miss Pon Heary. She is petite with tanned skin (due to her job), and speaks good English. She is formerly an English teacher. This gutsy lady has proved to me that she is proud of her country. For example, she will tell the visitors at the temple not to sit on the sculpture or stones which is the country's heritage. Also, she will organised party for underprivileged children, donated by the foreign visitors. Her goal is to put the children to school. In Cambodia, it's tough, but it has to start from somewhere. I found Pon to be friendly and she tells interesting stories. Bring her some sweets if you visit Siem Reap and would like to hire her as a guide.


Write to Miss Pon Heary - mailto:ponheary@yahoo.com (petite lady 2nd from left)

Refer to Day 1 to Day 3 activities in the next blog.

Longest Escalator @ Mid-Level, Hong Kong

3 Sept, 2005 @ Mid-Level, Hong Kong

Mid-Level is located at Central. This place is the favorite among the 'angmohs' or expatriate because along this longest escalator in Hong Kong, there are so many shops, restaurants, and apartments placing next to each other. On the lower part of the escalators are a lot of chinese restaurants, on the middle part you will pass by Hollywood road and Shelley road with lotsa furniture and antique shops. Towards the top of the escalators are mainly apartments (expensive for a small and old aparment rentals!) and international restaurants.

On weekends this place are bustling with tourists and local who hangs out for drinks or dinner. It is really a neat place and a must for any first timer.

I also discovered a famoust Wan Tan Noodle shop near Mid Level. It's at Wellington Street very near the Mid Level Escalator. The shop is called 'Mak's Noodle'. They served a very small bowl of wantan noodle with freshly wrapped big shrimp wantan.



The cost of a bowl of wantan is HKD$24. The taste of the noodle is impeccable. I had also ordered a plate of fresh 'Kai Lan' vegetable on oyster sauce. I highly recommend this to everyone ;-)

Ferry Ride @ Hong Kong

Ferry Ride @ 28 August, 2005

The weather was cloudy and the water was choppy, however, your trip to Hong Kong is not a complete trip without the infamous ride on the ferries. It was great sales in HKG now and there were so many people on Sunday afternoon doing their last minute shoppings.

I always enjoyed the ferry ride from Wan Chai to Tsimtsatsui. The ride is calm and especially at night it was spectacular.

The high rise buildings in Hong Kong island is really amazing and the ferry ride is one of the best way to see this.

So next time, spend just HKD 2.20 for a single trip, and try the ride at least once.

Chewing Gum in Singapore? Are you kidding me?

Chewing Gum @ Singapore, 18th August, 2005

Where did you get that?! Asked a local Singaporean when I showed her a pack of chewing gum which I purchased in Orchard Road.

As you know, Singapore government has banned chewing gum since ages ago. However, for those gummer freak you can find them here in Singapore ;-)

What I did I went to local chemist at basement of Isetan at Orchard Road. My intentions was to get panadol but unintentionally found Chewing Gums on the rack! All you need to do is to bring the gums to the counter and they will make you to put down your name, address and sign on a log book. The chewing gum is under the control item list.

So now you know where to get them ;-)

One day at Twin Tower @ Kuala Lumpur City Center

August 2, 2005 @ KLCC, Malaysia

A friend who works in KLCC had asked me to meet up for lunch. We have an office at above level 50 in KLCC so I decided to work in KLCC for a day.

As you know, many tourist to this country always wanted to go up the bridge at KLCC. However, the tickets which was issued per day is limited. You have to collect your ticket at 7am daily and if you are lucky, you get a tix.




I am lucky to have an office up here and the view was really to die for! Imagine holding a meeting at one of the tallest building with KL view as a backdrop! See for yourself ;-)