Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Ruins and Relics.....




Taken at Siam Reap at one of the wat name Preah Khan.

Maybe it was due to the cloudy weather, there was no tourist in sight. Perfect time to take a snap at this serene place. At least the structure is in pretty good condition still given that the civilisation is from the 12th century.

Compare to this at Ta Phrom - this one is basically crumbling down and in a sorry sight. Humans can chop down trees, clear land and built onto land. Ultimately, the jungle triumphantly claims back the land.







Saturday, May 12, 2007

Hard Life at Tonle Sap



You see papa, mama, little boy and little on the sampan. And no .. they are not on a fishing trip for vacation. This is their life and their work everyday under the scorching sun. Imagine at the tender age of 3 years old, you had to start to contribute to the family's income. What were we doing at age 3 ? Watching cartoons, eating KFC and fighting for toys with our siblings ?

Everyday, papa, mama and the kids would hop on to this small boat. They would furiously row their sampan to catch up with tourist's motor boats. They would then cling-on to the boats in a precarious manner, and try to sell us soft drinks like Coke, Fanta or Pepsi. Usually the kids are the one who would appeal to you with big-wide-eye "Sir, you want water ... one dollar only". At first, I was amazed that they could have such perfect English pronunciation at such young age. Later I found out that, they only know these few 'survival sentences'. If you try to speak to them, or ask them questions, they are more likely to give you a blank look or just smile. Most of them try to sell you soft drinks or bananas, that's mostly all they sell.

Notice the cute little boy had the task of scooping water out of the sampan - he was already doing his part for the survival of the family.

Such is the world apart at the floating village of Tonle Sap lake at SiamReap, Cambodia. I hope tourism will eventually improve their life for the next generation.

I am grateful to be born in Malaysia, that i get to go to school, and did not have to start working at age 3.

Sunday, May 06, 2007

Booth is close....

Visit Malaysia Year 2007 -- yeah, yeah everyone knows that.

I passed by this Pasar Seni (Central Market) Tourism Info booth at 10.30 am, and it is still pretty shut. Hey, aint somebody suppose to rise & shine yet ??




Finally opened when i passed by the place again an hour later.

Saturday, May 05, 2007

Dilarang Melarang









Pic taken at Pasar Seni, Kuala Lumpur.





It is titled "Dilarang Melarang". In English, it probably can be roughly translated to "Forbidden to Forbid"..... anyone can translate better ?



Somebody must be very pissed and have a lot of pent-up emotion. This pic is a display of teenagers sick of parents/adults telling you telling 'you can't do this', 'you should not do that', 'you are forbidden to do this.....



For me, adulthood is at any time better than the teenage years. Freedom !!