ANGKOR WAT

Okey, the long wait is over. After barely having sleep and with the free massage that I got from the long trip we had, the best was to just see heaven on earth.

As much as I would like to post all of my photos here, I just chose the ones where I am presentable, LOL. Enjoy!

If you plan to go visit this beautiful and magnificent place, here are some tips for you.

1. Bring an umbrella/cap.

2. Bring US Dollars with you (everything that needs to be purchased should be paid in USD)

3. Make sure to have a bottle of water with you. There are a lot of temples to visit and being dehydrated is the lamest thing you'll ever do coz you'd be missing a lot.

4. Though the camera can't picture the real beauty as your eyes would, just make sure to bring it with you. And don't forget your extra batteries.

5. That's all and don't forget yourself.

TOUR DE TOUR

We had the five of us splitted in two groups since the taxi can only accommodate four persons. So from Poipet, we traveled three hours tops to Siam Reap. It was a looonnnggg trip (I mean talk about cutting trips and just the thought of traveling for another three hours was like???)... Anyway, I just consoled myself of the thought that I get to see a treasure at the end of the road.

It was a long journey and of all the days, we get to experience "out-of-our-control" situations. For starters, our taxi tires overheated and we were running 25 kph. Talk about "boredom". We treaded a long, bumpy, dusty, red road. The aircon wasn't even working. Then, when we had the taxi carwashed, guess what? They told us to get off the taxi, then the next thing you know we were forced to buy something from the store where the taxi had been carwashed!!! The faces of L and G can't be painted so I volunteered to be the one to buy on our behalf. A can of Sprite costed 40 Baht!!! There were a lot of detours and the taxi we were on was like speeding in a race track! Well, the never-ending road made me just count posts. Lucky me, I got to count more than a thousand... lol! Well, the trip was worth it.

BRAVING POIPET

Right on time. At 2 am (Thursday, Sept 18, 2008), we hired a cab going to Poipet (where the border is). Using our charms, we were able to hire a cab for B 3,ooo.00 instead of B 4,000.00 (nice way to start our trip eh?)

We were so blessed since our driver was very friendly and polite. The best part was he played english songs.. lol! Having empty stomachs for almost eight hours, we requested him to bring us to Mcdonalds. He offered to bring us to some Thai food stores but we weren't taking the risk, not when we were unsure if our stomachs would be ready.

Same-same?

At 530 am, we were able to reach the border. But the border doesn't open until 7 am. Luckily there was this police station right before the border. We ate some crackers and had bladder break. Thanks to the Filipino instinct, the gurls were able to bring munchies along. Anyway, the policemen were polite to let us stay there for a while before we crossed the border.

Braving the border was not that difficult. Praise God that we had a smooth exit from Thailand to Cambodia. At first, we thought that we will be walking along a narrow road full of beggars and peddlers (as some bloggers put it), but no. The road was clean and I could say that it was an exaggeration.

I have to admit though that we were nervous. I mean, not being sure on what was ahead of us. But praise God we were able to cross the border! I could say the gurls did a good job planning this 'crossing'. L and A - Am proud of you guys!

Sa wakas!!!!!!! nakaya natin ng tayo-tayo lang!!! wuhoo!!!

GETTING READY

We've been planning for this trip for almost three months. And alas! The long wait is over! As usual, I get so hyped and excited (I did manage to forget though that I will be skipping two classes for this trip, hehehe). Well, it's my first trip outside the country, even if sleeping is my greatest hobby, my eyes didn't seem like shutting. Sleeping was elusive even if I had so little sleep the day before (talk about being excited and forgetting that eyebags can actually distort beauty, lol!)

Anyway, so, as usual, we had a lot of "rushing" before we headed to NAIA 3. Our flight was suppose to leave around 10 pm but we left an hour earlier.

I, G, A, and L waiting

Anyway, we arrived in Bangkok at 12:o3 am. Night lights were awesome... So once we landed at Suvarnbhumi International Airport, we had our moolahs changed to Baht and did some reviews of what-to-do and what-to-remember. Well, can't blame my buddies, they love careful planning. So while waiting for our watches to click 2 am (in preparation for Cambodia), we goofed around a little... hahaha... staff of the airport kept on looking at us.. I just can imagine what they're thinking... LOL!

Suvarnabhumi International Airport

The gals

AT THE EDGE

Photocredits: thailand.yinyangandtaichichuan.org/

At the edge of my excitement, I really don't know if I am really ready for this four-day out-of-the-country trip. Well, it's my first one so I know the adrenaline rush should be alive already but it's like, with all of the things that I still need to accomplish, I am certain that my brain's heading to different directions.

You know the feeling that you wish you just had the powers to pull your act together, and at least finish one thing. Just one thing and you say to yourself, "this is good. Next one..." but with tons of paperworks to finish, loads of things to follow-up and the never-ending list of things-to-do, it seems like it's never going to end... =(

To add to the list, my excitement gets ahead of myself that I find myself daydreaming about places to go, food to eat, scenic views to capture... well, blame the mole on my right foot - yep, a sucker for travel is here and she's whacked!!!

Well, this is the challenge, to see how I can pull this long-awaited and well-ironed travel without my case study, evaluation plan, and critique at the back of my head destroying this once-in-a blue-moon trip.

STUDYANTENG PASAWAY

Hep. Hep. Hep. It was an HONEST MISTAKE... ang makalimutan kong may klase pala ako. hahaha. yep. tipong parang hindi ata ako ito. well... TWICE THIS SEM... hmmm..

1. HOUSE. Dahil kay Dr. House, nawili talaga ako sa kakapanood. Actually, namove yung 2pm class ko to 1pm, eh nakalimutan ko talaga. 1pm na eh maliligo palang ako, so paglabas ko ng banyo, may nagtext: "BRU, ASAN KA NA? NAGSTART NA ANG KLASE."

WWWHHAAAAAATTTTTT!!!!!!! iyon na ata ang pinakamabilis na bihis ko sa tanang buhay ko... eh walastik, sa CPAF pa ang klase ko.. grabe. eh mega get-up pa ako nun, I mean, ung damit na suot ko eh sobrang kikay, walastik, wa poise talaga kasi tinakbo ko mula grove hanggang sa may physci para lang maabutan ko ung jeep... toink 1!

2. MALLING. Honest mistake ulit ito. May Saturday class ako, eh nakalimutan ko ulit. Actually, Monday ko na naalala na may pasok nga.. hahaha (wala pa ako sa menopausal syndrome nito ha... ). So dahil nakalimutan ko, sumabak ako sa Manila ng Friday night. Nagplano kami ng kapatid ko na mag-mall ng Saturday. So megabonding... eto na ang pinakamalala.. super duper manhid ako kasi tinext pa ako ng kaklase ko tungkol sa gagawin naming libro, eh nasa klase pala siya nun. Toink 2!

WAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ANYWAY, AT LEAST, NASUBUKAN KO NA RIN MAG-ABSENT NA HINDI LANG AKO NAKAKULONG SA BAHAY, KUNDI GUMAGALA... naka, wag lang to mabasa ng nanay ko, or else... Toink 3!

U.P. NAILED IT AGAIN!

SUNDAY. I was having my nap around 230 pm when L and G were like shouting downstairs as though both were about to give birth to quadruplets. I tried shutting my eyes again, but to no avail. Aside from the heat, I would like to really see what was going on - 2008 UAAP CHEERDANCE COMPETITION. As I walked down the stairs, they were still babbling how good UST's pyramid stunt was. Still groggy from that nap, I laid down on the sofa while the two girls were just so excited that they turned the TV volume to 50 (for goodness sake!).

It was UP's turn (I thank them for their 200-decibel scream), as usual, their mood is somehow contagious so the next thing you know, my horizontal position went to vertical.

UP really did good. Aside from having this tribal theme, they had the most original music compared to the other seven competitors. Their stunts and flips were really breathtaking. Their routines were just so quick, I don't know if they even had the time to breathe or pause for their next move. I could say they had nice coordination and rhythm... Choreography? 1.0... hehehe...

So, when the time of the announcement of winners came, L and G (again) were like babies who weren't able to drink milk for a whole week... They were fidgeting like crazy saying UP might not nail it or UST might get the first place. I could say I was just sitting there, calm and confident (hihihi) and I repeatedly kept on saying "ANO BA? SILA ANG MANANALO NOH!"

The best part. So FEU got the third place. When UST was called as the second placer, the three of us were jumping like crazy as if we were from UST... hahahaha! Well, the three of us knew that UP would get it. So when UP was announced as the winner, you could say as if we saw Robert Pattison in the flesh! hahaha... yep... he gets more handsome everyday.

Anyway, watch the excitement here.

FRIENDSHIP

MORAL OF THE PICTURE:

FRIENDS may not be able to PULL you up...
BUT
THEY will still think of ways not to let you FALL...

Disclaimer: This was forwarded by a friend.

CHRISTMAS BREEZE

Photo credits: kelownabc's photostream (flickr.com/photos/robtrent/41360888/)


As I got out from my apartment, I thought, September 4, 2008 would just be another ordinary day: the sun in its highest peak, the dalmatian dog (goodness! I've been living here for two months now and yet I don't know its name...) still lazily sleeping (gosh, I wish I had all the time to do that), and students rushing to class. To simply put it, I THOUGH IT WOULD BE THE USUAL (for me at least).

The vicinity wasn't that dry coz I felt the wind brushing somewhere (my face at least.. hahaha!). I entertained the idea that the Christmas Breeze was just around the corner. Well, it is September for goodness sake so I bet, that this assumption could be true eh? Anyway, so, I just had to let my day pass by in a swift. It's just nice being preoccupied these days with more important stuff (yeah, yeah, hafta admit I was into non-challenging digs for the past few months. LOL!).

Moving on... after listening about gender and climate change and gender in development, I still had the time to pamper myself by allowing my feet to be soaked in that machine-creating-bubble thing. I had to have my feet relaxed, not that I complain that they are getting uglier by the minute because of heat, hehehe...

I could say my day was productive... and on my way home, there it was again. I FELT IT, so I could say that the CHRISTMAS BREEZE is just around the corner. Knowing that its gonna be here for a while reminds me of home. For the previous years, September was the planning time for putting up the Christmas Tree even shopping (hehehe). It's just so sad that I'll be missing this year's three-hour-or-so decorating that tree...

Anyway, it will just be a month or so, SEM BREAK peeps!!!!!! going home!!!!! weee!!!

ECLIPSE AND BREAKING DAWN

A.M. D.O.N.E.

Sa wakas! I get to finish the saga.

ECLIPSE. Loved the story. I can't get enought of it actually (hahaha, talk about all the cheesy and mushy stuff and). EDWARD PROPOSES TO BELLA (spoiler... hehehe). It was also heart-breaking at the same time. Talk about being caught in the middle - loving two people at the same time (is that even possible? Well, yeah, this book had one... ). The part where Bella had to let go of Jacob really hit me to the core... Hafta admit, had a tear or two for that part.

BREAKING DAWN... well.. uhm, it was good that Stephanie Meyer was able to wrap up the whole thing neatly but I wasn't really into the abrupt change of the heroine's intellectual ruler. She gets to be a vampire, but I really didn't dig into the idea that a vampire's venom can make you mature overnight. In the first three books, she was just this ordinary, clumsy highschool girl, but then, after a month or so, she gets to be a matured mom and wife... Maybe it had to come to that part, but the transition wasn't quite that biting. Anyway, it was good that Jacob's (yeah, yeah, yeah, am talking Greek. Go grab a book so you would know who this werewolf is... lol) point of view was at least told... he had a humour that could really get me of my chair...

So, if I were to arrange these books according to my preference... hmmmm...

1. ECLIPSE
2. TWILIGHT
3. NEW MOON
4. BREAKING DAWN

whew! can't wait for the movie... kyaaaaa!!!~~~~