Day 2 Going Home - Siem Reap Getaway

Angkor National Museum

29 April 2014

Not a busy day, we had breakfast at the hotel around 8am. The fried rice was devoured early that morning so we were left with breads and juice no more fruits left neither. We slept late the night before so we woke up late that's why. 

Angkor National Museum ticket

We purchased tickets at the Angkor National Museum right across our hotel for $12 each. It was really arid even in the morning which was weird, the air is really thin in Cambodia. We left our bags at the luggage counter. They will only allow you to bring your wallets and small make up pouch with you inside the museum. 

The temperature inside the museum was freezing cold. It was interesting and boring at the same time because nothing beats walking around the Ankor temples than reading through their history in print.

I can't wait to go back to our hotel room because of the heat. We live up north back home so the the hottest temperature is normally at 26 Degree (Celsius) so go figure why the 30 degree weather and up is a killer.

the Museum is almost desolate
during the day

We suit ourselves with noodles we purchased from Lucky Mall for lunch and dinner. Not bad as they cost less than 2 bucks each. I was not able to sleep during the day so I was so tired prior to our flight scheduled that evening at 10:45PM Siem Reap time. 

Apsara Dancers

Siem Reap is by the way an hour behind the Philippines so that's when we got confused. The flight details from Cebu Pac e-ticket states the time of arrival in Philippine time at the Siem Airport. We thought our flight from Siem Repart would be at 9:45pm their time so we left our hotel, to be on the safe side around 5:30pm to allow buffer time in case any problem arise at the airport only to realize that our flight would be at 10:45pm their time. We waited in vain because of flight delays due to the rainy weather in Siem Reap. Rainy season in Siem starts in May and the hottest is April which explains why the weather was scorching hot. 

I had coffee due to sleepiness whilst at the airport since we got there toooo early. the guy at the cashier barely speaks english and insisting on espresso while all i want is a macchiato. i asked for cappuccino instead. 

Siem Reap, Cambodia International Airport

Siem Reap International Airport is not as big so don't worry you won't get lost as long as you know how to read sign boards. The Arrival area is just a short walk from where the plane lands and as soon as you enter the airport you'll see the Immigration Officers straight away after you walk past the statue of siem reap's elephant mn. Same goes with the departure area, they only have 20 check in counters if my memory serves me right so read the plasma TVs because it announces which flight it services. But then, the most reliable is the airport's message board as it seems to work real time. 

The check in counter for Manila flights opened at 9pm. We waited and waited and waited. The good thing was our eyes feasted  because there were a lot of hunks and good looking caucasian men at the Siem Reap airport so not bad man! 

The thing is we noticed that some of the flights got cancelled if not delayed (mostly bound to Singapore, China etcetera) due to the bad weather in Siem Reap. 

While at the boarding gate the announcement for Manila bound plane 5J 258 reverberated. An hour 
and forty five minute delay to our dismay. yeah right. I told my sister, on a lighter note, we won't be bonafide travelers without experiencing flight delays since things don't always go as planned. Don't procastinate but expect the unexpected. 

We finally boarded the plane bound to Manila around 1:30am (technically April 30 Manila time). We also learned that Obama went to the Philippines so that also explains the flight delays due to zero fly zone. 

We were tired and sleepy but better safe than sorry. We'd rather endure flight cancellations or delays than a plane crash. The  almost 3 hour flight again seemed forever and kinda scary due to quite a few turbulence. An airplane turbulence is kinda like rough roads in the air. My oh my we just prayed endlessly that all goes well which eventually did since we landed safely home.

NAIA T3 was desolate that i got to marvel at its vastness.

What did i learn from our Trip? A lot. Be happy when you are out there. Forget about work loads or anything that will remind you of work. Spend you vacay well by leaving all your worries behind. Traveling enriches the soul. Remember the book 'Eat, Pray, Love?' Appreciate life's simplicity. Take photographs because later on, once you look back, those photos will take you back in time. Don't waste your life away limiting yourself to where you are. Explore. We only live once. 

Bye Bye Siem Reap, We had a wonderful time! ;)

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Ankoriana Boutique Hotel

27 April 2014

To make the long story short we were ushered in by the nice hotel bellboy to our room. The frontdesk just called us up from our hotel room to let us know that our tour will be at 8 a.m. instead of 7:30 which works better for us since we came in late at the hotel. I think it was arranged on the spot by the frontdesk because for some reason they don't have any record of us booking the tour last month. Ok we forgave them as it was arranged nevertheless so no worries. 

The hotel was pretty nice and quite affordable. The toilet and bath is kinda small though but it's ok we're not huge people neither. We just noticed that they provide very few toiletries considering we'll be there for a couple of nights. They have limited cable channels though but thank god they have the major english channels such as HBO and Cinemax. We also noticed that all english programming have khmer subtitles and the fun part was we even found a local soap opera dubbed in khmer, how cool is that?

We arrived at the Angkoriana Boutique Hotel quarter to 11PM through our complimentary tuk-tuk service provided for by the hotel. They only provide free pick up though and no airport drop off. The hotel is 15minutes away from the Siem Reap airport by the way. We enjoyed the tuk-tuk ride from the airport to the hotel although it's kinda far because it's our first feel of Cambodian air. It was clean yet dry because of the absence of greeneries perhaps like the trees and wild grass. 

Anyways, the hotel was cozy and dimly lighted. It's like entering an old Spanish hostel. There's no one around except my sister and I so we thought summer isn't their very peak season 'cuz i guess it's due to the weather and thus also explains why hotel rooms were on sale.

We picked their Superior Twin room for $32.50 per night which is a bargain as their regular room rates runs for about a hundred bucks a night. Our stay is for 2 days and 2 nights. The rate comes with complimentary asian or continental breakfast from 6-10am (as far as i can remember.)

The front desk people were very warm and welcomed us as soon as we entered their premise. We gave them our print out hotel reservation form as we noticed that they're not as fluent in english although you can understand them. I guess it's just the khmer and thai sounding accent but nevertheless all went well and we advised them that we also booked a 1 day Classic Angkor Tour for tomorrow (April 28). They were kinda lost in cyberspace for a moment so we took out the print out indicating we spoke with their manager via email and we were assured that we're confirmed for the tour.

We snapped some pictures and posted right away on Instagram as long as we're settled. I just hated it that Globe's  roaming service (our local mobile phone service) did not work for the entire duration of our stay. Thank God for Angkoriana Hotel's free unlimited wifi and we instead used viber to communicate with our family back in the PI. I was just quite upset that my iphone's wifi malfunctioned month's ago so i have no choice but borrow one of my sister's spare phone just for me to be able to use viber and instagram. My iphone was totally useless hadn't for its built in camera. so, I just used it as a back up camera phone instead (sigh).

We had a good night sleep. I also suggest every time you travel to tag along a travel buddy. We were tired but happy that we arrived at Siem Reap safe and sound Wee! This is our goal for the next years to come, get our passports stamped as frequent as possible.

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Siem Reap Bound

 Departure: Manila to Siem Reap, Cambodia

My sister and i decided to fly to Siem Reap, Cambodia for our birthday getaway this year since it's been one of the most famous destinations in asia lately. so, we thought yeah why not Cambodia aside from it's a perfect destination for budget travelers like us, siem reap will acquaint us with khmer culture apart from what we learned from school many years ago. 

It wasn't something we planned ahead of time. we usually plan for a trip a year ahead especially for out of the country trips to allow us time to save up and research further about our destination. it's very vital for travelers to learn about the culture (although not it's entirety because history can be very complex depending on the country) of the place they are about to head off to help them understand about their past and present. 

we filed our vacation leaves as early as January this year, booked our flight and hotel accommodation last February and spent the entire month of March researching/reading further about Siem Reap, their culture, weather, currency circulating in their market, cost of food, transportation and the most important part of all--where to buy souvenir items! 

• Budget for the trip: $170 myself, my sister $165 (2day/2nights)

let the fun begin..

27 April (our birthday!)

as much as we hate traveling on our birthday (due to this superstition that it's crucial traveling on your birthday), we didn't have any choice because the cheapest airfares got sold out pretty fast which was our fault since it took us a while to think if we're going to book our flight as early as february or further wait for better deals. that, eventually, did not happen as the days went by the cheap airfares turned goner. as i mentioned planning ahead is always good. 

NAIA Terminal 3

reached NAIA Terminal 3 around three past pm to allow us time to line up at the check in counter, familiarize ourselves with the terminal since the last time we went out of the country (bound to Singapore) it was at Terminal 1 and T3 is way bigger and better compared to the old Terminal. check in counter opened around 5past PM as far as i can recall. check in was a breeze. 

**Cebu Pacific is the only airline here in the Philippines with direct flights to Siem Reap. Our flight schedule 7:30PM via CebuPac 5J 257**

• initial security check - this is as you enter the airport's premise. they scan your bags. make sure all electronic gadgets inside your bag.

check in counter: 

• got our passports checked and flight details to make sure you are the passport holder yourself.

• gave us tags for our carry on backpacks; weigh our bags (7kgs limit)

• advised to pay travel tax for a hefty P1,620 (you can do this prior to check in btw) 

• show travel tax receipt back again to check in counter but no need to fall in line.

• they hand you your boarding pass and your good to go.

The check in counter for Siem Reap is located in front of the Travel Tax counter. not many passengers lined up for Siem Reap unlike Hong kong and Singapore there's a long line most of the time.  We didn't check in any luggage as we planned to go on as backpackers since we've read that CebuPacific have issues in terms of passengers losing their checked in luggages. Sorry but i have to say this, it's our precautionary measure. 

Moving on, once you have your boarding pass handy go straight to the area close to the escalator (where the lady guard stands) and present your boarding pass. you will be assisted by cebupac employees and guards where to go so don't worry. 

• the first counter is where you pay the Terminal fee P550 and they attach it to your boarding pass. 

• Immigration -  This is the second counter . they check you passport and ask for the purpose of travel. It has been a common scenario that they ask for first time travelers abroad to sit in the corner for a short interview. This is to further prevent local passengers to go on TNT (illegal aliens) mode overseas and make sure they have enough money for their travel. this is where some pinoys get offloaded as well sad to say. 

it was a breeze with me and my sister's case since it's not our first time traveling abroad. 

Final Security Check

there's no need to take your shoes off anymore. i wore polymer made earrings so no hassles and did not wear belt neither. make sure you drink all your bottled whatever with you prior to final security check and place all your electronic gadgets with you in your backpack/carry on bag prior to passing the xRay machine or same as the initial security check pretty much.

welcome to the boarding area! 

NAIA's T3 is clean and fairly new so it's very cozy to snap pictures and just chill whilst waiting for your flight just make sure you go to the correct boarding gate as per your boarding pass.

You can grab a coffee, eat pasta or even buy a cookie at the nearby pastry shop. relax. oh an evian bottled water cost P90 there. say what??

Lastly, wait for the announcement once they open the boarding gates. you leave the stub attached to your boarding pass to the gatekeepers and there yah geow. 

Pass the tarmac and be mindful of your seat number once you board the plane. We decided to pre-select our airplane seats upon booking though it cost a little extra about P200 or so. We normally do this so we get to sit side by side teehee! I hate take off. it makes me have butterflies in my stomach geez. the pressure whenever the plane ascends is feels weird every time. Don't forget to fill out the Arrival/Departure card for your convenience prior to landing so all you have to do is hand it over to the IO once at the Siem Reap Airport. the Departure card will be stapled to your passport so fill out BOTH before landing. 

Our chicken adobo meal was served roughly an hour and a half after take off which was just on time before we landed in Cambodia (two hours later i think) and it was tasteful. Two hour and forty five minute plane ride seemed forever and alas our plane landed at around 10:30PM. 

Touchdown Siem Reap...

The Siem Reap International Airport could have been desolate hadn't for our co-passengers who just all recently boarded off. 

Siem Reap IO

The Immigration officers were barely english speaking but with the help of hand gestures we got our passports stamped finally. they pointed here and there. ah, language barrier. I outright looked for our shuttle driver and there he was holding this white piece of paper with my sister's name on it in bold letters. we chose the Ankoriana Hotel for the entire duration of our stay in Siem Reap. We enjoyed the ride because it wasn't a shuttle van which we were expecting but a tuk-tuk. Our first tuk-tuk ride in Cambodia, how lovely. We marveled at Siem Reap's beauty at night on our way to our hotel and inhale the dry yet cool wind breeze. Generally, the weather was oven hot though in Cambodia which is very typical in most Southeast Asian countries, the air was very thin.  Check out my next post, our first day in Siem Reap and my take on the Ankoriana Boutique Hotel. 

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gobble gobble..

My post RAI has taken a toll on me three days ago (a week after my treatment) when my throat started to hurt thus i had a hard time swallowing. geez. 

if doctors say RAI (radioactive iodine) does not have any effect on the patient as it only attacks the overactive tissues of the thyroid,  that's somewhat a lie. there is no such thing as no side effect in the medical world c'mon. not that i'm not aware of it prior to agreeing to go through radiotherapy. the effect was just a little delayed in my case because of my body resistance i guess since i have a healthy lifestyle. 

going back, my throat or should i say esophagus seemed to narrow and my throat kind of bulge after a week which my siblings noticed since i don't like looking at myself in the mirror because i often feel my throat and there's a significant difference prior to RAI. i wasn't alarmed because like any other scar in your body the tissues grow to repair the damaged one thus perhaps explain the little bulge. as days go by the throat pain kind of wane out because i went on soft diet myself (good thing i am on detox by drinking fruit juices). the pain subsided after 4 days if am not mistaken. 

i also noticed that on the 8th day my fingers started itching and the miniscule bumps went back (like they used to when i was sooo hyperthyroid thus was prescribed by my derma this ointment long before) which is in my observation and further reading signifies that the overactivity in my hormones or something heightened. i know i should've been a doctor. this is the result of too much internet research. i resort to google than doctors heheh.

i felt the significant change in my vitals this week which is the second week of my post RAI. my heartbeat seemed normal and the hand tremors somewhat subsided although my throat is kinda itchy all the time especially if am not hydrated. but then, i know that it'll take a month before i totally feel the impact of the treatment that's why my endoc scheduled me for another check up before this month ends.

i can't wait to be well. if only RAI is magic wand i hope there's no repercussion to undergoing one to each and every thyroid patientz. i guess the world would be a better place that ailments is just a magic wand away eh? 

i know, i shouldn't treat my illness this way but i guess it's just my way of looking at the shining, shimmering, splendid side of life 'cuz my birthday is this month and i shouldn't fret! all of me and my sistah's  leave request were granted so our trip to cambodia isn't a world away after all. i'm just excited i guess. it's been a while since i left the confides of this cold city. i need a different air except carbon monoxide. it's summer. oh god i hate summer.

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wander lust

what's cooking?

well, i decided to ask my doctor if am able to undergo RAI (radioactive iodine) to finally put an end to my hyperthyroidism. my endoc admitted that i am kind of hard to treat because i have been enduring medications for almost a year now and my thyroid hasn't gone back to normal yet. 

i hate going back to my endoc everytime due to endless bloodtests, medications here and there haiz. it is exhausting to be a thyroid patient. i finally decided to undergo RAI to put an end to my ethereal bloodtest since the phlebotomists are also having a hard time drawing blood from me 'cuz i think i have turned into a vampire and i don't have blood anymore regardless of how i drink too much fluid! 

photo not mine, got it from google images

anyways nuff of that all i wanna do is to be normal again and not worry about my health getting in the way. i get tired too much because i am hyperthyroid thus everytime i do long walks especially uphill i am running out of breath. it wasn't like that before and i want my healthy life back especially now that my twinnie and i is cooking up a trip to cambodia this coming summer for our birthday. 

speaking of our cambodia getaway which is not in a couple of months from now, we originally thought of getting a travel package through a travel agency (so they make our itinerary for the trip).  the only problem was, their travel packages does not include airfare which is the bloody part. so, we just decided to make our own itinerary, booked our own flight and arranged tours with the hotel direct instead of going through travel agencies because it's really hard not having any control of your trip as travel agencies do it in such a way that everything must go on as planned. 

well see how it works. i'll definitely blog about it to help my fellow wander lusters who are organizing their trip themselves to siem reap. my sister and i are planning to go on as backpackers to save ourselves from the troubles of losing any baggage. 

as of right now were busy scouring the web reading blog after blog to aid us in our trip this april. as much as we hate boarding a plane to cambodia on the actual day of our b-day but i guess we don't have much of a choice as airplane seats to siem reap are getting sold out really fast. my oh my.

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