Angkor Wat Part 3: Sunrise

After staying up late last Tuesday to cheer as Obama became our president, Richard and Debbie roused us early to catch sunrise over Angkor Wat. We were exhausted and completely templed-out, but we knew that this was probably our one chance to see this sunrise. The colors were muted but the early morning light was beautiful, and we had fun playing with our new camera while the rest of the family admired the bas reliefs. This was the perfect ending to three templetacular days.

Sunrise in its true-to-life colors.

Sunrise in our camera's sunset mode!

Me trying to be photography's Joseph Turner. Not saying this is great art, but it was fun.

Pretty light inside the temple.

Brought to you by Ian, master of light!

Richard realized his lifelong dream of visiting Angkor Wat. That kid who's running away was really cute, but didn't want to be in my photo.

Angkor Wat Part 2: What a Relief!

Many of the temples of Angkor are covered in massive bas reliefs. These reliefs depict historic events and contain lots of religious imagery. Many bas reliefs in the Buddhist temples contained large empty spaces where images of the Buddha had been removed by Hindu leaders. Although the historical significance of the reliefs is generally lost on me, what is really surprising is what good quality most of the reliefs are still in, especially considering they are 600-1,000 years old.

Human battle.

Rooster battle.

A "stick in the eye" specialist.

Some bas reliefs are shiny from being rubbed by foreigners as well as Cambodians in search of protection from the Khmer Rouge. No surprises about which parts get rubbed the most.

Angkor Wat Part 1: Three Days of Temples

Ian's family ran us ragged in Angkor Wat. Prior to our arrival in Cambodia, we had been accustomed to sleeping eight or nine hours a night. Once we started touring temples it was, "Goodybe, sleep. Hello, wee hours of the morning." This made us a little grumbly and we send our apologies to anyone who had to deal with us on those days. The bright side of getting up early was that we managed to see a lot of temples in the cooler morning hours (followed by lots of temples in the hot afternoon hours). Though the sights were outstanding, I admit I spent a lot of time fantasizing about the hotel pool.

It would be impossible to give you a good overview of what we saw in less than 300 photos. The temples were everything we hoped they would be - mystical, overgrown, ornately carved - and many things we hoped they wouldn't be - overrun with tourists, full of touts, and very, very hot. Angkor Wat could easily be spoiled by the ever-increasing onslaught of tourists, so get there soon. You've probably seen images just like these before, but these are from our very own camera:

Bayan at Angkor Thom.

Tha Prom - definitely our favorite temple.

How much is that cute boy in the window?

These columns sure are crumbly. The slightest touch is all it takes....

Arrival in Cambodia

The Kuala Lumpur Low Cost Carrier Terminal is the worst airport Ian and I have ever experienced. That's saying a lot, as we were once stuck under Lima airport's leaky roof for nine hours. Here's a good indicator of their ineptitude: our flight to Siem Reap was boarding at a gate with the sign "Hanoi." A mass of people with tickets for three different flights were all in the same line, and no crew members monitored the line to help people figure out where they needed to be. As we passed through the gate (presumably to board our plane), we were individually told our plane number and were released onto the tarmac to find our plane. Here we thought the gate would lead us down one of those little tunnels to our plane but instead we were walking around on the asphalt looking for plane F25. Awesome.

All this means we were very happy to arrive in Siem Reap, Cambodia to begin our three-day tour of Angkor Wat. We were excited to meet up with Ian's sister, Katie, and her boyfriend, Clark, when we arrived. It was Katie's birthday on Monday, and it was pretty cool to have a family reunion in Cambodia to celebrate. A few non-temple photos from our first couple of days:

First night's sunset. We watched it from a hilltop temple with about 1,000 other tourists.

Tiara loves Cambodia sunsets ... as long as the mosquitoes stay away.

Debbie, Katie, and Clark tuk-tuking around town.

The river was very still and had great reflective properties this morning.

Richard and Debbie bought Katie an elephant ride for her birthday. Ian and I were also feeling generous and spent a whole American dollar on bananas so she could feed the elephant.

Kuala Lumpur Photos

We're way behind in our posts. Charlie has been trying to help, but he's been wrapped up in seeing the sights and in some adventures of his own, as he's sure to tell you about in the near future. We are currently in Battambang, Cambodia, but over the next several days we'll be posting photos from the last couple weeks of our trip, including Angkor Wat. Pardon the lack of chronology here - our favorite ice cream cone kid can only do so many things at once!

Ian has provided you with his astute observations and accurate impressions of our first couple of days in Kuala Lumpur. Once the cockroaches chased us out of our guest house, however, things really improved. We found a nice place in a different part of town, and by the time we left we had gained a real appreciation for the city. The food was excellent, the architecture was impressive, and the nearby sights were pretty cool. Some photos:

Kuala Lumpur Monorail. This is not a bad system, but the crowds are awful during Peak Hours. Needed: more than two cars per train.

Another view of the Petronas Towers.

View from the top: neat tile patterns on the roof of the attached mall.

View of some nice gardens by the towers.

Menara Kuala Lumpur.

Awesome man with a bullhorn teaching passersby how to solve math problems.

The very sacred and craggy Bantu Caves.

Monkey at the Bantu Caves.

TYCGF10B Presents TYCGF1MYR

In this very special edition of Things You Can Get for 10 Baht, we'd like to bring you a Thing You Can Get for 1 Malaysian Ringgit (roughly equivalent to 10 Baht): Mangosteens.

To sum up Mangosteens in a word: Mmmmmm. They are the legendary fruit of Southeast Asia, lauded in poems, songs, and biology textbooks for their healing powers and antioxidants. Ian and I looked into the magical mangosteen powers online and found that this is probably bogus, but mangosteen love lives on anyway. We read one old medical account that said, "When a patient refuses a mangosteen, you know his case is beyond hope." I couldn't agree more. Tangy and sweet. Soft and juicy. Antioxidant power (maybe)! W'hat's not to like?

The edible part of the mangosteen is the white segments (like a citrus) surrounded by a thick, bitter purple peel. The fruit is hard to open and sometimes releases a sticky green goo. It's worth the mess for the fruit, though. I could see mangosteen juice catching on at home like POM did.

Mangosteen and aforementioned green goo.

Know your alcoholic relatives

Malaysia has a deserved reputation for producing cheap knock-offs of designer brands. Less well known is the homage they pay to the unsung heroes of the alcohol industry, the siblings and relatives of the famous names in booze. Here are two examples of this enlightened local practice.

Stanley Morgan

The lesser known Morgan twin, Stanley spent most of his life in the shadow of his renowned brother. Though he showed little ambition to achieve the coveted 'Captain' rank, Stanley was a skilled boatswain and accomplished concert pianist. His budding music career was tragically cut short when a freak dominoes accident claimed the first, third and fourth fingers of his right hand. He lived out his later years on a small distillery in Barbados, until he was slain by one of his former crew-members over a waving related misunderstanding.

Louis Martin

One of the many, many Louis from France, Monsieur Martin was a hopeless drunk and an incorrigible philanderer. Perhaps his sole contribution to society lay in a letter he wrote to his grand-nephew, which read in part:

• Dear Remy,
• The bottle of "champagne" you sent me was as intoxicating as swine piss and tasted no better. Quit mucking about with your girly fruit juice and make something that'll give your grand-uncle a decent buzz, you worthless little [expletive deleted].

Louis Martin died of self-inflicted wounds incurred in a drunken brawl with a Versaille men's room bathroom mirror. Eyewitness reports claim he mistook his reflected visage for a "bloodshot, bat-faced, cake eating Englishman," then threw himself at the mirror in an intoxicated rage.

A Special Message from the Farang Team Psy Ops Department

Kuala Lumpur Impressions: Update

Our hostel has a communal bathroom. This is not a problem for me - I spent plenty of time in college sharing wash-areas with people dirtier than even the smelliest Canadian (ed note: see/smell Gary Yao, 1983 - present). That said, I was startled by the loud banging on the shower door during my morning ablutions. I had just begun selecting my choicest epithets for this would-be intruder when the door crashed open with a resounding crack. Standing before me was a cockroach the size of a 1975 Buick Electra. I cannot say for sure whether the creature was one of the exoskeletoned juggernauts I saw last evening - I don't mean to sound racist but honestly they all look alike to me.

Anyhow, there I stood face to face with this Kafka-esque monstrosity. Armed with nothing but my liquid soap and my Farang team issue Smith & Wesson 908 (never shower without it), I stood my ground, putting three rounds into my new friend 'Gregor' before he scurried back into the bowels of the Kuala Lumpur drainage system. Only a watery trail of sulfurous ichor betrayed the horror I had just witnessed . Suffice to say I will be changing hotels.

Lest I give an overly negative impression, our first full day in KL was otherwise very pleasant. We visited Chinatown, which was full of pushy touts but also had some good eats, then headed over to see the Petronas towers, which are 10 times as awesome as I thought they would be. I'll leave you with some pictures:

One of the two towers and a section of the sky bridge.

The foyer of the connecting building

First impressions of Kuala Lumpur

We just arrived from Hong Kong, which was, by my recollection, a verdant utopia - sort of like the garden of eden, but with better streets and fewer snakes. Now we are in Kuala Lumpur. Here is what I know so far:
1) It is hot here. This means we are in all likelihood closer to hell.
2) It is dirty here. Not in the way a sandbox is dirty, but in the way a dumpster is dirty.
3) There are people who are probably prostitutes leaning against the front of our building. Alternatively, the fashion here is very "forward."

And now a vignette:
Returning from the corner store, we crossed paths with a pair of young gentlemen who had just espied some of the local fauna. Namely, a cockroach the size of a large cantaloupe. The youths instigated an impromptu soccer game using the offending insect as the ball, until a missed kick let it scurry off down the street. Nonplussed, the monster roach rounded the corner and proceeded to mug an elderly man, relieving him of his sole earthly possessions: a half eaten sandwich and a set of wooden teeth.

Panda Butt Scratch

We got a new camera to replace our ailing SD 400 warhorse. It makes videos small enough to upload, so now you can all see what we see.

The Farang team contracted with numerous image consultants to select the best clip to inaugurate our video blogging offerings, something that really says "We're the Farang team." The selected movie was chosen unanimously. Without further ado, here is the highlight of our trip to Hong Kong's Ocean Park:

More Fun Things for Sale on the Dried Seafood Street

Mmmm, bezoars. Also, where did those "teeth" actually come from?

Macau Casinos

Macau is the only place in China where casinos are legal. There are a few historic casinos, but the big American companies are moving in fast. The Wynn, MGM Grand, Sands, and Venetian are already here. In fact, the Venetian in Macau is the largest casino in the world, and man did it feel like it. I'm pretty sure that within five years we'll be hearing about the Cotai Strip just as much as the Las Vegas Strip. Unlike the Vegas casinos, there doesn't seem to be a lot of partying or drinking involved in the scene. People take their cards very seriously here. Ostentatiousness, however, was readily displayed. Observe:

The Grand Lisboa and Casino Lisboa - two of the old timers. The Grand Lisboa was pretty nice, but the Casino Lisboa - despite the marvelously excessive use of lights - was like a dungeon inside.

Casino district skyline.

Incredible and intricate ivory carving in the Grand Lisboa.

The Wynn, stepping on Bellagio's toes and hosting their own fountain show. The Wynn does the Bellagio one better though - theirs includes fire!

This was very strange. Every half hour the Wynn casts visualizations on its ceiling, which then opens to reveal a crystal chandelier. The chandelier is lowered while a golden tree rises from a hole in the floor. The tree rotates and changes colors for about five minutes before being lowered back into its hole. The chandelier is raised, the ceiling is closed, and everything returns to normal. All this is set against a very dramatic Hollywood score, though Ian and I can't remember what movie it's from. Although this was neat to look at, I can't say I really get it.

Pretty colors in the MGM Grand. Also on display: glass by Chihuly (or "Chitooly," as Ian calls him).

At the slots, Ian got the auspicious five canaries, winning $85 HKD!

Who needs Venice when the Macau Venetian is only an hour away?

Complete with opera-singing gondoliers.