Eat, Pray, Work, Travel then Repeat

I visited Cambodia on a week-long backpacking trip with friends. Angkor Wat in Siem Reap Cambodia in a rainy day of February. We included Cambodia in our DIY trip to three geographically closed countries. Vietnam and Thailand were the other two countries. From Ho Chi Minh(HCM) City in Vietnam, our hotel arranged our transfer to Phnom Penh (PP). Almost all hotels and travel agencies in HCM can arrange tour to Cambodia's capital city. Tourist bus usually travels three times a day from HCM to PP. We decided to get the first trip to PP via Mekong Bus which left early morning in HCM. Travel time between HCM and PP is usually 6 hours, but it took us more than 6 hours because the bus stopped halfway for early lunch. Since it is a day trip, normal views from your bus windows were the traditional wooden Cambodian houses with long bamboo stairs, cows and goats along the roadside and wide rice paddy fields. We reached Phnom Penh's bus sta...

Living in Sohar city in Oman for several years now, I can say that a part of me has  embraced the Omani culture. I have come to love tea instead of coffee because teahouses are almost everywhere. Tea or chai is everyone's energy drink. I gained weight so easily because of the array of sweets and delights available in its supermarkets and restaurants and I am in constant reminder of myself not to overeat. Me and my friends are all food lovers. Together, we explored Sohars' restaurants and eateries for food adventure. Below are just some that we have visited. 1.  Turkish restaurant Corniche  - we call it "Baba's Turkish Resto" because we all call the owner  Baba  (Arabic for papa). With its spacious dining area and family rooms, the restaurant becomes the favorite venue for many birthday celebrations and occasions.  Our favorite orders include grilled chicken and fish, shawarma, sarok, and their cheese honey which is a must-try.  Custom...

Spending a weekend in Milan, the fashion capital of Italy, in the last two days of 2106 was a side trip of my Switzerland tour. I took the 7am trip from Basel to Milan through the SBB train. The average journey from Basel to Milan is 4 hours and 40 minutes or five hours if it is a holiday or a weekend. Traveling alone, I enjoyed the breathtaking landscape of Switzerland from the train's window on my way to Italy.   I also had a nice chat with an old woman sitting opposite to me on the train who alighted at the fourth stations after Basel. I alighted at Lugano Station and switched train going to Milano Central. I admired the beautiful view of the Como beach when I passed by the place. When I reached Milan, I was fetched by Kuya Darius, our neighbor and family friend in my hometown, who is working and living there . I contacted him prior to my visit. A reunion with someone from your hometown whom you have not seen for quite a long time was a wonderful experien...

I only spent a weekend in SG during my first two visits. I was in Johor Bahru (JB), Malaysia in 2011 and 2012 for a one-month work and because JB has land border with Singapore, I decided to cross the border. It took me one hour to reach SG from Larkin Bus station in JB (including the two stops at the immigration of Malaysia and Singapore). Accommodation in SG was not a problem because I have friends and relatives living in SG who volunteered to host me on my visit. On my first visit, my cousin, John Rey (JR), fetched me in Bugis station and  from there, we started wandering the streets of the Lion City. Before the last MRT trip, we went to Toah Payoh, my friend's Ochie's place, where I would be staying for that weekend. The next day, Ochie and I  toured the city and visited the  Esplanade , the  Merlion park , and the  Marina bay  area. On the same day, me and my cousin JR went to  Universal Studio in Sentosa Island , enjoyed the rides...

Gudeg   is the most popular food in central Java and a street lined with restaurants offering this cuisine is just at the heart of Yogyagarta city in Indonesia. Gudeg The main ingredient of this dish is unripe jackfruit cooked with coconut and sugar (jackfruit stew). Other ingredients include garlic, chili and other spices. The food is served together with egg or chicken, chicken liver, tofu or crispy beef skin, or it can be served solely. I tried the Gudeg from  Buharyanto Restaurant  in Wijilan Sebelas in Yogyagarta. They served it with steamed rice, chicken meat and crispy beef skin, all mixed together in one plate. Wijilan area is the center of Gudeg restaurants because all its restaurants are offering different varieties of this cuisine. You can easily find this area as it is only few meters away from The Kraton of Yogyakarta, one of Yogyakarta's tourist destinations, a palace where the official s...