the post that was supposedly posted right after the trip.. haha



HELLO. weiling is back from cambodia! this five-day trip made me gain a lot of insights. we visited the one of the villages, the city, as well as the garbage dump where some people pick rubbish for a living. looking at the differences, i cant help but to feel ashamed. u'll find urself questioning as a singaporean, wad is there still for us to complain about? i've always found this line very typical and cliche but maybe we just have to experience it ourselves in order to understand this inexplicable feeling.



it's such a simple lifestyle that the people there lead. they trust people so easily without being skeptical like many of us back here in singapore. seeing a stranger smile and approach us makes us ponder if he has any motive, but the same situation makes them reciprocate and treat the stranger with more warmth and homeliness. seeing a smile on their faces is as easy as ABC..



looking at the differences, i realised there are so many things that we should learn from them. such as how to appreciate things that we have around us but take for granted, like having running clean water, bug-free homes, non-congested roads, sneeze-free air etc. and see the beauty of simplicity. the water at the vilage homestay was disgusting cos it was brown and smells of metal. u'll even find tonnes of dead little bugs corpses lying on ur sink early in the morning hahaha. we also had to constantly fan our hands at the dining table to chase the flies away which made me sulk at the extent of dirtiness of the place. felt so loserish when i was one of those who screamed my lungs out when tiny little bugs flew towards me. though they were less educated, their high level of resilience has already beat us all. i suddenly feel so pampered.



it's such a heartwarming sight to see the children at the village treating animals like the cows (which looked like XXL size dogs) and roosters (which acted like irritating alarm clocks early in the morning) as part of their families, looking at you with the most sincere smile. but it's heart wrenching when they seem as though they have found gold after receiving a bundle of second hand clothes and an old soft toy each from us.



it was also sad to hear stories from the several households we visited with people with disabilities. there was a lady with physical disability who was almost sold to thailand to beg for money when her father arrived just in time and carried her all the way back home. somehow i feel so inspired by their wishes and hopes for the future. when questioned, that lady said she wanted to be able to go to the market one day and a little girl with physical disabilities as well said that she wanted to wear shoes and be able to walk. even people with inadequacies have great dreams and hopes, the more the rest of us should dare to dream and chase our dreams.



on the fourth day, we visited the garbage dump site where some people pick rubbish for a living and stay there. seems like it was gold that the children there see when we presented them with food and old clothes. it was a gruesome sight. and very sad to see the aggressiveness and greed that we had indirectly encouraged the children from the snatching and fighting.



we also visited the popular tourist sites, the musuem and the killing field where prisoners were being tortured during the polpot regime. it's amazing how humans can submit to power and become so beastly under authority. and it was the very first time that i caught the sunset. :D we caught the sunset for 2 consecutive days! once on the ox cart, the second time on a boat! so beautiful.. the sun was like an egg yolk dipped in some char siew soup. kie maybe i was hungry.



haha. did some shopping at the russian market too. you ppl have souvenirs from me! :D haha. oh man the things were so cheap that i swear u wont feel like spending money when u return to singapore. visited two organisations that serve the people with disabilities too. one which manufactures fake limbs and another which helps the disabled with employment. :) very interesting to see the procedure.



on day five, we flew back. omg and i had diarrhoea. =_= hahaha. wonder if it's jet lag but haf been feeling giddy during the entire trip up till now. oh man. hahaha. and i must say that taking the plane is such a fun experience!! hahaha. and noooo i refuse to agree that it's like giving birth even though some of them said i could say that to my grandchildren next time if they asked me how is giving birth like.. haha once we landed and when my dad and i entered the mrt train, i dropped dead.. sooo tired. and glad to breathe in the dust-free air in spore once agn haha.



First day:

At rachel's house before flight! featuring rachel and juowi, our cooks for the day

so cuteee

and tada. the grown up version.

awww so homely :D

on our way to airport! the nice uncle who let the 5 of us board his car

juowi looks farnie XD

liqin! who came to see us off :D

awww

2B02! <3

me, papa, mama. jiejie where are u!

HAHAHA.

BOARDING THE PLANE!!!

our virgin flight

shh.. i took this secretly. not supposed to take photos at that time.

MY 1ST MEAL ON THE PLANE!!

this girl stole my camera and camwhored for a few min

the moon!! we were dont-know-how-many km off the land!

REACHED!!!

*constipation*

after pooing, *relieved*

on the 2-hour bus ride from airport to khmer village

REACHED! GROUP HUG!

Second day:

breakfast! v home-cooked. i like! esp salted egg :D

boon-toe-derk. meaning toilet!

racial harmony

the children with disabilities

and my battery died cos dumbdumb me forgot to change battery after the first night -_-

Third day:

our homestay! nice rite!

handsome boy!! we taught him how to hi-five and there was his hand, stuck in that position for a few sec

dont noe wad disability he had. but damn cute.

the first house in the village that we visited. this is a 13-year old girl. doctors couldnt diagnose wad disability she had :(

this boy has intellectual disability. so touching to see him smile when i put the toys into his hands

this lady wasnt able to walk properly and had to crawl

end of visits. hence, start of camwhoring!

so sweet :)

their see-saw

ox cart ride!! the bumpy ride plus the cow poop the cows released everywhere were traumatizing i swear. and poor thing. they had ropes tied to through their nostrils

we got the most handsome ox rider!

pee and mee

amazing sunset :)

back. and dinner!

petrina: why this longan no flesh one.*spits out longan full of flesh*

our longan peeler. yum

tastiest meal those three days

bonfire! madalene looks like some star

Fourth day:

On our way to the genocide musuem

the 14 corpses found after the disaster were buried here

the torturing weapons and room where the prisoners stayed

the cubicles for the lower class prisoners

skulls of the deceased. most of those in individual cabinets have got gun shot holes :(

LUNCH. the tastiest egg dish i've ever come across. steamed chicken egg plus century egg plus salted egg

the toufu which had detergent smell. hahaha. and that's my sec 2 class no. behind!

TWINNY! she looks so cute here.

at the killing field.

the 'magic tree' where ppl used to hang a loudpeaker which made the sound louder to avoid the moan of victims while they were being executed :(

where some of them were being thrown down and buried alive

R.I.P

on our way to the garbage dump site

house on stilts!

the garbage dump site :( literally garbage mountains

while distributing food and clothes.. they snatched and fought. :( we shdve handed to the teachers to distribute equally to them instead

i wonder wad would happen if one snapped

boat ride!

my dining mates that evening

mr tan! he looks so cute here

fried bugs eeks!

Fifth day:

BANGS

EMO FRINGE

:D

last breakfast in cambodia. yum.

at the organisation which manufactures fake limbs. these feet look like cheese before being baked in the oven

LUNCH!

foreign darlie advocates.

this guy corrected my "asparagoose" in front of the whole table of ppl -_-

last meal in cambodia! the dessert is cute. some jelly thing with tao sa inside

lady gaga refuses to take a picture with farmer fan

the special wheelchair which is hand ridden

the society which creates employment for the handicapped

amazing drawing using marker

the grumpy kid who was mimicking the disabled handling the handicrafts to attract attention haha

one of their handmade items

pweety!

going home!

i think she misses her chubby bunny

"miss.. please move to the rear" HAHAHA

TWINNY!

HAHAHA.

1st stamp in my empty passport!!!

ehh mad. u anyhow snap. why u so liddat.

we met a tourist from US. hahaha. sorry ange! :X

gootbye cambodia!!

so yeah. that sums up the whole of my cambodia trip :)