APAD 275: The Smiling Faces of Bayon Temple
Ladies and gentlemen, presenting to you the giant smiling faces of Bayon Temple, in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Angkor Wat is amazing but Bayon is a stand-out and my personal favourite. It is a temple like no other and worth going there to see them. Again and again.
These giant faces, looking in four directions, are hoisted in 52 towers representing the provinces of what was once the Great Khmer Empire. As to who the faces represent remain a mystery up to now.
Standing there – in awe – looking at these stone faces that are looming down on you is just memorable. The history, the beauty, as well as the architectural marvel is just unbelievable. The stone faces seem to look at you at any angle. Why, I could just stand there and stare back at the faces all day! Well, I’ll stop if I get hungry, to be honest 🙂
APAD 273: A specious someone
My husband and I had a good laugh when we spotted this sign on a tuktuk yesterday parked just a block away from the Russian Market. I instantly took a photo but my husband posted it first to his blog, lol.
Just what exactly is specious?
A combination of “SPECIAL” and “PRECIOUS” equals to “SPECIOUS”?
To most native English speakers, “specious” isn’t exactly a nice word to label someone so I’m wondering why it’s used to this birthday person. I am assuming though that the sign is probably (a) an example of a KHMENGLISH (or ENGRISH), (b) a funny prank, or (c) a revenge for annoying someone.
But whatever the reasons are, it just goes to show that the tuktuk’s potential as an advertising tool is huge.
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APAD 272: Ready-to-wear
Random shots from the dry-goods section of the Psah Thmey (Central Market) in Phnom Penh. Most, if not all, of these RTWs, that stands for ready-to-wear, are surplus (branded) from the many garment factories in the city.
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APAD 268: Children as tourist attractions
In Cambodia, there is an on-going campaign to end what is dubbed as “orphanage tourism”.
The poster below is produced by Friends International (FI) whch spearheaded this campaign calling out to tourists to help end orphanage tourism.
This sign was hanging at the coffee stall inside the Russian Market where a lot of tourists visit.
But just what is “orphanage tourism”? According to the FI’s Think Child Safe Project:
When traveling to Cambodia, it has become a norm for tourists to be approached by children, requesting that they make a visit to their orphanage before leaving town. Generally, a visit would include a short performance or dance routine by the children, accompanied with a request for small donation to assist with orphanage running costs. An entire industry has grown out of thousands of tourist visits. It is known as orphanage tourism.
It just breaks my heart every time I hear stories of abuse and/or exploitation of children. To know more about this issue and what you can do to help, please visit the campaign website: Think Child Safe.
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APAD 267: Ta Prohm Temple candle
A section of the Ta Prohm Temple, aka, the Tomb Raider temple, carved on a candle.
This is the actual temple:
Photo Source: www.besttourism.com
Click this link for a larger view of the picture.
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APAD 263: Secondhand cars
Would you like to buy one? This shop is only one of the hundreds of secondhand car shops all over the city. You’d be surprised at what kinds of cars and brands are available here in Cambodia. It’s like a minefield out here – luxury vehicles, SUVs, and many, many more.
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