2nd Day at Angkor

The day started out much better than yesterday, slightly overcast, great for capturing pictures!

 

We thought we got up early enough, but alas, the groups of tour buses were chugging along with us.

 

*anyone planning to get a week long pass to Angkor, here is a tip, do not trim the laminate around your pass.*

 

I thought I would make mine more pocket friendly, little did I know that they do a little hole punch each time you visit, strange considering that it has the expiry date on the card itself!

 

But we managed to get going after the confusion. The sights are definately getting busier, but if you have the time and patience, if you sit and wait long enough, the crowd ebbs enough to get decent shots without anyone in it! Unlike places like the Louvre, where getting a clear shot of the Mona Lisa is NOT happening.

 

We took off early, got Bas Reliefed out, plus we have lots of time. And we wanted to head to the massage parlour, where it is run by disadvantaged/blind Cambodians who have suffered during the Khmer years and this is a great way for them to get income and get off the streets. Later tonight, we are off to a cooking school for disadvantaged children to interact with tourists to practice their english and skills.

 

Great way to support the locals in a postive way! AND eat good food!

 

Here are some pictures we managed to resize for the blog.

 

Cheers!

The Ultimate Faux Pas

ha!
So I am sitting on a bus from Kompong Thom to Siem Reap and there is a bee/wasp flying near me on the inside window. I am allergic to their stings so I wasn't too impressed.

Anyway, I had a book with me and was just about to say bye bye to the thing....when I remember that there are two buddhist monks sitting in front of me.....needless to say, I ended up not killing the bee as that would seriously have been frowned upon!

Cambodia

The state of a people...

Being in a country where poverty hits so many and seeing how people can overcome and see the brighter side is an amazing feeling.

 

However, knowing how/why they are able to have the "glass is full" attitude due to their political unrest also brings sadness to the heart.

 

I wish these people the best and hope they are able to rebound and grow into the once glorious country they were before.

 

They work tirelessly, always friendly and with a smile.

 

Coming here makes us realize that our problems in our normal everyday lives pale in comparison.

 

In short, don't take for granted what you have, live life to it's fullest. And always tell people how you feel, you may never get another chance....

Blu Ray FTW!

I just read ( I know, the news has been out for a few days now), that Warner and New Line have both gone exclusive Blu Ray.

So, if it wasn't for the fact that everyone at Paramount is a greedy SOB and had not taken the payout of $16 million for the next 18 months, Blu Ray would be sole survivor of the format wars.

I read an interesting comment posted in the article:

"Arguing over over Blu Ray and HD DVD is like arguing over a 30GB HDD and a 50GB HDD."

Which is very true. I like to use a more extreme example, would you use them old Zip drives or one of the USB thumbdrives? Both allow the transfer of info, but one clearly holds more and is faster! (hint: it's the USB thumbdrive)

And since this is a blog and nothing has to be factual, I read that Toshiba owns the patent rights to the DVD format and everyone who has been using it needs to pay a royalty fee. Thus HD DVD is based on DVD and would mean that Toshiba would continue to make royalties if it were to be the winner of the format wars. Oh...that's why they bought out Paramount...

Blu Ray: point, set and match....now give me Transformers and the Bourne series on Blu Ray!!!