AK-47 Rifle

I won't miss out the chance to shoot using the AK- 47 Rifle with real bullets in Cu Chi Tunnel, Vietnam. Well, I don't have such opportunities to do so in Malaysia.

The Real Bullets. 10 bullets for USD 15.00 (US 1.50 per bullet). Still worth the munny Money.

At the Shooting Range inside Cu Chi Tunnel, awaiting for the ang moh chap to fire off his last shot before my turn to fire play with the AK-47 Rifle. The thrill, the excitement, the "bang", the momentum, the impact, the syiokness, the sukuness. Wah... Unable to describe with words :P

I picked up one of the leftover empty bullets from the ground after shooting. Hehehe, I don't care whether i hit the target or not. What matter is the fun of holding the real firearm and shooting with the real bullets.

Anyway, I checked my backpack before leaving the place to ensure that there was no empty bullet that landed inside my backpack accidentally. Jialat loh if found out to carry those bullets inside the airport security checkpoint :P

Notre Dame Cathedral

Having been colonized by the French, Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam has many french buildings and one of the popular landmarks is the Notre Dame Cathedral.
This Roman Catholic church was constructed in the late 19th century. Yeah, it is definitely not as outstanding as the Notre Dame Cathedral in France which I visited way back in 2003, but it is still a place worth visiting.

A huge statue of the Virgin Mary is located in the centre front of the cathedral. The two bell towers were tipped with the iron crosses. The total height of the cathedral to the top of the Cross is around 60 metres.

The inner chamber of the Notre Dame Cathedral.

Beautiful stained glass windows inside the cathedral

I have no idea what is written on the plates up there. (Duc Me = ??)

Statue of Virgin Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus inside the stable.

The cruxification

The main altar

**Addendum :To answer Cocka's question, there is no Hunch Back of Notre Dame greeting us at the entrance gate. Instead, we saw a handicapped beggar guy with Phocomelia (congenital disorder of the upper limbs with flipper-like appearance of the hands).

Tonle Sap, Cambodia

Finally we reached our destination ~ Tonle Sap (the largest fresh water lake in South East Asia). Yeah, this was the muddy and dusty pathway we took. Those thatched huts were located along this pathway.

This was our "Tour Boat"~ bringing us to tour around The Floating Village in Tonle Sap.

The Floating Primary School

The Floating Church

During our boat ride, we saw quite a number of locals on their boats coming along side our boat selling stuffs like canned soft drinks, bananas, souvenirs etc.

The Floating Restaurant and Souvenir shop and Crocodile Farm.

What is that??? Yeah, those who have read my previous entry might know the answer. Yeah, that was a child beggar paddling inside the bucket or pail.

Remember the handicapped child beggar in the previous post? Several of these child beggars were seen in the lake.

Young mother selling banana, with her baby sleeping on her lap. Amazing...

Another pathetic looking baby girl hoping someone will buy the banana so that she can call it a day and go back home earlier. This is one of their daily routines...

The other tour boats which stopped by in this Floating Restaurant.

The mobile grocery store for the locals

Mmmmm... I have no idea what is this...

So many family members resting inside the small floating house. Can you imagine yourself staying in such a place? Nah....

Journey back home...

Some weird looking boat..

Related Entries :
* Thatched Huts, Tonle Sap
* Photo Hunters : Skinny

Thatched Huts, Tonle Sap

On our way to Tonle Sap lake, we came across and passed by several temporary thatched huts or straw huts on both sides of the muddy path road.

The Tonle Sap region is one of the poorest part of Cambodia. All the photos in this post were taken through the side window of our fast moving tour bus. Hence, u can see a "dark triangle" like thingy at the bottom of the left hand corner of each photo.

Nothing wrong with your eyesight. This is one of the distorted-looking thatched huts along the Tonle Sap tributary.

With the Cambodian girl standing next to the straw hut, u can roughly speculate the size of the hut. The entire families will perch and cramp inside these small huts.

The "bigger" thatched huts with several "compartments" and kids playing in the hut compound.

Cambodians resting at the entrance to the straw huts. Where are the doors? I didn't see any doors :(

Hut with mini garden ~ the flower pots

This straw hut has a "special" door.

After seeing the above photos, do you consider yourself lucky and blessed? Can you imagine yourself living and growing up in such an environment? We are indeed much more fortunate than many others out there.

Bayon and Angkor Thom

After leaving our foot prints in Angkor Wat and Ta Prohm in Siem Reap, our next destination was Bayon and Angkor Thom. Bayon is famous for the gigantic stone faces (the face towers) usually set in groups of four around a central prang (tower).

Statues on the alley along the causeway, in Angkor Thom

The carving of the Jayavarman head statue, taken at one of the Gates of Angkor Thom

Bayon of Angkor Thom, with numerous giant faces or face towers with enigmatic smiles.

A closer view of the headless Lion and the Broken Naga (Seven headed Serpent) with Smiling Face Towers at the background.

A suitable location for playing hide-and-seek? ;)

Apsara dancers again. Mmm... They are "everywhere".

Imagine if walking here in the middle of the night.. The only available light source is the moonlight, plus the torchlight. Mmmmm...

More ruins....

Smiling faces are seen everywhere.

*Smile*, You are on Candid Camera ;)

There are faces tower everywhere, which means.. Someone is watching at your steps ;)

How many smiling faces u see in this face tower? Two are visible here, out of four.

The serenity of the smiling faces. Don't you love Bayon and Angkor Thom?

If you are tired at the end of the day after a long walk, u can enjoy the elephant ride back home.

Ta Prohm, Siem Reap

The next temple complex that I visited after Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia is Ta Prohm. Ta Prohm, the jungle wat is probably the most atmospheric temple in the entire Angkor temple complex. The trees growing out of the ruins are the distinctive feature of Ta Prohm.

The collapsing inner gopura (entrance) to Ta Prohm. I can't help but to look up at the collapsing gopura while entering the temple compound.

Mini stone carvings or bus reliefs with posture similar of holding the collapsing gopura? :P

The ruins...

The silk cotton tree invading the ruins of the Ta Prohm temple walls

Look at the root of the silk cotton tree. Mother nature is indeed amazing !!!

I'm speechless. The power of mother nature. time I see such a scene... Wow

The strangler fig tree invading the ruins

Bus-Reliefs on the temple wall

These tree roots reminds me of the chicken feet or phoenix claw, especially my beloved tungku kai keok.. Hahahhaha

Massive tree roots intertwine with stone pillars and carvings of the stunning Ta Prohm temple complex.

The photogenic and atmospheric combination of the trees and roots growing out of, and cracking the ruins of the temple complex made it a scenic place for photo shooting. *Smile*

This is indeed an eye opening experience and I love this UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site. Seeing all these gigantic trees and roots engulfing and cracking the temple complex, I had fully experienced the power of mother nature at Ta Prohm. And yeah, those who had watched Tomb Raiders would have seen Ta Prohm as this is one of the shooting location for the movie ;)