The next logical destination after Siem Reap was obviously Phnom Penh, the capital and largest city of Cambodia. Although I personally liked Khmer food which consists of curries, stir fried vegetables, rice, noodles and soups a lot, my stomach strongly disagreed with me, and we were not only avoiding the street food but also eating in pretty good places. Did not make any difference. During our staying in Cambodia (almost a week) the food was pretty much a problem for me ( and also for Anniina later on...) The buss trip from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh was surprisingly short, only four hours! Whole the traveling thing was kindly organized by our No Problem hotel in Siem Reap, and cost almost nothing. Luckily the bus was cozy and comfortable, otherwise I would have felt even more ... read more

Something odd and strange was happening 8th of this month in Little India, which occurred to be a Sunday, the full moon day in the month of Thai. The 'thing' was called Thaipusam Festival which celebrates the birthday of the Hindu deity Subramaniam when Hindus show the sincerity of their faith. During this period, these men called devotees pray for divine help and make vows. When their prayers are answered, they fulfill their vows. To do this, the devotees had pierced their cheeks, tongue, face and other suitable body parts with sharper objects never seen. Next his friends/relatives had loaded a kavadi on their shoulders. The kavadis were a large metal frames attached to their bodies using a horrific array of hooks and spikes which were almost too painful to even watch! Immediately when I saw ... read more

We got an old Finnish friend far from Hong Kong to visit with us. She had just finished her exchange semester in HK and was on her way aroun South - East Asia passing by our beloved Singapore. It was a time to do some touristic things here and Singapore Zoo together with the Night Safari seemed to be a good option for us all. I personally had a little doubts towards Zoo, not that I wouldn't like animals, vice versa, I really like and appreciate them, I just dislike the Zoo concepts in general. Years ago I have visited in Kolmården Zoo in Sweden, which I pretty much liked, animals were more like free there. But after that I have been visiting couple Zoo's I don't want to even mention, so horrible they were, and ... read more

We were little bit late to see Singaporean Chinese New Year Celebrations at Chinatown since Chinese new year 2009 falls on 26th of January, 2009 and we were delayed because of our Bintan's trip. Luckily the decorations and other things were still there. The Chinese New Year is celebrated as the symbol of spring's celebration and as Singapore is said to be a place largely influenced by the tradition and culture of China and Chinese people, The Chinese New Year holds a special significance in here. We were strongly recommended to go there and see that area. Actually whole the January there has been signs here and there that the Chinese new lunar year is coming closer and closer. Shopping malls have turned to be places full of flowers and pink and red colors. At school ... read more

If we just had known it beforehand which world we were stepping into when moving to Singapore. Little India, our new home area was anything else except a disappointment when we arrived, and I still found it as a one of the most exciting, colorful and attractive places to visit and stay in Singapore. We luckily have a chance to live there everyday;) With this entry I would like to share with you some facts about this area we have been living these months as I realized not so many photos are yet taken or posted from this area. Basically Little India is, as the name promises, the center for the large Indian community in Singapore. Although I have never been in India, I could suggest that this area here is a rather sanitized version of ... read more