Surviving the Cambodian Heat – Siem Reap

While Phnom Penh may be the capital of Cambodia, the true tourist gems are in Siem Reap.  If you had a limited time and had to choose Phnom Penh or Siem Reap to visit, choose the latter.  Angkor Wat is a UNESCO World Heritage Centre for a reason.

In fact, because Phnom Penh is the capital of Cambodia,  you should be able to get even cheaper rates of Tuk Tuk in Siem Reap.  Visit Vithei Charles De Gaulle and the road has a lot of nice resorts there.

This post will focus on Siem Reap (Days 2 and 3).  For information on Phnom Penh and general tips about Cambodia, please visit: https://travelwithabutterfly.com/surviving-the-cambodian-heat-phnom-penh/ Continue reading Surviving the Cambodian Heat – Siem Reap

Surviving the Cambodian Heat – Phnom Penh

It’s amazing how two countries separated by a 2 hour flight can contrast so differently, and yet this is what I experienced during my trip to Cambodia.

Unlike the skyscrapers and luxurious cars in Hong Kong, Cambodia was about the dust and the beating sun.  We were at both Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, with the former being extremely dusty.  The weather was extremely hot, but without the humidity, I personally found it more accommodating than the insufferable humidity that is in Hong Kong.

One thing I particularly noticed was the number of different international influences the country has.  The streets have prominent French figures named after them.  There are numerous US company brands everywhere, not to mention the numerous Chinese companies that also exist in this developing country.  When you witness this many different country influences, you know the country’s been through some turmoil. Continue reading Surviving the Cambodian Heat – Phnom Penh

Twenty Five Amazingly Helpful Tips To Enhance Your EDC Vegas Experience

Nooo, I’m not talking about drugs!!!  I’m talking about practical tips so you can avoid the hassle and actually experience EDC with ease.  Friends of mine have told me that EDC Vegas is a life changing experience, I kid you not.  By the way, even though I’m specifically referring to EDC Vegas in this post, I guess some of these tips are applicable to other dance music festivals as well.  (SPOILER ALERT) This post contains pictures of last year’s EDC event. Continue reading Twenty Five Amazingly Helpful Tips To Enhance Your EDC Vegas Experience

C’est Paris!

A short excerpt from Jan. 4, 2014 while on the train to Paris, “It’s Saturday 9am.  I’ve only slept a little over 2 hours at the moment.  It seems that the taste of beer hasn’t completely left my stomach yet.  Neither my stomach nor my head seem to be friends with me right now.  I am dehydrated.  Instead of sleeping and waking up early to catch the 6:18am train to Paris, my friends and I decided it would be better off to party our asses off.  We initially tried Ministry of Sound at first.  Yes the legend, the place where all EDM was created and played and the record label that produces many many super DJs.  To our disappointment, the place was closed.  It was cause Christmas and New Year apparently was an extended holiday in London, more like a 2 week vacation than a 2 day vacation.  No problem.  This time we decided to check out Funky Buddha.  It was a risk – we were wearing tourist clothes; well I was.  White pants with stain. A fur jacket which was layered with another twin jacket, a mullet, and white shoes, the killer of going to a classy club.  Anyway we tried going in and boom there we are, we managed to get into the ‘Sugar’ (old HK club) of London.  BURP.  There’s another weird taste lingering in my mouth.  That’s the taste of the salted roast beef we had walking back to (my friend’s) place pretty much passing Brick Lane and all the sketchy places there was but that salty roast beef was amazingly good.”

Arriving in Paris, I clearly wasn’t in my best state.  Neither did I have any time to recover as I had a short two day weekend before my trip back to London.  So within this short span, I was determined to visit all the touristy locations in Paris.  This included little sleep and well organized planning. Continue reading C’est Paris!

Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi

I went to an Australian trip with a couple of my friends (or mates, as the Australians call it, at least some) back in 2012 (specifically from Nov. 24 to Dec. 2).  In the span of 9 days, we covered three different places – first it was Cairns, then Gold Coast, then Melbourne (although for me, I only spent a full day in Melbourne for Stereosonic and at a nightclub called Love Machine and had to take the flight the next morning).  My memory’s a bit rusty from the trip, so I’ll share with you as much as I remember along with some pics.  But definitely one of the best trips of my life, great weather, great food, super fun, GREAT COMPANY, everything was awesome.  Thanks for my friends for organizing and being at the trip. Continue reading Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi

Twenty Not As Touristy Things To Do In Hong Kong

Looking for something fun and interesting to do in Hong Kong?  Look no further as I present to you 20 Not As Touristy Things To Do right now in Hong Kong.

quick update (as of Oct. 15, 2023): This post was made almost 8 years ago so many things have changed. Some shops you see on Star Street and Ship Street are no longer here. I think the Tai O Infinity Pool is banned from entering now. Bubble Football is no more. If you want a complete list of many more activities to do in Hong Kong, I suggest you check out my travel bucket list page, where I wrote a lot of things to do in Hong Kong. Continue reading Twenty Not As Touristy Things To Do In Hong Kong

Hokkaido in November

Quick tips about Hokkaido:

Jr Train Map

  • The people here do not speak any English… like at all.  You’d expect the hotels to know English, but a majority of the staff couldn’t speak the language even one bit
  • As yen continues to depreciate, the value there keeps getting cheaper.  I was extremely happy with what I was getting for food and for shopping for the price I was paying
  • So yeah it’s a food paradise
  • Since public transportation is quite expensive, and since the weather can be a bit harsh in winter times, I would actually recommend renting a car if you have a group of three or more.  4 days rental was quoted at 29,000 yen including insurance
  • If you are traveling short distances and going with 3 or more people, you can consider riding a taxi too
  • Felt very safe the entire trip
  • If you want to see the autumn leaves, you should go there around Sept / Oct.  If you want to go for skiing / snowboarding, you should go there around December to February
  • Sapporo is a great city, but to appreciate Hokkaido’s scenery, you really have to go outside the city to other parts of Hokkaido

Continue reading Hokkaido in November

Geneva Breaks My Wallet

About Geneva:

Geneva is a rather peaceful, quiet city for both the common tourists and locals.  Everything is very calm, it’s got an extremely low crime rate, everything is in order, and it just seems very serene to me.  Too serene in fact.  Sure, visiting here is OK for me, but I definitely cannot live here (otherwise I would be too bored.  I’m more of a big busy city person). Continue reading Geneva Breaks My Wallet

Seoul – Shopping Heaven

Quick tips about Seoul:

  • It is a shopping paradise
  • It’s also a food paradise (especially if you like spicy and KBBQ)
  • We didn’t do any sight seeing, but based on reading from blogs, books and other guides, there isn’t an astounding amount of cultural / historical / scenic things to do (as compared to places in Europe).  A bit similar to Bangkok.  They EXIST but it’s not abundant and should be able to cover in a few days for the major attractions
  • The people there know very little English.  In fact, the salespeople in the retail shops actually speak Mandarin much better than English so prepare to bring some sort of translation book if you can only speak English
  • Transportation is very convenient
  • Although the transition between different train lines is a fair bit of distance… so plan your time accordingly
  • Many 24 hour restaurants
  • Felt safe the entire trip
  • very affordable (compared to HK)
  • actually Seoul is pretty much like Hong Kong except they speak Korean there instead of Cantonese

It’s definitely a trip well worth going, especially if you are into Korean Pop culture.  I’ll show you the places we went (for shopping and eating) so you can have a rough itinerary for your next trip. Continue reading Seoul – Shopping Heaven

Yunnan, Where The Pictures Are Prettier Than Reality Part Two

Thank you for continuing to read part two of my Yunnan trip.  If you haven’t done so already, you can read part one of my Yunnan trip by clicking here: Part One.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I thought Yunnan was overrated.  I found a couple of locals who were very rude and impolite to us (while those who were extremely friendly and nice towards us were our hotel hosts, tour guides, and restaurants we visited).  Shopkeepers were extremely aggressive with their selling (and I understand that their income may be low, but that doesn’t make me not dislike their aggressiveness), and the bathrooms there were very, very unhygienic.  Even the food wasn’t as tasty as we thought, and sometimes the food wasn’t even cooked (we had dumplings where the meat was still pink >o<).  This is really disappointing as it made us lose trust in FOOD… we immediately lost appetite after this incident. Continue reading Yunnan, Where The Pictures Are Prettier Than Reality Part Two