Sara in Singapore: Tattooing Buddhist Symbols and Cambodia Travels

It is now Aug. 12. My summer in Singapore is now coming to a close and the time is ticking so much faster than I'd like. My experience here in Singapore has been quite the adventure.Not that its over yet, but I cant believe im just two and a half weeks away from my trip to the airport for my long journey back to Chicago. 

Since the last time I wrote, I traveled to Cambodia. Visiting Phnom Penh was one of the wonderful trips I have ever been on. UN Women Singapore (my office) had a trip planned called Endeavour with a particular group of Mastercard staff. The office had left on a Tuesday and I left on Wednesday. I basically invited myself to Cambodia. I was not going to be part of the project since things were already finalized, but I wanted to see Cambodia anyhow. 

So I packed my small duffled bag with just a few things and headed to the airport. An hour and a half later, I was in Phnom Penh. It was so loud, so dusty, incredibly hot and sunny and just wonderful. I arrived around 1pm, so I had the entire day to explore. I hopped into a taxi right away and tried to explain as best as I could to the driver where I was going. I wanted to meet the women from my office at their hotel and atleast check in with them. Well, about an hour later, my taxi driver said we were there. Well, really we arrived at River Star Hotel. This was definitely not the hotel where my colleagues were staying at. But I hopped out and thought I would check the place out. 

It was $13USD for me to stay the night. For $13USD I could get a AC, hot and cold water, a really nice clean bed, TV, flowers, two water bottles, a phone and even room service in the morning. If I wanted windows in my room though, it was an extra $10. I decided to go with no windows. Since this hotel was along side the river, I dropped my bags in my room, washed up and decided to explore a bit. 

I walked around for about an hour. The city of Phnom Penh is huge, its so dirty and so overly populated with locals as well as tourists mainly from France and Australia. But I was just fascinated by the place. In Cambodia, everyone rides motorcycles. Even the taxis are motorcycles but they are called Tuk Tuks. It is a motorcycle with a buggy attached for the customers to sit. While walking around, a Tuk Tuk driver came up to me and asked me if I had seen any temples so far while in Phnom Penh. Of course I said no but asked if he could take me to one. So I hopped on the Tuk Tuk and began my journey to one of Phnom Penh's most beautiful temples. 

The trip to get to this temple by Tuk Tuk was about and hour and a half. But when I finally got there, it was so magnificent. As I was walking around, two young girls, one 8 and the other 10, asked me if they could show me around. I ended up with two really sweet tour guides and I was lucky I did because they explained absolutely everything to me and even sat down and ask me to pray with them. It was really beautiful. 

Once I finished by tour of the temple ruins, I got back on my Tuk Tuk and headed back to the hotel. With all the 5pm traffic, my trip back was about 2 hours but I finally reached my hotel and showered and just relaxed. Then, got back out into the city to walk around a big more. I saw the palace, a prison, another temple, stopped by a few shops, had dinner, listened to some music and then walked back to my hotel. Before heading upstairs to my room, I sat downstairs where there is a small cafe, and had a beer and started writing my mom a letter. Not that I would send it to her, but I wanted to write down all the things I saw that day. One of the waitresses came up to me and asked if she could sit down and read my letter. As she was struggling to read it, she asked if I could help her. So I helped her with some of her English and we sat and talked for a little bit about school, boyfriends, our mothers, her dream of becoming a scientist and what I planned to do the rest of my trip. It was such a pleasant way to end the evening. 

The next morning, I woke up around 8 a.m., packed up and headed downstairs for breakfast. Already waiting for me outside, was my Tuk Tuk driver! He yells out in his poor English "Sara! Miss Sara. It is nice today. I am here to take you to see Phnom Penh. Take breakfast and lets go!" I definitely chuckled at the sight of my Tuk Tuk drivers from the previous afternoon jumping up and down and waving at me. So I packed up my breakfast, took my tea to go and we embarked on yet another journey. 

He drove me around the city and pointed out all the Embassys, and showed me all his favorite restaurants and shops. After a few hours went by, he asked me if I wanted to have lunch. So we headed to his friends house which was pretty central Phnom Penh. We got there and it looked to me like he was very serious Buddhist. I felt as if I was walking into a temple. He took one look at me, and gestured me to wait. This man didnt speak any English. He proceeded to pull out a small notebook full of drawings of what looked to be Buddhist symbols. He close his eyes and opened the notebook to a random page. He the opened his eyes and mumbled something to my Tuk Tuk driver. " He says that you need protection and some guidance from Buddha" I wasnt even sure what that meant. But something really stood out about this symbol. He then explained to me that this symbol was a message from me to Buddha asking for protection, love and safety on my journey of life. It was then explained to me that Cambodians carry this symbol with them to keep them on the correct path throughout life. It is also a symbol that is given to loved ones if they are going on a plane, that they may be blessed and safe from all harm. 

Well this man also happened to be a tattoo artist. And I just so happened to get this symbol tattooed on my leg right then and there. After that, my Tuk Tuk driver and I left and he took me to Hotel Villa Langka which was where the rest of my colleagues were staying. 

I said my farwell to my Tuk Tuk driver and headed inside the hotel. I then met Trina, UN Women Singapore's current President, for lunch and we sat and chatted for a while until the rest of my colleagues came back from the village they were working at all day. 

Together, my colleagues and I enjoyed Hotel Villa Langka and its pool and beautiful atmosphere. We had dinner together and walked around. 

I had found out that I had actually seen more of Phnom Penh in a little under 24 hours, than anyone else from the office and they had been there 2 days before! 

Saturday morning came around, and Melissa, Minnie and I got on a 7 a.m. bus to Siem Reap. A long and horrendous 6 hours later, we got to Siem Reap. Siem Reap for me was an entirely different experience. It felt different. It smelled different. The people were different. But I was there, and I was going to try and make the most of the experience. Minnie, Melissa and I visited/tooka tour of a community/village that survived completely on a river. It was the most interesting thing to see and so hard to believe that an entire community of people lived in boats on the river.

After our tour, we arrived at the most gorgeous hotel and the next morning, Minnie and I woke up at 4:30 a.m. to go see Angkor Wat. 

Angkor Wat is a temple complex at Angkor, Cambodia built for the kind Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city. As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre since its foundation-first Hindu, dedicated to the god Vishnu, then Buddhist. It is the world's largest religious building. The temple is at the top of the high classical style of Khmer architecture. It has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag, and it is the country's prime acctraction for visitors. 

It was so incredibly gorgeous and if you are going to Cambodia, you must see Angkor Wat. 

After our trip to Angkor Wat, Minnie and I got back to the hotel, I showered and then said my goodbyes to Minnie and Melissa. I headed back on the 6 hour bus to return to Phnom Penh. I was so happy to be able to spend one more night in Phnom Penh before flying back to Singapore. 

But I was exhausted, all my clothes were filthy, I was carrying two really heavy carved sculptures that I had purchased at the river village. My last night in Phnom Penh was quiet and it was a really great way to complete my trip to Cambodia. 

While in Phnom Penh, I had met a Tuk Tuk driver named Chang. He took Melissa and I around on Friday throughout Phnom Penh and then out that evening. Well, Chang met me at my little hotel Monday morning and took me to the airport to get back to Singapore. 

On the way to the airport, Chang and I stopped at the hospital to pick up his wife and his baby son. He was born prematurely and that was the very day he was discharged from the hospital! The entire way to the airport, I held Chang's son and talked with his wife. They wished me well at the airport, Chang handed me flowers that he bought for me as a goodbye present and then they each gave me a long hug.

I must admit I cried a little bit. It was sad to leave Phnom Penh. I had really enjoyed the trip, but so much was waiting for me back in Singapore. 

At work right now, I have just coordinated and put together an entire show for Thursday Aug. 18 at Blujaz Cafe. It is this swanky three story bar/restaurant that I like very much. The concert that I put together there is another Sound Out Against Sex Trafficking concert. Except I have added a new title to the event which is Rhythm With a Reason. I am even performing at this event along with four other bands. I'm really proud of myself and feel good about this event. This event builds awareness about the issue and inspires people to support it. 

Here is the website for Sound Out Against Sex Trafficking: http://soundout.sg/

This will be a wonderful event and I'm really happy that I've put it all together myself. 

Lots more going on here and just about two-and-a-half weeks left. 

More to come!

(Please see pictures of my Cambodia trip at this link)

http://s1208.photobucket.com/albums/cc364/SaraMarieShaaban/