Deja Vu All Over Again

In April, 2012 we returned to two of our favorite destinations. Our first trip was to Cambodia, where we had a working holiday completing our second housebuilding trip. Thanks to the generous donations of family and friends, we reached our fundraising goal of $15 000 U.S. and built 12 "houses" for some of the marginalized people of Cambodia in the remote region of Pursat province.


Cambodia

Travelling through rural Cambodia in April was like travelling through a dust bowl. Daytime temperatures hovered in the area of 35 degrees Celsius and rainfall had not been seen in months.

 Hard to believe that when the monsoon season begins in June, the area is regularly flooded, as the Tonle Sap Lake expands in size and its massive floodplains are covered in water. The weather phenomenon is part of the reason we are here. Many of the current dwellings are no more than huts that are only a foot or two off the ground. The houses we are building for the residents are 2 metres in the air, safely above the flood waters (although not by much). Of course, the history of the people of Cambodia and the complete destruction of their society under Pol Pot in the 1970s is the real reason why we came to help. Over 30 years later, the rebuilding of the nation continues and every little bit of effort helps.

We also returned to the PIO school, founded by CNN hero Phymean Noun and painted the newly  completed second and third stories of the school.  It's hard to believe the change that has occurred at the school in such a short time.  Just a year before, we painted the first floor of the building and thought our work was done.  What a pleasant surprise to find the size of the school has now tripled thanks to the donations of people from around the world.  Making a difference was rewarding but seeing progress over time was especially rewarding to say the least.  We definitely could see progress and it was a great thing to be apart of.

After completing our volunteer work, we spent a couple of days around Phnom Penh and checked out the sights.  A visit to the Royal Palace and shopping at the Central Market were a couple of historical highlights and we enjoyed the shopping and the restaurants.  We stayed at a beautiful villa in the heart of the city called Villa Langka and lazed by the pool each afternoon.



We returned to Singapore for 24 hours and enjoyed Easter at home.  After completing an Easter egg hunt, we enjoyed brunch, packed our bags, headed off to the airport and took off for Bali.




Bali Ha'i

We were greeted at the Grand Mirage hotel in Bali by Haylee's friend Estelle and her family who joined us for the week. As we were checking into the hotel, we looked around the lobby and both Lisa and myself recognized that the place looked strangely familiar.  And then it dawned on us.  Back in 1997-98, when we were living in Japan, we had gone on a vacation to Bali and had stayed at this very hotel.  We had long ago forgotten the name of the place and weren't entirely familiar with the location, so we were more than a little shocked to discover we had been there before.  The good news was we had fond memories of the place based on our first visit and our second stay did not disappoint.

Located on Tanjong Benoa beach in an area of Bali known as Nusa Dua, we had a wonderful time enjoying everything the resort had to offer: kayaking, windsurfing, para-sailing, jet-skis, tubing, massages, etc.

Once again, we did a bike tour through the villages near the Mt. Batur and Mt. Agung and finished up in Ubud, which is an area featured in the novel Eat, Pray, Love.

An action packed two weeks eventually came to an end and we returned to Singapore satisfied with what we had accomplished in Cambodia and well rested after our week in Bali.

Aw Kuhn Cambodia!

Terima Kasih Bali!

Thank You!