Day 14 — Siem Reap, Cambodia and Singapore

6/22/2023 Thursday

Itinerary:

• Park Hyatt Siem Reap Hotel
• Siem Reap Airport (REP)
• Changi Airport (SIN)
• Holiday Inn Singapore Orchard Centre

While checking out of our hotel, the front desk asked how our stay was and I briefly mentioned that it was good but my son had diarrhea the entire day yesterday. He talked to the executive chef and the chef gave me some tips on what to feed Mason as well as told me that I should have told him yesterday so that he can prepare some food for Mason. He asked when we were leaving and I told him in a couple of minutes as our driver is coming to pick us up. He asked me to wait a few minutes and went to get some bread and bananas for Mason to eat. Super nice guy and people at the hotel. Highly recommend to stay at this hotel if you are in Siem Reap.

The driver was waiting for us and we left for the airport which was about 15 minutes ride. After checking in, we went through customs and had to show our passport, boarding pass, immigration card and copy of visa. They took away our arrival card and visa before stamping on our passport.

We went through the security check and proceed to the lounge. There was no one at lounge and we were there for a while before another family of three came. The food selection at the lounge was pretty good compared to the one in U.S. and we had our stomach filled with food before boarding our plane.

The flight to Singapore was about 1 hour and 55 minutes and landed in Terminal 2 in Singapore. Terminal 2 was under construction, so some area was covered and it was quite a bit of walk to go through customs. Since we have U.S. passport and had filled out the declaration form online, we were allowed to use their automated line to scan our passport, eyes as well as right thumb.

After getting through customs, we went to pick up our luggage and took a taxi to our hotel near Orchard Road and it cost SIN $55 for a big van so that it can fit our 4 large luggage.

We checked into our hotel and when we went inside our room, it smell moldy and I had to go back to the front desk to change our room. The front desk was very nice and told us that they have another room for us which we went. This time, the room did not have any smell, which was a good sign but the bathroom was full of molds. We didn't change our room again as we were all tired but I am quite disappointed in both of our hotel stays in Singapore as the rooms in both hotels were not well kept and for the price that we are paying, I was expecting a bit better room condition. The hotels in Bali and Siem Reap were in a much better condition than Singapore.

We rested a bit before Anthony and I ventured out to find food. Mason was still feeling sick, so we bought him some porridge and noodles for Madison. After having our late lunch, we went to my old neighborhood to buy some local snacks before returning to our hotel with some dinner.

Day 13 — Siem Reap, Cambodia

6/21/2023 Wednesday

Itinerary:

• Park Hyatt Siem Reap Hotel

We woke up late today as Mason was having diarrhea and not feeling well. After resting at our room, we went downstairs for breakfast and they was only 1 family there. Not sure how the hotel survive because they are more employees than guests every restaurant we go to. Mason barely ate anything at breakfast. 

We returned to our room to rest more before heading out to the Heritage Mall with Madison which was about 15 minutes walk from our hotel. The mall was pretty empty as well and some stores were closed. We had our Starbucks drinks and I had their local specialty drink, Mango Passion Blended drink. It was pretty good. 

We returned to our hotel as Madison was bored and we went to buy lunch to eat at our room. Later in the evening, we had dinner and left to go to the Royal Independence Gardens but was not allowed in as I think they only allowed locals. So, we took a couple of pictures outside before walking to Made in Cambodia which is a small area that has stalls selling locally made products. There was not many stalls and we shopped a bit before walking to Pub Street again to buy more souvenirs. We did some bargaining and most of the stall owners were very nice but we encountered 1 that was very mean and told us to never come again. Wow, that was eye opening as we thought that even if the price wasn't right, at least be polite as who knows, we might come again and buy other stuff.

We returned to our hotel afterwards and just spent some time with Mason as he was still not feeling well and couldn't eat much.

We rested early as we had to leave for the airport early in the morning.

Day 12 — Siem Reap, Cambodia

6/20/2023 Tuesday

Itinerary:

• Park Hyatt Siem Reap Hotel

We didn’t have any thing planned for today as I knew that we would be very tired after yesterday’s long day tour as it was a lot of walking under the hot and humid weather of about 90 degrees Fahrenheit. 

It was a good decision as our legs were sore this morning. So, we woke up late for breakfast and just relaxed at our room till lunch time as we went out for lunch. We were planning to eat at the restauarnt, Try Me which had very good online reviews but we changed our mind after arriving at the restaurant. It was so hot in the restaurant as it didn’t have AC, so we ordered takeaway to eat at our hotel. 

After lunch, we rested a bit at our room before heading to the pool for a swim. We also went to the gym to shed some calories as we ate a lot during this trip. We took a shower after that and relaxed at our room before housekeeping came for turn down service and we decided to head downstairs for dinner at the hotel and watched the live performance of the traditional dance.

It was a great show but we got bitten by the mosquitoes while eating at the outdoor seating. After dinner, we went to Pub street to check it out at night and it was somewhat busy with lots of music playing and people eating at the restaurants. It was fun hanging out there and also shopping for some souvenirs. I feel bad for the owners as they don’t have as many tourists and was desperate for business.

Day 10 — Singapore and Siem Reap, Cambodia

6/18/2023 Sunday

Itinerary:

• Singapore Changi Airport (SIN)
• SATS Premier Lounge 
• Siem Reap Airport (REP)
• Park Hyatt Siem Reap

We checked out from our hotel in Changi Airport and it took us about 10 minutes walk from our hotel from Jewel to Terminal 2 where our flight was. The lady at the check in counter asked if we had our visa and that’s when I realized that I had left them inside my luggage which was already taken away by the conveyor belt. Luckily, she told me that we can go to a special counter called Changi Recommends at the airport to reprint our visa. Although it cost SIN $2 per page, but it was well worth it as I am not sure how it would be at Cambodia if we did not have our printed visa. 

After going through the automated line to enter, we went to the SATS Premier Lounge for some breakfast where I had my favorite dish, Laksa.

We didn't have much time, so we quickly ate our breakfast before walking to our gate. Before we can enter, we have to go through the x-ray machine and we were given 2 forms each to fill out. One was an arrival form and the other was a custom declaration form.

We arrived at the Siem Reap airport early as it only took about 1 hour and 55 minutes from Singapore. We had a short walk to the airport after getting off our plane. This is our first time to Cambodia and I had always wanted to come to Siem Reap to see Angkor Wat.

There was no line at the custom and since we had already applied for the electronic visa ahead of time, so we went straight to the custom. The officer asked for our printed copy of the visa, immigration card, passport and our boarding pass. After getting our passports stamped and the immigration card stapled to our passport, we went to get our luggage. Once we got our luggage, we walked towards the exit and was asked to drop our declaration form to the box. When we finally got out of the airport, we saw our driver holding the sign with my name. There was not many tourists, so we were able to find our driver right away unlike in Bali, it took us a while to find our driver among the hundreds of other drivers holding the sign.

The drive from the airport to our hotel at Park Hyatt Siem Reap was less than 15 minutes without any traffic. Shortly after we arrived at the hotel, we were able to have an early check in as I had informed the hotel that we were arriving in the morning. We were asked to pick our choice of welcome drink while they processed our check in. It’s our first time that we can pick our welcome drink as it’s usually the same welcome drink for everyone. I guess this perk comes with staying at a luxury hotel. The hotel was not busy, so we got a complimentary upgraded room which was bigger than what we booked. 

After resting at our hotel for a while, we went outside to walk around and buy some lunch. We also went to Metfone which sells SIM card. The price was $5 for 8GB or $8 for unlimited. Since we only have 4 nights here, so we bought the 8 GB as we bought a 35GB SIM card in Bali and barely used it as the hotel offers free WiFi. We walked to Preah Prohm Rath to see their reclining Buddha, similar to what we saw in Thailand except that this was smaller. The admission was free but we did gave a small donation.

Next, we walked to Pub street which is their busiest area at night. It was very quiet during the day and there was many massage places and it was super cheap to get a massage here for $5/hour.

We then returned to the hotel to go to the gym before resting at our room. Later in the evening, we went to one of the restaurants recommended by our concierge to have Father’s Day dinner. Everywhere in the tourist area in Cambodia takes U.S. dollars, so we didn’t have to exchange any money but they do give you Cambodia money for small change unless you have the exact amount for the payment.

We went to Chanrey Tree and it was a fancy restaurant in Cambodia standards but since we are used to the high prices in U.S., so we thought the food was not too expensive and taste pretty good although some dishes were a bit salty.

After dinner, we walked back to the hotel and call it a night so that we can wake up early tomorrow for our day tour of the temples.