temple

Dreamy Jungle Ruins of Beng Mealea

Posted on February 22, 2012

Huy and Thom, my young guides, showed me the hidden treasures Beng Mealea is the Angkor people dream of. Unlike the central temples that are disappointingly crawling with tourists, these mysterious 12th century temple ruins, located less than two hours away from Siem Reap, remain wild, uncrowded and explorable – the way they were first discovered.This temple was opened to visitors only five years ago, when the area was completely demined. Beng Mealea has a similar plan to Angkor Wat, andRead More→

Singosari Temple – Remnants of a Forgotten Kingdom

Posted on February 3, 2012

The Singosari Temple in Malang, East Java is an unfinished remnant of the Singhasari kingdom (1222-1292). The city of Malang in East Java was our unconventional southern jump-off point to the Bromo-Tengger-Semeru National Park, which is popularly accessed from the north via Surabaya and Probolinggo. Once the center of a lesser-known Hindu-Buddhist empire – the pre-cursor of the Majapahit – in East Java, Malang has a few archaeological sites worth dropping by. You may have heard of the Srivijava andRead More→

Java’s Cultural Heart: Yogyakarta & Borobudur Temple

Posted on February 2, 2012

Borobudur Temple offers 360-degree views of Central Java’s countryside It’s been almost a year since my adventure traveling across Java, Indonesia and I have a handful of stories yet to share. Though accessible by train, Yogyakarta (often pronounced jog-ja-kar-ta) – the cultural heart of Java – was a short, dirt-cheap hop by plane for us from the urban madness of Jakarta. Of course, a visit to Indonesia would not be complete without visiting Borobudur, one of the most celebrated landmarksRead More→

A Day in Mandalay: Mahamuni Paya, Mandalay Hill, U Bein Bridge (Amarapura) & Sagaing Hill

Posted on January 27, 2012

Sutaungpyei Pagoda at Mandalay Hill provides expansive views of the city, including the old palace and moat  Arriving at 3:30 AM on a bus from Bagan to Mandalay – it’s streets dark, quiet and obviously abandoned – can be pretty unnerving especially right after the guidebook reveals to you that this booming city in northern Myanmar owes its burgeoning economy to the “red, green and white trades” – that’s rubies, jade and heroine. On the other hand, the last-minute readRead More→

Temples of Bagan: Myanmar’s Stupa-fying Heritage

Posted on November 25, 2011

Panorama of Temples of Bagan, Myanmar (Burma) on CleVR.com It was 4:00 AM when we reached the township of Nyaung U, gateway to the Bagan Temples. As with the most part of our 11-hour bus ride from the capital of Yangon, it was pitch black here. The inn we visited would be charging us for a night’s stay if we checked in before sunrise, so we decided to watch the day break from a vantage point first, as one ofRead More→

Hong Kong for Art Lovers

Posted on February 7, 2011

The following article is a commissioned article I wrote for this month’s issue (February-March 2011) of SMILE, the in-flight magazine of Cebu Pacific Air. You may browse the magazine online at http://www.cebusmile.com ALONG WITH being the habitat of bankers and shopaholics, Hong Kong has now become the playground for all sorts of artists. Fueled by a bullish world economy, the former British colony has established itself in recent years as a top destination for dealers and collectors from around theRead More→