“I sometimes look into the endless heavens, the cosmos of which we can’t find the edge, and ask God what it means. Did You really do all of this to dazzle us?”

And dazzle You did.  

Thanks to Cebu Pacific’s direct flight to Siem Reap, C and I were able to behold the amazing Angkor temples. I won’t say more, because I cannot do it justice — neither can the 962 photos and 148 videos that were taken in two days!

But I will say this: having Sun Same as our guide made a world of a difference! Our trip went smoothly all the way through, and we learnt so much from the information he shared with us. Sun Same can be contacted at sunsame99@gmail.com. You can visit his website here.

Thank you, C, for this trip! I had the grandest time.

“I looked up at the cosmos and it had no scientific proof that any of this was true. The cosmos wasn’t telling me I was stupid; it wasn’t telling me one pair of jeans was better than another. The cosmos was just spinning around up there, as if to create beauty for beauty’s sake, paying no attention to the frivolity of mankind. And I liked the cosmos. I liked the cosmos very much. It seemed it understood something, perhaps, humanity did not understand.” 

The two excerpts came from the book Through Painted Deserts: Light, God, and Beauty on the Open Road by Donald Miller which I first mentioned in this post. Although it is found under the religion section, it is mostly a story about a roadtrip across America. It follows two characters on their pilgrimage-of-sorts from Texas to Oregon. The imagery of various landscapes is my favourite part of the book. It was a fairly light read with a few thought-provoking parts. All in all, true to its title.

[[   #YOLO   ]]

The common usage of the above meme / hashtag / what-have-you is to excuse foolish / crazy / stupid actions. For example, “Drink ‘til you die #YOLO” or “Do drugs #YOLO”. Challenge that common usage with this: TAKE CARE #YOLO.

Switching from powdered iced teas to an all-natural ginger lemongrass tea can be your first step! It’s as simple as washing and crushing some ginger and lemongrass, then boiling it in a pot of water for 8-10 minutes. Add some sugar and ice, and you’re all set. It’s a refreshing drink with a bit of a kick. If you are not a fan of ginger, substitute it with pandan leaves. 

Ginger is very good for the stomach and throat, and lemongrass is a natural remedy for a variety of ailments such as indigestion, upset stomach, vomiting, fever, headache, hypertension, high cholesterol and even insomnia. Read more about the benefits of lemongrass here. Another wonderful thing is that you can easily grow it because it is native to Southeast Asia. 

Click on the photos or check out my Snapguide for step-by-step instructions! 

Remember, TAKE CARE #YOLO.

This post is dedicated to M who taught me how to make this, Y and C who assisted me with the shoot, R who introduced me to YOLO; and S, to the hashtag hand gesture.