My KL Diary

  New Year’s Holiday in Ho Chi Minh City I spent the New Year's holiday in Ho Chi Minh City, on Dec 28, 2025 to Jan 2, 2026. The flight from KL was just over two hours. It was right in the dry season, so there were no rainy days. The mornings and evenings were cool. For meals, I went to local restaurants, where the food was cheap and reasonably good. I spent five nights and six days relaxing. I stayed at a mid-range hotel near the airport. The surrounding area was a suburban town, with convenience stores, mini supermarkets, and many local restaurants and shops. The hour-long drive to the city center was a surprise (it wasn't a long distance, but it took a long time due to constant traffic. On January 1st, a holiday, it took less than 30 minutes each way). To top it off, there was a surge fare when boarding from the city center. The outbound fare was about 600 yen, and the return fare was over 1,000 yen. (On January 1st, when the roads were clear, the round-trip fare was under 5...

  Visit to Siem Reap, City of Angkor Wat I spent four days and three nights, from Dec 11,  visiting Siem Reap, the city of Angkor Wat. November to January is Cambodia's dry season, so it didn't rain during my stay. (When I went to Phnom Penh in July, it was the rainy season. It rained, albeit briefly, every day.) I didn’t sense the war despite the fact that there was a military conflict along the border with Thailand. Of the two full days I had available, I spent the first day visiting Angkor Wat and the second day exploring the city. The Angkor Wat World Heritage Site is quite large. Angkor Wat alone is 1.5 kilometers by 1.3 kilometers. There are two other large ruins nearby, but it's impossible to walk around them all. It's also too hot. Around 8 a.m., I went to the Angkor Wat ticket office and bought a one-day pass ($37). Without hesitation, I called a tuk-tuk on Grab and headed to Bayon Temple in Angkor Thom. I walked around the temple, looking at numerous stone sta...