Rise / set

I woke up at 3am to make it in time to watch this sunrise at Angkor Wat, Siem Reap. I am not a morning person. Waking up at 3am is as good as telling me not to even bother sleeping the night before. It was very worth the effort though! I was there early enough to not have to jostle with crowds, and managed a good enough angle where I could comfortably sit and watch the sunrise without hindrance. This is my all-time favourite photo, and I took it with a dummy camera. 🙂 During the times when handphones were still black and white and functioning only as phones, and we can hear the speedy three presses before hopping to the next letter kind of plain messaging.

Angkor Wat

Harvesting

The most memorable sunsets are viewed from our little terrace in GG, where we watch the sun sets down Myanmar, and the silhouettes of the mountains come to life. The next morning, the sun rises up from Thailand again. I can cry just thinking about that. I did not really see the sunrise because I never quite woke up early enough (but I heard the roosters call), and also because the house is smack against the foot of the hill so I doubt (never found out) we can ever see the sun rise, from the house.

There are also the beautiful sunrises and sunsets that are memorable in a different way – those which held contradicting emotions of helplessness, anger, betrayal (of my own code of ethics), with pride, sense of achievement, and gratitude. Photos below are the places I built, taken during sunrise / sunset. Photos are from ex-colleagues, so I assume the orange ones are sunrises, and the pink ones are sunsets. 😉 Yes, I built a vineyard, several farms, compost facilities, animal sheds, fishing shelters. All that I am still grateful for. I am thankful for the opportunities, not so much for the inner conflicts, but I grew up a stronger and better person, and I look back with less judgement.

This is the farm I built!

Vineyard in PL

Golf lakes in PL

The sunset that made me cry on-the-spot and at-the-moment was feeling the sunset mirrored on the Taj Mahal. Especially after spending the day in the compound understanding the great love of the emperor for his wife, I could not help crying when I watched the changing colours of the sunset reflected on the pure ivory white marble. Plus, great architectural details. heh. How much love can a person have for another?

I found a pattern! The things that touched me most are never captured on film or anything material, but snapped and carried in some deep part of my heart. It is like a backup file that I can never find on my computer, just quietly stored somewhere, and when something crashes, it just miraculously surfaces. I have a video of the sunset on Taj Mahal but it is nowhere near the replay of that view in my heart.

My favourite-st sunset would be our little drive around the curvaceous winding roads amongst the gigantic huge red trees, playing peek-a-boo with the sun and its rays. Instead of saying Boo, we say Wahhhhhhhhhh. Cos life is just so darn awesome! ❤ I was not-so-awesome though, the sun soon set, and we were still finding our way to the destination, which we never made it to. Ha, the uselessness of me – can’t drive, can’t navigate, can’t read maps to save my life (what use is a planning degree!)