Jesley (a fellow photo tour participant) and I met this boy and his grandmother while our photo group was waiting for sunset at the South Gate of Angkor Thom.

That afternoon, I used a phrase that I learned just the day before from our guide, Chet. The phrase was “proh sanghaa”. It means “handome boy”.

Check out Jesley’s photo of the same boy on her blog.

In early March, my sister and I joined a four-day photo tour of the Angkor temples in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

This woman is a 75-year old Buddhist nun whom we met at the Preah Khan Temple. She is such a lovely lady with the most beautiful smile and very expressive face that you can’t help but feel good interacting with her. She graciously allowed us to take photos of her around the temple.

After we have taken her photos, she gave each of us a blessing by tying a white string bracelet around our wrists (right wrist for the males and left for the females), whispering prayers as she blew on our heads and the hands with the bracelet, whipping our hands away with a “whoo!” and lastly, giving us her infectious smile.

I will never forget her.

This photo was taken at a gas station in the Pilsen neighborhood.