Living in Phnom Penh: And We Just Got LUCKY!

If I’m in the Philippines and I am asked what is the first thing I would think about when the word-LUCKY is mentioned, I would be quick to answer – Lucky Me! Pancit Canton. But here in Phnom Penh, when the word lucky is mentioned I’ll be thinking of —Phnom Penh’s very own, Lucky Burger -The Original Homegrown Cambodian Fastfood! And I actually like it! It’s definitely no McDonald’s but I think it can hold it’s own against those giant fast food franchises. I even prefer it to KFC sometimes.

Yesterday, we’ve been doing a bit of clearing our teeny weeny backyard coz when Hi-ace returns he plans to build an outhouse there and perhaps place a wooden swing set for Chinks. Anyway, after a few hours of sweeping, Chinks had been complaining and wanting to eat out.

Crunchy Lucky Burger french fries..

That’s my chicken burger, fries and Chinkee’s nuggets..

I asked her where she wants to eat and she says she wants Lucky Burger Nuggets! That’s her usual choice and of course, me I always go for their french fries, fried chicken burger. I find them affordable, a hamburger costs about $1 up add up fries and drinks and you get a bill of about $3. Their nuggets cost about $1.90 for a serving of I think 10 pcs? Shh, truth is, its fast becoming my comfort food here..

Anyway, food in Lucky Burger is good and they serve fast. And I kinda like going local and helping those locally grown businesses. If you’re around Phnom Penh, do try Lucky Burger. At least you get to have the local Cambodian version of McDonalds. Check out Lucky Burger website to know more about them.

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Living in Phnom Penh: Warm and Friendly Khmers..

When we moved here in Phnom Penh, one of my biggest apprehensions was getting along with Khmers. What if they are not nice? What if I find them unapproachable or what if they find me obnoxious? What if I I don’t get along with any of them? I’m famous known among my friends to be aloof and could sometimes be brutally frank. People usually assume at first that I’m unfriendly and I just can’t help the way I am, I’m just not the type to let people close when I hardly know them at all. I’m far from those friendly, ‘social butterfly’ types of person. So, let’s just say, I was scared about how I would fare socially here.

I guess I let my crazy anxieties get the better of me, coz when I got here I was just proven wrong.  I found Khmers to be very friendly and warm. When we arrived I got along famously first with my nephews and nieces mainly because I could easily communicate with them in English. I remember our first day, Hi-ace’s niece set aside half her day so she could tour me around the market and help me buy the things I need. She had always been ready to help with everything.

Cutie Khmer kids..

Khmer ‘Ta’  (grandpa) manning a store..

My Khmer sister-in-law’s are also very very nice. It’s a pity I can only speak and understand a smattering of Khmer but they never left me out and go to some length using sign language to make me understand.

They are tactile sort too. They are touchy and don’t be surprised to see people holding hands even men! I remembered I was really surprised when a few days of knowing me, one of my sister in law walked around in a mall with me and it was just natural for her to hold my arm or drape her hands over my shoulders companionably. I wasn’t used to that, but I must confess I felt touched that she didn’t consider me strange enough to stay aloof from me.

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Lethargic Me..

Well, that’s me for the past few days. You might have noticed, I did a few posts, mostly of meme variety. I know I still owe you guys some posts and photos of our vacation, but I guess my procrastination period is not yet on a declining trend, lol!

I  resemble this right now. Really! Except I must say, I’m better looking..lol!

I guess I’m feeling melancholic about not having Hi-ace here and this is not so good for me. When I’m feeling like this I tend to binge. Till now I can’t believe I went on a ice cream and pizza shopping spree the day after hubby left? I ate a pint of ice cream and one whole double pizza just by myself, and I felt horrible afterwards, like I could never get up anymore..

Thankfully, Ouwie and Chinks are with me and keep dragging me everywhere. One lucky thing too, MIL keeps bringing us food, cooked food and fruits so we have no need to cook most of the time. I’m also happy I’ve got friends here in Phnom Penh who I could go out with, pass the time with coffee, girl talk, and thrifting!

I’m keeping busy with my multitude of blogs and I’m ecstatic about some blog experiments I’ve been making. I’ve got a couple of new blogs needing a lot of tweaking and I’m having a grand time doing so. I’m also helping out a cousin with a web project and another cousin with his medical job search. Hmm, my sched is a bit full, so why am I feeling so lazy and bone tired?

Perhaps, I’m in need of some pampering? I should visit a spa and have a scrub or something.. More soon..

Food Trip Friday 16: Korean Dongas and Bibimbap

Not cooking this time, I guess I’m too lazy. I haven’t really tried much of the food courts in malls here mainly because I’m not a fan of the coupon system, its a hassle! And another reason is that I’m not yet even halfway trying those tempting restos all across Phnom Penh.

Anyway, yesterday Chinks wanted to go to the play area in the mall and we discovered that there is an uncrowded, and fairly big play area within Phnom Penh’s Sovanna Mall food court. While waiting for her, my sister and I ended up browsing the food stalls and we were surprised at what we saw. Tempting, yummy food at super affordable prices. The steepest price I saw was about 10,000 Riels for a huge meal!

And since I’m a huge fan of Korean food we ended up making a beeline for the Korean food stall. Not much variety but what we saw we liked. Ouwie who haven’t tried Korean food got herself the Korean version of Dongas, breaded pork cutlets with lots of side dishes, this is of Japanese origin but was adapted by Koreans, I think.

I got myself my all time fave Bibimbap, steamed white rice with lots of veggies, meat, fried/raw egg, with lots of steaming hot sauce and mixed together..

Each set cost just 8,000 R (about $2) and we both made a promise well go back every after few days so we could sample everything they’ve got in that food court. It was that good!

I’m Back and Still Frazzled!

Dear heavens, I woke up this morning and realized that I’ve been back for at least seven days and I haven’t updated this blog! Considering that this is my main blog, my personal blog and I forgot! That, I think shows how frazzled and overwhelmed I am this time. I luv this blog and I always keep it updated but not last week. I think I’m just about ready for a opiate detox to calm myself!?

I was looking for a cartoon to let you on how I look and feel today and I think this comes close. I know she looks about 10 years old, but just use your imagination and add up about two decades and that’ll be me..

Chinks and I got back from the Philippines on August 11th. We made another brief stop in Singapore then we took the night flight to Phnom Penh. We had a bit of a scare when there was engine shut down right before the plane took off but thankfully the delay was just less than two hours. But it was frightening, really. I’m just lucky Chinks goes right into sleep whenever she boards a plane so she was oblivious to everything. In any case, we got home safe and sound. The vacation was great but it felt so good to back in Phnom Penh and seeing Hi-ace, my sister Ouwie and my in-laws.

Once I got here I got busy cleaning, doing laundry and also preparing Hi-ace’s stuff. Then yesterday, we brought him to the airport for his flight to Taipei then on to LA. I miss him already, I don’t have anyone to fight banter with hehe.. He’ll be gone till December 21st so I feel really really weird right now. But we’ll manage for the next four months and thankfully my mother in law constantly checks on us, bringing us food and even groceries hehe lucky me! Also, my Khmer nieces and nephew are at my ‘beck and call’ in case we need something or have an errand to run.

I owe you guys more updates, and it’ll be coming in the next few days. It will mainly be about our vacation =).. More later..

Construction Here in Phnom Penh..

Hmm, I know some are a bit curious about costs in constructing a house or concrete fixtures here in Phnom Penh and so I’ve been bugging Hi-ace for some details and pointers..If you want to construct a house, you either hire a contractor,set a budget and a plan, pay for the whole thing and they’ll make it for you. This is okay if you don’t have loads of time to supervise the construction, and you have complete trust in the contractor to deliver exactly what you have in mind.

He also told me there are of course, contractors who cheat, since those who go by this route rarely take the time to be actively involved in the teeny weeny details of the construction, chances are you’d end up with a house with sub-standard materials. But then of course, this also has a lot of advantages, since you don’t have to worry about buying your own bricks, cement, steel and other materials like stainless steel drums, flooring tiles etc..So you save precious time.

Another option you can take is to hire laborers and a foreman. This is the option we always take whenever we have construction needs. Luckily, Hi-ace has one really good friend who has a group of construction laborers. They don’t come really cheap but their work is really good and very reliable. In this case, you provide the materials, and they just do the constructing bit. So you have complete control over the material quality, the costs, but it also demands a lot of time. Materials are really expensive here in Phnom Penh so it pays so shop around and be cost-effective.

In any case, building a house or even a fence for that matter is a huge thing. It’s not something like buying a tv set, where if you don’t like it you can simply ditch or replace it. So whichever way you go, make sure that you end up with a finished product that is worth the money you paid for.

Swimwear Finds in Russian Market (Psar Tuol Tompong)

Yesterday, we were supposed to be looking for some new tv stands after visiting a travel agency to make travel arrangements, but we ended up just driving around, then going to the supermarket then piling up on pastries. Ugh, really really bad for me but Hi-ace was on his element trying {and totally succeeding} to make me eat some calorie laden muffins and doughnuts.

Since the shopping trip was postponed yesterday, I decided to go this morning not for tv stands though since I prefer to have Hi-ace when I buy that, and since he’s in Takeo province today, it was just me doing a bit of shopping in where else but Russian Market (Psar Tuol Tompong). I didn’t really have a clue what to buy and I was thinking of buying a pair of sandals but I didn’t like what I was in the stalls. I ended up wandering about the market when one seller called me. I remembered she lives a few doors down from my mother-in-law’s flat and she asked me to have a look at the new things she’s selling..

My, my! Really nice swimwear and lingerie, which is really hard to find around Phnom Penh. I bought a few Merona tankini’s to give to my friends and some Gap bra’s (and no they are not fake, all authentic!!). How much? $6 for the tankini’s and $5 for a lacy bra in nude color. All a steal with those prices considering that Merona tankini’s retails from $15 – $40..

Here’s just some:

She has this really small shop and I tend to overlook it with all the other shops crammed about the market but it was a great find! She has a lot of branded lingerie, bikinis, swimwear, sleepwear and tank tops. And she gives a fair price too and is not really scary to bargain with.

Several stalls down I also bought a sexy little tankini for Chinks for only $3..

Lovely Cool Weather Here In Phnom Penh..

I never thought I’d be gushing about rain but after the terribly hot summer, rain and the cool weather this past few days is a real blessing. From March till June, the heat was really unbearable and we rarely get even a few minutes spatter of rain. Now, the weather is cool all around.

Hi-ace is not happy with it though, coz he doesn’t fancy moving around with the rain and the floods that usually fill Phnom Penh’s streets with just a few minutes of rain. But I just love it! The whole day I’d been doing some chores without getting hot and sweaty, done a bit of packing, then I cooked a really delicious lunch of course with steaming hot soup.

The afternoon was spent blogging, then after a couple of posts I grabbed a book and curled on the bed, reading. This is the time I crave to just curl up in a ratty old and comfy sofa, not those too modern couches that are just tad too uncomfortable. Then a mug of steaming hot chocolate or coffee and a good book or a really nice movie would be enough to take me to blissful state of contentment…

Hope the rain would stop every so often but I really like that the temperatures are not so hot anymore…