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.

©2010 pinaywifespeaks. All Rights Reserved.

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Moat surrounding Angkor Wat..

The Angkor Archeological Park is located a few kilometers from Siem Reap city. The first time I went there I thought the temples were close together but I was surprised to learn that the park actually covers a huge huge area with hundreds of temples dotted everywhere. Visitors either go by hired cars, some by bikes and more popularly by tuk-tuks. We made arrangements for our tuk-tuk for the day. Costs $15 for the whole day and we could take him anywhere except Banteay Srei and other far flung temples. We did not hire any guide since Hi-ace was with us anyway, and I had a guidebook in hand.

Road to Angkor Thom

We left early. A little past 6 we were already on the way. We missed out on the sunrise since Chinks was difficult to wake up and I didn’t have the heart to drag her while she was still sleepy. We decided to do this route:

Morning: Angkor Thom Gate, The Bayon Temples, Terrace of the Elephants, Terrace of the Leper King, Ta Phrom, Banteay Kdei. Afternoon: Angkor Wat and Phnom Bakheng.

Angkor Thom Gate

At around 11 am it was already scorching hot so we decided to drive back to Siem Reap. Had a leisurely lunch in Pub Street, then we went back to the hotel for a quick swim and nap. Then at around 3:30 pm we were back exploring Angkor Wat and after that we were just on time for watching the sunset in Phnom Bakheng..

Bayon Temple

I’ve been to these temples several times already, but still it never ceases to keep me awestruck! Amazing, just amazing. I guess no matter how much I try, my descriptions won’t do all this grandeur justice, so I’ll just let photos tell my story..

Terrace of the Leper King

Baphuon Temple

Terrace of the Elephants

Ta Phrom Temple

Banteay Kdei

Angkor Wat

Phnom Bakheng..

More Photos? Check out my Photo Gallery page.

©2010 pinaywifespeaks. All Rights Reserved.

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Khmer Traditional Puppets on display at the Old Market

And a blog post without much photo for me is just bleh! Anyway, last May we took advantage of the few days holiday to bring Ouwie to Siem Reap. We had been wanting to do this but Siem Reap always takes the back seat whenever we hie off somewhere for the weekend.I’ll be dividing this into two parts, this first part will be all about Siem Reap City and the next one will be all on the Angkor Wat temples..

Alley St..Boutiques, galleries, restaurants, bars..

We left Phnom Penh early by bus. We find this a lot more convenient to go around as there’s plenty of bus services and its very affordable too. The trip was uneventful, the road in excellent condition and at around 1 pm we were already in Siem Reap. The hotel I booked has a free pick up service so it was an added convenience.

I love Siem Reap, not just the temples but the city itself. And Ouwie aptly described Siem Reap as ‘cozy’ and friendly place. I love those quaint little souvenir shops, almost endless rows of restaurants and bars, and of course, galleries, galleries and more galleries. Those who travel with me knows, I could just walk the whole day soaking up the atmosphere of the place, and I would appreciate it all the more if there are galleries and craft shops.

That’s actually what we did the whole afternoon after we got there. Once we checked in the hotel, we picked one that is close to the Old Market so everything was just a short walk away, we just wandered about different shops, eateries..

Check out more photos at my Photo Gallery page..

©2010 pinaywifespeaks. All Rights Reserved.

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A common sight here in Cambodia..

©2010 pinaywifespeaks. All Rights Reserved.

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I hope you understood at least a little of the above signage..

I was just so curious as to why this became a popular thing in Siem Reap and I was filled with pity with those little fishes begging to have some dead skin out of my feet. Looking at my unkempt feet gave me the last prompt to give this ‘fish massage’ a try.

And besides the signage says if the fish cannot make me happy I won’t be charged and I’ve also managed to convince Hi-ace to join me. Hehe..This has got to be one of the most unique experiences I had..

They are so hungry..

First, I had my feet washed with warm water, then toweled dry. Then, its time to submerge my feet on the water and feed those fishes. The fishes looked so hungry and fierce that for a minute I got scared. Hi-ace telling me that the fish will probably eat the meat off my feet bones was not helping either, but it’s not like were violating the gulf coast jones act, so I just closed my eyes and plunged my feet in.

please just ignore my humongous feet..

hi-ace’s feet.. Why does it look better than mine? ugh!

Then I screamed! God, it was so ticklish.. Not painful. More like a thousand fingers tickling your feet. I couldn’t help but laugh like crazy the whole time.

Definitely a recommended and unique experience. Of course, the dead skin is still there. But at least for 20 minutes I could laugh my heart out. And oh! they also give out free drinks =).  Chinks got so jealous of us laughing like that so the next day she gave had her own tickle fest too..

Chinks.. she’s complaining why there’s less fish eating her dead skin..

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Hmmn, Khmer ladies must be vainer than I thought. Over time, I discovered the reason for this and why even with the sheer number of salons here, you still have to queue if you want to have your hair done especially during Saturdays and Sundays..

Khmer’s loves parties, wedding parties in particular. While I was used to attending weddings back home simply attired in casual wear or a cocktail dress and minimal makeup, here in Cambodia, its a different matter. No matter what kind of wedding you are attending, whether the guest reception is on makeshift tents on the streets or in a luxury hotel, all guests come in formal dress with matching elaborate hair and makeup and guys in formal clothes even with bow ties (which I think is uggh! I daresay only James Bond looks good in a bow tie). Back home, there’s an unspoken rule – during weddings, it’s the bride’s day so no one should be lovelier than the bride. I guess that doesn’t apply here and I do find it trying most of the time to distinguish which one is the bride (^o^).

At first, I was really bemused by this. I didn’t understand why and I simply assumed it was all for vanity’s sake. I asked my husband why bother to spend about 3 hours in a salon when you’re just a guest and you go there to greet the couple, then you eat so all in all you spend about an hour in the party. If you attend a wedding a couple of times per month then that is several times visit to the salon. Hairstyling and makeup costs about $5 and up depending on the salon you choose. So salons are really good business here. Is it really worth all the time and money? I dunno but who cares if for only for one day you would feel as glamorous as any socialite?

A Khmer co-worker of my friend once attended a wedding on a Sunday. She spent about 2 hours getting her hair styled and another half an hour applying makeup. She wanted to make the most of the time and money spent so after the wedding party she didn’t remove her makeup, slept sitting upright on a chair so her hairstyle wouldn’t be spoiled. The next morning she went to office elaborately made up with an extravagant hairstyle..Now, wouldn’t that be startling to have a co-worker looking like she’s on her way to a grand party?

Out of curiosity, I tried out the hairstyling services in several salons here and I was amazed by the creativity of these stylists. They could come up with extremely elaborate hairstyles in about an hour. I’d say if you want your hair looking like a garden ;P, or a weaved basket or you want to have the Imelda Marcos look, they could easily whip up your hair in any style you want. A friend here jokingly told me, “Cambodian beauty salons are staffed with stylists with Master’s Degree in hairstyling, makeup and hair straightening.” Lol! If there is such a degree, I would say hairstylists here would easily make the grade.

As for makeup, they are pretty good at it too the way I see it, they just prefer using bold colors but if you want something subtle, then tell tell the makeup artist otherwise you might end up with brilliant green eyeshadows ( I saw one and honestly, she looked really odd..). Personally, I prefer applying makeup by myself since I’m kinda picky about the sponges and the brushes they use in salons.

And, oh, another thing I find a little odd here – They love fake eyelashes, so if you don’t want to wear one or you don’t want to look like you have just been electrocuted and have a perpetually surprised expression, tell the stylist beforehand.

All photos are from a fashion magazine I was browsing when I was having my shampoo and drying done. No copyright violation intended, I simply wanted to give you guys an idea of how creative stylists here can be.

©2010 pinaywifespeaks. All Rights Reserved.

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Photo taken from a Khmer Restaurant, Battambang Cambodia

Khmers are well know for their artistry and their carving skills. Well, after all they made the fabulously intricate Angkor Wat temples. So it was not surprising to see wood carvings like these around the country. Some of the best I saw are in on display on some pagodas and some Khmer restaurants..

©2010 pinaywifespeaks. All Rights Reserved.

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Another thing I miss are fashion magazines! I’m not a fashionista, nor do I obsess with brands. But I like knowing what’s in and what’s going on with the world of fashion etc. When I was in Manila I used to stock up on fashion mags and I specially loved Preview. And we don’t didn’t have that here in Phnom Penh. Really, in my desperation to keep myself abreast with the trends I turned into obsessive online surf shopping and even managed to create two blogs for my finds! See Lui-Bloggera and Feminine Reveries.

So, I was pleasantly surprised, no really I was ecstatic to see a fashion magazine one time I was doing my groceries. And it was in English!!  Finally, a mag I could read! It’s called the FMagazine, and I was also intrigued with their tagline – ‘The First Fashion Forward Magazine in Cambodia.” I grabbed myself a copy and was surprised! It was actually good. I love the styling, I seriously didn’t recognize the Khmer singer on the cover coz she looked so ‘sushyal ba’ haha, the layout was great. All in all, it was pretty impressive for a magazine just on its 5th issue. I wish to see more articles but the ones they had were good too. It features a lot of fashion trends from abroad intermixed with local fashion finds, places to be and I think its amazing to see local Khmer celebrities styled and looking really fashionable for a change.

I’m making the mag now a monthly treat for myself. And oh, I realized that yeah, this thing is bound to get some comments like, ‘sus, Cambodia is a poor country, so a fashion forward magazine is not really needed now or going high-class is too much for a country where most people earn less than $2 a day..” Some conservatives consider fashion as trivial and too frivolous but guess what, if a community wants to progress and move on, it has to embrace and learn about culture too. Fashion is inevitably part of that. And if you really think about it, fashion encompasses a big industry, one that Cambodians have a serious chance to play a role at.

And besides, having trendy mags like this would slowly open the locals eyes to new things, new trends, to explore more.  A little fashion education wouldn’t hurt a bit, right? I think FMagazine’s efforts to introduce new things to locals is highly commendable and here’s to hoping for good things for them.

©2010 pinaywifespeaks. All Rights Reserved.

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Image Credit: http://khmerfashion.blogspot.com

In fact, Khmers follow a designated color for each day when they are attending special occasion.

• Sunday: Red
• Monday: Orange
• Tuesday: Violet
• Wednesday: Greenish yellow
• Thursday: Green
• Friday: Dark blue
• Saturday: Dark purple

Nowadays, younger Khmers don’t really follow the dress codes but it still helps knowing about this. As an expat living here in Phnom Penh, you’re bound to be friends with Khmers and you’re also most likely to be invited to attend a wedding or some formal occasion. It’s also acceptable to come in formal Western clothes for foreigners.

But as for myself, since my in-laws are part Khmer, I had a couple of traditional formal dresses sewn and truly they appreciate the effort I made to dress up the traditional way. Another reason is that I found their silk cloth to be very pretty and irresistible (for a crazed shopper like me..) but the good quality ones can be extremely pricey too.

Khmers have several traditional clothes. One is the sampot, and this has several varieties too, but this is what’s referred to as the Cambodian national dress. But the most used during weddings or what you can see in performances is the  one worn like trousers. Its a rectangular piece of silk about 3 meters long and worn wrapped around the waist, then the end is twisted and pulled between the legs and secured at the back of the waist. I’m seriously fascinated at how they put this on..

Image Credit: Wikipedia.org

The sampot is usually worn nowadays by performers, on weddings etc. Khmers also have another kind of traditional dress with a bit of modern twist like the first photo. The top is usually very elaborate and lately they have become a little more revealing too.. It is paired with silk tube skirts, its more like one big piece of cloth sewn wrapped about 11/2 times around the waist and fastened on the right/left side.

Image Credit: http://khmerfashion.blogspot.com

Image Credit: http://khmerfashion.blogspot.com

I like it coz really it is so slimming and the design is very comfy. You can actually squat while wearing that even if it looks tight. Traditional dresses for the younger set has evolved a lot and recently I’ve seen lots of designs like this..

Image Credit: http://khmerfashion.blogspot.com

If you want to see more ‘elaborate’ Khmer dresses, do visit KhmerFashion.

©2010 pinaywifespeaks. All Rights Reserved.

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A cute statue making the traditional Cambodian greeting called the ‘sompiah’ and welcoming guests in Kep Lodge, Kep Cambodia.

©2010 pinaywifespeaks. All Rights Reserved.

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This is actually the third time I had my Khmer New Year here and I had been expecting it to be uneventful but alas! I was wrong.. We were planning to go to Ho Chi Minh during the week but a few days before the new year, Ma (my MIL) asked if we could accompany her to her regular pagoda visits and they were also fixing up a place in a pagoda somewhere in Kandal as their family’s burial grounds. So, ok Ma has always been nice to us and seldom asks us to go anywhere or do anything so it wasn’t hard to acquiesce to her request. So we put off going to Vietnam and just stayed here in Phnom Penh.

In one pagoda..

Stuppas..

Sunday was spent trudging around a couple of pagodas for their offerings and prayers. I’m not actually required to join these but I always tag along because I find these traditions very interesting and worth observing. During the previous years , we always visited pagodas exactly on the 13th or 14th and its just so crowded and chaotic so this time we went a few days earlier so visiting and offering was a lot easier. Still the heat was a bit too much for me and in the afternoon my head was throbbing and the beginnings of migraine was busy showing itself.. I stayed up all night coz my head was so painful, not even a big dose of Ibuprofen could ward it off and lol! I almost died of fright when I looked at my face the next day! The dark circles around my eyes were bigger than golf balls. Seriously!

I decided not to go out during the day coz I was thinking if somebody saw me they’d think a raccoon got out from the zoo and roaming the streets of Phnom Penh! We were supposed to go to Ma’s house to visit some relatives and eat. I begged off so she sent me some home made noodles and curry and it was super yummy! Maybe I should feign being on bed rest again so I could have a steady supply of that, hmmm? Whatchathink? Haha..  Afternoon I was forced to go out for some shopping coz we didn’t have food in the fridge anymore and since Chinks was making the beeline for the fridge every 15 minutes when she doesn’t have classes, I had to rush off to buy more food.

Tuesday was Chinkee’s 13th birthday and I feel so guilty I had an allergic reaction to the meds I took for my migraine. I was also having a really unbearable toothache so our plans to go to the beach was cancelled since I could barely drag myself away from the bed. But I still manage to drag myself to the kitchen to cook her favorite pasta and since I couldn’t go out on account of my body full of bright red spots added to my big raccoon eyes, it was Hi-ace who went out to buy the birthday cake and some take out food from a resto.. It was an impromptu and small party at home, but we find it funny that we enjoyed it more. Chinks was giddy while blowing her 7 candles, playing with her chocolate cake icing and us eating  a lot.. Around 3 pm I had to rush over to the dentist to have tooth checked, he gave me some pain reliever and antibiotics..

I swore I would take some rest when Wednesday came around and I did in the morning. The allergies still won’t let up and my face was so swollen already. I didn’t bother looking at myself in the mirror just in case I faint with what I’ll see. (Come to think of it, I haven’t fainted yet, ever, so maybe I should have looked at the mirror so I’ll know what fainting feels like..hmm). Anway, late afternoon my feet got itchy again, and I decided since Phnom Penh was almost deserted anyway, I’d venture out and so we went on a two-hour river cruise..It was lovely, just lovely..

Thursday morning we got up so early for what was supposed to be a short Phnom Penh drive around which ended up to be a whole day wandering around fest. We had breakfast in the lone restaurant we could find open near our place, then we drove around then met up with friends. We ended up visiting the new bridge along National Road 5 then onwards to Oudong. It was so crowded so we didn’t bother staying around so we just came back to Phnom Penh, and spent sometime looking for someplace to eat since almost all were closed. We ended up eating lunch in Coca Restaurant near Hotel Intercon.

Friday was a repeat of Thursday except for the places we went to.. I was so exhausted I didn’t know the names of the places we went to and as a blogger I slacked off coz I didn’t bother taking photos anymore..

So what did I get out of the whole week? A nice tan.. At least I don’t look so pale anymore, and lots of things to blog about =)

©2010 pinaywifespeaks. All Rights Reserved.

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Photo taken in Wat Ang Chnoul, Kandal Province, Cambodia

©2010 pinaywifespeaks. All Rights Reserved.

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I did mention its three days but in actuality the holidays last for the whole week the New Year falls on so there’s plenty of holiday and vacation time for everyone. So almost everyone goes somewhere, whether its the nearby provinces or neigboring countries. That’s what we have done too for the past year but this year we opted to stay in Phnom Penh coz its Chinkee’s birthday and hubby’s relatives have some parties organized.

Curious about what goes on during the 3-day celebration? Hi-ace tells me that before they used to follow a certain chronology as to what to do during the new year but now that people are getting busier and busier, Khmers tend to visit the pagoda’s depending on their free schedule. Most people I know take their vacations first then on the last day of the 3-day celebration, they go and visit the pagoda’s to offer food, burn incense and offering thanks.

We’ve already done our pagoda rounds yesterday morning since Ma didn’t want to go with the throngs of Khmer who comes during the last few days. I must say it was a good idea since its scorching hot here and we managed to visit several pagodas in just one morning because there weren’t any maddening crowds..

For younger Khmers they usually enjoy street dancing so its not suprising to find impromptu dance venues all around the country during the whole New year season. Games are also played I was told and I saw this one time when we visited a pagoda last year.

And of course, food is bountiful! Lol! My Khmer family usually cooks several dishes everyday during the course of the New Year so I’m quite happy I won’t need to cook for one week. The only downside is that I’ll probably be on the hunt again for a top rated diet pill because of too much binge eating during the New Year.. Maybe I should pray to the Buddha to grant me self-discipline and self-control hmm?

©2010 pinaywifespeaks. All Rights Reserved.

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Happy Khmer New Year, Everyone!

More fun finds:

• There’s a Mine
• Holliwoot Movies, Anyone?

©2010 pinaywifespeaks. All Rights Reserved.

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A few months back, Ma, my mother-in-law asked us if we wanted to go to a pagoda to get a monk’s blessings for the coming new year. Though, I am not Buddhist, I would usually come as a sign of respect and also so I could observe and learn closely their customs and traditions. After all, my husband is a Buddhist and its a big factor for both of us to understand each other’s religion.

Anyway, the trip promised to be scenic as the pagoda is located somewhere in Kampong Chhanang. The day started really early and at 6 am we were already on a tuk-tuk speeding towards Sisowath Quay near the riverside and going towards National Road No. 5. This was my first time to take a really long ride in a tuk-tuk. Ma and Hi-ace says its the best way to go, we get to enjoy the breeze and take in as much scenery as we want to. The price of the round trip ride on the tuk-tuk was unbelievably just $8!! I really am seriously in awe of Ma’s bargaining abilities.

So, it was me, Hi-ace, Chinks, our nieces Sokna and Cheng and Ma in the tuk-tuk.. The ride was really so enjoyable and I almost fell asleep being lulled by the wind and the not so bumpy ride. We had been traveling for about an hour when we turned left (lol! don’t ask me where..) towards a small market then onwards. The road became smaller and unpaved and both sides mostly lower with lots of water and some houses on stilts. We stopped for a bit to buy some lotus seeds (Ma and the nieces loves snacking on these..) and also some lotus flowers to offer in the pagoda.

The views were absolutely fantastic and so rural.. Then we reached a place with lots of cows being herded we turned right, then suddenly there was a bang! We had a flat tire and it was in the middle of nowhere, with nothing but the cows, ponds, lotus flowers and rice fields. The nice tuk-tuk driver told us to wait by the roadside and he’ll go look for a vulcanizing shop. So then, we proceeded to occupy ourselves by taking photos of ourselves and the stunning rural landscape.

After about 20 minutes of waiting, the tuk-tuk came back well and fine, then we were off again. We passed by a small cemetery for the Chinese and I just had to take photos of those. Cambodians usually cremate the remains of their dead relatives and they keep the ashes in stuppas in pagodas. As far as I know, its only the Chinese-Cambodians who have cemeteries and bury their dead in tombs. And these cemeteries are less seen near the cities so I was definitely fascinated.

After the cemetery, we came into a huge compound and that’s where the pagoda was. Our group went on to light incense the a monk approached us to tie some colorful yarn bracelet on us for good luck and some sort of blessing. Then we all waited for the head monk, gave our offerings then he proceeded to pray over us, then he was holding this short staff made of elephant tusk and carved with various images. He put some ointment on the tusk then rubbed some on our hands, on the cheeks of the kids, then he uttered some more prayers. Afterwards, an assistant brought a vase full of water, the monk blessed it, then sprinkled it over us.

Afterwards, Hi-ace, the kids and Ma had to change clothes because they also joined the ceremony where they had to be showered with holy water. Ok, I didn’t join this part for some reason so I just watched the going ons.

After that showering/blessing ritual, we all piled ourselves back on the tuk-tuk as Ma was anxious to return to Phnom Penh around lunch time. It was a marvelous experience for me. I was able to see some religious customs and also enjoy some Cambodian countryside scenery..

Click on the thumbnails to view the photos..

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©2010 pinaywifespeaks. All Rights Reserved.

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Kung Hei Fat Choi!

Things have been hectic for me the past few days, not to mention that I was again having an asthma attack. This is the 3rd time were celebrating the Lunar New Year here in Phnom Penh and there’s a lot for me to do. We had some major cleaning to do around the house (which we usually do before the Lunar New Year comes around) to sweep away the bad luck and the hardships of the previous year. Cleaning also means we welcome the new year on a clean start. So, you can assume my muscles are really tired at the moment, so blogging will be on hold for a day. =)

Aside from cleaning, there is that offering to do and almost never ending food preparations. Thankfully, my in-laws mostly does that for me, with just me occasionally slicing some veggies and tasting the finished product. We prepared a lot of food since yesterday, I’ve already lost count on how many dishes there was. All of it was fixed on a ceremonial altar, with cups filled with tea and rice wine, and loads of incense burning.

The we all feasted on the delicious food prepared. I sure ate a lot, I bet I’ll be badly in need of diet supplements again soon. After eating we gave the kids their ‘ang pow’ or their red envelopes with money. Chinks is of course grinning from ear to ear as she amassed a lot of ang pow.

I’m now beat and needing some rest. And oh! I just remembered it Valentine’s Day tomorrow! Whew.. I’m in a bit of a panic now I forgot about that.. Anyway, I wish everyone a great 2010. Good Health, Good Fortune and Harmonious Relationships for the whole year..

©2010 pinaywifespeaks. All Rights Reserved.

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Hi-ace then told me he’ll bring us over to one place that is uniquely Khmer. Hmm, that was enough to pique my interest. I know Khmers loves picnics so I was expecting somewhere in a park or a place with lots of mats, you sit down and order food..

After crossing the Japanese bridge, he drove on for more than 30 minutes and I was beginning to wonder where he was taking us. All I could see where fewer and fewer houses and big empty fields. Then we reached a place with houses built on top of stilts and towering over a huge pond filled with lotus plants..

I just love discovering out of the way places like this and when I saw these, I knew I was in for a treat.. Hi-ace told me this is where a lot of Khmers go for food and some R & R. So how’s the inside of those houses on stilts? Here..

You can choose which nook you want to stay in. There’s a mat and a low table in the middle and hammocks made of dried hyacinth. And I was so surprised that those hammocks was so comfy! It was no wonder I fell right into sleep after we had lunch. It’s hard to resist anyway, the food and breeze made me so sleepy..

Anyway, these places serve Khmer food and surprisingly the menus have English translation so it was easy enough for me to choose. We had beef loc lac, stir fried noodles, seafood fried rice, banana heart salad and a serving of ‘balut’. And sorry I totally forgot to take photos of the food coz I was already starving. Lol! I hope you all can cut me some slack. But take my word for it, the food was really, really good. Better than most fancy eating places in Phnom Penh!

I already swore I will drag Hi-ace back there the next chance I get! Now I know why those Khmers are so into those kinds of places. The food is great, and though the decor is not fancy but the comfy hammock and the cool natural breeze is more than enough to make up for it, and best of all, the price! I was shocked, we ate a lot and it didn’t even cost more than $20!! The only thing I didn’t like much was the karaoke singing. I wouldn’t have minded it really except that it was super loud, I swear my eardrums where hurting. Good thing it started when we were already done with our naps. But they do seem to be enjoying it a lot so I’m fine with it.

Hi-ace now keeps laughing at me coz I keep asking him to go there every chance I get and I know he’s secretly laughing at me coz I’m having a hard time losing weight here especially with all those delicious temptations. Wait till I bug him about buying me a dip machine or elliptical. He sure won’t be making fun of me anymore..

©2010 pinaywifespeaks. All Rights Reserved.

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Lol! The ceiling was low and the sign was just a kind warning. I’ve now decided to be on the constant lookout for funny signs like this, uniquely Khmer!

Guess I’ve posted enough for now. Off now to check out some Korean stores and look for a dehumidifier. Both me and Chinks keep having colds and since we both have asthma, we need this pretty badly Ciao!

©2010 pinaywifespeaks. All Rights Reserved.

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Tatai Waterfalls, Koh Kong Cambodia

Better late than never. That’s my motto. Hahaha! For this post anyway. I keep forgetting to schedule posting this.. Forgive the memory gaps.Anyway, this is all about our trip to Koh Kong, Cambodia last August? Seriously, I even forgot the date already .

We were looking at another boring weekend that time and Hi-ace suggested we go over to Kompong Som (Sihanoukville) so we could roast ourselves a bit (I really mean we could have a good rest at the beach). So that was the plan, till my sister-in-law heard we were going and pretty soon there were about 10 more people wanting to join us. I so appreciate my Cambodian family, they are almost always having itchy feet. You know, they are what my father usually calls ‘layas’ that’s a Bicolano word meaning ‘wanderlust’.

Instead of taking a bus, we all just decided to rent a van. Then we just realized all of us had been to Sihanoukville several times already, and since we had a van at our disposal, why not go someplace else we all haven’t been to. We picked out Koh Kong, mainly because it has beaches too, less touristy, plus we all wanted to see the Mangrove forests. Koh Kong was IT then. Our Mondulkiri travel was a superlative for me, so I was really excited too about this Koh Kong Trip since well a lot of people had been raving about the place.

Koh Kong is at the southern part of Cambodia, and the city is about 8 km from the Thai border. Krong Koh Kong has also been dubbed before as Cambodia’s Wild West. This province is just so vast, with little houses around, sparse population, lots of beaches, rainforests, mountains etc. Simply a great place to explore (I just wish we had more time, but we could always go back )

Traveling with my Khmer relatives was fun and educating as well. Well, educating for me anyway, in terms of their culture and made me realize more how Cambodians are really into picnicing. Anyway, we took off early morning, the van was all packed, lol! we were almost bursting full (not with people!) but with the goodies and foodies my mother-in-law insisted we take. You know, she knows how much we love eating and what if we get stranded or something, in any case, lets just say if we get stranded in the middle of nowhere, we had enough food and water to last 10 of us for 2 days with more to spare.

My nieces and nephews were also lugging in luggages and I did wonder what’s in there coz we were only going for two days. I know, this kinda weirded me out, since I usually travel light, with just the essentials. Another thing I noticed, most of them were dressed to the nines and for a minute I felt left out. I mean, two of them were wearing heels and dresses, others were wearing pants and long sleeved shirts like they were going for a job interview or something, and Hi-ace, Chinks, me and another niece, well were the only ones wearing shorts, shirt, and slip-ons. Ok, so I thought maybe that’s just how they like to travel.. No sweat.

One good thing about going to Koh Kong is that the road condition is excellent. I could still remember how numb my butt was when we went to Mondulkiri so this was a great thing for me. And once you get past the intersection between National Highway 4 (going to Sihanoukville) and National Highway 48 (going to Koh Kong) the views are just stunning! Everything is all green and there are a couple of bridges you have to pass through and the water is all clear and reflecting all green colors of surrounding lush mountains. The road is mostly winding, carved from mountains, with very little houses almost all the way.

A few kilometers before we reached Koh Kong, around 10 am, the driver said were stopping for a swim at Tatai Waterfalls. The van traveled on something like a dirt path away from the main highway for something like half kilometer, then we came upon a small er and really steep path and the driver told us we just had to go on by foot. Okay, I’m a total klutz and I just keep imagining myself simply tripping and rolling over and just finding myself plunging on the waterfalls.

None of that happened though, thankfully Hi-ace had the good sense to order me to remove my slippers so I could go down barefooot. God! Even Chinks got there ahead of me. It was really that steep and I wasn’t even carrying anything. You could guess how amazed I was when I saw my nieces carting their luggages (which they told me has their clothes so they could change after swimming), and they were going down the steep hill like it was nothing.

And was it worth climbing down? Totally! The water levels were not so high so the river was gently flowing. We had to climb down a couple more rock formations, and wow! just wow! something like 4 meters of thundering water and it was awesome! The water was crystal clear, you can actually see little fishes swimming all over.. The kids had a great time swimming and of course, we adults had a picnic! I think any Cambodian outing is incomplete without this… I know my description won’t do justice to Tatai Waterfall, so here are the photos..

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After about two hours swimming, we all had to go.. It was hard to do, it was just so pretty I could even live there (if there was a Starbucks right beside my hut, yeah!) and another reason I didn’t want to leave, was that I was scared of climbing up the hill to get to the van. Going down was another matter but going up, wow! I went with a headstart of 15 minutes, I was really panting (and scared I was having a heart attack!) and those kids still caught up me. Hahaha and they kept laughing at me..

More later.. Will have to go and check out acne treatment reviews. Got some zits showing up and I need some treatments fast =)

©2010 pinaywifespeaks. All Rights Reserved.

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I’m really pretty good at this, hehe pretending to be part of their discussion, nodding my head occassionaly, haha but really I understand only bits and pieces. If I hear something interesting, I just give my husband, Hi-ace a nudge (sometimes a kick ) to translate for me. Other times, Chinkee would do the translation, though sometimes I highly doubt the accuracy of her translation, like last time we were watching TV, and the host said,

“Sohm, Aw Kohn. Sohm Chum Reap Lear.”

Chinkee’s translation: “Zero, Thank You. Zero Goodbye.”

Hubby says it simply means, ‘Thank you. Goodbye.’ Though they added ‘sohm’ which more or less means ‘please’ in English to make it more formal. Chinkee thinks that ‘sohm’ is the same as ‘sown’, the Khmer word for zero and she refuses to believe otherwise. Talk about being stubborn.

Anyway, where was I again? Oh last Sunday, while they were talking, Ma (my mother-in-law) asked if I was bored just being in the house most of the time and doing work online. She was thinking maybe I should learn how to ride a motorbike so I could go wherever I please whenever I feel bored. Which is what I usually do but I normally just flag a moto-dop (moto taxi) or a tuk-tuk in case I want to go somewhere and Hi-ace is not there to drive me around. I have no problem with this really, I even semi-mastered the art of bargaining with the drivers and telling them where I want to go.

But Ma and my nieces and nephews think that I’ll have more freedom if I drive around by myself. I was thinking, duh!!! It scares me enough to walk a couple of meters in any road here in Phnom Penh because of those suicidal drivers. I’ll probably die of anxiety if I ever drive a motorbike here. Hi-ace told them though that I have the heebie-jeebies whenever the subject of driving around Phnom Penh comes up. I mean, come on! The utter chaos on the streets here just drives me nuts and scares me a lot. I’ll never say never but then if I ever do take on the streets of Phnom Penh, then I need to have a solid medical assistance program at my beck and call, plus I should be helmeted from top to bottom. Which Chinkee now says would make me look really ridiculous. (This is really so like my daughter to think of vanity in life and death situations!!)

Besides, another reason I have little interest in learning how to drive a motorbike or even a car, is that I am a total klutz, my hand and eye coordination is a mortifying ZERO, and I’m a nervous wreck around anything with wheels and anything mechanical. I think I would suffer an anxiety attack and like what if a maniac driver just decides I would make a great collision partner and I need to step on the brake and in panic I step on the accelerator or things like that? You know, I always think similar situations would happen to me and I would freak out. The slogan down below really best describes me..Those who really know me would agree..

Driving anything is one of the things I don’t do well (the other one is multiplying/dividing/adding/subtracting fractions in my head) but I’m thinking its something that I should overcome.. I know, my daughter rides her bike better than I do, but if I could learn learn how to ride a bike 18 something years ago, maybe I could try learning how to drive a motorbike or a car?

Maybe I should make that a goal before I turn 35? Hi-ace is laughing his head off at this and assures me it wouldn’t take 4 1/2 years for me to learn how to drive. He’s positive I could learn in less than a month or two. Hmmm. It’s sad, Hi-ace totally doesn’t know I’m horribly inept in this area. Haha he even volunteered to teach me. Well, I’m sure he’ll regret it once we get started.

©2010 pinaywifespeaks. All Rights Reserved.

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