I was browsing my blog last night and it suddenly occurred to me, I had been posting mostly photos the past few months and writing less and less. Sigh. So much for trying to use this blog to practice writing. One of the main reasons I post a whole load of photos is that I’m obsessed with taking snapshots and I have this little belief that my photos share a better story than I do.

But this isn’t exactly how I envisioned my blog to be. And I have to slowly steer myself to writing more, at least alternate the photos with some articles and stories about living in Cambodia.

Right now I wanna get on with my weeky random ramblings..

• Cambodia is now getting sooo hot. It’s scorching hot that I rarely venture out because I always get migraines because of the heat. And were just in mid-March, my husband reckons it’ll be hotter in April. And that just scares me.

• I’m doing a bit of window shopping for some jewelry. My mom fancies some gold chains and we figured we’d gift her with some, if the quality and the price is right. Has anyone of you had any experience buying gold from those shops near Central Market? I also checked out some shops in Russian Market for made-to-order jewelry, but I’m scared about making a mistake and buying some fakes. I don’t know much about jewelry and I doubt I ever will know much. It’s just not an interest with me. But I want to have some nice ones for my mom so..

• I’ve been receiving a lot of emails from readers and I love interacting with them, and answering questions that I can.  Majority of them are very nice folks and its just makes me doubly passionate about blogging knowing that there are indeed a few people who reads this blog.

• Among those who email me, there are also those I find very rude. Some demand information from me  (usually about traveling to Cambodia) without so much as a please. I am NOT a travel agency and while I take pleasure in answering emails or tweets with tips on traveling, please be mindful of your manners too. I find it disgruntling when I receive an email demanding me to book a hotel or send them a hotel address.I would gladly help out with recommendations but please ask nicely. And it’ll be nice too if you learn how to use Google.

• I’m getting busy planning trips. April is my daughter’s birthday and it falls on a holiday. So we are planning going somewhere. She and (both me and hubby too) are not big on parties and during birthdays, we usually travel to someplace where we could enjoy being together and have some relaxation time. I’m looking up some hotels and let’s see where we end up.

• Were also going to the Philippines in June for my father’s 1st death anniversary (how time flies..) and as of now we have plans to also spend a few days in Malaysia. My daughter is itching to go up Petronas. I wonder why when it really just makes me feel queasy. Last time I went there, I went running to the bathroom the moment the ‘tour’ was over. Lol. But since she seems really interested, we’ll brave it again. Then after a few days we’ll fly to Manila. Going back we’ll be trying the Manila-Siem Reap, Cebu Pacific direct flight.

• And uh, its my birthday this weekend. Yay! I’m getting older and yes, more fabulous. Choz! Hahaha. My plans? Hubby wanted to go somewhere to celebrate, but moi? I want to stay here in Phnom Penh, eat a lot of steak, have a total spa pampering (scrub, wrap, massage, sauna–the works!). And my birthday wish is not to do any chores for two whole days. I’ll miss scrubbing the bathroom if its more than 2 days, noh?

Let me start off by saying this is a semi-ranting post. I feel like ranting because I’ve had a distasteful experience with some people who were playing travelers and whom I have hosted here in Cambodia. I feel like I should really just write it down and hopefully some people with similar mind frame as them would find this helpful and just cancel their trips if they won’t bother giving the place a chance. I have seriously thought that traveling is to see something different, not look for the same things as what you have in your place?

First thing first, I know people travel for a variety of reasons. Some travel for enjoyment, relaxation, some to educate themselves, some for a totally new experiences, some simply because they want to have photos of a different place to post on their Facebook accounts and show off to their friends. I don’t have any problem really about anybody’s reason to travel. Different strokes for different folks right?

What I have a strong beef about is when a ‘pseudo-traveller’ just goes to a place with not even an inkling about that place. I’m not saying you should swallow a whole guidebook about the place, but it really does help things if you do a bit of background check about where you are going. For example, if you are going to Angkor Wat, at least have an idea about what temple’s history and the location etc etc. It doesn’t need to be an in depth knowledge just an overview. And the internet is one of the best places to do a bit of research. There are lots of forums one can visit if you are really interested. And I do wonder why would one go to a place if you don’t really have any interest in it?

Was really busy last week, gallivanting around Phnom Penh then we went off for a short trip to Siem Reap. We had some visitors and truth is, playing travel agent / tour guide doesn’t suit me. It just tires me out hahaha… So I’m really very exhausted and in a very pissed off mode right now.

But I do have a lot to say about our recent trip and about people traveling here without much knowledge or research about Cambodia. It’s part of the reason why I’m in a really bad mood right now. I will make a separate post, a full post rant about that later.

For now I have tons of chores to do (sigh….), huge pile of laundry to wash, I still need to go to market coz were out of food. And I have to look for discount dvds for some other project.

Phnom Penh now is extremely hot so I loathe going out after 9am. Not because I don’t want to turn dark but because the heat will just trigger my migraine on. I really dread the time when April/May arrives, since its bound to be even more hot here than now.

Will be back later..

One of the things I like about Phnom Penh: low buildings. I guess I had too much of high rises but I know time will come that Phnom Penh will be crammed full of high rise bulidings, judging by the constructions going on all around, but for now, I like looking at and enjoying low rise buildings, busy intersections like these.

Snapshot taken along Monivong Blvd. Phnom Penh.

Here I go again with some random stuff..

• Last week  passed by like whirlwind. Everyone was busy and I was struggling to keep up with house chores and some work online. Sigh. Weeks like this just drains me no wonder I could never keep up with updating this site. But that’s okay. That’s a mom’s life. Full to the brim as always.
• We started our own DIY project. We are fixing up our kitchen and we decided to do it ourselves. Yay! I’m just so excited about this. It’s a bit hard to find laborers here in Phnom Penh specially if you just need to fix something small. Oh, you can find someone to do it but based on our previous experiences hiring them, its not really worth it. So we decided to work on painting and stuff by ourselves during weekends. I’m so looking forward to how our new kitchen look. When we finish it. I have no idea when though. Hahaha.
• Phnom Penh is currently experiencing almost daily power cuts. We’re lucky if we just get only about 3 hours per day power cut. I don’t why this is but its so frustrating. I miss a lot of computer work and also its hard to finish chores at home and I’m not the type to sit idly and count poly mailers. Just today, we had a three-hour power cut and occurred just while I was washing clothes. So instead of me finishing washing in an hour or so, it took me over 5 hours. And I’m getting more scared, if this would keep happening during summer months. Can you imagine the sweltering heat without even a fan? I’m really sweating just by the thought of it.
• Another thing I’m excited about: a weekend trip to Mondulkiri. While its not exactly a leisure/pleasure trip, I am so looking forward to it. I think, Mondulkiri is one of my favorite places here in Cambodia. It’s a breathtakingly beautiful place. Almost unspoilt and tranquil. My kind of place…

Of course, I’ll be taking loads of Mondulkiri snapshots, so watch this space

Yes, you all already know me, hubby and the kiddo are really just pizza eating machines pretending to be human. Lol. And a few Saturdays ago, we were just driving around when we thought of refueling out tummies with what else but pizza. So we headed over to Kampuchea Krom Blvd, thinking of just grabbing a pizza at Pizza Company. But parking there is like expecting to find a 100 dollar bill on a crowded sidewalk so we just drove on.

A few blocks after, my daughter screamed, ‘ I see PIZZA!!’. She was pointing at a resto called Naples Pizza. So of course, we had to go try it. And thank God we did. I think I have a new favorite pizza place here in Phnom Penh!

I like the huge variety of pizza’s you can choose from on their menu. They also have Greek, Canadian pizzas and lot and lots of other choices. But of course, we had to try out first the thin crust, sausage stuffed seafood pizza. And it was soooooo good.

I had iced coffee..

They also had free desserts (taro and tapioca pearls in sweet coconut milk)  which was nice, though I forgot to take photos of that.

The service was also efficient and friendly. Prices are affordable, and they also have free pizza promotions during weekdays. Let’s just say, I’ll be going back there again soon to try the other pizzas. I do wish they’d have more branches closer to city center..