I haven’t really posted much about Cambodia’s dark painful past. But that’s not to say its not there. Anybody who has been here should know what this country has been through. The reason though I haven’t posted much about it is that, I find it too dark and depresses me. My Khmer husband also is not very keen on rehashing what has happened but instead just remember it in solitude.

I’ve been to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum a few of times to show friends around but only on one occasion did I venture inside and actually have a look at the detailed horrors inside. If you want to have a glimpse at how the Khmers suffered during Khmer Rouge this museum is a must visit. I remember I left the place feeling out of sorts and my heart was pounding and a million questions running through my mind foremost would be, Why people would be as cruel to other people? I didn’t take that much photos inside but this one above sticks to me for some reason. It’s sad, gut-wrenching.

I’m posting it today for Cambodia Snapshots coz January 7, Cambodians are celebrating their Victory Day to commemorate the end of Khmer Rouge.

Here’s one of our favorite foodie deals here in Phnom Penh. We always give ourselves a pizza treat every week and this is not hard to do since Pizza World Phnom Penh has some really great deal. Buy one medium/large pizza and get 1 free! So two large pizzas would just cost about $11+. A sublime deal for pizza gluttons like us, hahaha! This is not available for delivery though. You have to be at their store, but you can eat your pizza there or take it out. Right now they have this promo every Friday ( I wonder if they still have it on Tuesdays too?) so Phnom Penhois head over there for some pizza love. Be prepared to wait your turn though.

Here’s what we had for last week..

Meat Lovers Pizza

+ 1 Seafood Pizza (the kiddo’s fave and the only pizza she eats. Lol. She ate almost half of this!)

Yum! I’m getting for another load of this tonight.. Lol. Pizza glutton, indeed.

I really should be doing this regularly. I know some friends and a small group of readers who are movie buffs and I’ll be posting ‘what’s showing’ feature regularly from now on. If you’re looking for some weekend and New Year entertainment, check out Legend Cinemas (City Mall) and they are showing a bunch of cool movies at this time. The latest in the line up is Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.

Huge fan of Tom Cruise, I am not so I was actually dilly dallying about watching the advance screening of his movie, but I was surprised that I really enjoyed the movie (in fact I think its the only MI film I actually enjoyed). It was fast paced, lots of fantastic action sequence, a cool enough plot and of course Simon Pegg’s witty dialogue was in its favor. I also must admit to developing a size-able crush on Jeremy Renner. I didn’t know this guy could be funny, but he is. And he does have that really soulful looking eyes. Ha! But that’s another story lol and I know I kinda have it bad.

Do check out Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. Visit Legend Cinema’s website for the screening schedules.

Two Tuesday’s ago, the Queen of Wishful Shrinking and I tried out The Steak Kitchen @ 5th Level Sovanna Mall, Phnom Penh. The food was okay, really nothing to write home about. We had combo meat and chicken steak platters that time. It was not bad, just on the average scale. The great thing was the serving (it was huge!),the price was low considering the heaps of food you’ll be getting and the panoramic view of this side of Phnom Penh is a definite plus to this resto. Anyway, I’ll do a full review of that lunch on another blog.

Last weekend, Chinks and I decided to give their fish a try. You know after the Christmas parties and the food mostly meat and greasy, I was really wanting to eat fish. Preferably grilled. So off we went to The Steak Kitchen. And we ordered this:

Crumbed Seafood Platter – $4.90 – this was really good. Fish, Prawns and Scallops. The kiddo loved it soo much she managed to finish it all.

Grille Fish Fillet – $3.50 – Grilled just the way I like it. This was served with coleslaw and a plateful of french fries.

Hmm, great value for money. Would try out other combo’s next.

Khmers have some really filling, yummy and cheap street snacks. Here’s one I’ve taken a liking to. Banana wrapped with sticky rice and some have bits of grated coconut, then wrapped in banana leaves then grilled. It’s not sweet and specially good when its still hot. It doesn’t look that appetizing at first glance and truth is I’ve passed on trying this for sometime mainly because it didn’t look too appealing to me. It took Hi-ace to persuade me to give it a bite, and I surprisingly liked it. I’m not big on too sweet snacks so maybe that’s the reason why.

Now I haven’t taken on Dietetic Technician Jobs, but I can guess this one’s a lot healthier than eating junk food. And what I love about it is that its soo filling. And I love grabbing it when I’m really hungry. Perhaps its all because of that rice. Lol. But its like and instant carbo boost. The inside looks like the Pinoy version of suman but that’s where the similarity ends.

You can find this yummy snack in a lot of street corners or in the markets and it sells for something like 1000 Riels..

This is our 4th Christmas celebrated here in Phnom Penh. And I kinda like the relaxing, quiet pace we have adapted when it comes to celebrating the holidays. Of course, Christmas in the Philippines (home for me!) would always be close to my heart and I do miss it. But there’s much I like about celebrating here. After all, Chinks and Hi-ace are with me. Also my sister is with us. Now if, only my mom and brother could fly over here for Christmas next year, then that would make me feel like I’ve won the lottery a hundred times over.

Here, Christmas is almost a non-event. It’s not a holiday, although I know some Khmers, particularly business establishments have started celebrating Christmas mainly because of the presence of a lot of expats here and you know the ‘commercial’ side of Christmas is too great to pass up. But its nice to see something a little more festive in malls etc. And its also not that hard to buy pressies and decors now compared to the past years. But its still quiet compared to other places, which I’ve learned to like because now I appreciate what Christmas is all about. We also now have simpler celebrations and I’m not in a frenzy. When we were living in Manila, I would always just about go crazy during the holidays. The traffic jams, packed and crowded malls, parties here and there. Well, after the holidays there I would feel like I’m in dire need of being checked in a drug rehab treatment centers! Like a hurricane just passed by..

Now,  our Christmas would just be me cooking a bit,  saying prayers, mass, exchanging gifts, visiting close friends and just spending time with my daughter and husband. I love it this way now. And the morning after Christmas, I still have some energy. Lol. One thing I do miss  - simbang gabi. And of course, puto bumbong. Maybe we’ll have our Christmas next year in Philippines.. Hopefully our schedules would permit this, if not maybe my mom could join us?

Also, the weather here is really fab. Cool and dry. Sun still comes up but I find the heat very mild and tolerable so I’m having fun time jogging in the parks. I wish this temp would last a bit longer.  Anyway, since its cold and were weird we decided to treat ourselves to some ice cream cake. Hahaha. Yes, we love eating ice cream when its cold. My daughter said its to check if its possible to have ‘brain freeze’. In any case, this one from Swensens was really nutty good. Comfort food.