I really ought to be shot. I forgot to update about the Mondulkiri trip last Feb when all the photos have been ready for a few weeks already. I am really starting to be soo forgetful. Being a mom/wife/student/freelance worker can sometimes do that to a person. So I’m resigned to my fates.

Thankfully, a friend of mine asked me about Bousra Waterfalls this morning and I suddenly remembered I had to post about the second day of our trip to Mondulkiri. In case you’ve missed the first part, check it out here – Mondulkiri 2012 Day 1.

~oOo~

We started the day really early coz we had to visit a couple of schools for an outreach project. I was with a group of students whose mission is to help schools in far flung areas with books, school materials etc etc. That time, they were bringing a lot of book donations as well as school supplies for the kids. The ceremony was a bit long and it was around noon time when we left for Bousra Waterfalls.

I was excited to see the falls again. The last time we went to visit this place, its was just awesome (see post here). And I was curious if there has been any changes.

And yup. There has been some changes in the last two years. The road now is nicer. Not concrete or anything but no muddy potholes in them. There were also more people coming and going. Last time we went there, we were the only ones enjoying the places. This time there were lots of families picnicking. A group of monks and several groups of barangs.

I won’t bore you much now with my inane chatter, so here’s the pics spam.

the ‘entrance’

the last tier. and this one’s fairly long and stretches down a hundred meters or so. Not exactly spectacular, but some people like looking down on this so I’m glad to see they built new railings around the sides. It was scary the last time we came when they didn’t have any  fence or railings near this.

The first tier. The volume of water is obviously down if you compare it with my previous photo. I was kinda disappointed even though its still beautiful. Then I remembered, we came this time during the dry season. Lol. Silly me.

postcard pretty!

The Royal University of Phnom Penh has a nice campus. Wide open spaces, frangipani and golden shower flowering trees around and big ponds make the place look really serene. A breath of fresh air from the increasingly crowded Phnom Penh city centre.

Snapshot above taken from the fourth floor of the Faculty of Science Building.

A small roundabout I saw in a town on the road going to Ho Chi Minh from Phnom Penh. I actually forgot what province this is..

This morning  I took our my planner thinking I should really organize myself coz I’m guilty of having done almost nothing this month. And I just had to sigh coz April is almost over.

Everything.. the days of this month just passed me by like it was some tornado. I guess it was the overabundance of Khmer holidays that set me to thinking I have all the time in the world to finish things but really, I am always cramming.

I’m almost done with my Khmer classes, with just a few more weeks to go on. And I’m pretty much pleased with myself coz I could now read (very very slowly – ha!) simple Khmer sentences. Yay! to me. Level 2 would make things easier in terms of speaking and writing and I’m looking forward to enrolling in that class.

During Khmer New Year, we stayed in Phnom Penh deciding we didn’t want to go with the hordes of people traveling out of the city. It was a very good call coz friends and relatives told me a lot of places in the provinces were pretty much crowded. And I loathe that. Too much crowd gives me claustrophobia and we usually stay away from places in need of serious crowd control. We had Phnom Penh very much to ourselves and I loved it.

My husband however didn’t feel that happy that we didn’t go anywhere. Lol. Between the two of us, he has an ‘itchy-er’ feet. And since it was going to be a start a new semester in his university, he decided we need to go somewhere.

So we decided to climb up to Bokor Mountain in Kampot. Have a look around at the new casino, take photos of the awesome mountain views, then go down to Kep for some downtime, swimming and seafood. I’ll be posting about the trip with photos and videos (of the trip up Bokor Mountain) soon. I just need to sort it out and do a bit of editing first.

More later.

A friend told me a few weeks ago that I’m lucky, I’m in the front row seat when it comes to experiencing Khmer cuisine. I mean real Khmer food. The one’s cooked at home, not those delicious but often ‘fusion’ or tweaked food to suit the visitor’s palate. I never really thought about it, but then most of these things I consider ‘normal’ or a daily routine. I eat mostly Khmer food now, so I guess I took it for granted.

Sure  there are a lot of Khmer restaurants around, but those catering specially for tourists don’t really offer the real Khmer food. More like a semblance of Khmer food. I think its a bit hard to find, authentic Khmer food in those restos. Probably, the most usual Khmer fare that tourists and some expats taste would be amok and lok lak which is a shame coz the country has a lot to offer in terms of food. Take for instance, their wide variety of samlors (soups), its a must try but they are often hard to find. That’s why if you have Khmer friends and you get invited to their homes to eat, I would suggest jump at the offer (I know it sounds mercenary but..) you might be in for a little palate adventure.

While its a bit hard to find authentic Khmer fare in most city restos, you can still find something close to it across the Japanese bridge. I’ll let you on a little secret: this place is my favorite place to relax during weekends – those little stilt huts with hammocks along the river! Mind you, these places aren’t posh, and not for those who prefer their napkins to be sparkling white. But its an experience you’d find in no other place.  This is an entirely Khmer affair and celebrates the Khmer love for lounging around on mats, hammocks and food.

There are a couple of places like this a few minutes drive away from the Japanese bridge, but the ones we usually go to are the one’s near the Chinese temple. I’m not sure exactly about the directions and the restaurants usually have Khmer names. But these places are a fantastic places to relax, be with family and friends. The food is also cheap and really really really delicious.

Just a few weekends ago, we went there again to enjoy the food and some quiet time. Here’s some pic spam..

The food..

grilled shrimps with garlic-chili sauce, served with herbs, cucumbers & tomatoes

chicken stir-fried with ginger & spring onions

samlor koh kor – veggies, fish, spices and flavored with roasted rice..this is super delicious.

Nice, relaxing place..

fabulous river views..

little huts for some privacy

the super happy to be there kiddo. she loves the hammocks obviously.

This is an entry for:

I’m going to talk real estate here. So I can’t guarantee its going to be interesting. Hahaha. I personally find finance, real estate blah blah boring. But since I’m a wife and a mom with a family to think of, such things I have to deal with. A little disclaimer, I’m not an expert in real estate nor am I a broker. I also have no knowledge about foreign ownership of real estate in Cambodia and its legalities.  So what I’ll be discussing is our own personal experience in owning a home in Cambodia.

We have our own lot and a small house here in Phnom Penh. It’s within the city limits and very accessible to the markets, and other conveniences. We love the place coz its quiet, safe but very accessible. We’re not moneyed folks and a billion trillion light years away from being an ohkna (equivalent to tycoon), so owning a house and lot was a big hurdle for us.

If you’re just like us, regular working folks, then buying a lot and a house is almost impossible here. For several reasons: (1) Prices are so steep-really crazy steep and unregulated! (our neighbor’s lot 6×20 m is priced at $80,000! I find this amount obscene! It’s not even a commercial area!) (2) Home financing is not widely available nor is it popular, and its not a very practical option either as loan interest are sky high.

Before we decided to settle here, I was full of complaints about how real estate in the Philippines was so expensive and how lame was the government backed home financing – Pag-ibig, was. BUT when we got here and was faced with the realities of how we can own and not rent our own place, I had to appreciate that the real estate prices back home was regulated and people could at least have some access to home financing without being buried in debt and interest.

I could only thank my lucky stars that my husband has some financial genius tucked in there somewhere in his brains. Early on in our marriage, when prices are not so high here in Phnom Penh, and instead of spending a lot on a lavish wedding, we decided to just invest in a piece of  land. That time, this lot was pitiful looking. With a smelly creek at the back, not much neighbors/houses around, pot holed streets, and I lamented that this place can’t possibly get any internet connection (ha!) and it ‘seemed’ far from the city. But hubby argued that the city is expanding rapidly, and we won’t have to wait long till the area is developed. So we shelled out a couple of thousand dollars and got ourselves that lot. I was consoling myself that at least we won’t have to rent a place when we moved here.