Nope, I didn’t cook this. More like, it was delivered to our house by hubby’s nephew. This is a native Cambodian rice cake flavored with ripe palm fruit, locals called Nom Tnout (Palm Cake). Topped with shredded coconut and sugar.

How did it taste? More like our Pinoy puto but with a little tangier taste, plus the toppings adds a bit of texture. Will definitely have it again..

That’s me these past few days. Busy and crazy. I’m busy because I’m crazy, and I’m going crazy because I’m busy. Lol!  Before I actually get lost in the maze of words I’m typing in here, I might as well get to the wherefore’s on why I’m so busy. I sort of resemble the cartoon below..

The main reason is that I’ve decided that I don’t like being idle. If I settle into a very idle routine I usually just end up watching a movie, chatting on FB  but really I’m just scooping out photos of people who used to think I was dorky back in high school and I just wanna say, ‘SO, who looks dorky now?! and following it up with a horsey laugh, hahahaa! , err where was I?

Anyway, whenever I’m not doing anything for one day, it slowly becomes a pattern for the next few days and when I’m being lazy I also tend to pig out. Bad, bad! So, I’ve been seriously blogging, helping out Hi-ace with his lessons in school, fixing up some papers and things he’d be needing when he goes on training sometime soon, also helping out my sister with some business setting up.

Just the past few days, I’ve set-up more than six blogs (hehe not all are mine, some are blog installation requests from a client and some friends) and also updated my old blogs. I had also been making presentations for Hi-ace and whew! I’m seriously having joint pains just from slaving over this.

My sister’s biz is also currently on a renovation mode. I’ve been helping out developing new graphic design packages for them, as well as building a new portfolio website for them.

And on top of all that, I still had time to cook, do the laundry, go shopping, clean the house.. I guess you can call me superwoman now haha.. Anyway, that’s one of those fun things I’ve learned to enjoy with living in Phnom Penh. Since I don’t have a maid at my beck and call, I have to do some serious time management. And no, I’m not about to give up just yet and hire a helper. I guess the cons are bigger than the pros right now..

No, I don’t dream of a  life of luxury. I just dream of a life of comfort. Lol! I think everyone wants to have a better life and that includes me. I’m not about to be hypocritical and say that, ‘nah I just want to be poor or just this is enough’.  But I don’t like too much of everything too. For example, I want to have a car, but I don’t need 10 cars, nor do I want to have Jaguar or an Alfa Romeo. A bit like Warren Buffett, see he’s like a billionaire several times over but he lives very modestly. I’ll probably be as rich as him only in my dreams but I do admire his lifestyle very much and that’s probably the reason why he is so rich anyway..

I want to have a good future, moreso for my daughter. I think that is reasonable enough because I am willing to make it happen. No, I don’t believe in quick-get-rich-schemes, nor do I believe in winning the lottery, nor do I want someone to hand over a big truck of gold bullions to me (but this isn’t bad either haha!) . It has to be from hard work and wise financial decisions.

I know we still have a long way to go and to be honest I’m still feeling my way towards this goal. Hi-ace and I always talk about this and we are planning mostly for the long term. Having lots of money for short term is not something we want. We want to have a steady stream of income which we could reinvest for the future. We’re also thinking about what we will do once we can no longer work much physically.

We want to be financially free so when we reach old age, we don’t want to place a big burden on anyone particularly our kids. We also want to be able to do what we like during that time. In Hi-ace case, he wants to learn, network and train himself on research as much since that is something he can still even after retiring. As for me, I plan to pursue another degree, one that holds my interest and would be useful even if I just stay home or when I’m old.

And oh! The photo above, well I plan for that to be me when I’m in my 40′s.. Lol! Now that is what I would call wishful thinking.. But hey! this is my blog so I can dish out some unfiltered crazy fantasies once in a while..

Yesterday, Hi-ace was asking me where I want to go for the next long holiday in May. Don’t I just love Cambodia? Lots of holidays, we just had one week holiday this April, then in May we’ll have another set of four day straight no work day from May 13-16 for the King’s birthday.

Anyway, he asked if I wanted to go to the beach again, but nah! I love beaches, I grew up very near one. But maddening crowds on the beach kinda drives me crazy. I prefer almost deserted places, places where we could hike, camp, or simply just enjoy nature.

What I do when I travel really depends on my mood. There are times I just wanna lie down on a hammock and read the latest chick lit. But oftentimes I like it jam packed with activities, unplanned, spur of the moment walks. Hi-ace sometimes complains that he’d probably get a bad case of joint pain if he keeps keeping up with me. Hmm, really I think its great for him to have that exercise and besides I think he secretly enjoys it and he could just as easily check www.reliefjointpain.net so he’d know what to do..

We’ve settled on a compromise trip then, we’d be bringing my sister Ouwie to see Angkor Wat and also a visit to the Siem Reap’s floating village. Now, that definitely has the hiking and adventure I’m looking for!  He’s now asking me to think up and plan an itinerary but hmm I wanna just go with the flow. Maybe the first day going around the Archeological Park, the next on to the floating village or maybe temples further from Siem Reap and the next day just relaxing and eating. That’s the general plan..

That’s me. I’m having a dilemma of sorts. You see, I’ve mentioned that I have been a stay-at-home-mom for the past six years. I chose to be one so I could stay home and be there for my family’s needs. Before I made that decision, I weighed the pros and cons for quite sometime.

The time that I’ll be able to spend nurturing my child and helping out my husband while he was writing his dissertation far outweighed the financial and other benefits of me working. So the decision made, I settled quite well into it. But I did not remain idle for long really, added to the duties of caring for a precocious toddler Chinks was at that time, I was still able to earn while I was at home.

I also took up blogging because I found it enjoyable to write down my thoughts and explore my interest on computers, technology and what goes on behind websites and the internet. It has been a very interesting learning experience and I also somehow managed to make a bit of earning from the blogs I set-up since 2007.

A couple of days ago, Ouwie and I went to O’Russei Market to buy some cloth and I also wanted to add some yarns for my ‘learning to crochet project’. Once we were done with shopping for what we needed, we walked around the electronics section and saw this cute little fan. We asked how much but the seller I guess woke up on the wrong side of the bed that morning, just grunted a response and ignored us, so we left. That is one thing that sometimes frustrates me here in Phnom Penh, its like they are doing you a favor by selling their stuff to you.

Really, they have no idea what customer service is! But anyway, this isn’t about me ranting about some of those rude sellers. When we got home, we told Chinks about the fan since I knew she would surely like it! True to our assumptions she immediately launched into, ‘Please, please Dad. Can you please buy it for me?’

So last Saturday, Hi-ace and I decided to go to O’Russei Market again for her little fan. Too bad we realized that the Khmer New Year is coming so the traffic was horrendous, we had to park several blocks away and just decided to walk to the market. All the while, I was thinking, ‘All this for a little fan???!’ Well, just to please the little one..

Thankfully, before we reached the market, we spotted an electronics store selling the same mini fan! You can really hear me heave a sigh of relief and we just bought it from there and boy! you can see how happy that made Chinks. Haha! That’s how kids are, they can be ecstatically happy with just small things! How I wish adults can be like that too..

Just like her usual routine, she christened her new toy – Kitty! Lol! A very ‘imaginative’ name.. So now, Kitty goes everywhere with her. Not really a bad idea since its scorching hot here in Phnom Penh.

And everytime I see it I get reminded of the sunburn I got from our ‘buy the kitty-fan-adventure’.  I should be checking short term health insurance NC if they have any coverage for sunburn! Hmm, blisters and sunburn aside, its fun watching her walk around like a little primadonna with a small fan everywhere she goes..