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..

Here’s another one of my Living in Phnom Penh posts. A little note of warning: If you don’t fancy reading long and personal posts, you can skip this. Lol! I’m not really dissuading readers from reading my posts but when I make posts like this some might say its boring and the only reason I keep it up is for my relatives and friends back home in the Philippines to keep updated..

Last weekend was a really fun one! Friday night I was in a downloading frenzy for crochet patterns till I realized it was already past 10 and I haven’t even packed anything for our trip the next day. I guess I managed to throw everything together in one overnight bag and my backpack. Went to sleep early coz we were having an early start. We had a blast that weekend and met up also with Hi-ace’s bestfriend and his Filipina wife. Chinks had a great time really coz her best friend forever, Noel was with us. Two days isn’t really enough for us but it did relax us a bit and we also managed to explore a little of Sihanoukville, Cambodia.. I’ll be posting more about Sihanoukville soon plus of course, the photos (still have to sort it out).

When we got back from our beach weekend, the next few days were hectic. Truth it, it was all a blur now. Lots of errands, chores to do. I have even neglected my own workand missed some of my exercise sessions. Anyway, Wednesday was a good friend’s birthday so the whole day was spent with girl friends. Zarah, cooked a really fabulous lunch for us and as usual we had tons of fun and girl talk. Happy Birthday again, Z! Thanks for sharing that special day with us.

Hmm, my days isn’t really that remarkable haha! But yesterday, as usual Chinkee gave me some funny quip to write about again. Hi-ace has been out the last three days for a workshop and yesterday was the last day and they were having a celebratory dinner. So he got dressed with his favorite formal wear – Barong Tagalog. I had several tailored for him last time we were in the Philippines. He loves wearing it coz he said it looks very nice, easy to wear, and not hot.

Anyway, when he got out of the room, Chinks was a little surprised with Dad’s attire, since he usually goes to work with simple polo shirts, maybe that’s her first time seeing her dad in Barong. She was quiet but followed Hi-ace to the door, then she suddenly blurted out, “Mommy! Daddy is now a senator!” We all laughed at that and asked her why she thinks that. She said, “coz you know in TV, Senators wear that.”

Haha! I’m starting to call Hi-ace, “Senator” at home now. I finally got my revenge since he usually calls me, “Madam President” or “Your Highness” .

I know I’ve been on a blogging roll the past few days and I had been churning out at least one post a day for this blog. I am in a blogging mood and I had been all so motivated to write for some reason..Anyway, this is just a update on what I had been up to the last couple of days..

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Met the fabulous Pinays of Phnom Penh last Monday. Had coffee and muffins again @ Brown Cafe plus lots of girl talk. Thanks Che for the muffins! That didn’t end there, we also had lunch in Sofia’s Kitchen where the food is good and so affordable. Next stop was K-four Appliance Center for some appliance browsing, which reminded me I still have to work on and buy that LCD TV to replace the bedroom TV I accidentally dropped a few months back. We then went to Golden Sorya Mall, a new shopping complex near Central Market and Sorya Mall. Browsed all stalls, hehe didn’t buy a thing then we went to T & C cafe near Pencil Supermarket for more chikahan. I love days like this, its not often but yeah its a big deal for me to be able to get some free time for myself and just to have some girl bonding times with my friends. And for me, Phnom Penh is really a more fun place because of these fabulous ladies..

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Tuesday was a busy day. Some errands to run here and there. I also had to do some grocery shopping. I also resumed doing my regular cardio exercises since I’ve been trying to lose some stubborn pounds. Imho, getting regular exercise and a healthy diet I think is way much better than phentermine diet pills. I’ve also been searching the net for some light exercise instructions and I’ve printed it out. Bought myself some light weights too because I want to tone some of my flabby extras.

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Wednesday, Ouwie and I decided to go on a shopping trip to the Russian Market. I can’t find my backpack bag and I’ll be needing one sometime soon. So we headed over to Tuol Tompong Market about 9 am and whew! it was already jam packed with tourists and locals doing their shopping. We headed over to the clothing overruns section and got myself a Kipling Bag (L) for only $8 and another Kipling sling bag convertible to belt bag too for only $4. We browsed the market some more and I also got some comfy Lee Riders capri pants for only $5 each. After an hour I really couldn’t take the heat inside the market anymore so we headed over to Cafe Yeji just around the corner. After a refreshing drink we browsed the art galleries near the market..Will post the photos of my buys soon. I have yet to download them from my camera. I’ve started a ‘Shopping in Phnom Penh’ category and will be featuring bargain haunts and best buys around Phnom Penh. Soon.

Time for my regular rambling, pointless (haha!) updates..What had I been up to for the past few days? Nothing! Really, except for a few errands here and there, things had been pretty quiet for a change..

February just passed by like a breeze for me. I know it just has 28 days but it didn’t leave me with much impression. Also, though February is where Valentine’s Day falls on, we didn’t really do anything special. We all just spent the day together, me, Hi-ace and Chinks playing board games in the morning, afternoon attending Hi-ace’s school affair then a leisurely family dinner in a Thai restaurant. That’s it! I guess I’m long past appreciating flowers, chocolates and romantic dinners during Valentine’s day, uggh I even find it corny and I get annoyed at those romantic blah blahs being shoved in your face every time the 14th draws near. Happiness now for me, stems from those family bonding moments, times were just together without even doing anything special or being anywhere fancy. Funny, but I feel really content and happy at this point..

It’s a fact. I’m addicted to it. I can’t start a day without coffee and I usually have it a couple more times each day. When I first visited Phnom Penh last 2004, I was fretting and thinking that maybe I’ll be on a coffee-diet. Lol! I was really really wrong! I discovered that Cambodians are more than passionate about their morning cup. In fact, they have coffee anytime of the the day!

A few doors down my mother-in-laws house in Toul Tompoung area, there is a Khmer restaurant (corner resto St. 432 and 163) serving espressos and iced coffees at a fraction of the price of famous coffee houses. And the taste? Whew! One of the best brews I’ve ever had. Not only that, I was amazed to find out  that most of these local cafe’s roast their own local beans so you get freshly roasted coffee which, believe me has the best taste. Khmers prefer their beans roasted really black and adds a little fat or butter making the taste a lot richer. They would usually roast their beans every other day around 2-3 pm and just the aroma is heavenly!

So, though I still frequent nice cafes around Phnom Penh (I do enjoy their plush seats, free wifi, pastries..) but every so often you can find me sampling coffee from these small restaurants found all over Phnom Penh. These shops mostly speak very little English so come prepared and have this memorized (lol! I even have a small note always with me with Khmer translation of this just in case..)

• hot black coffee – caa-fei kh’mav (khdow -hot)
• coffee – caa-fei
• iced coffee – caa-fei teuk koh
• ice coffee milk – caa-fei teuk koh tuk duh koh

Khmer coffee is usually served hot – black or with milk / iced – black or with milk. There’s also a place inside Russian Market (Tuol Tompoung Market) serving what they claim to be the Best Iced Coffee in Phnom Penh. It does taste really good, and since there are a lot of tourists in the market they can speak English, so ordering a glass of iced coffee is a breeze.

It’s located right in the food hall, just look for the sign..

And to tempt those iced coffee lovers..

I’ve already shared this passion for Khmer coffee to some of my friends and also my sister. Ouwie is now also a certified Khmer coffee addict. Lol ! I can still remembered when she first tried it, she found it so good, she had too many glasses and found herself unable to sleep and was looking for natural sleep aids. So, though its tastes really good, just have it in moderation

Happy coffee drinking!