I love visiting traditional markets here in Phnom Penh. It’s colorful, very photogenic . And lots of interesting things to see….and buy. Here’s a snapshot of one shop in Central Market {Psar Thmei}, Phnom Penh selling sarongs, batik and a whole smorgasbord of colorful cloth.

Pretty, isn’t it? Hmmm, a lot of choices and at good prices too if you haggle. That’s why I have to keep a tight rein on the purse strings whenever I venture there.

This should be in “What to Do in Phnom Penh?” list for ladies. Hahaha. But if a guy wants it, then I’m pretty sure he’d be accommodated. I have yet to try it myself , as I’m not really into nail polish thing, because Hello?! I do a lot of house chores and they get removed in a matter of few hours. But I’ve been with friends and relatives who go to have it regularly. And although I don’t have the nail art mania myself, I find it so fascinating! I could well understand why Khmers love putting nail art.

For one, each design is hand-painted (yes! seriously) and the Khmer nail art ladies are masters of their craft. Teeny weeny and intricate designs are applied with ease, well it looks easy when they do it, but I’m sure you need more than just a steady hand to do it properly. Another reason why its a hit? It’s cheap! Can you imagine getting nail art done abroad? I mean in Manila this is a bit hard to find and if you find a salon that offers this, you’d have to pay a really steep price. But here in Cambo, they only charge from $2 {a bit more if its a complicated design} per design. And that covers your ten fingers already, lol!

Also if you have a short nail, you can just get yourself a temporary, glued long nails complete with the fancy nail art you want. Some even have glittery stuff, maybe its zirconia or Swarovski Crystal beads. If you want blings and glitters you’d be spoiled for choice.

And here’s what I also observed in that salon we frequent in Sorya Mall… A Nail Art Training Corner! These ladies are actually learning and honing their nail art craft perfection. Cool, right?

PS. Thanks to PinayMum. She’s the hand model in the first photo

Phnom Penh has a lot of really interesting buildings, mostly Khmer style buildings. But the city also boasts an impressive collection of French colonial buildings. Here’s one prime example. The Main Post Office Building near Wat Phnom. It’s grand and imposing. I find it romantic for some reason, so I’m usually shutter-happy whenever I go near than place..

This building was built during the French Protectorate period in 1895.  This is where you get to send your letters and parcels ).  Check out more of my Cambodia Photos on my Cambodia Gallery.

Something that never fails to interest me. Floating houses! Mostly occupied by Vietnamese-Khmers. There are some along the banks of Mekong River here in Phnom Penh. Take a river cruise and the boat passes a few of these houses. At first I thought, this might be uncomfortable for them, but then I realized this is a way of life for them. Hi-ace also talked to one Khmer living in one of these houses and he said, they do own a piece of land and have a house there but they prefer living above water.. Their livelihood is there and they are comfortable there. Makes sense to me.

I have something to celebrate. Yahoo!!!! I’ve got my work and blogging mojo back! After more than 8 weeks of heehawing, indulging my procrastination habit, I’ve finally started doing something productive. For two days now, I have finally managed to move all my files from my blogging desktop PC to my blogging laptop. And last night I’ve been reorganizing, organizing {and I think making more mess as I went along…hahaha} and I’m also starting to restructure my blogs and had been making notes on what to tweak and improve on. So yes, I’m finally back to being alive. Lol!

And I think that deserves a little reward. The other day, I met an old friend and we spent the whole day talking and slurping on our favorite brew. We met up along Phnom Penh’s famous riverside and had our cup at Cafe Fresco. You know another thing I loooooove about Phnom Penh? Every corner there is a coffee shop. Yes, I’m not even kidding. Even those noodle places serve coffee, so the coffee addict in me is just so at home here. One of the more modern, cooly air-conditioned, with lots of perks coffee places here is Cafe Fresco. They have a couple of branches in the city, but I tend to favor the one in the riverside. I find the crew there nice. Anyway, here’s what I rewarded myself with…

…Baklava…

{i always get that ‘i wanna laugh out loud’ feeling whenever I hear this word}

…Flat white coffee…