I’ve been thinking of starting a ‘random things’ post for my blogs for a long time already. But the procrastinator in me just keeps me from doing so. But since were half-way through the year and I want to have at least one thing off my ‘new year’s resolution – to do list’ then I’m starting this now. Be forewarned, though, I think my random-ness posts would be a lot more personal and messy compared to my other posts. This would be where I’ll be blurbing about things that come and go on my mind. Of course, mostly things I experience everyday, things I observe and whatnot…

• I did a huge load of  laundry today coz it’s drizzling. Yes, I’m weird like that. And now I’m crossing my fingers and hoping it won’t smell bad. Lol.
• Yesterday, I met my Phnom Penh friends, Sreisaat and Mumsified. And I suddenly think I do miss them. You know I’m not exactly very social, and coupled with loads of things I have to do, I’m always left with no time to see friends. So it was great to see them.
• I dropped by IBC bookstore and I ended up buying another pile of notebooks. I seriously don’t know what to do with them except that I looooove notebooks. Oh well, maybe I should start writing down project ideas on one.
• I also went to the wet market with the intention of buying vegetables. But I ended up buying fish, eggs and pork. No sign of greens. I guess I have to go back again tomorrow?
• Need to go and book our tickets to Ho Chi Minh. Well be spending the Pchum Benh holidays there. And oh I really have to search for a hotel. Any recommendations? And I would prefer a nice hotel near Ben Than Market.
• Saturday and Sunday well be visiting several wats and making our offerings.
• And oh, I really really love Khmer iced tea. It doesn’t taste a bit like our usual ‘lemon iced tea’ which is yummy but I know its all just sugar and artificial flavoring. The Khmer iced tea though is made from freshly brewed tea with a twist of lemon + lots of ice.

Ooops. I’ve been missing my regular living in Phnom Penh posts! Lately I’ve been posting mostly just Cambodia Snapshots and Khmer food photos. I do still have my blogging mojo, but I was simply preoccupied with lots of things. Mainly mommy and wifey things. Priorities . I have also been reviving some old blogs and finally I have some spare time now so I would be posting some snippets of our life in Phnom Penh.

For the past few weeks, I had been obsessing on getting fit. I spend a lot of my time tinkering with the computer since I work online so I don’t want to spend some spare time staring at the idiot box or playing on a tablet pc, so I decided I should give myself some love and be fit. I considered enrolling in a gym, but I think that is not for me. I’ve tried that before when I was in the Philippines but I always end up not going. Enrolling in a fitness class is also a no go for me coz I prefer to have a flexible schedule. So I decided to get fit on my own. I started with weekend early morning walks. Now, I jog/walk 4-5 times per week. I do my jogging in the parks , which thankfully Phnom Penh has a lot of. I could walk in the streets but for safety reasons, hubby told me to just walk in the park, I’m the queen of klutz, you see so I could understand his point.

So this has become a routine for us. During the weekends we usually go to the Vietnamese-Cambodian Friendship Park in Sothearos. They have a big free play area for kids so the kiddo can play till she drops and hubby and I can do our brisk walking around the park.

During weekdays, after I send off the kiddo to school and hubby is off to work, I jog around Hun Sen Park. A couple of rounds on that huge park is really exhilarating. Plus you get awesome scenery and this is also an interesting place to do some people watching. See? The photo below was taken during my walk this morning. Lovely, isn’t it?

Sigh. This is what I love about living in Phnom Penh. It’s a simple and good life. You still get to enjoy things for free.

Yay! I’m actually on time for Food Trip Friday. Hahaha! A milestone. The dish name sounds exotic, but really if you’re visiting Cambodia and you’re Asian but not used to too exotic food, this is one of your must try. Pinoys might be at home with this one. I think all Pinoys guests and friends of mine who have tried this loved it. Mainly because its like our very own tocino! Sans the ‘salitre’ lol. Bai Sai Chrouk literally means rice and pork.

Caramelized/marinated pork deep fried or grilled with steamed rice, topped with spring onions. Always served with tomatoes and slices of crunchy cucumber. Plus their usual serving of cucumber-radish-carrot-chili pickles. Some also serve it with egg omelet drizzled with sweet soy sauce. Yum! Super, I think this is my all-time favorite breakfast here. And it doesn’t hurt that its soooooo cheap. One huge serving with free hot or cold tea costs just 3000R-5000R around a $1. The one in the photo is from some eatery and costs just 3000 {around $0.75} and this left me burping the whole day.

Cebu Pacific Juan to Fly? Promo:

Manila to Legazpi or Naga | Cebu to Clark, Davao, Ozamiz, Pagadian or Surigao | Davao to Iloilo – P488
Manila to Tagbilaran or Roxas – P788
Manila to Ozamiz – P888

Manila to Ho Chi Minh – P1288
Manila to Brunei, Guangzhou, Jakarta or Kuala Lumpur – P1488
Manila to Osaka – 2088

Today’s gonna be the last day of the sale! So go hurry and grab yourself some cheap tickets and have a vacation. Lol! I know I should have posted it earlier, but I guess I was too preoccupied scoring deals. Heh. I just got back first week of July and now I’m trip planning again. Sigh. The expense, the expense. But I can’t help myself, I miss my family terribly and unless I could find budget rates for conferencing calling, then I’d have to fly home from time to time.

Were going home again for All Soul’s Day, and kiddo and I will be leaving on the last week of October and going back early November. And yay! I scored discount tickets from Cebu Pacific and were traveling via Ho Chi Minh on the way to Manila. I’m quite giddy with the savings I scored coz that is more than enough to pay for our RT ticket from Manila to Legazpi! Imagine, the usual no discount fare for 2 pax Saigon-Manila would be around $200++ but yesterday I booked and paid less than $128!

So yeah, I’m in a pretty good mood. Hahaha. Anyway, its weekend and I’m wondering what to do..Any suggestions?

I think I’ve lost my blogging mojo, temporarily that is. Not because I lost interest but mostly because I simply don’t have time to write. I’m still in the Philippines and will be here indefinitely coz I’ve been helping to care for my ailing father. Of course, I’ll be going back to Phnom Penh every once in a while but for now Bicol is where I’ll be. Anyway, things are going downhill fast with regards to my father.

How I keep wishing I was somewhere else and doing something else and my most pressing concern is picking out garter belts. But if I ever learned something through all this, it is accepting my lot in life. We may not get everything we want but its up to us to make something out of the things we are given. It might be hard to see positives in this situation, but right now I cling to those positive things.

Yes, my father has been given terminal illness but as he keeps saying, this is the cycle of life. That at some point he will get sick and say goodbye, so somehow he appreciates the time given to him to prepare, to tie loose ends. And most of all, the last time we had a serious conversation, I asked him if he is happy with how his life went and if he has regrets. He said, yes, he has few regrets but he is happy with how his life had been.

As for me, some might say its a perverse thing to be happy but right now I’m choosing to appreciate that I’ve been blessed with a loving and responsible father. And the chance to show that gratitude while he is still with us. To my dad, Happy Father’s Day.