2013 January | Inside Cambodia

APAD 66: Ampalaya. Bow.

Posted by The Insider on Jan 8, 2013 in A Photo a Day, Addicted to Meme, Cambodia life, Cycle 2, Expat Life, That's My World, What's On in Cambodia | 0 comments

I have this ambitious goal of growing my food. A lot of my friends scoffed at the idea because not only that it is ambitious but also impossible since my husband and I live in a second floor (that’s the first floor for my Filipino readers) an apartment.

Well, I’m not the one to be dissuaded so easily. I planted seeds in pots. In the last quarter of 2012, I planted bitter gourd seeds in a big pot in our veranda and, well, needless to say, I am now enjoying the fruits of my labour. Pun intended.

See what I mean? In November, the lone ampalaya (bitter gourd) plant that survived amongst how many seeds I buried in the pot started flowering. By December, yellow flowers were blooming where some of them eventually turned into baby ampalayas. Not all of the baby ampalayas matured. A lot turned yellow, must be from the cool weather; but there are more flowers coming out every day.

I’m excited, of course.
Since the first week of 2013, I already picked four pieces of bitter gourd! Two already ended up in my tummy after I cooked them with monggo (mung beans), kalabasa (squash) and pork. The remaining two were picked only this morning 🙂 They’re smaller in size compared to the ones available at the market but they’re ampalaya nonetheless. What’s more, they’re basically organic. No pesticides, no nothing. I regularly water them every afternoon and dump my biodegrable stuff (mostly vegetable peelings) on that pot.

I know it’s not that much and it’s too early to boast but a girl has got to start from somewhere. It dawned on me: if I could grow ampalaya on pots from my apartment’s veranda, how much more if I have a small piece of land? Imagine that. I know, I’m so simple like a country lass, hahaha.

APAD 065: Vietnamese food

Posted by The Insider on Jan 7, 2013 in A Photo a Day, Addicted to Meme, All things Khmer, Cambodia, Cambodia life, Cycle 2, Expat Life, food, That's My World, What's On in Cambodia | 0 comments

Just sampling Vietnamese dishes at one of the local restaurants in the city.

I’ve had better Vietnamese food elsewhere.

Some are too oily but the others are good. The yellow crepe is called banh xeo which I like. It doesn’t taste as good as the ones bought inside the Russian market though.

Offering a buffet lunch that costs only $6 per person, the restaurant offers a decent spread of Khmer-Thai-Vietnamese dishes. Drinks are not included. It’s a reasonable price. No wonder it gets crowded at lunchtime with local customers and tourists that arrive busloads after busloads.

APAD 064: Riverside exhibit

Posted by The Insider on Jan 4, 2013 in A Photo a Day, Addicted to Meme, All things Khmer, Cambodia, Cambodia life, Cycle 2, Expat Life, sights, That's My World, What's On in Cambodia | 2 comments

Here’s one of the exhibits that was part of this year’s Photo Phnom Penh Festival.

The Festival has just concluded on the 31st of December.

APAD 063: Fun with words

Posted by The Insider on Jan 3, 2013 in A Photo a Day, Addicted to Meme, All things Khmer, Cambodia, Cambodia life, Cycle 2, Expat Life, sights, Signs of Times, That's My World, What's On in Cambodia | 4 comments

We were driving right behind this vehicle when the sign caught my attention. I didn’t know what to say so I pointed it out to my husband. He didn’t know what he was looking at in the beginning but when he realised it, he was amused.

The humour comes in the use of letters. Replace the “e” with “a” and you have “Kawasaki” which is an international company in Japan specialising in motorcycle stuff.

Makes me wonder though if the sign was actually intended to be funny, or, this Keweseki company actually exists and piggy-backing on the popular brand name by replacing some letters to avoid being slapped with a lawsuit?

I hope it is just the former. I can’t wait to find some “SUNY” appliances, “TAYATO”, “Metzubeshe”, “Yemehe” or “Sazaki” vehicles running around town and photographed them! Lol.