Olympic Market | Inside Cambodia

APAD 228: Hodge-podge

Posted by The Insider on Feb 19, 2014 in A Photo a Day, Addicted to Meme, All things Khmer, Cambodia life, Expat Life, sights, That's My World, What's On in Cambodia | 1 comment

A hodge-podge of colourful headwears found in one of Phnom Penh’s public markets.

APAD 192: Street food

Posted by The Insider on Oct 14, 2013 in A Photo a Day, Addicted to Meme, All things Khmer, Cambodia life, Cycle 2, Expat Life, food, That's My World, What's On in Cambodia | 0 comments

My officemates and I ran errands across town last Friday. We had an uneventful tuk-tuk ride but we gotta do what we gotta do, eh! On the way back, we passed by Olympic Market and there – rows of nom pang pate stalls welcomed us. Of course, I had to stop and buy one. Nom pang pate is one of my favourite street food in Phnom Penh.

Nom pang pate Cambodia street food local sandwich

Nom pang pate. Local baguette with pate, cucumbers, green tomatoes, slathered with yolk-ish concoction composed of honey and other secret ingredients. Yummy.

For only a dollar, you’ll get fat slabs of pate on a bed of fresh veggies (mentioned above) on a crunchy baguette with shredded papaya on the side (much like our achara). It’s a remarkably crunchy and messy affair but I tell you, it’s finger-lickin’ good, mate!

APAD 177: Dress up, dress down

Posted by The Insider on Aug 28, 2013 in A Photo a Day, Addicted to Meme, All things Khmer, Cambodia life, Cycle 2, Expat Life, sights, That's My World, What's On in Cambodia | 3 comments

Oops, I’m not Wordless again so please excuse.

Two Saturdays ago, my husband and I set out on a market tour… and we had Olympic Market in our sights. To those who don’t know, shopping here in Cambodia is quite an adventure, a treat for the senses, and Olympic Market didn’t disappoint us.

The Olympic Market is a three-storey building located near the Olympic Stadium, hence the name… It houses hundreds of small shops and stalls that form a dizzying maze. However, it is one of the best places to find nice fabrics, including Cambodian silk, wholesale goods, traditional Khmer dresses as well as imported ones from China, Hongkong, Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.

Once inside this maze-like market, we didn’t know where we were going or where we’d end up but that was part of the adventure! As we walked around, climbing the stairs up and back down again, there were so much for our eyes to take in. If only taking photos wasn’t attracting too much unwanted attention, I would have taken tons!

Here are but two photos.
This is just one of the shops inside Olympic market that sells RTWs (ready-to-wear). These are Cambodian party dresses. They are pretty and colourful and a bit over-the-top with the beadworks and glitters. I wanted to pick one to wear for the looming board meeting just to see the reaction of the board members to the new girl in the office! Lol. Of course I am kidding!