So, 2017!

So it’s right now a new year after a year that I barely blog about myself. Which I don’t think many people care about it anyways. Though, the whole year of 2016 had nothing but amazing memories that I will remember.

This year 2017. I’ve been changed. I guess because stepping into an adult life is not so fun besides working, gaining weight, earning money and traveling. So many wonder what’s happening, after I graduated from 2 universities of majors that I love, travelled to 11 countries, and got closer with family and loved one. Now, here I am, sitting in the office, focus on work and try to earn more money as possible.

I never really write myself resolutions for new year, but I have some thoughts in mind of what I want to do and achieve each year. This year, I will be living in a really grown-up life. I guess even though I’m still 23 years old, heading toward 24 years old, I think it’s a right time to start being mature.

I started this year by writing emails to my close friends about what they should change for new year. Now, I am not sure how much it will impact their life but I think, to myself, that it’s a good idea to tell people about what you truly feel about people around you and that I’m wishing them to be a better person. Who else does not want people around you growing to a good person.

So, the ideas of writing to my friends get me really thought about myself, what have I achieved so far. Of course, I am happy because I have a job with good salary, happy family, happy relationship, especially I can travel to wherever I want to.

I think 2017, I take my day very seriously. By trying to balance my diet, do more exercise, get my own rest and produce good results of my work. I feel great about it.

But I guess my thought on early 2017 really shape who I am in reality. Right now, when I try to finish this post, picking up some draft that I left unpublished, I just want to add that up until right now, which is almost half year of 2017 and 21 days until I turn 24, I really stick to what I assume I will be like in the early of 2017 when I started to write in this post and ended up never published — being a mature girl.

2017 is when I take my job, my relationship, my family seriously in a lot of ways. That’s when I really need to manage my time and balance a lot about my personal life and my professional life. My job is doing a lot better and better, even though there are challenges along the way and I receive a lot more responsibility compare to before — But overall, I realize that a lot of people are having a lot of respect for me, for the work that I have put my effort on. Nothing makes you feel greater than getting the respect that you deserve.

June 2016. A month to remember.

The inspiration of writing my blog again is because I just posted on my instagram with the caption:

June is probably the best month of the year, that’s why I decided to be born in this month. On my 23rd birthday, I had completed my bucket list, went to the international music festival to celebrate my birthday. This pic was taken after I spent almost 10 hours standing, so then I managed to sit down on a very left hand side of the concert and watched the confetti up in the air.. Feeling satisfied, I realized how wonderful it is to be born into this life. #alwaysgrateful

Sometimes the inspiration just comes to my mind, when I looked back to what I’ve done. The moment that June 2016 approached, I know this is my month. The golden month, I always tell myself. Even though the beginning of the month makes me feel a bit stressed, I come out to say that I have the greatest June of the year.

The period of celebration starting during in the middle of June, when I felt like good news are coming at the same time. First off, my 1 year and a half relationship with my boyfriend celebration (or anniversary if you would say) is on 10th, while my birthday is on 11th which is on Saturday, and right on 13th I had my first graduation ceremony. Can you believe it? I mean, those come with the day that you can actually celebrated.

Those days just came when all the celebrations came on the same day. To sum up on what I earned of those days while I never get to finished this post. I got myself a ticket to see an EDM festival abroad, a bachelor degree certificate, and my boyfriend treated me to a summer holiday in EUROPE. 2016 was the greatest year of my life, I would say.

Right now, when I looked at this draft of blog that I’ve been written almost a year ago. I couldn’t help but to feel that, this should be deserved to be posted even thought it’s been almost a year ago. Today, the day I’m rediscovering this draft and I decided to post this blog, it’s about 21 days to go until I turned 24. It’s 2017, and counting the day to my birthday and I’m feeling ready to see it’s coming. Yes, I would really think that for the past one year I always wrote / thought to myself that I learnt so much. I grow mature. I leave all the negativity behind and just grab something that is positive to my life.

This 24th birthday, I don’t wish for something besides carry on with this wonderful life and to be alive and see all the great things that myself has been doing and being surrounding by these great people. Though, part of me right now is to actually find a happiness by getting close to the nature and traveling and probably being by myself doing a reflection of everything I do to myself, and possibly to think of what I should do for the future that a lot of people in my age start to care so much about.

What to do in Kampot province?

Champa Lodge along Prek Kampot

April is the month of holiday to Khmer people – because it is KHMER NEW YEAR. The days when people gather with friends and family or the loved one, going to provinces or just simply chill with their family.

This year is very special since it is one whole week holiday. I got to spend time with my family, relatives, and last but not least my boyfriend and my best friend. The last three days of the week, my boyfriend and I had off to Kampot which is which is about 144km from Phnom Penh. It took us only 2 hours to reach the destination, since we drove in a short-cut road (I guess). But generally, going to Kampot, you spend only 2 or 3 hours max. Yes, it is that fast to go.

This whole trip is a wonderful pleasure to us since we are only looking for place where we can really chill and relax as much as possible. That has to say, with the nature surrounding and a little bit of activities where we can really enjoy the pleasure of it. Since many people make their journey to Siem Reap and Kompong Som, voila, we are heading to the KAMPOT province. Over there, it is less stress and since Khmer people do not really pay attention to the potential of this province yet, we get to maximize our trip the max.

Many people have asked me, what to do in Kampot province? So, I was like okay why not I write about the whole trip since this is a really good trip that I think I should put all the memory into words? And plus, I promised with my bestfriend and boyfriend that I’m going to write a review to all the places that I’ve been to. 🙂

Just so you know that the way I make this trip is what my friend and I are joking around that this is a “hybrid trip”, for those of you who don’t know what we mean, it just simply means that we kinda make the trip a bit like a backpacker style but also keep some activities that the local people also do. So, it is a mixture of backpacker + local style traveling.

How to go?

Starting of, we arrived KAMPOT at 12.30PM since we didn’t want to go early. To get to Kampot easily with less traffic road, instead of going through National Road No. 3, we recommend to go along National Road No. 4, then when you arrive Thnol Tor Teng, you can go through road number 124. There you will approach Kampot very fast, but passing a couple of villages only with less people comparing to the typical national road.

Convenient road from Phnom Penh to Kampot

Where to sleep?

My boyfriend and I spend 2 nights at Kampot. The first night we slept at this very modern boutique hotel called “MAKK Hotel”. I found this hotel from Agoda, and the moment I saw the room, I booked it right away. Again, the only thing that we are looking for this trip is to just pure relaxation, so why not spend a bit more of money staying in a place where you didn’t get to sleep at often? There it was. MAKK Hotel.

Standard Double Room at MAKK Hotel

To be honest, the whole only challenge about the hotel is that we are in doubt whether the room really looks like the picture that they show to you in Agoda or any site that you book the hotel. Because once it’s bad, it will ruin your expectation. But this is not a disappointment. When we arrived there, we were warmly welcomed by the staff there, with apple juice and cold towel. Their staffs are really friendly and well taking care of us, and they asked us if we used to visit here before, because if we didn’t they would pull out a Kampot map, and told you where are the top 4 restaurants to go in Kampot and place to go, etc. The surprising thing is that the whole hotel has only 6 rooms. The staff over there told me that the hotel just recently opened, and they have like a family business style.

However, I’m impressed with the way they design the whole hotel, both architecture of the building & rooms, and its interior design. I asked whether it is owned by Cambodian, and they said yeah. Once we did a small talk on the lobby, we entered the room which to be honest, we were so thrilled when they showed us the room. I mean what’s more to expect to see a nice hotel room for your holiday, especially when the whether is super hot and all you did is just taking a nap? haha. Located along the Riverside Road, MAKK Hotel is a really suitable for people who are looking for a quiet, relaxing place, not far from town but away from the hectic nightlife restaurants and hotels, and especially with a nice Kampot view. When we left the hotel, the owner (I supposed) handed us a beautiful Khmer design wallet as a thankful gift to stay in the hotel. That was really nice of them. The Standard Double room, during the time we stayed was $40 including taxes and breakfast.

The second night, since my best friend joined us, we have to go to a place with more affordable price for my friend. So, we booked rooms at Nakru Guesthouse. Despite having a few problems with booking system, they managed to prepare rooms for us. Located at Street Samaky primary school, The guesthouse itself also designed in a boutique style in the downtown of the city. Half price of MAKK Hotel. It was $23 for Superior Double Room and $20 for Standard Double Room for my friend during the stay including taxes. Then again, it still keeps a good vibe for us to stay in. Just so you know, the hotel that I went to mostly in a very modern design, boutique sort-of style, and a place where you can enjoy the stay with good environment. Very decent place to stay for those who could afford less, with a good vibe hotel.

The night before, we also found another hotel for my friend last minute at Blue Buddha Hotel. It was also a nice place. For standard room is $25 dollars includes taxes.

For those who want to spend more time in a natural style in bungalow along the river, etc. Kampot is a place to go. There are many many resorts along the Prek Kampot where you can go to sleep in a bungalow or a traditional Cambodian house surrounding by the nature, and really feel the vibe of Cambodian village.

Where to eat? 

The first day after checked-in the hotel, we strolled around town looking for a restaurant to eat. Man, Kampot is really developing. Many restaurants start to open, as well as the hotels. I can see this is going to be one of the very hectic tourist destination in the future. Anyways, since we went there already late, we finally went to Veronica’s Kitchen. I ordered fried Squid with green pepper and Jasmine rice, and my boyfriend, Loy, ordered Salad with chicken breast. The food over there was okay to me. The banana shake is less sweet. So, overall, I give it average rate to this restaurant. However, the restaurant is located in front of the Kronat Market, so it gives the best location if you want to simply chill with your friend and gets some air.

Fried squid with green peppers and Jasmine rice

For dinner, we went to Pteas Nak Kro BBQ House, which is very local (or at least I can say, for young people who enjoy a new place). It is not like a real BBQ thing, but it looks like a current street food in Phnom Penh with nice wooden chairs and tables. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to take any photos, however, the restaurant just opened 5 days ago, that’s why the service is super good. The owner (I guess) keeps coming to our table and asked us if we need something, please do not hesitate to ask him. Besides running this business, he also claimed as a tour guide. So, you know, he was talking English to us and stuff. It was cool to know that.

The food and the sauce of the bbq is average. Bu since the business just operated, I guess they have more to improve, hopefully. The portion of the seafood and the meat is very small, and it costs $1.50 for each plate.

The second day, we had breakfast at MAKK hotel, then we were off to have lunch at Psa Kdam. The good thing about Kampot is that you can eventually drop by Kep to have fresh seafood easily and of course, coming back. We went to one of the restaurant along Psa Kdam. Again, unfortunately we didn’t get to take photo because we were so hungry at that time. But we ordered fresh crab 1KG (for $15), then some grilled squids ($1.25 per one squid), all of them included the cooking service and a pot of rice.

In the evening, we strolled around town again, then we found a really nice Chinese noodle restaurant “Ecran Noodle and Dumpling House”. We were so glad to found the place, because obviously, we ate a various of food – from western food to Khmer food to BBQ to Seafood and to (finally) Chinese food. Before going to Ecran Noodle House, we actually wanted to try pork ribs at the Russian restaurant “Rusty Keyhole”, but because it has only the big portion and we do not wish to eat that much, we left the restaurant and finally ended up with Ecran Noodle House. Rusty Keyhole is also one of the place you must go to for the sake of the pork ribs. Anyways, back to the Ecran Noodle House, the price is affordable. One plate of fried noodles or soup is about $3.50. Fresh noodles, and fresh dumplings. The taste was very good. I enjoyed the food. Over there, they also offers movie services which costs $3.5 per person/movie. Thus, if you get bored and want to do kill time, you can just rent a room to watch your favorite movie with your friends or your loved one.

For the third day, we went to chilling, kayaking at Champa Lodge, which a resort along Prek Kampot. Over there, you can find a fresh-made mango smoothies, which will blow your mind. Spending the whole day there by the river, then at night we dropped by Fish Market which is a cool architectural pub that we can find good cocktails, drinks and chilling by the river with amazing decoration.

Overall, it was a wonderful trip and I think soon Kampot will be another attractive tourist province for Cambodian people to drop by during the weekend and as well as their holiday. It’s gonna go big.

My Blog got 12,934 hits on February 29th

I was surprised to know that today is very special because it’s February 29th. Passing 12am, my boyfriend texts me as seen in the picture. So, I was like oh, okay haha, I didn’t notice this. So, since it’s a special day, we planned to go to have a nice dinner together, and guess what, today is the day Leonardo Decaprio won Oscar as the Best Actor category for the first time. Congrats for him.

Just a highlight of the day. Now let’s stick to the topic I want to write.

Ok so today at one point, since I do not have anything to do at work, I checked my Blog and I’m surprised how it always got view for average 25 or 30 people a day. I mean, how can my Blog has any impact to people?

Few days ago, my junior who always checked my Blog, asked me whether I consider changing my writing style – and I’m like, what do you mean?

What he mentioned is that, he had checked several Blogs that most of them wrote about stuff like, what he described as “thought-provoking” articles. Obviously, that make sense, because most of my pieces here are mostly not about issue that make people’s thought “provoked” enough – if you know what I mean.

Which I totally agree with what he said. I mean, if I wrote about important stuff to let people think, I probably got a lot more views than this, right. However, the point is that, the first time I created this Blog, I know it’s going to be a platform where I can do a self-reflection here, rather than anything else.

Let me get back to why I created this Blog since the first place. I created this Blog in 2012. Back then, there was an introduction to a Blog by my senior in my university. So, I created, and then decided this will be a platform I can post my work.

So, I started to post stuffs, like you know random essays, my assignment, and things I enjoyed doing – like review about art event, etc. Since then I started to realize that I love writing, not academic type of writing, of course, because while I was creating this Blog, I might have gone through some academic essay writing class which I’m totally shit at.

But, I love writing something that is more creative. Therefore, I started to write some articles in more like lifestyle journalism style. I discovered myself right there, that I love those lifestyle type of articles.

In year 2, the school required me to do an internship during a school break. And, I managed to get an internship for a well-known weekly magazine in the Phnom Penh Post, called “7days”. At that time, I was asked to send samples of my work that I’ve done. And, I got a positive feedback from an editor.

There I am, become a lifestyle journalist.

So this is just a brief highlight of what defines my interests up until now. However, the career of being a journalism ain’t always bring myself motivation – since I probably have more skills than this. Therefore, I’ve quit to be a lifestyle journalist full time (still a freelancer though), and concentrate more on something I can use all my potentials. And, there I am, a communications manager.

Again, this piece might not be a “thought-provoking” piece like what my junior said. It’s all about describing myself, again and again.

However, the purpose here is that, I like to write about myself here – as an archive of the evolution of my life, how my life has evolved. Starting from the beginning of my university life, the frustration of teenager who being transformed into an adult. I guess everyone has gone through this phase. Some would not have a chance to document what they have gone though – the frustration, the concern, the excitement. Therefore, I write here articles, that may talk about myself in the purpose of one day, when I’m getting older I will check this post, and it will remind me of old time – which I start to see the benefits of this Blog already.

That’s why, this Blog is not attempting to get a lot of views from people. In fact, it is all about myself, which I am hoping to do a life-reflection here when I feel like it. That’s why I barely share it to my Facebook, or let my friends see it because I think it gives no value to others, but I hope it will give, at least, some inspiration though my pieces of my life journey.

But it comes to my surprise that some people have discovered it, and share it with their network. I once, wrote an article which gives a “thought-provoking” about expats in Cambodia, and got discovered by an author, and he reposted in his Blog, which I got a lot of attention for many people all over the world.

And this is not the first time, but often time, I got contacted by many professionals from various fields about the topic that I wrote, about journalism, street art and so on. That’s why I realize that you cannot hide anything if you want to expose it online.

The impact of those article make me realize that things can go viral very fast through the Internet. I remember there was one American professor in journalism from Utah State University, whom at that time discovered me through my Blog, said that, “That’s the great thing about social media — you never know where it might reach (or who!)” And yes, that’s true.

So, I guess well – I will just keep blogging it is. 😉

8 months after I graduated

It’s February 2016.
I am in my room, playing music on my iPod, having a “How to plan advertising” book next to me. Because guess what, I’m going to read it after I finish writing this blog.

Do you know that life has changed so much from the past 8 months that I finished one of the universities? (The one that I consider a “real university”).

Within the past 8 months, I got a job offered a day before the day I defended by final thesis. So, I am now proudly saying that I am a graduate student majoring in media management. Until now I become a communications manager for a small but dynamic agency called “Branderz”.  Over there, I take pride with what I did because I achieved so many great things in most of my campaigns that I did.

From there I have learned so much. All the experiences, make me realize that I am now deep into the creative career that I assume most people would find my job very interesting.
Just this month, I got 4 new jobs offered, but I rejected all of them because I believe I have so many things to learn from my current job, and I have to learn to the max from this idea-brain-place.  I call this place idea-brain-place because we are just very dynamic and creative, that I think help me improved myself until now.

Now I can say I have more experienced skills in advertising, branding, digital marketing, negotiation, management, etc. These skills make me very developed so much. And when I look at something, I can immediately think of something different. Wherever I go, I always notice something in a different way that most people see it. I guess that’s just my job to make me feel my creativity inside is more proactive.

Remember how I say, I always want to involve in something creative – well, here I am. Despite that, I also look into how business strategy should make. I learn more about who are the potential business in Cambodia, and as a problem solver, it’s a challenge – and at the same time exciting – to provide solutions for different projects, business, ranging from mobile applications, automotive industry, non-governmental organizational, etc. Those projects make me able to see different perspective and different problems, and how to solve those problem accordingly based on their targets.

So just last week, I met a guy who is a shareholder in a real estate website, we talked a lot about the industry and especially the digital marketing as it is a bomb strategy in Cambodia or probably everywhere in the world. I find myself very impressive that I can be myself, understanding, advising what should do and what shouldn’t do. Sometimes I wonder how can I be like that, it’s like “wow, that was impressive, how could I talk like that”. At the end of the meeting, I manage to get my friend to work for that place.

Like I always joke with my friend that my job is to make people famous, and it is true.

So the day after, my friend went to have a meeting with the guy, and he got a job! He texted me appreciate what I did, and he blamed himself for not having a lot of networks as I do. And suddenly, I spilled my personal quote that, “You don’t need a lot of networks, you just need the right person.” And he said he will remember this quote forever.

Sometimes I realize that I am so lucky to be able to do many things, despite young age. And experience so many things that most young adults here might not able to do. Even though I am not a rich kid who were born with wealthy family, but I believe I am confident that I can do so much more for myself now and in the future.

I am very lucky to be able to share my knowledge and experience with my friends, juniors, or everyone even my own family. Now I find myself like to give creative advice to my friends, classmates or people in general that my instinct says that they’re one of the successful people in the industry. Sometimes I teach them of what I know in the industry, and it just makes me feel very awesome that at least I can share something for them to know. Sometimes people just come to me for advice, and at one point I’m sort of proud of it. It’s like at least my advice can make a positive impact to people’s life.

Life seems to be very simple and fun, isn’t it? However, things are not always as good as we expected.

Talking about my personal life, I am in a happy relationship, I can save up and travel to the place that I want to go, I can buy stuff that I always want. One of my senior in England said that, “Honey, you have everything a girl dream of. If I got into a stable relationship at home, I might settle down too,” which I pretty much agree, but you know life sometimes is not that simple.

I’m getting sick of my routine.

Wake up. Go to work. Cannot wait for lunch break. Go back to work. Cannot wait for time to leave the office. Go to school. Cannot wait for the time to finish class. Come back home. Sleep. Go to see a boyfriend sometimes. Repeat.

It’s just when you seem to have everything that you have, you are still not happy. And i guess that pretty much explains why adults like to go out after work, grab some drinks, go to a club. They just want entertainment. Something different.

And it is the same to me. It’s sad but true that, though I can go anywhere I want, eat anything I want, do anything I want – but at the same time, I don’t really get to do much like I used to. It’s like you are stuck between teenagers and adults, so you don’t really know which category you belong to. Sometimes you want to do things like what teenagers do, but you feel like you’re too old for that. Sometimes you want to do things like what adults do, but you feel like those activities are not enjoyable and only for old people.

So what do I want to do with my life?
I do not know. It is like you’re stuck in the middle of nowhere because somehow you cannot decide what you really want to do in your life. That is to make yourself happy again.

I guess, for this phase, I really need to find any activities to challenge myself, so that it can keep my positive energy up again. Well, it takes time. I hope I can manage to discover the solutions soon.

Why do we feel so good and relaxed when we are with the loved one?

Feeling so deeply in love with your loved one right? What causes you to feel that way? And why are we getting so happy and feeling relaxed whenever we are with the special someone?

I’ve been wondering about these lately, after my boyfriend often told me that he had a good night sleep after seeing me, or both of us just feel so chill and relaxed when we see each other.

So that urges me to do a bit of research what makes us feel this way?

And, it’s not a miracle or something. Actually it has been proved in a scientific way. The hormone that bring you love is called “Oxytocin” or “Love Hormone” or “Cuddle Hormone”. So, basically when you see your lover or your pet or your children, the Oxytocin level will rise up.

I like this quote from Mr. Carol Rinkleib Ellison, a clinical psychologist in private practice in Loomis, California and former assistant clinical psychiatry professor at the University of California, San Francisco.

He stated that “It’s like a hormone of attachment, you might say, it creates feelings of calm and closeness.”

RIGHT ON!

So, the next time if you have doubt why people in relationship want to get attached with each other all the time, here it is explained. Simple, isn’t it? 😀

Craving for Sophisticated Vietnamese Food?

Everyone knows that Asian food is full of richness in flavour and ingredients which make all the food tasty, likewise the Vietnamese food. What’s the first thing that you think of when it comes to Vietnamese restaurant? To me, I would think of Pho.. However, Vietnamese food is much more than Pho.

Few weeks ago, I came across this sophisticated restaurant at the street 294; I was impressed by its looking and design of the building. Not many restaurant that has really modern equipment but does not forget the element of Vietnamese style which mostly imported from Vietnam. So, the atmosphere is exactly just like you visit Vietnam country; if you haven’t been to once.

Hoang Yen restaurant has three floors to serve the customers, and is able to host 300 guests for the birthday party, tour, meeting, family gathering or conference, etc. It has VIP rooms for a brunch meeting or dinner meeting which is good for people who want to have quality time with a group of people in a private place.

When I was there; I was gladly welcomed by many friendly staffs. They will find you a comfortable place for you and your friends or your family immediately. When you sit down in the restaurant, you see the class of the restaurant that you will be impressed.

So, I was chit-chatting with my good friend; talking about life after graduating while the waiters/waitresses put many plates of delicious-looking food on the table. My eyes followed the plate of food one by one; and I cannot help but to taste it once it’s all prepared.

I got to taste a set of breakfast which includes a bowl of noodle soup, and a glass of milk coffee. Since I am a noodle freak (I love to eat noodle), this noodle soup is different from what I have tasted; and I love the taste of it. It’s a bit plain but not that plain as it tasteless; but it’s plain in a way that it has taste to it. If you a noodle lover like me, and you have tried all the noodle soup, and want to find different noodle soup; there you can go. It has many ranges of noodle soup you can choose. Each of breakfast set includes choices of noodle soup/rice/bread + coffee or tea, and costs $3.9.

Move on to the lunch set, I had their signature deep-fried fish meatball as appetizer, fried noodles as main dish, Tofu Soup and Tofu with pork chop as side dishes. I absolutely love the deep-fried fish meatball. It’s super delicious; by that time, I only got to eat two of it, I wish I could get to eat more. However, there are some other fish meatball in the Tofu soup which is great. Since I was born as an Asian kid, I was used to with this food such as stir-fry Tofu, or Tufo soup, so I don’t think it gives me much impression, but hey that’s how Asian eats right. The last thing that is super impressed me in this restaurant is their dessert dish. A true bite of happiness. That is Matcha Tofu!

That moment I was deep in a discussion without really paying attention to it; until my friend said, “Hey, take a bite.” So yeah I did. But by the time that I put it to mouth, oh my god. It is so good. It’s like Matcha Pudding that is my favorite dessert, and I am sure you will love it too. A must-try in the restaurant.

So the lunch set in Hoang Yen restaurant includes 1 appetizer, 1 main dish, 1 side dish, 1 soup and 1 dessert, which costs $7.9 or $10.9 — quite pricey, but if you care about the quality of food and the best service with a luxurious environment, this shouldn’t be a problem 😉

Hoang Yen restaurant was established since 1990 and widely recognized in Vietnam. Since it’s in Phnom Penh near by your house, why don’t you stop by?  😉

Find Hoang Yen Restaurant at #35, St. 294, Sangkat Tonle Bassac, Khan Chomkamorn, Phnom Penh; Tel: 069 531777-069 703 777

Khmer Surin Restaurant

cr: leboost cambodia

Looking for original Khmer cuisine with the feeling of authentic Khmer house? A long-running Khmer traditional-style, which is located on the street 57 with leafy surroundings and Khmer wood house. Surin is an Isan province of Thailand bordering Cambodia to the north that is almost entirely ethnic Khmer, and therefore there is a mix between Khmer and Thai atmosphere and cuisine.

Infusing the feeling of home with beautiful antique handicrafts, sculptures, paintings and plants to create a warm and welcoming atmosphere to better enjoy impeccably crafted cuisine, the immediate success of this restaurant. Traditional Khmer and Thai food served in a wonderfully blissful environment is what makes Khmer Surin such a special dining experience. It’s a great family sit-down restaurant or a fantastic place to come with your friends to enjoy an authentic Cambodian feast.

The decoration of this restaurant is very diverse with antique ambient. On the ground floor of Khmer Surin, there is low table seating surrounded by leafy and beautiful gardens, on the 2nd floor, there is a Cambodia style seating on cushions on balcony and boost up with traditional furnishings, and the top floor an open air seating with a view of Phnom Penh. It’s all up to your choice.

The extensive menu includes stir-fried dishes, deep-fried dishes, curry, grills, steamed dishes, soups, and salads. Khmer Surin serves a wide range of delicious Khmer and Thai dishes. It promotes the use of locally produced ingredients. Dishes are prepared with fresh local herbs and spices.

MAIN DISHES:

Fish Amok (Cambodian Steamed Fish Curry)

Probably it is the best cuisine that you should not miss. Fish Amok at Khmer Surin is made with a rich flavor of Khmer curry ingredient and other toppings such as lime leaf, sweet basil, “Ngoob” leaf, Krachai (lesser ginger), coconut milk, and meaty fish. All these ingredients are put together in banana leaves. A bite-sized of fish amok is very delightful and often time it is served with steamed rice – you might need to order additionally. There are many choices for Amok dish such as seafood, fish and chicken. If you are a vegetarian, Khmer Surin also serves you a vegetarian Amok dish with sweet corn. Fish Amok always serves by 4.

Samlor Majew Prai (Country Sweet and Sour Soup)

Of all the primary flavours, Cambodians are most fond of sourness. Samlor Majew Prai is a kind of sour soup which makes from Kroeung paste, Slek Ka-Neing (green sour leaf), galangal, lemon grass, prohok, and holy basil leaves. You can either choose country fish or free-range chicken, up to your choice. The soup is salty and you will feel the sourness from Slek Ka-Neing (green sour leaf) as you slurp the soup from your spoon.

Chha Moin Kul Slek Krei (Stir Fried Chicken with Ginger and Lemongrass)

Since Cambodian cuisines also share much common with Thai and Vietnames cuisine, and as well as Chinese, now let me introduce you to Chha Moin Kul Slerk Krei which means Stir Fried Chicken with Lemongrass in English. In Vietnam, this dish is known as Ga xao xa ot. It’s very delightful as you see the chicken put on the plate mixed with chili and lemongrass. It’s pretty simple, and very delicious as well.

DESSERT:

Chek Khtis (Banana Coconut Milk Dessert)

Chek Khtis is definitely a must-try for dessert. Chek Khtis (banana coconut milk dessert) is a popular homemade dessert for Cambodian farmily. Usually, it is served after lunch. The sweet banana pieces in the coconut milk make this dessert become a people’s favorite dessert for so many years.

Fried Ice Cream
Ice-cream is a sweet and cold dessert, but why fry? Wrapped by bread and ice cream inside, this dessert is very popular in Khmer Surin as it is new, unique and homemade. If you want to know more how it tastes you like, you should try it only at Khmer Surin.

How to Make:

Scoop your favourite ice cream flavour into a round shape, then place the ice cream into the freezer for at least an hour to firm up the ice cream. After you think the ice cream is firm enough, remove the ice cream from the freezer and roll into the corn flake mixture (you can use flour together with cereal, frosted flakes, puffed rice… etc). Place on a baking sheet lined with waxed paper. Roll the ice cream balls into the scramble eggs. Then roll into the corn flake mixture (or other mixture as I mentioned above) again.

After that, place the ice cream ball on a baking sheet lined with waxed paper and return to the freezer for at least an hour.  The ice cream needs to be very hard because it will be dropped into hot oil.

To fry you need to heat oil in a heavy pot to 365 degrees.  Drop the ice cream into the hot oil and fry for 20-25 seconds. It is important that the oil needs to be hot, and do not put the ice cream too long in it otherwise the ice cream will be melt.

Go back to Blogging!

Guess what, so I finally have courage to Blog again. Oh well, how I miss Blogging. I miss writing and everything.

So the point is not I do not want to Blog, but there are so many things that I need to focus, and do not have much time to check my Blog. However, I am sooooo glad to see there are even more people reading my Blog each day. I really really appreciate this.

However, okay, so the main problem that distracts me not to Blog is that:

Sad, but true. I don’t have a laptop charger.

SO! Despite the fact that I own a laptop, but I do not have a charger pains me to the max.
However, one thing in my mind tells me that I shouldn’t buy it because for some reasons I spend so much time doing some beautiful stuff such as sleeping 😛 or I don’t know stuff that I think is useful than spending time on my digital device.

Oh by the way, do you know that I did my graduation project about digital addiction? That’s also one point that I shouldn’t get a laptop charger, because once I get a laptop charger, I will spend most of my time–by all my time, I mean all day and all night– on my computer and doing–I dunno, random stuffs– on the Internet, which I am not so sure if it’s good or bad.

Oh well, everything provides you pros & cons. So, do something wise with no regret.

But for now, I just got my laptop charger today! So, that means I will start Blogging again–which I hope to bring a lot more exciting contents for readers. It’s like, there are so many things going on that I could just write about everything that happens each day. AND since I got my laptop comes back to life again, you will know what’s going on. 😉

So this post is just to alert that: I am back to Blogging! 
Something exciting is coming & I’m ready to share it to the world.

Molly becomes a director/producer!

So finally! Remember I used to blog about Help me discovering creative concepts? Finally I’ve been doing it in a while but guess what? It’s a really challenging project I’ve ever done in my life! However, good news is–I have fun with this, despite that my brain keeps running on how to execute it, so sadddd.

And that means I finally play a role as a director/producer for my own project. *children yay*

However, my first time being a director, all plans are not smoother as you think it is when you don’t have a clear plan. Being a director is just like a leader. Remember how I always strive to be a leader? Yes, but this time I have to say that I might understand how to be a leader but maybe not a manager–and once it’s about manage all the crews to shoot, I suck big time. My first time, it was a disaster–I failed to do pre-production. And therefore, when it comes to production, it’s so complicated and I have no clear-cut decision which is bad

I got so demotivated after my first time shooting because I don’t get what I want, and most of my crews are saying that I am not well-prepared for this. So, I was really upset. I received a phone call from my junior at late night around 1am or 2am, teaching me how to be better for the next shooting, then I realize dang, I really suck at this. Sometimes, it’s not about being a senior or junior, it’s about experience–you practice it a lot, you experience it a lot, you tend to get what you want. But I learn that this is something that experience will help you better from time to time.

My first time shooting is such a mess! The first scene is about a group of students are discussing in the class, then suddenly one of the guy in the discussing group is bored and since he’s digital addicted, he pulls out his phone and playing Candy Crush. Suddenly, his teacher comes close to his desk and sarcastically saying “Can you stop it?” then the guy feels guilty and put his phone down. During that time, the location that I was supposed to shoot is at my university– a new classroom which was just built with a good like and clean and everything. I’ve been approaching the admin team from the school to get the permission to shoot; however, when it comes to shooting time, there was an event which has loud rehearsing and I can’t shoot in the class because the security guard who has the key has gone home. So end up, I shot in one of my campus classroom but it turns out to be great!

The second time shooting it’s on the same day with the classroom but it’s the second scene and it was a disaster because it’s too hot! Since I have no experience shooting on football field, it’s really a challenge for me. Imagine if you’re a football lover, you will have the idea quickly on which shooting angle that looking good for your video–but well, thanks to my crew they try their best to help me despite I’m really stressed out and need encouragement to do it. However, that’s right the football scene, I lack a lot of shooting scenes I might re-shoot it again.

My third time shooting, I kinda feel more confident in directing, but still the process it’s quite slow. It’s about band-rehearsing. So, there are a lot of things to set up–like guitars, microphone and everything, make sure that it looks like a rehearsing space, but it ends up not bad! Thanks to my crews though. This time, everything is processing smoothly except it’s taking long time more than I expected.

So after all, what I learn from my experience is that a director needs to have a clear-mind in making a decision on what kind of scene they like, because no matter what in the end you have to work with the editor to edit your story–so if you are not clear with what you want then the results turn out to be different from what you’re thinking. First, location is very important to provide you a vision on how it will look like to your scene. Go scout your location, take some photos of it, then you can visual your story based on the photos you have, then you can imagine what will look like when your talents act. Probably it will help you when you sketching your story board–it’s just you have a clear picture in your head what kind of shot you want! Secondly, scene. Of course, you have your story but you have to imagine what kind of shot you want it to be like, Medium shot? Close-up shot? Long shot? Extreme close up shot? Over-shoulder shot? Imagine it in your head, so that it’s easy for you to explain to a director of photography to develop it more and see what you got! Pay attention to continuity and also 180-degree rule! Sometimes you might play around with your options, say–one scene, you ask the cast to say this, another scene there might be something a bit different, say as another cast to say the same thing but in a way that between these 2 actions you can choose both to put in your story, and work well in the end. And also, Always always always have your back-up plan and be flexible, you’ll never know what will happen when you’re on the field shooting!

Be kind to your crews and know what you want, and at the same time being considerate are something that a director should do. It might be tough for your first time, but once you do it often, you will like it and find it fun. 🙂

Again I’m not just on my own doing it for the first time, but probably I’m good at learning from my first experience–so, I hope what I’m writing might give a small advice–or I don’t know whatever it will go to.

However, wish me luck for my projects. My 4 years in university definitely depend on this one. I hope I will get a good result as I expect it is. 😉