... meanwhile, back at the ranch...

Monday, April 29, 2013
Siem Reap
7:30pm


I can't believe three weeks have passed since my last post.  We've settled into our neighborhood and are getting to know the area and the neighbors well.  Because we're a little bit out of town, its very quiet here after the sun goes down.  

We've been treated to a couple of really nice thunderstorms this past week.  Our balconies give a nice view of the north and east, and we're up high enough to see really far.  When the storms come, we get quite a light show!



Cambodian New Year was celebrated over the weekend of April 13.  It lasts for 3-4 days, but a lot of businesses close a day or two early and/or stay closed afterwards.  On Monday the 15th, we went to West Baray beach, which is a hot spot for locals on holidays.  There were tons of people there, and everyone was really happy and welcoming, despite the heat and the obvious fact that we weren't locals.

 the opposite side of the dam

 rambutan (nice, sweet fruit... similar to a big grape inside) and other good stuff for sale

 assorted crunchies.

 grilled fishes

 West Baray "beach".


Outside of that, life is pretty routine....  a couple of days a week we shop the markets for goodies, or go in to town for massages and lunch.  By dinner we are usually back home to chill and catch up on email or tv.  Overall its a pretty boring life, but we're enjoying every minute of it so far.

 "Poultry in Motion"

 Yesterday there were cows in our yard.  COWS IN MY YARD!  I thought it was awesome, but the neighbors seemed unfazed.   ITS COWS IN THE YARD, PEOPLE!   GET EXCITED!

Corner gas station



We've met up with the Food club for dinner twice in the past two weeks.   Once for a visit to Il Forno, which was totally yummy, and last night to J4B Restobar, a newer filipino restaurant that turned out to be less than desirable.  The club is up to 18 members now, all expats who range in time here from about 10 years to 3 weeks.  We're all from different parts of the world, and in different stages of life, but we've been fortunate enough to meet each other and are enjoying our "search" for good food here.  Not that its much of a search, as most places are really, really good.   If anyone ever tells you they went hungry in Siem Reap, they're either lying or didn't venture past Pub Street.

Anyway........   we're happy. we're safe.  we're kinda broke, but thats okay.  more later.  in the mean time, enjoy tonights sunset.

PS.  I've booked tickets to go "home" to Detroit.  I'll be in town from June 20 until the end of July.
If anyone wants goodies from here, let me know.   xoxo

Monday, Monday

Monday, April 8, 2013
Siem Reap Residences
1:30pm


Yesterday we met up with the gang from the Siem Reap Food Club for "bagels and schmear" (with beer).  Zita spent most of his day cooking the most deliciously amazing bagels I've ever had, and we were treated to some really yummy accompaniments -the highlight for me being peanut butter mixed with fresh Cambodian honey...  divine!

Nice people, really good food and a lot of laughs.  Was a great afternoon

Its been crazy hot here the past few days. 100+ degrees, but after sunset the temperature drops quickly. Usually its down to 80 or so by the time we go to bed.  We must be acclimating, because we've become way less dependent on the aircon, and turn it off (or very low) at nighttime.   Still not ready to see what the electric bill for this month will be....

Day to day life is pretty low key.  Dave and Remy get up early at go walking.  I'm usually awake by 8am (seriously!) and then we make our plans for the day.  We've spent a good deal of time shopping for  the apartment - small shelves, clocks, etc. so its quite homey and comfortable.  So now we can sit back and enjoy it.

 some quick pics from around the neighborhood.

 furniture shopping in a tuk-tuk

baby watermelons and baby humans.

gorgeous new chairs that the landlord brought us for the balcony.

crazy lady (?) having a fish pedicure/massage.

our new pizza place menu.



more to come (promise!)

the new normal

wednesday, april 3 2013
8:30pm
siem reap residences


Today was the big planned "power outage" for the city. I think it had something to do with upgrading power lines from thailand, or some such stuff that I don't understand. All I know is that the power was to be out from 6a-6p.   I woke up about 7:30, and as expected the power was out..but it was still relatively cool in the apartment.  By 9:30 we were back on full power, A/C, internet, everything was working perfectly.  I'm not sure why we thought it was a good idea to leave this heaven and go downtown, but we did.   MISERABLE CHOICE.   The three of us, along with our driver, had lunch, then the boys dropped me off to have a massage while they went shopping.   The massage was fabulous, as usual..but by the end I felt like I was melting.   I couldnt wait to get back home and cool off...  I got back about 3:30, and within the hour the power was out again.   And it didnt come back at 6.  Or 7.   To avoid dying from heat death, everyone in the building walked down to Touich for dinner.  If we have to be uncomfortable, at least it will be with amazing food and drink.   Our landlord called Remy as we were sitting down for dinner to say that the power was back on.  Its amazing how quickly moods change knowing that there is good aircon waiting for us to arrive back home.    Another beautiful dinner and now we're all happy and comfortable again.   Death averted!


The past few days have been really low key.  On Saturday, Remy went with our landlord to Preah Vihear temple and stayed away until last night.  Dave and I have been hanging close to home and getting used to the new surroundings.   My family is all on Skype now, so phone calls back and forth are super easy and dont have to be planned in advance.  We get up in the morning and watch the cows walk down the road to where ever cows go, and in the evenings we watch the cows come back home.
Its so quiet in our little piece of the country that most days I have a hard time leaving the apartment.  Its a good problem to have.


One of these days I'll actually unpack my camera so you can all see how gorgeous it is here.  

-Rhonda
xx

loving life

Friday, March 29, 2013
0900
Siem Reap Residences


Its hard to believe that we've only been in our apartment for a week.  It feels like we've been here our whole lives.  Every day the landlord brings a new pressie - chairs for the balcony, cushions for the kitchen, beautiful plants.  The best surprise was getting our Wi-Fi hookup installed a day early.  It was like Christmas in March!

On Wednesday we made a run for the border, unfortunately there was no Taco Bell there, to fix our Visa issue.  It's a 2 hour car ride to Poipet.  When you arrive you go through the Cambodian departures office, where they give you an exit stamp in your passport, then walk to the Thailand border.  Its maybe a half a mile? Lots of little shops along the way, along with two casinos.   When you get to the Thai border you stamp in at customs, then cross the street and stamp out and make the walk back to Cambodia.  Reapply for a Visa, then go through Cambodian customs for your entry stamp.   We timed it to get to the border in between the tourist busses, so we'd miss the long lines.  Fortunately everything went smoothly and we crossed back and forth within about an hour and a half.  No lines, no hassle.   So now we can stay here for up to a year, and not worry about leaving the country and coming back.

That was our big excitement for the week.  The rest of our time has been filled with new friends and good food and revelry.  Neighbor Remy taught me the trick to downloading torrents, so I've been catching up on my crappy tv shows that I miss from the US.

Through the magic of Skype and FB, I've been able to keep up with all the doings back home.  And although its not as good as being there in person, its really helped to alleviate any homesickness so far.
Having Remy here helps too.  The three of us are trying so hard to learn Khmer and communicate with the local people that we find ourselves speaking broken English to each other.  We sound ridiculous, but its a good laugh.

And because I always push the issue, I can't finish this post without the usual plea for visitors.  The rainy season is coming soon, but May - July is a great time to visit.  Hint, hint.  :)

xx
-R

lazy saturday catch up (LONG POST!)

Saturday, March 23, 2012
my own bed
Siem Reap, Cambodia


Its been a whirlwind of a week.  After the first few days of drama (fueled by a bit of jet lag and heat), thing quickly settled down as we settled in to this new world.

Sunday night we went to dinner with the newly formed "Siem Reap food club".  6 of us tried "Dakshin" indian restaurant for the first time and it did not disappoint.  Beautiful restaurant, just off of the craziness of Pub Street.  All of the entries were good, but the Butter Chicken was the highlight for me.  The best I've had (and I've had a lot!).


Afterwards Dave went back to the hotel, and I went to meet up with an old facebook contact from the US, who is in Siem Reap right now.  Remy was in a band that I followed a bit, and now he lives in Cambodia working with different musicians.   As it turned out, he was also apartment shopping, so we agreed to share any good properties that we found.


Monday morning, Dave and I went out with a local realtor to see what was available (scroll to read the synopsis), After being a bit underwhelmed by the first two choices, we got to apartment number 3 and it was love at first sight.  Just a bit outside of the business of the city, and right next door to one of our favorite restaurants "Touich".  Its a brand new property, and not everything is completed yet, but its finished enough for residency.  We opted for a two bedroom apartment on the second floor.  Our bedroom balcony faces east, so we get a beautiful sunrise every morning.  Yesterday we were surprised to see a hot air balloon way off in the distance.  It was gorgeous.  Hopefully that will become a regular sight!

After viewing the apartment and meeting with the owners, there was no question this was the place for us.  We agreed to a short lease ( 6 months), with the understanding that we can extend if we choose to, or, if things arent as golden as they seem here, we can move along.

The rest of Monday and Tuesday were a blur of shopping and shenanigans in preparation for move in day on Thursday.  Tuesday night our driver, Thai, invited us to his home for dinner as a thank you for hiring him.  Thai and his wife and their three children live in one large room, and their neighbors family live in the room next door.  Their landlord lives in a separate house about 50 feet away.  It was a special night for everyone as it was the first time that "Barang" (foreigners) had been to their home.  We had lovely roasted pork and duck and many, many beers.   While the adults had their party, the kids had control of the cameras.  These are some of their photos....

As we were making friends and plans, Remy was making his own plans for moving.  I had shared our apartment information with him and he, too, fell in love with the property.  So now, he's our next door neighbor.   We all moved in on Thursday and its been a big party ever since.

Last night we invited Thai and his family over to our home for dinner.  I'm not sure how they managed it, but he brought his whole neighborhood in one Tuk-Tuk.   The kids had pizza for the first time and it seemed to be a big hit.  They peeked in all of the corners and cabinets and had a great time jumping on the beds.  The highlight though, was the bathroom and bathtub.  I'm not sure if they even knew what the tub was, but they were all screaming and laughing when they saw it.

After pizza everyone filled up on yummy chocolate cake. I got to play Aunt Rhonda to a whole new group of kidlings...  candy and chocolate milk and goodies for everyone.  My guess is they're all sick this morning after filling up on crap food, but they are their parents problem now.   ;)

 Our driver Thai and his kids

 Uncle Remy serving cake

The kids checking out the fridge (and secretly stealing my chocolates!)


This morning I slept late and when I got up I was surprised to see not only Dave and Remy in the living room (we are pretty much sharing all of our spaces now) but also our friend Kimleng who we'd met the last time we were here.  He's a local photographer that gives tours to tourists.  We've kept in touch with him since, discussing a childrens photography project that he wanted to start.  Dave and he had made plans to meet up this morning,  and when Dave explained where we live it was a surprise that he knew the area so well.  It was an even bigger surprise when we found out that he lives RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET!    Once again, it feels like we were meant to chose this place.


-R

And the winner is.......

Number 3!     It's absolutely perfect.   The owner is fabulous, and with some crazy twist of luck our next door neighbor is a musician from the states that has created some of my favorite music over the years.    We all moved in today and its been paradise since.  


So much more later!

House hunters International -Khmer edition

Monday, March 18 2013
1pm
Angkor Riviera Hotel
Siem Reap, Cambodia


We headed out early today to start house hunting.  We had already agreed on a list of must haves for
our residence, be it apartment or villa.  Some items we had to negotiate between ourselves ( I really want a pool, Dave doesnt want the cost)

Basically
1-2 bedrooms
Air conditioning
Security
Non flooding area
Furnished
Serviced (optional)
Pool (optional)
Good kitchen space
Hot water
Close to market area

Price - 500 or less a month, including cable/internet/utilities.


So, we viewed three properties today.  Can you guess which one we chose?

#1- Wat Bo area

1 bedroom, ground floor. Furnished.  Price includes all utilities. nice patio space with canopies and a large bbq.
Shared pool for 11 units.
Older building, in need of cleaning.
close to city center
very congested neighborhood
$450 month

***

#2
Dragon Palace II Apartments
High rise building with elevator.  approx 5 years old.
Just off main road through town, along the river.
2 bedroom, 3 bathrooms
Cable/Wi-fi included
Water and Electric not included (approx 90/month)
Security
Fully Furnished
Balcony
VERY large apartment.
Pool on rooftop with fitness center
Can see Angkor Wat from balcony (if you try really hard)
$450/month.

***
#3
Siem Reap Residences
New build (unoccupied)
2 Bedroom, 2 Bath with hot water
Cable/Wi-fi/trash collection included
Water/Electric separate
maid service twice a week
Semi furnished (only one television provided)
small, but nice kitchen area
small balcony off of kitchen
small balcony off of master bedroom
WAY out of town, on a shit road.
no pool, no escalator.
9 rooms total in buiding, on site management and security.
large rooftop patio with bbq.
all new appliances/furniture/mattresses.
$600/month

So, which one did we choose?