Battambang!

Pretty view of leaving Pnomh Penh.

After a very long minivan ride we arrived to this beautiful bed in Battambang. The woodwork here is stunning.

Love is in the air, we just have to breathe.

The Black Buddha

gorgeous archway

I have a thing for trees dripping with vines.

The serpent is a Naga, very prominent on religious works.

Elephants!

Day 2:

Mom and Dad make a graceful exit back to Canada and clean air.

We had to see my parents off, with much sadness. We then found a tuk tuk driver named Sal, I cannot recommend him highly enough. He made Battambang so special for us. Somewhere in these photos I'll be posting his contact info if you ever find yourself in his hood. A good driver makes all the difference in the world. All we asked Sal to do is show us his city, and mentioned we like animals and food.

Handsome dude

beautiful river through town

knew my daughter would love this dress

love in a tuk tuk

roadside stands selling food are everywhere. 

at the "Golden Gate Bridge"

Papayas!

more golden gate bridge

pickling daikon st a lovely farm we went to

lemongrass growing, the entire property smelled amazing

boys swimming at the Muslim village across the river. When the call to prayer went out it sounded so pretty

limes!

next we went to a mushroom farm. They pack fermented rice into bags and the mushrooms grow out the ends and they keep harvesting them for 6 months before they need new bags. Ingenious.

we went to a hilarious winery, these were the only grapevines

very bad wine

from left, ginger juice (delicious!) berry juice, brandy (very good) and wine (awful)

a tree full of fruit bats. Sal hit the tree for us so they would fly around.

Asian cow.

There were so many steps up to this temple, and a little boy wanting money "fanned" us (kind of hitting us with the fan) and chased us up until we gave him money to go away.

Wat Kor temple

I stand by my choice of pants

hehe

these pavillions are everywhere.. you just lay in a hammock and people start bringing you food

The roosters here are beautiful and all different colours

pig farm

Sal drove us to 3 different homes before a cow would let me pet it. He did not know any of the owners but everyone was so friendly

The kids at the cow place, that's rice drying behind me

Lotus flowers. Flowers are left as offerings for Buddha, the fruits and roots are eaten, the stems can be pulled apart to reveal fine threads they make silk from.

To prepare a lotus for Buddha you must tuck in all the petals like so

our next destination

quite the view from up here

killing caves by the temple

I should have not taken this photo, very disrespectful.

They clubbed people and threw them into the cave here

This monkey was baring his teeth at Chris and acting very aggressively, we had a rough time slipping by him

This guy was feeling the monkeys by had, which all the books warn you against. Monkeys are not as friendly as I thought they were.

Hiking up a mountain

In Battambang there is a huge cave full of bats that people sit at the bottom of the mountain to watch them fly out at sunset. Sal knows a place away from the crowds where they actually fly out about 4 feet from your head and the sunset is unreal.

The bats fly out for over an hour, there are millions of them. And no mosquitoes!

This is Sal.

give him a call if you get there!

Cambodian Adventures - Tokyo (briefly) and Pnomh Penh.

So, hubby and I went to Cambodia for 3 weeks recently. My parents joined for the first 5 days or so but had to go when they got ill.
Buckle up, there's a lot of photos.
We started in Tokyo where we had an overnight layover. We stayed at this awesome hotel at Narita airport that literally has not been updated in any way since 1972 when it was built.

The bed was tiny, but there were two so it was fine.

The toilets are awesome. I would have lived in the bathroom if I had known how superior it was to Cambodian toilets.

Out for a beer to fix jet lag.

The room keys were HUGE! Can't lose that sucker.

It's like they knew us before they ever met us.

So tempted to use it.

We missed his balls??

a lovely breakfast,and still happy and healthy parents.

Off to Pnomh Penh! I really enjoyed flying with Ana Air, it was comfortable with good food and perfect service. Just wonderful.

We found a gorgeous rooftop bar overlooking the whole city.

ICBC! Here, it's a bank.

My first tuk tuk ride, it's my new favourite mode of transportation.

Hubby trying the local flavours.

The view from our air bnb. Beautiful place, sketchy alley to get there.

More rooftop views.

Street view near our place. Sidewalks and streets here are for driving, parking, lounging, drinking, setting up shop, whatever. No rules.

My mom found bacon and eggs!

A tuk tuk driver named Sorya flagged down a coconut truck for me. this was my first of many, and the beginning of a friendship with Sorya. 

Coping with air so thick you could chew it.

"My Mom's Inheritance". Loved the name.

My dad found a bike shop!

My dad said to me, "looks like they're selling nuts or something across the street" so out I ran to try some local food. Turns out they were fresh, warm, unrefridgerated clams of a dubious age. I ate the one the seller opened for me because I could not open the rest. It was good!

The view out the back of the Foreign Correspondents Club. Beautiful old building.

Pretty, but I've forgotten what this is.

rooftop patio for tagine.

Tuk tuk in heavy traffic at night, very.. stimulating.

a tree full of fruit bats! Very noisy and super cool.

a pretty temple in the city

seems they lack trained electricians here...

Cambodian iced coffee and love.

Got my makeup did!

So did mom!

We be hot. They literally and violently massaged concealer into our faces for over 45 minutes. Many coats. It was something.

sparkly horse tapestry, love it!

These markets have grocery stores beat hands down. The smells, the sounds, the feel of the place is indescribable

.

Greens in the market. Wish I had time to cook here.

froggies!

menu at Romdeng.

The pool in the courtyard at Romdeng.

Us at Romdeng, I'm green because Chris just ate a tarantula. I'll do a food post later.

Romdeng is a restaurant / NGO (non-government organization) that takes street kids and trains them for the hospitality industry. Also just beautiful with amazing food. I miss it already.

Return of the Yeti

Whew!  Sorry about that, kids.  It was a long absence, I know.  Excuse no:1 - I was very, very busy.  Excuse no:2 - I wrote the best posts ever, in my head, as I was drifting off for the night.  Not very handy, is it? 
       Well, me being a narcissist and all, I\m sure you're all dying to know what I've been up to.. the answer is, mostly cooking. My friend came back from Thailand, so I got to learn about that, I just found this site: http://medievalcookery.com/recipes/country.html?naples which appears to be the coolest thing ever (add more onion if your master desires it. heh.),  I am in the early stages of maybe possibly starting a business.. roxsanec3.wix.com/the-honour-bar, and am finally going to the gym, like, a ton, to work off all of my new skills and give me the boundless energy that working full time for peanuts and still doing everything for everyone that this home requires. (Cue violins.)
     All of my friends are real, true working professionals now, which is hilarious because we have never had less time or less money.  Now back to me.
     If anyone has contacts that can help me with access to a commercial kitchen or good packaging, let me know.  If you don't, you don't have to let me know, I'll just assume it.  That's all, my brain is dying again and my oven is beeping.  Kisses!

Have I ever been busy.  Whoa.

I took a "honeymoon" with my hubby 9 years late to Portland, Oregon.  Portland... how I love thee.  Every restaurant, pub, coffee shop and bookstore seems to have it's own brewery.  I have chipotle beer, which may have permanently changed my life for the better.  We luckily hit Cinco De Mayo, so the food was stellar everywhere we went except on shitty Italian place too close to hotels.  There is so, so much Vancouver can learn from this city... mainly, relax your damn rules!  All over Portland are food cart "ghettoes", parking lots chock full of amazing eats from all over the world, and so cheap!!! (Perhaps it has something to do with Americans not having to pay over 300% the world price for dairy? Hmm?) The streets were spotless, the people were friendly, the coffee amazing, the beer left me speechless. (It totally did not, I talked my face off, but go figure! I was drinking.)  The vintage clothing stores.... O.M.G.  The art in the city was unpretentious, quirky as fuck, and absolutely everywhere.  I want to go back as soon as humanly possible.  (Oh yeah, I scored the French Laundry Cookbook!!!!)

My hubby became a lawyer!! Woot Woot!!! 8 years of work, loans, tears and beers, and this man I first knew as the drink-till-you-puke and then drink some more is allowed to legally represent people in a court of law.  In front of a judge. Mind Blown.  Proud does not cover it, so I cooked. Open house, peeps and parents. I made over 20 dishes, all fancy, not a single photograph. I am the world's worst food blogger.  We had a ceasar bar, which was not complete until my friend Jose Doraz showed up as he is the best bartender I currently know.  We had "mimosas" when a friend discovered my pink grapefruit granita elevated a glass of champagne into something truly magnificent.  There were creme brulees, caviar and lox, white chocolate mousse, poached quails eggs on tiny spoons, ceviche, blue cheese and walnuts, a beautiful cheese tray thanks to appropriately priced American cheese (O say can you seeeEEeeeEEE) salmon tartare with red onion creme fraiche, gingersnap tubes filled with marscapone and candied ginger, roasted beet salad in endive, Chinese slaw in wonton cups, and the typical Italian antipasto tray.  And probably more.  And NOT A SINGLE DAMN PHOTO. I am so mad at myself,  And how do you cap that off?  With smores around our outdoor fire pit in the middle of Vancouver, of course.  Just perfect.

We went to the Ladner MayDays carnival, which was wonderful.  The kids dragged Dad on the tilt-a-whirl so many times I thought he was going to fall over.  Free pony rides.  Paddleboats. An artisan market.  Every ride you could want. A WestCoast Seeds store.  Sunshine!!!

I got a new nephew! He's so handsome. I got to hold him, smell him, perhaps tear up a tiny bit.

I got chosen (suckered) to be head of fundraising for my kids' schools' PAC next year, as the government is tearing down the old playground in three years and not replacing it and I have to raise 80,000 dollars. I hate the way our government treats our education system.

My kids did their first Sports Day at their new school and totally rocked the bike parade.  I, of course, had nothing to do with that.

I also did their annual back-to-back birthday parties, in my typical rabid manner, but I have one more brag (yes, I realize I'm a braggart right now, but holy crap did I ever get a lot done! And as this is my "job" I feel it's okay to share what I have accomplished.  IN YOUR FACE.)

I learned marshmallow fondant and filled my son's ultimately doable request for a Super Mario cake, so much better than the precious years request of a replica of a 6 foot tall potted fern. (Weird kid, alright?)  I have many friends to thank for all of the achievements listed above, so in the spirit of forgetting no one, I will mention no one.  But you all know I love you, right? Hello?

I

Death of a Mac

So after years of abusing our mac, she went belly-up.  This means all my pictures are safely on a hard drive I cannot currently access.  Pictures of the gorgeous lemon-meringue cupcakes I made, the fabulous dinners, the adorable kidlets.  We replaced Ms. Mac with a <gasp> PC, and I'm still adjusting to my new partner.  So far, we really don't see eye to eye.  In other news, my folks came for a visit, and brought me an early birthday pressie: running shorts, pants, t-shirts, etc.  This is amazing, because prior to this I ran in my hubby's old Aerosmith T and his PJ pants, and I was waiting for an officer to give chase as I most likely looked like I just knocked off a liquor store, albeit slowly and methodicallyand dripping sweat.
We went to Science World: it is now worth the admission! Beautifully renovated, high ceilings and lovely windows over the ocean give you 16 feet of grey light all day long!  It's nice to finally have the renos mostly done, for sure.  I had a 9 day flu with the kids in which I laid in bed and they watched an entire lifetime's worth of television, both hot with fever as well. In the middle of the flu, we did manage a few hours on the picket line for the teachers (another pic I cannot access) and it was wonderful, aside from the near-fainting spell.  Our VSB 2 week spring break extravaganza is nearing an end, and I'm going to miss the little life-suckers being around all the time.  So there's my post for now, off to figure out this picture on a pc thing.  Hearts!!