Spending the night at the riverside promenade

We heard people talking in gibberish, not far from us we saw a group of people sitting on the grass sharing a hot pot of porridge. A group of young couple were giggling over something and children running around here and there. I shifted my glance on the left and saw a long line of vendors selling all sorts of food. For awhile I thought I was just strolling along the walks of Bay Walk in Roxas Boulevard but alas, I was at the Sisowath Quay, Phnom Penh's main riverside boulevard.

From the Central Market, we rode the moto taxi all the way to the the riverside promenade to spend the rest of the night. Taking this mode of transportation was perhaps the most thrilling and pulsating ride we’ve had since we've set foot in Cambodia. The moto driver started maneuvering and overtaking in between cars fellow motos amidst the unforgiving traffic of Phnom Penh at night. It took us roughly around 10-15 minutes to get there.

It was fun riding in it but once is enough. I can’t afford to have another muscle cramps and arse pain again. With the three of us riding in the moto (driver, Oki and me) it’s hard to move around especially when the driver starts to swerve around those gridlocks.

This is the well lighted front gate of the Royal Palace.

In almost every corner of the street, they have these beautiful lampposts, which hardly illuminate the streets but they look good anyway.

We decide to explore the place. We've arranged a separate day tour in Sisowath Quay but we’ve read somewhere that the riverfront looks really different at night with all those beautiful lights so we decided to stroll a little bit more and wind away the time. Everything looked newly built in there. Thailand and its Grand Palace came to my mind, but I honestly think that Cambodia's Royal Palace looks more handsome.

They have these melancholic lampposts that brighten the streets so languidly that I felt like I was one of those dejected heroines in a movie longing for her lost lover. But then again, this is Cambodia and there's no way I would ever feel melancholic with all those people rushing in from every dark corner.

The shimmering Royal Palace at night with King Norodom Sihanouk's photo. Just like in Thailand, we saw a lot of his photos and that of the queen around Phnom Penh.

Not far away from the riverfront is the Royal Palace which glistens in all its glory under the bleak of night. It's like an oasis amidst a vast barren desert. It looks really great at night. There are also waiting sheds that are ornately festooned with lights and stunning decorations. Very festive!

A beautiful pagoda which serves as waiting shed.

Some of Phnom Penh's most important cultural sites are parked along the picturesque riverfront overlooking the Chaktomuk which is the confluence point of three rivers, Tonle Sap, Mekong, and Bassac. At the front are dozens of pubs, restaurants and shops wherein most tourists hang out. I would have love to take shots of those moving ferry boats but I don't have a tripod. There are portions that are really dark that even the light on the lampost was not enough to get a decent shot. It doesn't help that my hands are naturally feeble. Brrr!

Fishball and duck egg vendor.

Toe told us that Cambodians like to hang out here. It’s like their own version of Rizal Park, wherein people can stay there doing mostly nothing. I reckoned that well, since there are not much of malls here in Cambodia unlike in the Philippines, I guess it's bur natural to hangout here. Otherwise, where else would these people go, right? Filipinos love to hangout inside the mall, a good way to chill out the heat and pollution of Manila.

Counting her hard earned money. I was taking a couple of her shots while Oki and this Cambodian guy were talking about the Philippines.

This is the Cambodian guy that Oki met at the riverfront while buying balut. I had to take a snapshot of him. Yeba!

Like in any other usual circumstance, we met some friendly Cambodians who seem to enjoy exchanging small talks with us. This time it's a young, tall Cambodian guy. While buying herself a balut, the guy asked Oki where she is from. His opening line was: "You have a very sweet voice!" to which I could not resist from laughing. Sweet daw oh! Upon knowing that we just came from Siem Reap, he mentioned that he used to be a tourist guide there, which explains a lot why he can converse greatly in English.

Oki wanted to try pong pea phon, Cambodian's version of balut (fertilized duck egg). I thought that this is only famous in the Philippines, little did I know that this is also an important delicacy in Cambodia and in Vietnam (hot vit lon). Here in Sisowath Quay, the vendor serves it with basil leaves, salt with chili, and a slice of lemon. They really like to garnish their food here. Sosyal ha! I asked Oki how does their balut taste like and she just gave me a shrug, "Same same!"

I tried boiled peanuts. I am really a no-adventure type when it comes to tasting exotic food. I could only eat that much. My imagination is too wild and vivid for my own convenience. A glass full of peanuts is sold for 1,000 riel. The peanut I bought is not that good. How do you say labsak in English? Soggy? That's it. The peanut is soggy.

Cambodian mangoes! Our favorite. We've been eating it like a snack since we got to Cambodia. It's crunchy and not too sour. They serve it with salt with chili, which makes it awfully delicious. Sometimes too hot but we couldn't stop munching it.

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I will post my Christmas entry soon...

To the market we go…

When we got off the bus, immediately we were huddled by a group of tuk-tuk drivers wanting to give us a ride to our hotel. Most of them are given commission by the hotel managers if they bring customers in so it’s an extra income for them aside from the fare that they’re gonna get. We told them that we already have a place to stay and showed them the address. Some of them made a murmur and named their price, “Five dolla to get you there.” said one of the drivers as an initial bid. We made a quick negative remark and motioned to leave. “Okay 3!” I am no good when it comes to haggling so I left the job to Oki. “One dollar!” she announced with full authority (as if she knows her way around Phnom Penh and no one can fool her).

Everyone seemed to settle down. Suddenly, no one wanted to give us a ride. I was trying not laugh (we’re supposed to be serious here). Oki instructed me to shut up whenever she's making a haggle so I did. A guy followed us and asked if we could make it two dollars at least. He reasoned that the place of our hotel is too far. But Oki made a firm remark and said, “No, one dollar only!” The driver scratched his head and made a turn for his tuk-tuk motioning us to ride. Here’s a funny thing, one of the tuk-tuk drivers shouted something like, “You from the Pelepens ha!” This time, I was laughing already. Nalaman siguro nilang Pinoy kami kase ang kuripot namin. Super tawad talaga, nyahaha!

Facade of the 5-storey pink and blue painted Spring Guest House located along Monivong Blvd. Neither large nor lavish, the 50 ‘brand new rooms’ are very functional for the money and come with two clean sheets. All rooms are the same size and have a bathroom, a window and a TV with 60 channels of cable (they have TFC). Room prices vary depending on whether you choose fan or air-con, and with hot/cold shower.

We booked our two-night stay at Spring Guesthouse just off Monivong Blvd, the city’s main drag. We learned that this guesthouse is not well recommended among tuk-tuk drivers because according to them, the manager here doesn’t give any tip/commission whenever they brought in customers for them. I don’t know if this is a good thing or not but we got to know this place from Canby Publications and booked our reservations online. Lonely Planet’s review is also quite okay. "One of the best budget options in Phnom Penh, with its professional management, thoughtful service and well-equipped rooms it offers real value for money,” according to the review.

We ride the tuk-tuk on our way to the Phsar Thmei (Central Market) for $1.

Our stay at the guest house was less of an okay (compared to Golden Villa with all those freebies). Nothing awful or weird thing happened except that the bathroom drain was clogged during our last day. All the staff-members in the hotel are male, which I didn’t believe at first because I had various e-mail exchanges with a person named ‘Jenny’ whom I never met. The guesthouse has a nice, spacious lobby that they used to park huge motorbikes and mountain bikes which I find utterly strange. They have Internet at the lobby but you have to pay 1000 riel/hour.

Front of the Central Market, a unique, art-deco building which is a Phnom Penh landmark. This market was built in 1935. Before this, the area was a swamp/lake that received the runoff during the rainy season. The entrance to the market is lined with food vendors and souvenir merchants selling everything from T-shirts and postcards to silver curios and kramas.

The moment we settled our things, Oki and I immediately went over our itinerary. Our official tour would start the next day but we don’t want to waste time so we made a head way to the Phsar Thmei (this means ‘new market’ but eventually it’s more known as the ‘central market’). We hired a tuk-tuk to get us there. When we got there, the market was closing up so we just decided to hangout and look for food to eat.

This is the grilled squid we ate. Oishi!

We spotted this young lady grilling squids. The smell of the grilled squid immediately reached our nostrils that we looked for a spot to sit. The lady served it with cucumber and basil leaves. It was really delicious that we asked for two orders of it. There were other tourists and some locals eating with us.

These are the young, nice Cambodian couple we met while eating our grilled squid.

We met a young Cambodian couple who heard us talking in Tagalog. They immediately knew we came from the Philippines. The guy speaks good English; the young lady on the other hand, is sheepishly silent. The inquisitive Oki asked the guy how he knew we were Filipinos to which the guy answered “I am familiar with your language because I know a lot of Filipinos who work here in Cambodia." Oki and the guy talked some more. I got lost over their last exchanges of words as I was busy taking photos of the people around us.

Some locals begging for food/money.

Flowers for delivery

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I was watching the Asian Idol last night hoping to see Mau Marcelo wins. Unfortunately, Hady, the Singaporean Idol has beaten her to it. I did send my votes, which I rarely do, still she loss. Their strategy of voting two countries in a row is I think way off the mark. It's a huge snag.

I saw the Belgian film, Ex Drummer last weekend. Based on the off beat novel by Hermann Brusselmans, Dries, a famous author is asked to play the drums for a diverse group of rockers. The band have decided that their unique selling point would be that each of them has a handicap. Singer Koen claims a speech impediment, bass player Jan has a stiff arm since childhood while guitarist Ivan is deaf. When Dries agrees to join as drummer, he decides his handicap will be that he can't play the drums. This film is both dark and haunting that it kept me awake the whole night. Koen Mortier's film is ingenious! One of the best Belgian films I've seen so far (not that I've seen a lot though, but definitely worth watching).

Fatty pork strikes back!

Vegatarians would probably be appalled by this entry but the issue of food (like any other topic for that matter) is culture-bound and therefore subjective. Like longanisa for example.

Longanisa is the local version of the Spanish chorizo (pork sausage) which is distinctively flavored with indigenous spices. Preparing longanisa has a long tradition in the Philippines with each region having their own specialty. Some famous specialty include: Guagua longanisa (salty and almost sour); Ilocos longanisa (less color, sour, and tasty); and of course, Lucban longanisa (garlicky and tasty). There are other varieties, but these are famous for their distinct taste and export potentials.

This man was selling a bunch (10 pieces) for 75 pesos (around $1.50). The longanisa is a good source of fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrates, and protein. The descriptive attributes include color and juiciness, garlic flavor, saltiness, meat flavor, spicy flavor, smoothness, and oiliness. These are surely a great "come on" to all meat lovers. Some people just love what is NOT good for them. Tempting as a sin.

How to cook this? First, you boil them to keep off some fats and make the meat leaner (it's optional by the way). Then you fry them until the skin is crispy. It's good with vinegar and chili.

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It's been raining a lot this morning. Looks like there's going to be some heavy downpour for the next few days. Anybody care for some brewed coffee? :-)

Pansit Palabok of Liliw

When we got to Liliw, the first thing I did was to look for that old foodhouse that serves special palabok. It was delicious the last time I tasted it that my mouth slobbers just remembering it. I knew the exact place, I wasn't just sure if the eatery is still there.

I

This wasn't it. But I got attracted to this bahay-kubo inspired foodhouse. Outside are native homemade sweets sold in packs for pasalubong. Filipinos have always been enamored with giving pasalubong when they come home from a trip. The idea was turned into a profitable business and tourists are always the good target. Next to the foodhouse is an old bakeshop selling cheap but delicious bread.

Ah, finally! This is the eatery I am talking about. It's located at the lower end of that long, narrrow street that sells an assortment of footwear. It's easy to miss because they don't have a huge name board. The owner has an austere taste when it comes to adorning her small eatery. It looks exactly the same when I got here, 3 years ago. One would be a bit disappointed with the ambiance but if you're not that picky, it's a swell. The lady serve the best pasit palabok. Yeba, yeba!

Here ya go! Pansit palabok is a Filipino specialty dish with Chinese origin. It is actually rice vermicelli poured with yellow-orange sauce, and heavily topped with an assortment of seafoods. There are a lot of foodhouse that offers pansit palabok in the country, the big difference lies on: 1) how the rice noodles was cooked, 2) how the sauce was made, and 3) the choice of seafood toppings. This particular palabok contains: squid, shrimp, hardboiled egg, smoked fish, chicharon (grind crackling pork rind), shredded chicken, osyster, green onions, and lots of garlic. This is eaten with some drops of citrus (kalamansi), making the dish more delectable. But it's optional, it depends on your preference. Personally, I like it with kalamansi.

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Mais Oui! Wowoweee:-)

A pile of corn still wrapped in its green sheaths.

Yellow corn on a stick ready for cooking.

A boiling potfull of yellow corn on the stick.

My favorite yellow corn vendor. She sleeps on the job, nyahaha!

Some like it roasted over a sizzling fire, some like it raw (believe it or not). I like it boiled. Mais (yellow corn) is one of the best (most wholesome) street foods you can buy in every corner of Laguna (Los Baños, at least) . If you're coming from the Metro Manila area, you won't missed the long line of yellow corn vendor along the national highway. Japanese corn, hybrid corn, Chinese corn, white corn, sweet corn...they all have it. It comes in different variety but they are all yellow and sweet.

This photo documentary, however was taken at the front of the University of the Philipines Los Baños (UPLB) campus. At the side-front of Mc Donalds.

The ears are boiled into a huge and long pot, then fenced in a wooden stick, and smeared with iodized salt, and/or margarine. I like it with salt alone. It's unbelievably tasty, and a feast for vegetarians who may be feeling a little fed up by the weird-looking chicken feet and those assortment of streetfoods common in Manila. The price ranges from 10-15 pesos, depending on the size.

The other day, Don Mitch treated me a piece of this corn on a stick. We just came from the wake of a mother of a close friend and we were feeling a bit down so, we opted to buy corn. Literally speaking, (aside from the chicken) yellow corn uplifts my spirits. So you see, corn is not just a cultural thingie here in the Philippines, it also uplifts a weaken soul. Ahhh, that's all bullocks!

It's Maunday Thursday tomorrow...I'll be going somewhere. Be here again sometime next week.

Happy Holiday to meeeee!

Fruit salad (yum, yum)

We love mixing everything and see it from there!

This has to be posted some days ago (to complete my Filipino food series), but due to my technical problems with my former blog, I had to re-post it here.

Anyway, this is fruit salad, which is a favorite dessert among Filipinos (particularly during special ocassions i.e. Christmas and New Year). It's just a combination of practically every fruit i.e. pineapple, apple, cherries, young coconut, etc. Most of these fruits are chunked. Then it's added with cream and condensed milk. It's chilled and served.

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Goodness, I can't believe I changed sites for the 3rd time! Maybe I should get my own url. hmp.

Sinigang

We put everything and sour to taste.

Another famous Filipino dish is sinigang. It is typically sour and is most often compared to Thai's tom yam. Sinigang is famous for the variety of ingredients one can use as well as for its taste. It's either composed of stewed fish, pork, chicken, shrimp, or beef or a combination of one or two. In the photo, it's a combination of milkfish and shrimp. Its characteristic taste is attributed to the ingredient that gives its sour taste.

It is usually prepared with tamarind, tomato, leek, taro, onion, and vegetables which may include okra, spinach, radish, green pepper, and string beans, pechay, swamp cabbage, etc. You can put more veggies (as preferred).

If not tamarind, one can use guava, which provide a different sourness to this dish. It's so rich with Vitamin C but is less sour than the tamarind. If not guava or tamarind, one may use raw mango, calamansi, and kamias . Vinegar is not an option here. Powdered soup base or bouillon cubes for sinigang are also used in place of natural fruits. Don't forget the chilli. Personally, i like it when it's a bit hot. It adds to the flavor of the soup.

Boy, oh boy I am hungry already! :D

Daing na Pusit

We sundry and fry...that's how we do it here!

Filipinos simply love it sundried and fried. And because our country is basically surrounded by bodies of water, we have loads of seafoods to explore. We practically sundry an assortment of them i.e., daing na bangus, daing na dilis, daing na tamban, daing na matambaka, daing na galunggong, etc. Daing (pronounced as die-ing) means salted and sundried. These kinds of food do not spoil for a week even without refrigeration. That is why this is very popular in remote provinces of the Philippines wherein having a refrigerator is a luxury.

Oki got me a pack of daing na pusit (dried squid) from his Masbate trip. Actually, she told me it's for my mother and not for me (she's awful sometimes). But since I was at my parents' house the whole weekend, I have to try them myself. Besides, I have to watch my mother's cholesterol level. She can't eat a lot of these.

I love these little pieces of squids, they are so tasty! This can be fried for a few minutes so it will remain chewy or this can be fried a little longer to achieve a certain crisspiness. And it goes along with a nice chilled bottle of beer (or coke if you're wholesome, or coke light if you're on a diet). If you want it as a full meal, you have to have steamed rice with it and some vinegar with chilli for dipping.

Adobo

There's a lot more to adobo than meets the eye!

If there's one Filipino dish that I am truly greatful for, it's the adobo. And I could say this, without batting my eyelashes: "I can eat adobo for one whole month!" In fact, everytime I am at my parents' house, I prefered nothing else but adobo. So my mother would cook a bunchful of it, to last the whole weekend.

Adobo is typically made of pork or chicken or a combination of both (like the photo above). The meat is slowly cooked in soy sauce, vinegar, crushed garlic, bay leaf, and black pepper. This dish can be cooked in two ways, dried (patuyo) or saucy (masabaw). Personally I prefered the dried style wherein the meat is often browned in the pan to get the desireable crisped edges.

History says that adobo originates from the northern region of the Philippines. It's one of the first dishes that Filipinos learn to cook because it's simple and easy to do. What makes it delicious though is the delicate balance of all the ingredients. There could be slight differences in the amount of spices, but personally I really like it with loads of garlic.

Being the most popular and distinguished among all Filipino cuisines, adobo has entered the pop scene as well. There's a movie called American Adobo. Filipino sitcom performers are called adobos. Balck Eyed Peas' apl.de.ap mentioned adobo in his song Bebot. Most Filipino snacks are adobo-flavored (can't miss Boy Bawang, anywhere can you?). There was even a Japanese-based company that made adobo flavored instant stir-fry noodles.

Adobo is definitely good with steamed, sticky rice. Is also good with sandwhiches. But the best of all is adobo for breakfast with salted egg, tomatoes, and garlic rice. God, now I am really hungry!

Puto

A very few people understand a really good rice cake!

It's all food this week! Actually, I've been meaning to feature Filipino food but for some strange reason, I always put the thought aside. It's easier for me to photograph a human being or a dead tree than a set of food or anything served in a plate for that matter.

Of course, this would be biased mainly on the food that I like (to eat). And I tell you, I am not much of an explorer of food. I only eat those that are 'normally' or 'usually' eaten (definition is always relative...what is normal to me, may not at all be normal to you). I am all for the universal definition of what food should be (whatever that means). There are a lot exotic food in the Philippines, name it, we got it. Soup frog, fried crickets, field rats, snakes, aborted chick, even those pisonous fishes that the locals could instantly turn into a delicious delicacy. I don't have a strong stomach for those. No matter how you covered them with spices and herbs, they're still frogs and crickets to me.

The photo above is...puto. Some called it sweet steamed rice flour cakes or simply, steamed ricecake or steamed muffins. It's all made of (sticky) rice, some baking soda, white sugar, egg whites. Some put cheese, salted egg, or a piece of fruit on top (depends on your preference). But me, I like it pure and simple...just the whole rice cake. Sometimes, I like it with grated coconut. Three pieces of these are sure to make your stomach full.