Comfortable routine

It's amazing how we've settled down so fast here in Phnom Penh. We've only been here for 9 days and we've developed a routine already. You know, I am a sucker for routine. And having established a routine this fast is incredible.

Hubby and I wake up at 6AM. EJ wakes up at 7AM or sometimes earlier than that. We have a quick breakfast and we're out of the door at 7:30. We drop off hubby to work. Then EJ to his school.

EJ loves his new school! We are always the last one to go out because EJ doesn't want to go home unless everyone is out already. He just wants to play and play in the sand. The school has a nice outdoor area with sands. He just love staying there!

During the time EJ is in school, I go to our building's mini gym. I stay on the treadmill or stepper for an hour. After that I prepare lunch. Then I am off again to pick up EJ and hubby for lunch at home.

After lunch and a little playtime, EJ takes a nap. During this time I go to 'work' and then I meticulously and religiously post ads for our condo for rent in every free ads site I can find. LOL! If there's more time, I read my favorite blogs and of course check out facebook.

I prepare dinner at 4pm! Hehehe. That way, EJ and I can still go to the park or go to the rooftop to play. Then at 6:30, we pick up hubby from work. And then it's dinner time.

At 9PM, we're in the bedroom. Lights off at 9:30 or 10,depending on EJ's mood.

Basically we sleep early and wake up early, totally opposite from our life in KL. We do live a healthy lifestyle here. LOL!

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Around Phnom Penh

I only realized today that we have been here in Phnom Penh for only six days. But I feel like we've been here for a little more than that.

We haven't visited any touristy place yet because we've been busy settling down in our new place. The weekend was spent arranging furnitures, buying some essential things for our place and buying groceries.

We have noticed that having a car is not really a necessity here. Although they don't have an organized public transportation system, they do have tuk-tuk and motos everywhere. But we still decided to get a car. The convenience of having a car outweighs the cost of having one. Plus we do believe it would be cheaper in the long run because we plan to stay here for longer than two years.

Since hubby and I don't drive, we decided to rent a car with a driver for the time being. Hopefully after two months of driving lessons, both of us would be confident enough to drive our own. Hehehe.

The car and the driver arrived this morning. He dropped hubby to office first. When he came back, I decided to go around the city. I needed to have a Phnom Penh picture anyway to replace the Petronas Towers header. So on a limited time, we went to these places.

Independence Monument - one of the famous landmark.

The park beside the Independence Monument.

We passed by this post office on the way to the Russian Market.

Russian Market. That's our kind driver on the side.

Inside the Russian Market. It's one of their shopping places. I think everything can be found here -DVD/CD/VCD, souvenirs, clothes, silks, accessories, food, etc.

I wanted to buy one because I love bangles. But I stopped myself.....for now. LOL! I will definitely come back and get one of these.

I bought one of this. It's actually like the Filipino version of suman. But with a banana in the middle.

And I also couldn't resist buying this roasted/barbequed banana. I grew up eating this during recess time!

Tomorrow, EJ is starting summer classes. Hopefully, I'd have more time to explore this lovely city.

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Tour around our new place

We just moved in to our apartment this morning. We took a longer time to decide. But it's worth the time. I love our new place!

To our families and friends, here's a mini tour of our place. Sorry guys, we chose the one-bedroom only apartment. So if you're coming over, you have to stay on our couch. Hehehe!!!

But we do have a big and comfortable couch for you to sleep on. LOL! Hubby chose this apartment mainly because of the flat TV. Hehehe

The toilet and bath and the laundry area. I don't think we'd be using the washing machine. Our rental comes with a laundry service already, among others.

The kitchen area.

And the terrace. Hubby and EJ are assembling EJ's bike so he can bike around on the big rooftop.

The wifi in our place is terrific. I hope it stays that way.

Everything is well and good. We're quite enjoying our stay here, thank you very much =)

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Through the stomach

What better way to get introduced to a country than through its food, right?

For our first night however, we ate in a Filipino restaurant called Bistro Lorenzo. It was near our hotel and we couldn't stop ourselves from entering the place. We wanted to find out if we would be coming back again. And I believe we would. We ordered fried tilapia, batchoy soup with noodles, pork binagoongan and pakbet. It was a lot! But we finished it off. LOL! We forgot to bring our camera that time though so there's no picture to show.

Last night, upon recommendation from hubby's officemate we ate at Khmer Surin.

The place was huge. But it was very cozy. I thought the place would never get full but soon after we arrived it was swarming with tourists and expats. It must be a popular place.

The menu looked very familiar. I was expecting some truly authentic local food but was surprised to see thai food mostly. Maybe local food is influenced by Thai cuisine?

Here's what we ordered:

Beef with broccoli and cauliflower

Beef fried rice

Pad Thai

Spring rolls

We had a pleasant dinner and the food were all good.

Tonight we ventured a little bit farther but still a walking distance from our hotel. We ate in a hotel's (Anise) restaurant.

They had limited menu but I was happy to find a "Cambodian beef curry" so I ordered it.

It tasted like a thai red curry minus a thousand chili. It wasn't hot and spicy. But I like it nevertheless.

Hubby had "Ma's chicken with spanish rice". The explanation to the menu said something like "this dish comes with a warning: if you try this, you'd be asking for more". Hubby was intrigued. LOL!

And we had Vietnamese spring rolls as appetizer.

So far, everything is so good. We can't wait to explore more of this new place. And I must add, I feel right at home here in Phnom Penh. It's definitely a good sign!

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In Phnom Penh!

We arrived here this morning. We're excited but anxious. But more excited :)

We went to check out several apartments today. I guess we checked out about 6 or 7 apartments. I am absolutely knackered.

We're staying in a hotel right now but we're moving tomorrow to the new apartment, hopefully. The apartment looks lovely! And it's new! And it has a gym! I am so thrilled.

Another place, another culture, another cuisine, and another adventure await us.

The best is definitely yet to happen. Loving it!

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Would have been better

For our 10-day stay in Manila, EJ and I stayed at The Malayan Plaza in Ortigas. I love Ortigas and its accesibility. It's near EJ's pedia, our banks are there, two of our properties are near, it's near my brother's place and best of all Megamall and Shangrila Mall are just walking distance. LOL!

I booked our stay at The Malayan Plaza thru their website. It was easy and fast. Best of all I got the best rate online for only $65 per night for a studio superior.

Source

The picture above is exactly the same as our room. It was very spacious and complete with the kitchen equipment like stove, microwave oven, utensils, etc. For long staying guests who want to cook sometime, this is a perfect place.

The Malayan Plaza is not a hotel but a serviced apartment. Hotel-type facilities are limited. But I was okay with it. My basic requirements were A/C, TV with cable (most importantly Playhouse disney channel for EJ), and internet in the room. All of which were available. Internet in the room was of course expensive but they had a weekly rate which I availed. It was cheaper.

It would have been a totally perfect stay if only the breakfast buffet was good. As it was, the food choices were limited. I only had breakfast there once. I never returned. Oh I did. But I never ate on the second visit. There was nothing to choose from.

Will I stay at The Malayan Plaza again? I will. It is the cheapest accommodation in Ortigas so far. And the location is great. I just hope they do something about their breakfast.

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New gadget

I had hoped that the Viviene Tam HP mini is still available here in Manila. When I arrived I immediately called the HP in Mall of Asia and HP in Trinoma. Both said they ran out of stocks.

I was set on buying the regular HP mini when I saw the eee S101H netbook. I liked it immediately. The only problem was that it was more expensive than the HP mini and the Viviene Tam HP mini. In short it was beyond my budget. So I checked around first hoping I find something around the price of the HP mini or even the Viviene Tam.

Finally I found one store in Megamall which sells the S101H cheaper than the other. I found out also that the price of the S101H had already dropped but the other stores have not changed their price yet.

Original price of the S101H: Php33,000
Drop down rate: Php25,500

I bought it immediatelty.

I don't have to buy a pouch anymore. It comes with a cute black pouch/cover.

I love the color - champagne!

Thank goodness I was able to sell my Gateway laptop immediately. I have always wanted to have one of those cute netbooks. Now, I have one and I love it. It's easier to lug around. No more shoulder pains. I am happy!

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