Hung and Wee Ongs Blog on RealTravel

Phnom Penh journal: We miss Vietnamese Food too much

Wed, 08 Aug 2007 21:08:08 GMT

TBD

Phnom Penh journal: End of the Adventure

Wed, 08 Aug 2007 20:52:33 GMT

Day 9 @ Phnom Penh

Hello again!We arrived at Phnom Penh at 7pm so it was a slightly shorter trip compared to the previous PP-HCMC trip. However, the surprise came when the bus stopped at a different drop-off location compared to when we first arrived at PP from Siem Reap. The god-forsaken place was in the middle of nowhere (not near the riverfront) but luckily there was a lot of people around. We tried to get a tuk-tuk to our guesthouse but a lot of them quoted USD2, which we rejected.

Lost in Phnom Penh! Finally, this guy that we rejected came back and agreed to take us for ...

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) journal: Magnificent Saigon

Wed, 08 Aug 2007 20:20:35 GMT

Day 5 @ HCMC/Saigon

Saigon, here we come!The bus was scheduled to depart at 115pm but we were instructed to arrive at the Mekong Express Bus Station at 1230pm. The people there helped us to handle our luggage and most importantly, ensured everyone had the neccesary travelling documents (visa) before departing. Note: Malaysians do not require visa to Vietnam. The bus journey was similiar to the trip from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh. Slow (the road conditions weren't much better until we reached Ho Chi Minh City) and noisy (honking all the way). The toilet in the bus was clean ...

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) journal: Best Vietnam Cuisine Experience!

Tue, 07 Aug 2007 20:59:06 GMT

We were wandering around, hungry and tired when we came across this place. It was out of our budget but everything else within the vicinity was so much more expensive than Tan Nam. It was a two story restaurant, close to Sheraton Hotel. We were lead upstairs to have our seat.

The ambience was nice and it was full of foreigners and a handful of locals (looked like rich locals). I told the fiance since we're already here, might as well order and have a ball! So, here's what we ordered:

Spring Roll

La la / Clam

Lotus Root Stem Salad

Fried Vercimilli with Eel

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) journal: No coffee here!

Tue, 07 Aug 2007 20:36:46 GMT

We ate here because we were desparate for food and it was a few doors down from Sinh Cafe, in the popular backpackers area, Pham Ngu Lao. Well, it wasn't that bad. We ordered 3 dishes (which did not taste like authentic vietnamese because we could get almost the same thing in Malaysia):

Sweet and Sour Squid

Pork with Five Spices

Fish Soup

Mineral Water

I forgot how much did all of the above cost. Wouldn't recommend to come here specifically for food though (unless you're dying for food).

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) journal: President Clinton ate here!

Tue, 07 Aug 2007 20:32:37 GMT

We stumbled on this shop on the way to Ben Tanh Market. I recognize the shop's name from Lonely Planet Guidebook so decided it was worth a try. We were pleased with the interior as it looked CLEAN and there were locals eating there too so I imagined it can't be that bad. We saw some photos hanging on the wall and upon closer glance, I realized it was President Clinton! Hmm.. expectation up on notch!

We ordered beef PHO (for me) and chicken PHO (for the fiance) and jackfruit juice. There were different portion sizes for the PHO available and we ordered BIG for chicken and Regular for ...

Phnom Penh journal: Cambodian Barbeque

Thu, 26 Jul 2007 02:35:25 GMT

What's so special?This restaurant returned a lot of hits when I searched for places to eat in Phnom Penh, on the internet. It offers cooking classes for those that are interested to learn how to cook cambodian dishes. The restaurant looked very modest, no fancy deco and all that. The waiters spoke very good english, though.

From the menu, the restaurant served very standard Cambodian dishes, nothing special compared to the other restaurants I've eaten at. The only special dish I spotted was the Cambodian Barbeque (or Pleung), which we ordered. The other dish we ordered was the ...

Phnom Penh journal: Enough for Breakfast

Thu, 26 Jul 2007 02:33:03 GMT

We stopped by here for breakfast because there weren't a lot of shops that were opened. We were the first customers and some of the waiters were still in pyjamas. We ordered Noodle Soup and Fried Egg Noodle, which cost us USD3.50. Nothing special and it was not exactly spectacular as well. Maybe the pizza is better?

Phnom Penh journal: Transit to Vietnam

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 00:33:49 GMT

Day 4 @ Phnom Penh

No bus tickets to Vietnam!The time was 1pm in the afternoon. Upon stepping down from the bus, we were greeted by an overwhelming crowd of tuk-tuk drivers calling out to us, some were holding up signs with names while the others tried desperately to introduce guesthouses to us (I can imagine they will get commission if they managed to introduce tenants). Luckily there was a barrier which separated them from the passengers, if not we will definitely be mobbed by them! After collecting our luggage, we proceeded to the ticketing office (which was just next to where ...

Phnom Penh journal: Cheap but Far from the Action

Mon, 09 Jul 2007 02:18:33 GMT

Again, I came across this place through the internet. The very few guesthouses located along the riverfront (most accomodations located along the riverfronts are big and EXpensive hotels) were all fully booked. Spring Guesthouse seemed to have garnered good reviews and it was new. The only downside was it looked quite far from the riverfront when I checked out the map. However, it was only when I checked in to the hotel that I found out just HOW far it was. (We walked from the guesthouse to the riverfront and it took us 20 minutes, if it is not hot, the walk is not so bad).

This is ...

Phnom Penh journal: Cambodian + Vietnamese Food

Mon, 09 Jul 2007 01:43:23 GMT

Worth a tryThis place, apparently serves a mix of cambodian and vietnamese food. When we arrived, it was 2pm plus and the place looked dead. We had to call out and waited for awhile before a drowsy looking waitress (with very black eyeliner) turned up to serve us. We ordered Peanut Chicken Curry and Vietnamese Soup. Again, we waited for 30 minutes for the food to arrive (which seems to be the normal waiting time for food in Cambodia). During our wait, a few elderly ladies with an english accent entered and enquired whether the restaurant had a garden or not. They walked off when the ...

Siem Reap journal: Tomb Raiding at Siem Reap

Mon, 09 Jul 2007 01:38:46 GMT

Day 1 @ Siem Reap, Cambodia

Where's our Driver?Touchdown at 1145am. Immigration was a breeze because Malaysians did not require visa and on top of that, we did not check in any luggage. We were one of the first few out of the airport. Once we got out, we held on firm to our luggage as we had received friendly warnings from fellow travellers that the local tuk-tuk drivers can be very "boisterous" in their effort to offer their services. To our surprise, there were no over-zealous tuk-tuk driver trying to grab our luggage. There was a counter on the right that sold taxi coupons. The ...

Siem Reap journal: Best AMOK in town?

Sun, 29 Apr 2007 03:18:00 GMT

Last Night at Siem Reap

I had a tough time deciding where to have dinner for our last day at Siem Reap. There were a few places I had in mind (i.e. Neary Palm, FCC Angkor, Viroth's etc) but since we decided to stick to the Old Market Area, that narrowed down my options to Amok Restaurant. It was our last chance at trying out Amok at Siem Reap so we might as well go to a restaurant with the same name.

Candle Lit Dinner

I liked the ambience of this place, every table was candle lit and set nicely. We ordered, of course Amok and two other dishes: Banana flower salad and stir ...

Siem Reap journal: Pleasant, Clean and Nice Food

Sat, 28 Apr 2007 23:37:31 GMT

Comes Highly Recommended

I did my research and this place was highly recommended by Lonely Planet, Frommers and few other independent reviews from fellow travellers. Therefore, I had a high hopes for this restaurant.

It was not BAD...

This was our first meal in Cambodia. We were famished as it was already 2pm. Our Tuk-Tuk driver knew the restaurant and dropped us there. The menu was quite extensive as it seems every dish, can be prepared with a variety of meat (i.e. fish, pork, beef, chicken, etc). I was confused for awhile as I thought Amok (hailed as the national dish ...

Siem Reap journal: Chic Little Boutique Cafe

Sat, 28 Apr 2007 23:16:26 GMT

Haven from the Afternoon Heat

We had just finished Angkor Thom in the morning and the heat was starting to get to me. Our driver suggested we have lunch back at the Old Market but I told him I wanted to go Angkor Cafe. He had no idea where it was. Luckily we had a map with us with the location of the Cafe clearly marked on it. It was just located outside Angkor Wat, behind the plot of land used for parking.

Chic and Cool

The Cafe also doubled up as a crafts shop, made by locals from the Artisans d'Angkor shop. The interior deco was done quite tastefully. When we got the ...

Southeast Asia journal: 9 Days Cambodia and Vietnam

Fri, 27 Apr 2007 01:06:52 GMT

It All Began with Air Asia Free Tickets...

The whole country went into a frenzy when Air Asia had their free ticket promotion in January. We were caught up in the craze as well, finally deciding on a trip to Cambodia in April when my work commitments slow down. By the time we wanted to buy the tickets online, the website was having load problems and we had a hard time trying to select the flights we want. Finally, at 2am on 11th January 2007, we got our tickets, FOR FREE! Flight tickets set us back RM390 only, return for two person. Departure ex-KL on 4th April 2007 and returning ...

Siem Reap journal: Nothing Blue about this place

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 21:26:52 GMT

After Dinner Drinks

There were two places that most people would recommend for after dinner drinks in Siem Reap - Blue Pumpkin and Red Piano. I managed to get a glimspe of Red Piano and indeed, the interior is red. One would expect the same thing with Blue Pumpkin but, the interior is WHITE, WHITE and WHITE! Now I'm really curious what IS the meaning of Blue Pumpkin...

Seriously Cool

We went up to the first floor to find it almost fully occupied. Perhaps it was due to the fact that you could get free WIFI here. The main theme of this place was very simple, just WHITE. ...

Siem Reap journal: Siem Reap Restaurant of the Year

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 21:01:57 GMT

We were the first customers

As you can see from the tag line, this restaurant was voted as the Restaurant of the Year by customers. I was eager to see what this restaurant had in store for us and whether it could to live up its expectation. It came as a surprise when we stepped into the restaurant and found out we were the first customers. Were we that early? It was already pass 7pm.

The owner - Bun Try

The waitress passed us the menu and we placed our orders quite promptly. After that, the restaurant owner, Bun Try striked a conversation with us. It was impressive as ...

Siem Reap journal: Nice Ambience and Good Food

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 19:35:27 GMT

I'm Impressed

Our first dinner in Cambodia and I couldnt' have chosen a more suitable place. Khmer Family was also on my "must eat" list but I have forgotten how I got about choosing this restaurant. Upon further investigation, I found out that it belong to the Golden Temple Villa Hotel that also runs Temple Club (just down the road) and Khmer Food Restaurant. I guessed it's quite new because our Tuk-Tuk driver did not know its location but luckily we had spotted it earlier in the afternoon. Anyway, it's just a few doors down from Red Piano.

G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S and laid back

Siem Reap journal: Family Run Accomodation, Friendly and Clean

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 19:13:51 GMT

General Information

Welcome Drink: Free

Airport Transfer: Free

Breakfast: Free

Room Rates: Fan for $6 to $12, A/C for $12 to $18

Amenities: Hot Water, Television, Fridge

Website: http://www .bousavyguesthouse.com/

First Contact

A local magazine recommended this place and upon further investigation, I found that it actually has its own website and online booking facilities. In addition, it seemed to have good reviews. I used its website to perform the booking and got a reply the next day from ...