Cambodia: the hotel

So, Cambodia pretty much rocked.

Our "villa" in Cambodia.

The bathroom in the villa.

We had a great time. The country is very poor and still reeling from the effects of war, conflict, land mines and a terrorist political regime. But in Siem Reap, redemption is beginning, thanks to tourists like me. The town has some 8000 hotel beds, for hosting Americans, Europeans, Asians, etc. for conferences, events and general tourism. But in the rainy season (which is now) many of those beds are empty. Therefore, we got a good deal on a swanky, resorty hotel.

See the bridge going to the island with the pool bar?

Our villa was the size of a nice townhouse and was separated into 4 suites. We were on the second floor, in a suite that was bigger than The BF's studio apt in Seattle. We had a balcony overlooking the pool, which had a bar on a little island in the middle of the pool. It was not a swim-up bar, like we had at the hotel in Indonesia, but I mean, I guess it was ok.

The balcony overlooking the pool.

We had a breakfast buffet every morning that offered fresh fruit: watermelon, honeydew, pineapple, grapefruit and dragonfruit. (the fruit was all cleaned and sliced and peeled, so we were safe to eat it). In true, multi-cultural fashion, the buffet also had cereal, croissants, pork fried rice, steamed vegetables in oyster sauce, made-to-order omelettes, pad thai and bacon. Because Cambodia was run by France for so many years, the baked goods in Cambodia are pretty delicious. I think I had pain au chocolat and/or croissants every morning. Also, baguettes. Sliced, toasted, with some kind of blue cheese. Delicious.

Cambodia is mostly a Buddhist country, but at different points in history has been mostly Hindu, so there's plenty of that influence as well. As far as I know, the only dietary aspect of these religions is that Hindus don't eat beef. (Many Hindus believe cows are a special gift from the gods and therefore eating beef would be sacrilegious). Therefore, the breakfast buffet served bacon. And it was very good bacon, IMHO. Just the right amount of crunch, with enough grease still on it to require wiping your hands after every bite...but not so much grease that it's running down your arm. Mmm...yeah....

What made this doubly awesome was that the week prior, we were in Indonesia. A country which recognizes six official religions, but the majority of its residents (90%) claim to be Muslim. Muslims don't eat pork. Therefore, the breakfast buffet at the resort in Indonesia, which was otherwise lovely, boasting some bodacious croissants and downright problematic butter (srsly....I may or may not have eaten it by itself), served only turkey bacon. Turkey. Bacon.

Have you ever had turkey bacon? I mean, why are they even allowed to call it bacon?! As a breakfast meat, it's a fine option, but it is NOT bacon. They should have to call it something else entirely, as calling it "turkey bacon" is like lying. It's basically false advertising. If I were a pig, I'd be offended. 

But beyond the bacon on the buffet, there were several other aspects of this hotel that were just fantastic:
- Beer from the mini bar was CHEAPER than in the hotel bar, at just $3 a can.
- Incredible service from EVERYONE, from the driver and hostess who picked us up at the airport, to the pool bar dude who ran from the bar to my table in the rain, to bring me a beer.
- $15 massage. One hour, with an incredibly strong-handed tiny little Cambodian woman. $15.
- Air conditioning
 

All in all, it was an excellent spot to stay during our visit to Cambodia.

Notso Cheese

Take yeast, cashews, pimientos, cumin, onion powder, garlic powder and water.
Puree together.
Heat and serve.
Recommend serving with tortilla chips.
Seriously.

That's the recipe I sampled recently at a game night hosted by my vegan friends, Peter Pan and Tiger Lily. And, though skeptical at first, I found that the combination tasted surprisingly like nacho cheese!

I have a hard enough time understanding vegetarians. I mean, if we werent supposed to eat animals, why are they made of meat?!? But vegans are REALLY beyond my realm of understanding. Maybe it's because I was raised in a state that makes a lot of money from the raising and slaughter of hogs. Maybe it's because I've tasted bacon and it is good. Maybe it's because I look forward to someday experiencing the meat sweats. But whatever the reason, vegan-ism baffles me.

That said, I support my friends who choose to pursue these alternative (read: dumb) diets. I've since begun researching some vegan cupcake recipes so that I can bake something special for the next event at the home of my vegan friends.

*If you had told me 5 years ago that I'd be thrilled to run across a mint chocolate vegan cupcake recipe on the interwebs, I'd have laughed at you. My, how time changes us.

Questionnaire Thingy

Ok, this is a silly little thing I poached from another blog. But it's pretty fun.

***************FOODOLOGY***************
1. What is your salad dressing of choice? Ranch. On salad, on French fries, on chicken fingers, sometimes on pizza…you get the picture.
2. What is your favorite sit-down restaurant? Oh so many. Peso’s, Serafina, The Met
3. What food could you eat for 2 weeks straight and not get sick of it? Turkey sandwich…in fact, I think I’ve done this
4. What are your pizza toppings of choice? Mushrooms take the #1 spot, but basically, I like my pizza like I like my men: LOADED!
5. What do you like to put on your toast? Bacon
***************TECHNOLOGY***************
1. How many televisions are in your house? 2. I’m not the original owner of either of them.
2. What colour cell phone do you have? shiny lime-ish green
*****************BIOLOGY******************
1. Are you right-handed or left-handed? Right handed. I tried to train myself to be more left-handed once…it was kinda fun!
2. Have you ever had anything removed from your body? Wisdom teeth, splinters, stray eyebrows
3. What is the last heavy item you lifted? Printers. Lots and lots of printers.
4. Have you ever been knocked unconscious or fainted? Fainted once. Been close to it several times. I have this condition….
************BULLCRAPOLOGY**************
1. If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die? Yes and no
2. If you could change your name, what would you change it to? Princess Consuela Banana-Hammock
3. Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000? Heck yeah! I once attempted to eat a spoonful of ground cinnamon for $50. (in case you’re wondering, I couldn’t do it and ended up sneezing up cinnamon for the next 3 days)
************DUMBOLOGY******************
1. How many pairs of flip flops do you own? Not enough!!
2. Last time you had a run-in with the cops? Define run-in? Actually, I don’t remember the last time I even saw a cop, much less had an encounter or a “run-in”
3. Last person you hugged? Fritha?
**************FAVORITOLOGY****************
1. Season? Football
2. Holiday? Christmas
3. Day of the week? Friday
4. Month? September
***********CURRENTOLOGY*****************
1. Missing someone? Yes
2. Mood? Happy
3. What are you listening to? the TV
4. Watching? Ugly Betty
5. Worrying about? my credit card bill
***************RANDOMOLOGY*****************
1. First place you went this morning? the bathroom
2. What’s the last movie you saw? He’s Just Not That Into You...with Pickle and Pie and friends
3. Do you smile often? Actually, yeah
********************QUESTIONS******************
1. Do you always answer your phone? Nope
2. You love…? poofy skirts, warm chocolate chip cookies, the beach and pink champagne
3. If you could change your eye color what would it be? Terminator Blue. Don't freak out, Wafer!
4. What flavour do you add to your drink at Sonic? Cherry…mmmm
5. Do you own a digital camera? Yes. Two actually. I think both of them have dead batteries right now.
6. Favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night
7. What’s on your wish list for your birthday? Fritha and Conan made my wish list come true: they gave me a pink flask and a Big Fat Llama
8. Can you do push ups? Yes. I’m better at the “girl” kind
9. Does the future make you more nervous or excited? Both
10. Ever been in a car wreck? Yep. I am now the proud owner of some guard rail on I-95 as a result.
11. Do you have an accent? Yes ma’am.
12. What is the last song to make you cry? Dunno, but it was probably country music.
13. Plans tonight? Update my blog
14. Have you ever felt like you hit rock bottom? Not yet
15. Name 3 things you bought yesterday: phad thai, chicken cashew nut and chopsticks? (all I bought yesterday was lunch)
16. Name 3 things from the bailout: is this like a quiz?
17. Have you ever been given roses? Yes. Some of them were even Killarney roses
18. Current hate right now? Scarlet Johannsen. She’s #1 on my list of celebrities I want to fight.
19. Met someone who changed your life? Yes
20. How did you bring in the New Year? At a wedding! With Rocky & Bullwinkle and Rosie & Sigma and a DJ who had ZERO Michael Jackson music
21. Name three people who might complete this? Meh.
22. What were you doing 12 AM last night? Eating a cupcake! Thanks Frannie!
23. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? Crap! I have an 8am conference call!