"Other" Beautiful Places

Last Friday (20 April 2007) I found a very beautiful place. It was found in the heart of an old man who is a noodle seller in Subang Jaya. I took my son, Ryan to have lunch before sending him to school. I ordered his favourite dry (kong loh) noodles (lao shi fun) with fishballs. Being a small eater, Ryan could not finish the noodles. Since it's a sin to waste good food, I took the unfinished portion to the stall to put in some pepper. The old noodle seller took my bowl and put in a generous portion of beansprout - without me asking! In addition, he mixed the noodles again with more sauce. With a beautiful smile pasted on his wrinkled face, he handed me back the bowl and refused to accept any payment. To me, in this time and age, nothing comes free but I received something free thrown in with a beautiful smile. It sure brightened up my day. Places may fascinate us with their unique beauty and grandeur but human beings can make the world a beautiful place to live in.

This little fella is my youngest son, Ryan. He is seven years old and never cease to warm my heart. I made hawaiian pizza for dinner and he promptly gave me a big hug and a wet kiss. "Mum, today is the bestest day for me cos' you made pizza. Thanks Mum - you are the greatest, he quipped exuberantly."

Ivan in his usual gentle way came up to hug me and say a simple "Thanks Mum".

As for my firstborn, Justin, not wasting time with words, sank his teeth hungrily into the pizza.

My dining place was the most beautiful place on earth that night as I watch my three sons gobbled down their pizza with lightning speed in great delight. Sigh.... wish they will do just that when they are eating their usual chinese dinner.

Phnom Penh With Hubby

Last year my hubby and I took advantage of the free seats offered by Airasia and booked ourselves free flights to Phnom Penh and Siam Reap. It was a 8 days trip and we left on 3 July 2006. We have never been to Cambodia and thankfully, my travel agent friend, Elizabeth arranged for someone to meet us at the airport. Mei was there when we came out of the arrival hall. She is Malaysian and has been in Cambodia for two years working in an orphange. She is a missionary and we could see that she is very comfortable speaking Cambodian language. The moment we turned out into the main road from the airport, we were bombarded by the the sights and sounds of motorbikes. Well, as we all know, motorbikes are meant for two people. But take a peek at the photo. Four adults on a motorbike and see how comfortable they were! There was even room for a green basket of groceries in front of them! Necessity is the mother of all creations!

My initial reaction to Phnom Penh was not very enthusiastic. Asia Hotel, our hotel for 2 nights (supposedly) is located near the main market and bus depot (we found that out later). After Mei had checked us into the hotel, we placed our baggage in the room and went out in search of sustenance. Remember we flew in by Air Asia and the food sold up in the air weren't that great and at a exorbitant price too. We walked past the Russian market, which a guide book said it's worth a visit. Nay.... not for me cos' I could smell the market from a mile away and it aint a pretty picture as it was quite filthy.

(Central Market or Phsar Thmei)

(The popular ubiquitious Baguette)

We hurried walked away (or rather I desperately pulled Andy away) and went into a supermarket. Surprise of all surprises. It stocked all kinds of imported stuff from America, UK, Australia, etc. My favourite Malaysian snack was even sold there but at three times the price than in Malaysia. We wanted to try some local food but alas, all we could see was baguette sandwiches sold by small stalls and bicycles scattered all over (see above pic). It seems to be a very popular food in Phnom Penh. But the houseflies buzzing all over the food kind of turned us off and after walking round and round for 20 minutes, Andy decided to go for a burger..... yup..... thank God for western influence..... burger in Phnom Penh. Hungry as I was, I am not a great fan of burger, I opted for a cup noodle.... even though it's right at the bottom of my list of least favourite food. Well.... when you are hungry...... even cup noodles can look appetizing... which unfortunately did not taste good at all. Not sure of the security in this city, we decided to go back to the hotel around 8 pm. My stomach was still growling from hunger. Then I remembered Lian Ai (a fantastic cook & baker) gave us a walnut banana cake which flew all the way from Kuala Lumpur with us. My..... the cake sure tasted fabulous with my 3 in 1 Nescafe. As I was not enchanted with what I have seen so far, I suggested that we leave for Ho Chi Minh City the next morning instead of spending another day in Phnom Penh. Seeing the desperation written all over my face, my beloved lovingly agreed and we went down to the reception to check on the availability of bus transport there. We were told that we can get seats on the 07.30 am bus at the fare of USD8 per person. We made the booking and spent the rest of the night watching the 65 channels on their TV. Yup..... a third world country having 65 TV channels from over the world.


Next morning, at 07.00 am, someone from the bus company came to pick us up from our hotel. Expecting to see a van or a small bus, we were taken back by the sight of a a cart attached to the side of the motorbike (...it's as posh as you can get and a large dose of polluted air to breath as well...) and after less than 10 minutes ride, we arrived at our destination. It was a guest house favoured by backpackers for its cheap rates. As we still have time to kill, we decided to go to a coffee shop just 50 metres away from the guest house. Andy ordered a bowl of noodles but I could not stomach anything cos' the place was pretty filthy with dirty-looking dogs and cats everywhere scavenging for crumbs. It would be very comforting if only I could put my feet up on the chair as well. I pestered Andy to finish his noodles at a superhero's speed so that we could leave the place pronto. We went back just in time for the bus to depart.

(To be continued in my next post........ Glorious glorious food in Ho Chi Minh City!!!!)