in phnom penh: our first visitor

when daniel complained to his mom that no one visits us EVER, uncle bruce hopped on a longass flight from melbourne and popped in for a few days. ah! the perks of being the single child. but i shan't conceal it, i was damn pleased.. it meant that i had company during the day when i ran my errands and one more person to fuss over (and boss around!). and uncle bruce is a lot of fun!!

i sneakily convinced him that he wanted to spend one of his four days here in a full day cooking class with me! so for $20, we paid a visit to their local market and learnt how to make four local dishes from scratch. our instructor was this petite local lady that spoke impeccable english and class was held on the roof-top of the owner's house. so we diced, broiled, julienned, pounded until our eyes watered. but it was super fun! now to find my next victim to attend the next class with me...


my favorite appetizer. banana flower wrapped around sausage. you dip it in vinegar and chopped garlic and chilli.

im going to try replicated for my family this weekend! *fingers crossed*


refreshing pomelo salad with fresh shrimp. their cuisine is largely similar in taste and style to the thais..

oh! and did you know that when you eat fresh shrimp, its 'cooked' by lime juice? the grey shrimps actually turn into the prettiest pink after you leave them swimming in lime juice. we had so much to eat we couldn't possible stomach dinner. we were munching from 9 am - 3 pm. hard day of work!

also, its a real treat to start the day with a cuppa fresh coffee and delicious pastries. even if my company finds the local paper more interesting than me..

uncle bruce in cafe fresco.

on his last night, he wanted to take us to a restaurant we've never been to before. so its a brand new experience for everyone and secretly did his research from local food guides and the internet, brought us to comme a la maison, a cosy french bakery and alfresco restaurant. unlike most fussy french resto, this one is very laid back, you dine in a garden, does not have names on the menu we cant pronounce and serve cool things like fancy salads, sausage and mash, fluffy omelette, exquisite french pastries and an assortment of wines and aperitifs! comfort food galore. we had such a lovely time this is our favorite restaurant now. we've visited them 6 times ever since uncle bruce left. considering he only left two weeks ago, quite an amazing record..


lardon bleu - green salad, blue cheese, walnuts, bacon and this amazing shallot vinaigrette! i would give an arm to serve salads like this at home. need to figure out the dressing!!

he also came armed with gifts - wedding magazines & olives from australia!! *yippee* im all stocked up now!