laid back phnom penh and our appetites

most of the time, we stopped by to eat at any place we fancied at the moment. one of these instances was when we tried phnom penh's local ice cream. after eva and i did a bit of routine exercise with our dancing feet at wat bottom park, the three of us (with my brother who's not keen on dancing) were lured by a local ice cream shop right across the park. the shop was called songtrah ice cream and it was filled with locals, having their cold fix after a hot day.

Songtrah Ice cream

then as we made our way back to the area near europe guesthouse, passing along the sisowath quay, we again made another stop for yogurt though it wasn't a local shop but an international one. the distance in between the local ice cream and this yogurt was just a half kilometer away. phnom penh was so laid back that our appetites went sky high!

Tutti Frutti Yogurt

as darkness had completely fallen in phnom penh, we scurried towards sorya mall which was highly recommended by mr. seng, the owner of europe guesthouse. we were on our top speed in our walking pace since it was already 30 minutes from closing time when we reached the guesthouse. the mall closes at 8PM, as we were told. the local sights in sisowath quay had apparently tarried us, the local dance groups, the lone man with his boombox, the non-english speaking peddlers of rambutan and just about everything. mr. seng egged on us to hurry while pointing to a big blue dome that i hadn't actually seen but we went on our way anyhow, because my brother seemed to understand the bleary directions. a tuktuk ride could have saved us from the pressure because it wasn't a short walk at all. it was a long dubious walk along the barely lit parts of street 136.

our hopes were rekindled when we reached the central market which was a big dome. with our initial directions, a big dome (✔), blue (?). central market is actually a yellow dome but sorya mall is around the corner which my brother had spotted just in time. sorya mall became one of the recommendations, probably because it was popular with the locals. the tall half spherical corner of the building which was made of glass walls, certainly gave a different dining experience in phnom penh. we settled in master grill restaurant and chose the seats near the glass wall, a good spot to observe the busy street down below.

Master Grill

since the night was still young, we went back to sisowath quay hoping for some local night scenes and we ended capping our day with a few drinks in mekong river restaurant. although master grill was our official dinner, we still ordered something filling and it would remain forever a mystery how we could have such big appetites!

Spring Rolls

i think i already found my kind of beer right for my age and preference. a light one!

Angkor Beer

generally, i felt safe in phnom penh at night, although we were three that time and there was also my brother. our guesthouse was even near these bars that came with interesting names in numbers which probably could mean something else. we were lucky that nothing happened that could evoke even the slightest fears in us and phnom penh proved to be that place where it is a downright contrast from the buzzing city life that we have everyday.

Sreet 136

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