Toothpick

Saw this toothpick holder while dining at Amret's Restaurant. Too grand to be a toothpick holder, I may say. But it is designed to be a toothpick holder. And it serves its purpose. And that's the most important thing... to do it's function and purpose.

Sometimes we think we are too much of what we are doing. There's no such thing. We may feel we are too small for such a great task or too smart to do things... but if we function as what we are designed to be, that's the most important thing.

Amret Spa and Massage

Loved the Khmer style of spa and massage at Amret Spa in Phnom Penh. The first night we went for a cheap massage... like 2.50$ for one hour. I laid down on the massage bed and the lady started smashing me up... and it hurt like crazy. After 15 minutes it was done. Finished. Just like that. It was a traumatic experience. So the next day, hubby and I looked for a quality one. Searched the Phnom Penh Travel Guide for good spas in Phnom Penh. We navigated the streets for Amret Spa. It looked really appealing. Glad we went for it. We had the best massage ever. Loved it. Had Amret Scrub. That one was okay. I still preferred the way they did it in Thailand. But the Khmer massage was awesome.

The tub - milk bath, oil bath, etc.

Spa Beds for couple.

Tea was served after the spa.

Way of Life

Traveling to new places helps you learn about other people's culture. You tend to appreciate the variety of activities life has to offer.

Khmer woman scrubbing the floor at the Grand Palace in Phnom Penh.

A monk walking out of the Royal Palace, on his way to the temple.

Khmer girl selling tamarind.

Tuk tuk. One of the transportation to get you to the place you wanna go. They start with 3$. You ask for 1$. You end up meeting half-way. The fare now becomes 2$. That's it if of course, you're a foreigner. When you stay longer and know their way of life by heart, you'd be dealing with Riel, Cambodian's trade currency... and probably pay 1,000Riel only. ( 1$ = 4,000Riel)

The Royal Palace, Cambodia

We went to see the Royal Palace at Phnom Penh Cambodia. It was such a grand place.

The Queen's Place

The Royal Throne Hall

Khmer worker inside the Royal Palace

The History Painted on the wall

Outside the Royal Palace

The entrance fee to the Royal Palace at Phnom Penh is 6US$ for foreigners and 2$ for Cambodians. There are rules and regulations to enter the Royal Palace:

1. Must wear proper attire (sleeveless clothes, bermuda pants and slippers are not allowed)
2. No taking photos inside the King's Throne Hall
3. Must take out the shoes upon entering the Throne Hall.
4. Wearing of hats inside the Halls is not allowed.

Things to do in Phnom Penh

This was my first time to Cambodia. We planned this trip last year when hubby was setting up his schedule for 2009, after having realized we could leave the kids with my parents-in-law. I was glad that during the first few years of their lives, we were able to build enough trust and confidence in them that now we could leave them behind.

We actually didn’t just leave them like that. We had a practice. First, we left them for an hour, then 3 hours (for a movie), then overnight, then 3 days… and then we left them for 8 days. We did it gradually so as not to shock them. In this way, they were able to bond with my parents-in-law gradually. And so now, I am glad that I could finally leave them behind and join hubby with his trips and meetings.

However, I was a bit hesitant to come with hubby to Cambodia because of my 2-week trip in the Philippines. But I couldn’t back out because we have already bought my tickets, paid for the conference fee, etc. But during those 5 days that I was at home, I tried spending most of my time with the kids. Thus, leaving this trip unplanned… or so I thought.

Hubby on the other hand, had some plans made out. And I am glad. So we did a bit of sightseeing and holidaying before the conference started.

So… what are the things to do in Phnom Penh?

1. Visit Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum.


2. Visit The Royal Palace


3. Hang out at the Riverfront
4. Go for a spa. We went to Amret Spa and it was super awesome.


5. Shop at Phsar Thmei or Central Market

6. See the Independent Monument

These were the things we did in 1.5 days in Phnom Penh.

However, you can do these things as well if you have more time to spend here:

1. Visit the Killing Fields (Khmer Rouge)
2. Shop at the Russian Market or Phsar Toul Tom Poung
3. Scuba Dive at Sihanoukville
4. Visit Wat Phnom
5. Visit National Museum (Sarak Muntee)
6. River Cruise
7. Dine at Mekong River Restaurant
8. Horseback Riding

Note: Visiting Tuol Sleng Genocide Prison is life changing. You tend to appreciate life more. There’s just so much I wanna say about what I saw. It was sad. It was depressing. But at the end of the day, I am glad. Not because it happened… but because it didn’t last long. Pol Pot’s regime ended after 3 years, 8 months and 21 days. This period must feel like forever especially to those poor Khmer… but good thing it didn’t last more than that. God indeed doesn’t want evil things to rule.

I met a few old Cambodians and heard their life experiences. It was life mind boggling… indeed. Photos are to follow. I forgot to bring with me my card reader… again. Sorry.

Khmer Rouge

I wanted to take photograph of Cambodia from the plane before it landed. There laid before my eyes were paddy fields. It looked like most of the land was composed of paddy fields. And so barren, I wondered.

Before coming to Cambodia, my husband made a plan to visit some landmarks in Phnom Penh. We visited the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum. There my eyes were opened. The things I saw and read explained why there's such a huge and yet barren paddy field: The Khmer Rouge.

The term "Khmer Rouge," French for "Red Khmer", was coined by Cambodian head of state Norodom Sihanouk and was later adopted by English speakers. The Khmer Rouge is remembered mainly for the deaths of an estimated 1.5 million people or 1/5 of the country's total population (estimates range from 850,000 to two million) under its regime, through execution, torture, starvation and forced labor.

The prison cell

Following their leader Pol Pot (real name was Saloth Sar), the Khmer Rouge imposed an extreme form of social engineering on Cambodian society — a radical form of agrarian communism where the whole population had to work in collective farms or forced labor projects. In terms of the number of people killed as a proportion of the population (est. 7.5 million people, as of 1975), it was one of the most lethal regimes of the 20th century.

Instruments that were used for torture during interrogation time

Khmer Rouge wanted to eliminate anyone suspected of "involvement in free-market activities". Suspected capitalists encompassed professionals and almost everyone with an education, many urban dwellers, and people with connections to foreign governments. Khmer Rouge believed parents were tainted with capitalism.

The Interrogation room

Consequently, children were separated from parents and brainwashed to socialism as well as taught torture methods with animals. Children were a "dictatorial instrument of the party" and were given leadership in torture and executions.

One of the prisoners

About Pol Pot:

Saloth Sar was born in Prek Sbauv in Kampong Thom Province in 1928 to a moderately wealthy family of Chinese-Khmer descent.

His Death:

On the night of 15 April, 1998 the Voice of America, of which Pol Pot was a devoted listener, announced that the Khmer Rouge had agreed to turn him over to an international tribunal. According to his wife, he died in his bed later in the night while waiting to be moved to another location. Ta Mok claimed that his death was due to heart failure. Despite government requests to inspect the body, it was cremated a few days later at Anlong Veng in the Khmer Rouge zone, raising strong suspicions that he committed suicide or was poisoned.

Source: wikipedia.org

The skulls of the victims of Khmer Rouge