Patterns

I took the pictures at the Royal Gardens. There is an empty wooden building falling apart, but has nice patterns on its walls.

The world in 360: Panoramas from Siem Reap

I am playing around with 360 degrees pictures taken here in Siem Reap. The first ist my favorite coffee place, Temple Bakery. Second is basically just behind my house and third is a bridge over the river in Siem Reap, along street 25 in downtown. Expect more to come.

The most recent panorama ist from the lotus farm about 10 km south of Siem Reap.

Temple Bakery Siem Reap

Around my house in Siem Reap

Street 25 bridge Siem Reap

In front of Royal Palace in Phnom Penh

Bicycle ride in Siem Reap/Cambodia

Bicyle tour with Grashoppers through the rice fields around Siem Reap

We did a very lovely tour with Grashoppers last Sunday through the countryside south of Siem Reap. Its starts early at 7.30, Bikes, Helmets and Water is provided, and so is a very helpful, friendly and competent guide. It's a 25 km ride, all flat, but through some bumpy dirt roads, so you need a bit of strength to keep your balance sometimes. We made quite a few stops at a pig farm, a rice mill, a local market and a temple. Around noon we came back. I can only highly recommend this tour.

Noodle soup for breakfast

For about a month now I am having noodle soup for breakfast. I don't like instant noodles, so I usually go for either rice noodles or Udon noodles. For logistic reasons, I am having breakfast at home, what requires cooking. Not that this is a problem, I actually love cooking. I found some kind of instant rice noodles Phnom Penh style, what I sometimes use as a base, or ready to eat Udon Noodles. It is quite easy to make them a bit more delicious with adding just some chicken breast or tofu, a fresh egg, celery or bean sprouts.

The main reason was to find out if a noodle soup for breakfast just lasts long enough so I do not need to have lunch. And it actually does. Before, my breakfast was an apple and some oats, and then I had a salad for lunch and usually a good dinner. I work from home, what means I am always not more than 15 meters away from my fridge. In Bangkok,  the next 7/11 was in walking distance, so I was always tempted to get some fast food.

I am totally aware that food is actually a reward for me, but we all know that our brain sometimes tricks us, and there were and are times, when I felt dizzy and thought I have to eat now. It took a while to discover that most of the time it was a psychological problem. Proof is that when I am very busy during the day and away from home, I rarely feel dizzy even without having lunch. And yes, I am drinking enough, my blood pressure is good and I just had a health check up in May.

A friend in Laos once said in a presentation about crosscultural training, that one thing we do not like to change or that we struggle to change is breakfast. That why people so often complain about the breakfast in a hotel, although they know that there is always a better place outside. That's why so many restaurants offer french and continental and american breakfast (and never German, by the way). Our breakfast was for decades muesli with milk, even after moving to Asia.

But I have to admit that at least for the last month I wasn't missing the oats at all. I am carful enough to eat fruits to replace the morning apple and to get  veggies to still add  fiber to my diet. But I actually like the noodle soup, and just today I cooked some Udon noodles and  chicken breast in a broth, added some celery and Udon sauce, and had a lovely breakfast.

Cambodia will have us back again

It was 9 years ago when we left Germany and moved to Cambodia. We stayed only for a year, and always regretted to not have been there longer. Now we will get another chance. End of June we will leave Thailand and move to Siem Reap. I already start learning Khmer (my fourth language in 9 years after Vietnamese, Lao and Thai), and we will go for house hunting this weekend.

We are really looking forward to live again in the Kingdom of Wonders.

More Rap from Cambodia