Marketplaces | askacambodian

Thoughts on Foreigners

Posted on June 30, 2015 by NUM IBBA Students

I have been living in Cambodia 19 years – all my life. My country is located in mainland South-east Asia, having a border with Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and the gulf of Thailand. 181,035 kilometers square for me is so small. However, the land is not large like it used to be, I still feel happy to live in my enchanted country. My country is well-known as a country with many beautiful natural and historical places. Those things attract so many foreigners from various continents. Most of them are from Vietnam, China, Korea, Laos, Thailand, U.S.A, Japan, U.K, France, and Australia.

Although I have been living in this country since I was born, I have never seen number of foreigners that come to Cambodia as many as these past few years. The first time that I met with foreigner was the time that I visited Kompong Som Province which is now named Sihanouk Ville. She was from France. At that time, she saw me and my sisters were learning how to swim, and she came over to us and offered to help teach us how to swim. At first, I didn’t feel comfortable with her since she was a foreigner, but later I started feeling more comfortable after seeing her friendly and kind behaviors.

I think foreigners are kind and friendly. They are willing to help in everything that they think they can. They don’t care much about being judged by the others. They like doing whatever they like. They are not only kind and friendly but also interested in learning everything around them like people, cultures, food and many other things when they are in foreign countries.

How They Dress?

I love the way they dress. To be honest, T-shirt, scarf, hat, bracelets, jeans/short skirt, sandals or high top look really good on them. From what I think, those things are really comfortable for them as a tourist who likes exploring. Differ from Cambodian people who like wearing elegant clothes with expensive jewelry.

What they Do?

I find that they like buying souvenirs. Those little things that are sold at the markets like Toul Tom Poung, Phsar Thmey and of course night market at Siem Reap, are so beautiful. Foreigners seem so interested in those tiny little things, even me as a Cambodian also like those kind of things. What is more, I notice that most of them now know a lot about the price in Cambodia. For example, most of tuk tuk drivers likes to gain more profits from foreigners since they think that foreigners don’t know much about the real price for riding a tuk tuk. Let say the price for the riding is only about 2$ for Cambodian but almost $4 to $5 dollar for foreigners. Luckily, most of foreigners now know about this, so I find it’s hard for those drivers to get the money like they used to get from foreigners.

Adventures

Foreigners love freedom. They are curious. They seem to like doing things that Cambodian people rarely do like hiking, diving, and cycling around Phnom Penh city or in Siem Reap. For those who enjoy watching the street scene love to ride a cyclo rather than tuk tuk. In fact, I notice that few of them allow a cyclo driver to sit, and they themselves drive the cyclo instead. It is one of the reason why I think foreigners like to experience new things. For Cambodian people, hiking and diving sounds dangerous but for foreigners, it sounds exciting. Foreigners love exploring natural places rather than man-made places. Unlike Cambodian people, they really like going to man-made places like super market and amusement park. About two weeks ago, I went to Siem Reap with my family. I saw many foreigners visited Angkor Wat temple. Most of them are around 20s to 30s. Most of foreigner who pay a visit in Siem Reap, try as much as they can to wake up before the dawn in order to see a beautiful sunrise behind Angkor Wat temple. Watching the sunrise is not the only thing that foreigners love to. I find that they are really in love watching the sunset also. Not only at Bakheng Mountain which is the famous place to enjoy the beautiful view of the sunset in the land of Angkor, but at Sihanouk Ville also. The big difference between them and Cambodian people is that foreigners love to spend every moment in their life doing things that they love to do. For them, exploring new places, tasting local food from various countries, hiking mountains, diving to see many colorful corals and the living things under the sea, cycling along the street, and watching the sunset are the worth experiences for them to do at least once in their lives.

How to Order Food at the Sorya Mall Food Court

Posted on June 10, 2015 by NUM IBBA Students

Sometimes If we are let out early from class for lunch and don’t know where to go we go to a food court. People should try the Sorya Mall food court – it’s the place I’d like to recommend. The price is suitable 8,000 to 16,000 riel (2-4$) and there are a lot of tables and chairs to choose to sit, though sometimes it can get crowded. There are all kinds of foods that are waiting for people to grab it. There is Thai food, Vietnamese food, Chinese food, Korean food, and food from Italy. How to get the food is by first deciding what you want after taking a look around and then take your money to the counter – across from the food stalls – and change it with one of the cards. For example I would change my money 20,000 riel (5 dollars) to get a card that has 5 dollars on it. Then you can take the card and purchase all kind of food and soft drinks up at the food counters. By using a card it makes it easy for people not to use the same hand to grab money and food at the same time. After you are done eating, left over money on the card can be retrieved by returning the card to the counter. But don’t forget about desserts. The desserts are also what should not be missed – like sweet taro and banana are famous desserts here in Cambodia, among many others. If you haven’t tasted them you should go now.

I recommend to the people in the city to try the food up there in Sorya Mall, its good, fast, and easy to get.

Grilled Bananas

Posted on June 7, 2015 by NUM IBBA Students

Grilled bananas are bananas you take from a farm and grill using wood charcoal. It tastes a little salty, as all the sweetness is gone – it is a dried out banana. They mostly sell them at huts or at the markets, but some people sell the grilled bananas by bike or moto carts. At a cart, the grilled bananas cost 1000 riel (about 25 cents usd) for five bananas. The grilled bananas will not affect your health if you eat a lot of them. They are easy to buy every where in Phnom Penh. The other things you see on the grill are potatoes. They cost 500 riel each. The potatoes are smashed and then packed back together in a circle and grilled, they taste slightly sweet, but not traditional sweet. In short Cambodians like grilled banana so much, but especially me – I eat them before and during class everyday

When Asking for a Discount…

Posted on June 4, 2015 by NUM IBBA Students

I was born into a traditional family. My father works at one of the ministries and my mother is a seller at Russian Market (Toul Tom Poung Market). I was at the market when I was little; I would say my second home is in the shop. I helped my mom at the shop since I was a small kid, until I became an adult. My mom’s shop is smaller than others and we sell all kinds of handmade jewelry. Right now, I want to share with you, the best things that tourists and buyers say to ask for a discount. As a buyer, they not only want the best service and quality, but also want the best price, which is a discounted price. I was faced with this situation many times since I was young, and it still happens all the time between sellers and buyers. At my mom’s shop we mostly have more tourist customers. If they walk-in and looking for a gift for their relatives in the morning almost 70% do not ask or say: “we are your first customer, so you should give us the good price.” or “We will bring you more customers and our tour-team to buy from you lots because your shop gives us the good price.” They should say this. However, in market there is not only one kind of customer, it also has customers who tell seller that they live in Cambodia three or four years (expats) so they know clearly about the price. In fact, this it is the hints to let seller know and will give them a discount and not cut them the high price. The last types of customers are those who have a friend who usually comes to purchase at shop regularly. They just mention their friend’s name and the seller will definitely give them a good price when seller knows who they are. So when you come to visit my shop and other shops in the markets – don’t forget to use these tips to ask for a discount. I’m sure I will give the best price ever that no other shop could give, just need to ask nicely.