Travelers | askacambodian

Cambodian Street Kids

Posted on June 22, 2015 by NUM IBBA Students

Cambodia is a developing country and there are so many people who suffer poverty at the same time. Cambodia suffered a great damage after Pol Pot Regime, which caused most of Cambodian people live a miserable life and in poverty. Still most of Cambodian families have a hard time raising their kids because they have a financial crisis within their family. In Phnom Penh and in the countryside, we can see there are a lot of homeless people who mostly are kids and older people. In fact, each year, Cambodia receives a lot of aids from other countries. Moreover, there are many NGOs who try to help Cambodian children by providing free school, food, and place to stay.

Nowadays, the biggest problem in the Cambodian society is about lack of human resources. Because there are so many kids who decide to drop school and some of them do not have enough money to study. As Cambodia is a poor country, there are a lot of children who do not have a chance to go to school. Most of them end up selling some flowers or bracelets along the road, especially in Phnom Penh; while the others end up working at the restaurants like washing dishes or serving food. There are several factors that lead them to do this.

First, they do not have enough money to pay for the tuition fee. Even in the public schools, kids must pay money to study every day. They are afraid that they do not have enough money to pay for that therefore they decide not to go to school at all. Secondly, their parents do not allow them to study. There are many Cambodian families (mostly poor with low education) that prefer their children to find money to support the family. As a mother and father, why do they do like this to their kids? Why do they prefer to stay at home and let their kids go out and find money to buy food while they are doing nothing at all? In my opinion, I think the reason is that those parents might think that people mostly feel pity when they see a kid sell something along the road and they will end up helping those kids like by buying the flowers or sometime they give more money. I am so shocked to see that those parents just sit under the tree and watch their kids who are 4 or 5 years old stand on the road begging people for money or selling flowers under the hot weather. However, most people want to help those kids by deciding not to buy those flowers or give them money. Therefore, their parents might change their thoughts and stop their kids from doing that. In short, I hope the Cambodian government will come up with a solution to deal with this major problem soon.

Sihanouk Ville – Cambodian Students Vacation

Posted on June 16, 2015 by NUM IBBA Students

In every country in the world, it always has some beautiful sights to see. Those sights might be a statue, monument, square, temple, or cathedral. Every country is proud of them, and everyone is interested in talking about them. In my country, Cambodia has a most beautiful beach, which captures a great number of tourists all year. Sihanouk Ville is the best place where all the tourists may see some of the most interesting sights they will ever see as it is a port to some of the best beaches around.

Many magazines write articles about how great Sihanouk Ville is and the islands. Years ago CNN did a travel story on Cambodia’s 5 best beaches. This is a little of what was written “Koh Rong is easily one of the Gulf of Thailand’s most gorgeous islands… untouched white sand fringed with palm trees and dazzling turquoise waters. At the southernmost end of this beach are rocks where snorkelers can watch schools of colorful fish. The southernmost cove of Koh Rong…with nearly empty white sand beaches and placid aquamarine waters…is an ideal place for sunning, collecting shells and crabbing….” (CNN)

Well last year, my classmates and I, around 25 people, planned to go and visit Sihanouk Ville for two days. At that time, visiting Sihanouk Ville was a really new experience for us, and we hadn’t really heard much about the beaches or how beautiful and relaxing they are. It took over 5 hours by bus, driving from Phnom Penh to Sihanouk Ville. Along the way, we all felt annoyed about the paved and dirt road because it was under construction, and that caused a lot of shaking to our bodies, especially the head. But finally we arrived the hotel and had a late lunch. Everyone looked very tired, but they had time to check in and relax in the hotel for a few hours.

After that, some of us decided to take a tuk tuk to go to Otres Beach and you know what? We had a problem with negotiating the price (just like a tourist, right), so we ended up walking 20 minutes from our hotel to the beach… long enough to make us exhausted. Everyone was spending the first evening at dinner, viewing the sunset, and most of us enjoyed it with drinking beer and eating some barbecue seafood, chicken, beef and pork too.

The next morning, we got up with a beautiful sunrise and arranged a boat to visit Koh Rong. It took about 2 hours to get to the island. While riding the boat, everyone was so amazed by the views on the water. During the trip we also had some people play guitar while we sang together. After lunch on Koh Rong, people played some volleyball, others went fishing, and some others rented canoes to race. We spent the entire day doing fun activities and playing in the water. It was relaxing and wonderful.

With all of the amazing memories made there, it is no wonder many tourists choose Sihanouk Ville as the place to spend their holiday and explore the great beaches and have an adventure. More tourists should consider going, it would be a wise decision to visit there!

Street Clams

Posted on June 14, 2015 by NUM IBBA Students

Clams are a kind of snack food here in Cambodia. Everyone here likes to eat clams with spices and more so with sausage, but that is more for a meal. Generally, we can buy them from sellers who use carts to sell their clams. There are four flavors that can be easily found for street clams – plain (normal) clams, salt clams, spicy-chili clams and spicy-lemon clams. The spicy ones are best.

Cart sellers sell one can of clams for about 1500 riel. They can be found easily by the markets, like Central Market in Phnom Penh or down big streets. People tend to buy a can or two and bite them open and drop the shells on the street. They should be eaten it when the weather is hot because then the clams’ meat will be cooked. If they are eaten when the clams are still cool or have a strong smell, it will make people have a bad stomach.

Clams are easy to find in the river or tributary here in Cambodia. They are easy to make too. Just buy freshwater clams or catch them from the river and put into boiling water. You can take them out immediately cause clams don’t have blood so it is easy and fast to cook. Then just mix some ingredients like salt, chili or spicy lemon to make them delicious. After that, take them to dry under the sun until it hot enough (about 15 minutes) than you can eat.

Kralan – Khmer Sticky Rice in Bamboo

Posted on June 12, 2015 by NUM IBBA Students

Kralan is a snack that is made from Cambodia sticky rice cooked with coconut milk and soybean in a bamboo tube. Kralan is very popular for Cambodian people as well as for foreigners. We can find it everywhere in Cambodia, but especially in the province and it is a bit harder to find in Phnom Penh city. Now, there are some sellers who come from the provinces to sell it in the city, but they cost higher than in the provinces. A tube of kralan cost about 2,000 to 4,000 riels, depending on the size. The most delicious kralan comes from the Kratie province and it is hard to get one tube of the sweet snack in Phnom Penh. Here are the steps on how to make it. First, we have to have all the ingredients like sticky rice, soy bean, coconut milk, sugar and salt. We have to soak the sticky rice and soybean for 2 hours then wash it with cleaned water. Secondly, take the bamboo tree to cut into pieces at it joints, so the tube has only one way out to put the rice. Then take the tube and clean it with water. The bamboo tree must be the bamboos that grow in village because it has long tubes, contains a lot of water and has white flesh inside the tube. Third, take the sticky rice and soybean and mix together with a little salt and sugar. Next, we have to put it into the tube and stuff it tight. If it is not tight, the kralan will become muddy. Then cover the tube surface with coconut hast or banana leaves – stuff these tight at the top. Last step, we have to take all the tubes that are filled with the sticky rice and ingredients to burn where the coals are spread in a long line.There is a shelf in the middle that the bamboo tubes are placed on at both side of the fire. All sides of the tubes must face the fire, so it is well cooked. It takes about 35 to 50 minutes because we cannot use too strong of a fire. After it is well cooked, take it to be cooled and then remove the outer layer of the tubes, which were burned. Finally, the Kralan is done and ready to eat!

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.

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.