Wood Carvings

This wood carving is on display at the main lobby of the hotel where the KTV we've previously visited is located. This is only one of the many wood carvings that I've seen in this place. Most of the houses in this province where I am now, use woods for their furniture and displays. It might be that wood carving is one of the major industries they have here. I've seen so many wood carvings on display at the market as well and I just love those designs. Sometimes, I feel tempted to purchase even a small one but I'm thinking of how to bring it back to my home in the Philippines. :) If I will have the chance, why not? I would be pleased to get a souvenir wood carving here which I can put on display in my house.

Wall Art

This is a featured wall art which I've seen from the hotel lobby when we went to a KTV bar over the weekend. This wall art is very common here in Cambodia. If I'm not mistaken, I think this is called Apsara. A Khmer art style which best describes the country and it's people. If you go and visit Cambodia, you will find a variety of Apsara Khmer wall art displayed mostly on public places and in most hotels and traditional restaurants. Angkor Wat which is a famous tourist destination in Cambodia has over 1,500 Apsara images carved in sand stone. I've never been to Angkor Wat yet but will be there very soon especially that my flight now back home will probably be via the Siem Riep-Manila route. I'm looking forward to see more of this Khmer wall art which are truly remarkable and meaningful.

Operation Smile

Just recently, I had the chance to hear about Operation Smile, an organization which aims to provide assistance to those children who badly needed cleft lip surgeries and whose parents could not afford to finance this operation. This is an awesome organization! Imagine the life changing experience that they can offer to these less fortunate children? As a parent, I understand the dilemma being faced by children having this kind of deformity. They could not afford to live a normal life and socialize with other children of their age. If they would stay in this condition for life, these children will be deprived of the chance to enjoy their youth and they will forever be discriminated. If you or your children happened to live a normal life, you must be very grateful and one way of showing it is to take part in this noble cause. How could this be possible? Well...I've heard about this company, Campus Book Rentals and I was thrilled to know that if you are into books or you have someone in the family who badly needed some text books, which are more often expensive, then you can now have the option to rent books for one semester at a very affordable price. This equates to huge savings from your budget for new text books. What makes it even more interesting is that for every book rented, a portion of this would go to Operation Smile. They are committed to donate enough funds to cover a minimum of 1,000 surgeries. Well, for me, that sounds great! It's like hitting two birds in one stone, you save enough for the purchase of textbooks and at the same time, you get to help those less fortunate children in your own simple way. Doesn't it sound fulfilling? The whole process is very simple, you just have to search for your textbook rentals, select the rental period, rent your books, receive your books and return the books after the agreed period. It's so easy. I think it's worth trying considering that in every book you rent, you are able to take part in a noble cause and help "Operation Smile" fulfill their goal of helping these children. You can watch this video below to know more.

Master Bedroom

I just fell in love with this master bedroom design the moment I saw it at hgtv. Actually, I am thinking that after my latest project of replacing the entire roofing of my first house which is being rented out, perhaps my next project would be the additional bedroom on the second floor of our garage. It may not happen too soon as I still have to raise enough funds to finance the said project. It should be one after the other. I hope to finish the amortization of my 3rd lot within the next few months first before I could move on and start saving for that major project. Oh well...if it is meant to be, it will happen. if not, then I will just go for another project which is more budget friendly (lol).

Well...I hope I could build something like what is shown on the above photo, or if not exactly, something close to that. It's really elegant and cozy and I just loved it.

Comfy Chair

Recently, I have just acquired a new "comfy chair" courtesy of our company. They issued one for every expatriate staff. I was happy to have this in my bedroom as there is now a place for me to sit and relax while watching my favorite "teleserye" online and whenever I feel like reading a book. This is not an expensive chair. Maybe it only costs around $10 to $15. This is very common in Cambodia. I always see this kind of chair around and on almost every house.

By the way, today marks the beginning of the Cambodian New Year! New year celebration here is 3 days which normally falls on April 13,14,15.

Happy Khmer New Year to our Cambodian friends!

Cambodia Houses

This is a typical house design that you could find in Cambodia. Unlike in the Philippines, house design in Cambodia is basic and simple. Although there are also houses here which are tastefully designed, those are are limited to families on the upper class. During the years that I've been here, I would say that Cambodians are quite lucky in the sense that building a house here is not as expensive as it is in the Philippines. Cambodia is a blessed country as this country is free from calamities. No, typhoons, earthquake and volcanic eruptions. They don't have any single volcano here. They don't have to build houses with strong and solid foundations and this is a big factor in the reduction of cost.

They are lucky, right?

Unusual Tree

Do you know what tree is this? We have seen this at Cocolime restaurant at Subic when we had our lunch there last time. We were actually seated on the garden area opposite this tree and we've noticed that there were lots of customers who approached the area and have a closer look of the tree. Probably, they were curious same like us. We even overheard an old man saying that he wanted to have the same tree in his yard. Interesting, huh?