I'm a little embarrassed to admit that after talking with a couple of friends online, I slept from noon until 5pm. I had several nights in a row of not enough sleep, sleep that was interrupted by dozens of mosquito bites, or both. So I guess I just crashed today. But it means I can get an early start tomorrow; I already reserved a driver so I won't be tempted to dawdle.
Since today was super lame, I'll tell you about last night's dinner. I think it was the first time when I felt like I really didn't know what I was doing, although in the end, it all worked out. My hotel isn't near a lot of places that cater to tourists, so I had to try (well, got to try, because I'm happy to eat local food) a place whose menu was only in khmer. One of the waitresses spoke a tiny bit of english and she helped me, as did the pictures in the menu. But it was puzzling... just photos of plates of single ingredients, like lettuce or potatoes or meat. Finally, with a lot of pointing and stuff, I figured out it's a make-your-own soup place. The soup is heated on a pad on the table then you choose what you want to put in it, and keep adding ingredients throughout the meal.
I have no idea if I did it right, but I worked out a system that allowed me to eat without too much embarrassment. My feeling of not knowing what I was doing was exacerbated by having all 8 waitresses hovering around me, watching me cook and eat. (I was the only patron at first; I realized as more people came in that they all hover around everyone's table, to adjust the soup and help out.) Thank god I'm good at using chopsticks, or I would have made a complete mess in addition to probably cooking everything wrong. ha. When I was almost done, I looked at the menu again and figured out the soups are designed for (and priced for!) 4-6 people, so I wound up paying $14 for about 2 gallons of soup, that normally would be split several ways. When I first arrived, the waitressses all looked at me funny when I said "one" and held up one finger. I thought it was because they don't get many foreigners or didn't understand me. But it was probably because I was willing to spend, by their standards, a really large amount of money on soup. Oh, it was really good and I'd go back, now that I know what to do, but probably won't because it's silly to pay for 4 meals when I don't have to.
Change of subject: If I catch malaria, it's going to be in Cambodia. The mosquitos here are awful. I am covered in mosquito repellant and I moved one of those citronelle coils from the hallway into my room, and I am still being eaten. They've interrupted my sleep several nights here and I wake up every morning with new bites. :( /whine over/
Since today was super lame, I'll tell you about last night's dinner. I think it was the first time when I felt like I really didn't know what I was doing, although in the end, it all worked out. My hotel isn't near a lot of places that cater to tourists, so I had to try (well, got to try, because I'm happy to eat local food) a place whose menu was only in khmer. One of the waitresses spoke a tiny bit of english and she helped me, as did the pictures in the menu. But it was puzzling... just photos of plates of single ingredients, like lettuce or potatoes or meat. Finally, with a lot of pointing and stuff, I figured out it's a make-your-own soup place. The soup is heated on a pad on the table then you choose what you want to put in it, and keep adding ingredients throughout the meal.
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| I selected the big dishes, and the little dishes are standard. |
Change of subject: If I catch malaria, it's going to be in Cambodia. The mosquitos here are awful. I am covered in mosquito repellant and I moved one of those citronelle coils from the hallway into my room, and I am still being eaten. They've interrupted my sleep several nights here and I wake up every morning with new bites. :( /whine over/
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