NATIONAL “LOVE YOUR PET DAY” AND THE LOST PLATE TOUR!

We are celebrating “Love Your Pet Day” from afar this year.  Luckily, Jonathan has kept pictures of Shallie coming frequently!

And he is teaching her new tricks!  He has exactly FIVE weeks to teach her to fetch a cup of coffee!  (We’ll come home VERY HAPPY if he is successful!)

We spent a DELIGHTFUL morning poolside with NO ONE else there!  We had it to ourselves for over four hours and loved every second of it!

We even had entertainment throughout the morning—we’re guessing it was provided by chanting monks?

                                           

The one and only thing on the agenda today (besides laundry and the pool), was a Lost Plate Food Tour!  We were picked up by a Tuk Tuk with a cooler full of water and beer!  (So far so good!)

FIRST STOP: Sophath’s Num Ban Chok, where we ate Num Ban Chok!  We met up with the rest of our group, tour leader, Sophany, a couple of retired attorneys from Massachusettes, and a guy from England currently teaching English in...CHINA.  He assured us masks weren’t necessary.  He also filled us in on the effects the Coronavirus has had on China.  All the schools are shut down indefinitely — giving him the time to come to Cambodia on holiday.  I forgot to mention—the food was delicious!

SECOND STOP: Boat Noodle, where we ate Kari Grahom!  It was fantastic as well!

We enjoyed sitting in the Tuk Tuk, drinking a beer, and driving through the streets to various areas of the city!  (And we survived to tell about it!)  Seriously, we remain totally perplexed on how it works over here!  Trucks, cars, Tuk Tuk’s, motorbikes, bicycles (and LOTS of all of them) sharing the roads with ABSOLUTELY NO LAWS!  And it works!  There is no aggression here.  No road rage AT ALL!

We saw many a family on motorbikes while driving around!  Thursday’s must be “family night out” in Phnom Penh!  Notice there are two children squashed between Mom and Dad in the photo below.  We’ve seen three and FOUR kids on a bike with their parents.  I just haven’t had my phone out ready to capture them, darn it!

THIRD STOP: The Corner, where we ate Cha Troap, Khaw, and Prahok K’tih!  Again, every one of these traditional Cambodian dishes was superb!

FOURTH STOP: Song’s Barber Shop, where we ate Saight Chru BBQ!  Seriously, this restaurant was still called Song’s Barber Shop!  It recently converted to a delicious BBQ joint, and we guess they saw no need to change the name!  We’re not sure how good Song was at cutting hair, but he certainly made a mean BBQ!  And the Green Papaya salad was THE BEST!

FIFTH STOP: Sivatana Fast Food, where we ate dessert!  It looked like a donut but wasn’t as sweet.  There was a green dipping sauce that Sophany told us was made of coconut milk, panda leaf (?) and mango (we think).  We expected it to be really sweet, but it wasn’t at all.  We shared one as WE WERE STUFFED by this time!

SIXTH STOP: Sundown Social Club, where we enjoyed after dinner drinks.  But first we walked through a night market (these are so AMAZING) before we found the staircase (with a whole lotta narrow steps) that took us up to the top floor, open air bar!

They all enjoyed Craft Rum drinks (Jason, you would have been in heaven) and I enjoyed a DELICIOUS citrusy IPA (my all time favorite — Jonathan, you would have LOVED it).

What a wonderful evening we all shared. Our group had a lot of FUN and Sophany did an excellent job and told us how the reign of Pol Pot affected her family. (We asked.) 😢😢 After we were dropped off back at the condo, we went up to the bar, ordered a shot of whiskey (for John) and a shot of Vodka (for me) and sat poolside. (Even more beautiful at night!)  Both shots were for medicinal reasons only—you know, we shared the table all evening with a guy from China!  You just can’t be too careful!