25 April 2006

The Trouble With Me

I just can't get any souvenirs! It's not like I didn't try, you know. The thing is that the things on sale do not appeal to me at all. I have a list of about 10 people who I plan to buy something for, but at this point in time I am still empty-handed. This is a real crisis indeed.

Many of the things on sale are not uniquely Cambodian. When I buy souvenirs I want to buy things that were produced and only available there. But many of the scarves, beads, and trinkets can be bought in Hatyai as well. T-shirts are always unique of course, but I don't like advertising for anything. And I seem to have inherited Dad's ultra-frugal nature. That means the quoted price is always too expensive, but I am too lazy to negotiate until the price is cheap.

The best thing to buy, I feel, is local food. It is cheap, can be shared by many people, and is unique. As good as Khmer food is, I have not seen any local snacks! I wouldn't mind buying a few packets of local crackers or something, but there is none! I am such a disappointment to all those eagerly waiting for their gift...

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Welcome home!! Hey, would you mind sharing your itinerary with me? I'm gonna go on the 18th, 5 days 4 nights trip and I've been through a lot of websites, but the thing is I think we're landing in Siem Reap and not Phnom Penh so if you could suggest a few places for us to start off with...that would be great. Hehe..thanks a lot:P

Zemien said...

We actually only spent 3 days in Siem Reap (SR), though our itinerary looks like:

Day 1: Reach SR around noon, so 0.5 days. Explored Angkor Wat.

Day 2 & 3: Explored other temples within Angkor Wat compound. 2.0 days

Day 4: Prepare for morning flight to KL. No sightseeing. 0.5 days

So we spent 2.5 days just exploring the temple ruins. As an aside, since you are staying for so long I suppose you will visit the Cultural Village and Battambang (Floating Village is not mistaken).

Are you going on a backpacking/free-and-easy type of trip or a fully arranged tour? I will give you some tips if it's the first type.

P.S. Click on my profile and add me in MSN-lah.

Anonymous said...

I've added you since Wednesday.. but I think MSN's screwing up or I typed the wrong addie. I think it's the latter..hehe. We're going on our own..

Anonymous said...

Yeap, definitely MSN. So we'll have to wait till MSN decides to send the invitation to you.