My Sweet Superchef

Chapter 8

We arrived at our hotel at almost 12 noon.

At the hallway, going to our hotel room, a chambermaid greeted Lucien, saying, "Hi" then turned to me and greeted me in Cambodian. Yeah, I look like a local. Lol.

I asked her, "I'm sorry? English, please?"

She was surprised and said, "Oh... no Cambodian?"

"No, sorry," I replied to her and smiled.

She was apologetic and said, "Country?"

"Philippines. Filipino," I replied.

"Oh Philippines, Filipino," she repeated and smiled.

Lucien was amused and told me, "She thought you're Cambodian, babe."

"I know, right?" I answered.

I'm used to it. Even when I went to Thailand, Singapore and Taiwan. When I bought something, they spoke to me using their language. They were surprised when I said, "English, please."

We went out for lunch after we checked the room and had our stuff settled.

We just walked around the area near our hotel and found a French restaurant. Lucien was so happy because he said he missed eating French food. He's been eating Chinese and Cambodian food since he arrived here. We went inside the resto and he scanned through the pages of the menu book. He was delighted that he saw some of the food that his mom prepares for him or the food that they eat in France. He introduced me to some but of course the name are complicated to spell and pronounce let alone remember.

In all fairness, the food was good. A bit pricey but anyway it was just one time, just for lunch. Dinner for sure won't be here. For tomorrow, we already have our itinerary. So, definitely we won't be in this same area.

After lunch, we went back to the hotel to take some rest as we didn't have much sleep last night. We woke up at 6pm, we were surprised that we slept that long. We said we'll just take a rest.

Anyway, we didn't waste our time. We went out to see the city, how it looks like at night.

We strolled by the Sisowath Quay Boardwalk. It was a bit crowded though. Couples (young and old), adolescents, children and even kids as young as three years old were there. There were benches facing the river. Colorful lights by the posts. There were vendors selling peanuts, popcorns, drinks and other street food that I don't recognize and I didn't try. I think most people come here at night. This is where they hang out.

While walking, one guy approached us if we wanted a cruise for $15 for two persons for an hour and a half. Of course we wanted to. However, not that night but for tomorrow night because it was already late and dark. No beauty in the water at night. Only the city lights. We wanted a cruise at sunset. Lucien haggled with the price. I'm surprised at how good he is in bargaining. He was able to get it at $12. He wanted $10 but the guy could only give him $12 so he took it. No payment yet. The guy said we can just meet him tomorrow, same place at 5pm.

We were hungry after walking for an hour. We chose David's Restaurant where they serve handmade noodles and dumplings. This is one of our choices when I was still in the Philippines when we were looking for places to visit in Phnom Penh.

The place was not fancy. It's just a carinderia-style small resto. I guess it has only 10 to 12 tables. The tables outside were smaller that's only good for two persons. The ones inside were bigger, good for four. When we arrived, it was full. So we waited outside, hoping somebody will bill out already. Actually there's an extra table if only the couple is not occupying both of the small tables outside... but we were willing to wait. A boy with a belt bag approached us. Maybe he's between 10-12 years old. He asked, "Table for two?" We said, "Yes." Then he turned to the couple and asked, "Can you move to the side and use just one table so these two can have the other one?" I noticed, he spoke good English. However, the way he said it didn't actually sound nice. He said it like he would, like a child would. Lucien noticed it too.