Ice cream - at KFC?

So KFC in Bangkok sometimes has a KFC brand ice cream shop attached.  We took a picture of part of the menu for you.

Think McDonald's ice cream, but a bit more upscale (yes, believe it!).

Cambodia - Kbal Spean

We took a hike up a mountain to see some famous carvings in a riverbed and a waterfall.  It was a great excuse to hike through a Cambodian jungle and see much flora and fauna.  And it was excellent exercise!

Sam took a bath in the waterfall, I chickened out after seeing the color of the water upsteam.

Cambodia - Ta Prohm

One of our favorites of the temples we visited in Siem Reap was Ta Prohm.  It's an old monastery, and it was left mostly in ruins, along with the trees that grew over much of it.  The roots of the trees spilled over everything - walls, doorways, windows.  And they were often as larger than us!

Now we'll have to see Tomb Raider, which was filmed at this site, apparently.

Pictures on our toast

Our toaster makes patterns on our toast.  One side makes smiley face toast, one side makes steaming coffee toast.  It's a great way to start out a weekend morning.

Hopefully I don't become spoiled on it, and require patterns on my toast in order to be able to eat it in the future.

Eat me!

Eat meaning actually ingest, and me meaning a certain kind of chicken.  What were you thinking?

This sign was for a food stall at a local mall, and is meant to entice you into eating and ordering portuguese flame-grilled chicken, whatever that could be.  The chicken in question doesn't look like he could care less whether you order and eat him, if you ask me.

Cambodia - money

Cambodian money is very interesting, for at least a few reasons:

1. Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in the world.  Money has more utility there.

2. US dollars are used in Cambodia at a constant 4000:1 exchange rate to riel (the local currency), and preferred to it.  So strange to use US dollars and see USD prices halfway around the world!

3. The money has famous sites on it - for instance, the 500 riel bill has Angkor Wat, and the 1000 has the Angkor Thom.

Cambodia - Angkor Thom

Three last pictures of Angkor Thom.  

First, new temples have been built around the old temples at Angkor Thom, and that is where we saw local folks (who certainly were paying respects to buddhas at the old temples) paying their most faithful respects.  Like the temples in Thailand, I have never before seen faith like I saw in the pictured temple in the jungle.

Second, the lion statue looks really pissed that I'm sitting so relaxed on what are probably royal steps.  But I was pretty relaxed.

And last, what in the world does that birdman have between his legs?

Chang Beer Draught and Red Horse beer

Tried Chang Beer Draught - it has all the virtues of Beer Chang (cheap, tasty) but none of the differences to American (too sweet).  Very pleasant session beer.  It's basically like drinking American beer in Thailand.

Reading up on wikipedia, Chang Draught is a full malt beer with no rice in its fermentable sugars - this makes it 5% abv instead of 6.4% abv.  So you give up kick for familiarity, if you're American.  Also, since Thai beer is typically drank with ice (and spend a few minutes in the Thai climate to understand why) the Beer Chang sweetness doesn't matter so much.  

Conclusion: both Beer Chang and Beer Chang Draught are very pleasant beers.  In the Thai heat they're a great fit.  And at 33 baht or so for a double bottle (two American size bottles) they're a great value compared to ~50 baht a double bottle for Singha, Tiger, Asahsi, or Heineken.

Red Horse was also a cheap double bottle, but as the light local version of San Miguel (from Philippines), it doesn't really qualify as local per se.  At 7% ABV, it rates with the local brew.  There is nothing in particular to distinguish it.  Not bad, not great, just beer.  I'll stick to the local brews.

Cambodia - Angkor Thom - Phimeankas

Here are some pics of the royal palace of Phimeankas.  The palace grounds were surrounded by a wall, a few gates, and the Terrace of Elephants.  And they contained two swimming pools - one for the menfolk, and one (much, much smaller one) for the womenfolk.  Because, you know, they're womenfolk.  Truth be told, though, the palace itself was a bit... well, it was a palace alright, but maybe it was just because it was surrounded by so much dusty land.  I mean, I'm not saying it was small or anything.  It's just hard, because we saw Angkor Wat and the Bayon before seeing Phimeankas, but Phimeankas was built well before Angkor Wat or the Bayon.  So I'm sure it was really neat for its time, but... let's just say that Chris lounges in the gateway to the palace of Phimeankas.  And he has no royal blood to speak of.

We didn't climb the palace.  Oh, and here's a picture of the raised steps leading to the Bauphon, too.  :)

More snacks

This time from a mall food court.  Some quick cooking of some little meaty bits, and we had an excellent snack.  A bit of sausage, some fish meat shaped like little pigs, deep fried quail eggs, some dipping sauce.

I did the cartoon images showing some of the things they sell.

For dogs that are - dressy?

Why not?  Pet owners know no boundaries, so why not dressy doggies?  Here in a Tesco parking lot.  Dog owners, converge on this spot, if you want your dog to be dressy.

Cambodia - Angkor Thom - Terrace of Elephants

Angkor Thom had a 350m long wall around the palace of Phimeankas where the king would receive the hoi polloi.  Fittingly, it has life-size elephants carved all around it.  Very impressive!  We probably were a bit less respectful than the rank and file were as the approached the royal stone elephants, but what can we say - we like elephants.

Yet more Thai snacks

Here are some more Thai snacks.  Shandong style peanuts are good ("Camel" brand - perhaps they contain extra tar?), heart shaped sweet potato snacks, and a couple excellent shrimp flavored ones.  Enjoy!

(oh wait, you can't, we'll just have to do so in your stead)

Cambodia - Angkor Thom - Bayon IV - Cambodian smile

This is the face known as the 'Cambodian Smile'.  No idea why, although it was particularly ornate, and had extra loads of Frenchman crowding around it.  

It should be said that the Cambodians we met, who are statistically amongst the poorest folks in the world, were almost universally some of the most friendly, gracious, and hospitable people we've ever met.  They smiled like it came straight from the heart, and that's most uncommon these days.  The Cambodian people were truly what made our vacation to Cambodia most special and memorable.  

So if this particular statue is said to represent Cambodia for its warmth and welcoming nature, then we wholeheartedly agree.

Cambodia - Angkor Thom - Bayon III

There is one more particularly special picture of the Bayon which we'll show you tomorrow, but here are a few more that are especially interesting.

One is some folks fishing - not sure why fish carved into rock are so terribly engaging for me, but there it is - I'm a sucker for stone fish.

One is a woman who is bent into a most unlikely pose.  Draw your own conclusions.

And a couple are of the most amazing thing of all - the Bayon, with no other people around.  Did we mention it was teeming with less than perfectly polite Frenchmen?

Beer in the food court

Something I hadn't seen in the States in mall food courts - beer.  Here you can see the Singha/Leo beer stand at a Carrefour food court.  

The baht prices are about $1-2 USD a mug, and $3-$4 USD a pitcher.

Home cookin' - !!!

Sam's been cooking up some fine home cooking in Bangkok.  Here are some examples - deep fried curry chicken, spicy shrimp, and squid.  The ingredients are fresh, the curry is fresh, the seafood is fresh, and the result - fabulous.

Cambodia - Angkor Thom - Bayon II

So today we have the exciting sequel of the Bayon.  There are a few more particularly special pictures of the Bayon to show you after this, but today we'll focus on Bodhisattva heads and windows.

It should be understood that both of us had to wait in line to get pictures from this window, amongst some particularly urgent French folks with very French ways about them.  Yes, we care that much about getting you pictures like this.  Such sacrifice, such caring.  Remind anyone of Buddhist saints...?  We welcome all exclamations of thanks.

OK, so I'm not a Bodhisattva.  But darned if the smiling faces at the Bayon don't remind me of Sam when she's content.  And check out the carvings around that window!  

(perhaps now is a good time to mention that most carvings you see of the Angkor cities are in sandstone, which is not known as a particularly easy rock to carve, or, unfortunately for the Angkor legacy, to last through the ages)

Pizza Japan

In a nearby Carrefour food court, there is a stand called "Pizza Japan".  You can buy personal pizzas for 40-60 baht ($1-2) with flavors like squid or seafood.

Sam tried a squid pizza - it was delicious.  Instead of dough, it had a Chinese cabbage base.