Christmas is in the air...

In less than 2 months, I am home!!!!! .....

Yes, we are spending Christmas in the Philippines. Where else?!?!? I can't wait to see our families again and really spend time with them. I also want to see my close friends. Although I get to chat almost daily and I get to go home more than once in a year, it's different being with them physically. 

So, today after my husband's swimming workout at Himawari Hotel, we decided to go to a nearby shop (I don't want to say the name because ......) to buy our christmas gifts! Ho ho ho....santa from Cambodia!

In the mean time, here's my hubby setting up our Christmas tree. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.....

Roaming

I use a prepaid card everytime I am back home. I don't like the hassle of informing friends every now and then of a new contact # so I am maintaining this #.  Based on what I've researched, a Globe prepaid SIM can last with zero balance for up to 4 months. Luckily, I get the opportunity to  travel back home every 3 months so maintaining the SIM has never been a problem. Except that my last travel was July and the next one will already be in Dec. That will exceed the 4 months requirement so I asked a friend who went home during the Penchumben (All Souls Day celebration in Cambodia) to load my card. 

I got it this morning and not really excited because I didn't activate imternational roaming. So I said, what the heck I wont't be able to use it anyway. But at least I got to 'activate'  it before it reaches it's 5th month. I went to Globe's webpage and saw this feature "talk2globe" chat. Hmmmmm..... curious enough, I clicked on it and in 5 minutes I was already chatting with their customer service. Eloisa, name of the CS Rep.,  assisted me and she activated international roaming. What really exceeded my expectations was that after the chat, the system will ask you how do you want  a copy of the conversation transcript --- via email, print or download a copy. 

This is cool, right?! At least in case the request will not work out right, the customer has a saved copy of the chat. 

A happy & satisfied customer -- that's me!

Cravings

Food here in Cambodia is one of the country's 'best asset'. Restaurant food is a no no which means, everything is cooked as you order using only real & fresh ingredients. NO PRESERVATIVES. However, I still have my cravings. I've searched everywhere here but I just can't seem to find them. When I go home to Manila this December, I will make sure I eat these...

I am not sure though where to get this by the time I am up :-) (like 10:30am....)

Costa Brava's caramel cake. A friend, Raquel Flor, introduced me to this cake during her birthday years ago. The best caramel cake in the entire world!!!!!

heavenly! need I say more? 

Organize It!

I need help here!!! I have boxes that are left unopened as I don't have space for them. In the old apartment we used to have a storage room so that was never a concern. Right now, the boxes are kept in the guest room. But still, I find it an eye sore seeing recycled boxes piling in one corner. I am thinking of buying a small cabinet which I plan to place in the dining area as I have an empty space/wall. I went around and check out some of the furniture stores here and my gad!!!! It costs like USD1,000 for this kind of cabinet (minus the TV). I am not permanently staying here so I don't want to invest in expensive furnitures. 

Another option I'm thinking of is to buy this DIY boxes. It's made of canvass material plus it's something I can dismantle and bring with me anywhere I decide to live in the future. 

Maybe buy 5 of this kind and stack it all away. The only downside if I choose this is I can't place this in the dining area/hallway. It will not match the other furnitures plus it doesn't look like a living room/hallway 'display' material. 

New Home

Finally! We've moved to a new apartment last week (that is why I was not able to post anything here) which is near to my husband's office. Cost-wise I don't think there's much difference. The closer you are to the city center, the more expensive it is (rent-wise). But what we are seeing as an advantage is the use of time. Now, my husband can go home during lunch. Goodbye to cold 'baons'. Just to give context, here in Cambodia lunch time is for 2 hours. So people usually go home during lunch. That is also why they do not have microwaves in their offices.

Aside from being able to eat lunch that is freshly cooked, he also has siesta time :-) For my part, it saves me the effort to wake up very early in the morning to cook/prepare for his baon.  Noticed that I didn't say 'it saves me time'. My work arrangement is work from home (WFH) given that we do not have an office here in Cambodia.Since I am a regional resource, I follow Singapore time (hub in Asia). I still have to wake up early considering the time difference but at least now, I am not toggling between laptop and stove. 

Another advantage I noticed is that it made life more convenient. If I need something (i.e. crave for a coke, coffee), I just need to step out and voila..it's all there. The downside ---- if I get used to this kind of living, aha! it will be challenging to go back to a fast-paced life.