Joyce Ira

Archive for the ‘Adventure and Places’ Category

What’s Up

It’s been a while since I last blogged and did I miss it? Hell yeah! Nothing beats blogging when you’re inspired! However, in my case it’s different.Work and other stuff had eaten me alive and there’s no way I can have extra time to check my blogs. Bitterness aside, all is well! Family’s happy and work is great – that’s all that matters to me.

Before I continue, let’s have a quick look on how I ended 2012 and started 2013.

The last quarter of 2012 was a blast! Firstly, I was able to join World Cup Asia in Langkawi, Malaysia where I played with the other members of Team Nytro Cambodia. Nestle, Nita, Nito, Jasper, Howard, Johnny, and I played for D4 and though we didn’t make it to the finals, it was still awesome! The presence of the professional paintballers in the field was astounding. It inspired me to love the sport more and be a better player. I love it!

Proud Filipino players of Team Nytro Cambodia – Nestle and Joyce

Go! Team Nytro! Go!

With the handsome players of Team Dynasty of the USA

Ain’t no mountain high enough!

Secondly, I was able to run my very first marathon. On the 2nd of December 2012, more than 7, 000 people joined the Angkor Wat International Half Marathon Event and it was breathtaking! Young and old were there, all running   and smiling. Some were walking, others were limping, but many inspired others to finish the race and be proud of the miles they’ve done. I felt proud of myself after completing the 10 km run. Never in my life did I imagine to be a part of this. Actually, I hated running when I was a kid and it was only last year when I started loving it. Like what others say, ‘There’s a thin line between love and hate.’ So, let’s go!

My reward for doing my best

Lastly, I started the year celebrating my 30th birthday. Yes, I am 30 now and I am not ashamed of it. I am proud that I have turned to the person I want to be – a mother to my three beautiful children, a wife to my loving husband, a teacher to my wonderful students, and an adventurer who never stop seeking for something to learn. Life is indeed beautiful.

There you go! I hope to blog as often as I can. I promise. Chao!

What to Do in Phnom Penh: Have Your Nails Done and Get a Nail Art

Whether you’re a tourist traveling or a main stay in Phnom Penh, I am sure having your nails done as a form of relaxation is a big GO!

Being vain these days is not only for the rich. Just by looking at how fast beauty salons have sprouted, many Cambodian girls and boys – take note of that – are into beautifying themselves. From big salons to the ordinary ones hair coloring, waxing, tattooing, and nail polishing are some of the services that they can offer with satisfaction guaranteed.

As a mom of two beautiful girls, having our nails done is our form of bonding at least twice every month. We always go to my favorite Vietnamese owned salon near my house, by the way I live near Wat Samkosal, and the girls who work there creates wonderful nail art. Last weekend, we went to the salon to have our nails done and since it’s Saturday, you can expect that it’s a full house of their patrons. We waited for an hour before we were attended. For my daughters, waiting means they can get to choose what color they want for their nails. However, this time they’re not only interested with the color but with the design too! OMG! My little princesses are really growing up so fast and vain too! LOL!

See how cute Aiken’s nails look after 30 minutes of sitting still on her chair. My 3 year old daughter really behaved well in order to have these lil’ Pac Man creatures painted on her  nails. You should have seen how big her smiles are while the lady does the job. She was really excited!

On the other hand, my 11 year old daughter Andrea chose Angry Birds for her toes and they just look really cute! Everyone at the salon took turns  to see their nail arts and the girls replied with politeness whenever someone gives them compliments.

And how about for moi? I settled on a simple black flower design on top of a glittered beige colored nail polish. It’s simple and yet so elegant looking. Love it!

So, how much did I spend? Make a guess, hahaha!

I spent only $10 for the mani, pedi, and nail art of our nails which is really cheap!

For those of you whose interested to try this around Phnom Penh, here’s a list of salons that you can go to :

Alpha Beauty Spa
Woman’s beauty spa and salon. Hair salon (full service – cut, style, color, highlights…), facials, scrubs, manicure, pedicure, massage (full body, back, face.)
Address: #C-17, Street Cheerfulness, City Plaza II, Russian Federation Blvd.

Tel: 089-890884/068-299572

Champei Spa & Salon

International boutique spa and hair salon. Traditional Khmer, herbal, aroma, Swedish and oil massage, reflexology and therapeutic massages. Facials, scrubs, spa, Jacuzzi, packages. Fully air-conditioned women and men’s hair salon offering hair treatments, manicure, pedicure and more.
1) #38, Street 57, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.  Tel: 023-222846
2) #07, Street 334, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.  Tel: 023-217774
Website: www.champeispa.net

Nailbar

The Nailbar is a training business run by students from Mith Samlanh’s Hair & Beauty training programme. Get your nails in shape or relax while having a massage in this hygienic environment with individually sterilized equipment. Located in Friends ’n’ Stuff, Street 13 50 meters from the entrance to the National Museum, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Open 7 days 11am – 9pm.
Website: www.friends-international.org

Oriental Princess Spa

Full service spa offering massage, reflexology, aroma and heat therapy, scrubs, Hair salon, facials, manicure, pedicure.
#54, Street 108, (Near Naga Bridge Wat Phnom), Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Tel: 012-397777/092-111119

Rococo Beauty Salon Spa & Massage

International standard spa, massage and beauty salon. Fully air-conditioned, comfortable, affordably priced. Khmer and Thai style massage. Aroma, oil and foot massage. Steam room and sauna. Scrubs and wraps. Full salon and barber. Manicure, pedicure. Make-up. Hair coloring.
#47, Strret 240 (Front of Vong Sak Clinic).

Tel: 077-773312/088-9995525
E-mail: lapheaspa@yahoo.com

 

Weekend Getaway at the Kingdom Resort, Kandal Province

A couple of days before my children’s 3rd quarter exams, two more weeks before the Khmer New year, and some days before hitting all my deadlines, my family went on an early and very relaxing trip. This time we headed to Kingdom Resort located in Kien Svay District, Kandal Province, about 5 kilometers off Phnom Penh.

The idea of going on a weekend getaway came up two weeks before my husband went to MPOC’s Paintball competition in Kuala Lumpur. He thought it would be nice to go to a resort when he gets back here in Phnom Penh, so that we can relax as a family. Thinking about what he said, I didn’t hesitate on giving a go signal after I’ve seen where we are going. He gave me the link of Kingdom Resort’s website and it has immediately struck my attention, and just by looking at their photos I told myself, “The kids are going to love it here!”

The next thing I did is to book a room. I called the resort and I have learned that they have bungalows for rent starting from $35 and up. I settled with a reservation for a standard bungalow with two beds and they told me that it’s only $40/night. This includes the use of all their amenities like swimming pool, spa and sauna, tennis court and playground. The stay also entitles 2 sets of breakfast. It all sounded good to me so I made a reservation for a 2-day and 1 night stay.

Then, the big day came and the whole family went to the resort. I even prepared loads of foods for us to eat. There are beef burritos, salsa, grilled eggplant, pork siomai, tri-colored pasta, garlic bread, and pork adobo. It was like a party for us when we arrived there! Oh no, it’s actually a feast to be honest. There’s plenty of food for us to finish.

The moment we arrived, we’re immediately greeted with warm smiles and it didn’t take long for us to see the bungalow I’ve booked. The standard bungalow looks really pretty, but the problem is, my family of six won’t be able to fit in. Well, we can actually manage to fit in but, I don’t want my kids to feel uncomfortable when I know I can get something better for them. Without thinking long, I decided to change our reservation to a family bungalow that costs $65/night. It’s so much bigger than the first one. There’s an equivalent of two rooms with a king size and a double size bed inside. There’s a small fridge, and an LCD TV for us to watch on and the bathroom is really big with a bath tub in it. We also have our own veranda with tables and chairs to use. It’s a total spot on for me! What I even loved more is that the resort gave us an extra mattress to use, so you can imagine how my kids loved the idea of having a pillow fight on it.

Around the pool area, outside food and drinks are not allowed as it’s still part of  the resort’s restaurant. So, if you have brought foods for your family, you may want to eat them inside your room or use their tables and benches located in their garden at the back. Steve’s Steakhouse is the house restaurant in Kingdom Resort and their menu isn’t that pricey at all. Steaks and other dishes range from $5 and up, so if you don’t have time to make some food for your family, you may want to consider dining at their resto.

I absolutely had fun during our stay at the resort. I am highly recommending it to all my friends here in Cambodia since it’s not very far from the city. For more information about the resort, visit their website here.

 

Cebu Pacific is Now Flying Manila-Siem Reap

Wait no more for the much long awaited flight is now on! Cebu Pacific is now flying direct from Manila-Siem Reap beginning April 2012. Travelers from Philippines will now enjoy the beauty of Angkor Wat in very affordable prices, and this means Filipinos will have the opportunity to fly nth times easier and faster anytime of the year. Woohoo!

This is absolutely exciting for us (Filipinos) who work here in Cambodia, because we now have more options to choose from whenever flying back to our homeland. My only wish is for CebPac to have a direct Manila-Phnom Penh flight for I am based here. Adding to the fact that more Filipinos are situated in Phnom Penh than Siem Reap, so let us cross our fingers for this to become a reality soon.

For now, let’s grab this chance and book in advance. Fly now and visit us in Cambodia!

tanong lang po…

baket ang mga biyahero at biyahera laging may ribbon sa kanilang mga maleta? Tignan nyo

palatandaan ba ito or fashion? yung mga maleta ko nilagyan ko ng pink na ribbon to make sure na madali ko silang makikita pag nasa airport na, at natuwa naman akong sobra nung makita ko yung ibang bumabyahe na ganun din ang ginagawa. Uniform di ba

 

One week down, two more to go!

Been in the Philippines for a week now and summing the first 7 days that passed, I’d say it’s AWESOME!!!

Nothing beats the feeling of being surrounded by my love ones and there’s no way that anyone will be able to take away the excitement in my heart whenever I am with them. So let me share my family’s trip to Pi starting from the beginning

July 16 – It was the last day of school and it’s pretty hectic with all the stuff that we needed to do up to the last minute before we headed to Mekong Express bus station for our Phnom Penh-Ho Chi Minh trip. Bus ride is always cheaper than flying, that’s why my husband and I decided to take the longer but cheaper route rather than to spend more money in buying plane tickets. The 6-hour ride cost $12 per pax with a free bottle of cold water and light snacks, which I always love because they’re the only bus company who has this kind of services. At 2pm, the bus took off Phnom Penh and by 8pm we’re already in Maximark Ho Chi Minh, which is 10 minutes away from Tan Son Nhat Airport. Our flight’s at 12:30am via Cebu Pacific Airlines, so we still have some 4 hours to rest at the airport while waiting to board. The kids took this opportunity to play around and run after one another.

July 17 – We finally arrived Manila and we’re all welcomed by my husband’s family at the NAIA Terminal 3. It was such a great feeling. Touched down home base

Our first “almusal” as I’ve requested:

- garlic fried rice, pritong tuyo (fried dried fish), sopas, hotdogs, pan de sal, and cheese. Burp!

T’was a long trip going back home but all the tiredness paid off as soon as we saw the smiles from our family’s faces.

The rest of the first week was very hectic because we needed to finalize the details for Aiken’s 3rd birthday, so keep posted for my next articles where I’ll share bits and pieces about our POEA experience and the celebration of Aiken’s birthday at Frio Veranda.

I’m going to bed now, yawn! I need to escape the house early tomorrow because I’ll be thrift hunting with my sister Chele at Divisoria. It’s going to be a fun day shopping once again and I hope I can stretch my budget to buy all the essential things I need to buy

 

Xiao Xiao

I have totally forgotten to blog about this restaurant that we went to last time. Along Monivong Blvd. there’s a small Chinese restaurant that serves delicious soft shell crabs so the whole family decided to try it for a change.

Xiao Xiao is one of the famous Chinese restaurants here in the city, their food is good and the price is cheap. Beside Xiao Xiao is another Chinese resto which is known for it’s sumptuous garlic pork ribs and Khmer style seafood porridge. Both have their own unique menu suited for everyone’s food palette.

When we arrived, the English speaking waiter attended us. However, I don’t find him so friendly when I asked him about the dishes. He seems to be in a hurry when I haven’t even browsed all the pages in the menu. It’s annoying when someone pushes you to order something when you know clearly what to pick for dinner. Anyway, after a few minutes, I finally concluded my search and ended with a mouth watering set of dishes.

Breaded Squid – $8.00

Soft Shell Crabs – $14.00/kilo

Marinated Beef – $6.00 (Super tender and tasty!)

We also ordered 2 plates of seafood yang chow for $5.00 per large plate, this is good for 6 people and a large plate of bok choy in garlic.

Rating the place, I’m giving 9 stars for the food, 8 stars for service, and 9 stars for the food prices. It’s a good place for the family who loves to eat Chinese cuisine, plus their prices isn’t that bad at all. This place is highly recommended.

Family Sojourn in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Malaysia Truly Asia! That is how I am going to describe my family trip last 30 April-2 May.

We have waited for almost a year since Boss Nick booked our tickets to Kuala Lumpur as a gift to the family and finally the long waiting is through. Together with Manang Lucre, Pong, Andrea, Aaron, and Aiken, we all packed our bags and headed to one of the first world countries in Asia.

Knowing that we have very limited amount of time to stroll around the city, we decided to visit the places that will be fun and exciting for the kids.

When we landed in Kuala Lumpur International Airport-LCCT, my cousin Taj Mahal was already waiting for us at Old Town Coffee Shop. It’s such a blessing to have someone we know in the city for we managed to save a lot of money that’s supposed to be spent for taxi because she’s got her own car, oh yeah! The ride from KLIA-LCCT took us a while as it’s really far from the city proper. It’s an hour ride by taxi and it’ll cost you about  RM90-RM120 or about US$30-U$40. Along the way, kids loved the scenery of fast ride and beautiful city lights. At 10PM, we finally arrived our hotel.

Jalan Alor is known as the “hawkers” street in KL. At night the whole street transforms to an eccentric food haven where many tourists enjoys different Chinese cuisines. Food here is cheap and tasty too!

Hotel – we stayed in Season’s View which is also located in Jalan Alor. It became an advantage for us because we’re situated in the Golden Triangle where places are very accessible. Our room with large beds is only $50/night. It comes with a complimentary breakfast too at the Old Town Cafe.

Where did we go? The trip was devoted for the kids and with that in mind all the places we visited are for them. We went to Menara Tower (one of the tallest towers in the world), Menara’s Mini-Zoo, Aquaria at KLCC, Petrosains (Museum), Petronas Tower (the tallest building in the world), the Pavillion, National Geographic center. We basically had the whole day wondering to these places so we weren’t able to visit some more. Hopefully next time we’ll be able to stay a little bit longer.

I’ll be writing a detailed story about our trip next time, especially for those who are interested to know where to stay and what to do in KL. For now, I’ll wrap my story with a BIG smile Xiao!

 

Life’s a Beach

Here are my few photo outtakes on my weekend’s stay at the beach

Shells! Shells! Please buy some shells!

Foot massage? Only $6 for an hour…

Num pan chok, 2000riels ($0.50) per order

Samba

Sihanoukville, A Perfect Destination for Beach Lovers in Cambodia

Last weekend, all the staff and teachers at Cambodia International Academy were treated for a 2-day beach fun at Sihanoukville, the top notch beach destination in Cambodia.

The trip started at 7:30 with a bumpy bus ride matching with ear splitting Khmer music which made most of the passengers delirious on the way. I felt actually sick within the first hour of the travel and I kept on praying to survive without puking in my place, well I guess you can imagine how I look all throughout the 4 hour ride.

Arrived at 12 noon, we all headed immediately to our hotel rooms to place our bags and soon we went to the seaside for our lunch. Occheateal Beach is the best place for swimming and seafood. There are plenty of cottages for everyone to rent and food is not expensive. They have a wide range of choices to choose from and since were in the beach, we feasted on many crabs, fish, squids, prawns, and so much more!

So what did we do? We spent Saturday afternoon swimming in the calm waters of Occheateal, picture taking with the “hot” teachers of CIA, danced to the beat of Apsara music during dinner time, we had dance exercise early morning of Sunday with our fab Teacher Winnie, went on island tour, and swam with lots of fish! Hell yah, we all had fun

I hope next year more teachers will come

For those who are planning a holiday in Sihanoukville, here’s some info that you may find helpful:

$6.00 (Mekong Bus Tours) – Bus ticket from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville

$30.00-$40.00/room at Seaside Hotel or White Beach Hotel. These hotels are just right in front of Occheateal Beach. You can also get a room from $15-$25 located in the main roads. There’s no need for luxury cabins as there’s a wide range of choices for you to choose.

$10-$15 per cottage

The food’s price depends on what you order

$10 for 10 minute ride of banana boat

$30 for 30 minute ride of jetski

$40 for half day rent of boat going to the islands. This includes life jackets, snorkels, and goggles.

$1/pax for a whole day play at the beach’s inflatables

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