Woo Hoo! Today... we take the flights from Kuantan to KLIA to Auckland to Christchurch, New Zealand!...
Finally after a year since the idea of travelling to New Zealand wsa put to motion... we are going there!... we will be mainly based in Akaroa & Queenstown... will be visiting all the places surrounding these places... also Mt Cook and Rotorua, so mostly North and a litte of North... total 19 Days in NZ... our longest trip overseas yet!
We will be meeting with Julie's parents and her Bro. + Family in Christchurch tomorrow before our journey begins! Travelling with rented cars also gave us some consideration in our packing... not too many bags! so we can fit it all in the car boot!... plus the international driving license burned RM$150 off my pockets!
Thankfully, Hannah has also almost recovered her appetite... except for some occasional bouts of non-hunger... Phoebe has totally recovered from flu, PLUS both their coughs have almost disappeared...! THANK YOU GOD!
So! We are off to our long awaited... HOLIDAY!
10 days more to our New Zealand Trip and the Kiddos are still in sick land...
sigh... sigh....
Hannah who has relatively recovered from her bouts of stomach/intestine bacterial infection, still has days of eating problems... where she can literally go the whole day feeling not hungry... drives me up the wall... she has also recently started on children multivite with lysine to help improve her appetite and also supplement her not so good eating habits.
Thank God, she could get out of the hospital to be the flowergirl in Ernest & Janice's wedding... note the still wrapped up hand, where the drip/meds go in... we left immediately after the wedding ceremony to make it back to the hospital for her meds.
Phoebe on the other hand, has these past days developed flu... prolly caught in church, just as she was recovering from stomach flu... sigh... so now she's a clingi baby with non-stop runny nose and horrible cough... in a hopeless irritable mood all the time... sigh...
She also recently developed an extreme aversion to medicine... Before this time she would be a super good kiddo and just eat all her meds, but i think this recent cough syrup has gotten her to dislike meds... and kicks and screams whilst we try feeding her the meds
But worse of all... i think i have serious issues to contend... anger.. all these circumstances really stretch my patience & the frustration of getting the kids to obey and the inadequateness of just simply explaining and hoping the kids to obey.... they don't...
Wife also unhappy at my bursts of anger towards the kids, and me feeling hopelessly torn... sigh... but decided... and praying to God to grant me serenity... and i suppose this is the best test, to build patience and a chance to figure out how to overcome without resorting/falling into the pits of anger... which in turn leads to the path of destruction...
PLUS... i've fallen to Phoebe's virus too.. darn! having runny nose and a super almost coughy throat. All doesn't bode well... but... it's still only 10 days more...
ONLY 10 days to NEW ZEALAND! WOO!
On the day out visiting the Heritage places... we also had a lunch in one of those quaint shops serving authentic Khmer food... part of the experience Cambodia thingi...
The BP staff had scouted the place earlier and settled for a standard Khemer Set Lunch Menu!
For starters we had, Mango Salad with Smoked Fish - almost similar to the Thai kind... but not so sourish... and the fish was nice!
Mains were, Amok style Chicken served with Steamed Rice - very nice... and very small portions! the style is like a blend of otak-otak spice and mild curry... 
It was also served with, Sour Soup with Fillet Fish & Long Beans - very tom yam like minus chilli... maybe its tailored for foreigners cuz it's not spicy hot at all... or Khmer food is a milder version of Thai food.
They also gave us some Tropical Fruits - watermelon & pineapple slices for dessert... the bill came to USD6/pax... not to say really cheap... but much cheaper then the proper restaurant one!
One of the nights, the BP Staff and some of the early arrived customers went for some Khmer Food at a restaurant downtown... It was a set menu - Khmer Cuisine Set, costing US$19/pax. Woo... so it had better be good...
It started with drinks... I tried their local beer... "LAO" Beer... not bad!
For Starters we had Fried Spring Rolls (Vegetables Fried in Rice Paper & Served with Mildly Spicy Peanut Sauce) - This really is just normal Spring Rolls u can prolly get anywhere in Malaysia lah... maybe for some foreigners this is special.
Then came our soup, Siem Reap Soup (Lightly Spicy sour with Seafood & Vegetables, Cooked in Coconut Milk, served with Jasmine Steamed Rice) - most of us ate up all the rice with this dish thinking it was the mains... cuz it had enough condiments to be a full meal! It was "tom yam" like... but lemak!
Our Mains, Khmer Fish Amok (Fresh Water Fish Steamed in Coconut Milk with Local Greens, served with Jasmine Steamed Rice) - It really tasted like Otak-Otak - Penang style with lots of fish... quite alot of them was not used to it and couldn't even finish half of it, whatmore with more rice being served... woo! it was very filling!
For Dessert we had Banana Chef (Small Khmer Bananas Sauteed & Topped with Passion Fruit Sauce), keh like grilled bananas... the sauce was very nice... definately a sweet-tooth dream!
Everyone was very full by the end of the meal... but i still can't believe the price... fooh! Ex man! I guess since the place was air-conditioned and a proper restaurant, u pay for ambience also kua!
A French Dinner was also included in our working trip to Siem Reap. It was prepared by "Le Bistrot de Siem Reap" quite a reputable restaurant at the Resort we were staying, Victoria Angkor Resort & Spa. It was supposedly quoted "the best French restaurant in town" by Condé Nast Traveller Magazine... i suppose the best in Siem Reap, heh!
I've never really eaten any french food per se except for one time when Justine Wong who was still training as a chef, volunterred to cook for us! Heh! It was nice... so this is my 2nd try on french cuisine.
Our 5-course dinner began with Starters, we had a choice of either;
Snails in Garlic & Parsley Butter - my first time eating this fellas... snails... i guess its not your garden variety kind, keh! it was very "lala" like in texture... 
or Shrimp Ceviche with Green Lemon Juice & Herbs - err... this is not my kind of thing, Julie enjoyed this more... sourish cold prawns... eck!
Then we had Soup, Vichyoise - Served Chilled... tasted like very fine mashed potato soup, when you get over the chilled state, its really unique.
They then served us a cup of Champagne Granite to wash your palatte before enjoying your main course!
For the main course, We had either Traditional Lamb Stew - oooohhh! This was superb! Very tender Lamb pieces in a delightful mix of vegetables - very very nice.
or, Beef Fillet with Sauteed Foie Gras - Also nicely done, with melt in your mouth goose liver...
Dessert was Lemon Pie with Glazed Chocolate... hmm...not great... looks nice
Ending with coffee or tea, there were also free flow of drinks the whole night through... so i must say my first formal introduction to french food was a special one, incidently it cost each person USD50 for the set that night!
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