Creamy Wild Mushrooms & Asparagus Spaghetti

I know you’re not supposed to be going to the grocery store often or even at all during this pandemic, but I can’t help it. It’s my one simple pleasure during the lockdown and I need it for my mental health. I don’t like grocery delivery apps and I just find it challenging to buy groceries for 2 weeks. How do you know what you want to eat for 2 weeks? Plus, fresh produce doesn’t last that long and you can’t find everything at one store. I know that I’m fortunate to have the luxury of having food to eat (and getting to choose what I want to eat) and the health (and money) to buy my own groceries and for that, I am truly grateful. I take precaution when going to the grocery store. I get my walk in and I wear gloves and a mask.

I’ve been cooking almost every single meal and I had been getting kind of tired of it. This past weekend, I indulged and ordered delivery TWICE. Indonesian noodles with fried morning glory and Lebanese shrimp with rice and tabbouleh, in case you’re wondering. It was so nice to take a break from cooking and washing dishes. As you all may know, I have a tiny kitchen and I don’t have a dishwasher or a microwave. And somehow, I create so many dirty dishes throughout the course of the day at home. How does this happen?!

I decided to try a new dish this week. Normally, I’m a tomato sauce type of pasta girl. I often make a bolognese sauce or a light tomato sauce with shrimp or clams (ohhh, I need to to post that recipe). But I don’t ever make a creamy sauce. It’s just not my thing. I don’t usually order creamy pastas at restaurants. Anyway, I love mushrooms and wanted to do something with a mixture of mushrooms but also with a little green so I came up with this Creamy Wild Mushrooms & Asparagus Spaghetti recipe. I used four different types of mushrooms—maitake, cremini, shiitake, and oyster—but you don’t have to use that many. I did use butter but I skipped the cream and opted for coconut milk. You could probably skip the butter and the parmesan, and make this vegetarian dish entirely vegan if you want. And if you really want meat, I think this dish would taste great with chicken or even better, pancetta or bacon bits. Adding this new recipe to my rotation and sharing it with you below!

CREAMY WILD MUSHROOMS & ASPARAGUS (Makes about 3 servings)

Ingredients:

• spaghetti

• 12 oz of mixed sliced mushrooms (maitake, cremini, shiitake, oyster)

• 8-10 asparagus spears, thinly and diagonally sliced

• 1/2 sweet yellow onion, diced

• 4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced

• EVOO

• 2 tbsp butter (optional)

• 1/2 lemon

• 1/2 cup of white wine

• 1/2 cup of coconut milk

• 2 tsp salt

• 1 tsp pepper

• 1/4 cup of Parmesan, plus more for serving (optional)

• parsley, chopped for garnishing

• 1/4 cup of pasta water

Directions:

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and slightly undercook the spaghetti and then set aside. Meanwhile, heat a frying pan w olive oil. Sauté onions until lightly brown. Throw in sliced garlic and lightly toast. Pour in mixed mushrooms and let them cook down for a minute. Sprinkle w salt and pepper. Add butter and stir. Let it melt into the mushrooms. Pour in white wine and let it simmer for a bit. Throw in asparagus. Stir in coconut milk and let it cook for a couple minutes. Lower heat. Using tongs, transfer cooked spaghetti into the frying pan. Add pasta water and mix pasta thoroughly into the sauce. Add parmesan and lemon juice . Top w more salt and pepper and toss again. The sauce may seem a little liquidy at first but it will thicken as it cools down. If you want it thicker, you can add more parmesan and maybe a little more coconut milk. If your sauce is too thick, add more pasta water. And that’s it! Upon serving, sprinkle w chopped parsley, a little EVOO, more parmesan, more salt + pepper, or more lemon juice—whichever flavor you fancy most!

Another Day in Quarantine

It has been a month now in quarantine and also the longest month ever. This pandemic seems like an episode of Black Mirror. It just feels so unreal. It’s nothing that I could have ever imagined experiencing in my lifetime. It felt like the world changed overnight. I’ve had friends try to comfort me by saying, “Well, at least we’re all in this together.” But for some reason, it doesn’t provide me with any sense of comfort. It actually makes me feel worse and scared that the whole world is experiencing the same thing. When my life is a mess, it always gives me hope to know that everything in the world outside my little bubble is not a mess. But when the entire world also feels like it’s falling apart, then what hope is there to cling onto? It feels like the world is ending. Sorry, I don’t mean to sound so negative. I just need to vent and let out all these emotions that are swirling in my head. This will be a very unique time in history and I want to have a record of how I felt.

Eight years ago when I left Hong Kong to move back to the U.S., I stopped in Cambodia for a couple of months on my own. The first few nights there felt a little bit unsettling for a couple reasons: 1.) I was traveling alone for an entire 2 months on my own for the first time and 2.) I was in a developing country that I wasn’t very familiar with. The first couple of nights, I was a little more cautious, aware of my surroundings, scared, nervous, and anxious. I had a vivid dream that the world was ending. Everything was falling apart. There was a volcano erupting, a tsunami, and an earthquake all happening at once. I was alone and paralyzed with fear and I didn’t know what to do. I closed my eyes, prayed to God (and I’m not religious) to give me the strength to accept my fate and everything that I cannot change so that I could be at peace. My palms were pressed tightly together against my chest, my body was tense, my eyes were squeezed shut, and I just kept praying over and over, rocking back and forth. And when I finally opened my eyes, I was surprised to find that everything was fine and had returned back to normal. There was no more earthquake, tsunami, or volcano eruption. Everything was okay. I was okay. I felt calm and at peace again. This dream from 8 years ago has stayed with me and I’m reminded of it whenever I feel scared or alone.

Right now, everything worries me. I’m worried about the future. There’s so much uncertainty. The news is all about the corona virus and all the new cases and deaths. It’s so sad and depressing. The rules and laws keep changing everyday. The lockdown keeps getting extended and I wonder when things will go back to normal. I just feel sad, anxious, and depressed. I miss human interaction. I miss leaving my apt. I miss hikes. I miss hugs. I miss seeing people. I’m grateful and fortunate that I still have work and that I’m healthy, but I still feel so alone and isolated. I’m not married. I don’t have a family here. I’m in this small apartment by myself, completely alone. I am getting frustrated with my small surroundings everyday. I’m finding myself getting frustrated with my tiny kitchen, getting annoyed working on the dining table because I don’t have an office, wishing I had a backyard, and hating my furniture and hating this apartment. These complaints seem so small and insignificant, I know. But I just feel so sad. Sad and stuck. I feel confused about my future as I’m sure everyone does. I feel lost again. What am I doing with my life? What do I want out of life? Too much time alone with my thoughts is not good. There must be a lesson for all of us to learn from this experience.

I have kept busy with consulting, creating content for Instagram, cooking lots (I’ve even made banana bread!), going on long walks, organizing my apartment, practicing ukelele, doing Instagram Live yoga workouts, drinking a lot, and watching lots of movies and shows (and running out of quality things to watch), but the days are still so long. I’ve also been eating a lot of ramen and frozen pizza. I sometimes Facetime with people or do Zoom happy hours with friends but there is little to talk about except the pandemic and all the negative ways it has affected all of us. I think we are all at a loss and we’re all trying to hold onto each other for some type of human connection and support. Sometimes commiserating together helps keep me sane and feel a little less lonely.

I haven’t worn real clothes in a month. Sweatpants and athleisure have been my staple and most of the times, I look awful. I don’t even care how I look on my work business Zoom video meetings. But on the bright side, I haven’t needed to wear makeup so my skin is probably healthier, I’m working out more than I ever have, and I haven’t really needed to shop in a month so my bills have been at their lowest.

I just need to accept that everything is out of my control right now. It’s out of all of our control. We just need to tackle one day at a time. While it’s important to stay positive, it’s hard to maintain that positivity and motivation every single day, especially every single day of a lockdown. And you know what? I think that’s okay. Nothing in life is constant. It’s okay to have bad days as long as you put in a little effort to have some good days too. Although after a month of lockdown, I’ve had a lot of bad days lately…sigh…

Ok, tell me something good.

Batches of Bolognese

The world has changed so much over the last couple of weeks with the coronavirus pandemic, mandated quarantines, and social distancing. Restaurants and bars are closed, public parks and trails are off limits, nonessential businesses have shutdown, employees are either out of work or instructed to work from home, schools are closed, and grocery stores are low on stock or sold out of basic items. It feels like life has drastically changed overnight. While all of this has definitely been challenging in so many ways, it has forced me to take a moment to be still, slow down, self-reflect, learn something new, check off things from my to-do list, and connect with people virtually. It has also given me time to appreciate the simple pleasures in life like taking walks outside to enjoy nature and fresh air or cooking my favorite meals at home.

One of my favorite things to make is spaghetti bolognese because I love pasta! Plus, you can make batches of it and freeze it to eat later when you’re feeling too lazy to cook or when you’re craving a midnight snack. This weekend, I was finally able to find all of the ingredients I needed to make my old Dairy-Free Bolognese recipe. What made my evening even better is that I got to open a new bottle of wine that I ordered from Vivino, an online marketplace and community for wine lovers like myself. You can search by wine type, grape, region, food pairings, and price ranges. You can read detailed reviews and descriptions, look at ratings, and then have your favorite wines delivered directly to your door. Vivino sponsored my lovely evening cooking at home by providing me with a nice wine to pair with my meal. Now my belly and my freezer are both full. And my heart is happy!

Lost in Death Valley

I have been working a lot recently and feeling a little stressed and overwhelmed. I have been craving a little adventure. I love the desert and Death Valley had been on my list for awhile so I thought it would be the perfect little roadtrip that I needed to reset. And I am so grateful that I finally got the opportunity to visit!

Death Valley is a far drive (5 hrs from LA) and there’s even more driving once you get there, but it’s totally worth it. I advise staying within the park (we stayed at The Ranch at Death Valley) to limit the amount of driving you would need to do and packing lots of snacks and food (and wine or whiskey) for your day trips, hikes, and picnics. Death Valley is so unique in that it has many contrasting sites and terrain. We walked along the rim of Ubehebe crater, hiked through Mosaic slot canyons, walked over salt flats under the blazing sun, climbed up a giant rock along Golden Canyon to enjoy a little picnic with a view, trekked down a mountainside at Zabriskie Point to find the perfect isolated spot to enjoy whiskey and charcuterie while watching the sunset, stargazed in the middle of nowhere, drove through a long windy road to see the colorful mountains of Artist’s Palette, hiked to Darwin’s waterfall, attempted to sand surf (it didn’t work lol), and ran up and down the massive Mesquite sand dunes. There were so many more places in Death Valley that I would have loved to have seen or spent more time at but we couldn’t fit it all in with all the driving involved. But in the 2 nights and 3 days we spent there, we did manage to see a lot! I was definitely a little achy and exhausted by the end of the trip, but it was worth it. I had the best time!

Let's Hike!

It feels like the new year just started and somehow it’s March already and I haven’t submitted this post (it has been sitting in my drafts)! There’s so much stress and anxiety that not only comes with ending a year but also beginning a new one. There’s so much hope but also a lot of fear at the same time. I definitely felt it. Anyone else? What sometimes helps me with that pressure is going on little adventures and hikes, getting outside, being in nature, climbing a mountain.

You don't always have to go far for a little adventure. Beauty is sometimes just around the corner. I started the first weekend of the new year going on one of the most amazing hikes in SoCal called The Bridge to Nowhere in Asuza, CA. It kind of reminded me of The Narrows in Zion in Utah. The Bridge to Nowhere is also a popular spot for bungee jumpers. It’s a long hike but relatively flat. The drive there alone is magical with the view of the mountains and the reservoir. We must have gone after a rainfall because there was a pretty decent stream with a strong current running through the hiking trail. We packed lunch and snacks and we were hoping to have a little picnic at the bridge, but we ended up never making it to the bridge. Because the sun sets earlier in the winter, you really need to allot enough time to get there and back before dark and we, unfortunately, started too late in the day. Regardless, it was such a beautiful hike and journey! We climbed around precarious boulders, crossed strong currents at least 4 times, saw big horn sheep, and hiked for 5 hours.

I don’t know what this year will look like, but I’m definitely looking forward to more adventures this year.

Creamy Turmeric Chicken Soup

I love soup. Especially, a good chicken soup. I mean, who doesn’t? Chicken soup is the best comfort food and a cure-all for all illnesses. There are 2 types of chicken soup that I particularly love: Colombian Ajiaco soup and Indonesian Soto Ayam soup. Both are delicious and have ingredients that I enjoy so I created a recipe that combines the distinct flavors from both of these soups. It’s creamy and soothing with a touch of citrus. I like to serve the soup with rice but you can add broken spaghetti pasta to this soup to convert it into a chicken noodle soup. Try my recipe and let me know what you think!

Ingredients: (serves 6-8)

·      1 tbsp olive oil

·      1 tbsp turmeric

·      1 tsp cumin

·      2-2½ tsp salt

·      1 tsp ground black pepper

·      1 cup of coconut milk

·      3 cloves of garlic, smashed

·      4 tbsp fish sauce

·      1 oz chunks of ginger, peeled

·      2 stalks of lemongrass, cut into 3-inch sections

·      5 kaffir lime leaves, torn

·      4 chicken drums or 3 chicken thighs

·      ½ sweet yellow onion, diced

·      1½ cups of chopped carrots

·      1½ cups of chopped celery

·      2 cups of cubed white potatoes, skin peeled

·      2½-3 ears of corn, cut into 4-6 chunks each

·      2 cups of diced cilantro

·      2 limes, cut into wedges

·      3 quarts of water

Directions:

In a large 6-7 quart stock pot over medium high heat, add olive oil and sauté the onions and garlic until they have lightly browned. Add 2 quarts of water, chicken, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, ginger, 3 tbsp fish sauce, pepper, salt, and carrots. Cover pot with lid slightly ajar. Cook for 45 minutes, removing any fat and foam build up at the surface of the broth. You may have to lower heat to medium once the broth starts to boil.

Remove chicken. Meat should be fully cooked. Pull meat off the bones and shred into smaller pieces with a fork. Return bones to pot and set shredded chicken aside. Add celery, potatoes, coconut milk, remaining 1 tbsp of fish sauce, turmeric, cumin, and 1 quart of water. Cook for another 15 minutes, continuing to remove any fat and foam build up at the top.

Add corn. Cook for another 15 minutes.

Return shredded chicken to soup. Sprinkle in some cilantro, serve with a wedge of lime. The fresh citrus juice really enhances the flavor of the soup. Optional: eat with rice.

Eating My Way Through Cambodia

Recapping my adventure in Cambodia for my last blog post was not easy to do. I had so much to share and I didn’t even get to share with you all the food I ate! I had watermelon juice almost everyday, binged on noodle soup and rice porridge for breakfast, ate the freshest fruit in Cambodia (dragon fruit, coconuts, mango), devoured chicken skewers with lime pepper sauce, ordered green mango salad every chance I got, drank fruity martinis, and had the best crabs of my life.

The best thing I ate on my trip would have to be the crabs I had at Kimly Restaurant in Kep on the coast. It was made with fresh green peppercorn grown in the Kampot region of Cambodia. It’s a little messy to eat but it’s so delicious! You can’t get this anywhere else unless you are growing your own peppercorn. The crabs are fried with the peppercorn straight on the sprig, unlike the peppercorn we are used to seeing which has been boiled and dried. I visited La Plantation to get a personal tour of a pepper plantation. It was really interesting learning about how peppercorn is grown.

I stayed in Kep for only 1 night but went to Kimly for crabs twice during my stay. I’ve had these crabs before, 7 years ago when I was last in Cambodia and it’s still just as good as I remembered. There is also a little shack on Rabbit Island (an island off the coast of Kep that I visited last time) that serves delicious crabs as well.

At the beginning of my Cambodia trip, I took a cooking class where I learned how to make fish amok. This is one of the most popular dishes among tourists. But it’s not something that I’ve grown up eating. My mother has never made this for me. I didn’t even know what it was until I visited Cambodia for the first or second time 13 years ago. I’ve tried making this dish myself a couple times in Los Angeles, but I never thought it tasted quite right and wondered if maybe I was doing it wrong. However, after taking the cooking class and trying the dish at several restaurants around Cambodia, I think that it is simply not a dish that I like all that much. I originally wanted to include this dish in my cookbook but I think I need to leave it out because my heart just isn’t in it…yet.

Noodle soup and rice porridge are 2 of my favorite Cambodian comfort foods. I ate them almost everyday at restaurants and also at my cousin’s house in Phnom Penh. After having eaten that much of it at so many different locations around Cambodia, I have to say that I think my version of it is pretty good, if not better. This trip has definitely boosted my confidence in my own cooking, which makes me feel that all the work I put into the last year has been worth it :)

During my trip, I found myself really enjoying chicken skewers with lime-pepper sauce. It’s a sauce I don’t make very often because I grew up having my mom’s preferred sauce—sweet fish sauce. But in Cambodia, lime-pepper sauce was often served with grilled meats and was so delicious. I’m going to try making this sauce more.

As I ate my way through Cambodia, I was inspired by all the food I ate, the wet markets, the street food vendors, and the dishes I saw on restaurant menus. I will definitely be adding some more recipes to my cookbook and can’t wait to start cooking again!

My Cambodia Adventure

This past November, I celebrated the anniversary of my birth on a month-long solo trip to Cambodia. It was one of the most incredible journeys! I went on a vegan yoga retreat, biked through the countryside, explored ancient temples, took a cooking class and learned how to make fish amok, visited my family in Phnom Penh, had the most amazing crabs in Kep, toured a pepper plantation, traveled to the top of the Bokor Mountain in Kampot, drove through fields of sugar cane and rice paddies on the back of a motorbike, ate my favorite Cambodian noodle soup and rice porridge just about everyday, drank watermelon juice at least once a day, glamped on the Mekong River, saw the most beautiful sunsets, went on several boat cruises, got the best massages, traveled through the roughs seas to get to the beautiful Koh Rong Island where they filmed Survivor, and rode a horse for the first time ever.

I did a lot! And I’m so happy that I did it all. I had been planning to return to Cambodia ever since I had started my cookbook passion project, but I didn’t know exactly when that trip was going to happen or what it was going to look like until two months before I actually embarked on the trip. I had already finished creating almost 60 recipes and I finally felt ready to return to the country that inspired my passion project. Even though I was excited, I also felt nervous and a little scared. Nervous about traveling solo again. Nervous that I might feel lonely. Nervous that I might not enjoy the trip. Nervous that my trip would feel too long and that I would get bored. In the end, I loved everything about this trip and I am so grateful that I was able to make it all happen.

My first day in Cambodia started with a 5 day yoga retreat at Hariharalaya in a traditional Cambodian farming village outside Siem Reap. Our phones were taken away from us and locked up, we were put on a vegan and gluten free diet with no alcohol or caffeine all week, and we were even assigned a day of silence. At first, I thought this was going to be really tough (and it was! Lol), but this was exactly what my body needed after a crazy busy last month. I took on a new fashion client and two new brand partnerships during the one month leading up to my trip. I worked nonstop including every weekend and then my body broke down and I got sick just before my flight out. At Hariharalaya, I was nursed back to health and forced to be still after being on the constant go for basically all of October. I meditated and practiced yoga daily, read books, journal-ed every night, rode bikes through the countryside, napped for hours in a hammock, hula-hooped (I’m not bad!), played ping pong (so fun!), practiced ukelele (I’m pretty bad! Ha!), and woke up to the sounds of roosters or monks chanting in the distance. My body leaned into the opportunity to be still for a moment in order to reset and recharge and it felt so good!

In addition to yoga, we were blessed by monks that visited the retreat, got to speak with a former monk about his journey and transition, had a Cambodian band from the local village play for us, and we learned traditional Cambodian dancing. While I loved my experience at the retreat, I had two favorite moments: 1.) The day the monks walked into our retreat holding a smart phone out, blasting music upon their arrival and departure. This happened on our day of silence, after we had been deprived of our phones all week! The monks had smart phones and we didn’t! This made me smile. 2.) On the last day of our retreat, which also happened to be my birthday, we had one last yoga and meditation session. As the session was coming to a close, we were told to stand up. All of the sudden a song by Lauryn Hill started playing and we were instructed to dance. And so we danced. And we laughed…a lot. After a week of challenging our bodies, our stomachs, and our minds, who knew that dancing would be exactly what we needed. It was such a fun and silly way to end the retreat and begin my birthday celebration.

In the last few years, it has become an annual tradition for me to go on a yoga retreat—mostly because I was feeling lost or because I needed to escape. This time was different. I’m so happy and grateful that I got to celebrate my birthday in Cambodia. The yoga retreat was only the beginning of my adventure in Cambodia and was such a wonderful transition into my new year of life. If you haven’t been on a solo-trip before (this is my 4th), I highly recommend it. It is the best way to learn about yourself as well as challenge yourself, self-reflect, nourish your soul, and push your boundaries.

My birthday celebration continued in Siem Reap. I took a cooking class in town and stayed at Templation (part of the Maads Hotel group), where I stayed at the most beautiful private villa. I had breakfast served to me in my pool! Staying here felt like I was staying in my own private oasis in the jungle. The service was amazing. I had the opportunity to meet their award-winning Cambodian Chef Tim Pheak. The staff was so friendly and accommodating. They even surprised me with a delicious birthday cake and sang to me! And a special person back home had wine delivered to my room with a sweet note.

After being deprived of some indulgences the week prior during the yoga retreat, I felt a little gluttonous, sitting in my luxurious hotel bed, eating leftover birthday cake and drinking wine. But I was happy and completely content because I had such a good birthday. It was probably the best birthday ever. Is it possible to enjoy yourself that much alone? Yes, it is. Even though I had the opportunity to celebrate with some new friends from the yoga retreat at Pub Street, I chose to stay in. My birthday started with yoga and dancing, continued with a cooking class, and ended with wine and cake in bed. It was perfect.

The next day, I woke up early to visit the ancient temples in Siem Reap. I have visited several times before, but it never gets old for me. Each time I visit, I am in awe of the beauty and the history. This time, I wanted to make sure I captured that beauty. Many people hire photographers for engagements, weddings, babies, and family photos. As far as I know, I am not getting married or having a baby anytime soon and I also don’t know what the future holds for me. So I decided, why not celebrate single me? Plus, it’s hard to take photos of yourself when you’re traveling solo. I splurged and hired local Khmer photographer Josepp to take some shots of me at the temples. It was fun to pretend to be a model for a couple of hours.

After Siem Reap, I flew down to Phnom Penh to spend some time with my family, eat local food, shop at the souvenir markets, and relax. Tourism has really grown in Cambodia and there are so many options to choose from for accommodations. I stayed at a few different hotels that are also part of the Maads Hotel group. I first stayed at The Penh House: Jungle Addition. This hotel is centrally located in the bustling city with beautiful rooftops views, yet you still feel like you’re in nature in the charming Jungle Addition. I also got a chance to stay at their sister location down the street, The Pavilion, which offers large, spacious suites and 2 hotel pools. A complimentary sunset boat cruise, a massage, and a few other perks are included with your stay here. I was so impressed with all of the accommodations and the attentive and friendly service provided at all of the Maads Hotel locations.

However, my most memorable stay was at the The Floatation, an eco-friendly glamping site that floats on the Mekong River and is only accessible by boat. The Floatation is also part of the Maads Hotel group. It’s connected to a restaurant bar with a small staff that caters solely to you. It’s definitely very romantic and even though I stayed here alone, I really enjoyed the entire experience—the boat ride, watching the sunset from my private patio, and my delicious Khmer dinner. If you’re interested in this experience, you should book this place fast because there is only 1 room available!

Next, I took a 5 hour bus ride to Kep on the coast of Cambodia. I had been to Kep before and I just had to come back for the crabs at Kimly Restaurant. They make the most delicious fried crabs with fresh green Kampot peppers on the sprig. It had been 7 years since I last had them and I had to have them again! The beach in Kep was beautiful as well but I mostly came for the crabs :P Since I had been to Kep before and visited Rabbit Island, I only spent one night here before leaving the next day for Kampot.

Kampot is a sleepy riverside town in the mountains about a 45 minute ride from Kep. I had never been before and it had been on my list for awhile. I visited the Bokor Mountain, which is part of a national park and home to pagodas, an abandoned palace, and a waterfall. The swirling clouds, elevation, and history all made this visit so magical.

From Kampot, I also visited La Plantation, which is a pepper plantation. Kampot is known for their pepper, which make tasty seafood dishes such as the crabs I had in Kep. I didn’t realize that most of the pepper plantations were closer to Kep. Had I known, I probably would have taken the time to visit more than one because I enjoyed it so much! The drive alone on the back of a motor bike through fields of sugar cane and rice paddies was beautiful! On the way to La Plantation are breathtaking views of Secret Lake in the middle of the countryside with the mountain backdrop. It was so interesting learning about the different types of peppercorn—green, red, dark red, white, and black. My favorite is the fresh green peppercorn but you can only take it home dried, otherwise it will spoil.

I really enjoyed the tour of the Bokor Mountain and the pepper plantation, but I was exhausted! It was a long day of activities! I needed some down time relax at my hotel, Sabay Beach Resort. The resort is a little bit away from the main town, but that was exactly what I liked about it. It’s right on the riverfront with beautiful views of the sunset behind the mountains. I spent a day at the Nibi Spa, a spa on the riverfront that involves you getting picked up by a small private boat. I had never been picked up by boat for a spa day before! I had an amazing massage there that put me right to sleep. It was just what I had needed after a busy day of touristy activities.

From Kampot, I took a 4-hour bus ride to Sihanoukville to catch a 1-hour ferry ride to Koh Rong Island, where a season of Survivor had been filmed. Another long day of travel. The boat ride there was really rough and I was a little scared, but I think the most beautiful islands are sometimes the ones that are a little harder to get to. I stayed at Sok San Beach resort, which is away from the party area of the island. It was so nice to have only 1 mission during my stay: relax on the white sand beaches, bathe in the warm blue sea, and drink cocktails. But I did take a break from relaxing to ride a horse for the first time ever! Koh Rong Island was a very different experience from the rest of my trip but it was also such a nice complement to my adventure.

Instead of taking another long bus ride, I decided to fly back to Phnom Penh for my last 3 days in Cambodia. I stayed at The Aquarius Hotel, an urban and hipster hotel with an incredible rooftop infinity pool and view. Something about the style of this hotel resonated with me and reminded me of home. I loved the industrial decor, the raw light-bulb lighting, the bespoke art, and the upbeat messages with Khmer translation that hung on tapestries in the rooms.

Traveling is always rough on my body, but it was all worth it. I got over 70 mosquito bites (so itchy), at least 50 sand fly bites, 4 allergy attacks, and 2 bloody noses after healing from a sore throat and cold when I arrived in Cambodia. Even still, I try to find my comforts wherever I go to help w the transition. This includes taking time out to rest at my hotel and not feeling guilty about it, eating comfort foods that sooth my belly and soul (for me, that's noodle soup and bolognese. You can find decent versions of bolognese on any western menu almost anywhere in the world lol), drinking fresh fruit and green juices, getting massages, using face-mask sheets to hydrate my dry skin, napping, meditating with my Insight Timer app, and sometimes taking melanin when I have trouble sleeping.

Even though I left Cambodia, the adventure is not over. There’s so much more to see and I will definitely be coming back. This time, I’m not going to let so many years pass by again before I do.

P.S. Thank you for reading this lengthy post! I did so much during this trip and I didn’t want to leave anything out. I have so many pictures and I wish I could share them all with you! I will have to dedicate my next blog post to just the food that I ate in Cambodia. Stay tuned…