Una

Oh, I miss being able to walk across the street to Una, after an afternoon spent sipping on perfect lattes at Crema, one of my favorite light-filled bakery/cafes in Portland, Oregon. Giovani, the owner of the small shop, is having a super sale - Aesa, Shabd, a Detacher, Mociun, etc.

27 Hours in Bangkok

Bangkok is a short hour plane ride from Phnom Penh. But Ethan and I did not fly there. Instead, we took an overnight bus from Phnom Penh to Bangkok, which departed on the riverside on Friday evening, at 9:00pm. We arrived in Bangkok the following day, late in the morning, a little bleary-eyed and in desperate need of coffee.

There was no temple hopping this time around, no tourist sights to be seen. Instead, after checking into a guesthouse on Silom Road, we walked, walked past and into food vendors that reminded me how good and ubquituous street food is in Thailand (and how cheap, too!) and around and in shiny light-filled malls, where I perused clothing and makeup offerings among lovely powdered lady-boys. In the afternoon, we let ourselves get lost at Chatuchak Market, the weekend market where you can find nearly everything, and where I picked up a restructured plaid dress. We people-watched and then watched a movie in a proper cinema. We stayed out late into the night, bearing witness to the seedy evening movement.

And we were in awe of sidewalks, freeways, the skytrain, the subway, women wearing makeup and short skirts, of order -- things that, for the most part, if not in whole, are absent from daily life in Cambodia.

Then, we hopped on a plane back to Phnom Penh.

Prints

via Ermie

Lovely prints on organic cotton. I especially like the blue one.

Lunch

via Smitten Kitchen

Much to my chagrin, our office is moving today, south, so south we will surely fall off the Phnom Penh map, so south my Khmer colleagues tell me we can no longer be called city folk. I sat and watched the movers this morning before realizing it was a complete waste of my time to wait. So Anna, the Russian lawyer, and I dashed off to my home, where we siphoned internet and made lunch.

I go through phases where all I want to do is cook at home. In the past, it was typically Indian food, as evidenced by the countless cookbooks I left stateside. Lately, it's been a mix of baking, roasting and cooking concoctions from recipes I Frankenstein from blogs. There are limitations -- two rules that dictate cooking for me these days.

The first is simplicity. How is it that roasting fresh vegetables from my neighborhood market gives me such satisfaction? That baking potatoes tossed in olive oil and rosemary could make me so happy?

The second is that it must involve cream and/or cheese. I blame my French-American flatmate, whose phone conversations with her mum always provide me countless food inspiration. Cheese, cream, all dairy are very expensive in Phnom Penh.

Back to lunch today: I made this simple pasta dish, throwing in a few handfuls of fresh basil, lemon zest, and grating Pecorino Romano on top.

365 days, week #12.

Images from my week, so far. To remember.

Inspiration

Electric Feathers (via Montamartre's Sketchbook)

When I was a little girl, my sisters and I, in between spurts of running amok and driving our parents crazy, would take the yards and yards of fabric strewn about (for my grandma's sewing adventures) and prance around the house in makeshift dresses. Mine was always Grecian-inspired, with folds and folds of cascading fabric, which I always imagined was of an aqua-marine hue. The younger me would have approved of that first Electric Feathers dress.

The second dress, that stunning billowy nearly-backless number that teeters on unflattering muumuu, must happen, in some form. Via my Cambodian dressmaker. I'll keep you posted.

Spring Forward

Didion sandals (via Search Party)

Random thoughts today:

1. Spring Equinox!

2. Green shoes are such a basic. As are purple-blue hued shoes.

3. I took in a lost Russian lawyer last week, for a few days, while she looked for housing. She's volunteering with our organization, and she, with her star CV, six spoken languages, and hunger for human rights lawyering, reminded me why and how I landed in dusty Cambodia.

4. I am so exhausted from all the meetings and from my work with railway communities last week. But dammit, I love this work!

5. I'm thinking of my dear friend, Cherlou, who is expecting her first child.