The Philippines celebrates Labor Day on May 1st. And when I searched for Cambodian Holidays online, I also saw that Cambodia has May 1st as one of its national holidays in celebration of Labor Day. I don’t have any clue how Khmer’s celebrate this day. But my friend and I got the chance to bum all day in our bed and accidentally met fellow kababayans from our country at dinner time.
Bumming
After waking up in Siem Reap on Labor Day, the only time we left our beds was when one of us has to go to the bathroom, cook food for breakfast (sardines omelette + rice) or cook food for snacks (oatmeal). Noticed I didn’t mention lunch? Yeah. That’s because we skipped it, like any other days.
So what did we do the entire [labor] day?
We became bums.
bumming on our beds
It became a regular hobby now – bumming.
After coming back from my trip to Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Pai, my friend Audrey joined me in travelling back to Siem Reap before she goes home to our country. And almost everyday, we just locked ourselves in our room while we glued our eyes on our own laptops, dozing off to sleep in between. We just can’t stand the heat!
We became nocturnal creatures. We only went out of our rooms when the sun was about to set.
But that afternoon was different though. We got stuck with Justin Bieber. Just as the two of us started to find the strength to get out of our beds, HBO aired ‘Justin Bieber: Never Say Never’ film.
I was never a fan of the kid, though I can tolerate his songs. I’m not a hater too. But after seeing the film, I can secretly tell myself I’m a convert. 
Why? Just read in between the lines of the film’s title. Or better yet, watch the film!
Oh, in case you don’t know yet, I am back living in Siem Reap this time with Audrey. But she’s homebound in the next few days 
Food Trip
Going back, it was already past 8pm when we found the urge to feed our tummies thanks to Justin ( feeling close ).
We found our feet roaming the alleys of Pub Street.
The downside of eating in Pub Street, the famous food block in Siem Reap, Cambodia, is deciding where to eat. There are too many choices. And every night since we arrived in SR, Audrey and I had been hanging out in Pub Street trying to explore on a number of Khmer and non-Khmer foods from different restaurants.
Cambodian BBQ is a must try when you visit Siem Reap!
Since we were too tired and lazy to decide where to eat after an all-day bumming, we just went back to the same restaurant where we ate dinner the night before, the Le Tigre de Papier Restaurant, since we enjoyed eating their Cambodian Grilled BBQ.
After dinner, thinking that it was still early to head home, we headed to The Blue Pumpkin, bought ice cream and checked out their comfy seats.
cool seats at The Blue Pumpkin; that’s Audrey over there 
Each of us bought a scoop of ice cream. I ordered Pistachio while Audrey asked for the Bailey’s flavored ice cream.
my almost empty cup of Pistachio ice cream at $1.50 per scoop
When it was time to leave, my feet ended up climbing a flight of stairs to X Bar, a rooftop bar across The Blue Pumpkin. I scanned the list of drinks from the menu. I wanted to taste the different beers I’ll find in my journey to Southeast Asia. So far, I’ve tasted a Tiger Beer – famed as the best beer in Asia, and a Heineken. I decided to order Beerlao, the national beer of Laos.
Beerlao tasted too strong and bitter for my tastebuds
When you order a beer in a can in Siem Reap, you’ll get a cold and empty beer mug. A Finnish friend, whom I met in Siem Reap 2 months ago, told us that drinking beer with ice is a crime I guess that explains the cold mug – to contain the temperature of the beer once poured in it.
Meeting New Friends
While we were having dinner, we met a couple on the table next to ours. She’s a Filipina who married an Italian guy. They are now based in Australia. I barely understood the entire conversation because the music coming from the Temple Club, the restaurant across Le Tigre de Papier, was too loud. I just waited for Audrey to relay the conversation. There were some parts of it though that remained etched in my mind forever. Every time I recall what Ma’am Sally said, my jaws get that numbing feeling. Ack!
At The Blue Pumpkin, I also met 3 Filipinos. Two of them works as Marketing Managers of The Blue Pumpkin in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. The other one works in a travel agency. I also met their Khmer colleagues where one of them treated us drinks at the X Bar.
I tried to list down some of the useful information I got after spending some time chatting with my newfound friends but it deserved a separate post on its own which I will publish next.
Even though our entire day was unproductive, I’m happy to know that our Labor Day ended well thanks to great food, newfound friends and their tales.
P.S. Didn’t attempt to take a photo with our new friends though. It might creep them out But I might go on a trip with the friends from The Blue Pumpkin and from the travel agency one of these days. I’ll just activate my stalker mode shots by then
