Cock Tales
The name is is attributed to a New Orleans druggist named Peychaud who in the early years of the 1800s concocted a brandy drink called "coquetier", later pronounced as "cocktay" and eventually "cocktail" whose invention in 1862 is credited to a Jerry Thomas (Google).
In other words, the cocky Americans created the cocktail, selling at Pub Street for $5 for two drinks during Happy Hour or 50 percent off between 4-8 pm at the Lobby Lounge Bar of the Angkor Paradise Hotel where I was welcomed with a Green Paradise (white rum+) and did a James Bond moment with a Dry Martini.
Pub Street is where the action is: an excellent Passion Lover (vodka+) at Khmer Idea on the first day, a usual Mojito (white rum+) at Angkor What?'s and an overrated Tomb Raider (cointreau+), allegedly mixed for Angelina Jolie, at Red Piano on the last night, and an intriguing Angkor Dream (gin+) at the Trip Advisor-recommended Monsoon Asian Fusion on the last day.
Beer and Loklak
I prefer my liquor straight and on the rocks, which means I'm not really into sugarcoated and ice tempered glorified punch that the cocktail is, and would rather have beer in the absence of my preferred liquid fire (scotch whiskey, blended or single malt), in this case Angkor for my first loklak dinner and Cambodia for my last loklak lunch, both at the Ratana Restaurant which caters mainly to a local clientele.
Loklak is Mekong-ized beef steak served in cubes --- inspired by the French, adapted by the Vietnamese, loved by the Cambodians --- which is a popular local dish as adobo is to the Filipinos, while Angkor and Cambodia are lager beers, the former the equivalent of our San Miguel Pale Pilsen and the latter a personal choice for my spicy pork and fried river fish on Monday, my fried frogs on Tuesday, the steamed fish on Thursday, and a superb somlar on Friday.
There was of course rain catching us while walking (and then running) to the Siem Reap Brewpub, allegedly the best craft beer joint in town, where we dried ourselves with a sampler of light to dark ales (Blonde, Golden, IPA, Dark) and a platter of fried wontons and mushrooms.
Pub Street
I got bumped off from an overnight field visit to Preah Vihear which I don't mind since I need to catch up with work and gave me a reason to discover more of Siem Reap which is small enough to be easily explored by foot.
Once the emails have been responded to and my presentation done, I checked on Google Maps one more time and started walking: [1] 800 meters to the Royal Residence in Siem Reap where King Sihanouk and Gen. Lon Nol plotted Cambodia's independence in a nearby garden; [2] 950 meters from there to Wat Preah Prom Rath which houses a reclining Buddha made from pieces of a boat prow that is said to have saved a monk's life in 1500, allegedly growing in size and sinking deeper to the ground since then; [3] 290 meters more to the Old Market (Psah Chas), choked by souvenir shops but its soul as a people's market still intact, frames of which I was able to capture with the limited capacity of my Samsung A8 mobile phone camera; [4] another 170 meters to Pub Street where I lunched and cocktailed and passed by the Night Market that is actually open by day before walking back [5] 1.5 kilometers to the hotel under the fierce mid-afternoon sun.
Bar Hop
Friday came, our meeting concluded so we (me, Jack, Natacha, Vin, Jo, Nima, Alastair) took off to the Old Market for souvenirs to take home and Pub Street (the second time in a week for me) where we hopped through its oldest and most famous bars (Angkor What?, Temple, The Red Piano, Siem Reap Brewpub).
Saturday came, my bike tour to the countryside got rained out so I went back to Pub Street with Vin and Jo where they lunched and bought fish net bags while I cocktailed on green kryptonite.
The Upgrade
But my most memorable image of Siem Reap is a line of saffron-robed monks marching in a single line with plates in hand for what I assumed to be their lunch at Wat Kesararam, once used as a prison by the Khmer Rouge and one the 24 killing fields in Siem Reap where an estimated 44,258 people were murdered.
And my best moment was a pass to Bangkok Airways' lounge at the Siem Reap International Airport, and to be reverted back to my PAL Elite Flyer status and therefore access to the open bar of the Miracle Lounge at the Suvarnabhumi International Airport on my way back to Manila.
The name is is attributed to a New Orleans druggist named Peychaud who in the early years of the 1800s concocted a brandy drink called "coquetier", later pronounced as "cocktay" and eventually "cocktail" whose invention in 1862 is credited to a Jerry Thomas (Google).
In other words, the cocky Americans created the cocktail, selling at Pub Street for $5 for two drinks during Happy Hour or 50 percent off between 4-8 pm at the Lobby Lounge Bar of the Angkor Paradise Hotel where I was welcomed with a Green Paradise (white rum+) and did a James Bond moment with a Dry Martini.
Pub Street is where the action is: an excellent Passion Lover (vodka+) at Khmer Idea on the first day, a usual Mojito (white rum+) at Angkor What?'s and an overrated Tomb Raider (cointreau+), allegedly mixed for Angelina Jolie, at Red Piano on the last night, and an intriguing Angkor Dream (gin+) at the Trip Advisor-recommended Monsoon Asian Fusion on the last day.
Beer and Loklak
I prefer my liquor straight and on the rocks, which means I'm not really into sugarcoated and ice tempered glorified punch that the cocktail is, and would rather have beer in the absence of my preferred liquid fire (scotch whiskey, blended or single malt), in this case Angkor for my first loklak dinner and Cambodia for my last loklak lunch, both at the Ratana Restaurant which caters mainly to a local clientele.
Loklak is Mekong-ized beef steak served in cubes --- inspired by the French, adapted by the Vietnamese, loved by the Cambodians --- which is a popular local dish as adobo is to the Filipinos, while Angkor and Cambodia are lager beers, the former the equivalent of our San Miguel Pale Pilsen and the latter a personal choice for my spicy pork and fried river fish on Monday, my fried frogs on Tuesday, the steamed fish on Thursday, and a superb somlar on Friday.
There was of course rain catching us while walking (and then running) to the Siem Reap Brewpub, allegedly the best craft beer joint in town, where we dried ourselves with a sampler of light to dark ales (Blonde, Golden, IPA, Dark) and a platter of fried wontons and mushrooms.
Pub Street
I got bumped off from an overnight field visit to Preah Vihear which I don't mind since I need to catch up with work and gave me a reason to discover more of Siem Reap which is small enough to be easily explored by foot.
Once the emails have been responded to and my presentation done, I checked on Google Maps one more time and started walking: [1] 800 meters to the Royal Residence in Siem Reap where King Sihanouk and Gen. Lon Nol plotted Cambodia's independence in a nearby garden; [2] 950 meters from there to Wat Preah Prom Rath which houses a reclining Buddha made from pieces of a boat prow that is said to have saved a monk's life in 1500, allegedly growing in size and sinking deeper to the ground since then; [3] 290 meters more to the Old Market (Psah Chas), choked by souvenir shops but its soul as a people's market still intact, frames of which I was able to capture with the limited capacity of my Samsung A8 mobile phone camera; [4] another 170 meters to Pub Street where I lunched and cocktailed and passed by the Night Market that is actually open by day before walking back [5] 1.5 kilometers to the hotel under the fierce mid-afternoon sun.
Bar Hop
Friday came, our meeting concluded so we (me, Jack, Natacha, Vin, Jo, Nima, Alastair) took off to the Old Market for souvenirs to take home and Pub Street (the second time in a week for me) where we hopped through its oldest and most famous bars (Angkor What?, Temple, The Red Piano, Siem Reap Brewpub).
Saturday came, my bike tour to the countryside got rained out so I went back to Pub Street with Vin and Jo where they lunched and bought fish net bags while I cocktailed on green kryptonite.
The Upgrade
But my most memorable image of Siem Reap is a line of saffron-robed monks marching in a single line with plates in hand for what I assumed to be their lunch at Wat Kesararam, once used as a prison by the Khmer Rouge and one the 24 killing fields in Siem Reap where an estimated 44,258 people were murdered.
And my best moment was a pass to Bangkok Airways' lounge at the Siem Reap International Airport, and to be reverted back to my PAL Elite Flyer status and therefore access to the open bar of the Miracle Lounge at the Suvarnabhumi International Airport on my way back to Manila.
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