Acquiring a Chinese visa in Cambodia

In recent times the Chinese Immigration services have become more and more particular about the procedure required to get a chinese visa. My application was denied twice in Bangkok, Thailand for not having proper proof of my entry and exit into China. This was an issue as i want to travel into Southern China via Vietnam overland on a Train. And my Vietnamese isn't exactly conversational (read non-existent), so buying train tickets over the phone from bangkok isn't really an option.

However there is some light at the end of the tunnel. Turns out that the Chinese Embassy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia is a little bit of a rebel and doesn't ask for any of the aforementioned details. You turn up, fill out your form, and 3 days later you get the best sticker in the world. The other plus is that a single entry, 30 day Chinese visa in Bangkok costs around 1650 Baht for the regular service, that's about US$55 or £33 (Jan 2011), while in the "Kingdom of Wonder" (Cambodia's tourism tag line) it will cost US$30/£20.

On a side note, i highly recommend going to the Chinese Ambassador's residence in Phnom Penh, it's on street #380 at the bottom of street #51, like most things that involve the Chinese government its massive!

Dinner Diary - Beef Lok Lak

It's taken a while to while to find good cambodian food. Not because most of it's bad, but instead because they tend to only serve western dishes in most of the places easily accessible to tourists. This dish is very similar to Malaysia's Nasi Goreng, however the flavours are fairly different.

It's boiled rice, with a fried egg, beef, lettuce, green tomatoes, and the sauce on the side is lime/lemony thingy that is so totally awesome when combined with the rice. This dish set me back 7000 Riels, roughly £1.20.

Beef Lok Lak

Dinner Diary Cambodian Sandwich

I had heard a bit about this dish before I went in. Generally I avoid bread in South east Asia. However because the French influence in Cambodia you actually get really good bread, same is true of Vietnam apparently.
Anyways back to the sandwich, its fries chicken mince and bean sprouts, some other assorted veggies with spam to "garnish". The baguette is slightly toasted so it has a lovely crunch when you bite into it.
In word, awesome. The Sandwich and the black ice coffee(with a crap load of sugar) cost me about US$2.50/10000 riels/ £1.50.

Dinner Diary Cambodian Market surprise

Not for the first time but here is a dish for which I have no name, don't really know what was in it, but can say that it wasn't that bad.
Beneath the fried egg were some (flour) noodles mixed with some veggies, and what I believe to be a cassava dumpling with spinach inside. The dumpling was shallower fried so the texture of the dough wasn't consistent, some parts being a little mushy. Anyways all said and done this one was a $1.

Dinner Diary Pumpkin Potato curry

Had this lovely dish in Cambodia. Not really sure how Cambodian it is, but I can say with confidence that it was good. Came in at a whopping $2.

Dinner Dairy: No Name

Vegetable No name, it's essentially more of an appetizer than an actual meal. Just imagine a bunch of veggies, in batter, deep fried. Simple yet effective. Came in the grand old price of 50 Baht (£1)

Vegetable No Name

Dinner Dairy - Tom Yum Kung

Today's exciting dish was Tom Yum Kung Soup. I think the term "Totally awesome" is particularly apt here. It reminded me a lot of traditional Jamaican Soup, not so much in how it tasted, but more the technique where you are just throwing crap in there purely for taste. 

It had huge chunks of ginger, lemon grass, spring onions, parsley, bay leaves, onions, mushrooms ... did i mention it was awesome.  Anyways this set me back 100 Baht, which in Queens currency is just over £2. "Expensive", but it was awesome and should hopefully end my current trend of 3 meals a day.

Tom Yum Kung

Dinner Dairy - Pad see iew

This is Pad See iew. Apparently there are a number of different romanizations of this dish. Consists of noodles, spring onions, eggs, carrots, garlic and pork. It's also available with Chicken, but i went for the pork. It came in at the mouth watering price of 60 Baht, approximately £1.20.

Pad see iew

Dinner Dairy - Mee Goreng Ayam

Mee Goreng Ayam, essentially fried noodles with chicken. Unlike chinese fried noodles, the chicken isn't sliced, but instead hidden underneath the noodles, it's almost like a Malaysian surprise.

Mee Goreng Ayam

Dinner Dairy - Murtabak Ayam

Murtabak Ayam - Like the previous Murtabak, this is essentially Roti Cenai stuffed with meat. In this case it's Ayam or Chicken. Grand total of RM5.50 ( £1.10p ).

Murtabak Ayam