Kampong Cham

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Anchor Moy
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Re: Kampong Cham

Post by Anchor Moy »

LaudJohn wrote: Mon Aug 19, 2019 6:49 pm
taabarang wrote: Sun Aug 18, 2019 10:59 am
SternAAlbifrons wrote: Sun Aug 18, 2019 3:10 am
taabarang wrote: Sat Aug 17, 2019 10:30 am
I don't know if you remember Tanya who died a few years back, but she rented a shop house but couldn't make a go out of it and moved on. She had excellent food, especially German and reasonably priced beer.


Tanya from the Hill?
Ohh F***!

RIP, Legend!!!
I assume you are talking about a hill in Snooky. The Tanya I knew first started out in Mondulkiri, then moved to Kampong. Cham and later to one of the islands off Snooky. She later passed away on a visit to PP.
Tanya started out with MASH / Melting Pot on the Hill in SHV in the late 90's, then opened in Kep, before anyone else, but that did not work out. Then she moved to Mondulkiri and Kampong Cham and the islands. She later moved back to SHV from the islands and died in PP. We interned her ashes at Wat Krom in SHV about 2016.
I knew Tanya when she was in Sen Monorom, but she started off in SHV. Joe from Red Sun Falling in Kratie was in SHV too at that time I think. I didn't know her well, but we met up a couple of times in Kratie when she came down from the mountains for a bit of "civilization".

I remember getting blasted at Red Sun Falling with Joe and Tanya and Andrew from Balcony one New Years Eve in Kratie, and eventually we had to take Tanya home because she was insulting the (NGO) customers. We drank a lot of pastis from memory. lol. :head shot: Discussing the Mondulkiri missionaries was also a fun subject of conversation.

Sadly, they have all gone now. Joe might be in Chicago. :wave:
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SternAAlbifrons
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Re: Kampong Cham

Post by SternAAlbifrons »

taabarang wrote: Mon Aug 19, 2019 7:04 pm Thanks for the update. She had a business history prior to Mondul which I was unaware of even though I arrived in the mid 60s and was a frequent visitor to Snookyville. I not only miss her cooking but her dry humor and direct manner of speaking.
I think it must have been sometime between about 2000-3,??, before her place on the Hill,
- that she was in business with the bloke who a few years later became "Rob the Koh Kong axe murderer" (please note the quotation marks, i offer no comment myself)
Rob was a bit of a nature boy, and he and Tanya started tour biz at a major bird site on the coast near Sre Ambel.
I think they were probably just a few years ahead of the times - and maybe Rob's enthusiasm was a bit ahead of his actual bird knowledge. But pioneer stuff for sure, it was still pretty wild around those parts then.

Dry humour - about the whole world. And yes, very direct. Famously direct in fact!!
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Re: Kampong Cham

Post by taabarang »

I am so glad so many of you, whom I do not personally know, got to know her. She was an unforgettable character who helped forge the reputation of the KOW.

.She is a huge part of the Cambodia I miss. Rip my dear and Dennis too.
As my old Cajun bait seller used to say, "I opes you luck.
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SternAAlbifrons
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Re: Kampong Cham

Post by SternAAlbifrons »

taabarang wrote: Mon Aug 19, 2019 9:02 pm I am so glad so many of you, whom I do not personally know, got to know her. She was an unforgettable character who helped forge the reputation of the KOW.

.She is a huge part of the Cambodia I miss. Rip my dear and Dennis too.
Well said, Ta. I am really glad you dropped her name.
Glad too that you knew her in latter days. I kick myself for not staying in touch.

To Tanya.. Legend! :beer3:
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Re: Kampong Cham

Post by cambo swa »

Don't know much about the current hosuing costs but knew mulitple barang with restaurant and grocery shop businesses on or near the riverside in KCham city. As I remember their plight, "off-season" was worse and more dramatic than Siem Reap. During that season days would go by without more than a few customers, sometimes none. And the few customers they might have were NGO/missionary types who only looking for the cheapest place possible and wanting to know what they could get for nothing. That was a couple years ago so may have changed but they had to have very good busy months to have the cash to make it through the bad ones. Most gave up the peaceful KC life to go back to Phnom Penh.
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Re: Kampong Cham

Post by explorer »

I suggest, dont try to start a business anywhere in Cambodia. Earn money in your home country, and come to Cambodia with enough money, I dont know of anyone who has statistics, but probably over 95% of restaurants run by foreigners lose money, or just cover their costs. Those that do make money offer something much better than ordinary restaurants.

There is room in every town in Cambodia for good restaurants. Cambodians dont care about hygiene, and keep food until it is going off, and include it in meals. In one restaurant where a lot of foreigners go, they wipe the tables often, and mop the floor often, and generally put on a good display, which gives the impression they care about hygiene. But when you eat in the restaurant, you sometimes see rats running around in the restaurant, and they dont care. If someone starts a good restaurant, where they really care about hygiene, and only use fresh food, they will get a lot of customers.
## I thought I knew all the answers, but they changed all the questions. ##
explorer
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Re: Kampong Cham

Post by explorer »

Which places a person likes, depends on what they are looking for in a place. Many people want a place where they can drink beer with their English speaking friends. Any place where they can do that, they consider to be a good place, and any place where they cant do that, they dont like. A lot of people live in Phnom Penh for that reason, while many of us really dont like Phnom Penh.

I have been spending most of my time with Cambodian friends. I finish up coming to totally different conclusions as to which places I like.

I like Kampong Cham. There are a lot of nice places to cycle around Kampong Cham, and a lot of villages, where you can meet people. There are more trees in the villages around Kampong Cham than in many other places in Cambodia, which makes it nice. The river is nice. You can buy anything you need on Kampong Cham, but if you want to go to Phnom Penh, it is only a short trip.
## I thought I knew all the answers, but they changed all the questions. ##
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AndyKK
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Re: Kampong Cham

Post by AndyKK »

explorer wrote: Tue Sep 03, 2019 1:34 am I suggest, dont try to start a business anywhere in Cambodia. Earn money in your home country, and come to Cambodia with enough money, I dont know of anyone who has statistics, but probably over 95% of restaurants run by foreigners lose money, or just cover their costs. Those that do make money offer something much better than ordinary restaurants.

There is room in every town in Cambodia for good restaurants. Cambodians dont care about hygiene, and keep food until it is going off, and include it in meals. In one restaurant where a lot of foreigners go, they wipe the tables often, and mop the floor often, and generally put on a good display, which gives the impression they care about hygiene. But when you eat in the restaurant, you sometimes see rats running around in the restaurant, and they dont care. If someone starts a good restaurant, where they really care about hygiene, and only use fresh food, they will get a lot of customers.
explorer you have summed up a number of true facts with your posts! I had a bar/restaurant in Koh Kong for a number of years, didn't really make money of such, but didn't lose it too, only when other westerners did not get cheap like they wanted they turn all others against you. Now honestly I ask you! Expats will try it on, 1000reil for a beer they want to pay in all seriousness, you can only buy it at around the 2000reil mark, well I did because I would buy from local Khmer shops giving them profits, I gave up with Angkor because their customer support went to nil or favouritism to other bar owners. I would do promotions of a free drink with a meal. Like we diversified and had a curry night £5 per meal 1free beer. I would have regular's for that meal, such as Stevie C and Fat Sam. But even with the meal at good value others trying to get it cheaper, by saying "could I have half portion and 2 free beer", also, I had on one occasion another restaurant owner come and tell my customers my meats are of part plastic!!!
Image
Image
These were the £5 meals also many times there would be top up of curry for free.
Image
$1/50 to be extravagant - Chocolate cake with a topping of yogurt/honey and 50ml of Jack Daniel's.

I also have many Khmer friends, but they would not be paying customers of the bar, yes they would eat and drink with us like we would at their homes. You will find in Phnom Pehn mixed bars but not many outside.

Kampong Cham is good and I have lived there, and like you say not far from Phnom Pehn, it's 10,000reil and 2 hours on the mini bus.
Always "hope" but never "expect".
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SternAAlbifrons
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Re: Kampong Cham

Post by SternAAlbifrons »

^^
2 of everything please Andy.
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Duncan
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Re: Kampong Cham

Post by Duncan »

explorer wrote: Tue Sep 03, 2019 1:34 am I suggest, dont try to start a business anywhere in Cambodia. Earn money in your home country, and come to Cambodia with enough money, I dont know of anyone who has statistics, but probably over 95% of restaurants run by foreigners lose money, or just cover their costs. Those that do make money offer something much better than ordinary restaurants.

There is room in every town in Cambodia for good restaurants. Cambodians dont care about hygiene, and keep food until it is going off, and include it in meals. In one restaurant where a lot of foreigners go, they wipe the tables often, and mop the floor often, and generally put on a good display, which gives the impression they care about hygiene. But when you eat in the restaurant, you sometimes see rats running around in the restaurant, and they dont care. If someone starts a good restaurant, where they really care about hygiene, and only use fresh food, they will get a lot of customers.


Quote ] , they wipe the tables often, and mop the floor often,



Your right, but have you also noticed they do it with a dirty rag that has cleaned 100 other tables and food off the floor. Then the mop which has cleaned the floor is left in the corner and picked up later for cleaning the floor again and again. You cannot use something that is dirty to make something clean.
Cambodia,,,, Don't fall in love with her.
Like the spoilt child she is, she will not be happy till she destroys herself from within and breaks your heart.
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