Chumreap Suor

Cambodians traditionally greet with a Sampeah, which involves pressing the palms together before the Chest with a slight bow and greeting with a polite "Chumreap Suor". Customarily, the higher the hands are held and the lower the bow, the more respect is conveyed. Except when meeting elderly people or government afficals, between men, this custom has been partially replaced by the handshake. Women usually great both men and women with the same traditional greetings although it may be considered acceptable for foreigners to shake hands with a Cambodian, it is more appropriate to respect the custome and respond with a "Chumreap Suor".

Text and Picture courtesy: comcam.asia

Vote Us

Please cast your valuable vote for Grand Soluxe Angkor Palace Resort & Spa in the 2012 World Luxury Hotel Awards. Click the vote button above and you will instantly be directed to the voting poll. Click here to Vote

Limited time offer USD 100 Hotel Credit - Enjoy More

Package included
Luxury accommodation for 2 adults
Full buffet breakfast for 2 adults
Hotel credit of USD 100 per room per stay
Cambodian scarf upon arrival
Free use tennis cours, steam, sauna, gym, swimming pool

Redeem this offer by send email to booking3@grandsoluxeangkor.com
And quote Enjoy More USD 100 Hotel Credit

Terms & Conditions
This offer will be expire on June 15, 2012
Stay period: Now until December 30, 2012
Minimum 3 nights stay required
Rate inclusive all tax and service charge
Hotel credit cannot use to combined with any other package or promotion,
cannot be exchange in cashed, cannot be carried forward for any future stay.
Hotel credit to be used only for Restaurant, Mini-Bar, Laundry and Spa. To be apply at check out.

read more..

One Week Amazing Deal 63% Save

USD 289 for 3nights instead of USD 479
Enjoy our Added value offerAccommodation for 2 people with daily breakfast
Upgrade to Luxury Premier Deluxe room
01 day tour with Tuk Tuk to Angkor Complex
Round trip airport transfer

Redeem this offer by send email to booking3@grandsoluxeangkor.com
And quote Facebook Amazing Deal 63% Save
Send this offer to your friend 

The Offer Expire by thursday, 7th June 2012

• Grand Soluxe Angkor Palace, Resort & Spa

Copy right© Grand Soluxe Angkor Palace Resort & Spa

The Royal Plowing Day

The Royal Plowing Ceremony is an ancient royal rite held to welcome the beginning of rice-growing season; Farmers shall prepare for their agricultural activities such as: sowing seeds and growing rice, corn, bean, sesame etc. Beside these activities which have been shown as the symbol of farming by Sdech Meak and Preah Mehour, court soothsayers make a prediction on whether the coming growing season will be bountiful or not depending on what the Royal Oxen eat among many agricultural products,

Next, the soothsayers pray for a better weather with regular seasonal rainfall, particularly that all kinds of natural disasters be away from people’s land fields as well as the whole nation.Remarkably, the ceremony has been contented by the King of Cambodia and the King allows a couple of any high ranking figures to be appointed as as Sdech Meak and Preah Mehour for the event.

Text Courtesy: phnompenh.gov.kh

Picture Courtesy: mytripblog.org

Special Offer in Khmer New Year

The Khmer New Year, or 'Bon Chol Chhnam Thmei' in the Khmer language, is commonly celebrated on 13th April each year although sometimes the holiday may fall on the 14th April in keeping with the Cambodian lunar calendar. This marks the end of the harvest season when farmers enjoy the fruits of their labor and relax before the start of the rainy season. The New Year holidays last for three days

We offer couples an intimate hideaway in luxurious room and suite set amidst tropical gardens of Cambodia. A magical experience not to be missed! Booking is valid only for stay any night from 7th April 2012 until 22th April 2012. Minimum 02 night stay is required.

Make a reservation: booking3@grandsoluxeangkor.com

Click here for more information

A great place to retreat in Siem Reap

Explore The Monks Way of Life

Buddhist monks are easily recognizable with their saffron robes and shaved heads and each of these attributes has deep meaning. They symbolize the monk's commitment to the Buddha'sreachings. Most monks only enter the community or Sangha for a short period, usually a few months but some choose to live their lives as monks. In countries such as Cambodia, especially in rural areas, people regard a man as incomplete if he has not been ordained for a period. One of the reasons young men enter the Sangha is to make merit for their parents and to learn the dharma or teachings of the Buddha.

Text courtesy: Touch Stone Magazine
Picture courtesy: Leng Oudom

Siem Reap shines in culinary competition

Grand Soluxe Angkor Palace Resort & Spa, Siem Reap chef Phaing Sophai waits 
nervously with a colleague during prize announcements.

The chefs from Grand Soluxe Angkor Palace Resort and Spa defeated nine other teams to win the first “Khmer Mystery Black Box” contest, in which participants were forced to quickly improvise recipes from a box of secret ingredients. 

Angkor Palace chef Phaing Sophai confessed he felt nervous before the start of the competition, both by the size of the 300 strong crowd watching him, and from fear of what he would find when he opened his team’s box. 

“It was hard for me in the beginning because I could not see the ingredients.When we opened the closed box, we saw both Cambodian and foreign ingredients inside. Immediately, a Cambodian recipe named ‘Plea’ came up in our minds, so we decided to cook that dish,” he said. 

“Plea doesn’t really need a lot of ingredients but because the competition required us to use more than 16 ingredients for a dish, we invented a seafood recipe by adding more flavours. We also tried using some foreign ingredients too, and it worked!” 

While the Khmer mystery box portion of the competition was the most keenly awaited challenge of the day, hospitality staff also competed in bartending, fruit carving, barista and bed- making challenges, in order to win cash prizes.

Cambodian Restaurant Association President Van Porleng told the Post, he hopes the contest will be held annually in future as a sort of culinary Olympics, where local chefs and hospitality workers can show off their skills to the world. 

“The Cambodia Restaurant Association aims to organise this competition every year, both in order to increase the standard of the industry but also as a first step towards participating in international competitions all over the world. We also want to organise workshops and conferences where hospitality staff can enrich their professional knowledge,” he said.

More than 80 teams from hotels, restaurants, bars, nightclubs and NGOs took part in six different culinary and hospitality challenges during the day, and were assessed on their teamwork, creativity, and speed by a panel of sixteen local and international judges. Many of the challenges were gruelling with several elimination rounds held before a winner was announced. 

Sophai and his teammate Sok Vichetm, credit their long tenure as chefs at Angkor Palace as crucial in helping to prepare them for the mystery box competition. Before starting work in the restaurant business, Sophai said he learned to cook several Cambodian and Thai recipes at refugee camp in Thailand.

“I think the competition made me love my profession more. At first I thought I cannot compete with these other cooks because they are also from the five stars hotels, but we won in the end.” he said.

Straight after the mystery box contest, Gnov Sopheakdey from Samaki Cafe in Battambang, grabbed the crowd’s attention with an impressive performance in the barista section of the competition.

Blowing his competitors away, Sopheakdey took home a $300 cash prize, defending, the culinary reputation of Battambang, during a competition mostly dominated by staff from restaurants and hotels in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh.

Other winners included Long Borey from Riverhouse Lounge, who was unanimously selected as Cambodia’s best bartender, while Hagar Restaurant employee Lay Maly stuck up for smaller establishments with a victory in the fruit carving contest.

A team from Phnom Penh’s exclusive Topaz Restaurant & Piano Bar triumphed in a second black box contest, this one involving foreign ingredients, before Mao Srey Pov and Ngorn Sokhoeun from K-West Restaurant took home the “best bed-making” prize.

Minister of Tourism, Thong Khon, hailed the competition as a success, and said he would like to see it repeated next year as it segues with the government’s goal of promoting Cambodia as a fine dining destination.

“Food, beverage, and hospitality competitions are an essential factor in strengthening the quality of tourism services we provide in Cambodia. Cambodian foods have a special taste, compared to foods in other countries, and with the creativity of Cambodian cooks, they can make tourists remember their dishes and want to return to Cambodia,” he said.

Photo by: Derek Stout
Article by: phnompenhpost.com

Weather in Cambodia

November-February: Cool and dry. Average mid-day temperatures in the mid 20s, sometime dipping below 20 at night. The monsoon rains trail off through October and November, and have usually stopped completely by mid November. These months - November through February - are generally considered to be the best time of year to visit, with December and January offering the very best weather of the year across the country - comfortably warm days, clear skies, no rain, light breeze, cool evenings. Ideal beach weather in Sihanoukville. A comfortable time of year to visit the temples near Siem Reap. Temperatures begin to creep up a bit through February and there are occasional, short 'mango showers' in the afternoon.

text courtesy: canbypublications.com
picture courtesy: forevergeek.com