Radiant Rebel

30/03/2023

Finally, something worth sharing. Let me introduce you to my wacky homemade energy boosting coffee add-on for weight loss.
I only eat healthy meals between 1pm and 8pm since I practice intermittent fasting, so drinking coffee in the morning is a significant ritual for me. I take mine black and black (=no colories). I add a half-spoon of my personal homemade spice blend:
✅ Curcuma
✅ Ginger
✅ Cinnamon
✅ Cayenne pepper
✅ Black pepper
✅ Cardamom (I buy the pods and grind them)
✅ Guarana (4x more caffeine than coffee, with slow-release effect)
✅ Raw chocolate powder

All ingredients are organic. Moreover, it increases metabolism and gives coffee a fantastic flavour.

Whenever I travel, I always pack a tiny container.

Try it! I'd love to hear what you think of it.

23/01/2021

After months of silence, we made a vlog! Our visit to Koh Ker Temple and an authentic homestay experience in rural Cambodia. July 2020
We hope you enjoy the journey! Please share 🙏👌😉

In this Vlog we take you on a journey to Koh Ker, three hours from Siem Reap. The city served as the capital of the Khmer empire from 928 to 944, and was bui...

30/08/2020

Candle with care 🕯
📍Roaming part: Farmhouse Smiling Gecko, a sustainable boutique resort located in the greenest surroundings and only 2 hours from Phnom Penh. If oxygen therapy was prescribed, then this is your spot. We booked for two nights, but stayed for a decadently nine. I know, we never do what we say we'd do. 😎 But hear our arguments! The pool is natural and massive, our bungalow huge, the mattress super comfy, the daybed under our bedroom so inviting, the bathroom pure heaven, the garden in full bloom, the welcome note hand written, the food healthy and so on.
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🙀 Rebel part: some of you might have noticed we've become magnets 🧲 to great causes. And this place has some badass initiatives too. The "refill not landfill" is about using stainless steel water bottles with free water stations, instead of these terribly polluting plastic bottles. The "food to table" is about using produce from their own farm and thus reducing the ecological footprint. (more about that in our next post). "Empower not enable" is about upskilling the local staff with dedication and respect. So much to love about this place. ❤️

24/08/2020

Catch and Police 🚨

📍Roaming part: Siem Reap. This city is not just a stopover on the way to the Angkor Wat temples, but it normally boasts a dining scene described as “lively and varied” by the New York Times, with amazing resorts and a flourishing art scene. Nearly 3 million passengers used to pass through it every year. We visited Siem Reap a few years ago and now again during the pandemic. I could actually not recognise this town, or should I mention ghost town. Every museum we tried to visit had locked doors. 😔 Even the (in)famous Pub Street was closed. As per previous posts, we still managed to stay in paradise and eat heavenly food.
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🙀 Rebel part: Barbara's "moment" with the police: Since March the police is going full para commando and there are road blocks all over the country. Driving licence, helmets, speed, rear view mirrors, etc. I'm all for improving road safety, so I'm not complaining here. We always pass through, no questions asked. For once I got stopped, and obviously while on my own. The officer pointed at my Vietnamese number plate (fyi we bought our bikes in Vietnam). He said Vietnamese bikes are not allowed in Cambodia, I informed him he was wrong. I told him I have official documents and paid relevant taxes at the border. I even googled the rules and showed him the results on my phone. He then said ahaaa, but you are only allowed to ride them close to borders not inland. What???!!?? I lost it. I could no longer hide my frustration, and told him this is absolutely bu****it. Yep, I used that word. Bu****it! 😡 He backed off, wished me a good day and off I went. No, really! Bribes, not ganna happen with this biker chick.

20/08/2020

Just curry on 🍜

📍Roaming part: Tevy's place, Siem Reap. This restaurant is like a hole in the wall, you could easily miss it. Looks can be deceiving, as this spot serves one of the best Khmer-style dishes we've tasted. 👌The food is fresh, organic, full of crisp veggies 🥬 and really tasty. At 2 to 4USD a dish, this place is super affordable for this quality. 😲 One of our best finds here in Cambodia. Even Tripadvisor rates them 9 out of 923 restaurants in Siem Reap, with a whopping 718 reviews (yours truly included).

🙀 Rebel part: not us for ignoring many other restaurants in this city and going there daily, but the owner is! Tevy is our new female warrior. She survived the horror from the Khmer Rouge regime, where she lost her father and her three sisters. Owning a restaurant has allowed her to sustain herself and her mother. The restaurant is set up more like a home than a dining venue. She teaches young Cambodians to cook, to be a waiter, to be ready for their next chapter. Real empowerment! 💪No wonder the staff is so warm and welcoming.

18/08/2020

Fringiepani🌸
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📍Roaming part: Navutu Dream Resort in Siem Reap. This is truly, genuinely, passionately a wellness retreat. To start, they have 3 pools. I know, I could have stopped right there. An Italian family opened the Navutu Resort on the Fiji island and added this Cambodian one a few years ago. They offer yoga sessions, acupuncture, meditation, reiki and many other holistic treatments. My favourite, there is zero plastic use: the toothbrushes are made of wood (if you didn’t know, in Asia hotels give complimentary toothbrushes), soaps and shampoos are in locally handmade ceramic containers, the bins have biodegradable cassava bags, upon arrival you receive stainless steel water bottles and throughout the resort there are water refill stations, etc. Water comes from their well, is then treated with UV. Our four-day stay was heaven in our massive suite, surrounded by lush gardens full of palm trees, bougainvillea and frangipani flowers. And the food? Tasty, healthy, sustainable and beautifully presented. It is often said, but here the attention to detail is superb. The staff is super friendly, in a professional but more casual/personable way. I love this.

🙀 Rebel part: if you don’t want to be disturbed, then you just place the large golden painted coconut outside. So, we're about to put the coconut outside...= DO NOT DISTURB.

31/07/2020

Gold shoulder 🏯

📍Roaming part: Wat Phnom Yat, Yat Mountain in Pailin. It's another Buddhist pagoda - we now officially lost count of how many we've seen. We started skipping them, but in this case we had three reasons to go.
1. There's really not much to do in this small town, besides the rubies (see previous post) We are stuck here anyway, so we see it ALL.
2. It's located on a mountain so the view is nice.
3. We made good friends with the gem stall owner's daughter (pic 3&4). She's 14 ish and offered to be our improvised guide and walk up with us. She was so keen to learn more English. Special encounter. ❤️
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🙀 Rebel part: we spoke to a local and he mentioned there is a nice waterfall in a domain that belongs to the Maddox Jolie-Pitt Foundation, named after the Cambodian-born adopted son of its founder and president, Angelina Jolie. Fyi, Maddox was born in Pailin and she adopted him from an orphanage when he was five. Angelina (we're on first name basis now 😎) visited Cambodia in 2000 for the first time when she made the film Tomb Raider. Okay, getting side tracked here... Pic 5 is the map made based on the local's explanation where to find this waterfall. This map covers over an hour's bike ride. Needless to say, we never found it. We only saw this one board (pic 6). The real rebel part, we got you all excited and then nada, nothing to report. Ha ha haaaaarghhh (sarcastic laugh) 😂

30/07/2020

Ruby Trap 🔴

📍Roaming part: Pailin, a small municipality in the West of Cambodia, bordering Thailand. It's known for being the area where many of the Khmer Rouge leaders came from and retreated after their fall. 😔 It's also known for the rubies, which is Louis' favourite gemstone. There are not many quality stones left and when asking around, the locals all claim there are no longer miners around. But we're stubborn (understatement of the year) and we still managed to find a few "artisanal" river miners and bought some loose stones on the gem market.
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🙀 Rebel part: we just read the following paragraph while researching the area. 'Pailin is located in the most heavily mined area in the world, so especially unaware travellers are cautioned to stay only on marked roads.' Oh boy, we really need to start reading up BEFORE we do our thing. Did we mention mines as in undetonated landmines. 🙈 We're really considering changing our handle to .

25/07/2020

Robe me in 👘 ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀

📍Roaming part: Battambang Moloppor Villa Hotel - after all that visiting on our 🏍 (see 4 previous posts), which was intense physically and emotionally, it was crucial we treated ourselves to some luxury. Think spacious swimming pool, large bathtub, soft bath robe and spacious bedroom. The lush surroundings 🌴 🌿made it feel like we were far away from the city centre. Exactly what the doctor ordered.
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🙀 Rebel part: during our 8 days in Battambang (and 4 hotels), we covered pretty much everything there is to see and do. Everything, except the ONE thing this town is most known for in the tourist guides: the bamboo train. However, this train is no longer being used by the locals, it's become a purely touristy attraction. It takes you to local vendors, who apparently hassle you aggressively to buy drinks or souvenirs. Soooo not our scene. Sorry.