A tough crowd greeted special guest speaker at last week's British Business Association of Cambodia (BBAC), Aaron Bornstein. The Chief of Party for the Mainstreaming Anti-Corruption for Equity (MAE) Project, which is overseen by the anti-corruption non-government organization Pact Cambodia, was there to introduce the 'Clean Hands - Clean Business' project to BBAC members.
Cambodian anti-trafficking police have appealed to Interpol for more information on a man believed to have preyed on at least a dozen children here and in Vietnam and posted graphic photographic evidence of his crimes on the internet.
Anti-trafficking police chief for the Ministry of Interior, Bith Kim Hong, said he has requested Interpol forward him details of the case as police were keen to investigate.
You don't meet a "founding father" everyday - but I got lucky, and met one from Phnom Penh's nascent restaurant industry. Determined to make Metro Café a success, Aussie owner - Tom - is golden. Recognizing a void of restaurants outside backpacker joints or traditional Khmer, the former chef has identified a niche.
Metro's swanky yet hospitable atmosphere allows an eclectic crowd to enjoy one thing they share - a taste for modern cosmopolitan class. If trends exist for imitation, I hope Metro is no exception.
We were both under the weather. We had packed the kids off to stay with friends and my Cambodian partner had decided to celebrate moving house by spending the night trawling bars, thoughtfully taking my keys with him and leaving me outside with the guard until the small hours of the morning. A whole dead chicken complete with head and legs on the doorstep was the last thing I needed, but there it was. Roasted, Chinese style, its eyes staring and looking a little rancid already in the morning heat and no more attractive for the fact it was reclining on a bed of fruit.
As the Year of the Golden Pig draws to a close I thought some photos of the celebrations that kicked off the year would be in order. I see on western websites this year referred to as The Year of the Boar. In China, it is simply pig, nothing politically correct.
On the streets of Phnom Penh, John Weeks - 012 425 706 encounters some surreal traffic situations. Simply navigating around makes one yearn for a GPS tracking unit. Street names and numbers may be unlabelled; house numbers obey no rhyme or reason...
Think of Friends and chances are you think of street kids and a great restaurant. But as founder Sebastien Marot explains, there's a whole lot more to Friends.
Sebastien Marot started Friends in 1994 when he was traveling through Cambodia. A French citizen on his way to Japan, an encounter with the street kids of Phnom Penh changed his direction in life and eventually, many of theirs too.
Liquid Bar has really raised the stakes for interiors of shop-front style bars. With its polished concrete, gun-metal grey floor, chocolate leather seats, exposed tiled roof and well appointed and fabulously backlit bar (lots of real bubbles!), it really is a swish space indeed. You don't have to fight past the usually obligatory terrace furniture to get into the bar and once in you could swing a dead cat freely.
Despite what my European and Aussie friends think, some people do appreciate a tinge of the American dining experience - and K-West is such a place. I mean, who is going to turn down a banana split when faced with one?
Lucky for my Aussie dining partner, K-West, pleasantly situated on the heavily trafficked corner of Sisowath Quay, does not pigeon-hole itself. It symbolizes a new Phnom Penh. A mixture of French, Khmer, and American cuisine, it capitalizes on layers of history. Feel like wonton soup followed by steak tartar and a brownie sundae? You got it.
On a balmy tropical night in Phnom Penh earlier this year, a glamorous fashion show took place. But while a catwalk in Southeast Asia might be expected to rustle with the sound of sumptuous silks, it was recycled plastics as "rubbish couture" that shimmered and swirled when the models stepped out in at this unusual event.