Loose

I love loose clothing more than fitted ones. I guess, it stems from my insecurity with my body and shape. It's maybe the reason why I adopted drapey, all-black outfit when I was in college as a uniform and armor because I felt protected and cocooned.

This cotton and satin Zucca sweater is one of my fave right now.

There's a bit subversive about the insertion of satin bands on a regular cotton sweater top. It drapes differently on the body. I like the folds it makes on my mid-section because it hides the flabs LOL! When I pull iy down it elongates to almost dress length.

Paired with with my loose YSL pants, Giordano Concepts shoes and unbranded leather bag.

The slouchy vibe of my outfit here is what I like.

I paired the Codes Combine top with a McQ Alexander McQueen tee.

The rabbit print is so cute! The tee was given to me by Bo.

The Codes Combine top from Cielo has a double flap closure on the front to have an illusion of double layers. It looks like I'm wearing 3 shirts when I layer it with the McQueen tee. My pants is Dries Van Noten, shoes by Muji and bag by Longchamp.

Yummy and Crispy

Elaine, Loven's friend since elementary, visited us here in Cambodge with her parther Roger. I promised to treat her ice cream at Cafe de la Paix and she never forgot! It's her second time to come here in Siem Reap and this time she wanted to taste the unique culinary gems it offers.

Have you eaten crawling, creepy creatures before?

I've eaten crickets already. It was our Khmer spa staff who taught me how to eat one. It's yummy and sorta taste like Safari or Corniks corn snack. With that I'm excited to taste this other type of winged creature, probably a bettle.

Yum!

Does it look like a cockroach?

It's very savory and garlic-y. There's no icky taste or smell to it. It's like eating potato chips, actually. The secret in eating it is to remove the legs and protective hard shell of the insect. What's left is the crunchy body for you to enjoy.

For dinner we had a feast at Molopor. I ordered this tomato omellette, my favorite, paired with tomato and cheese pasta.

I also ate this fried vegetable gyoza.

Some steamed shrimp dumpling.

And a wonderful bar fish curry dish.

Elaine and Roger even tried the beef loklak, a local beef speciality.

Molopor is a local, small-ish eatery that's not fancy but is popular with tourists (on the know) and expats. They serve a selection of Khmer, Japanese and continental food. It's also very affordable but the food's super tasty. It's one of our fave resto here in SR.

Margiela Tabi, Again!

I dream of this MMM Tabi High Top Sneaker circa 2005. Going for $2,200 in an auction here.

And this one, too. Fierce, ain't it?

My first find but didn't fit me. And I prayed and prayed and even begged!

And then I found this last time I was in Phnom Penh.

I guess, I begged enough because I found a 2nd pair on this latest visit there! Only pram dollah ($5) like the last time.

Love!

Paired it with Ouki tee, DP green cotton pants and Moschino bag.

Love, love!

Love, love, love!

And then I also got this unbranded tabi in black canvas, also for $5.

Paired it with Ouki tee and DP 'Andy' pants. It's HOT here in SR.

The tabi is sooooooo comfy that it has been my default footwear for the whole week.

Here I wore it with a Two Percent Homme tank and Levi's that I cut into shorts. The bag is the distressed leather piece I got from JapanTS last time.

Can't wait to find more tabi shoes.

PP 3rd day

It was an early day for moi on my third day in Phnom Penh.

Went to church service with Franco.

He used his Gucci-esque clutch bag that he brought for 50cents at JapanTS the day before. It's so funny because we were so inspired by Atelier that we were looking for distressed looking bags and drapey tops. We were succesful I think.

At church we sat beside our friend who translated the Khmer service into English.

Fashion Diary:

Top: Ann Demeulemeester button down shirt

Bottom: DP cotton pants

Accessories: canvas work boots, cross necklace from Soria and Y'saacs bag from JapanTS.

The Yohji Yamamoto bag was an amazing find! Franco first saw it and readily gave it to me. I think I squeeled a little when I checked the label. At $1.00, it's crazy to find such a gorgeous bag in there. It's actually the 2nd Y'saacs I found at JapanTS. Will post my bag loots soon.

Apres, we wanted our friend Elaine and Roger to experience authentic Khmer food so we headed to Tol Thom Phong or Russian Market.

I ordered Kwit Teu, which is a noodle soup, minus the chicken and meat that usually goes with it. We had some Oishi Vegetarian chicharon from the Filipino store in Phnom Penh so I added it on top. Batchoy, isdatchu? Yummy!

D and F

Everyone was hungry and couldn't be bothered for some photo-ops.

We then scoured the market for the stuff we wanted to buy. I got some linen fabrics and cotton for my designs, and H&M underwear from my suki who gets it from the factory. It only cost $2 a pair. Elaine & Roger got some stuff and pasalubongs. The Russian market is famous for selling surplus stuff from well known brands like H&M, Calvin Klein, almost the major American brands like Abercrombie&Fitch, Gap, Nike etc.

Actually, it got so popular that there's a proper airconditioned store that sells all surplus stuff now in Phnom Penh. I forgot the name but when I come back there I'l blog about it. I saw Calvin Klein underwear, Diesel stuff, Tommy Hilfiger clothing, etc. properly packaged and tagged with original prices slashed to more friendly prices, of course. Great for pasalubongs, actually.

We also went to Oroseuy Market and I got a black tabi boots and a second Martin Margiela tabi sneakers! Loven found a Comme des Garcons x Fred Perry sneakers, too. Franco and I had a goal to find an Ann Demeulemeester-ish leather boots (Atelier inspired, again) but was unsuccessful.

Famished and tired, we ate (3rd time for moi) at Sam Doo, again, for dinner. This time we only ordered a big plate of deep fried soft shell crab and seafood fried rice. It was that good and addicting!

After dinner, we drove 6 hours to Siem Reap. We arrived past 11pm.

Elaine and Roger left for Bangkok the next day.

Japan Thrift Shop Again

A visit in Phnom Penh wouldn'y be complete without passing by Japan Thrift Shop. I just love the cheap loots being sold! Anyway, here's some stuff I didn't buy for myself:

Kansai Yamamoto suede and fur jacket which I deemed too plain for a Kansai to collect.

This Sonia Rykiel top I got for Faith. Love the colors.

This Tsumori Chisato was so small and long. I'm more of a fan of her prints though.

This Michael Kors top we got for our friend Lynette.

I liked the fabric of this Michel Klein top and I don't know why I let it go. It reminds me of Helmut Lang or early Prada.

This Junko Shimada was so heavy so I put it back.

I regretted not getting this Sybilla dress for sell. There were a few I saw actually in very good condition. This Spanish designer was popular during the 90's.

I would have wanted this for myself if it fitted. Margaret Howell's collection is styled by Venetia Scott who also styles Marc Jacobs. I always like Howell's more masculine style.

I instantly thought of Toxic when I saw this winter grade, heavy wool Plantation knit sweater. Nope, it will not work even if you have the aircon blasting.

This Iceberg blazer has a very interesting beaded pocket.

This embroidered Cacharel top was another buy for Lynette who wanted some pieces to use for work.

This Kansai Yamamoto button down went to Loven. I love the graphic feel of it.

And some more CDs I found interesting but did not buy.

Does someone recognize them?

This one had a nice cover art complete with photo booklet with lush b&w photography.

The loot that I did buy coming soon.