Living High On The Duck

Last night Jeremy and I dined at The Duck Restaurant.  We had heard of the restaurant before but had never been.  Despite the name, The Duck does not usually have duck on the menu.  But last night, they put together a special duck extravaganza.  Since Jeremy and I are both duck lovers, we had to check it out.

And we were not disappointed.  Every dish prominently featured duck.  To start with, we had two of Jeremy's favorites: pate and fois gras.  They were accompanied by a cool watermelon shooter.

My favorite was the duck leg confit salad.  There's really not anything else to say about it except YUM!

One of the more amusing aspects of the dinner was that two of the diners at our table are actually duck-haters and didn't realize the meal was going to be all about duck.  Here's our friend Ashok dubiously inspecting his meal in a vain attempt to find something other than duck!

The duck fest included a special wine pairing with each course.  The meal was five courses, plus we were welcomed at the door with a glass of sparkling wine.  So we were just feeling better and better as the night went on! 

Even the dessert featured duck...although thankfully it was in the form of an artistic cocoa drawing next to our chocolate Bavarian cream.

An Explosive Day

An important facet of the United States government’s aid to Cambodia is to assist in detecting, extracting, and neutralizing unexploded ordnances (UXO). Although much progress has been made, Cambodia’s countryside is still rife with UXO left over from more than two decades of conflict. These UXO include undetonated bombs from the United States bombing campaign of North Vietnamese camps in Cambodia; further munitions in the initial war to prevent the Khmer Rouge from gaining strength; and extensive mines laid after the Vietnamese forced the Khmer Rouge out of power.

Last week, I went on a site visit to see some of the de-mining activities funded by the U.S. government. I got to see a bunch of cool machines, a huge amount of UXO, and a few explosions.

If an area is thick with vegetation, a machine called the Nemesis can chew through a bush in seconds. This machine can be operated remotely and withstand the blast of an anti-personnel mine.

With the vegetation gone, technicians with metal detectors move in to systematically sweep the area. The metal detectors employ a special radar that can identify possible mines from random scraps of metal.

Or bomb-sniffing dogs are called in …

UXO that are found and can be safely removed are held at a storage site until they can be safely disposed. The storage site we visited had literally piles of UXO.

Some of these UXO are cut in two so that the interior explosive material can be extracted and remanufactured into small charges that are used to explode UXO in the field in a controlled manner. In the photo below, I’m holding a replica of one of the charges.

Finally, to end the day with a boom, we watched the charges blow up some anti-tank mines.

The Restaurant with No Kitchen

Recently we ventured out to sample a new restaurant in Phnom Penh.  It seemed like a cute place at first.  The main feature of the decor was multiple aquariums filled with tiny blue fish.  The menu looked good too - including both Japanese udon noodles as well as Western cuisine such as burgers, sandwiches, and pasta.  

Our first stumbling block was when Jeremy ordered a draught beer.  The server went over to the bar and we heard the telltale dry gurgle of a tapped keg.  He settled for a can.

Then one of our friends used the rest room and walked around the restaurant a bit.  Noticing something strange, she asked the servers, "Where is the kitchen?"  And the servers replied "Oh, we don't have a kitchen.  We ordered your food from a restaurant down the street."  We couldn't believe it!  We were familiar with the restaurant the food was coming from, so if we had known that, we would have just gone there to get our food hot out of the oven.

But at that point, we figured we had already ordered and should try to make the best of it.  However, things just went downhill from there.  The servers got our drink order wrong and never did get it right.  We watched our food come in through the front door in plastic bags and then waited for it to be plated and brought to us.  When we asked for salt and pepper, the servers apologized that the other restaurant didn't provided them with salt and pepper.

Finally the servers brought us the check, and as we expected, it was wrong.  Three of our meals were supposed to come with a free beer.  But we had been charged for all beers.  The servers seemed to say that the other restaurant hadn't provided the beer like they were supposed to, so we couldn't get them free.  But we weren't going to accept a bait and switch from what was clearly stated in the menu.  After having to call over the owner, our bill was finally adjusted and we were able to leave the strangest restaurant we've ever experienced.  

We contemplated telling the owner that he needed to completely revamp his business model, but our brief encounter over the check showed that any advice about our dining experience would not sink in.  I actually felt quite bad for the servers.  They were really trying very hard to please, but were stuck in a situation destined for failure.  My bet is the restaurant without a kitchen will meet that exact fate - complete failure - within six months.