PHNOM PENH BY NIGHT

We've come to the end of our short but eventful holiday vacation at Phnom Penh, Cambodia, having enjoyed the hospitality, good food and culture of a great and historical significant nation. I've taken lots of photos, but one should not forget the quite spectacular night photos. No seamy bars or ladyboys but good wholesome night scenes, a memory to last us till the next trip.

The night view from Sunway Hotel.

Wat Phnom and Lady Penh
monument by night.

Sihanouk Boulevard with the
Independence Monument in the background.

The Night Market on a drippy Thursday night.

Pleasure sightseeing boats at Sisowat Quay.

The atmosphere changes on Saturday evening.

Sisowat Quay and Chaktomuk Walking Street.

Saturday Night Fever.

All of Phnom Penh have come out
to enjoy a Saturday evening.

Spontaneous public Apsara dancing.

Seriously, this place makes
Orchard Road positively boring.

The Moonlight Pavilion
of Cambodia's Royal Palace.

GOOD NIGHT, PHNOM PENH!

SCENES OF PHNOM PENH LIFE / PART II

The Grand Palace.
Cambodia still has a royal family.

We left Phnom Penh on Monday 28 September 2026 with lots of fond memories. This was our first trip since 2008 and the city has transformed from a third world ramshackle to a modern metropolis still retaining its proud old structures. 

In this trip, we did not visit the genocide sites (covered in 2008) but rather enjoyed the vibrant city life that is Phnom Penh today. A mix of the old and the new. Somehow we prefer the old, but the nation needs to seek a positive future while not forgetting its history and what came before. Here are our photos from a short but memorable holiday.

Coronation Hall of the Grand Palace.

Independence Monument, erected in 1958,
designed by Vann Molyvann.

Traffic along Sihanouk Boulevard.

A tuk tuk ride towards Central Market.

On Wat Phnom, visitors seeking counsel from a
Cambodian monk who speaks perfect English.

Playing a game of sey, or capteh.
They were seriously good!

Another corner of Le Grande Manolis Hotel.

The abandoned old Police Commissariat.
(aka Belleville Hotel in City of Ghosts)

You can ride without helmets here.

The art deco Central Market,
completed in 1937.

Market scenes.

Phnom Penh is a bewildering
mix of the old and new.

pianomania: SCENES OF PHNOM PENH LIFE / PART I

SUKA MAKAN: BLUE PUMPKIN @ TECHO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, PHNOM PENH

This is positively the last Suka Makan from Cambodia. What a trip of discovery and food this has been in Phnom Penh, from simple bites to full feasts. We left on Sunday 28 September and had to have one last meal at Cambodia's newest state-of-the-art airport, Techo International. It is far bigger than the number of flights it currently handles, but that is looking forward to a future when Phnom Penh becomes the next Bangkok.

Everything is spanking new, including its restaurants and we chose a Cambodian one to complete our culinary travels - Blue Pumpkin - on the second level of the departure floor. This was the last chance to have Beef Lok Lak and Cambodian beef noodles in soup (similar to a Vietnamese Pho Bo) for a while, since there are no Cambodian restaurants in Singapore. All we can say is Arkoun (Thank you) and till the next time.

SUKA MAKAN & POST-CONCERT EATS: BELLINI BISTRO IN PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA

So we've enjoyed Kenneth Hamilton's piano recital at the Raffles Hotel le Royal, and it's time for some post-concert sustenance. Fortunately, the concert sponsor and piano provider has an eating place that also doubles as a piano studio and music school. That's Bellini Bistro, located off Rue Pasteur which is co-owned by Italian artist-musician-scholar Gabriele Faja, who has opened his establishment for us post-concert.

The bistro looks simply magical in the night light. Its fairy lamps add a touch of the mystical, and it appears one of the coolest places to have an Italian dinner in the tropics. The late menu is simple but completely authentic since its run by an Italian chef. 

So this was our last night in Phnom Penh, and it was a very nice way to say good night and goodbye to a lovely city that has so much more to offer than meets the eye. Cambodia is so underrated and so are its many makan places.

Classic bruschetta

Beef ragu pasta

Chicken cubes in sauce

With Scottish-Australian journalist
Alan Kirk of Cambodianess

This bistro also has its own concert series, and why not? For that, we'll have to come back on another evening, on another trip.

BELLINI BISTRO

#21 Street 306

Beong Keng Kang 1 (BKK1)

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Bellini Bistro Italiano – Italian Restaurant in Phnom Penh

THE STARBUCKS EXPERIENCE IN PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA

I don't usually hang around in Starbucks. Especially when I'm not a fan of overpriced coffee. However, on this lazy Sunday post-lunch (27 September), I made an exception by visiting the Starbucks outlet located in Phnom Penh's Old Post Office. This old French colonial building from 1895 is one of the historical remnants of a bygone era. It even survived the murderous Khmer Rouge, and still serves as a full-functioning post office.

Not sure about the Meso-American
art, but it does looks cool.

On its right side has to be most stylish Starbucks I've ever been too. It's high ceilings are decorated, and the atmosphere is chic, occupied mostly hip young people, including ourselves. The service is friendly and the prices are less than half you pay in Singapore, still expensive by Cambodian standards but one understands.

Hot coffee for Janet,
ice latte for moi.

Then came the biggest downpour we've experience in this whole trip, and short of being in your own hotel room, this has to be the most comfortable place when a rainstorm takes place outside. Even the photos of the rain look somewhat romantic. Is this the most Romantic Starbucks in all of southeast Asia?

The path from the washroom.
You gotta love this place.

STARBUCKS / THE POST OFFICE

Post Office Square

Corner of Streets 102 & 13

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Phnom Penh Post Office: practical guide | Nomadays