22 Mar 2014

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Today, I want to wish a “Happy Birthday” to the purdiest “Diamond” ever!  You may be living 11 hours behind me and be more than a day of plane travel away, but you’ll never actually be far J

Wednesday morning was a lesson-planning one, getting myself prepared for a new teaching position at a Kindergarten.  Teaching 25+ energetic five-year-olds in a non-air conditioned classroom can be summed in a few words: Hot, tiring, dehydrating (my tongue and lips were literally sticking together and to the roof of my mouth, even though I guzzled loads of beautiful H20), musical (singing is the key to motivating a 5-year-old’s heart), active (the second key to motivating a 5-year-old), sweaty and actually... quite fun.  I felt like a celebrity (albeit afterwards, a celebrity in need of a nice cool bath, lemonade and a massage). 

Following work, I had about an hour to chill with Patrick before we left for work and in the evening, I met a new private student – a Vietnamese student studying medicine who wants to practice his English for personal/general conversation and for his medical career.   

Today’s foodie goodness comes from a Cambodian fruit juice vendor close to the public schools that I teach at – it’s one of the most interesting, odd, yet deliciously satisfying drinks I’ve ever tasted.  It’s made using the Cambodian sugar palm fruit (Thot not – haha I call it the thought-not fruit.  I “thought that it was not” a normal fruit…) It had a dense, pulpy (but not like the pulp of an orange) and thick texture that was very sweet.  Inside the juice, there were also chunks of jelly-like coconut, I believe.  It tasted like it was full of fiber and it was incredibly filling! The texture and taste somewhat reminded me of having a cold sweet potato latte, except with chunks inside.  How very odd, indeed. 




Here's some interesting info about the sugar palm fruit (aka Ice Apple) from Wiki that talks about the tree, Borassus and a site that talks about the Sugar Palm's Health Benefits and Uses.  I learned a lot!




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