Walter, Harry, Beth, Sara and Me
It’s been a couple of months since I first started communicating with Beth Kanter, an American blogger based in Boston.. I could land in such a good place as where I am living now partly because of Beth’s help. It has always been my wish to one day meet and thank her in person. Finally the day has come, and I got to meet her and her wonderful family last Sunday.
Understanding how much I’ve been missing Khmer food, Beth and her husband Walter, along with their Cambodian adopted kids Sara and Harry, took me to Lowell, a little town around 40 minutes outside Boston. Formerly an important city during the American Industrial Revolution, Lowell has the second largest Cambodian population in the US, only after Long Beach in California.
The closer we got to Lowell, the more speechless I became as nostagia was strengthening itself inside me. Seeing all the Khmer signboards, stores, supermarkets and restaurants, I felt as if I was back in Cambodia. Lowell is truly a Cambodia outside Cambodia for me. It’s been weeks since I last saw a Cambodian. Now, here were the Cambodians..
We then went for lunch at Phnom Penh Restaurant and met Bong Chhan Touch, a Khmerican doctor at Metta Health Clinic in Lowell. He got to know me via my blog interview with Tharum a few months ago. We’ve been contacting one another frequently since my arrival. I feel so lucky to have nice blogger friends close-by.
For lunch, we ordered សាច់គោអាំង (Grilled Beef), សម្លរម្ជូរគ្រឿង (Mchou Kroeung), បុកល្ហុង (Papaya Salad), ណែមឆៅ (Raw Nem) and some fried rice. Among all the foods, I miss and love Mchou Kroeung the most. Though it was not as nice as my mom’s, the soup here was not bad at all. I ate and ate until the plates and bowls were clean. Hmmm!I hope Beth didn’t mind that. :p
Our yummy dishes and my shot with Bong Chhan
After lunch, we went to Phnom Penh Supermarket for grocery shopping and then to the Sweetest Memories for ice-cream before heading back to Boston.
A Cambodian Bridal Store on Chelmsford Street
Phnom Penh Supermarket
Ice-cream
Thanks so much, Beth and Walter, for giving me such a wonderful Sunday. Hope such day will come by again soon. See you this Friday at the PodCamp Party.
hi there! wow.. i’ve never imagine that there are Cambodian shops with Khmer brand name like this! it’s great! lucky u don miss khmer food eh!
Comment by deedee — Tuesday, September 5, 2006 @ 2:22 AM
yeah, deedee.. I can always go there anytme. It’s only 40 minutes away. You can find almost of Khmer foods you want..
Comment by M|O|N|G|K|O|L — Tuesday, September 5, 2006 @ 6:52 AM
lucky that you have such a place to hang out when you feel homesick or missing cambidia…
have fun in boston ^^
Comment by Rita — Tuesday, September 5, 2006 @ 7:46 AM
Hi! are there any Lao restaurants around that place?
Comment by Samakomlao — Tuesday, September 5, 2006 @ 8:25 AM
Ai Heng, I didn’t see any Lao restaurants. Probably they are in a different neighborhood. I will check for you next time I go there.
However, I noticed many Laos coming to shop at Cambodian stores. Most of the Cambodian stores also have Lao characters on their signs..
Comment by M|O|N|G|K|O|L — Tuesday, September 5, 2006 @ 9:26 AM
Lowell has a Khmer population of around 25,000.
Lowell even has some schools that teach Khmer to Khmerican people. There are a lot of resources to Khmer people living in America.
Long beach California has around 75,000 Khmer people.
In many big cities in American there are Asian markets where you can find a lot of what you need if you want to cook.
Comment by John — Friday, December 8, 2006 @ 10:38 AM
Hi, do you know if there are clothing shops in Lowell, where I can get traditional wedding dresses? I live in Washington DC and am getting married and would love to be able to travel within the US to get items for my wedding, instead of ordering from Cambodia. Thanks!
Comment by S Sa — Sunday, January 7, 2007 @ 4:24 PM
I live in lowell. And to answer some people’s questions yes theres lao restaurants i think theres about 2 of them. And there are a few clothing shops. My friends dad owns one.
Comment by Vat — Monday, April 9, 2007 @ 1:52 AM
Hi Vat
I have a 7 year old daughter that I adopted from Cambodia. We have a friend who is having a traditional Cambodian wedding that we’ll be attending in october. Does your dad’s store have clothing for girls?
Comment by jean monahan — Friday, September 7, 2007 @ 8:40 AM