Boat race practice

Just one of the several hundred boats practicing on the Tonle Sap for the boat races which begin on Sunday. These things are awesome - I counted 70 people on this one - the beter teams are like a machine - every oar perfectly in unison. Should be quite a spectacle, especially if the tropical storm remnants get here on Monday as predicted.

Be careful what you put in your mouth - words to live by

The other night we travelled out to some unidentified part of the city to a restaurant run by one of Da's seemingly infinite number of relatives.  Among other delights we hade snake - yes real snake - a water snake of some kind - not an eel - about 2 feet long and about an inch in diameter choped into half inch segments and fried in the wok.  I ate more than my share and it was very good - most of the bones were crunchy and edible - only a few had to be rejected.  We were eventually left with the head - about 2 inches of malevolent grin - nobody - not even the 4 or 5 Khmer seemed ready to attack that of course they kept on encouraging me - but the eyeballs and teeth just made it impossible.  Eventually Da started to toy with it and break off small pieces - she was about to suck on it - to extract whatever I dont know when she noticed that the fishing hook that had been used to catch the sucker was still in its mouth.  Apologies were profuse from the restauranteur - I can only imagine what would have transpired had I popped the whole thing in my mouth and bitten down - caution paid off.

Pajamas and stuff...

I have mentioned this before I think but I remain fascinated by the way that Khmer women wear pajamas as regular street wear.  I guess it makes sense - cotton loose cool but it remains incongruous in my sight.  Da went out shopping yesterday in hers - I look forward to trying to persuade my daughter to do the same when she visits - I need to start compiling a collection of the most incongruous looking examples. Another thing that continues to amuse is the obvious lack of recognition of what we would consider socially suicidal - I am sitting in the lobby bar of the hotel where I stay when not renting (a hotel used almost entirely by Westerners) currently hearing completely uncensored rap and hip hop music with all the F/N/MF bombs intact - imagine that in the lobby of Sheraton or Westin in Seattle.  Tomorrow Da is leaving at 5am to go with various relatives to Kompong Speu - about 100 miles I think to pay tribute to some dead relative - I declined that particular trip (something about the 5am just didnt ring true with me) she returns on Saturday so I have liberty on Friday to have a night on the town alone - will be fun.  Then Saturday night she works so I get to stay home and overdose on English football on TV in bed with air conditioning and beer.  Sunday the Cambodian water festival starts - three days of boat races on the river - supposed to mark the time when the Tonle Sap reverses course (too much water coming down the Mekong - cannot get out the delta - floods back upstream reversing flow and filing Lake Tonle Sap - the richest ecodiversity-site in the world (after the Amazon apparently) and source of most seafood here)  but from what I can see the river is still flowing very quickly in the "right" direction - there have been warnings that the boat racers face the most dangerous conditions in many decades - will be there to film and take pics.  Aparently 2 million extra people come to PP for the event - the opposite of Thailand where everyone leaves the capital and heads to the proivinces for holidays.  Supposedly 350 boats representing al provinces, schools, branches of government - should be spectacular.

Cambodia Highway 1 - returning from our picnic

A brief video from the back seat of our tuk-tuk dodging traffic on the main Phnom Penh - Vietnam highway. Pay particular attention to the motorcycle of dead chickens towards the end of the video.

Lake side picnic

We took a tuk-tuk about 15 miles out of town to a lake side picnic restaurant - a very precarious walk along planks not designed for my immense weight led us to a platform over the lake - various food vendors arrived by boat and we ordered both from them and from the restaurant - delicious and cheap.

Domestic "bliss"

Yesterday the power went out suddenly at about 930am - the time I knew because I was laying in bed watching CNN - not unusual we thought - there are often power cuts in Phnom Penh - demand usually exceeds supply - I have no clue where and how Cambodia generates electricity - for all I know it is a half dozen (bpram muay) water buffalo turning a wheel somewhere outside of town.  Three hours later we were kind of aware that there seemed to be music coming from the neighbors - hmmm - surely not batteries.  Uh, no - we had been shut off for non payment of the bill apparently - the bill which in our case we did not have and had not seen. Seems the landlord had omited to pay anything and when we moved in and started using power someone noticed.  So a few phone calls ensued and shorthly thereafter a couple of guys in an Electricte Du Cambodge van (apparently another French leftover) arrived - I paid $15 and all was well.  All was well I say until such time as I tried to go to the bathroom.  Zero drainage - zero flushage.  I informed Da and waited for her plan of action - hell I dont know whether you call a plumbr in Cambodia or what - I drew a plunger and showed it to her - a word that is lamentably missing from my English/Khmer dictionary - some devices are universal and should be obligatory in any dictionary. Next I knew I heard hammering - I looked into the bathroom and she was laying on the floor chipping out the tile cement under the toilet with a borrowed hammer and chisel.  Any attempt by me to help was swiftly rejected (honestly I tried). I withdrew - half hour later I heard porcelein sounds and investigated  - she had removed the entire toilet and was now atacking the hole with a length of bendy bamboo longer than she is and a viscious length of wire which constituted a home-made plumbers snake.  Once again (thankfully) my help was rejected - not sure my stomach was really up for the task anyway. She emerged with a plastic bag the contents of which were better left unknown I think.  She then replaced the toilet - and re-grouted/cemented the whole thing.  I was warned not to use the toilet for 24 hours - pee in the shower she said - orders with which under the circumstances I was happy to comply.  Today all was well.  She is indeed Khmer-Superwoman, or maybe they are all that way.  Honestly I tried to help.

Milestone

Today marks a week since I used toilet paper - we dont even own any.  Must say the high pressure hose is really the way to go ecologically and frictionally - as long as you can avoid the self-administered enema.  I know TMI.

Nirvana?

I swear I just passed a monk in the street who smelled of marijuana smoke.  So, that's how you achieve enlightenment?

Busted in Phnom Penh

Our tuk-tuk tried to take a short cut down a road where such vehicles are banned - notorcycle cop yelled at us - driver ignored him - biker came chasing after us and made us do a u-turn - driver pleaded ignorance - the new helmet law gave him anexcuse - he didnt hear the cop - we got away with a yelling-at

Response to a couple of comments

Of course I dont understand her when she blabbers in Khmer - the one phrase I have mastered is of course "I dont understand" - knyom min yool dtay - but what man ever understands a woman even when she is speaking the same language? - this way at least I have a legitimate excuse for ignoring her - it is all too believable that I didnt realize she was speaking to me - her english is improving with practice - obviously - and i am steadily picking up a Khmer phrase per day (the previous is of course more than a little tongue in cheek).


yes - could live here very comfortably and very cheaply for a long time - possibly will do eventually - the Thai condo may end up just being an investment - after a coupl;e of years I may put it on the rental market - the upscale areas in PP are very upscale - gated communities and nothing les than a Lexus gets you in there - not sure thats my style but a place like the one we are renting - maybe in a newer building - occupying the top 2 floors and renting out the shop floor below would be nice - enclosing and airconditioning it all would all be less than 100K - the catch in Cambodia is property has to be in Khmer name unlike Thailand - not ready to trust that far any time in the immediate future - have heard way too many horror stories and I didnt just fall off the Durian Truck.

Da mouthing off for the camera

Phnom Penh street 19 Friday night

Sleepy Saturday afternoon in Phnom Penh

Sitting in the lobby of my previous hotel using their free wi-fi and sipping on Schweppes Tonic.  Breakfasted today on freshly made coffee - albeit Nestle crystals - not going to invest too heavily in coffee alchemy equipment at this time - orange juice and baguette and cheese - very nice - while Da was at market (loving my hot water kettle - I seem to be obsessed). She returned and made a wonderful lunch of cauliflower and pork sauteed in a delicious gravy substance - over the omnipresent rice was fabulous with just the right amount of fish sauce and peppers - culinary heaven - and for pennies. She tells me she works on Saturday nights - all news to me - she models at a beer garden - as far as I can determine this involves dressing up sexily (by conservative Khmer standards) - makeup - hair done up - bare midriff and posing on stage with the star singer - apparently she sings one song herself - they all watch TV and then repeat then come home - US$15 for 3 hours work - a great pay rate for a Cambodian farm girl - and no customer contact - no drinking she assures me - she wanted me to go along to watch - I will next week - this week it fits perfectly with me getting to watch English football undisturbed.

Phnom Penh Friday Night (I guess - have pretty much quit paying attention to days of the week).

Five thirty Friday evening in Phnom Penh - it is raining and the motorbikes seem to have been washed away - how else to explain the absence of the usual rush hour gridlock - where did they all go? The barbecued beef restaurant across the street just poured the charcoal into the cooker - I can smell last night’s remnants burning off the grill - such welcome delicious smoke (chnaang) - by six o’clock the last few nights the street in front was packed with bikes angle parked to the curb with millimeters between them as hungry homeward bound workers and students stopped by for dinner - where will his customers come from tonight? A single Toyota occupies the space - 3 people rather than 20 bikes with 2 or 3 people per bike..


The sounds of Khmer music come at me from every adjacent apartment and from across the street - surely one of the most foreign sounding of languages to our euro-centric experience made the more so by the overlaying of ten different simultaneous songs. I sit here on my balcony inches inside the dry zone from the roof overhang watching water pour from the extended PVC piping - I have finally stopped sweating - feeling cleansed from within - this place has all the benefits of a sauna - “Babs - her skin is like butter” - said in Mike Myers’ SNL voice. I could stay on this balcony for hours watching the activity below, breathing the cooking smells and listening to the soundtrack - in fact I probably will.

Phnom Penh update

Well this is night 5 in Phnom Penh and I have been way too busy to write much thus far. Three nights in hotel then we moved into a rental apartment - quite an experience. What followed then was a period of shopping for everything we needed to support human life - for the most part in a Khmer fashion. Unbelievable how cheaply we were able to achieve that goal - for about US$50 we had cooking facilities (a butane burner suitable for cooking indoors or out), an electric rice cooker, knives of various sizes and shapes, a wok, a frying pan, a large pot for soups, a chopping board and various other plastic storage receptacles. Don’t ask me how she did it - I just stood for about an hour slowly melting in the bowels of the Phnom Penh Psar Thmey (New Market) while she haggled bargained and occasionally made as if to leave.


The apartment is the top floor of a shop-house, the ground floor contains a shop, which one I have yet to take the time to figure out. Entry is through a men’s barbershop across a hair strewn floor, but through a windy series of stairways that isn’t the shop we ended up above (above which we ended) - I need to go to the street sometime and see what is actually below us. The second floor is residential and we seem to have the entire third floor. Huge tiled main room which opens through French doors onto balcony above the street. The apartment came with table and 4 chairs in that room and reasonably enough that is where we eat. Also in that huge room is the refrigerator and a new bed which was delivered on our move in day (paid for out of my first month rent )- that bed has remained unused - that will be the extra bed in case of visitors. In the same main rom is a brand new refrigerator also delivered on first day. The rolling kitchen unit lives in that room but can roll outside to cook.

Above the main room is a loft accessed by a steep set of steps which we have thus far used for storage but I think Da’s 19 year old brother will come stay with us and sleep up there.

Behind the main room is an outside area (albeit covered with corrugated aluminum roof) this is the outdoor cooking and laundry drying area - the bathroom/shower/toilet/laundry room is off the corner of this area - typical Southeast Asian facilities (but thankfully with a western toilet - that would have been a deal-breaker - no way I would squat for 2 months). No hot water but in this climate you certainly don’t need it.

Behind the outdoor area is the main bedroom - windows to the back onto some kind of communal walkway which seems to run most of the length of the block. We have good curtains. This room has the air-conditioner, large wardrobe, shelf unit and queen sized bed. This will be donated to guests should they appear.

In the Asian way all the windows and doors are barred and our final leg of the flights of steps has some kind of sliding security gate which looks as if it came from a medieval dungeon - I swear it would take a tank to get through it - that along with a very large padlock.

Returning to the subject of entering - initially we did enter through the barbershop and I noticed that tonight when Da went to pick up diner she went out that way - no idea whether that is the official okay way to come and go or whether it is just tolerated - guess I can test it by getting my soon to be needed haircut there (has it really been 5 weeks since I left Seattle?}. The other way of entry (and the only way after the store closes and bars its front) is through the back alley behind the apartments. This was almost as far as I got I was all ready to say no to the apartment when I saw it - a real third world slum alley although to be charitable it doesn’t stink and I have not encountered any dogs or other livestock (or rodents) - it is very dark and very low for me - the stairs are kind of scary but as you climb things get better and our place was already decidedly clean and airy - the landlady spent a day cleaning and then Da spent a further day so now it is spotless (relatively).

The residents do not yet seem to have adjusted to having this large headed pasty white Anglais living among them - although there are certainly thousands around town just not in their ’hood - there are astonished stares from little kids and giggles and pointing from girls and women - last night we were on the front balcony watching the lightning and I looked up to the roof - there were 5 girls on the roof leaning their heads over the edge and giggling - even though I was fully clothed!!!! I have become used to giggling when I am not but this was a first. Da seems to have befriended at least two of them as I just went to the bedroom and found that she has two of them in there watching TV with her - I was met with screams and giggles - I retreated back to my front balcony.

My only disquiet thus far is the fact that I cannot get Da to close the bedroom door when she has lights on - she has no care that bugs may be attracted - being native she is immune to such cares - the three of them are in there now with all the lights on and the door wide open - guess I will just have to get used to it - it was the same in Thailand - It does keep the power usage down that’s for sure - she uses a fan rather than the A/C - I don’t mind the little geckos - they are scared of me but the mosquitoes do bite - no malaria risk in PP but annoying when they buzz in your ear. Apparently power averages about US$30 for the month if you use A/C a lot - we don’t so I guess it will be way lower. I saw the water bill for 2 months from the previous occupant - the landlady was staying in just the airconditioned bedroom - her bill was about US$1.50 (dolar fifty for 2 months). We have cable - although I have no idea whether it is official or bootlegged - I suspect the latter. CNN/ESPN/HBO and almost every language you could name along with many Thai and Khmer channels - reception isn’t great but I suspect that may be the length of the cable - mybe I will invest in a signal booster box.

No internet at home but that’s okay it is apparently expensive. I will go to one of the many restaurants tomorrow which have free wifi and post this entry.

For now - her new friends seem to have gone - time for me to shower.

Netxt morning: Sitting at riverfront cafe having just had great coffee and club sandwich - the Cambodians do serve amazing coffee - something good left by the Fench.  Everywhere on the river has free wi-fi - for customers - this is where most of whitey is to be found down by the river not where I am living albeit it is only 3 blocks away. Da and her brother going shopping for more stuff while i am here - they dont want me with tem - they will pay about half the price if I am not there - excited to get an electric kettle and coffee mugs today so I can indulge myself - its the little pleasures which count.

Last night we only used the fan, no air conditioning and we were perfectly comfortable - power bills stand to go even lower.

Going to attempt to upload some pictures - will find out what kind of connection I have shortly - I think YouTube videos will have to wait - uploading and encoding takes forever which isnt practical from a cafe - cant possibly drink enough coffee to justify sitting here for 6 hours - will try uploading small mp4s directly to the blog maybe tomorow.

Laundry Day

I had 3 shirts, one t-shirt, 5 pairs underwear and 4 pairs socks washed, dried and ironed at little laundry stand across from the hotel - 24 hour turnaround - 100THB - that's about US$3.33 - yes three dollars thirty three - not a bad deal I think, plus they are the nicest people with the cutest 2 year old kid you could ever imagine.

Happy with my choice

I am very happy with the decision I made to buy the condo in Jomtien - took a walk out there today and found whole new pluses to the immediate area.  A great fresh food and meat market hidden across the street - no foreigners, just Thais, which means the prices will be about a third of those in the grocery stores which target the Farang.  New shophouse development going up right next to entry way to the complex - bound to be a laundry, a massage, a bar and a restaurant (and probably a 7-11 despite there being one 100m up the street).  The distance from the beach is just right - enough to keep the area peaceful yet only 10 minutes walk. Jomtien Beach is totally different than Pattaya - wide, clean and mostly Thai families enjoying their day off - you dont get accosted every 10m by some female (and some not female) inquiring "where you go - I go with you?" - not that there's anything wrong with that - it has its time and place but gets a little old after a while.  Almost made a big mistake - filming as I walked rather than watching where I was going, encountered a soft piece where they are building a new road and went over on my ankle - thankfully heard no snap and was able to walk on it for about another hour with minor pain - that could have put a cramp on the plans as I am flying to Cambodia tomorrow - will be more careful in the future.
Video later when I get around to uploading it.

Water water everywhere...

Woke up this morning to flooded streets - I never even heard the rain - not an uncommon event at this time of the year and in this less than perfectly designed city  fortunately they do a far better job designing the buildings with high curbs - several streets leading to the beach were torrential rivers washing away the sand as they cascaded into the sea.  Had an appointment with the condo sales guy and I needed to go drop off some laundry so I did my share of wading in flip-flops through some rather unsavory water. A few pictures attached.

Evidently a Dutchman designed this underground garage:

Bangkok afternoon

Took the Skytrain down to the river - level was higher than I have ever seen and there was furious sandbag work going on and some anniversarycelebration of some group - took a walk back to the central business area - here is some video.

Soi Cowboy - a quiet stroll

The reason for this particular street continues to elude me (as far as you know) - there seems to be great concern on the part of many young women regarding "where you going" and there seem to be an excessive number of ATM machines - I just don't understand - but interesting nonetheless.

Thai late night TV

Hmm maybe TV was an inappropriate abbreviation considering...

First you have to understand that Thailand doesn't allow anything overtly sexual on television - all stars in even the most salacious soap opera are fully clothed and any sex is very remotely hinted at - the following was an amazing departure (in my mind) from the normal:

Late night Thai television ad for something approaching the Thai version of Viagra - presumably herbal.

Cute girl in bed - man who actually looked old enough to be her father - comes into bedroom - she looks appealingly at him (in that Thai girl way) -he looks concerned and looks down at his crotch and shakes his head.
Mysteriously they are now in Muay Thai (boxing)ring in shorts and t-shirts with boxing gloves - big ones not Muay Thai ones.

She beckons with one glove in a bring-it-on manner.

He shuffles forward but is unable to raise his arms - significant do you think?

She repeatedly punches him in the head.

Still he offers no action.

She delivers a straight leg kick to the groin - he goes down (no - not in that way).

His cornerman is yelling at him = pulls out a package that looks just like the Viagra and Cialis they sell on the street to us "old" farang (as far as you know).

He pulls out a pill and flicks it across the ring right into the dude's mouth.

He immediately jumps up - adopts a combative pose and charges at the girl.

We hear a scream from her.

Next frame we see her snuggled in bed with a post-orgasmic glow on her face and the guy is asleep next to her.

Sure beats having a NASCAR car emblazoned with "Viagra".

Only on late night TV I am sure.

Thought you would enjoy this example of how Thailand is changing but yet not quite.

Rainy morning in Bangkok

Just chilling outside my hotel - nothing much happens - just if you want to se how I wasted awy this morning with a book while it rained.

ONE NIGHT IN BANGKOK - Out to dinner at my favorite restaurant

A brief summary of the 5 minute walk from my hotel to my favorite Bangkok restaurat\nt for a typically fabulous dinner. What you see here is Issan style seafood salad (I gurantee it is too spicy for almost anyone I know) and Phad See Eew Gai (panfried rice noodles with chicken gravy and greens) - about $6 and as good as you can get - 2 beers at about $2 each and a very happy tummy (and burning lips).

Ferry Hull to Zeebrugge and walk around Brugges Slideshow

Took the overnight ferry from Hull to Zeebrugge then spent a rainy grey day walking around the historic town of Brugges. Home of Belgian chocolate, decorative lace and waffles. Then the overnight ferry back home again.

If this is Monday it must be Belgium...

Tonight the overnight ferry to Zeebrugge (casino, bars, showroom) - Monday a sightseeing day in the medieval city of Brugges - then the ferry back again - what P&O Ferries call a "minicruise" - all for the equivalent of about $50 - pictures to follow.