Today’s move in day. When I signed the lease, I was told that I wouldn’t be able to move in until sometime not in the morning. Once I woke up this morning, I headed over to the apartment to inquire about what time I could move in; I figured it was negotiable and I wanted to move in early, so I could buy anything I needed at the markets. I entered the gate and out came the landlord’s family. This is the conversation, with better grammar and without the numerous hand gestures.

Me: what time can I move in?

Family: Four.

Me: One?

Family: Tomorrow.

Me: No, I have to work tomorrow. It must be today.

Family: Not repaired yet.

Me: hmm... ok, two?

Family: Oh, the people (presumably the current tenants) are not at the airport then. Six.

Me: Four?

Family: Ok

So I guess I’m moving in at 4.

If I had to name the one reason why living in Phnom Penh is great, that reason would be exemplified by this story: I just jumped off the tuk-tuk at the end of my street and started walking to my house (well the apartment I’m staying in at the moment – more on that in a minute). After spending my Saturday working from 11-5 while slightly hungover, there was one thing on my mind and I was racing home to partake, when a group of guys in a parked tuk-tuk said “hi” to me. Actually they said suk s’bay te, which means “hi.” I recognized one as a moto driver that I use often who hangs out/stays/lives somewhere on the street. No one else knew me and no one spoke a word of english. I realized that a party was afloat, and by “party” I mean they were drinking, in other words enjoying Saturday to the fullest. I quickly get offered a drink, apparently for being cool, or white, or just because they like to share. The bottle is glass (good sign), with remnants of a label and filled with a dark liquid. It kinda looked like Special Muscle Wine, a khmer delicacy that is supposedly made with deer penis or deer blood, but lacked the normal purple hew. The moto driver pours the liquor into a makeshift cup made from a the top of a plastic soda bottle that had been cut off and turned upside down with cap as the bottom. There is no doubt in my mind that this cup came from someone’s “recyclables.” [side note: there’s no such thing as recycling here. But people do constantly scour the trash for all sorts of bottles and cans (somehow they get money for bringing used cans and bottles somewhere) and anything else that can be reused.] Well at this point it’s too late to refuse and honestly I never really considered not drinking the liquor, even though I didn’t know what I was about to drink and I’d drinking it out of garbage. It’s pretty tasty and after working all day, hit the spot. Then I’m given a piece of an omelet. Then another drink followed by a chicken wing. We converse a bit and then I’m on my way. So to sum up: 2 drinks, a piece of omelet and a chicken wing all from random guys hanging out of the street – perfect way start a Saturday night.

I just signed a lease for an apartment. I’ve been house-sitting for some friends. Anyway, it’s the second floor of a traditional wooden Khmer house. It’s has two bedrooms, two balconies, a living room, dining room, kitchen, bathroom. I even got the owner to buy a washing machine for me. I’ll take some pictures once I move in on the 10th. And since it has two bedrooms all you people now have no excuse to not visit.

I went up to siem reap a couple weekends ago to check out the temples and visit the cambodian las vegas. here are couple pictures from the trip: the waterfall is at Phnom Kulen, the holiest sight in Cambodia - atop the mountain carved into a huge boulder is a giant sleeping buddha and the rest of the mountain contains dozens of giant rocks naturally in the shape of various animals. The other picture is Angkor Thom - one of the major temples at the Angkor Wat complex.




Sorry no quotes today - but the murder rate of alleged sorcerers and black magic practitioners continues to grow.

Earlier today, I saw perhaps the greatest thing I’ve ever seen while sitting on a moto. A baseball hat fell off of someone’s head a few motos up. Just after the cap hit the pavement, a moto driver sticks out his left leg and hooks the hat onto his feet. The Moto driver now reaches his hand down the side of the bike, takes the hat off of his foot, examines it, and places it atop his head. Now what I just described is commonplace; it’s pedestrian at best. But this moto driver didn’t slow down or pull over at all, throughout the performance he accelerated past us allowing me to see the husband and wife sitting on the back.

Why was I on a moto today, in the middle of water festival where 4 million people pour into Phnom Penh to watch the boat races? Unfortunately I was not heading to the riverside to watch the festivities. I did that yesterday. Nope, I was out finding a new camera because mine has apparently precluded light from entering pictures. So I drove past the two camera stores, which were expectantly closed, and headed to Sorya, aka the mall (which actually has a roller-skating rink on it’s roof). Yesterday as I watched the water festival perched on a 4th floor balcony drinking Bloody Marys (I needed my vitamins), the crowd really started to grow around 4 pm and I wondered where all these people hang out during the day, before they go to the riverside. They go to the mall.
It was so crowded. I got to the electronics floor and found the only store that was selling new and not bootlegged cameras. They were ridiculously expensive, so I’m going to have to head to the camera stores tomorrow.

Due to the aforementioned camera problem, I have no pictures to share with you. So the ones from last year will have to suffice. One is of swarm of people. One is of two boats racing. And one is of the “floats” that “parade” up the river during and after the fireworks. All the Ministries have a float and only the Ministries have floats. I think I described what water festival is last year. If not, wikipedia.





I played in rugby tournament last weekend; we lost to the Cambodian national team in overtime. I’m going to play in the domestic league that starts in a couple weeks. I’m heading up to Siem Reap and should be exploring some of the more remote temples.

Here are some random facts about Cambodia:

Something like 85 people have died from being hit by lightning this year. It’s like an epidemic, but thankfully rainy season ended.

A man was murdered about 2 weeks ago because two villagers thought the victim was a practitioner black magic, as evidenced by the victim making the wife of one of the villagers sick for the past two years. The local police chief aptly described the situation, “The villagers believe in black magic, but still if they murder someone they will still face the law.”

The Prime Minister H.E. (His Excellency) Hun Sen said that Cambodia is a good place to ride out the economic downturn because, “Cambodia has no stock market, so there is nothing to crash.”

I’ve been in Phnom Penh for just over 1 week now. The biggest change I’ve noticed is that traffic has gotten 10 times worse and it was absolutely awful before. The bus ride to work, a 7-mile trip, is now a 90-minute traffic jam. Either to combat this problem or for beautification, Phnom Penh has erected numerous traffic lights. Incredibly the traffic lights all seem to work properly and yet no one follows them. No one. Admittedly, it is tough to obey a circular light when traffic laws don’t exist.

The quotes in the local newspaper are unparalleled – they really offer a glimpse into the mindset of society here. With that in mind, I’ll be including a quote in every post.

“We have only 1 bow; we cannot shoot 3 rabbits at once.” – Cambodian military officer, discussing Cambodia’s strategy in their border skirmish with Thailand.

cambodia the remix

and it starts again....that's right, I caught something in Phnom Penh and I'm heading back and I was even able to finagle a ride to the airport from my parents this time. This means that this little portal into the world of Cambodia, which has been described as having "too many swear words and too much drinking," is back! I'm going to try to update more frequently and all comments are appreciated. I can only imagine what that 20 hour flight is going to be like.

a quick update on my brief and limited tour of vietnam.

saturday was a travel day. glad i wasn't hungover. we rode a few hundred km, stopped off in a few towns - not too much to get excited about until we stopped for the night.

we went to dinner at a local barbeque joint, where we feasted on wild deer, mountain goat and weasel. all of it was delicious. the weasel tasted like a cross between rabbit and pork. if you ever see weasel on the menu, do yourself a favor and order it. same for wild goat.

the hotel we stayed at doubled as a brothel under the guise of having a spa and offering massages. its not fun to be sharing a room with your sister in this situation.

today we headed up the ho chi min trail. truly beautful and we continue to be the only white people everywhere we go.

so this post was going to detail the first 3 days of my trip through the central highlands, but instead i got drunk on banana-rice wine with my tour guides. i'll try to do my best, but i'm wasted so no promises.

while drinking all that rice wine, i also ate a bunch of organ meat and cow brains. the brains were quite tasty, and very delicate. of course the last time i ate organ meat in southeast asia i got dysentary and a doctor removed my appendix shortly thereafter. good thing i don't have to worry about that anymore.

so we started the tour in da lat. da lat is like a ski-town in switzerland. It sits on a picturesque lake and is situated high in the mountains. the main difference being that there is no ski slope. however, it's witner here, so everyone bundles up, hats, coats, gloves, scarves, etc and that only add to the feeling of being in the alps. then of course i remember that the temperature at night only dips to 65. in their defense, when i my flight landed in da lat, it was 78 and i was freezing. apparently spending 6 months in weather that never dips below 85 will do that to you.

From da lat, we headed to Lak Lake. Vietnam is one of the most beautiful countries i've ever seen. however, it is a bit emasculating riding on the back of a motorcycle, but thats how things are done around here, so what am i gonna do?

we checked out a few minority villages, watched some traditional minority dances, etc. My sister then insisted (read: whined incessetantly)that we go on an elephant ride this morning. elephant rides are really really fun - when you're 8. after that though, elephants are a slow form of transportation, they're constantly getting whipped and poked by their riders because all elephants want to do is eat and its fucking uncomfortable.

this afternoon we rode to a fairly large town - the name escapes me - and checked out a few waterfalls. tomorrow its up north for a few hundred kilometers.