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Published: June 29th 2011
Neighbours
Not sure why, I just like this picture. I think it will be a good candidate for learniing about post-processing. So here is the before shot.Today I decided I would try and sort out this motorbike licence that it seems I need to obtain if I want to ride here and still be covered by my insurance when I fall of and break three arms and a leg. So I found myself a friendly looking motodop, gave instructions in Khmer and sped over to Riverside, where we'd seen some places the night before that might be able to help get my Aussie licence converted to a Cambodian one. Sadly though it turns out that it takes a month or so to process. Apparently it is possible to get it sooner, but it would involve a 'gift' (which I am not keen on giving) and even then it would still be unlikely I could get it before I go away next weekend (when I have the opportunity to borrow a moto to practice on). It seems like the best way to get the licence quickly is to actually go to a driving school and do the test. But then, I'm told if I don't give a 'gift' there, I still might not be able to pass. I'm not sure if its really worth the
effort.
My disappointment with the licence was soon forgotten though - as I took a motodop home and caught a quick nap before movie night! Daniel had organised a screening of Inception on the projector at the office. I was pretty excited about this because I somehow missed out on seeing it when it was at the movies in Australia. Plus I was looking forward to hanging out with the guys from work in a bit more of a social setting. Inception was great, as expected. After the movie, we sat around chatting over a few drinks before finally gathering enough motivation to find somewhere for dinner. By this time it around 10pm, far too late for me to safely find a motodop. Fortunately one of the guys was able to give me a ride, though that did mean that three people had to share another moto, but it didn't seem to be a big problem.
For dinner we went to a Khmer restaurant. Though 'restaurant' doesn't quite convey it properly. It was kind of like a beer garden almost, but very much focused around food and tables for people to sit at still. It was pretty cool.
We ordered the beef lok lak - which is the only dish in the world where I actually think the pepper works well. I've had it quite a few times now (it's a bit of a Cambodian specialty). The idea is that you get a tiny bowl of pepper, and then you mix in lemon juice (which defuses the pepperyness of it, probably why I like it). Then you dip the beef in the mixture. Its pretty good. We also ordered a meal that is bascially made up of cooked ants. The ants are pretty big and they have wings. They taste fantastic. And just slightly crunchy. This was my favourite dish for the night.
Sunday, 5 June This morning I went to church at ELIM again. I really like the services there. The worship music has been great, both in terms of style and being really heart felt. Teaching seems to be pretty Biblically solid. And the people are lovely and welcoming. Today I was invited to go to lunch at Sumatra, an Indonesian restaurant with a group of them. The food was great, but more than that it was nice to just sit around and chat with
people and hear the stories of what everyone is doing and how long they have been in Cambodia.
By the time lunch finished, I had to rush home and quickly head out again to the Parkway shopping centre (check out
Daniel's blog post for some more pictures, though I don't remember it being quite so empty as it looks). The purpose of our trip to Parkway was ten pin bowling and dodgem cars. A team building event for the company that I'm working with. Dodgem cars were so much fun! No silly rules about seat belts or not belting the daylights out of other cars as I've seen at other places, just a complete free for all. I couldn't help but note that my dodgem car ride was not terribly dissimilar to the moto ride I had taken a few minutes earlier to get to the place. It really was enormous fun though. There was a mixture of staff from my company and other locals on the ride at the same time, and everyone seemed to quite enjoy crashing into everyone else. It's certainly one way to breake the ice!
After the dodgem cars, we went ten pin bowling. For
quite a few of the Cambodian staff this was their first time ever, so it seemed that for once I might have a chance of not coming last. In the end though I handed responsibility for my turn over to someone else who came late, so that I could wander around and watch the other teams. Interestingly, they don't charge you per game at Parkway. You pay for the lane on a per hour basis.
Monday, 6 June Today was one of the most encouraging days of my trip so far in some ways. I got to tell my new friend Adono that someone I know back at home had offered to pay for her to get a moto. This is a huge blessing as it is actually pretty expensive to use motodops and tuk tuks, and she is here doing a lot of work that is all about helping people and doesn't necessarily involve actually getting paid.
I also got to meet Rika, who is from Indonesia and has been working here running an NGO that works in the villages. Rika had been back in Indonesia as she had rushed home after her father had recently passed
away. I was very encouraged after hearing about how a small gift had enabled her to return to Cambodia to finish things up before moving back to Indonesia to take care of her mother after her father's death. And the impact that had not only on her but on her family and people here in Cambodia.
Tuesday, 7 June Today I had a language lesson. I felt like I was doing very well actually. And right afterward, as soon as I stepped out onto the street a tuk tuk driver called out to me to ask if I required his services. This was my opportunity to pull it all together. To put the theory into practice. In beautiful Khmer I replied:
No thank you uncle, I don't need a tuk tuk, because my house is not delicious.
As you can imagine, the man looked at me for a moment, cracked up laughing and then very kindly told me the correct word for "far". "Far" and "delicious" sound alike. Kind of. And I'd just learned them both that morning. However I have never forgotten them since!
Wednesday, 8 June I tried to use paypal today to send someone in Australia a little gift. Paypal, understandably, thought it was a bit odd that my account
Hot baguette and Brie
I love the French influence! had suddenly been used from Cambodia. Now my paypal account is locked, and can't be unlocked until I can verify a transaction they just put on my credit card. Yet despite the hassle of having to contact the Aussie company and arrange to pay with my credit card so my gift would still be delivered on time, I'm somehow happy about this account locking . Thankyou paypal security.
Thursday, 9 June Doxy lesson #1: When they say 'take it with food', they really do mean
with. Not 'take it and then get a motodop to work, go to a meeting and then realise you didn't grab food as you'd intended to on the way and now you feel extremely nauseous'.
So why, you might ask am I suddenly taking Doxy? Because I am taking a long weekend this weekend to go to a beachside town called Sihanoukville with Adono and see the children who live at the house she and her friend set up as an NGO a few years ago. Basically the organisation provides a place for some of the kids from the poorest families in a nearby village to live during the week so they can
Snacks for the bus
I got these purely because of the name go to school (and an of course an adult to supervise). I'm really looking forward to it. We are going by bus, which could be interesting. The trip is 5 hours or more, and only costs $5. I wonder if i will be sitting on the roof!
In the evening, I had a very Khmer dinner with Rika and Sophall at one of the food stalls near the Russian market. The meal itself was fried rice with shrimp (which was kind of dried) and then lots of mango on the top. Sounds odd right? The mango actually wasn't "sweet mango" though (ie the mango i would eat in Australia). It's kind of unripe and shredded. I'm not such a fan of the unripe mango myself, but overall it was good. We won't talk about the fruit drink though. It had durian in it. A lot of durian.
***Scroll down for more photos!***
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Sue Ellen
non-member comment
I hope you realise that now everyone in Australia who reads this blog is thinking that they're the person who's about to receive the small gift you sent. I'll be checking my mailbox daily!