Advertisement
Published: November 22nd 2009
Week Two
So here’s another interesting week to tell you all about and it starts with Monday 16th November where even though I set an alarm (which actually worked this time!) when it went off I thought I pushed the snooze button but knowing my luck it was actually the ‘exit’ button and I ended up sleeping in longer than I planned to. Unlike last week, it wasn’t a mad rush to get ready which was a plus, although Anji and I had some fun trying to push my foldable bed into the bathroom and the pillows in the bath, making a joke that I’d be small enough to fit in there to go to sleep! We then began the casting process with Jo and Chanthang at 9am and watched as some very talented actresses auditioned. There were two people who really stood out for us and they ultimately received the parts, but I’m not going to give anything away so you’ll just have to wait and see when I bring back the DVD. After casting Jo, Anji and I went straight into writing up schedules and organising everything for filming before our guests arrived for a little
gathering to introduce all the team members, including a member of the cast. Anji, Jo and I were too immersed in organising everything that we lost track of time and had to rush to put nibbles out for those who had arrived a little earlier than we expected - whoops. Everyone really seemed to get along well with each other; so much so that it felt like this wasn’t the first time we were all working together. When everyone had left Anji whipped up some chicken stir fry while singing to ABBA (with me too, of course) before we watched “My Life in Ruins” by the same women who wrote and produced “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”. We’re both guilty of indulging ourselves with a few of the chocolates bought for the team, but they don’t have to know that…
The next day was a pretty hectic one and for once I was up early! Shocking, I know. My jetlag has finally passed which means all is now good in the hood. Although Anji had a cold she spent the day working hard to finish tweaking the script and other pieces of organisation we didn’t manage to finish yesterday
Rabbit Suit
In the making- bless her, while I was given the task to see what needs updating on the IDP website and write about the life of monks in the temples to see whether tourists would be interested in taking part in their activities for a week or just a half day. I know I would definitely give it a try! The life of the monks sounds really intriguing, albeit challenging, to experience and would definitely be something to tell your friends at dinner parties. In the evening Anji experimented with Gordan Ramsey’s “Duck with cherry port sauce and mashed potatoes” by using lamb instead which I must say was a very good idea as it turned out to be delicious! It just goes to show that experimenting with food can be a good idea… Plus it makes cooking more fun and in this case it was definitely worth it!
On Wednesday 18th November, I took my first trip to Cade Advertising to continue working with Jo on the script, highlighting the extras (speaking and non-speaking), the main cast members, props and wardrobe needed in each scene. We also had a meeting with Changthang about the children who needed to be cast
Make-up included
Rabbit with half of the face in make-up as well as the extras with speaking parts. We also realised that we needed a new-born baby in some of the scenes and Changthang suggested that she visit the local hospital and ask one of the women if we could borrow their baby for a few hours over two days - one can only imagine how that conversation would go down! I then left home to continue the work I had started with Jo before eating plain rice for dinner (as that’s how the Cambodians roll!) before Anji and I watched “My Sister’s Keeper” which I’ll admit made me cry - just a little bit though.
Thursday 19th was an extremely draining day to say the least! I managed to get up early again - go me - before adding additional information to the newsletter I was working on last week for the school and finding pictures of the children’s drawings to include in it. I then made some quick errands after a speedy lunch before I was in a 5 hour meeting with Anji, Jo and Nic about the script, filming, extras needed and any last minute changes as well as updates about the infamous rabbit costume for
Sophea Tongsay (the Wise Rabbit who gives advice)! We were very lucky when Jo donned part of the rabbit outfit to show us what it would look like on the actor (pictures included). After heated discussion and idea after idea thrown into the mix we finished and Anji and I ordered Spanish takeout before she made her way to bed to get over her cold and I watched “Lie to Me” - after all I can’t be missing my favourite show now, can I?
The next day was spent going on errands, picking up takeout lunch as Anji had tonnes of work to finish and neither of us had the energy to whip up something. I spent the majority of the afternoon working on the very detailed shooting schedule for our project so that there can be no excuses for no shows. In the evening we met Chaz at Romdeyn Restaurant where I ordered crispy fried tarantula in lime and chille sauce as a starter - crazy, right? But it turns out that this is a normal starter out here and you all know that I’m quirky enough to try it as well as other delicacies, like silk worms,
Side profile
Oh how I love this rabbit! red ants, ducks eggs (with the embryo still inside), chicken’s feet and head and a fish head! These three tarantulas came out on my plate and I did a double take thinking why on earth am I going to eat this? After trying and failing to pick up a tarantula for a picture, I managed to pull myself together and have the pictures taken before digging in. I ate most of them and I have to admit, although I don’t really want to, that they were rather tasty in a weird way and reminded me of spicy Pringles, albeit rather chewy. We then made our way to Rubies, followed by Metro for dessert and cocktails; like the Mantini (a Martini for men, apparently) and the delicious but sweet Chocolate Martini before heading over to Blue Chilli for another night of entertainment! The dances were different this time and I must admit it is my guilty pleasure because it’s just so much fun and as you’ve probably guessed it’s still my favourite place in town. We stayed longer this time, mingling and getting to know some of the regulars there before heading home to hit the hay after a well-deserved and
extremely fun-filled evening!
Saturday 21st November was spent on a recce of the locations with some team members from Ocelus to not only show them the filming locations but also find the couple we did not have yet. It also meant that we would be travelling to the Ta Khmao countryside again. We visited each of the character’s houses, one of which had an incident with a cow that kept running around its house and also the neighbours - a pretty crazy cow indeed. We also visited a mango plantation, riverside (which was opposite a house that is still being built after 8 years so far!), pharmacy and market place for one of our scenes which will definitely bring a lot of attention to us, especially with Sophea Tongsay in his white rabbit costume! It was so interesting to see a traditional Cambodian Market place in Ta Khmou. I’ve not seen anything like it before, although the layout is very similar to Watford Market. There was a potions stall (but not like the potions in Harry Potter sadly), herbs and spices stall, poultry (selling complete chickens - head and feet included) and fish (selling all or just the head)
stalls and the hustle and bustle of people walking past added to the vibrant atmosphere. I just loved it and cannot wait until we film there! On the way back home, we discovered that Ta Khmou is translated as “Black Grandfather”, after we saw the statue built in his memory. That night Anji and I ordered pizza - Khmer style, which in my opinion was nicer than those found in England (except Pizza Express of course).
Well it’s Sunday, a relax day! Not much going on, just making sure everything in the schedules are completely accurate for filming next Saturday followed by a night out to dinner with Anji to get out of these four walls as Anji says. I’m so excited and can’t wait for next week’s update to tell you all how it goes!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.3s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 11; qc: 27; dbt: 0.0588s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Carrie
non-member comment
Busy bee
Well what a lot has been packed into this second week and I absolutely cannot wait to see pictures of Sophea Tonsay, the wise white rabbit, when he is all dressed up and ready to film! You have hit the ground running and will no doubt be full steam ahead in this week to come. How exciting. I love your blog and the way you add so much personality to your tales of Cambodia - it is really a very entertaining read! Trust you to find a chocolate martini! Love you xxxxxx