Moving In to the new gaff..

I am now firmly ensconced in my compound after a smooth transition made all the more easier with the help of my gorgeous girlfriend. I am sure she has little wings on her back and a halo above her head because she never ceases to amaze me. By Thursday night my bags were packed and I was ready to go but we had to spend one more night downtown before taking possession on Friday. I had/have been trying to figure out how I can help Leakhena and her family financially without overdoing it or doing it ineffectively and I decided to employ her for a day as my Logistics Manager - and I explained to her that as she was providing management services, I would of course have to pay her at management rates so she made a week’s wages in a day!. I went off to work from the old address and left her to it and when I arrived at the new address during my lunch hour, it was all set up, fridge stocked with drinking water, laundry dropped off and Leakhena and her mother watching daytime soaps in the living room!

So, mother, to answer your question about the Google earth image- the enclave you can see at the end of the street is the Tonle Bassac...er........SLUM!! . Basically a small shanty town built around the Pagoda. So by day it is like any other neighborhood but by night I have to be a little vigilant with security and my place is actually like Fort Knox with bars and gates etc. The first night I was there I was going to leave my bike on the street and then my landlord ( god bless him ) knocked on my door and told me I must put it somewhere safe if I wanted to see it in the morning so I have sorted out parking in a hotel about 300m walk from my house. It is secure and guarded and costs $10 a month for 24/7 access. I asked an old man near my house if I could park in his front garage but he wanted $25 a month and no access after 9pm! Initially I thought the walk would be a pain but its quite nice saying hello to everyone as I go to and fro and some of them are now recognising me and greeting me. The interesting thing about the neighborhood is that there are a lot of NGO compounds right near this slum as well! Habitat, Pharmacies Sans Frontiers, Village Life etc. So we have those that need the help and those that give the help side by side! I have seen Barang (western) couples walking their children in strollers and it really feels like a normal little neighborhood. I actually intend on going into Tonle Bassac for a look as I think it would be very interesting. I met a jazz musician here and he goes in there a bit to take photos. He said he wouldn’t do it at night but during the day it is fine and as you are the only white person in there you get a lot of attention!

Fri night I relaxed on my own on the roof with a gin and tonic and retired early. On pronating in my bedroom I was aghast to hear loud conversation and all manner of noise going on right outside my front gate. I am thinking " oh shit....here we go" I have chosen to live right at the gathering point for all the local young hoodlums but then I relaxed looking at my watch that it was 9pm on Fri night and it was probably just kids getting ready for the weekend. Sure enough by 10 or so they had all moved on and peace reigned. By 3 am my bedroom was extremely warm (I think AC must be installed!) so I moved upstairs and slept on the daybed I have on my roof. The breeze was cooling and although I have no mattress on it yet, sleep came quickly. I have since learnt that the houses stay cool during the day but then when it gets dark they start to omit all the heat they have soaked up during the day.

In the morning I arose early to watch the most amazing pink sunrise right from where I am lying and I instantly start making mental lists of all the things I have to do. After watching my Landlord and another chap play the fastest chess you have ever seen out on the street, I picked Leakhena up and we headed to Psar Kandal to buy some kitchen stuff. A bbq ,grill and tongs,6 Bowls, 6 sets of cutlery, Chopsticks, 2 buckets and 6 serving spoons costs me $15 and halfway through the procurement process Leakhena rushes off to throw up due to heat and no food. I pay the bill and take her back to the apartment where I make her shower to cool down and then I lie her down under the fan and tell her I will carry on without her. Off I go to buy some cane chairs for the roof and after haggling with about 10 shops I walk out with two papasan chairs for $40 and an old chap in a rickshaw follows me home the 3 km in searing heat and helps me take them up the roof. I go out to buy a fan ($12) and some candles and incense and all of a sudden my roof is looking pretty bloody salubrious and I am looking forward to my first soiree which will come sooner than I expect.

Leakhena awakes feeling much better and she wants to ask her sister Lynn over for a drink (as Jerome is in France) and then she tells me Tra and Phalla would like to come so I say “sure!”. I ask if they could pick up some takeaway rice and pork as I am starving. An hour and a half later I ask Leakhena what is going on and are they coming and she says in her usual way “please wait sweetheart”. I really must work on my patience. Things happen at a slightly different pace here. Things do not happen immediately but they do happen. As I watch from the top balcony, I can only shake my head and chuckle as Tra pulls up in his Camry and out hops Mum (I am calling L’s mother MUM now and she loves it), Lyn, Phalla, Dany, Veasna, Vonlyda, Vichara and two dogs. The whole family has come and the reason for the delay? They didn’t get takeaway food – when they heard I was hungry they cooked for 2 hours and have arrived with not only all the food a man could want but also all the sauces and plates and all the trappings for a first class rooftop christening feast! I am humbled beyond belief and after an awesome night of laughter and fun, I am still shaking my head the next day. In fact, I am still shaking my head today at my good fortune of falling in with this Khmer family.

Yesterday we headed for the markets again to get some mops ( 2 for $3 )and a few more things such as bamboo matting to screen off the balcony railing ( 2 for $6 ) so the neighbors don’t look straight in and some pillows ( 4 for $10 )and a mosquito net ($10) for the daybed. I am seriously thinking of getting a mattress for it and sleeping on the roof every night as it is so cool up there and to run AC is expensive though I know for guests like YOU when you come I will need it! Then all chores being done we head out to Kien Svay for the rest of the day with the whole family again. Kien Svay is the food market, picnic area I went to last time with Leakhena. Little bamboo huts over the river and you just laze around eating, drinking and FISHING with little bamboo poles and playing LOTTO /BINGO (which was great practice for my Khmer numbers) and cards etc. I explained to Tra that I feel like I have already won LOTTO having met the Yim family and he translates this to them and they think this is hilarious .I paid for all the food as a thank you for last night and about $20 feeds us all . I just give Leakhena my wallet at times like these which voids the need for her asking / telling me how much I need to pay and it also makes me feel better as I don’t have to keep reaching for it and shelling out PLUS it builds trust and I think makes Leakhena really feel like my partner – a term I use a lot with her so she knows how I feel!.Tra has bought cold beer and a bucket full of fresh sweet mangoes. I slept barefooted and bare-chested in the arvo breeze and all in all it was a great way to finish the weekend. I dropped Leakhena home and was in bed by 830pm.

So, for a first weekend in my new home it was very successful. I will watch with interest how it pans out where I am living. It’s funny, Americans all give you the “ Phnom Penh is dangerous as hell – lock up your children !! “ speech but I can say I have never felt threatened or like I am being scoped out or targeted or am in danger. I am no fool and I am always on alert but I have felt more nervous in Forster than I have in Cambodia. I think being relatively big and having a shaved head helps HAHAHHAHHAHAA and the khmer tattoo as ever works a treat ! However I am also aware that nasty stuff really DOES happen to foreigners here so it may only be a matter of time and then my outlook might be different.

Inked for the very first time

I have finally got my tattoo which had been in the planning since my first trip to Cambodia. Now don’t freak out mother, it is a great piece of work that extends from my elbow to my neck on my left side. JUST KIDDING ! HAHAHAHAHHHA. Last time I was in Bangkok at Xmas time I spied a few tattoo shops and visited them and they are all famous for their work. This time I happened across a shop called Pumpkin Tattoo one day and outside it was this amazing looking Thai lady with the most amazing artwork on her body I had ever seen, I stopped and got to talking with her and it turns out she and her husband own several shops in the area and she directed me to the one where I could get “inked” by their head tattooist. So I went to the shop and met with her husband and he kindly helped me finalise the exact design. I had taken the design work with me from Sydney but he used a graphics programme to tweak it and next thing I know I am having a stencil applied to my inner left bicep.


We had to change the exact positioning a couple of times which was time consuming but they were all very patient with me. I then lay in the chair with my bottle of water, my MP3 playing some soothing tunes and away we went. It hurt like hell and took about 2 hours and every now and then I would take a photo of myself and chat to the tattooist. Next to me in the other chair was this guy who had arrived 3 months ago to have pretty much his entire body done.

He arrived with one tiny tattoo on his chest and now was sporting some massive designs of the most amazing style. He was having this Japanese Geisha lady with a fan done on his left thigh and I could tell he was in some serious pain. So all in all it was one of the best experiences of my life. Seriously. It is hard to explain the feeling but it is like you join a big club or something and I am so happy with my tattoo. Oh and what is it you ask ? I had it done in Khmer script and it translates as “ One Life to Live “.