Justin and Leakhena get formally engaged

I should write this story in two parts as there were two events that encapsulated our engagement, a Friday night ceremony with the family at the family apartment and then the big shindig at Tra and Phalla's on the Saturday.So....

Friday 24.8.07; At the last moment I found out that we were actually due at the family apartment for a small ceremony with the Acha ( the monk's right hand man). This was new to me as Leakhena and I had planned to go to Raffles for dinner but what the hell, if I have learnt one thing it is that things change rapidly here and you have to go with the flow. On arrival at the apartment I find all the family have come up from Kampot and there is a lovely spread of food laid out on the floor and after some very brief blessings and such from the Acha we tuck into a fine meal with a few cold beers to boot. What was supposed to take an hour took several but I enjoyed being with all the family greatly and we were all looking forward to the big day. Saturday 25.08.07; After a sound night sleep and with Leakhena already gone at 6a.m for her make-up session, I headed for Psar Toul Tom Pong as I wanted to buy Tra something as a thankyou. He had done somuch hard work that I wanted to get him something nice and as I had caught him drooling at my Panerai watch last night, I decided to get him a nice big square Tag Heuer F1Monaco. I also had a nice quiet breakfast and a coffee and prepared myself mentally for the day ahead. I went home and suited up in the new suit which came up great and then headed over to Tra and Phalla apartment which by now resembled Disneyland ! After

giving Tra his watch ( which he loved ! ) I watched as everyone assembled in the main apartment upstairs for the ceremony whilst downstairs was a hive of activity with the caterers preparing the food. I headed straight for the air conditioned comfort of the "prep"room whilst all my guests sweated it out in the living room.

Is it time yet ? Is it time yet ?

Soon enough we were away with the ceremony. First up Darren and Heng ( my substitute parents ) had to have a good old natter with my new parent in laws and then Leakhena and I headed out for our part. It was really quite short which was a godsend because it was bloody hot in that room and my knee from the moto accident was killing me. I couldn't take my eyes off Leakhena who was just looking stunning in her traditional red silk Khmer outfit. The best moment was when we placed the rings on each others fingers and kissed the rings. I was almost in tears at that stage !

My stunning bride-to be ;-)

The Acha who performed the ceremony was fantastic. He spoke excellent English so was able to guide us throughout he ceremony and also was a natural comedian so got alot of laughs from everyone. All in all it took about 30 minutes and we were back into the "prep"room to chill out a bit before heading downstairs for hundreds of photos and a meal fit for a king.We had about 70 guests all sitting down at lovely tables all decorated with linen and flowers and outside in the street was a mobile kitchen fit to cook for an army. We had some rocking tunes playing and the beer flowed and the food came thick and fast and everyone had a great time.

One happy camper !

The party was all over and packed away by 3pm and we were home asleep by 3.30pm. After a few hours in the cot we headed over the The Green Vespa for a few nightcaps with our Friends and then again were home in bed exhausted by 10.30pm.I will post more photos when I can get to a decent Internet connection again because this one is very6 bad so pleasse check here again soon !

The Phnom Pen goes to Malaysia

I have just returned from a week in KL, Malaysia where I attended the PCI Geomatics reseller meeting for two days and then we had a booth at MapAsia where we released our new web mapping product, Mango Map.

I flew over with my Managing Director and after a one hour taxi ride from the airport we checked into the salubrious Regent Suites and Apartments which were amazing at US$90 a night. Had a few beers and then went to bed in absolute comfort. The next few days was spent attending the PCI meet which was as boring as watching paint dry but we met some cool guys who we went out with at night and I got some nice corporate gifts ( Torch, Compass and Penknife sets ) which I gave to Dany and Veasna on my return much to their delight. I was actually only given one but pinched one of the extras that was lying around HAHAHHA.

After the PCI meet the other Aruna guys flew in and then we spent the next 5 days at our booth promoting Mango Map. I bet you are thinking "Stupid name for a mapping product " right ? Yeah, that's what I thought when the developer came up with it. When he ran it by me I suggested it might be a little hard to market and sell in the very technical geospatial marketplace that it is placed in but hey.... I am only the Sales and Marketing guy what would I know ? SO there we were amongst a bunch of Super Technical boothes with flat screens and stereos blaring and impressive eye-catching gadgetry on display . Our budget ran to two trays of mangoes and some toothpicks. Allot of people showed interest but more for the stupid name than anything else. I had quite a few [people ask me how we were going to sell the product with a name like that and I cold only proffer the answer " Well.....Google must have sounded pretty stupid when it was first suggested.....".

Anyways it was a tiring week. KL sux big fat ones. It is so hot and humid and expensive and it is totally geared up for rich Arabs with shops and malls EVERYWHERE. Driving is a freaking nightmare and takes hours to go very short distances. One night I caught up with an old buddy and he picked me up from the Park Royale. After an hour of driving freeways we went right past it again and I said " did we get lost ?"...." no....we had to go this way to get to where we are going !!". The taxi drivers are all scumbags and beers cost $10. I honestly HATED KL. I will never go back there. I am sure there is a lovely Malaysia away from the city but ...sorry....first impressions etc. One day I queued up for 1.5 hours to get tickets to the Petronas Towers and none of us ended up using them. What a waste. However while I was on my way out of the Towers I bumped into Grant Hackett, World Champion swimmer (http://granthackett.bigblog.com.au/ ) , and he was nice enough to stop and say hello and let me take a photo with him. Will post it here when i can. That was really cool!

On arrival back to Phnom Penh and as we left the airport my MD asked me to come into the office at 11a.m to " discuss the week". As he had just retrenched our Business Director the day before we left and was planning further staff cuts to stem the financial disaster his company is now in, I feared the worst. Sure enough the next day he retrenched me citing "dire financial situation etc etc. So....whatever.....life goes on and the sun will still come up. Now I don't have to work for an inc0mpetent Canadian whose idea of financial management is to put half his useless family on the books.

Stay tuned y'all......more to come.

My mate Yat just got shot in the chest !

Yat ( on the right of picture )

As you read this, my good mate Yat is lying in Calmette Hospital having been shot in the chest at 11.30pm last night. I have just been to visit him and the doctor's say he "should" be OK but the bullet missed his heart by millimetres, he has had open chest surgery to remove the bullet and Calmette Hospital isn't exactly sterile. Thanks god he is built like a bull.When I got to the hospital ( with Chy Vorn, Srey Touch and Srey Pov ) he had only just come out of anaesthesia and was quite groggy. Yat's family were all there and the Khmer women show grief like Arabian women. They cry and sway and wail and it is a very emotional time. Yat grabbed my hand firmly in the "brother" shake and held me tightly and would not let go and I almost started crying. His father was behind me and was very thankful Chy Vorn and I had come as I think he could see we were all good mates.

Apparently he was on the way to a friends party at Kien Svay last night when two guys approached him and attempted to relive him of his moto keys. Yat is a huge guy by Khmer standards and after brawling with them they pulled a gun and shot him before fleeing . Yat managed to get back on his moto and ride home before collapsing in a bloodied heap.

Anyway, it was awful seeing him like that and we will all visit regularly and I will keep this post updated.

Update as @ 14.8.07 ; Yat is now walking around and has left Calmette Hospital to recouperate further with his family. What a bull ! Now he has a nice gunshot wound to go with his stabbing scars. No ....he is not a thug - this is Phnom Penh remember. Anyways I am very happy to see my friend is OK and recovering.

Q Bar Opening Photos