Kompong Cham

My friend Peah invited five of us to Kompong Cham for the birthday ceremony of his grandmother. She is about 74, and he wanted some company at the ceremony because otherwise everyone there is like 74 years old. So we went on our motorbikes.

On the first night I was drinking with Peah's relatives and I got very drunk and I wanted to sleep. But his brother said; “I have to show you what my homeland has.” So he took everybody to the bridge over the Mekong. This is a really big bridge and long, maybe one and a half kilometers long, I'm not sure. But it goes up up up, like a hill, and then down down down on the other side. We just drove over and came right back because this was nighttime and very dark, and most of my friends and I don't like the ghosts and the robbers. So we went back to where there were many people selling fruit-shakes and soft drinks and bread with pate, and we had fruit-shakes and rode around Kompong Cham and came back to drink again until I was very very drunk. And I don't know what time I went to sleep.

In the morning the Cambodian music for the birthday ceremony started. It was four o'clock in the morning and still dark, and me and my friends we still wanted to sleep, so we just tried to sleep. But the music kept going and at six o'clock we all went to the ceremony to see what they were doing. I saw three monks praying for Peah's grandmother and some old people sitting. I didn’t want to go in there because it's not like a teenager’s birthday and it looked very different to me and my friends. So we just took our motorbikes and drove around to find some place for breakfast.

We had breakfast and we sat by the river and watched the people and after a while Peah took us to see Phnom Pros and Phnom Srei, which are two hills that are famous throughout all Cambodia. We got lost because Peah hadn't been there for six years, but we found some pretty girls and asked them the way. When we got there we drank Red Bull and looked for monkeys and took some photos and fed the monkeys. There's a temple on top of Phnom Srei and you can see all over Kompong Cham almost. At about 2 o'clock we went back to Preah's house and had a shower and about 5 o'clock we went to the party, because the ceremony with the monks was finished by now. I drank again, and by this time I knew all Peah's relatives, and they all liked to drink with me and my friends. And there was a lot of food and we all had a good time. I like Kompong Cham but not as much as Phnom Penh.

11:38 AM ICT Permalink |

Khmer New Year in Sihanoukville

On Khmer New Year in mid-April, my friends and I took a bus to Sihanoukville. We stayed at the Sunday Guesthouse, very close to Ocheteul Beach. It's a good place to stay because we don't have our motorbikes with us and we could walk to the beach.

On the first day we walked to the beach and took photos. We walked along and watched all the people, especially all the girls, and bought BBQ prawns from the vendors. That evening we went looking for a place where we could relax and drink beer. But God, Cambodian places are more expensive than Western places now! So, we decided to go to a Western place on the beach. We were the only Cambodians there, I think other Cambodians think Western places are very expensive, but I could read the sign in English out the front and I could see that it was cheaper than the Cambodian place. At the Western place one glass of beer costs only 50 cents, and the table costs nothing (in the Cambodian place you have to pay for the table also), and the food is very cheap. The Western customers were very happy to see us there; some of them came to shake my hand and to wish us Happy New Year. They said they were very surprised that I could speak good English, and I was very surprised too because they were very friendly, so we all had a good time.

My friend and I had about four glasses of beer each and got a bit drunk, and then decided to buy some fireworks. The fireworks-seller is Chinese, so I took one of us who speaks Chinese (his name is Hay) to the fireworks place and then we saw a girl. I said so'sday (“hello”), and she said so'sday back to me, and we were very happy because she is very beautiful. Hay and I didn't want to leave that place. But we had to go back because our friends were waiting for the fireworks. We played fireworks until 11 o'clock and there were still a lot of people on the beach. We would have liked to stay longer but we were tired. So we decided to go back to the guesthouse. And we played cards with the manager and the cashier and the security guard. I lost 1,000 riel, which is 25 cents. We went to sleep after midnight. I'll tell more about our Sihanoukville New Year trip in my next post.

11:38 AM ICT Permalink |

Drunken Foreigner

Yesterday afternoon, at about 5 pm, I was riding around just like everyday, but that day I rode past one of my friend’s mother’s shop. She sells things like soft drinks, candy, cookies, different fruits, cards for cell phones, and many more things.

This time while I riding past, there were a lot of people around so I came in and asked “What’s happening?” My friend’s mother told me that a foreigner wanted to buy a cell phone card from her (a card that is prepaid credit for your mobile phone), but he didn’t have enough money to pay for it. So she wanted me to do the translating for her to get the rest of the money.

That guy looked really drunk. It seemed to be hard for me to do the translation, because I don’t speak drunk. Anyway, that guy just had to pay 5,000 riel more (which is $1.25), but he didn’t want to pa. He just wanted to take the card and go. I told him: “You can’t go if you not pay the rest of the money.”

It was really hard to talk with this guy, especially because he was really drunk. I’d been talking with him almost 20 minutes and I started to lose my patience, so I said some words to scare him (even though he was very big). I said: “If you do not give the rest of the money you might have trouble.” Also my friend, who is the seller’s son, was there too. His name is Frog (that’s his nickname). At the same time that guy asked me: “Why is everyone looking at me.” I said: “Because you want to buy this lady’s stuff, but you not give her enough money.”

About 1 or 2 minutes later this guy started to change his mind. He took out his $20 note and gave it to me and he went back out to a tuk-tuk. Then I told him: “Wait! You have to get back your change.” But he said: “NO! I WANT TO GO NOW!!!”

I said “Okay then!” and I told Frog’s mother to keep the change. So after the drunken guy left without his change, Frog’s mother was very happy. Because the money that she received from the drunken guy was about 8 day’s profit for her.

At the end I felt happy for Frog’s mother. But the same time I also felt so sorry for the drunken guy too, that he didn’t understand the situation.

09:29 PM ICT Permalink |

My Friend Por’s Love Story

Por is one of my friends in Phnom Penh. His house is close to Orrusey Market. He is 21 years old and studies English with me at ACE (Australian Centre of Education) but has a different class than me. He also studies at an university called CU (Cambodia University).

Almost every morning Por calls to wake me up just to have breakfast and coffee with him. Usually at the café we like to sit down and rest, talking, and listening to some good pop music there. But almost all the time when we are there with a couple of our friends, Por always talks about girls, especially about the beautiful ones.

Before, Por used to be in touch with one girl. Her name is Chak. He told me she is too rich, so he thinks it’s very hard for him to get her. But right now she is in Canada for studying. At the time after Chak left, Por always looked unhappy. He loved Chak but he thinks he has no luck. Also, he thinks this girl may not come back.

And just a few months later, after Chak left for Canada, Por told me that he just met another girl who is studying at ACE too, and is in the same class as him. Her name is Cheata (a girl with this name might seem very beautiful for Khmer people). I already felt that he might fall in love with that girl, because he always tells me about this girl all the time when I meet him.

I do want Por to have a girlfriend because he sometimes seems to be very lonely. So usually I tell him: “You should do something while you still have a chance.” But he told me, “I’m not sure what Cheata is thinking about me.” And he also says, “I’m always sending SMS to her all the time. Also sometimes she says some sweet words to me like ‘dear,’ or ‘my dear.’

So I think that’s really the best time, and the best chance, for him to confess about his love if he has the true love for that girl. I know my friend Por seems very embarrassed and shy a lot. Anyway, I always tell him, “If you still do like this and not say anything to her, one day you will lose her.” For example, she might fall in love with someone else.

09:56 AM ICT Permalink |

Man U Snooker Club

Everyday after class my friends and I like to do something together. Sometime we play football, snooker, or drive around in town flirting with the girls. But most of time we play snooker for one or two hours before we go home. The place we would like to go to is called “Man U Snooker Club” on street 63, very close to Central and Sorya Supermarkets in Phnom Penh. Also this place just opened recently, so they have everything new; like new cues, new pool tables, and especially a lot of new and pretty girls! At Man U Snooker club they have 12 pool tables; nine the normal room and three in the VIP room.

For the average person it will cost only $1.50 per hour, and the VIP one cost $3.00 per hour. Most of my friends sometimes like to play by betting some money. We don’t bet much, but we also play just for fun, like if someone loses they have to pay for the bill.

This snooker club’s location is really interesting; it attracts many men because it’s on one of the main roads and many prostitutes shop around the area. Every time after playing, we come out and see many people who driving past there looking at us. I think maybe those people wonder what are these guys wearing school uniforms doing here? … until they see the sign that says: “Man U Snooker Club” on the top.

Almost all of my friends like to go to this place because it’s close to our school and our homes. One of my friends said that one day, if he has a lot of money, he will do this kind of business too. He wants to open it especially next to this other snooker place and name it Liverpool or Arsenal. I know he is not going to do that … or if he is just kidding.

11:14 AM ICT Permalink |

Around Phnom Penh
Since the new governor started his job, Phnom Penh has changed a lot. The new governor’s name is Kep Chuk Tema. He used to be a governor of Takeo province, but when he became the new governor in Phnom Penh he started many projects like fixing the parks around Phnom Penh, and upgrading the storm water drainage. So now, in the rainy season, Phnom Penh won’t flood as much as before.

Along the riverside they are fixing he banks of the river and improving the park along the river in front of many restaurants, bars and hotels. This area is very important and popular for tourists and local people.

Before, when I was riding around town with some of my friends, it was darker and quieter than now. It was also very scary for us too, so we wouldn’t like to stay out late. Before, it really looked like an old city, but now everything seem to be changing a lot, especially around Hun Sen Park, Independence Monument, and Wat Phnom. They also made a replica of an old bridge that was in the city 100 years ago. Next to the replica bridge there is a new park. I do like going for a walk sometime in that park, because it’s clean and the park looks really very beautiful.

Every evening there are many teenagers, including myself and my friends, that really like riding around some new parks looking for some beautiful girls along there. Also it’s really nice when they turn on all the lights and fountains around the Independence Monument.

11:21 AM ICT Permalink |

Killing Fields Trip

Last week I went to the riverside to work as a motorbike driver. When I was there I saw three foreign girls having lunch. I walked up to them and started to talk with them and I found out they want to go to the Killing Fields. But the problem was, they wanted to go by tuk-tuk, and I don't have a tuk-tuk. A tuk-tuk for three of them would cost $15, so I asked if they didn't mind taking three motor bikes with my friends for $10 each. But they did not agree, and they asked for $5 each. We keep asking them for $7 each, but the girls still said no, until we said, okay, $5 each.

One girl's name was Kelly and she rode on my bike. She was so beautiful. One of her friend's was Emma and she rode on Sokkhim's bike. The one named Claudia rode on my younger brother Yak's bike. Before we left we looked at the map trying to find a short-cut to get to the Killing Fields, which is located south of Phnom Penh in Choung Ek. The three girls saw us looking at the map and they thought we don't know the way to go, and they looked scared. So Kelly asked me, Are you sure you know where it is? And I said, Yes. I said that we were just trying to find a short-cut. After we told them like that they looked relaxed.

On the way to the Killing Fields I began talking a lot to Kelly. I had a very nice talk with her. She told me that she's an artist in London, England. Sokkhim’s English was okay for talking to Emma. But I'm really sorry for Claudia because Yak's English is not that good for a conversation with her.

At the Killing Fields we had to wait for the girls outside for a half-hour till they saw everything. And then they came back out and we had to take them to Tuol Sleng, the old S-21 Prison which is now the Cambodian Genocide museum. On the way back to town Sokkhim got arrested. The police stopped him and Emma because he has no license plates on his bike. The police said to Sokkhim, "Hey, your god-mum is a foreigner! So you pay just small money, only 25,000 riel!" But of course 25,000 is not small money, that’s more than $6, and Sokkhim didn’t have that much money. I understand those policeman’s minds, they are always like that, so I decided to tell Emma to get on my bike with Kelly so it's easy for Sokkhim to fix the problem with the police, and I told him we will wait for him at Tuol Sleng. So Sokkhim met us again at Tuol Sleng, and he told me those police took 5,000 riel ($1.25) and let him go. Emma and Claudia and Kelly, they never knew this was what was happening. I told them later the police are leeches, sucking the poor people's blood.

Then, when they came out of Tuol Sleng Museum, the girls wanted to go to the Russian Market. Three of them went in but only two came out; one of them came back because she wanted to have a smoke. She told me she likes this country because she can smoke anywhere. And then we took them all back to the riverside. They gave us $40 for the three of us, even though we agreed only $15 each when we started. I do like those three girls a lot!

04:17 PM ICT Permalink |

Kampot Caves

After our visit to Kompong Orussei we went to visit the caves at Kompong Traach, a town that is close to Kampot. There at the caves are lots of small kids, wanting to be guides to the caves, and each of them has a flashlight.

Riya and I, and some of Sophea's friends, had one kid to go with us. He was very friendly and seemed to like me a lot. He was always tapping me on the shoulder and pointing out stones and telling me what they look like. He pointed at the stone and said, "You know what that looks like?" And we said, no. And he said, "It's an elephant!" or, "It's a crocodile!" or, "A dragon!" One time he said, "It's the leg of a general coming through a hole!" Sometimes I pointed to a stone and asked the kid, "What's that?", but he always answered, "That's a stone!"

Inside the cave it looked scary to go with a few people, because it was so dark inside. But in fact there were almost a hundred people inside the cave, so it was fun and very noisy. When we arrived in the middle of the cave there was a hole in the roof where we could see the sky and a statue of the Buddha. We relaxed and took photos and some people had incense and prayed to the statues of the Buddha. The kid who was our guide wanted to show us lots of other things but we were tired and hungry, so after an hour I give him 2,000 riel and he looked very happy.

I think it's very good to go to this cave with a lot of people. But it's too dark inside and I don't want to go with just one or two other people.

10:14 AM ICT Permalink |

School Trip to Bamboo Village

My friends Sophea and Bros are studying law and economics at University. Today they went on a trip to Kampot with their University for their University activity; helping poor people. My friend Riya and I went with them, even though we are still in high school.

There were a lot of students that went. There were five vans and in each van more than 20 people, and most of them I don't know. At first we didn't know where we're going, we just knew the plan was to bring some rice and noodles and a lot more things, but we didn't know where until we get to the village. Its name is Kompong Orussei, which means Bamboo Village.

Kompong Orussei looks very poor. People there just grow rice to support their family, and the road is very bad and a long way to go from the National Road. But people in the village were very friendly to us, especially when they knew we are students and we are helping them. And they tried to talk to us even though we never know each other. So it was not a bad time at Kompong Orussei.

There were four families that we gave the food and money to. So we arranged the food and the money and then we asked them to come. And when they came we gave them a sort of interview to ask them about their life. One of them was an old man who lives alone and has no wife and no kids to help him get money or food. Another was two old women who live together the same way; with no family to help. And another one was a man who has a withered leg and no one to help. And the last is a woman with kids and no husband.

The village headman came and said these are genuine poor people, not someone pretending to be poor, and he described about how they have nobody and no land and only small house, and they get their food by working for other people's farms to get some rice. But usually they cannot get enough rice for the whole year, they can get like for 8 or 10 months, and for another 4 months they have to borrow from the neighbors to fill their stomachs.

He talked so much, but finally he said he's surprised this is the first time this happened in his village; that they have a group of students come to study about the poor people and to help them. And he said he hopes they will have other universities to do the same thing. After we gave the things to the poor people we had a very good lunch in the village; fried fish and chicken soup and rice, and a coconut each; all of which could cost about $1.50 in Phnom Penh.

07:36 PM ICT Permalink |

A Funeral

Last week my friend Bros asked me to go to his grandmother’s funeral with him. When I heard about his grandmother was so surprised, because too many people have died in his family this year: his mother, his other grandmother, and now this one.

The place that they do the funeral is close to Russian Market. When we arrived there all the people were wearing white, but we had just left from our school and we had on our school uniforms. Bros's father offered us a table and we had some rice soup and Coke. Then after we ate, at about 12 o'clock, it was time for us to go back. We offered the funeral money to Bros. I gave 5,000 riel, my friend Riya gave 5,000 riel, and some other friends gave some more. Together, all of us gave about 100,000 riel. And then Bros told us we have to come again because his family will take the body to be cremated.

So we came to the funeral again, but this time was not so sad. Bros looked more happy and talkative, and we were happy too, because we thought that he might be depressed. We met the neighbor of his grandma, her name is Narak, and she told us it's a Thai name. She told us that four years ago she had an accident and she was unconscious for six months, and people thought she died because she was unconscious. She told us that she saw an angel, and the angel told her that she did a good thing at the beginning of her life so it wasn’t time for her to die, and the angel offered her a new life again in the same body. All my friends said; that is unbelievable. Also, she told us that when she woke up, she couldn't walk and she couldn't speak. And one of my friends said; that's true, because you were unconscious for six months! None of my friends believed what she told us.

And she told us that if we don't believe her we can ask all the people in the neighborhood, they all know. She told us her boyfriend died in that same accident. All of my friends were very quiet, and she talked a lot. She told us she's half-Chinese and her name is Thai, is means Lovely. She told us the angel looked like an old man with a stick. The word in Khmer is Ey-sey, and it's not the same as an angel in English. Cambodian people believe the Ey-sey live in the mountains, in the deep jungle, and they look after the mountains. Sometimes they dress in white, sometimes in animal-skin, and they wear a small turban and a necklace of bones, so they are not really like angels.

Ey-sey are very good at magic, if you die they can bring you back to life, and there's an old story in Khmer about an Ey-sey who turns a flower into a girl and brings her up as his granddaughter. So that's what Narak saw when she was dead. But me and my friends we don't believe that anyone can be unconscious for six months. Maybe three days, like my friend Virak who had an accident on his motorbike, but not six months, because how could you eat?

Finally she asked us for our phone numbers, but we all told her we had pawned our phones and some of us said we don't have phones, because we don't want her to phone us. And she said, okay then, we'll see each other again.

10:42 PM ICT Permalink |

My Birthday

On 14 October my friends and I went to the other bank of the river to have my birthday party. It was at the place called Bakhaing. This is a place that many Cambodian people like to go with their families or friends to relax. But it's also a place you can do birthday parties, and it's not too expensive.

When we arrived there at about 1 o'clock there were not many people around, it was quiet, even though it was Sunday. So all of my friends started singing karaoke and playing cards and I was sitting down with two friends and talking. We were talking about my girlfriend and their girlfriends, because every year before I used to do this with my friends and my girlfriend, but now we broke up about one month ago. When I was there I was waiting for her text message to me to say Happy Birthday but she didn't send anything, so this year it's not a happy birthday for me. Also on the day before my birthday I saw her and her new boyfriend. I don't want to write about her any more.

At about 2 o'clock all my friends got together and we started to order food and beer and some of my friends' girlfriends had Coke. Two of my friends, one boy and his girlfriend, surprised me, because they bought me a cake. They surprised me a lot, because when my friends told them about my birthday they said, "Oh, so sorry, we have no time, we got to do our work," something like that, and I thought they weren't coming, and then they even brought me a cake, so that was good.

Two of my friends are just like my brother and sister, because they are a lot older than us and they seem like they like me a lot, they always call me "pa-oun", brother. Because these two, they know about my life, that I don't live at home, that I came here to stay in Phnom Penh, and I do like the two of them too.

All my friends sang Happy Birthday in English and then in Khmer, and I blew out the candles and then all of them wished me happy birthday. Some wished I have a new girlfriend soon, some wished me to be more handsome, and some wished me to stop feeling stressed. The cake wasn't big, just a normal five dollar cake, but it had my name written on in Khmer, and I do like it because it's better than if I don't have one. I cut the cake into pieces so everybody had a piece.

There were about 15 people, and all of them gave me $2.50 each instead of giving me presents. And all of that money was for food, drink, and karaoke, $32.50, but it wasn't enough, because it cost more than what they gave to me, and it cost $72, so I had to use my own money to complete the bill.

10:02 AM ICT Permalink |

Corner Accident

Several day ago, at about 12 o'clock while I was sleeping, there a very loudly crash that woke me and my bother and sister up, and also my friend Riya too. Then we came out to the balcony to see what happened and we saw a motorbike fallen over and a guy lying unconscious. At night people drive very fast on that road. At the same moment I saw a car moving in the street, stop-go-stop-go, and then suddenly it drive off very fast.

People came from all around --- from out of a bar near my house and out of the houses --- to see the motorbike driver. Riya and I came down and we saw there were two people; the driver of the bike that we saw lying on the road, and a kid that we couldn't see before. He was about 10 years old. The kid's on the road too, lying on the road, and he's just saying; "hurt, hurt," and "help me, help me." A police officer was there and he's telling the kid, "Don't move, ambulance will come soon." And some people were trying to help the guy, but he was dead. And I could see that the kid had his leg broken, because he was lying on the ground on his chest but his leg was up near his ear.

A motorbike driver on the corner who saw it happen told me, the car came from the north, and the bike from the east, and the car hit the bike on the corner. The car hit the motorbike, and the motorbike had the driver and this kid on it, and the kid flew up on the roof of the car, and that's why the car was going stop-go-stop-go, trying to shake the kid off the roof, and then it drove away very fast.

Many people called the ambulance, and three ambulances came because they want money too. In Cambodia you have to pay to get taken to hospital. The first one took the kid. If the kid has no relatives or money the ambulance will just take him and drop him at the hospital without treatment. That's what I think but I don't know for sure what happened after the ambulance took the kid. And the second one took the dead guy and the third one went away empty.

The people said it was a red Corolla 1994 model, number plate not clear. The police didn't take any notes or statements. They left the motorbike there on the corner, but one of the motorbike drivers on that corner tried to take petrol out of the smashed motorbike. Then Riya and I just went home, because we don't want to see too much more. We don't want to have nightmares.

06:45 PM ICT Permalink |

Airport Ghost

Last month my mother came back to Cambodia from America. She told us to be at the airport in Phnom Penh at 10 o'clock. We waited but the plane arrived at about 11.40 a.m. But while we were waiting for my Mum we saw a crowd looking at something. My family and I went to have a look and we saw one family doing a coining, a custom that we call ''kous kchaul'' in Khmer language, for one man.

Airport security came and asked them what was happening, and that man's wife told the security that he was kchaul (feverish). And the security asked, "Do you need us to call the airport doctor or an ambulance?" The man was unconscious, and his family were carrying him and rubbing Tiger Balm all over his body and tried to wake him up.

So the security called for the ambulance. Before the ambulance came, the man regained consciousness and started talking. And he was talking so strange that it really scared me. He talked to the ghosts. First he talked to his body. He said, "Mum, get off my body, I can't breathe!" Then he said, "That's right, that's right!" Then he looked through the crowd, and he talked to his mother. He said, "Mum, help me! Get away from my body! Get away from my legs because I can't move my legs! Don't take me with you, because I have to look after my wife and my children!' He also said, "I know it's my mistake, but I will go to the pagoda and pray for you! I'm sorry for when you alive I didn't look after you properly."

I looked around, but there was nobody talking to him. And his aunt said that his mother is gone (she meant that she's dead), and she talked to the ghost and she said, "Please don't come back to disturb him, I will tell him to go to the pagoda to make prayers for you!" But she couldn't see the ghost like him.

Then that man talked to the ghost very quietly, for almost one hour. I was just watching, because I was still waiting for my mum to arrive. And even when my mum arrived, the man was still talking; sometimes quiet, sometimes loud. When he talked loudly I could hear and understand him, but what he said was scaring me a lot. The ambulance came and went away again because his family said it wasn't needed. The man was just talking to the ghost while his family rubbed him with coins and with Tiger Balm, for more than an hour.

Then at last my Mum came and we took her back home. I hope that guy was okay. I think so, because he was looking stronger than what he was when I first saw him.

11:46 AM ICT Permalink |

Sopeap’s New House

Last Sunday I all the friends went to Sopeap's house, close to Wat Phnom, to have a party for his new house. His new house looks very nice. It has a pink and white color, like a small villa, with two floors. His parents bought it for 60,000 dollars. It’s in a good area, and really safe. It has two bedrooms and three bathrooms for eight people; Sopeap and his mother and father, four brothers and one sister. And it has a big living room on each floor.

He told us to go to his house at 7 o'clock in the evening, because by then the guests are less and he will have more space for us. But we got there at 5 o'clock. So he just put us on the roof and told the waiter to bring food for us.

It was a big party, much food and plenty to drink (coke and beer). He told us not to worry and to drink as much as we like, 'cause his brother had more than 50 cases of beer for us and for his friends. I think 50 cases of beer is a lot, that's 5 cases each for the 10 of us, but all of us together can drink only 2 cases of beer. And also that's not including me, because I wasn't feeling very well and I didn't drink any beer, only coke. But I was very good for eating food.

While Sopeap was being a host downstairs the waiter from the restaurant (they rented a cook and waiter from a restaurant) brought the food for us. One of our friends named Por, he took as much food as he could as soon as the waiter brought it. So we all were doing like him, and the food finished very quickly. And when Sopeap came upstairs he looked really surprised when he saw we had finished all the food, but he said he didn't mind. He said: "Have some more!"

At 7:30 a lot of guests had gone home, and Sopeap came upstairs and had some beer with us. He told us "Drink to be drunk. If you're not drunk, don't go home." That's what we say in Khmer language.

12:10 PM ICT Permalink |

Football Ants

Every evening my friends come to my house and we go to play football at Olympic Stadium. Lots of people go to Olympic Stadium in the evenings nowadays because exercise right now is very popular in Phnom Penh. Some of the people like dancing, some run, some walk, some play badminton, and some just flirt --- though that's not really exercise! But the most popular activity is football.

Usually we don't have any teams to play against when we arrive, but there there's always someone who asks us to play against them. Some of them look really like professionals, so sometimes we say no because we are not good players. Instead, we go around and look for some team that doesn't look like they have professional players. Sometimes we play for money, but mostly just for bottles of water. That means if our team wins you buy water for us. But some teams don't like that, because they see we aren't good players and they want to bet money as much as they can. But we don't always lose, sometimes we win their money.

We started to play at the Stadium about three weeks ago and now all of us are getting better, so we are not scared like the first time. For example, yesterday evening we played with one team that looked very tall and they run very fast. It was like ants playing with giants, but we tried our best so it was not bad. The first game they said; “Okay, if you get two goals you get 500 riel for each player." And we won. They could run faster but we were better at passing the ball and so we tired them out. Then they said, "Okay, one goal gets 500 riel for each player," and this time I was the one that made the goal and we won again: 1,000 riel each. So they changed the rules again and said; "Okay, one goal 1,000 riel." And this time they won. So it was a draw; nobody won, and nobody lost. But the real result was 4 goals for the ants, and only 1 goal for the giants.

So my friends and I were very happy with the game even though we didn't keep the money, because this was the first time we won against a good team.

09:48 AM ICT Permalink |