Last week I went out to Takeo Province (south of Phnom Penh) to join my friend’s wedding. His name is Sokheng. Usually most people in Cambodia think to get married when they are about 23 or 24, but Sokheng is only 19 like me, and his wife looks younger than him. But anyway, the two of them look nice together.

At first, I thought I didn’t want to go to the wedding because it’s really far to go, but Sokheng is the friend that I’ve known many years, since I was selling newspapers at the riverfront. I left Phnom Penh at about 11:30 a.m. with three people on my motorbike, and we arrived at Takeo town at almost 1 p.m. Sokheng’s village is very deep inside the country, and we almost got lost on all the dirt roads until I found his house. I was surprised that his wedding was on the rice field, and looked very poor-style.

At the wedding, my friends and I sat on the mats on the ground and ate there because there were not enough tables for everyone. The other guests sat at the table, During the party all my friends were joking, talking, and drinking. One of my friends talked about when his motorbike broke down one time at the countryside. He talked so funny about that.

At almost 5:00 Sokheng asked me to stay there overnight for a dancing party, but I was too tired and also I had to go to school on the next day so I just went back home.

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On the next day after my sister and her husband left, my mum and I have to spend as little money as we can, because we still don’t know when we are going to get her visa. But we can’t find any cheaper restaurants until we found the Yoy Kon restaurant. We had to save money but my mum was sick and I have to buy medicine.

Four days after my sister and her husband left, and we didn’t get any phone call from them because my sister didn’t want to spend money to call us. She is too stingy. And on the same day, my mum got the result from the embassy saying that she can come to pick up the visa. We went to the embassy the next day and this time I went inside with my mum and we got the visa. So now we are very happy.

We came back to the hotel and took all the money we had left and 4,000 baht for the hotel, and took 3,000 baht for going back to Phnom Penh. And the rest of the money we can spend. We went to Pratunam Night Market and bought some things for my younger sister and brother. And I bought 3 swimming shorts; one for me, and one for my brother, and the other one for my friend Riya.

The next day we get up at 2 a.m. to catch the van to take us to Poi Pet. We arrived at Poi Pet at 7 a.m. We took the bus from Poi Pet to Phnom Penh and arrived in Phnom Penh at 4 p.m. I really felt better when I was back at my home.

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On New Year’s Eve, my friends and I went out to Sihanoukville for one night. We left Phnom Penh at about 5:30 a.m. with six people in a car. That car is belong to my friend, his name is Bros. We arrived in Sihanoukville around 11:00 a.m.

First, we had to find a hotel or guest house to stay. But we did have problems, because there were a lot of people that went there on the same day too. So almost every place had no rooms, and some of them were higher priced. And our big problem is we didn’t have much money with us. We tried to find a room at more than ten places but still can’t find one. We were scared that we would have to sleep in the car. But finally we were lucky; we found a guest house which let six of us stay in room and it cost only $15. In the room there were two small beds, so we put them together. But it still could fit only three people, so we decided three of us would have to sleep on the floor. We decided by played rock-scissors-paper, and I wasn’t enough lucky so I slept on the floor.

We had a short rest in the room and after that we had brunch. We had to find somewhere that has cheaper food, because we didn’t want to spend too much, because all of us had less than $100 altogether.

Around 1 p.m. we went to a beach, its name is Occheateal Beach. And there were many things that some of my friends were interested in; like pretty girls, people making sand castles, some kids playing football, etc. And we had a swimming competition between two of my friends. Two of them are really good swimmers.

After that we went to Koh Pors Beach to collect shells and catch crabs. At that beach we sew a foreign man swimming without clothes. Cambodians don’t do that. My friend Bros said he wasn’t surprised because he came to this place many times and he even saw a couple swimming without clothes. But I never saw anything like this before.

That night we went back to Occheateal Beach again and it really looked cool because on New Year's Eve almost every tourist came to this beach and there were a lot of pretty girls. My friend Riya tried to flirt with them, but they acted like they didn’t hear. And also there many people letting off fireworks and sparklers. There was a group making a birthday party for their friend. They looked really happy. They used sand to make a birthday cake instead of real cake. They also had a big video karaoke show with big speakers. Some of them sang and some danced.

I had a really nice time there even we didn’t have much money and only went with six people. I came back to Phnom Penh and I was really tired.

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The next day after my mum’s interview at the American embassy we went to Bumrungrad Hospital because the embassy needed my mum to get an injection and check for her health. We went there with a guide (his name is Sak) because we don’t know where the hospital is and what to do there. The hospital is very big, and we might get lost inside.

Sak took us to wait at a place and brought a form and filled in the information about my mum; like name, age, etc. Then my mum had the injection and some tests. Sak did a good job and he looked after us. We gave him 500 baht. The hospital cost 1,800 baht. After that we went back our hotel.

Now I would like to tell you about what my stingy sister and her selfish husband did. This sister is not the one in America. The one in America is good. Anyway, when we got back to the hotel my sister said, “What’s going on?” And my mum answered, “We have to go back to the embassy again on Monday.” And then my sister said “We must leave Bangkok pliem-pliem” (which means “now” in Cambodian). So my mum asked, “Why?” And my sister’s husband said, “We don’t want to starve here!” And then they told us, they spent all our money already. And my mum said, “Are you going to leave me here?” My brother in-law said, “You have Sochiet with you, and then they just left.

So it was just me and my mum, adventurous in Bangkok, with only 10,000 baht. We don’t know how long we have to stay or when we can go back!

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On our fourth day in Bangkok we woke up at 5 a.m. to go to the American Embassy. We had to be there early because there's a long queue there. We arrived at almost 5:30 and that queue was really long already, about 20 peoples even then. So we waited in the queue until 7:00 when the embassy opened. Then my mum went inside with her appointment letter and I waited for her outside. At first I thought it would be about two or three hours but by 10:00 she still hadn't come out and I needed to take a piss. There is no place at the embassy that I could take a piss, so I walked around until I saw a café. I went inside there and ordered a coffee just so I could use the toilet, but that café was very small and I looked around and didn't see any toilet.

So I came out and sat down waiting for my coffee. There was a foreigner sitting there and I asked him if he knew where there is a toilet, but he was just kidding to me, and said: “When you find one, let me know!” So I talked with him for awhile and the coffee came and I asked the waitress and she told me where to find the toilet, which I needed really to use bad by that time.

I came back to wait for my mum at the embassy at 11:30, but she still had not come out. She finally came out at about 12:30 and she didn't look really happy. She said didn't know if she'll get the visa or not because the embassy needed her to get an injection at Bumrungrad Hospital. She was also very hungry because we didn't have breakfast yet.

In my next report about my Bangkok trip I'll write about how we went to Bumrungrad Hospital. I meant to write about what my stingy sister and her no-good husband did, but I didn't have time so I'll write that next time too.

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Last week I went to Bangkok with my mum. She had to do the interview at the American Embassy for a Visa. Because my sister lives in America wanted to take my mum to stay there.

My sister is married to an American and she has been living there since 1996. My mum took me to interpret for her, because she can't speak English. She also took my stingy other sister and her no-good selfish husband.We went to Bangkok by hiring a car to takes us from Phnom Penh to Poipet, and then a van from Poipet to Bangkok. It took two days, and it cost about $90. This was my first time in Bangkok. I felt very strange because all the people in Bangkok looked just like people in my country and I thought they could speak my language but they can't.

We stayed in the Pratunam area at a hotel called Kim Safe House. It cost 500 Baht per night, and we had two rooms for all of us. My mum and I stayed in one room and the other room was for my sister's family, because she had her kids with her too. Bangkok is very nice, and everything looks modern. The taxis are new model cars and all have air-conditioning. Their traditional food is very spicy and I didn't really like it so much. But I liked one Khmer restaurant called Yay Kon, there is cheap food and it tastes good.

At Pratunam there are some night markets that have very cheap clothes, a lot cheaper than in Cambodia. I went there with my mum and I bought some clothes for myself and some for my friends for presents. On the third day in Bangkok I took a motorbike taxi to Sukhumvit to find a friend of mine who has a bookshop there. His name is Don and the bookshop is Dasa Book Cafe. I used to know Don many years before when I was selling newspapers on the riverfront in Phnom Penh. It took almost a half hour to find the shop, and the motorbike taxi charged me 120 Baht. I thought it was the right price but no! Everyone told me it must be cheaper.

I surprised Don with my visit (I didn't tell anybody I was going) and we had a nice talk. I was surprised that he has a new bookshop (I went to his shop, Lazy Mango Bookshop, in Siem Reap, one time before) and it looks really nice, and it has coffee and cakes as well as books.

In my next post, Bangkok Part 2, I will write about my mum's interview and the thing that my stingy sister and her no-good husband did.

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I had to go out of town this week. Sorry I can't write something more for the blog this week. I will write again when I return to Phnom Penh.

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Every afternoon, after school, my friends and I play snooker at a place which just opened close to one of my friend’s house.

Most of my friends always make competition for a snooker game. And all of them like to play with me because I’m not so good at snooker and they can beat me. But sometimes I beat them, too.

When we play snooker we bet some money. How much depends on what we want to bet. Sometimes it’s 10,000 or 20,000 riel (about US$2.50 - $5) for our big competition. That’s a lot of money for me, but not for them. Usually we play from noon until 2:00 or 3:00 in the afternoon.

Today I played with my friend Pearom. I beat him two times and I lost to him one time. I won 10,000 riel. He told me that he would like to play with me again, and I told him anytime is okay.

I like to play snooker but it’s not the same as playing football (soccer), because one is a game and one is a sport. And to me, I like sports more than games.

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On Thursday last week, when I studied at my English language school, there was something a bit strange that happened to us.

While my teacher was teaching there was a girl in class who lied down on her table. It seemed like she was asleep. She sits at the next table in front of me. Suddenly some of that girl’s friends sitting next to her called out to the teacher that they wanted to take this girl, her name is Davin, home to her house. The teacher asked, “What’s wrong?” The girls answered that Davin was not well. So the teacher said, “Okay, take her home then.”

So they walked and carried her out of the class, but not far from the door Davin fell down to the ground. The teacher came out and carried her to the school office and tried to call Davin’s family. About five minutes after that Davin’s mother came to the school. Then it was time for us to finish the class. Davin’s mother took her to hospital. And when Davin’s friends came out of the school I asked them, “What happened?” They told me she had a heart attack. And then I left them and went to my home.

The next day when I came to school to pay my school fee, the receptionist asked me, “Did I know about Davin?” I told her that Davin’s friends told me she had a heart attack. But the receptionist that it was not a heart attack. After they took Davin to a hospital, the doctor there said she didn’t have a heart attack, he said it was stress.

Now Davin still has not come to school this week. I wish she will be okay soon and can come back to class like before, because we miss her.

10:53 AM ICT Permalink |

Yesterday I worked as a motorbike taxi driver. First, I took one foreigner from the riverside to his hotel. He paid me one dollar. When I came back to the riverside again later that day, I stopped in front of the Sunny Internet Café and talked with another foreigner. His name was Pat. He told me that Pat is short for Patrick. He asked me my name and I told him that it’s Sochiet.

I talked with him for almost an hour. He told me a story that he went to a prostitute place and someone tried to steal his bag. He told me he was in the room with the girl and he heard a noise. He looked around and saw the door open and a hand reaching for his bag. He shouted to the hand: “Hey! Leave my fucking bag alone!” And then the hand moved very quick and just dropped his bag outside of the room, and the person ran away. Pat didn’t follow that person because he was scared that he would get killed.

Pat told me that he was very angry. He just put on his clothes and left that place without leaving any tip. Pat told me that he was very lucky he didn’t lose his bag. But I think he was so lucky that he didn’t lose his life.

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Today when I came back from Khmer school I met some friends and they invited me to go to a friend’s birthday party, which was at a karaoke place. My friend’s name is Soy and this is his 20th birthday. I was surprised and didn’t know that today was Soy’s birthday because no one told me.

When I arrived at the karaoke place I saw many people in that room. My friends called out to me: “Hey, Sochiet! We’re here!” I walked forward to them and a friend of mine, his name is Thy, asked me: “Why are you late?” I answered him: “Ah, sorry. I was busy.” And they said, “Okay, your punishment is you have to drink this glass of beer.” So, I had to drink that glass of beer without stopping.

Then, after a moment, some of my friends started to dance. They looked so happy and I went and joined them too. I looked around and saw all of my friends had sweat on their faces. After dancing, some of Soy’s friends wanted to sing. There was one guy who was very good at singing but I didn’t know his name.

I saw my friend Chhay flirting with a girl who is one of Soy’s friends. I never thought that Chhay could talk to girls because he is so quiet. After that I asked him and he told me the girl had talked with him first. He told me he was so lucky today because he’s never had a girl talk with him like this before.

We stayed at the karaoke place until after four, almost five pm. Then it was time for everyone to go to English school. Soy paid for everything (this is Khmer tradition on your birthday) and everyone went back home and got ready to go to school. I think that was one of the most fun parties that I ever went to.

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Last Saturday was the first day of the Water Festival, called Bon Om Touk in the Khmer language. On that day I went out to Kirirom National Park with some friends of mine. Kirirom is 117 kilometers from Phnom Penh on National Route 4. I went there with eight friends on three motorbikes. We wanted more friends to go with us but they all thought it was too far away.

We left Phnom Penh at about 8 a.m. after we had breakfast. On the way to Kirirom we stopped three times for a break. Also we saw a big group going to Kirirom, maybe more than 50 people and 30 motorbikes. They all looked so happy with their friends. They made us feel so lonely. Because we thought nine people would be enough to make us feel not bored on the way.

We arrived at Kirirom at about 11:30 a.m. and we stopped to fill up our bikes with petrol. We turned off Route 4 and took a country road to go to the waterfall. This road is not straight, it is winding as it goes up the hill to the waterfall. On the way we saw those people in that big group again. They stopped at a corner where everyone stops to pray. And we stopped to pray there too. At this corner there is a statue of a lady (Yey Mao) who controls and looks after this place. We prayed that our trip would be safe.

We got to waterfall at almost 12 o’clock and we had lunch and relaxed, sitting in the little hut and watching people playing by the waterfall. Some girls had flowers in their hair and looked so beautiful. My friends and I wanted to take their photo but we didn’t have a zoom camera, and we also were scared to take a close up photo because we don’t want to make them angry.

Afterwards we all went swimming and then walked up to the jungle. One of my friends, named Chhay, was walking in front of everyone because he had come here before and he knew the way. Suddenly he turned around a corner and ran very fast, and all of us didn’t know what happened to him so we ran too. Then he stopped and asked everyone: “What’s up?” He just laughed and then everyone hit him because he made a joke to scare us. And then we kept going until we came to a bridge to go back to our hut.

We came back to Phnom Penh at about 3:30 pm. It was so nice time for us but we were so tired when we arrived back in Phnom Penh. We said if we a chance we would like to go there again, but with more friends next time.

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We went to Independence Monument, Hun Sen Park, then up to the Royal Palace, and then along Sisowath Quay by the riverfront and stopped at Happy Herb Pizza and had something to eat.

Every place we went and everywhere we looked was crowded. There were balloon sellers, people selling baby duck eggs, meatball sellers, people selling handmade wooden bangles, and more.

At Hun Sen Park I saw lots of signs from different companies advertising their products. I also saw the rehearsal for the concert for following day. I saw about five dancers on the stage and one man telling them things like: “stand here” … “stand there” … “move like this” … “put your arm like that.”

All of my friends and I walked around that night until two o’clock. Now we were ready for the first day of the Water Festival.

10:07 AM ICT Permalink |

It was my birthday on October 14. That is also the day I sold my Yamaha Mio 115cc and bought a new motorbike: a Honda Dream 125cc.

I sold my old motorbike for $700 and bought the new for $1,100. This meant I still needed to pay $400, but I only had $200 in cash. I couldn’t find money immediately, so I had to borrow it from my friends. Some of the money I borrowed from a friend of mine named Chan Fou. He said he doesn’t mind when I can give him back the money.

The main reason I wanted to get this Honda Dream is because my old motorbike is too broken down. Also I think this motorbike is bigger than my old one and I can do much more with it. For example, I can do the job as Moto Taxi Driver.

I had my first customer three days after I got the motorbike. The customer was a foreign lady. I took her from the Riverfront to her hotel. She was very friendly. She gave me 2000 Riel for the ride. I asked her some questions like: “How long have you been in Phnom Penh?” and “Have you visited around downtown?” She said she came here to Cambodia for the fourth time, but she didn’t want to go around downtown because she came for missions work. She also said she has to go back to Thailand tomorrow. She said if she has time later she’ll contact me to take her around, but she hasn’t contacted me yet.

Anyway, it was busy for my birthday. I was so happy that I can get the motorbike that I like, and also happy that I can make some money from my new motorbike even if it’s not much.

02:41 PM ICT Permalink |

Last week, on Saturday, I got some rice and some soup from Kandal Market for my dinner. But just the rice and soup seemed not really tasty, so I decided to change the plain rice to fried rice.

Here is my recipe for making fried rice: First, I put some cooking oil into a frying pan, than I chopped some garlic and put that into the frying pan. Next, I added some chopped ham from the refrigerator. We got this ham over a week ago and we have to use it before it goes bad, which maybe is tomorrow!

When all the things in the frying pan are hot enough, I put the rice that I got from Kandal Market and mixed it up together. And then I added some different herbs. I would like to tell you what the herbs are but I don't know the names either! I just smell them and which one has a good smell I would put it in. I also stirred in some Chinese oyster sauce. After the rice is cooked I put it on a plate. I also fried an egg and put it on the top of the rice to make it good looking.

So I had some fried rice with the soup that I got from the market. It was very good and I shared some with a friend of mine. He said it was good too.

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