Last Saturday some friends and I went to a party on the other side of the Japanese Bridge in Phnom Penh. That party was held for a new house ceremony. The new house, by the Mekong River, belongs to the grandmother of my friend Pearom.

I went with a lot of friends, about 15 people, to hang around at the back of the house before the ceremony. There is very nice view there, and I could see the tip of Koh Dach Island (“Koh” means island in Khmer).

At three o’clock we joined the ceremony. We listened to the monk talking about the Buddha and his teaching. At the same time while we were listening we also had a meal of rice porridge and some bananas. We ate two big pots of porridge. Everybody seemed very hungry. At the end of the ceremony Pearom’s mother asked us to stay there overnight, but some of us could not because we had to go to school the next day. That’s too bad for us, because the party overnight is more fun, with singing and dancing, and pretty girls. There is also big drinking too.

Pearom’s mother told us that it’s dangerous to go back to Phnom Penh at night. She said there are robbers and ghosts, and it’s very dark. She tried to hide our motorbike keys because she wanted us to stay, but in the end we just had to come back home. But about seven friends of mine did stay there overnight - because Pearom’s mother hid their motorbike keys! She’s a very funny lady. The friends of mine that stayed there told me that the party was very nice and they had no regrets.

12:23 PM ICT Permalink |

Last Sunday I went to my mom’s house. I go there every Sunday. Her house is on the west side of Phnom Penh Airport, it’s about 15 kilometers from where I live.

I was riding my motorbike along at about 40 km per hour with my brother sitting on the back, when suddenly a car pulled out of the sidewalk right in front of me. The driver didn’t show any blinker, so I didn’t know that he was going to come out. I couldn’t go around him because he blocked the road. I tried to put on my brakes but it wasn’t strong enough to stop me and I crashed in the front wheel of the car very badly.

The driver got out and asked me “Are you alright?” and he looked round his car and then just said “Ok! You fix your motorbike and I’ll fix my car!” But I didn’t agree because it was not my fault at all and I would like him to pay to fix my bike. Then I checked my motorbike; it had damage to the front wheel which was smashed and the part that holds the wheel was bent very badly. I could not move it. His car just had a flat-tire where my spokes had punctured it, and a little dent.

He didn’t want to pay for my motorbike so I phoned my brother-in-law. I told what happened then he came right away. And that other man called his police friends. So everyone was there arguing and shouting and my brother-in-law just called a guy he knew (I didn’t know who that guy was) and then two more police came. When these two police came the driver of that car looked scared and one of his police friends just gave me some money ($25). I looked at my brother-in-law to say it wasn’t enough, but he say to me in a loud voice so they would hear: “Take that shit money and just walk away from shit”.

So we found a cyclo to take my motorbike to get fixed. I didn’t enough money with me so I had to borrow money from my mom. My brother and I were very lucky because we weren’t hurt too much. I just hurt my leg a bit bad and my brother get a little bit hurt. I was wearing my helmet.

10:38 AM ICT Permalink |

On Sunday I was woken up by my friend Riya. He called to ask me to go to play soccer for his team. First I thought I wouldn't like to go because it was too early in the morning and a bit far from my home, and also I was not really awake. But he bagged me to go because his team didn’t have enough players.

The football field is on the other bank of the river, so we had to go across the Japanese Bridge. There is really big field and has very nice views. I had never met the people in Riya's team before and they didn’t know me either.

Before we started the play the game we did some training. We started about 6:00 a.m. In the first half the other team scored the first goal. Then we rested for awhile and waited for the second half. Then the manager changed the roll and I had to play close to the goalkeeper. After almost ten minutes in the second half our team scored the second goal by the captain. So now each team had the same score. Then at the end of the game Riya's friend scored another goal. It was very nice. He wore shirt number 7, and the goal he made by using his head was very strong. We won the game by the score of 2 – 1.

I was sorry for my friend Riya that I didn't score any goals, but he said it was okay because he didn't score any either. The captain of the team said to me that I played well and I was fast so he would like me to come again next week.

12:48 PM ICT Permalink |

Yesterday I played snooker with my friends. I was very lucky because I won almost every game. We played with three persons each game. During one of the games we were playing, one of my friends, his name is Ti, was the first guy that finished his money. So after that it was only me and another friend named Fou.

We bet 5,000 riel per each game, which is about US$1.25. We played seven games and I won five times. I had to pay 10,000 riel to rent the table, so I still had 30,000 riel left. I spent the money to buy a shirt. The shirt is black and has a very nice big scorpion design (which looked very dangerous) on the left shoulder. I bought it because I like the way it fits me, but I hope people don't that I'm a gangster.

I also thought I would buy something instead of playing again and losing money back to my friends. Anyway, I had only 7,000 riel left, but I didn't let my friends know because they might not allow me to play. So I think I was lucky because I won money instead of losing my 7,000 riel.

03:31 PM ICT Permalink |

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.

04:52 PM ICT Permalink |

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.

06:48 PM ICT Permalink |

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.

01:12 PM ICT Permalink |

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!

04:58 PM ICT Permalink |

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.

03:20 PM ICT Permalink |

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.

04:55 PM ICT Permalink |

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.

10:39 AM ICT Permalink |

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.

07:03 PM ICT Permalink |

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.

11:00 AM ICT Permalink |

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.

06:02 PM ICT Permalink |