well i have calmed down slightly from my last blog... this blog is going to be a mixture of different thoughts i've been having the last few days...
1. at work i had been thinking something was missing... couldnt quite exactly put my finger on what tho! however on Monday I realised it was the ubiquitous picture of the old king, new king and Queen mother that are EVERYWHERE, especially in public buildings... there isnt actually a queen of cambodge although it is suspected that the new king is gay (i should say this could just be a malicious rumour, but he is 53, unmarried and used to be a ballet dancer in Paris).. the old king is still alive and mostly lives in a palace in North Korea... I suspect making random movies with Kim Jong il…i understand they both have a penchant for such activities... so my workplace doesnt have pictures of the royal family on the wall... or so i thought until i noticed the cleaning cupboard door was open... had a nose round, and there on the wall were the old king and queen smiling down on the mops and bottles of detol... the cleaner obviously isnt a fan of the new king...
2. rains continue... the last 2 days we have had heavy heavy rain and thunder and lightening at around 3.30 - 4.30 in the afternoon... it is so nice as everything just cools right down. however the drainage system in this place is crap. the last 2 days have seen me once more laughing aloud as i cycle through flooded streets (water covering almost the top of the wheel of my grannie bike)... calmly passing motos and cars which are flying everywhere... stalling... crashing into each other... i realised why these rich types drive round in their 4-by-4s they need them for the flash floods - some roads are impassable to all those not in 4x4, on grannie bikes or in boats. one rather large 4x4 drove past me too fast for my liking and created a wave of water that threatened to wobble me off my bike and into the murky waters... fortunately i stayed on!
3. my dad arrived on montag, and he has been touring PP... tomorrow we planned to cycle to Saigon/ Ho Chi Minh City... however today we went looking round the markets for some half decent bikes and could only find crappy ones designed for asian midgets... we decided that cycling 160miles on a dodgy bike designed for a 12 year old might not be fun... so we changed plans and are now busing it to Saigon ($6 - bargain)... and going to pick up some bikes there (im informed there is a much better range)... and then cycle home on saturday and sunday... i really hope we do get some half decent bikes cos it should be a good ride!
looking forward to going to 'nam... apparently as soon as you cross the boarder its like another world... lots busier, more developed etc... cycling back means that shopping will have to be kept to a minimum... no more Vietnamese tea sets for telfy then...
We might try and visit the viet cong tunnels... could be cool. Apparently there is also a shooting range where you can fire AK47s and other military hardware... i'm fairly anti guns etc at the moment, and cant see the attraction... although i guess i can see the macho, pretend like your a hero type thing... but it just seems bad taste, when you think what they can do to people's lives... bad taste like you wouldnt go around with a t-shirt with Hitler or pol-pot on the front... unless you were weird.
4. the arrival of dad bought many new toys for telfy... i now have a spangly new mp3 player (the old one was killed during a power surge).. it is green and exciting, and plays movies... which i didnt think would interest me, but you can get the complete series of ''the office'' uploaded for a couple of quid at the shop downstairs and i think that could be a good way to kill a bus journey... better than boxing orangutans... oh and i have a new compoooter. the old one was not killed by a power surge, but was very ancient (6 years)... it couldnt cope with me uploading digital photos and kept crashing... i think it only really functions as a typing machine... so i am very happy with my purchases, and my courior for shipping them for me... however i am dyspraxic (read clumsycareless), so i will try my very bestest not to ruin them anytime soon...
now off for diner i think xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Ponderings
I was thinking about what to write in this blog when I was cycling around and about this morning… then I came to the internet and was reading other peoples blogs and realized there was a something rather similar about Spearsy’s most recent blog and what I wanted to write about…great minds spearsy great minds…
Spearsy was saying how fragile life was after seeing pictures of the earthquake in Indonesia… I was thinking how fragile life was after watching someone go up in smoke as I cycled past the cremation tower in the temple at the end of my street, and because for the last few days I’ve been getting more and more __________ about the disparity in how people live in this country, and the fact that for so many people here life is as fragile as …. hmm an eggshell??? That’s pretty fragile right?
The blank line in the previous sentence is because I don’t quite know what the verb is I want to use… its partly angry, partly sad, and partly guilty…
I’m angry because some people in this country are so stupendously ridiculously rich, and they get that way treding on anyone and everyone… through corruption and through selling off natural resources etcetc… landmines and war and conflict in general is another thing that is making me mad… most days you see people who have had their lives damaged by violence.
I’m sad because of child mortality rates, illiteracy levels… levels of stunting and malnutrition, the highest HIV/AIDS incidence in Asia… statistics… it is easy to let them run over you without taking in what they mean to real people… but everyday I see the statistics in the children begging or playing in the street and the people with blank empty faces…
I feel guilty because it is all too easy for me to sit and judge rich corrupt Cambodians, but I live a pretty nice life here, and in the UK… giving money or buying someone some food slightly salves ones conscience… but I am becoming more and more convinced that I need to reflect carefully on how I spend my money and my time… the world is small… what we do or don’t buy impacts people in other places, and the environment… life is fragile and short… can we really justify only spending our money to build ourselves up? The world is also full of lonely and vulnerable people and we pass them by the whole time.. I speak for myself – I can spend ages engrossed in my own mini dramas (what massage shall I choose today type thing)… that I become blind to other people… giving money to a charity is the easy option… but is it really the only option?
My thoughts on these things are a bit scatty at the moment… possibly I need to ponder them further… I’m not convinced the answer is to renounce all worldly possessions, or sleep on a bed of rusty nails… or embrace Marxism… ultimately, for the majority of people in the world the changes we can make to injustice is going to be at the individual level not some sort of global revolution… which means… I think… I need to consider more carefully how I am spending my time and money…
Hmmm I think this is all a bit heavy, sorry I’m in a ponderous mood today… off for a swim…
xxxx
Spearsy was saying how fragile life was after seeing pictures of the earthquake in Indonesia… I was thinking how fragile life was after watching someone go up in smoke as I cycled past the cremation tower in the temple at the end of my street, and because for the last few days I’ve been getting more and more __________ about the disparity in how people live in this country, and the fact that for so many people here life is as fragile as …. hmm an eggshell??? That’s pretty fragile right?
The blank line in the previous sentence is because I don’t quite know what the verb is I want to use… its partly angry, partly sad, and partly guilty…
I’m angry because some people in this country are so stupendously ridiculously rich, and they get that way treding on anyone and everyone… through corruption and through selling off natural resources etcetc… landmines and war and conflict in general is another thing that is making me mad… most days you see people who have had their lives damaged by violence.
I’m sad because of child mortality rates, illiteracy levels… levels of stunting and malnutrition, the highest HIV/AIDS incidence in Asia… statistics… it is easy to let them run over you without taking in what they mean to real people… but everyday I see the statistics in the children begging or playing in the street and the people with blank empty faces…
I feel guilty because it is all too easy for me to sit and judge rich corrupt Cambodians, but I live a pretty nice life here, and in the UK… giving money or buying someone some food slightly salves ones conscience… but I am becoming more and more convinced that I need to reflect carefully on how I spend my money and my time… the world is small… what we do or don’t buy impacts people in other places, and the environment… life is fragile and short… can we really justify only spending our money to build ourselves up? The world is also full of lonely and vulnerable people and we pass them by the whole time.. I speak for myself – I can spend ages engrossed in my own mini dramas (what massage shall I choose today type thing)… that I become blind to other people… giving money to a charity is the easy option… but is it really the only option?
My thoughts on these things are a bit scatty at the moment… possibly I need to ponder them further… I’m not convinced the answer is to renounce all worldly possessions, or sleep on a bed of rusty nails… or embrace Marxism… ultimately, for the majority of people in the world the changes we can make to injustice is going to be at the individual level not some sort of global revolution… which means… I think… I need to consider more carefully how I am spending my time and money…
Hmmm I think this is all a bit heavy, sorry I’m in a ponderous mood today… off for a swim…
xxxx
Monday, May 22, 2006
Rule number 7
The guest house where I live has 11 rules.
Rule number 7 is: Prostitution, gambling, drug taking and other illicit activities are not permitted in the Hotel premises.
Last night I was coming home about 10ish and I followed 2 ‘ladies of the night’ down my street and into my guest house where they were greeted by one of the owners. I then followed them all up the stairs and watched as they were both shown into one of the guests rooms. The guest looked rather embarrassed as I walked past to my room as he ushered them in. I felt rather uncomfortable, although the irony of the hotel owners breaking the rules is vaguely entertaining…
Of course this stuff goes on everywhere… several Cambodian women have told me they reckon 90% of Cambodian men go out to brothels of an evening, just like men at home might go down the pub. The Garry Glitter image of old western man and young Asian girls is much vaulted, but in reality the biggest users of the sex industry here are local men.
It’s another irony that on the one hand traditional Khmer culture is so reserved and on the other sex for money is a huge industry. My friend describes it as a rare phenomena – a culture where you can touch, but not look! She’s probably right!
Rule number 7 is: Prostitution, gambling, drug taking and other illicit activities are not permitted in the Hotel premises.
Last night I was coming home about 10ish and I followed 2 ‘ladies of the night’ down my street and into my guest house where they were greeted by one of the owners. I then followed them all up the stairs and watched as they were both shown into one of the guests rooms. The guest looked rather embarrassed as I walked past to my room as he ushered them in. I felt rather uncomfortable, although the irony of the hotel owners breaking the rules is vaguely entertaining…
Of course this stuff goes on everywhere… several Cambodian women have told me they reckon 90% of Cambodian men go out to brothels of an evening, just like men at home might go down the pub. The Garry Glitter image of old western man and young Asian girls is much vaulted, but in reality the biggest users of the sex industry here are local men.
It’s another irony that on the one hand traditional Khmer culture is so reserved and on the other sex for money is a huge industry. My friend describes it as a rare phenomena – a culture where you can touch, but not look! She’s probably right!
Sunday, May 21, 2006
7 days
Wow, it’s been nearly a week since I wrote anything here… this last week has been fairly full of various things and the time has sped past…
The start of the week was public holidays and Clari was visiting, so we went down to the beach.
We lazed around at some beachside bungalows for a few days, just reading and swimming and sleeping. Randomly met a woman who had been to a conference in Milton Keynes ages and ages ago that Spearsy, Holly and I were notetakers in chief for… it is a small world.
Oh yes, excitements were had on the final night when we heard (rather too close for our liking) a shoot out at the neighbouring 5* beach resort… seems the guards sometimes get drunk and shoot each other or the sea. [note to self: midnight dips might be dangerous]. A reminder that this country has not been ‘peaceful’ for long, and perhaps an example of the wealth the supermega rich have – it needs to be protected with guns.
After the shooting there was a huge rain and thunder and lightening storm. Wondered if we would be washed out to sea, but the next morning we were still on the beach.
The in-bus entertainment on the way home from the beach was slightly different from the normal mix of Cambodian karaoke, exceedingly violent Chinese movies, or Cambodian horror movies… instead we had a film made at a Khmer zoo… a boxing orang-utan show. I’m sure the RSPCA would lock people up for such a thing in the UK. Orang-utans were dressed up in boxing outfits and made to hit each other with boxing gloves. Meanwhile other orang-utans dressed up as cheer leaders danced around, lifting up their skirts. It was bad taste and rather cruel to say the least.
On Friday I had a telephone interview for a joby job. It was fairly nasty, mostly because the delay on the phone was so huge, and the people speaking to me were using a speaker phone, which made them seem even more distant. It made me realise how much we depend on non-verbal communication to guide us… I had no idea if I was saying too much, or too little, if they were liking what I was saying or if they thought I was an idiot! Ho hum.
Yesterday Clari and I went on a Khmer cookery course.
It was really cool. We learnt how to make spring rolls, red and green curry, fish amok (fish curry steamed in a banana leaf) and this weird banana tapioca dish. We ate everything we made so felt quite fat and had no need for diner… instead we went to the Raffles Hotel Le Royal. It’s the hotel in the movie the ‘killing fields’ (although the movie was filmed in Thailand). It was stupidly posh, and the bar was fairly pretentious… but 2 for 1 cocktails is always a good thing… we had these random champagne cocktails named after Jackie Kennedy’s visit back in the 1960’s… followed by an amaretto sour mmmmm my favourite. The most exciting thing was rubbing my feet on the carpet. A carpet I tell you, and a plush one at that. My feet are so used to tiles they were in heaven in the soft cushiness of it all.
Mel and Sophie we checked out the toilets and quite frankly they weren’t up to Lainston House standards… the towels were only paper not linen for starters.
The rains have started. There seems to be no pattern, any time of day they fall from the sky. It’s definitely cooler. Last night was almost what you would call cold… 29degrees C… needed a sheet when I went to sleep!
I think this is enough for now x x x x
The start of the week was public holidays and Clari was visiting, so we went down to the beach.
We lazed around at some beachside bungalows for a few days, just reading and swimming and sleeping. Randomly met a woman who had been to a conference in Milton Keynes ages and ages ago that Spearsy, Holly and I were notetakers in chief for… it is a small world.
Oh yes, excitements were had on the final night when we heard (rather too close for our liking) a shoot out at the neighbouring 5* beach resort… seems the guards sometimes get drunk and shoot each other or the sea. [note to self: midnight dips might be dangerous]. A reminder that this country has not been ‘peaceful’ for long, and perhaps an example of the wealth the supermega rich have – it needs to be protected with guns.
After the shooting there was a huge rain and thunder and lightening storm. Wondered if we would be washed out to sea, but the next morning we were still on the beach.
The in-bus entertainment on the way home from the beach was slightly different from the normal mix of Cambodian karaoke, exceedingly violent Chinese movies, or Cambodian horror movies… instead we had a film made at a Khmer zoo… a boxing orang-utan show. I’m sure the RSPCA would lock people up for such a thing in the UK. Orang-utans were dressed up in boxing outfits and made to hit each other with boxing gloves. Meanwhile other orang-utans dressed up as cheer leaders danced around, lifting up their skirts. It was bad taste and rather cruel to say the least.
On Friday I had a telephone interview for a joby job. It was fairly nasty, mostly because the delay on the phone was so huge, and the people speaking to me were using a speaker phone, which made them seem even more distant. It made me realise how much we depend on non-verbal communication to guide us… I had no idea if I was saying too much, or too little, if they were liking what I was saying or if they thought I was an idiot! Ho hum.
Yesterday Clari and I went on a Khmer cookery course.
It was really cool. We learnt how to make spring rolls, red and green curry, fish amok (fish curry steamed in a banana leaf) and this weird banana tapioca dish. We ate everything we made so felt quite fat and had no need for diner… instead we went to the Raffles Hotel Le Royal. It’s the hotel in the movie the ‘killing fields’ (although the movie was filmed in Thailand). It was stupidly posh, and the bar was fairly pretentious… but 2 for 1 cocktails is always a good thing… we had these random champagne cocktails named after Jackie Kennedy’s visit back in the 1960’s… followed by an amaretto sour mmmmm my favourite. The most exciting thing was rubbing my feet on the carpet. A carpet I tell you, and a plush one at that. My feet are so used to tiles they were in heaven in the soft cushiness of it all.
Mel and Sophie we checked out the toilets and quite frankly they weren’t up to Lainston House standards… the towels were only paper not linen for starters.
The rains have started. There seems to be no pattern, any time of day they fall from the sky. It’s definitely cooler. Last night was almost what you would call cold… 29degrees C… needed a sheet when I went to sleep!
I think this is enough for now x x x x
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Arrivals
This morning saw the arrival of what could either be the start of the rainy season, or just a huge rain storm. It also saw the arrival of Clari who is here for a 2 week visit. I was really glad her plane landed 60min after the storm had passed, yuk planes are bad enough, but planes and thunder storms… argh.
So this afternoon we are off the beach. Did I mention we have more public holidays here in the ‘bodge? Friday was Buddha’s birthday, Monday is the kings birthday and Tuesday is the Royal Ploughing ceremony… or something like that. So we shall go down to Sianoukville, and laze on the beach, and hopefully go to a tropical island. I’m sure half of Phnom Penh are there as the place seems empty, but never mind. I’ve booked us into a ‘romantic’ beach side bungalow. Excellent.
I will endeavour to take and upload some photos… but internet is crappy slow..
Ta ta
So this afternoon we are off the beach. Did I mention we have more public holidays here in the ‘bodge? Friday was Buddha’s birthday, Monday is the kings birthday and Tuesday is the Royal Ploughing ceremony… or something like that. So we shall go down to Sianoukville, and laze on the beach, and hopefully go to a tropical island. I’m sure half of Phnom Penh are there as the place seems empty, but never mind. I’ve booked us into a ‘romantic’ beach side bungalow. Excellent.
I will endeavour to take and upload some photos… but internet is crappy slow..
Ta ta
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Ginger nuts
Today, for the second day running, the food stand near work is shut. This is a major tragedy for many staff including myself, and means we have to retreat to the Caltex petrol station and gorge on mangos and pot noodles (not the original pot noodles you understand... these ones have pictures of 'Miss World'emblazoned on the side)...
Today, due to major headache induced sleep deprivations (the evil things have been back with a vengence of late) i was in need of a sugar high... excitments of excitments i found a pack of ginger nuts. yumyumyumyum... theyre not 100% crunchy but have done the trick and woken me up... a bit. I have tried to share the ginger nut love with my collegues, but theyre really not into them at all.. what ho more for me.
Today, due to major headache induced sleep deprivations (the evil things have been back with a vengence of late) i was in need of a sugar high... excitments of excitments i found a pack of ginger nuts. yumyumyumyum... theyre not 100% crunchy but have done the trick and woken me up... a bit. I have tried to share the ginger nut love with my collegues, but theyre really not into them at all.. what ho more for me.
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Lights
Living fairly close to the equator the daylight hours, and the quality of daylight don’t really change much.
I was half watching the V music channel and a couple of the videos caught my eye and reminded me of home, where if you look at the sky you can often tell what time of year it is… one was a Red Hot Chilli Pepper’s live concert, it was in the summer, and must have been 10ish in the evening, the point where almost all the light has gone from the sky, but there is still a hint of blue left, summer dusky dark… I can almost smell the BBQs. The other video was Simon Webb (V music love him and play his music all the time… he used to be in ‘Blue’ apparently and is the 6th sexiest man in music according to their recent poll…) anyway in his video he is wandering around London in the dark… it looks cold and wintry, but the streets are lit up by the many many florescent lights coming from the shops he is passing. It is always dark here by 6.30, but there are not many street lights, and by 10pm its pitch black almost everywhere as people go to sleep ready to get up at 5am Yay!
By the way… for those who are interested who is the most sexiest man in music (according to the V music channel) it is JD Fortune, who won a lengthy competition to be the new lead singer of INIXIS… interestingly this was aired on the V music channel… I’m not a cynic really…
I was half watching the V music channel and a couple of the videos caught my eye and reminded me of home, where if you look at the sky you can often tell what time of year it is… one was a Red Hot Chilli Pepper’s live concert, it was in the summer, and must have been 10ish in the evening, the point where almost all the light has gone from the sky, but there is still a hint of blue left, summer dusky dark… I can almost smell the BBQs. The other video was Simon Webb (V music love him and play his music all the time… he used to be in ‘Blue’ apparently and is the 6th sexiest man in music according to their recent poll…) anyway in his video he is wandering around London in the dark… it looks cold and wintry, but the streets are lit up by the many many florescent lights coming from the shops he is passing. It is always dark here by 6.30, but there are not many street lights, and by 10pm its pitch black almost everywhere as people go to sleep ready to get up at 5am Yay!
By the way… for those who are interested who is the most sexiest man in music (according to the V music channel) it is JD Fortune, who won a lengthy competition to be the new lead singer of INIXIS… interestingly this was aired on the V music channel… I’m not a cynic really…
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Feta maddness and a facial
Today is a great day for the pods… Marionanon is getting married, in fact probably now she is married. I am pretty sad not to have been able to go to the wedding, however Hils has been doing a fandabulous job of keeping me updated with proceedings… the photo below shows the small orange animals (from Milton Keynes) celebrating the great event by eating feta and melon salad, as the real wedding guests will be doing… excellent.
[Hils I cant seem to login to orange midgit i'll check my work email tomorrow, perhaps i wrote down the login wrong!]
Other, perhaps less surreal events have been the opening of a handbag shop under my apartment block… previously there was a bar, but the alcohol has been replaced by some fancy bags…
Last week I mentioned facials… so this weekend I toodled off for one. I think I was expecting someone just to slap on some cream and rub it off or something… but the facial seemed to involve having my face gently massaged with many different lotions and intermittently being blown with steam from a fancy Chinese machine. This was followed by the application of banana and jasmine lotion… whilst this was drying I had a arm and hand massage, and then at the end, after my face was well and truly pampered I had a head, neck and shoulder massage… during the whole experience there was aromatherapy oil burning, and the sound of running water from the Japanese garden outside, and birdsong (presumably from a CD given the inner city location?) I can now cross facials off the things to do list… excellent… however I have added a body wrap and scrub to things to do before I leave Phnom Penh… they sound exciting… I am a pampered princess indeed.
[Hils I cant seem to login to orange midgit i'll check my work email tomorrow, perhaps i wrote down the login wrong!]
Other, perhaps less surreal events have been the opening of a handbag shop under my apartment block… previously there was a bar, but the alcohol has been replaced by some fancy bags…
Last week I mentioned facials… so this weekend I toodled off for one. I think I was expecting someone just to slap on some cream and rub it off or something… but the facial seemed to involve having my face gently massaged with many different lotions and intermittently being blown with steam from a fancy Chinese machine. This was followed by the application of banana and jasmine lotion… whilst this was drying I had a arm and hand massage, and then at the end, after my face was well and truly pampered I had a head, neck and shoulder massage… during the whole experience there was aromatherapy oil burning, and the sound of running water from the Japanese garden outside, and birdsong (presumably from a CD given the inner city location?) I can now cross facials off the things to do list… excellent… however I have added a body wrap and scrub to things to do before I leave Phnom Penh… they sound exciting… I am a pampered princess indeed.
Thursday, May 04, 2006
PMT
I thought I would blog about PMT… the airline that is…
In this case PMT stands for Progress Multi-trade airlines… I think I posted a photo of their logo on my flickr site, as it entertained me…
Anyone who knows me will know I dislike flying… and small airlines, particularly those operated in developing countries, are not ones that inspire me with confidence, more like deep dread…
Yesterday the paper reported that a PMT plane (a sturdy Russian Antonov of course) flying into Ratanakiri had engine failure, and so was diverted back to PP, where the airport could actually manage an emergency landing, as Ratanakiri isn’t much more than a dirt runway… apparently Antonovs can fly with only one engine (???). So it made it back to PP and proceeded to land safely (unlike last November when a PMT plane crash landed off the end of the runway…. injuring several of the passengers)… PMT said that the engine failed due to human error… the mechanic forgot to screw the oil cap back on…. Duh
In conclusion I shall not be flying PMT air…
http://aviation-safety.net/index.php is an interesting database of all air accidents ever… and is useful for vetting dodgy airlines… if you’re paranoid… yupyupyup that’s me
In this case PMT stands for Progress Multi-trade airlines… I think I posted a photo of their logo on my flickr site, as it entertained me…
Anyone who knows me will know I dislike flying… and small airlines, particularly those operated in developing countries, are not ones that inspire me with confidence, more like deep dread…
Yesterday the paper reported that a PMT plane (a sturdy Russian Antonov of course) flying into Ratanakiri had engine failure, and so was diverted back to PP, where the airport could actually manage an emergency landing, as Ratanakiri isn’t much more than a dirt runway… apparently Antonovs can fly with only one engine (???). So it made it back to PP and proceeded to land safely (unlike last November when a PMT plane crash landed off the end of the runway…. injuring several of the passengers)… PMT said that the engine failed due to human error… the mechanic forgot to screw the oil cap back on…. Duh
In conclusion I shall not be flying PMT air…
http://aviation-safety.net/index.php is an interesting database of all air accidents ever… and is useful for vetting dodgy airlines… if you’re paranoid… yupyupyup that’s me
Monday, May 01, 2006
respect for Mr Bush???
I am not a huge fan of the President of the United States...
however i woke up this morning and watched him take the piss out of himself durring the Whitehouse Correspondants Association Annual Diner... he did this with the help of a george bush lookylikey... it was fairly amusing... and i was kind of impressed he subjected himself to that sort of ridicule, Im not sure Tony Blair would have done the same!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1765025,00.html
however i woke up this morning and watched him take the piss out of himself durring the Whitehouse Correspondants Association Annual Diner... he did this with the help of a george bush lookylikey... it was fairly amusing... and i was kind of impressed he subjected himself to that sort of ridicule, Im not sure Tony Blair would have done the same!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1765025,00.html
1st May
For this blogsite I use a webstats website called tracksy... its pretty cool and tells me all sorts of imformation like how many people visit, how many people re-visit, what the ISPs are of the people that visit... where theyre located in the world... its very clever...
anyway i thought i would have a look at my webstats today, and i decided to look at the list of websites that were reffering people to my blog, and then look at the search engine key words that people had typed in, and then ended up at my blog... of vauge amusement to me where 2 people searching for information about massage parlours in Phnom Penh... i am sure they will have been disapointed by the information in this blog...
other news... i found some pine nuts sooooooooooo expensive but well worth the investment. The resulting pesto was fandabuloso mucho amazingo... yumyum
other food i have eaten today: a deliciously scrummy Belgium chocolate brownie from 'The Shop' - a very nice deli... this was a very nice eating experience considering chocolate is only available in a couple of shops, and even then it is hidiously expensive, and fairly manky as its imported from malaysia or indonesia and i dont think theyre chocolate capitals of the world... as a result i feel chocolate deprived a lot of the time. [not necesarily a bad thing]
went out for a cycle about the place and ran into a large protest/march calling for better conditions for workers in Cambodia (relating to Labour day i guess)... it reminded me once again how globalised our world is, and how much we in the west benefit from the poor labour laws or cheap labour in countries such as Cambodia...
finally, i have decided that i need to have a facial... i have come to this conclusion as i feel it is what is missing from my check list of ex-pat activities.
massages: done
manicures: done
cocktails: done lots
yummy food: done even more
lazing by the pool: done done done
new clothes: done [although admitedly i havnt got anything tailor made, and my new clothes arent exactly executive]
having someone clean/wash/iron for me: done [although i am feeling guilty about it, and this week have been doing my own washing up... its very stressful as you can imagine]
if anyone is wise in the ways of facials can you tell me what to expect? and what type of facial i should go for... the choice seems rather huge...
on that note i shall end... i realise this blog reads like some sort of long lazy holiday... which in a sense it is given the rediculous number of Cambodian Public holidays... but i am actually working quite hard here... its just i dont think this blog, or indeed any blog... is a place to air comments, thoughts, opinions related to work... the potential for legal repercussions must be reasonably significant
x x x
anyway i thought i would have a look at my webstats today, and i decided to look at the list of websites that were reffering people to my blog, and then look at the search engine key words that people had typed in, and then ended up at my blog... of vauge amusement to me where 2 people searching for information about massage parlours in Phnom Penh... i am sure they will have been disapointed by the information in this blog...
other news... i found some pine nuts sooooooooooo expensive but well worth the investment. The resulting pesto was fandabuloso mucho amazingo... yumyum
other food i have eaten today: a deliciously scrummy Belgium chocolate brownie from 'The Shop' - a very nice deli... this was a very nice eating experience considering chocolate is only available in a couple of shops, and even then it is hidiously expensive, and fairly manky as its imported from malaysia or indonesia and i dont think theyre chocolate capitals of the world... as a result i feel chocolate deprived a lot of the time. [not necesarily a bad thing]
went out for a cycle about the place and ran into a large protest/march calling for better conditions for workers in Cambodia (relating to Labour day i guess)... it reminded me once again how globalised our world is, and how much we in the west benefit from the poor labour laws or cheap labour in countries such as Cambodia...
finally, i have decided that i need to have a facial... i have come to this conclusion as i feel it is what is missing from my check list of ex-pat activities.
massages: done
manicures: done
cocktails: done lots
yummy food: done even more
lazing by the pool: done done done
new clothes: done [although admitedly i havnt got anything tailor made, and my new clothes arent exactly executive]
having someone clean/wash/iron for me: done [although i am feeling guilty about it, and this week have been doing my own washing up... its very stressful as you can imagine]
if anyone is wise in the ways of facials can you tell me what to expect? and what type of facial i should go for... the choice seems rather huge...
on that note i shall end... i realise this blog reads like some sort of long lazy holiday... which in a sense it is given the rediculous number of Cambodian Public holidays... but i am actually working quite hard here... its just i dont think this blog, or indeed any blog... is a place to air comments, thoughts, opinions related to work... the potential for legal repercussions must be reasonably significant
x x x
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