17 September 2005 – Phnom Penh

Today was very hot. Lucky took me on the grand tour of the markets in Phnom Penh. The markets ranged from the grotty (and interesting to explore) to a brand new shopping mall – something that must have just opened. The economy is getting better as this shop had very high end stuff, particularly electronics. One shop even had the new model of iPod that was just released a week or so before! The Cambodians I know cannot afford this stuff…

I spent the afternoon snoozing and reading…

Went to “Frizz” (www.frizz-restaurant.com) for a Khmer/Cambodian dinner tonight. The young chap (“Boon”) who waited on me had a very distinctive, almost aristocratic, accent. I ordered the “Saich Muan Char Kari” which is diced chicken stir-fried with Khmer curry spices and it is wonderful. The meal was so delightful that I sign up for a Monday cooking class run by the restaurant.

I think that today is the “autumn moon festival” in Taiwan. The weather here is balmy and the moon is bright. While I had dinner I watched young Cambodian guys play a hacky sack-like game on the sidewalk. Was I ever that limber? I don’t think so…

After dinner I strolled down to the arcade area. It was a collection of ramshackle amusement rides for the local middle-class children. I stopped by a restaurant in the park to have a beer and wait for Lucky to pick me up. The proprieter appeared to be Chinese and not Cambodian. In fact, many of the shop owners here look Chinese. At the next table is a group os Cambodians. A female waitress has joined them for a beer – toasting each of the customers. Although I am in Cambodia, it feels like being in Taiwan.

After ordering a beer a jug of Angkor beer arrives. In the jug are some suspicious looking ice cubes. I am about to experience the Cambodian weight loss program!

The peanuts in Cambodia are wonderful. Small and round, they are served with their red skins on and dusted with both salt and sugar. A wonderful combination and unlike anything in the U.S.

I’ve decided that I enjoy observing life here in Asia. It is so different from what I grew up knowing as a young man in rural Massachusetts. By watching I learn. I learn customs, how people live, how they interact with each other, and how we are really all the same. I am so lucky to have these experiences, to see things with such a broad perspective (or so I think).

The Elephant Bar at the Raffles Hotel has gotten a bit more stylish since my first visits to Phnom Penh. The music is sort of housy-trance. The staff, always friends, has changed.

Lucky plans on taking me to the other side of the Tonle Sap River tomorrow. That should be an adventure! Not quite sure what we will see, but I am game for something new…