On the night I posted the last update there was a large stage and ginormous speakers being set up under our balcony, we were found out it is the 21st birthday of the landlady’s nephew. Hmmm this is a good night to eat out! By 5pm it was ready to rock and roll and the four of us from the flats (the Malaysian team had left – who told them in advance this was going to happen!) strolled over to the Rosewood for dinner, a long and extended dinner. We divided our table into the Korean sector and the English only sector with Martin and me. After dinner (we had bought our computers to entertain us during this long night) Martin and I moved to a table near a power point where we plugged in and watched a movie sharing Martin’s earplugs between us. Yu Jin took a photo of us enjoying ourselves. Who wouldn’t? It was the Expendables 3! We were so engrossed in the movie that we hadn’t realised the restaurant was closing up around us. Before leaving, Martin chatted to the owner who was eager to visit HisChild to see what they were doing there. She had a busy week with another team arriving but was hoping to visit the centre the following week.
The party was in full swing by the time we arrived back at our flats. The stage filled with scantily clad dancers, and young guests bopping along to the music which was of course at full volume. I was a bit concerned with Yu Jin as her room was facing the front of the flat. I suggested if it was to disturbing she should sleep in my room till it finished. Fortunately the party folded up just after 11pm. I’d o
f course crashed by then.
By Saturday night I was feeling a lot better and when invited into PP, I accepted. Deborah was catching up with a friend from Sydney who was taking them out for dinner, I was going in for a look around and meeting them afterwards for a lift home. Dropped in front of the hotel, I now knew where they would be dining and would meet up with them here when they were ready to leave. I then wondered down the backstreets to see the sights. This was the classy end of town with expensive apartments, amongst bars, local shops, massage parlours, restaurants and convenient stores. There were quite a few foreigners wondering the streets too, I’m not sure if they were expats or tourists but later, when chatting to a young guy in one of the convenient stalls, I was told some of the patrons were regular customers.
I cautiously across one of the main roads to a very bright, clean and modern looking pharmacy. Since my arrival I have been looking for some Magnesium tablets (they help with sleep). Thus far I was unable to track any down so had asked various people coming in from overseas if they would kindly bring me some when they came (as well as a restock of Echinacea and Olive Leaf Extract). I thought I might just give this place a go and asked the pharmacist if there was any in stock. I was pleasantly surprised to find they did. I also found my first postcard since leaving Aust. I think post cards are a rarity these days since the advance of emails, I thought they may have been obsolete! This card was larger than the norm but it would do. I needed one to send home to mum who prefers regular mail. I had brought a stack of old postcards with me from my previous travels including ones from Paris, QLD and Thailand. I thought if I couldn’t find any I could post these instead just so that Mum would receive something via the post. I had sent off two from Malaysia, one of the Arc de Triomphe and another French tourist attraction with a note to say I was not here but thought the weather in these places would be cooler than were I was and that I was heading to a prior French colony so thought they were at least a little appropriate. LOL.
At the checkout I fished into my purse and suddenly remembered I hadn’t restocked! I had been waiting for my change from money I’d given to extend my visa and hadn’t topped up my purse. Hmmmm well definitely not enough for tablets and a meal. Oh well tablets were more important at this stage as I had no idea when I’d be back in this part of town. So tablets and postcard in hand I continued to wander the streets looking, if by c
hance I could find a local seller of bananas boiled in banana leaves. No such luck! After some time I sat down outside a restaurant and just watched the passes by, a pastime I quite enjoy. You can learn a lot about the place from the people wandering the streets. There of course where the local hawkers with their bicycle adapted buggies cooking apparatus, baskets and ice coolers selling their particular kind of delights. And others with a variety of merchandise strapped precariously to their bikes as they weave in and out of the traffic honking their air horns or a small loud speaker attached to a tape recorder calling out their products. Customers departing from the stores and restaurants were hailed by the waiting tuk tuk drivers all looking to make their living of those coming and going. Four wheel drives including Nissan and Lexus, which looked overly big on these narrow streets, were parked up on the verge as their proprietor enjoyed the company of their guests and family feasting on the delights offered within. The restaurants here employ people to help you park your car by conducting the traffic. If you arrive by scooter or motorbike the attendants will park your bike for you, lining them all up tightly together like sardines in a tin.
As the skies darkened out came the mosquitoes, even with my spray I didn’t like sitting amongst them so again strolled down the streets and wondered into a convenient store to see what they offered. Oh dear there were lots of post cards here all for 50cents. Never mind too late I had one and no spare change for more! They also had my favourite icecream at nearly half the cost of a Magnum and just as tasty. That was a nice treat while I waited. It was at this store I chatted with the sales attendant. His English was very good, I suspect from talking to many of the tourists and local expats. He also spoke a little French and greetings in Japanese, Korean and I suspect a few other languages too. He told me he had left high school and wanted to go to university but was from a poor family so couldn’t afford it even though he was working two jobs. One in a hotel starting at 6am the other at the convenient store finishing at 11pm, both of which were owned by a Cambodian woman married to an American. This couple rented two hotels and owned a few convenient stores as well as massage parlours.
As patrons entered the shop we started to play a game at guessing where they were from. It was quite challenging as many looked one thing but were not. For example two girls came in looking like Cambodians but not dressed like locals. My friend said they were English I disagreed as they weren’t speaking English except a greeting as they entered. I could hear them speaking but wasn’t close enough to hear which language so I asked them. They had a Cambodian mother and a French father and were educated in London. No wonder we had been confused. The English was definitely very accented to London English. Another woman came in also Asian so we tried to guess where she was from too. He greeted her in Korean, no response. Then in Japanese. Still no response. I whispered to him, she had earphones in and we laughed. She later caught my eye and smiled. I asked her where she was from and she said she was from a neighbouring country could we guess which one? My friend said Singapore I suggested Malaysia although she definitely didn’t have accents from either these places. I was confused by her accent as there wasn’t one! Mai introduced herself and told us she was from Vietnam. I was surprised! She definitely didn’t have a Vietnamese accent as my Sydney neighbours are from Vietnam and they had very strong accents. She then told us she had worked with an NGO from Holland and was an English major. Mai asked if I had been to Vietnam and if I was intending to visit. I said I’d like to but it was difficult being on my own. She suggested if I was to come I could stay with her in Hanoi. We exchanged email addresses as I dashed out the door, Deborah had just called to say they were ready to head home. All in all it had been quite an eventful evening.
Sunday after the ICA church service in PP, the Chan’s, myself and two of the girls who had accompanied us from the centre went to a gym which has a swimming pool. While waiting for our lunch the girls chose their bathers from those to rent (I had brought my own). Lunch arr
ived. Deborah had a lovely curry soup. Well it looked lovely till she found a small black cockroach in it! Eeek, Martin had also partaken of this meal. Fortunately I’d just about finished my kway teow noodle soup …and I had thought I had made a poor choice after seeing the curry soup! I was very glad of my choice now! The pool was a delightful change to the heat of the day. The girls bobbed up and down in the water as we all practiced our strokes or just floated around enjoying the feel of the cool water on our sticky hot bodies. It wasn’t long before our fingers became wrinkly and water sogged. I then wandered upstairs were I was quite surprised at the amount of equipment the gym had. Mind you there was not one there to supervise or to assist if you wanted to use the equipment. I joined the girls in the spa. Wow! Was it HOT! Then a quick dip in the pool to cool off before the luxury of a hot shower. I’m sorry I didn’t bring my shampoo!
Monday I was off to the airport in the mini bus with two of the boys from the centre. Deborah thought it would be an experience for them to visit the airport and instructed them to stick close to me otherwise they might get lost in the crowd. We drove there in silence. Well we really had no choice as a Chinese saying is we were like a chicken and a duck neither speaking the same language. It was more like a mother duck with her ducklings when the boys were following behind me as I marched through the airport. The plane we were waiting for was late in fact 45 mins late so I decided to show the boys around. We trouped the length of the international airport buildings looking and asking where I could show the boys the planes taking off and landing. Unbeknown to me there was no observation point outside the arrival lounge which was within a secured area. Those poor boys were probably wondering what on earth I was doing! But obediently marched behind me. We finally stopped and sat down in seats outside a coffee shop where we waited for the plane to arrive and where the boys gazed with wonder at collection of humanity that had arrived from destinations unknown to them. Westerners dressed in a variety of fashions depicting their lifestyles choices, Africans, Indians, Muslims, Buddhist monks, uniforms of all colours, showing their station and rank and of course local families, business people and expats all waiting for their guests, family and friends to arrive. Finally! The flight we were waiting for came to land and moments later people started streaming through the departure gates. I had come prepared with a sign. I spotted my guest before she saw my sign and gave her a friendly smile (actually praying this was the right woman and fortunately it was). The boys grabbed her bags and together we headed to the bus. It was a long trip back as we were now right in the middle of peak hour traffic. Pei Lan, our new worker, and I made the most of it by getting to know each other. Unlike the earlier trip, the bus it was now full of chatter.
Within a week we were bidding farewell to the visiting Malaysian team and welcomed a Korean Sydney te
am and two independent ladies; Yumih and Pei Lan, our newest worker, a retired English teacher from Malaysia who is planning to stay nine months. With all this coming and going it felt a bit like Piccadilly central!
This week I had two more funny events over buying and topping up my mobile. It began with the mobile carrier I was with was bought out by another, the switch went smoothly and my balance, only a few cents was transfer to the new carrier. I was dubious about topping up till the transfer was complete just in case there was a problem. On route to Rosewood I called into a local store and asked if they had a $5 card and proceeded to look through my purse for change ….. oopsssssssss! once again I was short! This time only a dollar. I was still waiting for my change from the visa renewal. The girl looked puzzled. I’m sure she thought all westers had loads of cash on them. Hmmmm not this one it seems! LOL I apologise and told her I would be back later with the $5.00. I knew she would not be impressed if I asked her to change a $100.00 note! Oh well at least I had the $2 for my coffee. That evening I collected my change from the cost of my visa $45 and the next morning off to the store once more to buy my phone card. The girl was working on her tapestry and I had to wait. She kept repeating five dollars, I said yes, five dollars and waved my greenbacks in front of her. Five stiches later I received my card and stuffed it into my purse to punch in the code once I reached the Rosewood. Hmmmm there was a slight problem! The printing on the card was so small and my glasses so overdue an upgrade that I couldn’t read the code I needed to punch in before the entering numbers. Enter familiar friendly waiter to the rescue! It didn’t take him long to set it up. Yes, my balance came through to. I now had a balance of $5.98. I the waiter’s name is Kana.
Pictures: 1. Sunset at Tahkmao 2. 21st Birthday Party (our flat is the one with pink curtain second floor) 3. Back street in Phnom Phen 4. Girls and me in spar 5. Rotha and me
Prayer & Praise Points:
Praise the Lord for His continuing good health! Please keep the team and me in your prayers for continual good health and safety on the roads.
Praise God for his provision of two new team members.
Please continue to pray for us all during these hot months that we will manage the heat and humidity and fight the fatigue that comes with it.
Please keep Deborah in your prayers as she juggles the visiting teams as well as her daily work at the children’s centre.
Praise the Lord for Dr Wong and her medical team visiting from Malaysia 29th March to 8 April. Pray that the Lord will minister to the poor through their work.
We still need qualified and unqualified English teachers for the children’s centre and in the future for the primary school which is being built. As well as funding for this huge project. If you would like to show your support or know more about how to apply to join the team please contact Deborah at office@hischild-international.com
I praise the Lord for Mum’s good health, please continue to pray that she will remain in good shape.