It’s been a few weeks since I last posted, which means things are going well. I have settled into my new apartment and I am loving it! I have my classroom up and running, so things are going well there as well. I am now off for a week for Khmer New Year. It is a huge event here, with most of Phnom Penh shutting down for Friday, Saturday and Sunday as most workers go back to the provinces where their families are. That means very few restaurants are open, few tuk tuks running and few grocery stores open. Not sure what I will have to do if I actually have to cook! Life here is very easy for an expat. Food is delivered to your place for between .25 cents to .75 cents. The number of amazing restaurants here is mind boggling, including Indian, Greek, Chinese, Korean, Western, Vegan, Vegetarian, Steak houses… These restaurants are all available through an app that you put in the kind of food you would like, and a variety of restaurants come up with your food choice. The food is then delivered to your door. The other night I was at an Italian restaurant and had gnocchi with feta cream sauce and walnuts, a juice with mint and ginger, and creme brulee for $13.00 US. Often I will order a meal at a restaurant and take half home for either lunch or supper. Another night was a Greek vegetarian platter for 2 for $12.00 which included pita bread, 2 salads, zucchini fritters and lots of other appetizers which lasted 3 meals. So I have concluded, no point cooking! The new apartment has a great rooftop pool where the water is perfect to swim in, with a sauna, a steam room and an exercise room (not sure why anyone in Cambodia needs a sauna or steam room as we live in one). This week the plan is a friend and I will order Mama Wong's dumplings, bring a bottle of wine, and sit by the pool for a picnic. Most of the other teachers have gone to far off places, like Bali, Maldives, Thailand and some of the islands off Cambodia, but I am so excited to be finally settled and just enjoy some downtime. I am planning on doing some art, play the new guitar I purchased, maybe do some art quilting, read and sit by the pool. On Friday at the school, the Khmer teachers organized a day of activities for the students. The first event was a presentation about Khmer New Year, and how and when it is celebrated. Many of the events center around the pagodas where offerings of lotus flowers, incense, food and a can of coke are brought. Then students went from station to station and did some traditional Khmer activities, some of which are very similiar to things we do, such a tug of war, an egg and spoon race, flower making art activity and many more stations. I was at the Apsara dance station in the yoga studio of the school. Two dance instructors came and taught students from ranging from 4 years old to 12 years old various apsara dance steps. I was one of the lucky people who had a station in the school with air conditioning, as the temperature for outdoor activities was 39 degrees but felt like 42 degrees. Other news, the construction site across from the apartment continues to be an area of interest for me. It goes from a construction site from 7:00 am to about 7:00 pm when the floodlights go on, to a volleyball court, to a children’s playground to a place to play cards. The newest purchase is now a karaoke machine, which has to be turned up full blast until about 11:00 pm. Rainy season has just started with sheets of rain, thunder and lightning last night. I was thinking that might put a damper on karaoke, but they just moved indoors. With about four 25 storey highrise apartments surrounding the building site, I’m sure everyone is as thrilled as I am to have this new karaoke machine, but with all the hard work that these people do, I am happy they have some fun as well! I just need some better ear plugs.
5 Comments
Lorenda
4/9/2023 06:08:28 am
Love reading your updates and seeing the photos.
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Janet K
4/9/2023 12:33:42 pm
Enjoy your time off! It’s going to be a shock when you come home to Canadian food prices and cooking too!
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Wendy Davies
4/10/2023 06:42:02 am
I'm glad to hear that Mama Wong's is still there. There must have been a lot of changes in restarants through Covid closures.
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Bernice
4/10/2023 06:50:23 am
Many of the same restaurants are still here, like Java Cafe, Backyard Cafe and Farm to Table. Surprisingly FCC has shut down and so has Friends, which was a bit ht with the tour companies. Mama Wongs menu is still exactly the same as 4 years ago.
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Betty
4/10/2023 01:48:08 pm
I am glad to hear that you are settled in to your new apartment and that things are going well. Enjoy your days of rest and relaxation!
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BerniceAfter being retired for 4 years, an opportunity came up to go back to the Canadian International School Phnom Penh, where I had worked for 2 years before retiring. Of course, I jumped at the chance. Here is where I will be posting the everyday and often mundane events of going back to work and going back to Cambodia! Archives
April 2023
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