day three. monday in phnom penh.
im writing this as the kids are trying to fall asleep. all with a sunburn, all stark naked.
ocea woke up this morning with a pretty bad heat rash on her shoulders and face. we decided that the pool might just be the best place to hang out. we headed out on the tuk tuk to find pavillion hotel. of course once we got there they sent us around the corner. we walked down this side street only to be told that we had to go back..and then return...we finally had a guard from some random checkpoint take us to the right place. another hotel all together. but oh so snazzy. beautiful gardens with banana and mango trees. bouganvelias and so on. lots and lots of beautiful sitting areas covered with flowing white cloth. and then cushions to lie on in orange and turqouise. took steve a while to get used to the luxury of it all... that conscience of his tends to get in the way in places like these.
thing is..the pool was amazing. in fact, there were two pools. one absolutely perfect for the girls. and it was even covered. they also had a little bamboo cubby to play in, complete with orange curtains. the main pool was beautiful. with the water coming right up to the edge. the big kids had an absolute blast swimming and playing. theyve needed a bit of physical stuff after a lot of lazying around.
i had bought some sunblock last night that claimed to be 90+ . i trusted that the kids would be well and truly covered. well...i was wrong. they are all burned..but mainly neshica who spent so much time in the big, uncovered pool. ive learned my lesson. thing is..the sky seems overcast most of the time so its hard to remember how strong the UV is. it doesnt feel the way it does in australia where you are well and truly aware that the sun is beating down.
weve been told by our friend ariella (who has become our current guru) that we should check out a restaurant called 'friends'. all the workers..including the chef and kitchen hands...are all young people who used to be in the sex trade. 'friends' provides an income for these kids so they no longer need to make a living off the street. its a beautiful place with lots of beautiful food. the fruit drinks were a hit with the kids. very pricey for cambodian standards..but for a good cause.
we headed back to the guest house for some much needed rest for the little ones. i took this opportunity to go and have a massage. i had read about the blind massage place and figured i should check it out. in my mind having a blind masseus is pretty much the perfect combo with my crap body image. if i cant have a blind husband...at least i can have a blind masseus. the tuktuk ride there was somewhat different since noone stared or pointed at me. not even one wave. so its now confirmed that its not me the crowds want...but the little girls. (ocea now just continually waves in the tuktuk - very much like the queen - even when the street is empty).
so i was asked what kind of massage i wanted. i wasnt quite sure what the options were. but i very quickly knew that i didnt want the thai massage when this blind dude demonstrated by doing these violent karate style chops. i was then asked to sit down in these bamboo style chairs that were really comfortable. the lady who i thought was the front desk lady started massaging my feet. no mention of the blind dude who was now happily sitting off to the side . he was then nowhere to be seen (excuse the pun) for the rest of the hour...so yeah..my blind massage was not so blind after all. but it was amazing. really amazing. my feet have never been happier. she spent 50min on them and then a quick ten minutes on my neck and shoulders....so of course...i will have to return.
on the way back i stopped at a pharmacy to buy some aloe vera and some very expensive australian sunblock. they made sure i knew it was australian. as in....very very good. i didnt care where it was from...as long as it works.
i got back and suggested we try a new place for dinner..a place just down the road from here called 'mamas'. turns out they are mentioned in 'the lonely planet'. (this should please steve since he insisted we buy the bibl....oops...book before we left. does the word TOURIST mean anything to you steve??) sorry...i had to vent. so the place couldnt have been friendlier. with the owner chatting away with us. making sure his three daughters were properly introduced. marina, marika and marila. of course. they ended up playing with Time and Ocea almost the whole time which was very sweet. we ordered fried rice noodles with chicken. (of course they turned out to be wheat). two slow cooked beef stews. one amok (which is the cambodian signature dish) - fish in a curry coconut sauce. one steak and a coconut smoothie. the grand total?? $12.
we headed back to the guest house...with all the people waving as we walked past...and up to our room. the kids are now asleep...except for ocea who is lying here next to me trying to make conversation. steve is downstairs filling up water bottles and hopefully transferring what i wrote yesterday onto my email. its just so much easier to write things on our lap top and then transfer later on. the computers here are pretty fast with the internet..but the keyboards are so dodgy that its really hard to not have lots of spelling mistakes. so it takes ages to get it right.
the highlight for me today was...well...of course being at the pool with the family...as well as the amazing foot massage...but i have to say i got a real kick from opening up the local paper today. first time i have. and there being a huge article about the cock shuttles i mentioned yesterday. with a big picture of that old dude i mentioned who was incredible!! turns out we happened to walk past a pretty big event. the vietnamese national team are in town teaching the cambodian national team some tricks. they happened to have a display session just as we walked past. the old dude is 63 and the nations best. in fact...he makes the cockshuttles himself out of goose feathers and recycled plastic. and sells them for $1.60. next time we are down by the river im going to get one and start practising. surely it couldnt just have been chance that we were there...and then there being a massive article...its destiny i tell you!!
im writing this as the kids are trying to fall asleep. all with a sunburn, all stark naked.
ocea woke up this morning with a pretty bad heat rash on her shoulders and face. we decided that the pool might just be the best place to hang out. we headed out on the tuk tuk to find pavillion hotel. of course once we got there they sent us around the corner. we walked down this side street only to be told that we had to go back..and then return...we finally had a guard from some random checkpoint take us to the right place. another hotel all together. but oh so snazzy. beautiful gardens with banana and mango trees. bouganvelias and so on. lots and lots of beautiful sitting areas covered with flowing white cloth. and then cushions to lie on in orange and turqouise. took steve a while to get used to the luxury of it all... that conscience of his tends to get in the way in places like these.
thing is..the pool was amazing. in fact, there were two pools. one absolutely perfect for the girls. and it was even covered. they also had a little bamboo cubby to play in, complete with orange curtains. the main pool was beautiful. with the water coming right up to the edge. the big kids had an absolute blast swimming and playing. theyve needed a bit of physical stuff after a lot of lazying around.
i had bought some sunblock last night that claimed to be 90+ . i trusted that the kids would be well and truly covered. well...i was wrong. they are all burned..but mainly neshica who spent so much time in the big, uncovered pool. ive learned my lesson. thing is..the sky seems overcast most of the time so its hard to remember how strong the UV is. it doesnt feel the way it does in australia where you are well and truly aware that the sun is beating down.
weve been told by our friend ariella (who has become our current guru) that we should check out a restaurant called 'friends'. all the workers..including the chef and kitchen hands...are all young people who used to be in the sex trade. 'friends' provides an income for these kids so they no longer need to make a living off the street. its a beautiful place with lots of beautiful food. the fruit drinks were a hit with the kids. very pricey for cambodian standards..but for a good cause.
we headed back to the guest house for some much needed rest for the little ones. i took this opportunity to go and have a massage. i had read about the blind massage place and figured i should check it out. in my mind having a blind masseus is pretty much the perfect combo with my crap body image. if i cant have a blind husband...at least i can have a blind masseus. the tuktuk ride there was somewhat different since noone stared or pointed at me. not even one wave. so its now confirmed that its not me the crowds want...but the little girls. (ocea now just continually waves in the tuktuk - very much like the queen - even when the street is empty).
so i was asked what kind of massage i wanted. i wasnt quite sure what the options were. but i very quickly knew that i didnt want the thai massage when this blind dude demonstrated by doing these violent karate style chops. i was then asked to sit down in these bamboo style chairs that were really comfortable. the lady who i thought was the front desk lady started massaging my feet. no mention of the blind dude who was now happily sitting off to the side . he was then nowhere to be seen (excuse the pun) for the rest of the hour...so yeah..my blind massage was not so blind after all. but it was amazing. really amazing. my feet have never been happier. she spent 50min on them and then a quick ten minutes on my neck and shoulders....so of course...i will have to return.
on the way back i stopped at a pharmacy to buy some aloe vera and some very expensive australian sunblock. they made sure i knew it was australian. as in....very very good. i didnt care where it was from...as long as it works.
i got back and suggested we try a new place for dinner..a place just down the road from here called 'mamas'. turns out they are mentioned in 'the lonely planet'. (this should please steve since he insisted we buy the bibl....oops...book before we left. does the word TOURIST mean anything to you steve??) sorry...i had to vent. so the place couldnt have been friendlier. with the owner chatting away with us. making sure his three daughters were properly introduced. marina, marika and marila. of course. they ended up playing with Time and Ocea almost the whole time which was very sweet. we ordered fried rice noodles with chicken. (of course they turned out to be wheat). two slow cooked beef stews. one amok (which is the cambodian signature dish) - fish in a curry coconut sauce. one steak and a coconut smoothie. the grand total?? $12.
we headed back to the guest house...with all the people waving as we walked past...and up to our room. the kids are now asleep...except for ocea who is lying here next to me trying to make conversation. steve is downstairs filling up water bottles and hopefully transferring what i wrote yesterday onto my email. its just so much easier to write things on our lap top and then transfer later on. the computers here are pretty fast with the internet..but the keyboards are so dodgy that its really hard to not have lots of spelling mistakes. so it takes ages to get it right.
the highlight for me today was...well...of course being at the pool with the family...as well as the amazing foot massage...but i have to say i got a real kick from opening up the local paper today. first time i have. and there being a huge article about the cock shuttles i mentioned yesterday. with a big picture of that old dude i mentioned who was incredible!! turns out we happened to walk past a pretty big event. the vietnamese national team are in town teaching the cambodian national team some tricks. they happened to have a display session just as we walked past. the old dude is 63 and the nations best. in fact...he makes the cockshuttles himself out of goose feathers and recycled plastic. and sells them for $1.60. next time we are down by the river im going to get one and start practising. surely it couldnt just have been chance that we were there...and then there being a massive article...its destiny i tell you!!
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