I have been here many times as it is very close to Kampot and the farm I have been working on.
Once called the Asian Riviera, it rivalled the south of France for wealthy locals. Complete with, during the protectorate times of the French, lovely colonial houses for the ex-pats to live in.
It seemed the perfect place. Although, most of the houses were demolished during the 1970s at a time of loss for the country in general.
Now it is once again the place for locals to enjoy a day out.
Cambodian’s work very hard and most work a six-day week so, on their one day off it is not unexpected for them to all descend on this little paradise where the beaches are clean and the wooden huts allow a family to set up home for a day and bring food, beer and music and enjoy the simple life.
I personally love to visit at night time on a Sunday. It is still busy with locals but there is space to find by the roadside. Here, you can order whatever local delights are on offer and sip a cold beer ( well warm beer with lots of ice in your plastic cup)
Grabbing a deal at the local crab market is an experience but if you know your fish then its worth visiting.
Alternatively, just go along and try one of the many stalls or shacks that will cook for you. Cheap and fresh you can literally see them pulling out the crabs as wait.
So whilst it was unexpected I am still here in the UK stuck from returning to Asia due to Coronavirus.
The next step of my new life in Asia is on hold at least for another month. Last time I checked flights to Thailand from the UK is banned until the 1st of June. You would also have to go through 14 days of quarantine.
Therefore, it would make sense to assume it will be the end of June before I will know for sure how easy it will be to get back.
So what do you do when you stuck in your own country but feel like a stranger?
Well, I have tried to keep myself busy. It is hard as I have had so much freedom in Asia being able to be outside virtually all the time.
Now in the UK I am having to adapt to being under lockdown and having to self isolate at a friends house.
The good news is I have managed to put weight back on. I landed back in the UK on March 13th weighing 11 stone or 69kg which is the smallest I have been since I was 14.
Now half way through May I am back to 12.5 stone or 79kg
I have time to start an exercise routine which hopefully means after 2 months of daily activity I will be able to stick to it.
I am learning a new language and reading a lot of books. Along with the odd binge on box sets thanks to Netflix.
I recommend White Lines which is about the island of Ibiza and also Itaewon Class which is a Korean drama.
Plans for the foreseeable future
Visit my Mum when lockdown eases, catch up with a few friends who I have missed and arrange a breakfast with ex work colleagues.
Then back to Asia for more work, travel and enjoying life.
We just have to continue to stay safe, keep social distancing and save lives
I arrived here with a perception of something my grandmother had told me over 30 years ago. It stuck in my mind and made me dismiss this place as not worth visiting. Until that is, a friend mentioned it and said that I could land there on my journey to Southeast Asia.
It was too dirty, they wouldn’t even let us off the plane. I don’t want to go there again!
They had to fumigate the plane before we could leave.
by Nancy Quinn- my much loved & missed grandma.. circ.1984 ish
Those days they did protect the passengers because of what was on the plane, not because of what is outside. (You smoked on planes during the 80s.)
I would also guess that the Singapore of the 1980s and today are in contrast two very different places.
Anyway, what awaited me as I travelled was an amazing place- a fusion of East and West. This country has been slowly attracting the world to its shores for a long time.
It has by far the best Airport in the world. consecutively winning for over 7 years. Says a lot about the country and what it stands for.
Want to learn about Singapore? Then below are a few suggestions that will give you a prelude to what this place was and how it became a powerhouse in South East Asia. It is one of four of what is known as Asian Tigers which also include Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korea.
For me, the beauty of Singapore doesn’t lie in its sterile environment as some people think. Yes, it is a clean city-state, people respect the law.
It is also not in the ability to live in the east as you would in the west in a good life. Of which many people choose to stay here because it gives you the best of both worlds.
It is about the cultural aspects of the place. They have managed to accommodate 4 main ethnicities in a small area that not only live together peacefully but thrive for the better of the country.
It cannot be understated that it was not all plain sailing. The 1960’s was a turbulent time for Singapore.
The Man responsible for this work was the Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. Who for 30 years was in power and took this island with nothing into something special that it is today. You will notice from my choice of books he features many times. Mainly because I feel he is as important to the success of Singapore as was Churchill to Great Britain and Gandhi to India.
I recommend if you want to understand more about Singapore then these are a good start.
Books
Lee Kuan Yew-unofficial biography by Ethan Ang
The charismatic leader Lee Kuan Yew and the rise of Singapore as an Asian tiger
The Singapore Story- memoirs by Lee Kuan Yew
The other side of Paradise by Margaret Mayhew fictional story based upon a girl’s impression of Singapore during the 1940s including the occupation by the Japanese.
From the Third world to First- the Singapore story 1965-2000
Singapore History: Precolonial Era, by Henry Albinson.
Singapore: Smart city, smart state by Kent E.Calder
Singapore: Unlikely power by John Curtis
Movies
Crazy Rich Asians will probably the most famous recently and it at least shows you some of the places in Singapore that make it special. Pay a visit to the Hawker centre in the movie at Newton. Although in my opinion, they are all good.
The top three alone will show you as much about Singapore you would wish to know. Raffles is a place that will show you the style, ambiance of the British era of rule in what was a pivotal place in the world as far as trade and strategic security of the empire.
Documentaries
Serangoon Road
More of a series rather than a documentary, but it gives you an insight into what this place was like to the few that stayed before independence. And how it shaped what the country went onto become with the people that made it their own.
There are many more things to look for in Singapore the artistic side is at the forefront of the city. There is a real change in the thinking behind free speech. For a long time, it was regarded as taboo, but now people’s ideas are becoming reality.
This has been a worldwide pandemic that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and infects to this date over 2 million people and counting.
Countries will go back into recession and in the foreseeable future austerity will get worse.
Around the less developed world people are having to choose between catching the virus and possibly infecting someone will die from it, or starving because they have no money for food.
Whilst the developed nations and I can count myself lucky to belong to one will help the people who cannot work. Countries such as India, the Philippines, most of South America and Africa do not have enough or lack of government support to help the millions of people in poverty.
However, there are some good things to come out of this.
Environmental
The seas and oceans started to grow new life again.
In Venice, the rivers have fish swimming again, as clear waters return, where, before there was nothing but cruise ships and polluted waterways.
Cities in India are now clear of air pollution as no cars venture out on the roads.
If only we could cleanse the world for a month every year to help it recover?
Humanity
People started to care about each other.
When someone asks you if you are okay, they actually mean it and wait for your answer.
People are spending time with the loved ones they are isolating with.
Families are becoming closer.
We have started to care about older and vulnerable people in our neighbourhood
Not all good news on the environment front though, as we revert back to single-use plastic as an alternative to slow the virus spreading. Waste will be unprecedented in the coming months as tissues, toiletries are used to stretching point. In the early days of this pandemic, countries saw supplies of these things literally flying off the shelves.
The only question is whether or not we will learn from this and afterwards, will we seriously look at our food supply chains. Can we try and be more environmentally savvy and grow things closer to home?
But alas I suspect that once the virus is over, we will increase pollution from manufacturing and transport to turn economies around and try and stop a recession happening again.
So I guess we must enjoy the time we have together and our prayers go out to the families who have lost loved ones.
what a wedding, the highlight of my 12 months in Cambodia
I have learnt a lot living in Cambodia and thanks to this guy i continue to learn.
We had a action packed two days. I arrived on the first day around 1pm just in time for lunch and a beer 🙂
From then I was looked after by the groom’s aunt who although she didn’t speak any English managed to find a way to communicate with me and make sure I was where I was supposed to be during the start of the festivities.
We had so many meals during the 2 day wedding that I thought i was going to burst.
All the food cooked fresh at the house and it was amazingly good and so varied.
The many costume changes they had to go through was like something in a show in the west end. But then the culture here is that this wedding is the ultimate in family gatherings. They have a complete stage with dancing girls and singers to keep the guests happy during the nighttime.
Take me to your heart
Michael learns to rock… The Song Mr Sok had sang for over a year until he found his true love.. and one which i wanted to sing with him at the wedding. Alas he was too shy to do it.
So having arrived on the 1st day in the afternoon to witness the blessing ceremony first by a guy who acts as a kind of orator to the proceedings. After gathering everyone together around a table with offerings of food and drinks he talks and blesses the couple.
We have a group of musicians who perform whilst the ceremony is going and the couple with them sing and pray for the wedding.
Afterwards a couple of monks arrive from the nearby pagoda and they bless the couple.
There is even a hair cutting ceremony 🙂
Monks perform a blessing
Artists providing special thanks
The first evening was good we only had a few guests, so I had time to sit with Sok and his friends. We shared a few drinks and laughs talking about what will happen tomorrow and how nervous he was. Effectively I guess a bit like the bachelor party albeit at home.
And under the supervision of his future wife and mother-in-law 🙂
Day 2 the wedding
The morning of the wedding was a very early experience. We woke at 3.30 am, well Sok did as he needed to get up and get ready.
I went back to bed until 5am.
His friends came to wake me and we all got up washed and dressed and then went for breakfast and when we arrived we started the proceedings.
After this we had breakfast again :0
Towards the evening of the 2nd day
We all went and changed costumes again. This time for most the last time, however the happy couple still had a another costume to wear.
Both Families united
The night time provided more guests, more beer and a chance for us all to get together and celebrate a truly beautiful day
Good luck to the married couple and I personally wish you all the best in the future.
Well if you knew Mr. Sok as I did then you would be as excited.
This typically shy guy has spent the last year since I met him singing the same song every day.
“Take me to your heart” by Michael learns to rock.
So much so that he had to translate the words to his mum as she got annoyed with him for singing all the time.
Well, he finally found his love. I know because he stopped singing😂
So having been to 4 Cambodian weddings (so good to be lucky enough to see them)
This was the special one, as I saw the whole two-day process
Many memories that I will treasure forever.
From the hair cutting ceremony to the mammoth amounts of food we had to eat and the multiple wardrobe changes ( well at least for the bride and groom anyway)
After 14 months I feel I know him better than some people I have known for 20 years.
A great guy and genuinely a nice person, I am so happy he has found someone who can take care of him as much as he will take care of her.
Equally shy she is a lovely person and I wish them nothing but respect and happiness forever.
What else happened in March?
Who cares…
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