Happy New Year 2009!

Since I moved to Cambodia, we´ve kind of established a tradition of celebrating the New Years Eve in Kep, a relaxed little seaside town with an outstanding atmosphere and breathtaking sunsets. (Well, this is only the second time actually, but that makes it a tradition, doesn´t it?! ) Anyway...


... from Kep we wish all of you friends and family all over the world a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Two familiar travellers, perhaps?

Me and Janne in Siem Reap, 22:nd of December 2008

For calling or for walking...?

There was no way I could resist buying these pair of flip-flops for my Apple nerd of a husband when I found them at a market in Saigon some weeks ago.... (Please note that the Apple logo is in gold! Fancy, huh?!)

He got them for Christmas and yes - he wears them all the time...

Christmas Khmer style

Hi there! Long time, no blogging... Sorry for the silence here. A very intense month at work has left no time or energy for blog updates. But finally the holidays are here, so... here we go again!

Janne arrived yesterday for a bit more than 2 weeks holiday here, which of course feels great! We will spend christmas and new year here in Cambodia, as we want to make the most of the time that is left here before it´s time move back to Sweden by mid-April. Can´t believe that I only have less than 4 months left here now.... Feels good and sad at the same time...

I guess that you all are quite busy with all the Christmas preparations, only a couple of days to go now.... I´m happy to tell you that the christmas spirit has reached Phnom Penh as well! Yesterday for example, we attended the annual christmas party at my office. This yeears celebration turned out to be the best both me and Janne has ever attended. Very fun, enjoyable and a great mix between Khmer and Swedish traditions. It started out in the early afternoon with a traditional buddhist ceremony with monks chanting for an hour, blessing both the staff and the office and giving good luck for the new year. After that, a delicious smorgasbord was served, with both Swedish and Khmer delicacies; meetballs, cheese, Janssons frestelse, fried and fresh springrolls, mixed Khmer fingerfood, Swedish snaps, etc. Followed by a Khmer version of Santa Claus, bringing gifts for all guests. I got a Khmer hairclip and Janne a "Doiche Gabbana" womens´watch. Now we´re certainly dressed for success! :-) After that, the Khmer dancing started, to the very loud sound of Khmer karaoke. I did my best practising my Khmer style dancing, but left the singing to my Khmer colleagues. As all Khmer parties, it was all carried out in a very warm hearted spirit and finished very early. At 7 pm, almost all guests had left already. It was all great fun, and we really want to come for next years party as well!
(Unfortunately, I don´t have any photos to publish from the party yet, but it´ll come, I promise.)

Today, it was time to do some christmas decorations of the apartment. As we don´t have a christmas tree, the plants on the terrace just had to do. So now all the bamboo plants, bougainvillier trees etc on the terrace are all beautifully decorated with lights, glitter and other kinds of christmas decorations.
Janne decorating our "christmas tree"

To top the christmas spirit even more, we invited some friends over for some christmas treats like glögg, cheddar cheese and gingerbread cookies this afternoon. It sure gave us a taste of christmas!

So it´s christmas is here in Phnom Penh as well - Khmer style..! :-)

Tomorrow we are leaving for Siem Reap, to celebrate christmas at the astonishing Angkor temples. Merry Christmas!

Sihanoukville and Lazy Beach

I just received reports from Stockholm that the first snow of the year has fallen. So I´m posting some photos from warmer latitudes to help you all to feel a bit.. well, warmer... Here are some photos from our trip to Sihanoukville and the island of Koh Rong Saloem that we did by the end of October.

First, we made an overnight stop in Sihanoukville. The hotel we stayed at, the Reef Resort, was a nice and friendly place with good food and a true haven in an otherwise very much destroyed Sihanoukville.

Janne in the pool (where else?!) at the Reef Resort

We were actually shocked to find Sihanoukville in such a state... A very sad experience and so totally opposite to the memories we have from our first visit there 6 years ago. What used to be a nice and quiet little seaside town with beautiful beaches has turned into a very shabby, dirty town and the Serendipity part of Occheutal Beach is covered with garbage and dominated by an overestablishment of shabby backpacker hangouts. Yep; things are changing quickly in Cambodia, just as at so many other places around the world that suddenly becomes popular tourist destinations...

So, after one night in Sihanoukville we were happy to take the boat to the island of Koh Rong Saloem, approximately 3 hrs off Sihanoukville.

Janne on the boat, looking forward to the beach...

After a quite pleasant boatride we arrived to Lazy Beach, a lovely bungalow establishment where we stayed for four nights.
The view from our bungalow

This is truly a great little place, a tropical hideaway from the rest of the world... Very basic accomodation, a bit more basic than we were up for at first actually, but the rest of it totally made up for that; the restaurant with delicious food, the relaxed athmosphere, the two lovely dogs running around, the nice staff, lazy afternoons in the hammocks reading books, swims in the turquoise sea and so on, made our stay there very pleasant and enjoyable. There´s no mobile phone connection or electricity on the island, only a generator running for a few hours in the evenings. Which all adds to the feeling of a hideaway from the rest of the world.

Lazy Beach, seen from the boat

The only drawback was the boatride back to Sihanoukville, as there was a very bad weather on our day of departure from Lazy Beach. Which made it impossible to board the boat from the pier, so we had to swim out to the boat in quite rough sea, and try to climb up and onboard. But with good assistance from fellow passanger we made it without any bigger difficulties. The worst was still to come, though; the seasickness that kept me company for most of the 3,5 hrs it took to get back to Sihanoukville. Next time, I have to remember to bring medicine for that....!

That perfect gift?!

As Christmas is coming up soon, I thought I should provide a good suggestion for what kind of gift to buy for that special someone who has everything already;
How about a "Niske"-bag?! Anyone?! I can pretty much guarantee that the person you have in mind doesn´t have this one already.
Available at the Binh Tay Market in Ho Chi Minh City.

Heading to Ho Chi Minh City

This week, there´s the big, annual Water Festival here in Cambodia. 1-2 million Cambodians are heading to Phnom Penh from all of the countryside provinces to enjoy the boat races on the river, the fireworks and all the other festivities that are going on. It´s a nice party atmosphere, but incredibly crowded. You can´t drive anywhere in the central part of the city or on the river side, most restaurants and shops are closed for the holiday, so unless you are very much into watching boat races and just loves crowds of people, there´s not very much to do but to stay inside and watch dvd for a week. Which I´m not intending to do, so instead I´m taking the opportunity to go to Vietnam for a few days. I´ve never been to Ho Chi Minh City (previosly Saigon) in southern Vietnam before, so that´s where I´m going. On tuesday afternoon I´m catching a bus from Phnom Penh that´s supposed to reach HCMC in five hours, but I guess we´ll have to see about that.... I´ve actually never herd anyone being overly enthusiastic about HCMC so I don´t have very high expectations, but it´ll be interesting to see this commercial hub of Vietnam. And also to compare it to the very different city of Hanoi in the north, as the two cities are supposed to be eachothers´opposites when it comes to character. And of course; a change of environment, some good shopping, Vietnamese coffe, delicious food, art galleries and lazy afternoons at atmospheric cafés reading a good book, will be very nice..!

The infinite rainy season

Seems like we have an infinite rainy season this year... There´s just no stop to it. By all means, it should´ve stopped nearly a month ago, but instead it´s increasing. And on top of this, the temperature has hardly dropped at all. So to summarize; instead of dry and cool as should be the case this time of year, it´s wet and hot. Can anyone explain this, please?! Louise?! Climate changes? Well, whatever the reason, the consequenses are the same; almost every evening I´m stuck at the office after working hours, waiting for the rain to stop before I can take my motorbike and drive home on the flooded streets of Phnom Penh. A very unusual November-scenario, for sure...

This wet and hot climate gives a good breeding ground for the dengue mosquitoes as well. There´s a bad outbreak of dengue fever in Ho Chi Minh City (read: Saigon) now, which is situated only approximately 300 km from here across the Vietnamese boarder. And where am I going on vacation next week? Right; to Ho Chi Minh City, of course...

Well, I guess I shouldn´t complain. Needless to say, there are of course so many people in this country who are effected a lot worse from the rain. For example in the province of Rattanakiri in northern Cambodia, where the infrastructure is very poor and roads hardly exisist at all. The rain turns the already weak road network into flooded mud basins, making any kind of transportation very difficult. Below are some photos from a fieldtrip I did to Rattanakiri last year to visit one of our partner organisations who work in that area. It turned out to be the most adventurous road trip I´ve ever done, and I learned a lot about the challenges that many Cambodian NGO:s are facing when working in remote areas during the rainy season... And I´m deeply impressed by the work they are carrying out all year around, goal-oriented and untiringly in all weathers and seasons facing very difficult conditions..;

The "road" to one of our target areas. The road is flooded like this every rainy season, and it´s not uncommon for vehicles to get stuck so bad that they never get out of there. On the side of this mud basin stood several abandoned lorries who had been stuck there since last year.

Our car is stuck....
...again and again...

But we had a very skilled driver, aged 19 who had driven on these roads for 10 (!) years already, who managed to get us out of the mud every time. (He´s kneeling beside the car on the second pic from the top)

The situation was a lot worse for these guys, who got stuck one late afternoon, had to stay overnight in the car and still hadn´t managed to get out of there when we passed again the next day... I always think about them when I see this photo and hope that they eventually got out of there somehow, without having to leave their car behind...

A great man, a great day

Today is a great day...! Barack Obama will bring change, hope and peace. He will make this world a better place. Congratulations, mr President!

Actually, it already feels a bit easier to breathe, doesn't it...?! :-)

Going to the beach....

On Sunday morning, we´re heading to the coast for a well deserved holiday. We´ll stay one night in Sihanoukville first, before taking the boat to our main destination; "Lazy Beach". On the island, there are no telephones, no internet-connection, no television, no modernities what so ever. Just a long, beautiful beach, the ocean and us with a pile of books. The food and drinks are supposed to be excellent, which of course is a bonus as well. So we´re looking forward to a lovely, relaxing week.
So long!

Oh, Happy Day

He´s here now; the most wonderful man in the whole world. He´s asleep in my bed, jetlagged and tired, while I am far too happy and excited to lay down beside him. On the contrary, I just wanna run in circles like a crazy person and scream of the top of my voice out of pure happiness! Together again! Iiiihhhh!!!! Imagine that you can still feel like this after 14 years together. Isn´t it wonderful?! :-) Happy, happy, happy day!!! :-)

"Oh Happy Day" from the movie "Sister Act 2"

A decision has been made...

After a lot of thinking and measuring different alternatives against one another, I´ve finally made up my mind. I ´ve decided to return to Sweden in April next year. Even if I do love living here in Phnom Penh, there are two strong reasons for this decision. The first one is strictly personal; I feel that it´s time to go home and reunite with my loved ones; my beloved husband and pets. As I wrote in the previous posting; no place in the world, no matter how much enjoy living there,  can ever be my home to 100 %  if they are not by my side. In April next year we´ve been living on different sides of the world for 2 years, and it´s been working surprisingly well. But we don´t want to go on like this forever. And it feels like it´s a good time to go home "to touch base" for a while after two years. And as my very clever and supportive friend Louise said the other day; "Sometimes it´s good to leave when you´re on the top of things, when everything is going well. And not wait until you´ll find yourself in bad situation. In that way, you´ll leave with positive memories and be able to make the very best of the situation..." I couldn´t agree with her more! The second reason being that my employer has decided to localize the position that I have. This is a policy decision for all our offices globally, which means that all Swedish staff with my position will successively be phased out and replaced with nationally employed staff. Which in turn means that if I´d like to extend my contract when it expires in April next year, I would not be employed by the Swedish head office anymore but by our office here in Cambodia. Which comes with worse conditions for everything; salary, benefits, insurances, etc. The whole idea is of course that Swedish staff will be phased out and replaced by national staff, so we will now start to recruit a Cambodian replacer for me, that hopefully will be able to start by the beginning of next year for a handing over process before it´s time for me to leave.

This decision is quite new, so to some extent I still have mixed emotions about leaving my beloved Cambodia... But at the same time, it feels nothing but right to reunite with my loved ones. The decision kind of grew on me when I was in Sweden in September, and I made up my mind during my last days there. So when I came back to Cambodia earlier this week and was notified by the head office that my position would be localized, it just confirmed to me that I had made the right decision already.

Work wise, I just have to see what happens. Formally, I still have a permanent position to go back to, but as the governmental authority that I´m employed by currently is undergoing a major reorganisation, who knows what the situation will be when I´m finally back in Sweden... So I´ll start to look for some other jobs as well, and take it from there. Right now I´m not worried at all, I must say. I´ll just take it as it comes. And I´m sure it´ll work out in one way or another, as it ususally does. My biggest challenge has actually been to take this decision at all, and I´m sure that now that piece of the puzzle has fallen into place, the others will too, eventually....

I´m not at all excluding the possibility of going abroad for another mission in the future. On the contrary I´m pretty sure that I will, but for the time it´s time to go home.

So; see you all Swedes in April!

BRING IT HOME TO ME by Sam Cooke

A place called home

Today is a PJ-day. I just can´t get enough of this best female rock star ever.

Today is also one of those days when I´m thinking about where I belong... what it is that defines a home..?

At the same time I feel that I´ve reached a conclusion that my home is where my heart is. Where my loved ones are. A place can never fully be a home if they are not there. We just have to find that place together. And most likely we will in the future. Or maybe we already have..?

Which all in all makes this song very suitable for this very particular day.



A PLACE CALLED HOME by PJ HARVEY
One day I know
We'll find a place of hope
Just hold on to me
Just hold on to me
Walk tight, one line
You're wanted this time
There's no one to blame
Just hold on to me

(Come on my love)
And I'm right on time
And the birds keep singing
And you're right on line
And the bells keep ringing
And the battle is won
And the planes keep winging
And I'm right on time
And the girl keeps singing

One day they'll be a place for us

I walk and I wade
Through full lands and lonely
I stumble, I stumble
With you I wait
To be born again
With love comes the day
Just hold on to me

(Come on my love)
And I'm right on time
And the birds keep singing
And you're right on line
And the bells keep ringing

One day they'll be a place for us

And the battle is won
And the planes keep winging
And I'm right on time
And the girl keeps singing

One day they'll be a place for us

Now is the time
To follow through
To read the signs
Now the message sent
Let's bring it to it's final end

And I'm right on time
And the birds keep singing
And you're right on line
And the bells keep ringing
One day they'll be a place for us
And the battle is won
And the planes keep winging
And I'm right on time
And the girl keeps singing
One day they'll be a place for us

One day
I
Know
They'll be
A place
Called
Home

Lazy Sunday morning in bed....

The circle of life

I´m now in Sweden for a couple of weeks. This due to equally sad and happy occations, which reveals both the dark and bright sides of the circle of life. It reminds me of how very important family and friends are at all times, and how important it is to share the most crucial moments with each other. In sickness and in health, in happiness and sadness. For joy, love, support, sharing, celebration, friendship and care. We´re truly blessed to be a part of each others lives. Thank you for including me in yours.

Size doesn´t matter...

Motorbikes, or "motos" as they´re called here, is the main mean of transportation in Cambodia. As you can see for yourself, there´s no limit for the size of a load that can be carried on a "moto" ...

Cruising....

I´ve now decided to book a tour to Ha Long Bay this coming weekend. Ha Long Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, about 3 hr from Hanoi.

I´m going on an overnight cruise on this boat...
Not too bad, huh?

I´m really excited about this. The only thing is that I suddenly realized that for the very first time in my life, I´ve booked a cruise... And a pretty luxury one as well... or what do you say about this?
I´m afraid that this is a pretty clear sign that I´ve reached the middle-ages... :-/ So pls don´t tell anyone..! *blushing*

Hanoi = love

I love Hanoi! Just so you know... A wonderful, beautiful city with tons of atmosphere. Great food and shopping, amazing arcitechture and art galleries. I love it!!!

Next stop Hanoi...

Tomorrow, I´m leaving for Hanoi where I´m going to take a course in "Project and Programme Management" for two weeks. I´ve planned so I´ll get three weekends in total in Hanoi to get some time to explore the city as well. Ever since I watched the beautiful movie "At the Height of Summer" or "the Vertical Rays of the Sun" as it´s also called sometimes (see the movie clips below), I´ve always wanted to go to Hanoi, so I´m really looking forward to it.

To treat myself,  and to get some well deserved time off from the studies, I might do this as well. What do you think?! :-)

August the 13:th - my birthday

So this is how if feels be exactly between 30 and 40... So far, so good, I guess...?! 

I´m planning to celebrate by spoiling myself rotten today! :-) Yaaay! I´ve taken a day off from work, and will spend the day shopping, going to a spa and have dinner with friends at the Spanish tapas restaurant Pacharan on the riverside.

The birthday kicked off with knocks on the door at 7.30 this morning. My dear friends Albin, Mimmi and their son Noam payed me a surprise visit, singing happy birthday. They brought Swedish chocolate pudding (aaahhhh! My all time favourite!) - one for breakfast and one for lunch, juice (made of "youngberries" - what could the hidden message possibly be?) and also a very nice painting, made by Albin. 
He made this painting some time ago, and I´ve loved it since the very first time I saw it. It´s inspired by their cat "Skruttis".  I´ve spent many days and nights with Skruttis, cat sitting her when her family has been away, and become very attached to her. Sadly enough, she ran away some time ago, and hasn´t been seen since. We all miss her terribly, so this painting is not only a beautiful painting, it´s also a nice memory of Skruttis. 

Thank you to Albin, Mimmi and Noam for this very nice birthday surprise this morning! 

Thank you also to Janne and my parents, who are giving me this beautiful lithography; "Woman with dog"
This is one of my favourite art pieces (you can spot the bull terrier, right?!) by one of my favourite artists; Olga Semenova. It´s been bought for me in Stockholm and Janne will bring it with him when he´s coming to Phnom Penh in October. 

Ok, better get going now. Well, I´ve started the day with some really nice chocolate pudding and some youngberry juice :-) for breakfast, but I guess I´d better head to my favourite café for a treat of good coffee and french baguettes as well. After that, Albin has promised to take me to some good places where I get plants, flowers and pots for my project "Pimp my terrace". He, Mimmi and Noam will give me a couple of plants as a birthday present to start off my project. 

Can´t wait to see how nice my apartment will be with these two art pieces, one Semenova and one Hagberg, on my walls. And a dazzling terrace as well! 

Aaahhh, life between 30 and 40 is pretty good after all...! :-)  

True love

Wonderful. True love. So beautiful it makes me cry.

Our 10:th Wedding Anniversary!

On the 27:th of June, me and Janne are celebrating our 10:th anniversary..! I can´t believe it´s already been 10 years since the day we got married in S:t Olofs Chapel, a beautiful little red wooden church by the sea on the west coast of Sweden.

This was the happiest and most beautiful day of our lives. Together with friends and family who had joined us from Sweden, England, USA and Hong Kong, we had a wonderful ceremony and celebration which we´ll always cherish in our hearts. 

Unfortunately, we don´t have any digital photos from our wedding day to be published here (as digital cameras simply were not invented then), but I´m posting some photos from the beautiful little chapel (built in 1721) and its surroundings for you to see. They show the chapel, the altar and the view over the sea seen from the chapel.


The other day, I found the song that we chose for our wedding dance on You Tube; Dance me to the End of Love by Leonard Cohen.

Leonard Cohen has always been very special to us, and we love this song. When I found it, I was happily surprised to see that Cohen obviously had written this song with weddings promising eternal love, in mind. 

Darling; I´m dedicating this video to you. Thank you for always believing in me, supporting me and loving me no matter what. Thank you for always being there for me, wherever I am in the world. Thank you for standing by me in good times and in bad times, in sickness and in health. Thank you for 10 wonderful married years. What we have is truly unique, and I´m looking forward to spending the rest of our lives together! I love you more than words can say.

Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin
Dance me through the panic 'til I'm gathered safely in
Lift me like an olive branch and be my homeward dove
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love
Oh let me see your beauty when the witnesses are gone
Let me feel you moving like they do in Babylon
Show me slowly what I only know the limits of
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to the wedding now, dance me on and on
Dance me very tenderly and dance me very long
We're both of us beneath our love, we're both of us above
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to the children who are asking to be born
Dance me through the curtains that our kisses have outworn
Raise a tent of shelter now, though every thread is torn
Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin
Dance me through the panic till I'm gathered safely in
Touch me with your naked hand or touch me with your glove
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love

At home...

I´m writing this at my home in Stockholm. I landed here early morning on the 20:th of June, just in time for the traditional Midsummer celebration. I´ll have four weeks of well deserved vacation here in Sweden, which I´m very much looking forward to. No plans yet, except for spending week 29 in Halmstad on the west coast where my family lives. On the 21:st of July, I´ll head back to Phnom Penh and Janne will head for another duty trip abroad, this time to Amsterdam. But that´s then. Right now, we´re only resting and relaxing. Mmmm... nice...!!! 

Let´s go shopping

This isn´t a very good picture, but I couldn´t resist showing it to you; look closely and you´ll see that it´s a roller coaster. It´s running inside a shopping mall. That´s how big the shopping malls are in KL.... This picture is from Berjaya Times Square, a gigantic mall with 900 shops, a cineplex with Southeast Asia´s largest cinema and movie screen, and a huge indoor theme park of 133,000 square feet called Cosmos World. All in one building. 

Monorail

One of the many means of transportation in Kuala Lumpur; the Monorail.

Beautiful lampposts...

I admire the beautiful and imaginative lampposts they have in Malaysia...
Here and below are two in the shape of flowers...

Sultan Abdul Samad Building

The Sultan Abdul Samad Building, the first moghul-style structure built in Kuala Lumpur, which was officially opened in 1897 as the Supreme Court. Today, it´s housing the High Court and is the centerpiece of KL´s historic district.

Old and new, side by side...

In this picture you can see both one of the minarets of the beautiful Jamek Mosque, built 1909, and the Kuala Lumpur Tower, the second tallest building in KL, built 1995.

Petronas at night....

Quite impressive, I must say... We felt really small, looking up on the 452 meter tall building from the ground...

Petronas Twin Towers

The Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur are the world´s tallest pair of buildings at 452 metre (1,480 ft). Between 1996 and 2003 it was the world´s tallest building, until the Taipei 101 Tower topped it by 56 meters (190 ft). The towers were designed by Cesar Pelli and Associates, and the cost for the whole project was USD 1,2 billion.

A weekend in Kuala Lumpur

The weekend trip to Kuala Lumpur was great in every way. It was of course lovely to see my beloved husband Janne again, and get the opportunity to spend some time together. KL is a modern, clean, well-organized city which made me, a Phnom Penh citizen, feel like "the hillbilly cousin" on a visit (which I was, I guess). With numerous impressive shopping malls, multi laned highways and modern buildings side by side with old colonial and islamic architectural wonders and with a multi ethnic population, Kuala Lumpur comes across as both outwardly cosmopolitan and very Asian at the same time. Although, I must say that I kind of missed the "chaos" and "unpredictability" of Cambodia. One of the highlights for the two of us who has a big interest in architecture, was the many interesting buildings to admire.

More photos will follow, but as there seems to be a problem with publishing all of them in the same posting, you´ll find them one by one or in pairs, above.

Going to Kuala Lumpur

Yaay - today I´m happy for two things;

1) I have internet connection in my flat again! Which means that I have a fair chance of connecting with the rest of the world after two weeks of isolation.

2) Today (Saturday) I´m flying to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia to meet up with my beloved husband who´s there on a business trip. He landed there this morning, I´ll arrive this afternoon, and we´ll have almost two days together in KL, before I have to go back to Phnom Penh for work on Monday morning. Less than two days in KL might not seem too long time to some people, and most would probably not bother to fly from Cambodia to Malaysia for a short stay like that. But for a couple like us who don´t see see eachother more often than once every three months, it´s a very welcome addition to all that time that we spend apart.
And oh, there´s one more thing that makes this visit to KL very special to us; We got married in June 1998, and went to Malaysia on honeymoon. We spent almost two months there and in neighbouring countries, and already back then we said that we´d really like to go back to Malaysia for our 10 year wedding anniversary. And now; voila - 10 years later - we´ll be back there (almost) right on time for some romantic anniverary celebration. Which I´m reeeeally looking forward to! ;-)

So now; time for some last minute packing - as always...

Birthday Girl!

Today is Polly Jeans´3:rd birthday! Hipp, hipp, hurray!

Oh, how time flies! I can´t believe that it´s three years since we got our little beloved puppy girl!



Happy birthday, honey! We love you sooooo much!!!

Waiting...

We're all waiting for something... You are probably waiting for a new posting here. I'm still waiting for the installation of internet connection in my new flat...

I wonder what Polly Jean is waiting for. What do you think..?

Busy, busy; working and moving

Hey...! Long time, no see... No, I didn´t disappear in Chiang Mai even if one can think so as it´s been awfully quiet on this page since I left for my vacation. A quick resumé: I came back two weeks ago, after a lovely holiday. Chiang Mai and Bangkok was lovely as always, and it was great to see my friends again. Since I came back, my life as been really, really busy. On all levels. Too much work, which has made me abandon my ususal commitment to myself not to work on weekends. So I´ve been working weekends, evenings and on holidays. During the little time I´ve had left for my private life outside work, I´ve continued my efforts to find a new apartment. And so I finally did, about a week ago. It turned out it was available from the 1:st of June, which means that the last week has been dedicated to preparations for moving.

All in all, this means that I´ve been incredibly busy these past weeks. I´m very tired, and haven´t found enough energy or inspiration for blogging which explains the silence here. However, I know this far too busy schedule will come to an end by mid-next week. At that point, some milestones will have been reached at work, I´ll be installed in my new apartement and I can start to look forward to the very well deserved upcoming summer vacation in Sweden later this month. So, even if life has been far too busy for my own good the past month, I can see the end of it and I´m still in quite good spirit.

So; about me moving; although I like my old flat, and I´m a bit sentimental about moving out and leaving this neighbourhood, I´m also looking forward to stay in the new one. It´s a lot cooler (temperature wise), which I´m happy for. It has a very good location as well. For those of you who are familiar with Phnom Penh; the flat is on street 294 which runs parallell to and just south of Sihanouk Blv, on the part between Norodom and Sothearos blv. It´s next door to Talking to a Stranger, and just one block from La Luna, Java Café and Hun Sen Park, and from the terrace I can see both Independence Monument and a glimpse of the river. Another good thing is that as opposed to my current flat this one doesn´t suffer from electricity cuts. It´s better furnished and has a wonderful, big terrace with a nice view. I´ll of course post some photos here for you too see later on.

Ok, the mover will be here in two hours so I´d better continue with the packing. Last minute, as always... It´ll probably take a week or so before my telephone and internet connection is installed in my new flat, which means that this blog will have to take another short break. See you later!

Going on holiday to Thailand

Today, (Tuesday, although the blog date claims that it´s Monday) I´m leaving for a holiday in Thailand. Yippiiiee! This Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are National Holidays here in Cambodia thanks to the Kings´birthday, which gives me a opportunity to visit my dear friend Johan and his girlfriend Alon in Chiang Mai. Johan used to work at our office here in Phnom Penh, although not for the same organisation, and we became very good friends. Johan is actually the one who taught me how to drive a motorbike! (Mission impossible completed) Can you imagine what a patient person he is?! Since the beginning of this year, Johan and Alon have relocated to Chiang Mai, and they´ve invited me to come and visit them. Which I´m of course very happy to do! I´ll be away Tuesday-Monday, making a stopover at my beloved Atlanta Hotel in Bangkok on my way back to Phnom Penh.

I´ve been to Chiang Mai some times before, the first visit was in 1995 when I conducted my very first field study in South East Asia. The last time was four years ago when Janne and I spent a couple of days there on our way to Laos. I´m excited to go there again to see what it´s like now, and to see my dear friends of course.

By the way; I´m considering to buy a camera in Chiang Mai to replace my broken one, and the prices seems to be pretty good in Chiang Mai. Anyone of you who has experience from using either Nikon Coolpix P5100 or Nikon Coolpix S700? If so, please let me know what you think.

Ok, the taxi will pick me up to go to the airport in less than an hour now, so I guess I´d better start to do some packing now - last minute as always.... *sigh*...

Dosa Heaven

If you love food, like I do, Phnom Penh is a wonderful city to live in. Soooo many great restaurants serving food from all over the world; Lebanese, Japanese, Russian, Italian, Chinese, Thai, French, Maroccan, Spanish, Mexican.... I think that the only kitchen I haven´t seen represented here so far is the Ethiopian.

Most restaurants are doing home delivery as well. I´ve completely forgot how to cook. Or, I´ve rather found a new way of doing it; I´m taking out my plastic folder that contains all the home delivery menues that I´ve collected during my year here. I´m going through the menues carefully, but will most likely finally pick the same Indian restaurant as usual. I´m making a phone call, placing my order, stating my adress and voilá - 20 minutes later there´s a delicious Indian meal on my plate. That´s the art of cooking, folks!

Some of you might be familiar with my passion for Indian food, and when I first moved here I was very happy to find that there are plenty of good, very good, Indian restaurants here. And tonight I´ve made a new discovery on the Indian restaurant scene here in Phnom Penh; "Dosa Corner" on street 51. It has only been open for a couple of months, but the rumours has started to spread that they serve the most delicious dosas. And I can only agree - Dosa Corner should be named Dosa Heaven!!! Mmmm...!!! The taste sent me 15 years back in time, to Kerala in southern India where I was doing my very first study trip to Asia. At the village project where I was studying, the wonderful Mitraniketan, dosa was served no less than three times a day, and you had to be careful not to over eat it. But now, after visiting "Dosa Corner", I´m certainly facing the same risk again. I´m just happy that I don´t have to make the dosa myself. It´s soooo much easier to just pick up the phone... :-) But if you would like to try, here´s a master to learn from;

Khmer delicacies (?) and Spider Man

This evening after work, I went to "Lucky Supermarket" for some grocery shopping. And I found some ingredients that I thought might serve as an inspiration for you if you don´t know what to have for dinner tonight. 

Unfortunately the photos are not very sharp (those mobile phone cameras never keep what they promise, right?!), but this label says "Frog meat"...(look closely and you´ll see that it´s skinned half frogs with toes and everything)....

...and this one says "Chicken leg - claws".
And yes; the claws are still there as you can see for yourself.

If you´re not inspired enough, just take a look at these pics below of my father eating spiders - more specifically fried tarantulas.
I ordered this Khmer delicacy for him at a restaurant here in Phnom Penh which serves specialities from all parts of Cambodia. The restaurant serves them with a dipping sauce which might add some more flavour, otherwise they are not known for having very much of a taste.

Talking about restaurants serving Khmer delicacies; after the grocery shopping I went to a restaurant owned by some Khmer friends of mine. Most of their menu is Italian, but they do serve some Asian specialities as well. I noticed today that one of the dishes on the menu (nr 10) is described as "Mount Frog - price of frog meat served with hot sauces". I have no idea what that means, but I tend to always go for the pasta, anyway...