Gender equality in Cambodia?

As the International Women's Rights Day is soon coming up, on Saturday the 8:th of March, I've been interviewed by Swedish radio concerning gender equality in Cambodia. The interview was broadcasted live yesterday, but for any Swedish speakers who'd like to listen to it afterwards, you can do that here. (The interview starts around 11 minutes into the clip).

A tribute to Leonard and his crown prince Jason

Those of you who know me well are most likely familiar with my passion for Leonard Cohen. His music and lyrics has for many years been very important to me; spiritually and intimately connected to different situations, relations, experiences and phases of my life. I´m usually very critical and not at all forgiving of other artists trying to make covers of Cohen´s songs, as they - according to me - never ever can make it into the same league as him. Nothing good has come out of those lame cover versions, with the one and only exception of Jeff Buckley´s beautiful cover of "Hallelujah". Until now, that is; this very evening when I was watching - hold on now - American Idol!?!?!!! Because there, suddenly, this young guy named Jason Castro, enters the stage and without a warning makes the most beautiful cover of "Hallelujah" that I´ve ever heard. His version was so beautiful and touching that it moved me into tears, and now I just can´t stop listening to it. And I just HAVE to share it with you!!! Because something as beautiful as this just has to be shared. So here you go, ladies and gentlemen - I give you Jason Castro´s blessed version of Hallelujah;

And, inspired by the moment, I just feel that I´d like to share Cohen´s beautiful lyrics with you as well;

HALLELUJAH
Now I've heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?
It goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah

Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you
She tied you
To a kitchen chair
She broke your throne, and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

Baby I have been here before
I know this room, I've walked this floor
I used to live alone before I knew you.
I've seen your flag on the marble arch
Love is not a victory march
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

There was a time you let me know
What's real and going on below
But now you never show it to me, do you?
And remember when I moved in you
The holy dove was moving too
And every breath we drew was Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

You say I took the name in vain
I don't even know the name
But if I did, well really, what's it to you?
There's a blaze of light
In every word
It doesn't matter which you heard
The holy or the broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

I did my best, it wasn't much
I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch
I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you
And even though
It all went wrong
I'll stand before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah

the Foreign Correspondents Club

Here in Phnom Penh, one of the a places with tons of atmosphere is the Foreign Correspondents Club.

Situated in an old colonial building overlooking the river, it´s the perfect place to enjoy a cold drink overlooking the street life along the riverside. Its´ reputation has reached far outside Cambodias boarders, so it´s usually the place where tourists end up their first evening here. So did me and Janne, when we were visiting Phnom Penh for the first time back in 2002. I remember that our dear friend Andrew had described it as a must-place-to-see-and-be in Phnom Penh before we left from Bangkok, and we followed his advice. Ever since, this has been Janne´s favourite bar in Phnom Penh. And it´s well deserved. This building with its beautiful yellow exterior, with its dark wooden furnitures and colonial style interior, sweeping ceiling fans, long rustic bar, and marvellous setting, gives you the feeling of taking part in a never ending era of visitors on a mission to Cambodia. And you can easily imagine how all the foreign journalists, photograpers, and press people have gathered here during the wars and conflicts that Cambodia has been through. Picturing them sitting along the bar with a bottle of whiskey, smoking and discussing in the latest udates from the frontline... The funny thing is, that this Foreigh Correspondents Club is a total rip-off concept. Compared to other real Foreign Correspondents Clubs over the world, for example the FCC in Bangkok, despite the name this one in Phnom Penh has never functioned as a press club. It opened up in 1993, and has been established as a place for entertainment, dining and drinking - only. So I tend to think about it as the Fake Correspondents Club. But who cares, really - as long as it works, and it does. The concept actually works so well that the owners recently have bought the neighbouring building..;

...to be renovated and integreted with the FCC. This is one of Phnom Penhs most beautiful and most photographed old colonial buildings, which like many of its kind was almost completely destroyed during the Khmer Rouge era, and not been rebuilt since then. After many years of negotiations and bids from different interests and investors, it has now been announced that the building has been bought by the FCC, which will restore it and make it into a luxury hotel and restaurant, connected to the present FCC by a short bridge. This is in many ways typical for what is taking place in Phnom Penh right now; a booming city, with both national and international interests suddenly waking up to recognise its architectural and historical heritage, and the economical benefits that will come with it.

Talking about correspondents clubs, I´ve recently been invited to become a foreign correspondent myself. About a month ago, I was approached by a Swedish radio channel who has a pool of foreign correspondents all over the world; in Finland, Paris, Singapore, Argentina, the Central African Republic, etc. And I was asked if I could consider to be their correspondent in Cambodia?! It sounds pretty serious, but actually it isn´t. No in-depth analyses about political situations or broadcasts from frontlines. Just a weekly topic that can be just about anything; traffic, food, university life, etc, picked by the radio channel. And they will call one of the correspondents to comment on it in a live broadcasted interview Monday-Thursday at 9.10 AM. Before I could consider, I was of course curious about the first week´s topic. And - to my joy and delight - my first topic would be: PETS!!! Yes, that´s right; pets! My all time favourite subject! So how could I possibly say no? So I agreed and the interview was broadcasted on the 5:th of February. The interviews are available for a month on the channels´website, so for a couple of more days, Swedish speaking friends can listen to me talking about pets in Phnom Penh here. (First there´s Britney Spears, then there´s me :-) About a week ago I was interviewed again, this time about breakfast habits in Cambodia, which you can listen to here. But since then, I actually haven´t heard from the radio channel again, so who knows if they´ll let me go on air again or not. But who cares; after all, I´m only a Fake Foreign Correspondent. But according to the traditions here in Phnom Penh, the Fake versions of a Foreign Correspondent might be just as good as the original! :-)

Parents visiting

My parents have left now, they departured for Sweden earlier this week. It´s been absolutely wonderful to have them here. My fathers 60:th birthday celebration in Kep on the 6:th of February turned out great . We had a delicious lunch at a small restaurant by the sea, where my father could enjoy seafood -his favourite - directly from the sea. After that, we had a drink at the beach, watching the sunset. In the evening it was time for the birthday cake, delivered from the city of Kampot. As my fathers birthday happened to be at the same day as the Chinese New Year, he got a Chinese cake, which turned out to be, well... a bit...different...


Dad at our bungalow veranda in Kep

For present, I gave my father a Khmer cooking class, which he took in Phnom Penh the weekend after. It was a full day of Khmer cooking; spring rolls, Fish Amok and dessert as well. He really enjoyed the cooking class, and was quite exhausted but very happy after a full day of dicing, chopping, frying, and eating.

My parents seems to have really enjoyed their stay here, and it was of course a bit sad to see them go. Unfortunately, they had bad ending of the trip, as my mother who had been a bit ill from stomach problems the last couple of days in Phnom Penh, actually collapsed on the flight between Bangkok and Vienna, due to dehydration and negative side effects from her blood pressure medication. She was taken to a hospital in Vienna, but could continue her travel back to Sweden already the same day.

Apart from this unfortunate end of the trip, I´m happy to report that they´ve very much enjoyed their time here in Cambodia. Especially my Dad, who´s absolutely fascinated by the street life, the traffic and markets. For my mother, it´s all the friendly people, the warmth and kindness that they´ve met here, that has made the strongest impression on her. I´m very happy that they made it here, so they now can relate to my life here, and that we now can share experiences and memories from Cambodia together.


Mum and Dad at Veranda Natural Resort

So thank you Mum and Dad for coming all this way - hope to be able to welcome you back again sometime! And Mum; hope you feel better soon!

Go Snowball!

This is "Snowball" the parrot, who lives at a bird rescue centre in Indiana. Snowball loves Backstreet Boys, and has taught himself to dance to their song "Everybody".



This video is great if you need that extra input and energy to get through a bad day. But today, I´m sharing it with you to celebrate that things are finally starting to feel a bit better. After a really tough month, suddenly there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel, after all...

Go Snowball, and have a great weekend, everyone!

Congratulations, Dad!

Today is my father´s 60:th birthday!

Dad and Polly Jean

Here´s the birthday plan: We´ll start the celebrations with a nice birthday breakfast at a French restaurant, and after that take a tour along the riverside up to the buddhist temple of Wat Phnom to look at the Chinese New Year celebrations that starts today. At lunchtime, we´ll leave by car to the small coastal town of Kep, which´ll give my parents a view of the Cambodian countryside on the way. We´ll arrive to Kep in the afternoon, and check in at the very beautiful and atmospheric Veranda Natural Resort, where we´ll stay until Saturday. The plan is to arrive just in time for some drinks on the beach, watching the beautiful sunset. In the evening there´ll be a delicious dinner, and I´ve asked the very helpful staff at the Veranda to assist me in getting us a birthday cake - which they´ll bring from the city of Kampot 20 km away as there are no bakeries in Kep - and I´ll bring some birthday candles from Phnom Penh to decorate it.

We hope for a nice birthday, and that my father will truly enjoy it!

The parents have arrived

Yepp, they´re here now. A bit tired of course after a long flight, but in very good mood and pretty enthusiastic about finally being here. Just so you know.
Time for bed now, I´ll have an early morning meeting tomorrow, while the parents hopefully will be able to sleep late and start to adjust to the time zone; +6 hours difference between Sweden and Cambodia.

Good night.

Parents on their way

Right now, my parents are on their way to Kastrup Airport in Copenhagen. In some hours, they´ll start their journey Copenhagen-Vienna-Bangkok-Phnom Penh. I´ll pick them up at the airport tomorrow evening. I´m really happy to welcome them for two weeks in Cambodia. It´ll be their first time in South East Asia, and I´m really... eehhmm... wondering what they´ll think. (No, I didn´t use the word "tense". I did not. Or did I..?). My parents are very excited and of course quite a bit nervous about the whole thing, but I´m pretty sure they´ll really like it. On wednesday it´s my father´s 60:th birthday, which we´ll celebrate by the coast in Kep. I´ve taken some days off from work, and it´ll be lovely to spend some days together with my parents there, sipping drinks and watching the sunset. Their second week they´ll go to Siem Riep to do Cambodia´s number one must-see-sight; the Angkor temples. And here and there, we´ll have some days together in Phnom Penh, too. I hope they´ll enjoy their vacation and get some really good memories to bring back with them to Sweden. And who knows, maybe they´ll become as addicted to South East Asia as Janne and me, which would mean that this´ll only be the first out of many visits to come. Well, who knows how it´ll all turn out... I guess that I´ll have to get back to you on that.

Happy travelling, Mum and Dad - see you tomorrow! :-*

MANAMANA!!!

The past couple of weeks haven´t been very easy on me, to be honest. A lot of turbulence in my professional life, which drains me. I´m tired and low. Trying to cope the best I can, hoping that this mess somehow will become more clear soon, making it possible for me to make some major decisions.

In times like this, it´s always good to get some inspiration and cheering up. Today, the guys below are what makes it for me, and I´d like to share them with you. They make me happy, gives me energy and a feeling of "...so fuck work, fuck major life decisions, anguish, shattered dreams, fading goals, uncertainties and let´s just....MANAMANA!!!"
Enjoy!

Afraid of heights..?

Safety and security is not a very big thing here in Cambodia. Here´s an example; what you see is two guys painting a cell phone tower which is placed on my neighbours´ roof. They are painting it by hand, climbing up and down 20-30 meters above the ground, without any safety equipment what so ever. I feel dizzy just by watching them. Do you see those people and vehicles down on the ground on the second photo - they just look so small?!





And you might guess that I´m not too happy about having a cell phone tower placed just across the street either, considering that it´s supposedly not very healthy for you. But when I´ve thought about this for long enough, I tell myself; "Ok, at least I don´t have to paint the damn thing, climbing around up there, 30 meters above ground with nothing else to keep me from falling down than my own bare hands and feet". And then suddenly, I just feel soooo fortunate and secure again.