Phnom Penh Journal, Issue 1

Hey, everybody, here's an update on my activities over the past few weeks.  I plan to post these with some regularity to keep you in the know.  I also plan to be posting more regularly, so keep an eye on the blog.

Friday, June 14: Ventured out on my own today, got lost in the city, and sweat enough in the Cambodian sun to have real fears of heat exhaustion.  Braved the market by myself, and got a good meal of fried broccoli and bell peppers, and a not-so-good sniff of dead ducks, heads attached, hanging in tropical sun all day long.  Yum.

Saturday, June 15: Had breakfast at a little Khmer noodle shop: tasty nom pachok, because pork and noodles is the typical Khmer breakfast, with Kampot pepper, which used to be the international standard for peppercorns before the Khmer Rouge halted the exports, but the stuff still deserves its rightful place of global acclaim.  The a manager of the shop is a Khmer Christian who adopts street children to give them a future that he almost didn’t have, and he took me down the street to his noodle-making factory.  It was a great insight into Khmer food, with dozens of vats of soaking, boiling, draining, and pressing rice, and way too much fire for a country this hot, although I think one can safely add rice noodles to sausage and legislation on the list of things not to watch being made.  Dinner with new coworker-friends at their place, the interior of which is decorated like a haunted opera house.  Outstanding peanut butter cookies, along with delivery Indian food: this climate is too hot for naan and curry, but the Bailey's in the lukewarm hot chocolate and the Twilight Zone reruns made it OK.

Sunday, June 16: Had my first decent burger in Cambodia, which was NQR (the local slang among Westerners for Western products which are a bit off the mark; it stands for “Not Quite Right”). Hour-long sermon at church, from a really goodhearted but long-winded Indian priest who has a fascinating story and gave me a lot of hope for the future of religion in Cambodia. Church is a mix of Singaporean staff, the Indian priest, and Khmer and Western attendees, all tripping through the Anglican Book of Common Prayer together.  Moved into my new home, which is like a Cambodian version of the Girls' House, only without air conditioning and with a rooftop patio that belongs in Agrabah.

Monday-Wednesday, June 17-19: Days kind of ran together.  The language barrier is getting to me.  Preliminary research for work, which wasn't easy to stay awake for. I'm tired of reading, and bored.  But, my roommates are fun, and hospitable. I'm going to have to fire my afternoon motodup: on Tuesday, he nearly crashed my head into a dumptruck that was in our way, and on Wednesday he made a 120 degree turn across six lanes of traffic.

Thursday, June 20: Got to have a delicious Asian barbecue (beef jerky-brisket, pork short ribs, squid, and blue crab) at a street vendor with the investigations team.  Bought my ticket for the big Independence Day celebration at the American Embassy.  Started really working on cases: nothing really exciting, but it was satisfying to be doing work that seemed useful.

Friday, June 21: Normal work day, largely uneventful.  Dancing late in the evening at a Samba club, where I met a French woman in her fifties who alleged she couldn't dance, but shortly proved that this was just a gesture of modesty.  A movie with friends, and off to bed way too late.

Saturday, June 22: Spent the day running back and forth between the market and my house, buying a fan, cell phone, food, and other necessities.  Managed to bargain a decent price for everything.  I’m becoming more comfortable communicating. Evening out at a tapas place, followed by a night on the town in Phnom Penh, culminating in a midnight snack at a combination tuk-tuk and pizza kitchen called Katie Peri Pizza, where a nice old lady offered me opium, which I politely declined.

Sunday, June 23 - Monday, June 24: Church at the Anglican congregation here, then off to the provinces to observe police training in the outlying areas.  Got to see villages, rice paddies, and the Mekong River, a giant and thriving ecosystem that looks rather like the mighty Mississippi back in the States.  Had the national dish for dinner Sunday (fish amok), but I'm not sure it was made properly: it was more like a Thai Tom Kha with fish than the fish-Khmer-spice-mousse that an amok is supposed to be.

Tuesday, June 24 - More work on a brief we've got coming up, and a letter to the Ministry of Justice, which I'm drafting solo (I'm a proper barrister now).  Had a going-away dinner for a friend, which included rose gelatto (floral, slightly vanilla, quite refreshing).