The Beers of Cambodia... Anchor v Angkor

Well it makes it a little confusing when the two main beers available in a country are Anchor and Angkor...


From what we've worked out so far....


Anchor is a little cheaper, in taste and cost, probably the equivilent to a VB (except I don't know if this is true in regards to the actual taste of VB, as I haven't drunk it before, more so just in regards to the quality of the beer when compared to Angkor). Anchor is pronounced Aan Chore, which is a little confusing because there is a picture of an anchor on the front of the bottle.


Angkor, definately hits the spot after a hot and sweaty day, out and about on the streets of Phnom Penh.

                       

Big Fish, Little Fish

I have a very reputable (as verified by a current AYAD) theory on Cambodian traffic rules.

• The bigger you are, the greater your influence on the traffic within your vicinity.
• If you cling to a big fish, and are a little fish, this also makes your trip a safer experience.
• By placing many little fish together, you can become a big fish, as long as you move as one.
• The traffic moves like water, and flows, rather than having a specific order, and it moves at a slow and steady pace rather than a mad rush, with people speeding.

This will now be known as 'Elysse's Theory on Traffic in Cambodia or Big Fish, Little Fish', please feel free to reference me in any transportation or traffic journals :-P

A field day for Australian Authorities...

Today as I wondered past a chalkboard out the front of the bar that we went to last night, I had to laugh! 'Buy two cocktails and get a shooter for free!' I immediately thought of the people at the Drug and Alcohol Office, in Perth, that I worked with while I was at Fremantle and how they would react to an offer such as this.

That same bar is awesome, it looks like a resort, is aptly named 'elsewhere' and there is a swimming pool, or three, located in the bar, yup that's right folks, have a few drinks and then go for a dip - anyone heard of 'don't drink and drown'.

Last night we went on a boat cruise, the railing on the top level of the boat came up to our knees. I wouldn't want it to get too rocky out there, that's for sure!

I thought all of this was hilarious, and everywhere I look there is stuff like this going on. I think it's going to be hard when I go back to Australia after the year and be told what to do instead of just using your common sense like you have to here.

I was chatting to some of the AYADs last night and they mentioned that there is a Cambodian Cobras Football Club. I think I might get involved in that a little bit, it would be great to travel to Vietnam, Thailand or somewhere to watch a game! At least I finally found some people that can point me in the direction of where I can watch the footy. The Australian Network is also really good for this, they show all of the games over the weekend. All of the AYADs and VIDAs that we met were lovely, it'll be great to get to know some of them better throughout the year. Check out their website, not much content yet?! http://cambodiancobras.com/

Bek and I were recommended a really good hairdresser, Jerome at The French Element, for those that visit Cambodia definately save your hair cuts until you arrive! He's great and very cheap compared to Australian prices.

I went shopping today - people lie if they say that you can't get awesome well made clothes here, I found a beautiful linen, cotton lined work dress and scarf for USD40 at Elsewhere, located just above the bar of the same name.

Anyway, trying to keep these shorter.

Until next time,

Elysse

xoxox

Sua S'Dei from Phnom Penh

I love riding about in a tuk tuk, it just feels so exotic. Everything about Penh Penh is a little bit exotic, but tuk tuks are something that I hope I never take for granted! You get such a great feel for the city in this type of transportation. We got recommended a great driver whose name is Vut and he will probably be taking us to the killing fields on the weekend.


While I"m typing I'm sitting in a cafe/restaurant called Jacob's Well. It is a place that is run by Frank Woods, who set it up to empower local people through employment, there are so many places like this all around PP. I've just been sitting here quietly with Jacqui and Vijay. Irena was here before me and Bek is supposed to drop by soon. We've all been catching up on news from home, Jacqui has been scouring the options for housing.


All of us are trying to sort out accommodation, although I'm not too stressed about this yet, because I can't do much until I get to Siem Reap. Today we met a VIDA who is working at Marie Stopes in PP and has lived in Cambodia previously. Her name is Emily and her sister, Sophie is based in SR as an AYAD. It was great to have a chat to her and get a 'real life' perspective from someone in our position. She mentioned that it is really easy to purchase western foods, which was reinforced when Bek and I visited the supermarket again today, to restock my mangosteen and water supply, and we had to pry ourselves away from the lindt chocolate and pringles!


On the first night we ate a meal at Ban Ban restaurant, right next to our hotel. I had stir fried beef, vegetables and noodles which was lovely. Everything here comes with a chilli sauce on the side, which is kind of like ABC chilli sauce at home but not as hot. We were all so tired that we piled into bed pretty early that evening.

Early Tuesday morning we visited the Australian Embassy, this is located right next to the National Assembly. It's a very fancy and modern building that looks out of place, but makes you feel at home, you could see the remnants of an ANZAC day celebration, with wreaths laid beside a memorial as we entered the building. We met with Penny, the Ambassador who has previously worked in China and Japan, she is such a knowledgeable lady. She has only been in the job for six months, but has such a great understanding of the relationship between Australia and Cambodia, as well as a great way of explaining the information that we may need to know about in regards to living in Cambodia. Jennifer and Thea (a khmer lady) were very friendly and explained about Ausaid's role in Cambodia, and the programs that it is involved in. We also met with Shelley, who gave us a security briefing and Brian, the embassy's doctor. Brian sent me an email earlier outlining who I should see in SR if I have any medical concerns.


The rest of the day was spent with Bek, Vijay and Guy visiting their Host Organisations. They all had such positive experiences, which I think bodes well for the rest of us. Irena, Jacqui and myself went exploring the city and the main sights in PP which we followed up with a visit to Seeing Hands, a massage clinic where blind masseurs sorted out my aching feet and other other girls received full body massages. This only cost 7USD for feet and 6USD for whole body. By this stage we were running late to meet the others for dinner. We wanted to make it to FCC in time for sunset, as this is the time that the Elephant from Wat Phnom walks along the river to his humble abode. We made it in time for this and Happy Hour! It was Vijay's birthday so we decided to give him 50USD towards his motorbike, we were very disappointed that he wouldn't let us sing him Happy Birthday. I tried to start it up when his dessert arrived, but if looks could kill.... We had a great night chilling out on the roof top bar, eating dinner and playing 'dinner party' games.


We spent today with Hour and Sela talking about Khmer culture and expectations of us during our time in Cambodia. The sessions ended reasonably early and we were able to spend some down time doing as we pleased. Bek and I made a visit to Seeing Hands, I could get used to a daily massage!


Tomorrow we have a very similar day planned to today, expect we will be looking at land mines and the child protection policy. The day will end with a boat cruise and we will get to meet some of the other AYADs and VIDAs.


P.S. Seems as though Bek gave me a plug on her blog, for a different perspective you may like to check out her blog at http://notgoinggently.wordpress.com at the moment we are in the same place doing the same thing, but in just over a week and a half she will be staying in PP while I head off to SR.


Until next time,


Elysse


xoxox

Senses...

This place is a sensual over load, there is just so much to take in! 

We were all a bit ‘down beat’ today because of the lack of sleep and the overwhelming nature of the adventures that we are about to pursue.  The six of us still managed to get an ok feel of the vibe of PP as we spent the afternoon wandering the paths and streets, which range in surface from a velvet looking buffalo grass to sand to bitumen to rubble and everything in between. 

The smell of the city is most definitely not unpleasant, but there are times when it is pungent and other times that make you start to salivate. 

It’s a busy place but not as crazy as I had imagined, you definitely have to follow the ‘just close your eyes and walk’ mentality but even with that being said, there is an order to the traffic, even if I haven’t worked it out yet, that will come with time, I’m sure! 

The tastes are amazing and I can’t wait to start cooking classes. For lunch I had a perfectly balanced soup, packed with fish, fresh vegetables and eggs, although I mainly avoided the fish and egg at this stage (trying to let my stomach adjust – would prefer not to have to run to the loo tomorrow whilst we are meeting with the ambassador!) I would definitely jump in next time around. We trialled the local beer and I was very pleasantly surprised! The meal was started with some complimentary slightly salty, slightly sweet peanuts and finished with some pineapple that you dabbed into a chilli infused salt. All of this only cost USD3!!! Bek, Jacqui, Irena, Vijay, Guy (VIDA that we only met at the airport today) and I then made our way to the river, by the time we got there we were hot, sweaty, parched and badly in need of a drink. We decided to get our first tuk tuk and drove back to our hotel. Located directly opposite is a quaint, westernised café called Jacob’s Well (I remember this because I can see it out of my window!). Not only do they have air conditioning but also some amazing juices, four of us decided to try a lychee and mint concoction which Boost or Java Juice should definitely put on their menu. For the next two weeks we will be taking full advantage of not only the juices at this café but also the free wifi! 

The sounds of the city are the friendly ‘beep beeps’ of car horns, the barks of local dogs and the constant hum of lawnmowers… or at least it sounds that way – its actually the constant hum of motorbikes. Just having a relax now, after a visit to the supermarket (they stock Harvey Fresh milk, and have the most amazing tropical fruit I’ve ever seen) and before we head out for dinner!

P.S. Photos to follow!

Five More Sleeps...

My suitcase is now packed, I have fit 33 or so kilograms fitting very snuggly in to my suitcase. I am halfway through my goodbyes and it still hasn't sunk in!

I'M MOVING TO CAMBODIA!

Maybe I am a little crazy, I have no idea what to expect. I lie, I have a little idea about what to expect but I don't know if those expectations will be false or come into fruition! Here's a little of what I expect and then I'll put ticks and crosses next to these assumptions after I've spent some time in Cambodia...

• For the first bit of my stay, the weather will be kind of drab and depressing, and nothing will be dry... ever... kind of like that Forest Gump quote, 'One day it started raining, and it didn't quit for four months. We been through every kind of rain there is. Little bitty stingin' rain... and big ol' fat rain. Rain that flew in sideways. And sometimes rain even seemed to come straight up from underneath. Shoot, it even rained at night...'
• The food will be awesome - a fusion of Vietnamese and Thai - I will have to learn the word for dog because it will be on every menu and I DON'T want to eat it
• I will constantly be sick for the first two months, with a funny tummy.... gross!
• The k'mai people will be friendly and helpful, of course I'm not stupid, I know this won't apply to ALL people, or maybe it will and that will be another assumption that I can cross off my list
• Angkor Wat will not exceed my expectations but maybe some of the other temples will amaze me... Temples just aren't really 'my thing'
• I will only have homesickness until the three month mark :-P
• The markets, both the food and the general ones will be amazing
• The language will be really difficult to learn
• No one will write me REAL mail, yes, this is reverse psychology :-D

There might be some other assumptions, I'll have to put my thinking cap on...

Until next time,

E

'Old Fashioned'

As it turns out, time is creeping. Whilst I'm sure the last two weeks will fly by, the next two will probably be the same as last week and drag. I'm really looking forward to finishing up at Notre Dame - more than anyone could imagine!


I finally found a birthday book, to write down family and friends birthdays, and I got a present from Fi - a gorgeous address book, a separate place to record everyones addresses... I didn't realise that either of these books were a dying breed, until two showing signs....

a) there were none of these record keepers available in ANY shops (well I did manage to find them eventually but it took lots of searching by numerous people)


b) everyone commenting on how old fashioned I was being when I asked for their details.


Oh well, people love receiving real mail, so I'm sure everyone that gives me their details will love a birthday card from Cambodia!

The Waiting Game...

Waiting, Waiting, Waiting...

I've now only got about five weeks until I hop on that plane - I'm sure it will fly by!!

I've been slowly packing and tomorrow I am going shopping to pick up more bits and pieces... goggles, helmet, bike lock, long locks for the house, a new toiletries bag, smoke detectors, birthday book, hair straightener, nit comb etc etc.

I bought a Cambodian 'Rough Guide' today, making me even more excited!

I have now been to and successfully completed pre-departure training and have also had all my jabs. I'm glad to be done with the visits to Fremantle Travel Doctor - even if the staff there are great! The second rabies shot not only made me sick, but also bruised really badly! ouch!

PDT was awesome, especially with the AMAZING crew going to Cambodia with me. Bek, Jacqui, Irena and Vijay are all awesome, although meeting everyone made me very jealous that I won't be based in Phnom Penh with them.

I've been trying to learn k'mai (which I learn at PDT is NOT ke meeer!!) but it's quite unsuccessful without someone to teach me or practice with.

Looking forward to finishing up at Notre Dame on the 8th of April and then having two weeks to just chill!

Will post again before I leave,

E

A Profile...

I hate writing about  myself, especially for an unknown audience!

We had to write approximately 300 words about ourselves for the volunteer program that I'm involved with, and here it is....

Elysse is really looking forward to the experiences and challenges that her 12
months Australian Youth Ambassador for Development role will offer. She will be
based in Siem Reap, Cambodia and be working as the Organisational Management
Support Officer at Anjali House.

Anjali House is a non-profit organization that aims to provide children with free
healthcare, food, clean drinking water and education. I was drawn to the AYAD
program and Anjali House because of the objectives of both organisations and in
particular, their commitment to children from the most disadvantaged segments of
society and their willingness to assist these children to achieve their full potential.

Elysse completed a Bachelor of Commerce (Public Relations and Management) at
Curtin University in 2007, and has since worked with the Fremantle Football Club as
the Strategic Partnerships Coordinator and Sponsorship Coordinator, Swan Districts
Football Club as the Marketing Manager, The University of Notre Dame Australia as
a Prospective Students Advisor and in a part time capacity at Perth Glory Soccer
Club managing the Corporate Function on game days. In 2010 she completed a
Graduate Certificate in International Relations at Curtin University, and has intentions
of further study in this area, upon return to Australia.

In addition to the professional role, she is very excited to learn the Khmer language,
become familiar with the Cambodian culture, discover the secrets of the local cuisine,
meet amazing people and hear their stories, as well as witness the beauty of the
country and the South East Asian region, which she will be visiting for the first time.

-----

On a different note, I have booked in for my immunisations, next Tuesday at 4pm! They think that I will need to have Japanese Encephalitis, Typhoid and Rabies... just so that I don't start frothing at the mouth!

Til next time,

E

Planning is Underway!

Tonight I did a quick scan through my first post and realised just how optimistic I was about gaining a placement with the volunteer program!

I think it shows just how disappointed I would have been if I didn't gain a spot, but luckily enough I turned out to be one of the lucky ones. I did scrape through though - - I was the second preference for a position as the Organisational Management Support Officer at Anjali House in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

In the last month or so I have been busily organising my life for the 12 months or so away from home. There is a check list of what must be completed prior to my departure! I have already completed my online mental health check, my medical assessment, my visa (which needs to be sent back to the embassy because it expires before I arrive in country), all of the paperwork confirming my acceptance and been practicing Khmer! There is still so much more to do, and I need to fit all of this around my sisters wedding, organising a hen's party, working part time at Glory, normal activities and of course full time work at Notre Dame!

I'm really looking forward to my pre-departure training in Canberra at the end of Feb/start of March and meeting all of the other volunteers, especially those that will be moving to Cambodia with me. It seems like they are a great bunch of people, we have been having a meet and greet via email.

Can't wait for April 25th and my arrival in Phnom Penh, then I'll only have to wait a week or so until I get to find a new home in Siem Reap.

2011 is going to be a cracker!! I just hope that the Dockers wait until 2012 to get into the Grand Final so that I can watch it!!